My Thoughts on LOST Series Finale

I know I'm officially the last person on Earth to do this, but here's what I think. Don't worry, no serious spoilers until the last section, which will be properly labelled.

I absolutely loved the series finale. I honestly can't think of one thing, not one, that I would change. It was heartbreaking, brilliant, moving, awesome. I just don't understand the haters out there. They baffle me. Everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion, it's just really annoying when they're wrong.

The whole series was an experience I'll never forget. Easily the best thing I've ever seen on television, by a trillion light years the best, and probably tied with the LORD OF THE RINGS movies and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and LES MISERABLES in terms of media / entertainment that affected me on a superhuman level. I'll never forget it, especially the finale, which still haunts me as I write this.

Jack!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Jack. Jackity Jack Jack. Your face in the final scene has made me half depressed and half in awe since your eye closed. And the music! And the writing! And the acting! And the directing! Everything about that finale and the series itself can only be summed up by one word in my (sadly) limited vocabulary. (Hey, I'm just an author.) That word is BRILLIANT.

I can't get over it. I didn't think something could be that good. The writers and creators should be given a special award that no one else ever receives. And that award should be called the YOU'RE MORE BRILLIANT THAN ANYBODY ELSE EVER AWARD. I don't say any of this lightly. I see tons of movies, watch lots of shows, read lots of books. And LOST is one of a kind, a true once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'll never never ever ever forget it.

I'm really glad that we watched it, week by agonizing week, year by agonizing year, from the very first airing of the pilot. That waiting and expecting and speculating was half the fun. We plan on waiting about five years and then watching the whole thing over again with our kids. I can't wait!

SPOILER ALERT

There's a lot of debate out there about what happened in the finale. I think it can be summed up pretty easily. Just like Jack's dad said, everything, every single thing that occured on the island really did happen. It is the heart of the world and in the end Jack saved it. He died to save it. His best friends escaped and lived out happy lives back home. Hurley and Ben safeguarded the island for many many years, maybe centuries. All these people died at different times along an extensive timeline.

Once they did, all at their separate times, their souls entered an alternate reality which they collectively created, their very own Heaven, where past, present, and future are the same. Just like Jack's dad said, "there is no now, here." They all discovered each other once again, in several scenes that I can't imagine have ever been topped in the happy tears department. And then they gathered and went to some special place beyond.

Ben wasn't ready, still had things to atone for. That's why he didn't go.

That's about it. And how incredibly BRILLIANT is it that the very first shot of the series was Jack's eye opening, and the very last was that same eye closing. I know it's simple, but it's just really really awesome, too.

SPOILER ALERT OVER

I don't know what else to say. I'd love to hear any thoughts you guys might have. Even from those who for some reason feel like it's their role in life to tell everyone how stupid LOST is, even though the vast majority of them haven't seen even half the episodes because it got too "complicated." Ya know, some things you just shouldn't admit to people.

Sorry if I sound petty or defensive. I just love this show so much that I feel like it's my kid or something, and it hurts to see people rip on it. And usually they have nothing intelligent to say, just, "Man, that show is so lame. I'm gonna go watch CSI: Kentucky."

And lost in all this (ha, sorry for the pun) is the effect the show has had on my own writing. I took something away from every single episode. The writing, the structure, the plotting, the character development. How they end episodes, even commercial breaks. The visuals. All of it helped my writing more than perhaps any other one identifiable thing.

Which leads to my final thought: to the creative talent of LOST, every one of you, both behind and off the screen, I say thank you. I can only hope that somehow you get neurotic in the middle of the night and google your own show and find this blog post. I can only speak for myself, but you gave me something, a six year experience, that changed my life and will remain with me FOREVER. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!