LOST–Two Years Later

               This is what I still remember.
            The
man in the middle of the woods opening his eyes and wondering where he was.
            The
crazy beach scene from Hell involving a bunch of bloodied and disoriented
survivors of a plane crash. Not just any crash, either, but a crazy crash where
the plane rips apart over an ocean.
             All these strange and different people
figuring out what happened and how to survive in a tropical paradise.
            The
man with an orange in his mouth looking like he might be spending a weekend in
a spa resort.
            The
dog.
            The
noise in the jungle.
            The
black smoke.
            The
pilot.
            Oh,
and that’s just all in the pilot.
            From
the wonderfully crazy WHAT THE #%&! opening to the incredible scenery to
the emotional heart of Michael Giacchino’s magnificent score, ABC’s Lost was a once in a lifetime series. It took me by
surprise and never let go. Even when it ended two years ago in an
emotionally-satisfying finale, it still didn’t leave me.
            Like
so many great stories, I still think of those characters. Not all the
unanswered questions but all the wonderful characters.
            Life
is full of unanswered questions. Every hour of every day, there’s a hundred
questions I’d love answered. That’s life.
            Lost
was a journey about a bunch of wrecked and
broken people brought together by supernatural forces. All those great moments
of what’s going on meant
something because we cared for the characters so much. Jack. Locke. Hurley.
Kate. Sawyer. The list goes on.
            When
the show finally ended, I cried. Sure I did. I didn’t want to say goodbye.
            It
reminded me of another epic story full of characters I didn’t want to say
goodbye to. Stu. Fran. Larry Underwood. Nick. Tom.
            If
those names don’t mean a thing to you . . . well, I don’t really know what to
say. 
            This
life is full of diverse characters all on different journeys. When we meet and
care for those people, the hardest thing to say in life is goodbye.  
            Damon
Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, and the rest of the Lost writers did a wonderful thing with Lost. They made us care about the characters. They made us
love the journey. And in the end, they allowed us to say goodbye.
            Did
their plan work?
            In
my mind, yes, it did.
            Jack’s
redemption was enough for me. I could have gone six seasons watching that story
alone. But they gave us so many more satisfying and hopeful moments of resolution
and redemption that made Lost so
amazing.
            The
mythology makes it fun and clever and confusing. Sure, there are lots of red
herrings. There are twists and turns and teases. There are clever ploys and
interesting plays on how to tell the story.
            But
in the end, it was about those characters.
            Two
years after the finale, I still feel as strongly as I did when the show ended.
            I
love Lost and hope to find the time to
rewatch all six seasons.
            Not
in order to discover the true secret of Hurley’s numbers or the true science
behind Smokey.
            No.
I just want to get back on board with the passengers of Oceanic 815 and take
that wild and satisfying ride one more time. 

5 Comments

  1. I cried, too! I have heard criticism that questions weren't being answered & it got too wierd. It wasn't about that. it was about humanity, faith & the beauty & irony in life. I watched for the journey. Sometimes there doesn't have to be answers. Lost will never be over b/c it is timeless

  2. This is a beautiful post, and I loved reading it because you had pretty much an identical experience with LOST as I did.

  3. Lost, to me, also defied what it means to be sci-fi where it showed personal struggles between timeless faith and modern-minded science, along with a dash of God's ironic humor.

  4. I believe I fell in love with Stu Redman… and again with Jack…

  5. It was interesting to read your thoughts on Lost. My wife and I watched the first 3 seasons on TV but then life got busy and broadcast TV kind of went by the wayside. We've been re-watching them on DVD and just finished the final episode last night. I'm still in the process of digesting it all, particularly the fact that the 'alternate timeline' of season 6 was not at all what I thought it was, but I must say it was a very satisfying end. It did everything that the ending of a novel is supposed to do.

    Also, you are absolutely right about the characters. The mythology of the show was incredible and made it very entertaining, but the quality of the characters was just as important. I'm going to miss them all.

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