Opinion
Coming to Grips with Forever Being Lost
Matt Kiebus :: Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 4:30 pm
It’s taken a few days to finally sink in, but after Tuesday night came and went without a bald man turning into a smoke monster or a Scotsman driving his car over people in wheelchairs I came to grips with Lost ending. The two and a half hour finale was vintage Lost – great action sequences, human emotion, a lot of questions, a couple answers, a reunion, and a shit load of rain.
So after six years of waiting for answers, we weren’t really given any. The island remains a mystery, and so does the importance of Walt, the polar bear, and the island’s healing power. Just to name a few. Lost has always been a show that asked more questions than it answered. And the finale was no different.
ABC dedicated their entire Sunday of programming into what can only be described as my friend described, “It feels like some mutant combination of the Super Bowl and Harry Potter 7’s release.” Five hours of coverage of the Lost? Awesome. So I treated it with the same reverence that kind of event deserved. I preceded the show with a great meal out of the town, and post gamed with some Bud heavy. If that doesn’t give you an idea of how seriously I take Lost than I don’t know what could.
Days after the show has ended I find myself wondering was it worth it? Granted Lost is only a TV show, but those 45 or so minutes every week were mush different than watching an episode of Reba, or CSI. Over the years I became emotionally invested in the show, just as any other true fan. I talked about characters as if they were on my beer league softball team. Weird? One could probably argue that, but the mysteries of the plot along with the character based drama made me care. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one.
I am frustrated that all my questions weren’t answered, very few ever were. But the finale didn’t disappoint. When each character reconnected in the sideways flash the audience got to re-experience some of the greatest moments in Lost history.
An eighth of the epic episode was probably spent on each character flashing back to moments that made the series great, the moments that made us keep watching. It was a perfect bookend to the series. A series that acted as an action, comedy, adventure, mystery, sci-fi thrill ride that changed the way we watch TV. Hell, it basically spoiled us.
As the show wound down and the commercials every seven minutes grew frustrating I began to wonder what is ever going to fill this void? Months after I finished watching The Wire David Simon’s excellent Treme started up. I started watching Lost after The Sopranos. But I’m clueless of how to fill this emotional and TV schedule gap in my life, and V sure as shit isn’t going to cut it.
Maybe I’ll re-watch the series, like I re-read the Harry Potter books. But for now I can’t stop thinking about Jack stumbling over to the bamboo field, back to where it all started. Jack went to die at the same place where he finally woke up, where his life truly began. He was satisfied and fulfilled. As the yellow lab, Vincent (the best cameo of the episode), lay down next to him and Jack closed his eye I felt the same way.
The polar bear was from an experiment of the Dharma Initiative, hence the cages.
Posted by: LOSTFAN22 May 26th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Cried Sunday watching it then cried again when I re-watched in on Hulu
Posted by: Alex May 26th, 2010 at 10:24 pm