Big Daddy Gouda

Do series finales ever live up to our expectations? Some are really good (Six Feet Under, The Shield), some are really bad (Seinfeld) and  some are just plain confusing (The Sopranos).

Those are the extremes. But most finales tend to land somewhere in the middle. Which is where I believe last night’s epic LOST finale landed.

Some loved it, some hated, some were confused and some just thought, “meh”.

Personally I loved it. It gave me everything I wanted. It wrapped up the island storyline and even gave us a glimpse (a big glimpse) into the castaways post-island (after) life.

The biggest gripes I’m hearing about the finale is that it did not explain the island. What is it? Why is it? But that was actually one of my favorite things about the finale. I’m glad the writers left it up to the fans to decide what the island truly is.

To put it into perspective: Does CS Lewis ever explain why Narnia is magical? Does the Good Witch ever tell us why Oz is filled with dwarfs and flying monkeys? In Star Wars Obi Wan explains to Luke what The Force is, just as Jacob described to Richard what The Island IS, but never explain WHY. Why can the force be used to move objects. Why can some people control the force while others are unaware of its existence? Why does the island time travel? What makes up the light below?

We will never know the answers to these mysteries and I’m fine with that. I’ve made peace with that. I’ve moved on.

Like fellow Lostie Jay said many years ago, “How are they going to explain everything? Have some guy in  a white coat pop on the screen and say, ‘The reason the island time travels is because…’”

I think the writers gave us enough of a foundation to make up our own minds about why things are the way they are and the rest is up to us. To be debated endlessly on blogs and message boards untill the end of time.

The island action ended perfectly. The way it began. With Jack, the hero. laying in the bamboo field, smiling, watching his friends finally leaving the island, as he lay dying. His purpose fulfilled. His only company, Vincent. The dog who was with him when it began, was with him in the end. Keeping him company until he crossed over. Good Boy.

Do people really not understand the sideways world?

In simplest terms:

Season 1 – They all crashed. All the characters we knew and loved the last 6 years DID NOT DIE HERE! I repeat, they did not die here.

Season 2 – Stuff happened

That was the tv show LOST! It was an adventure about a group of people who were alone, they had no one, they were given a tremendous responsibility, and they were all LOST. In the end, after they saved the world, after they made sacrifices, they were all together –  no longer alone, no longer LOST.

So, yes, I’m at peace with the finale.  I’ve let go of my favorite show ever. But it will live on.  It will live on DVD, repeats on ABC and, of course, Hulu.

Lost has also been a big part of this blog. I started recapping in season two, five years ago, and never looked back.

I’m thankful that LOST gave me something to write about each week. I’m thankful for the fully realized fleshed-out characters who felt like friends. I’m thankful for LOST.

See you in another life, Brutha…

“It only ends once. Everything else is just progress.” – Jacob

I can’t believe it. On Sunday night, after six years, my favorite show of all time comes to a close. Yes, come Sunday at 11:30 p.m. Lost will be over.

I’m not quite ready to reflect on what six years of being a LOST fan has been like to me. As I said to Keely earlier this week, “It’s not just a show to me…I’m invested.”

For anyone that cares I fully plan on having a final LOST blog sometime after the show ends. A blog where I will comment on the overall scope of te show. But, not having seen how this grand adventure ends, I feel it not right to comment just yet.

Instead I will focus on this Sunday’s LOST EVENT.

It all comes down to this. No more speculating. As always, I’ll simply defer to the final episode and allow the writers to tell their story. Afterall, there is nothing we can do about it now.

I  can only hope that the majority of our questions will be answered but more importantly, I hope all our favorite characters, the true driving force behind the show, have satisfying ends to their overall story arcs.Yes, I’m invested. I care about what happens to Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and the rest….even Big Bad Ben, maybe especially Ben.

So I wont curse the GODS if I’m not told who dropped the Dharma Food, or Who Was In The Cabin or why that Parrot once said Hurley’s name in the jungle. I will be annoyed if I don’t find the the fates of our beloved castaways. Will they be happy? Will they live or die? This is the end. The time for cliffhangers is LOOOONG past.

That’s all I really have to say right now. I’ve yet to really decide if I’m going to watch the end with a group of friends or just by myself. All I really know is I’ll be watching. I can’t imagine any fan of the show not watching. And for you non-fans out there: I implore you to either watch or set your DVRs for Saturday night. ABC is showing the original LOST PILOT from 2004. See where it all began. It’s two hours and, as one movie critic said back when it premiered, “If the LOST premiere was shown in movie theaters instead of on TV, it would have been the best movie of the year.”

“Destiny is a fickle bitch.” – Ben Linus speaking to John Locke.

We certainly got some answers last week in Across The Sea.  However, I don’t know that they were quite the answers that we wanted or needed… or that they were offered in the timeframe they needed to be in.

After a staggering episode two weeks ago (The Candidate) that set the stage for a climactic final few episodes, last week’s episode of Lost (“Across the Sea”),  felt like it squandered the taut momentum of the last few episodes, pushing aside the central characters for the backstory of the island’s dueling deities, Jacob  and his Nemesis, the Nameless One  and their mother (Allison Janney).

Casting them aside this late in the game to focus on the mysterious past of two characters we know precious little about seemed doomed to failure, with so few episodes remaining in the series. For an episode that was intended to provide answers–and perhaps closure to some mysteries–it ultimately felt increasingly frustrating and obtuse. Were these stories that needed to be told? Or at least told in this fashion? With so few hours remaining in this grand tapestry, wasn’t it a bit of a waste of yarn at this point?

Wait, say what? After six seasons and countless theories about the nature of the island and its energy source–which had been explored already through the Dharma Stations, the Orientation films, and the groovy 1970s sojourn–the war comes down to who controls this badly rendered special effect?

We learned just what the relationship was between Jacob and his Nemesis (as I predicted, they’re twin brothers!); we learned where they came from (their pregnant, Latin-speaking mother was shipwrecked on the island); we learned who raised them (a solemn woman prone to keeping secrets and weaving things into her hair); we learned who originally constructed the frozen donkey wheel (the Man in Black!); we learned who the skeletons in the cave belonged to (Mother and Man in Black!); and we learned how the Nameless One became the smoke monster (his unconscious body went into the Source and his soul was stripped from his body).

Does it all make sense. I guess. Kind of. The light of all man is on the island for some reason and it must be protected. First by mother and then Jacob and eventually….Jack? Sawyer? Desmond? Once the light goes out then, I dunno the world ends?

Hmm, I guess that’s all I have to say about that.

——————————————

Tonight the actions picks up from two weeks ago when Jin/Sun, Sayid and Lapidus died. There was a special screening of this episode over the weekend and word coming out is that LOST is once again firing on all cylinders. Tonight there will be more death, more anwers and I hear we will finally learn why Kate used to be a candidate but now is not.

Enjoy it folks. This is the last one hour weekly episode of LOST EVER!!! The last one before Sunday’s two-and-a half hour FINALE!!!

First order of business: Rest In Peace  Jin/Sun, Sayid and Lapidus.

The most heartbreaking scene in the show was when the survivors of the sub explosion washed up on the beach and had a good cry. Those who had fallen deserved to be mourned and Hurley did a nice job of expressing what us Lost die-hards were certainly feeling.

The end of the episode is akin to The Empire Strikes Back. The heroes are left decimated and defeated. It looks like the bad guy won. But, the good guys rebounded come Return of the Jedi and eventually balance was restored to the universe.

Me thinks Jack has all he can stands and he can’t stands no more. I for one can’t wait to see how this pans out….

But we will have to wait a week to see the ramifications of the sub explosion because tonight is an episode thousands of years in the making.

Across The Sea tells the story of Jacob and The Man in Black. Every question we have had about them is apparently answered tonight.

I’m about to make some predictions so if you don’t wanna possibly be spoiled then stop reading right now…..STOP

…………………………

Jacob and MIB are brothers. Twin Brothers. They grew up together and somehow ended up on the island. While there MIB became corrupted somehow. Seduced by the darkside possibly? And Jacob assumed the role of island protector and jailor of his evil Twin Brother.

Could it be true? Maybe. Possibly. I guess we’ll see.

I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited for the episode that finally explains the mythology of the island.

Now it’s getting scary.

LOST is in the home stretch like never before. Last week was a repeat. I was a bit annoyed for a second, then I thought about it. There will never be another LOST repeat again. We have three episodes to go before the two-hour season finale on May 23. Then, it’s over. And it only ends once…

Tonight’s episode is called The Candidate. I’ve heard whispers that LOST is balls to the wall from here on out. I’ve also heard that we LOSTIES should have a box of kleenex handy for tonight’s pivotal episode.

Yes, there will be death tonight. And I hear it’s big bad death. Death that will shake us diehards. Remember how we felt when Charlie died? Yeah, it sucked, and we had only spent two years with him. How are we going to feel tonight when some of our favorites bite the dust. Not Good!

I just hope whoever dies, doesn’t just die for the sake of dying. I hope their death serves a purpose and enhances the overall storyline. I hope the death or deaths, matter.

As is the case every time death rears its ugly head on LOST I make predictions. I called Shannon in season 2. I was shocked by Mr Eko in season 3. I called Juliet from last years finale and I almost threw my TV out the window when Faraday bit the dust last year.

I haven’t heard this anywhere, I’m just guessing, but I think tonight will see the end of JIN/SUN. I think Mr. Jin all but sealed the Kwons’ fate last week when, after a teary reunion with his wife, he said, “We’ll never be apart again.” Ugh, I hope I’m wrong. I have a pit in my fat stomach just thinking about it.

Who else could go? Sayeed possibly? Maybe after he redeems himself ala Darth Vader in Return of The Jedi.

The title of tonight’s show is The Candidate. Do we finally find out who The Candidate is? Can it really be anyone else besides Dr Jack Sheppard? Personally I’d be shocked if it was anyone else but him.

This week will set up the end of the show I’m thinking. Major shit will go down and the ramifications will carry us home.

Next week we will see a break in the current action for the LOST episode I may have been waiting six years for: Across The Sea.

Across the Sea. That’s the big one I hear. That’s the one where the island mythology will finally be explained. I’m told that episode focuses on MIB and Jacob and no one else.

• Who are Jacob and The Man in Black?
• Why is Man in Black a smoke monster?
• Why is Jacob the island protector?
• Why does the island time travel and who built the donkey wheel?

I hear all those things will be explained, which would provide us with clear sailing for the final episodes. ominously titled, “What They Died For” and then, fittingly, “The End” (parts 1 &2) shown back to back on May 23 as the Series Finale.

Yes, we’re near the end and those of us who have stuck with this wonderful show will be richly rewarded, that I’m certain of.