So. Thoughts. The truth is, if someone asked me to explain key aspects of the show now that I've seen every episode of every season, I wouldn't be able to. I'm not sure what that says about me, or about LOST. I certainly enjoyed the ride, and it will be fun to re-watch episodes as well as read what other, smarter people have to say about the show. In a way, it's not really over yet because I haven't quite figured it all out. I have no idea what the heck was going on with Desmond this season. I don't really understand who died when and how that all evens out. Widmore kind of fell off the face of the map at the end there, too. I was so excited to see him revealed as Not A Bad Guy After All but it never really happened. Are we just supposed to assume it took place off-camera?
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's what I didn't like about the series finale.
After about the twentieth long-lost love reunion, it got to feeling a little bit too much like "This Is Your Life." I was genuinely moved by Sun and Jin's resolution and I thought it was so nice that out of all the romances that have popped up over the course of the show, LOST chose to give special treatment to what I consider to be the most enduring one. And then all those other romances got "special" treatment, too, which cheapened it. Seriously, Sayid and Shannon? They were together for like two episodes, about 735 episodes ago. Yawn.
But speaking of enduring romance like Sun/Jin, where was our Desmond/Penny payoff? Do they think we all got enough of that back at the end of Season 5? FYI, LOST, there can never be enough Desmond/Penny. Never.
I also felt like they completely ignored the Kate/Jack/Sawyer love triangle until this last episode. We could have used some build-up there for sure. That said, I'm glad Kate and Jack ended up together.
Now, here's what I loved. On the whole, all of the above are minor quibbles. I know some people thought the finale was too sappy, but I appreciated some of that sap. Specifically, I liked the plots where Jack was operating on Locke, and how Kate delivered Claire's baby, again.
I also absolutely LOVED the symmetry of the beginning of the series and the end of the series. Right down to the location of Jack's (mortal, in the end) wound. I thought that was a fantastic visual sequence.
Even more than that, though, I loved that LOST maintained its theme of redemption all the way to the end. I have always felt that redemption is one of the main ideas of the show and the finale proved me right. It did a good job of comparing the characters as they are now to how they were at the beginning of Season 1, and the contrast between the two is a joy to consider.
What are your thoughts, now that it's all over? Can anyone explain to me...well, anything?