Lost - season six (final)

[Debb70]

Does anyone else ever think that we supposedly intelligent people are way too involved in this stuff???

If I understand your question correctly, I would say that perhaps many intelligent people think about life and it's many mysteries far more often than others. If you are a heavy thinker, then this type of storyline would invite you to use your imagination in ways that other shows do not.

Heavy thinkers also tend to ponder the afterlife a lot IMO. They tend to not just accept one version or theory, but consider many alternative theories. Which way is the stairway to heaven? This show offered much solace to those of us who have many questions and even fears about what happens when we take that final journey. So I can see how supposedly intelligent people got very involved.

I only watched the 2 hour recap on Sunday night, really loved it and then watched the finale! I think if I had watched it 6 years ago, maybe I would have been very involved with it.

[chrisg]

I'm someone who loves philosophy because it inherently always asks many more questions than it ever attempts to answer. I really think there is something truly worthwhile merely in the pondering. And Lost is the only television show that I have ever seen that is genuinely philosophical in that sense and, to me, that's not a cop out but true to the core nature of philosophy. And, in Lost, philosophical inquiry is merged with religious themes and I think the island's clear Buddhist connotations were always purposefully deliberate in that Buddhism is one of the few religions that pointedly embraces those philosophical shades of grey and that was our indication that much of what went on in the island would likely remain in those open-ended shades of grey.

[Mike'sgirl]

if people start to disect who was/was not in the church and why, we will be in the same quandry as before

just let go

enjoy all the great entertainment we've gotten over the years

i'm seeing long posts on other sites where people are bitching about C/D being bad writers and whatnot... c'mon lets be serious... like i said in a previous post, all the anger your seeing is just people who deep down are just mad that this show is over

All of your posts since Finale night reflect my feelings, so no sense in restating them.
The only thing I would add, was regarding the Kimmel show following the finale (which I only watched yesterday via DVR)........ From Jimmy's perspective this entire series pertained to Jack's journey (life through death). I liked that Mathew Fox agreed with that, even though it was strictly their own personal viewpoints and not necessarily Darlton's. Fox didn't confirm or adamantly agree with everything Jimmy said but he was gracious enough to his host to say "possibly" at some suggestion.

Yes, they were all a part of the island, and we saw each of their life stories play out; but IMO the finale was through Jack's eyes. They gathered for him, to bring him over.

Also, we were told at the beginning of Season 6, that the sideways world was not simply a picking up of their lives as if Oceanic had not crashed on the island. Hence the curve ball on Jack's son. I do think that "if" that was Purgatory, then it was through Jack's perspective.

Interesting, that Mrs Hawking recognized Desmond for the messenger/connector/facilitator that he was, and I have no clue why Daniel and Charlotte (both clearly dead even on the island) were not ready to move on yet........ but I am fine with that.

I must confess that I saw where the finale was heading, and consciously chose to turn off my TV just after Jack and Kate met up at the concert after everyone had left, so that I could sleep with a happy emotional mind-frame. I watched the remaining portion last night, and while I was a bit disappointed; overall the series was a satisfying investment for me.

[lildago]

Maybe Jack had a son in the sideways world because that's something that he wanted...ala Heaven in the book, The Lovely Bones. Maybe everyone was happy(for the most part) because that was their vision of Heaven. Or if it was in fact a story told through Jack's eyes, all of that was the way he saw his friends. Just a thought. Or maybe I'm just reaching.

[MrMet]

I'm someone who loves philosophy because it inherently always asks many more questions than it ever attempts to answer. I really think there is something truly worthwhile merely in the pondering. And Lost is the only television show that I have ever seen that is genuinely philosophical in that sense and, to me, that's not a cop out but true to the core nature of philosophy. And, in Lost, philosophical inquiry is merged with religious themes and I think the island's clear Buddhist connotations were always purposefully deliberate in that Buddhism is one of the few religions that pointedly embraces those philosophical shades of grey and that was our indication that much of what went on in the island would likely remain in those open-ended shades of grey.

I think this is a great point which highlights one of the keys to Lost, though I would not limit to just Buddism. I think the multi-religious themes of Lost were evident in the room of the church where Jack and Christian had their talk. I saw symbols of Buddism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam in that room. There were likely other religions represented as well, which I overlooked.

Many of the after life / connected lives themes of the show were reflective of Hindu beliefs. As a Christian myself, perhaps the Christian themes were more evident to me than any of the others. There were obvious examples such as the backstory of Eko, and he name "Christian Sheppard". There were others that stood out to anyone familiar with Christian traditions, who may not have been to people of other religions -- the ceremony of drinking from the cup to pass on responsibility for the island used text of the communion ceremony, and Jack discovering the empty casket (tomb) and then being greeted by Christian and feeling disbelief that it was really him was straight from the Easter story.

And while I think there are representatives of each of the religions I've listed who are willing to hijack them and declare no room for gray, my knowledge of each says that at their core, each leaves room for trey, and interpretation.

Maybe that was one of the deeper, underlying themes of Lost -- the idea that regardless of what individuals call their religion, we're guided by the same being, and end up in the same place. When you consider the divisions that religion can create in the world today, I can see where the creators of Lost would want to get that kind of message out, and I'm glad that they did if that is their intent.

[chrisg]

Maybe Jack had a son in the sideways world because that's something that he wanted...ala Heaven in the book, The Lovely Bones. Maybe everyone was happy(for the most part) because that was their vision of Heaven. Or if it was in fact a story told through Jack's eyes, all of that was the way he saw his friends. Just a thought. Or maybe I'm just reaching.

I thought the exact same thing, lildago. That the sideways world had obvious elements of purgatory meshed with a type of wish fulfillment with a way to work out issues that couldn't be resolved in life -- like Jack's difficult relationship with his father -- or fulfill wishes.

And of course Lost doesn't merely address Buddhism -- particularly in the church scenes, the obvious purgatory sideways and Christian Shepherd as the father of one of the central figures -- and that has been discussed.

The island primarily embraces Buddhist principles, IMO, and that's why we had the literal examples of the Dharma Initiative and the temple on the island which set a Buddhist backdrop -- which is universally regarded as a religion that has relatively fewer dictates than other religions (not necessarily better, just relatively fewer, hence the term Zen equated with being mellow) -- in which the open-ended experiments in human nature unfolded.

And I totally understand people expecting answers to more of our questions. I was as well but am accepting the ending as a glass half full scenario. And I really thought that half full was soaring and beautiful. JMO.

[Dogg]

All of your posts since Finale night reflect my feelings, so no sense in restating them.
The only thing I would add, was regarding the Kimmel show following the finale (which I only watched yesterday via DVR)........ From Jimmy's perspective this entire series pertained to Jack's journey (life through death). I liked that Mathew Fox agreed with that, even though it was strictly their own personal viewpoints and not necessarily Darlton's. Fox didn't confirm or adamantly agree with everything Jimmy said but he was gracious enough to his host to say "possibly" at some suggestion.

Yes, they were all a part of the island, and we saw each of their life stories play out; but IMO the finale was through Jack's eyes. They gathered for him, to bring him over.

Also, we were told at the beginning of Season 6, that the sideways world was not simply a picking up of their lives as if Oceanic had not crashed on the island. Hence the curve ball on Jack's son. I do think that "if" that was Purgatory, then it was through Jack's perspective.

Interesting, that Mrs Hawking recognized Desmond for the messenger/connector/facilitator that he was, and I have no clue why Daniel and Charlotte (both clearly dead even on the island) were not ready to move on yet........ but I am fine with that.

I must confess that I saw where the finale was heading, and consciously chose to turn off my TV just after Jack and Kate met up at the concert after everyone had left, so that I could sleep with a happy emotional mind-frame. I watched the remaining portion last night, and while I was a bit disappointed; overall the series was a satisfying investment for me.

speaking of throwing a curveball, i watched again yesterday and the Desmond thing clicked w/ me. We've known rules didn't apply to him and we've seen his conciousness can move through time. But now we've seen his conciousness move between life/death

I never suspected that sideways would end up being purgatory, because Desmond was jumping back and forth. So naturally i thought sideways was what happened post island after the reset

[cantstopwatchin]

I think this is a great point which highlights one of the keys to Lost, though I would not limit to just Buddism. I think the multi-religious themes of Lost were evident in the room of the church where Jack and Christian had their talk. I saw symbols of Buddism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam in that room. There were likely other religions represented as well, which I overlooked.

Many of the after life / connected lives themes of the show were reflective of Hindu beliefs. As a Christian myself, perhaps the Christian themes were more evident to me than any of the others. There were obvious examples such as the backstory of Eko, and he name "Christian Sheppard". There were others that stood out to anyone familiar with Christian traditions, who may not have been to people of other religions -- the ceremony of drinking from the cup to pass on responsibility for the island used text of the communion ceremony, and Jack discovering the empty casket (tomb) and then being greeted by Christian and feeling disbelief that it was really him was straight from the Easter story.

And while I think there are representatives of each of the religions I've listed who are willing to hijack them and declare no room for gray, my knowledge of each says that at their core, each leaves room for trey, and interpretation.

Maybe that was one of the deeper, underlying themes of Lost -- the idea that regardless of what individuals call their religion, we're guided by the same being, and end up in the same place. When you consider the divisions that religion can create in the world today, I can see where the creators of Lost would want to get that kind of message out, and I'm glad that they did if that is their intent.

This is something I took from the finale and have been discussing the last 2 days since. I know people have been saying it's faith versus religion but I've taken it to be belief versus religion. I know they sound similar and the definitions are somewhat interchangeable but you can have a belief in something out there greater than yourself, without having to turn to a certain faith to represent that belief.

In Lost, when Jack finally "believed" he couldn't be killed on the island, it changed him and he seemed to suddenly know what he had to do (become new Jacob) and he steadfastly worked towards that purpose. He wasn't afraid to face unLocke and refused to leave the island. In the Church antechamber, when he's speaking with Christian and he finally "believed" the scenes that had been playing in his mind, he was ready to join the others.

The meeting place was represented by a Church but a Church filled with symbols of all religious beliefs. Six seasons ago, Lost was regaled for having chosen a cast that was diverse in its makeup; people of all different colors, creeds, and backgrounds. So, in the end, what better place for all of them to reunite than a Church that seemed to accept and include other faiths and beliefs. I applaud this message if it's one they tried to convey. And if it's not, then they've snowed me these last seasons and I'm still applauding them anyway-LOL!

Boy am I going to miss this show. There hasn't been anything like it that's made me think while watching and has me thinking about it well after it's over.

[StageHand]

I rewatched the last hour last night (hubby fell asleep during the actual airing) and I noticed that Jin/Sun did not have a baby at the church. The only baby there was Aaron.

Maybe their baby hadn't died, which would mean that Aaron had died?

[mize77]

Maybe everyone was the age they were on the island. One of the questions about Heaven that is often asked is, "Will I be old or young?" I might not recognize my grandmother as a teenager but I would as the 81 year-old she lived to be. But in Heaven, would she want to be 81 for eternity?
I have said previously that I wished Darlton had given more answers and that those answers were clear. But maybe they should leave it open to our own interpretations. Does anyone remember the uproar caused when JK Rowling announced that as the creator of the Harry Potter empire, she had created Dumbledore as a gay man? Sometimes knowing exactly what the creators of the show might spoil things for people, and Darlton is trying to avoid this. Or maybe they're just being coy....