Last night was the much-anticipated series finale of "Lost." I, too, waited with bated breath to watch the end, gain some closure as it were. Answers? Some. More questions? Definitely. Good TV? Yes, in my opinion.
I have been a steady fan, virtually from the beginning. I remember trying to watch the premiere. But daily life didn't allow me to watch every episode. I liked what I saw, though, and caught up with repeat airings. My sister's family watched, I had friends who watched. LOST always made for good conversation. I enjoy freestanding shows, too. The kind where you just laugh and go about your life. No real brain work required. But I liked that I had to think while watching LOST. Be more of an active participant than just a passive viewer.
But I never blogged about it. Never had any grand theories about it. Only pondered what would happen "next week." I thought I was doing a fairly good job of keeping track of the characters and their backstories. Always kept an eye out for "the numbers" (4-8-15-16-23-42). Tried to see hidden meanings in seemingly trivial background images and props. Didn't miss an episode. Many times I was left scratching my head. Some were better than others, but I can't say that I ever felt there was one that wasn't worth watching.
The enhanced ("pop-up") shows could be helpful. They pointed out some of the big things, just in case you missed it. And I always enjoyed the recaps. Helped get my brain back into LOST mode. Sometimes it was fun to see how much I'd forgotten! (Really? Nathan Fillion was in an episode? How did I miss that‽)
Yesterday I was sure to finish my household chores early in the day. My laptop battery was charged so I could check in with Twitter and chat with my sister and niece. I put on a LOST bracelet I'd bought. (Unfortunately, I'd never quite gotten around to making the Shrinky-Dink earrings I'd planned. Only had six seasons, you know.) I was (figuratively) glued to the TV for four and a half hours. And I loved every minute of it. Action, romance, sci-fi, mythology...filled with fabulous moments.
The end confused me at first, but that didn't make me like it any less. As I checked the message boards, it made more sense. I believe that part of the magic of this show is that it doesn't have to mean the same thing to every viewer. You can take from it what you put into it. But boy, there are people who are terribly upset by the conclusion. Many feel they "wasted six years" watching, and that the writers "copped out" at the end. I disagree.
Some tried, both before and after watching, to compare it to other memorable series finales. Bob waking up next to Emily. BJ's stone "goodbye" to Hawkeye. The group hug and turning off the lights at WJM-TV. Seinfeld's gang in a jail cell. (That one didn't really do much for me.) These seem to have wrapped up their storylines nicely. But really...how did the MASH crew fare stateside? We don't really know what happened to the characters once the cameras were turned off. So why is it so hard for some people to deal with LOST's ending? We know where most of the people are, and can infer that the other "minor" characters followed a similar path. The entire show was mysterious. Should we have expected any less at the end?
First, let's not forget that above all, it's just a TV show. And on free network TV, at that. Sure, we invested time in it, both watching and theorizing. But at least it didn't hit you in the pocketbook like a night at the movies can.
From the beginning, Jack tried to impress upon the group that if they didn't live together, they would die alone. In an odd way, this show brought people together. Not in a kum-ba-yah sort of way. But it got people thinking and talking and sharing. We didn't right any wrongs against humanity, but perhaps we connected in ways we hadn't before. And even though they didn't all die at the same moment, the survivors still found a way to die together.
Who honestly expected or wanted to have everything sewn up in one fell swoop? That would have been out of character for the show. Sure, romantic comedies have the starring couple living happily ever after. A murder mystery might have our hero solve the crime and leave the evildoer in the capable hands of the justice system. Enemies are defeated, lovers are reunited, and all is right with the world. But we all know that's not real life. LOST left questions unanswered and friends unaccounted for. People are imperfect and scarred; sometimes they're redeemed, sometimes not. Even with all of the sci-fi elements we're asked to accept (e.g., time travel, smoke monsters, polar bears), these people were real. A cross-section of humanity. Their experiences weren't necessarily like yours and mine, but they dealt with universal emotions. It was fun trying to keep up with the hidden meanings. But I would have gotten bored with and confused by the mythology if the story didn't revolve around the characters. It's the lives of these people that kept me coming back. I wanted to know where they had been and where they were going, what they were feeling and learning.
You and I may never crash on a freaky island, but we all have a past...and a present...and a future. I'm sad that it's over, but I don't regret watching it one bit. And if you didn't like it, well then I'll just take my Jesus-stick and go home.
No comments:
Post a Comment