As much as I wanted to write a review immediately after having watched ‘The End’ last night, there is no way I could have. I knew that if I did I would leave out many things that I didn’t have time to process. Even today, 12 hours after LOST concluded, I am still trying to wrap my head around what I watched. I’m sure I won’t touch upon everything that happened, but I’m going to do my best. There are spoilers galore in here, so please be warned. Also, there is no way for this to be a short post, so bear with me as I tackle the finale of LOST.
Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, writers and executive producers of LOST, took the 2 1/2 hours they were given and jam-packed it with reunions, love, loss and confusion. Whether people agree with the way they chose to end the series, they can’t disagree with the fact that “Darlton” (as they are commonly referred to as) took you on a journey that produced many tears and tugged at the heart-strings.
From the beginning of the episode you could tell that there would be much crossover from the island world to the ‘sideways’ world. The show started off with a back-and-forth glimpse of many of our favorite characters in each of their respective worlds. Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), still on his mission of getting all the characters together, didn’t have as big a role as I thought he would in the finale. He succeeded in getting everyone together in the sideways world and he played a role in turning “the light” off on the island. He was presumed dead, but Jack (Matthew Fox) saved him. (More on that later.)
The Man in Black/Smoke Monster/Fake Locke (Terry O’Quinn) was determined to destroy the island in order to leave it and he knew that turning off the light was key to doing just that. After getting Desmond to do the dirty work, he thought he had succeeded. However, apparently by turning the light off, it made everyone capable of dying now. Jack hit Fake Locke with a rock and he bled, something that was impossible prior to the light switching off and Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell), who had been the same age for centuries found his first gray hair.
Fake Locke (I’ll just refer to him as Locke from here on out) managed to escape from Jack after knocking him out cold. While Locke was trying to escape, Jack met him for the last time upon a rocky mountain top. A fight to the death was going to take place and each man was willing to do whatever was necessary to win. Locke stabbed Jack, which left him almost incapacitated. Locke was going in for the kill by trying to stab him in the throat when a gun shot went off into the chest of Locke. Kate (Evangeline Lilly) came to the rescue and once Jack was able to get up, he kicked Locke off the ledge and he plummeted to his death hundreds of feet below.
Kate tried to persuade Jack to leave with her, but his duty was clear to him. They then professed their love for one another and Kate left with Sawyer (Josh Holloway), who even thanked Jack in a sincere manner. Hurley (Jorge Garcia) and Ben (Michael Emerson) said they were sticking with Jack and that is when they headed for the light again. When Desmond turned the light off, by pulling what could only be described as a stopper of some sort out of the light source, he thought that it would save everyone, but instead it was the beginning of the end for the island. Jack thought that by going back and replacing the stopper it would restore the light and save everyone remaining on the island. It didn’t work….at first. As Jack lay there dying, the light eventually came back on and he had accomplished what his duty had always been. He destroyed Locke and protected the island. In a twist, before going down to fix the light, he bestowed his newly Jacob-annointed powers onto Hurley. Using the same words Jacob had said to him, Jack told Hurley, “Now, you are like me.”
Over on Hydra Island, Kate, Sawyer, Richard, Miles (Ken Leung) and Lapidus (Jeff Fahey) were about to take off in the old Ajira plane that had previously been rigged with explosives. After disarming everything and fixing the plane, the group was able to take off and leave for good. This left Hurley, Ben, Desmond and a dying Jack on the island. The only part of this I was confused about was that Hurley and Ben talked about there being another way to get Desmond back as well. Nothing else was ever said about that and Hurley declared Ben as his second in command, giving Ben a true feeling of belonging for probably the first time in his life.
That just about sums up everything that took place on the island in the finale, except for the very last scene which I will discuss in a bit. In the sideways world, Darlton managed to bring together everyone we, as viewers, loved. There were returning cast members (Shannon & Boone!!) and reunions on a massive scale. The romance factor of the episode was grand and were some of the most beautiful scenes I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. Jin and Sun (Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim) were still in the hospital after Sun had been shot in a previous episode. They were waiting for the doctor to come check on the baby when who walks in….Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell)! She was their obstetrician and when she touched Sun, Sun began to recall her island life…and death. Jin grabbed her hand and in that moment he remembered it all as well. Juliet was going to have her moment eventually, but this reunion was all about the lovers who had been kept apart throughout much of the series.
Sawyer came to the hospital to warn the Kwon’s about the disappearance of the man thought to have shot Sun. He came into their room and they had nothing but smiles on their faces as they knew of their past life that included Sawyer, but he did not. He passes Jack in the hospital hallways and he looks as though he is beginning to remember something, but it wasn’t until he crossed paths with Juliet that all became clear. While trying to get candy out of a machine, she appears and when they touch, everything comes flooding back to them of their life together. They are both taken off guard, but the pull between them is undeniable. They embrace and everyone is reminded of the connection and love they shared together.
Sayid (Naveen Andrews), with the help of Hurley and Boone (Ian Somerhalder), is reunited with Shannon (Maggie Grace), his short-lived love from the beginning of the series. I would say this is the least emotional of the reunions, but it was still nice for Sayid to get a happy ending.
The reunion of Claire (Emilie DeRavin) and Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) was iconic and brilliantly executed. After Desmond reunited most of the islanders at a concert featuring Charlie’s band, Drive Shaft, Charlie sees Claire and is fixated on her. He had seen her image in a past episode with Desmond, but now that she is there in person is something all together different. Claire is also reunited with Kate, who she remembers from the taxi ride where Kate pulled a gun on the driver. Claire then begins to go into labor and Kate follows her and helps her deliver Aaron. During the delivery, both women have the flashbacks of their island life when Kate helped Claire deliver Aaron. The emotion was heart wrenching and then in comes Charlie. He wants to help and he eventually remembers as well after touching Claire. Claire and Charlie’s island romance was so pure and innocent and to have them reconnect and remember their island family was incredible.
Locke remembers his island life after Jack successfully performs surgery that results in Locke gaining the use of his legs again. Jack has brief flashes, but refuses to acknowledge them as real. Jack eventually goes to the concert where he believes his son is and he sees Kate. She approaches him and after touching his face, he sees their past life together. He is still having a difficult time coming to terms with what he is seeing, but Kate promises that it will all make sense. Their reunion was seriously lacking, which I found odd. All of the other couples had their embraces, but I am thinking since they had their declaration of love on the island that is why they didn’t have it in the sideways world.
All of the characters end up at a church where Jack’s father’s casket is. Locke runs into Ben outside and Ben apologizes for what he did to Locke in their other life. Ben doesn’t go into the church though, saying he doesn’t think he’s ready. Once Jack goes in, he sees his father out of the casket and speaking to him. The conversation reveals that they are both dead….that everyone is dead. He says that everyone has found their way back to each other and that it was time to “let go.” Jack walks into another room where many of his island friends have gathered to join him in going into “the light.” Sayid & Shannon, Boone, Locke, Hurley & Libby (Cynthia Watros), Jin & Sun, Sawyer & Juliet, Kate, Rose & Bernard (L. Scott Caldwell, Sam Anderson) and Desmond & Penny (Sonya Walger) are all present and reunite with one another before Jack’s father opens the door that leads them to what appears to be a form of heaven.
Finally, the last shot is of Jack back on the island. When we last saw him, he was dying next to “the light” in a cave, but he somehow was moved to near the bamboo area that Jacob had spoken about. Jack lay down, ready to take his last breaths, when Vincent the dog appears and sits by his side as he dies. The final shot is of Jack’s eyes and then a quick shot of Jack’s eye from the pilot episode (the first shot of the series) and it closes.
*Check back for my LOST finale review shortly. The recap was so long that I figured a review should be a separate entry.
Extraordinary Measures
