One week. That’s all there is. Actually, under that now. Two episodes, roughly three hours, and then my favorite show—potentially of all time—will be over.
I only started watching the DVDs when LOST was between Seasons 3 and 4, but it just does not seem right that the series is ending. That the Island will never offer viewers up any more mysteries or half-answers. We’ll never see a new shot of Sawyer swimming without his shirt on or Kate hunched over tracking Jack through the jungle. No more nicknames, no more Dharma backstory, no more wondering how all this could be happening on that one, tiny Island. No more numbers, no more literary allusions, no more nothing.
In fact, I’m pretty sure we won’t be getting that many answers in the next couple of episodes, either. And I’m pretty sure the aptly titled finale (“The End” for those who don’t know yet) will only open the door to more questions that we will never have an answer to.
And I’m not sure if I’m okay with that.
I understand that in a show with as complex a mythology as LOST, some things are just not a priority for resolution. Unfortunately, there are some things that I expect will never get resolved that I’m totally and completely invested in. And that’s what makes me sad.
What I Never Expect To Be Answered:
- What is the Man in Black’s name? The Internet calls him Esau after the Biblical Jacob’s brother. But as we saw in “Across the Sea,” the two stories diverge enough that I’m not sure if this is an accurate reference anymore. As much as I liked “Across the Sea,” they sure did have to strain some dialogue to keep us from finding out his name. “I only picked one name…” was the worst ploy ever, and it makes me think that the remaining hours of LOST will be equally frustrating on this mystery. Am I alone in just wanting to know what to call him?
- What are the numbers? Earlier this season, the Man in Black said that “Jacob had a thing for numbers,” but that was all it said. For a device that played so heavily into the mythology of the early half of the show, the numbers have only rarely made an appearance in the second half. We know the numbers each correspond to one of the candidates, but why and how? If the only answer we get is because “Jacob had a thing for numbers,” I’m going to be more than a little irritated.
- What’s happened to the Dharma/Hanso/Widmore/Paik connections? For seasons, there have been hints about why all the major corporations in the LOSTverse are connected to the Island. And then in Season 6…it stops. No more references to Mr. Paik being Charles Widmore’s associate. No more references to how the Hanso on The Black Rock connects to the one who helped found the Dharma Initiative. With everything revolving around Jacob/MiB/Richard’s backstory this season, established mythology has been dropped. I want to say the final three hours are going to expand on this area, even explain it. But I don’t really expect it.
- What genre is LOST? The series started off as a survival adventure. Indiana Jones or King Solomon’s Mines for the modern TV audience. Great. Then the hatch came along introduced some minor science fiction elements. Great, we love SF. Then the SF kept coming and was dichomized by the introduction of faith and destiny as the other great extreme in the series. Still, great stuff. When Season 5 came along with its time-travely goodness, I firmly believed that LOST was a science fiction show. And I kept believing that until I saw Season 6, where all of the genre conventions that had made the show so intricate and well-crafted were thrown out the window in order to make way for yet another genre: mythological fantasy. And the show nearly lost me—no pun intended. But I keep on hoping that it will all come together. I’m a huge fan of hybrid-genres (Firefly and The Dark Tower), but only when they’re handled well. I don’t think that LOST is handling this one too well.
- What was the fuss about Walt? Did he have some power over birds? Why did the Others kidnap him? What was so special about him that they had to dedicate so much time and energy into making viewers care and know something was up? Why was he not needed to get back to the Island when even Christian’s corpse was? Was his removal from the show and eradication from the mythology entirely based on the actor hitting puberty, or are the creators going to ever explain the kid? I want to know, Darlton!
- What is the Island exactly? Overthinking It had a great article regarding “Across the Sea” this week which covered this particular mystery and says—from a particular point of view—that it has already been answered:
It’s Magic. It’s a Magic Island. It was always there. It’s always had a protector. If it’s not protected, the world will be destroyed. That’s it. That’s all there is to it.
For me, that doesn’t cut it. As much as I am into LOST functioning as mythology more than anything—and I’ve felt that way for a while—I want an actual explanation for why the Island is magical and special. I’m not one to buy into the blind faith part of the LOST mythology. Give me science. Give me reason. Even a hokey reason is better than “because it is.” Which is as close to an answer regarding what the Island really is and how it came about as we’ve been given so far.
The End?
What, then, do I expect to be in the final three hours of LOST? I think I’ll let XKCD answer that one for me.
What do you expect from the final 3 hours of LOST?
Mabye I just have low expectations, but I’ve found a lot the finales of great shows that have frustrated people (Sopranos, BSG) haven’t bothered me at all. I don’t expect to be given all the answers. Frankly, I think being handed the answers is a recipe for disappointment. Lost has created so many good mysteries and I think a lot of them cannot be explained in a way that would satisfy people. What matters to me is that for 6 years, give or take a few weak spots, I’ve had an engaging show to watch and keep me thinking.
What I expect from the finale is some sense of closure for the characters, but not a lot of explanations. I also hope Kate gets eaten by a polar bear.
After seeing JJ Abrams TED talk on the “Mystery Box” a couple years ago, I pretty much gave up all hope of answers from Lost.
.-= Jasyla´s last blog ..All wipes and no kills make Jasyla a dull girl =-.
See, I never got frustrated by BSG or Sopranos ending. But to me, I was never invested in those shows’ mythology like I was in LOST’s. I wanted to find out about the Final 5 and one One True God in BSG, and their answer was fine, even if the resolution was a little lame (e.g. Starbuck).
With LOST, though, the entire show is built around these mysteries and getting answers to them. Without answering the big ones, the narrative never comes to resolution.
I’m with you. Kate needs to be eaten by a Bear.
I’d quite like to see some explanation of how the Island came to have such strong ties to Egyptian mythology, although that’s pretty unlikely at this stage. I thought that it was absolutely ludicrous to not have named MiB in “Across the Sea” ; I just can’t see why Lindelof and Cuse chose to keep us in the dark. Unless there’s some sort of power attached to his name, like the ‘Deplorable Word’ in the Narnia books…
Overall, I’ve been slightly disappointed with season 6, the pacing has been wildly misjudged in quite a lot of the episodes and I really can’t get into the ATL. Not to mention that some of the answers seemed like cop-outs. I hate to say it but I think that Cuse and Lindelof bit off more than they could chew. Either that or they presented us with tonnes of red herrings in an attempt to keep us interested.
Oh, and one more thing; the writers said that Jacob and MiB weren’t conceived until after the first season, which I guess means that Adam & Eve were a retcon.
The Egypt mythology has me hooked, too. I’m almost expecting a resolution of that within the final 3 hours, though. I don’t know why, but I do.
I’m more afraid of the red herring thing than them biting off more than they can chew. There are only so many times they can tease us with revelation before it becomes frustrating.
I don’t mind that Adam & Eve were retconned; at least they explained something about them.
I didn’t read the post entirely so as to avoid spoilers…
But, DAMN>> I must watch LOST this summer. Every1 praises about it so much…
.-= Dk´s last blog ..Capturing The Exam Mood =-.
You really should. When I started watching it, I got hooked and saw the first three seasons in 4 days. Now, take the summer and catch up. It’s by far worth it, even if the finale is probably going to be lacking.