Trying to analyze the last chapter of LOST is a daunting task. To be honest, it is hard to figure out where to begin. Typically, I’ll go through an episode scene by scene, but I don’t think I can start at the beginning this week. In order to put the episode into proper context, I’m going to have to start at the end and then go back through the rest of the episode. Please keep in mind that this episode (and the whole series for that matter) is left open to interpretation....so this is just one man’s opinion. Here goes....
I believe it is safe to conclude that all the events on the island, from the crash of Oceanic 815 to Jack closing his eye at the end of the episode are all real.....it is Jack’s life. I’ve seen several comments around the internet that say this episode proved that they all died in the crash. This is absolutely incorrect. Christian says to Jack, “I’m real. You’re real. Everything that’s every happened to you is real.” This tells me that everything we have seen on the series (with one exception I’ll explain later) has been real....until we get to this season’s flash-sideways. The flash sideways represent a sort of staging area you go to when you die. I’ve seen some people categorize it as Purgatory, but I don’t think that is quite right. Note that when Jack walks into the church at the end of the episode, the room Christian’s coffin is in has symbols of multiple faiths (most obvious is the stained glass window immediately behind Christian)....Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc. This suggests that the conclusion is not part of a single religion’s dogma, but one that is inclusive of all faiths. All paths lead to this same destination. So it is not specifically Purgatory, but rather a place where you ready yourself for whatever comes next (Heaven, Nirvana, whatever).
Also, this staging area is a place that exists independent of time. When you die does not correspond to when you arrive there. As Christian says to Jack, “Everyone dies sometime, kiddo. Some of ‘em before you....some.....long after you.” Also, my interpretation is that this conclusion is not how all people’s transitions must occur. It is just how this specific group of people must move on. I’ll get into more on this later...specifically looking at who was there in the church and who was not.
Also, I know that many fans feel cheated that they did not receive explicit answers to many questions. But I think the point is that while these mysteries were important to the history of the island, they were tangential to the story arc of this group of characters. As I go through the episode, I’ll try to tackle some of those mysteries. For the big ones that don’t have relevance to this episode, I’ll take an educated guess at some of the big mysteries at the end of the write-up, based on the perspective of the entire series.
So with that, let’s get into the details of the final episode of LOST.
The opening scene really set the tone for the rest of the episode. A musical montage (a staple of Season 1) showing Christian’s coffin being loaded off an Oceanic airline flight, interspersed with our characters in both the Main Timeline and the Flash-Sideways. Note how in the end, the location of Christian’s “funeral” will be the place of reunion for our Losties and provide the connection between the two “timelines” we have been watching this season. While I could analyze every frame of this scene and pull out some nuggets, I think the real point was to establish the emotional tone of the episode.
As the montage ends, the coffin arrives at the church....the same church that we saw in Season 5, which housed the Lamp Post Station that Eloise Hawking used to help return the Oceanic 6 to the island. Keep in mind that the Lamp Post was a reference to C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia”. In that series, the Lamp Post represents a marker for the place between our world and Narnia. Here in the Sideways of LOST, the Lamp Post/church represents the place between our world and the afterlife.
Desmond tells the driver delivering the coffin that he can sign for it.
DRIVER: You work here?
DESMOND: I do indeed, brother.
DRIVER: You a priest or something?
DESMOND: Or something.
This was a clever little call back to Desmond’s days as a monk. But it also got me thinking about Desmond’s interesting history. He has been a monk, a soldier, a prisoner, a sailor, and a father. You could make a case that each of these experiences prepared Desmond for his time on the island...and his role in the end game. A man of faith, a warrior, a captive, an adventurer, and a protector. He needed to take each of these paths to fulfill his destiny.
Desmond returns to Kate in the car. After a little meta-banter on the name “Christian Shephard”, Kate complains that Desmond won’t even tell her why she is here:
DESMOND: No one can tell you why you’re here, Kate....certainly not me.
KATE: You’re the one who brought me here.
DESMOND: I’m not talking about the church. I’m talking about here.
KATE: Who are you? What do you want?
DESMOND: My name is Desmond Hume. And even though you don’t realize it, I’m your friend. And, as for what I want....I want to leave.
KATE: Leave and go where?
DESMOND: Let me show you.
This is the first example of some very strong writing in the episode. When you look at it now, with the full knowledge of the end of the episode, it is obvious what Desmond is talking about. But on first viewing, you would be more likely to conclude that Desmond is talking about the split timeline and trying to get back to the island and his life with Penny. (Looking back, I find the entire Sideways story very much like “The Sixth Sense”....it was right there in front of us all along...but we couldn’t see it until the very end).
I can’t believe I fell for the “Come back to my church, so I can show you my coffin” pick-up line.
We switch back to the island with Jack wading in the stream where Jacob had left him. Sawyer wants to find out what’s going on: “Well, Doc, how about you come down off the mountaintop and tell us what the hell the burning bush had to say for itself.” (Sawyer was in vintage form this episode.) Jack gathers Kate, Hurley and Sawyer together and tells them what he believes they need to do. The group discusses if Desmond is key to the plan, based on what Sayid told them on the sub:
JACK: Jacob didn’t say anything to me about Desmond.
SAWYER: Doesn’t sound like he said anything about anything.
HURLEY: That’s kinda of true, dude. He’s worse than Yoda.
The “Star Wars” reference is a nice reminder that we are in a grand mythology and that heroes must find their path for themselves....it can’t be provided by the sage. Luke Skywalker....not Obi-Wan. Frodo....not Gandalf. Harry Potter.....not Dumbledore. Jack, and his friends, must be the ones to find a way to defeat evil in this mythology.
Sawyer volunteers to go get Desmond so the rest of the group can head to the cave. Before he goes, he says to Kate:
SAWYER: I’d ask you along, but that’d take all of the fun out me telling you, you can’t come.
KATE: Uh, I guess I’ll just have to resist the urge to follow you anyway.
This was a nice nod to the fact that throughout the series Kate, for better or worse, always followed the rest of team when asked to stay behind. As Sawyer departs, Hurley channels his inner Jedi: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Don’t worry Hurley....the force is with you (or will be soon enough).
We switch back to the Sideways, where we find Hurely and Sayid outside of a motel. Hurley appears to have full knowledge of what is going on, but Sayid thinks he is crazy.
HURLEY: None of this is ringing a bell, is it? You me, tranquilizer gun?
Hurley is referring to the beginning of Season 5, when Sayid and he were attacked at a motel by men with tranq-guns. Sayid suggests that he may leave, but Hurley tells him, “...that’s your choice. But, if you stick with me....you’ll be happy you did.” Interesting that the ability to move on is part of a choice. I somewhat question the concept of choice here, though, as a few moments later, Charlie Pace is hit with a tranq-dart when he refuses to go with Hurley. Similarly, it didn’t seem that Locke had much of a choice when Desmond ran him down. But....I’ll let it slide. The one thing I really liked about this scene was the expression of happiness on Hurley’s face at seeing his very good friend, Charlie. They’ve been separated for a long time (we don’t know if Hurley served as island protector for 10 years or 10,000 years)...so it was good to see them reunited, even if Charlie doesn’t get it yet.
Of course I’m drinking! Flash Forward was cancelled.
We return to the island, where Kate asks Jack why he took Jacob’s job:
JACK: I took it because the island’s all I’ve got left. It’s the only thing in my life I haven’t managed to ruin.
KATE: You haven’t ruined anything. Nothing is irreversible.
This last statement is a repeat of a line from the Season 6 Premiere “LA X” when Jack is asking Locke about is back injury. Here is what I wrote about it after that episode:
....the line that will end up defining the “reset” story is when Jack says, “Nothing is irreversible.” Damn....he may not know it yet, but he isn’t just talking about Locke’s spine. He could be talking about the crash...the bomb....even the island being on the bottom of the ocean. Remember that line. It is important.
Well, I was right that it was important, but for all the wrong reason. At the time, I (among millions) was under the belief that the Sideways timeline was a reality created when the hydrogen bomb was detonated (I’ll talk about the bomb a little later). As it turns out, “nothing is irreversible” is more about redemption...a central theme of the series (and common to many mythologies). Whatever mistakes you make in your life, they can be erased by a single act of good. It worked for Anikan Skywalker, it worked for Severus Snape, and it can work for Sayid, Ben, Sawyer, Jack....or any of our Losties.
We switch to Sawyer watching Flocke at the well, where Desmond was supposed to be. Ben pulls a gun on Sawyer from behind. Flocke is surprised at how much Sawyer knows about his plans for Desmond, but seems unconcerned....even when he manages to turn the tables on Ben and get away.
BEN: You’re not gonna go after him?
FLOCKE: I don’t need to.
BEN: When you said you were gonna destroy the island, I thought you were speaking figuratively.
FLOCKE: Because I said I’d leave you in charge once I was gone? I’m sorry if I left out the part about the island being on the bottom of the ocean. That being said, you’re welcome to join me on my boat. Because once we get Desmond to do, what we need him to do, I’m going to sail away from this godforsaken place and watch it sink.
So even at this late stage of the show, the writers are still throwing misdirection at us, letting us believe that the sunken island we saw in the Sideways timeline is still a possible outcome for the main timeline.
Flocke notices some dog tracks at the base of the well and the scene changes to Rose and Bernard’s camp. They, along with Vincent, rescued Desmond. After a little catching up, Rose lays it out for Desmond:
ROSE: Desmond, I don’t mean to be rude, but after you eat, I’m gonna ask you to move on. We broke our rule with you.
DESMOND: What rule is that?
ROSE: We don’t get involved. Whatever got you tossed inside the well....that’s the kind of drama Bernard and I don’t want to have anything to do with.
A couple of things struck me about this exchange. Notice that Rose asks Desmond to “move on”....a little bit of foreshadowing of the events that will occur later in the Sideways. Clever too, that this line is delivered by Rose....the one person who faced their mortality (before arriving on the island) and made peace with it. Also, notice the reference to their “rules”. Again, I think this is an indication that anyone can make rules (as we will learn more about later)....but when you break them, there are consequences.
And in this case the penalty is a visit from Flocke. Once he threatens Rose and Bernard, Desmond agrees with go with him.
No...I think you better stick with decafe.
Meanwhile Miles is trying to contact Ben on his walkie-talkie (Ben’s not answering for fear of Flocke finding out) to let him know that he found Richard alive. (I knew they couldn’t kill Richard that abruptly.) When Richard comes to, he is immediately back on task and wants to blow up the Ajira plane.
Next we switch to Sideways-Miles, who sees Sayid at the site of the concert and alerts Detective Ford to get to the hospital to protect Sun (a witness to the shootout Sayid was arrested for). Notice that a SWAT team doesn’t descend upon the area....there is no APB to find the escaped convicts. Recapture of Sayid (and Kate for that matter) doesn’t matter. All that matters is that James Ford gets to the hospital.
At the hospital, Sun and Jin get a visit from an OB/GYN.....Juliet Carlson (Carlson was Juliet’s maiden name in the main timeline). Although Sun and Jin can neither speak nor understand English, Juliet tries to communicate to them that she is going to perform an ultrasound. As she begins the procedure, Juliet’s words and actions are a near exact repeat of those from Season 3’s “D.O.C.” Sun instantly flashes to that scene. She tells Jin that she remembers, but Jin doesn’t know what she is talking about, until....Jin sees the ultrasound of his child. The memories flood in to both of them....recalling moments of their time together on the island, their reunion, and their final moments in the sub.
JULIET: Would you like to know if it’s a boy or girl?
SUN [in English]: It’s a girl.
JULIET: Yeah.
JIN [in English]: Her name is Ji Yeon.
JULIET: That’s a lovely name....and for the record, y-you two speak English just fine.
The switch from Korean to English was a really nice touch. Notice though that their flashback includes their death scene. Instead of filling them with fear or confusion, there is happiness and understanding. This should have been our first clue as to what was going on.
Oh, I’m not a doctor....but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
We return to the island story where Sawyer catches up with Team Jack and gives them the news that someone let Des out of the well.
SAWYER: So, if we can find him before Smokey can--
JACK: It doesn’t matter if we find Desmond or he does, James. We’re all going to the same place anyway.
SAWYER: Then what?
JACK: Then it ends.
Jack’s statement that they are “...going to the same place...” has a double meaning. Yes, they are heading to the cave, but it also applies to the events in the Sideways.....they are all heading to the church and what lies beyond. And whether we are talking about the cave or the church, when they the get there it indeed ends.
Back in the Sideways, Jack greets Locke, who has been prepped for surgery. Here is another case (like Miles’ sighting of Sayid) where things don’t happen like they do in the real world. Locke just arrived at the hospital that morning to say he wants the surgery...and instantly, they have an OR ready for him and Jack has nothing else on his calendar to do. That’s because the only thing that matters is that Jack fix Locke.
LOCKE: Are you sure this is going to work?
JACK: Yes. I’m very confident that it will.
LOCKE: Really?
JACK: Well, there’s always the chance that I could kill you...but, I’m trying to make you feel better.
This last statement is rather inappropriate for a doctor to say, and he even laughs. This has to be Jack’s subconscious recalling the events on the island and his attempts to kill Flocke.
LOCKE: Okay. Okay, let’s do it.
JACK: All right. I’ll see you on the other side.
Another blatant clue thrown at us that they are meeting again in the afterlife.
Returning back to the island, Miles and Richard are loading up an outrigger to head to Hydra island. Miles plucks a grey hair from Richard’s head and hands it to him.
MILES: What are you smiling about?
RICHARD: I think I just realized that I wanna live.
The appearance of the grey hair must be due to the death/disappearance of Jacob....the aging process that was once on hold, now resumes. I interpret the reaction to the hair to be that one can only appreciate how precious life is once you recognize that it does not last forever. More on Richard later.
I need to get to that plane. There is no more DHARMA Hair Color For Men left on the island.
And speaking of wanting to live, who should Miles and Richard find on their way to Hydra Island, but “Chesty” himself....Frank Lapidus. Immediately, we learn that the reason Frank has been around all season long is not to die in subs or blow up planes...but to instead to fly them the hell out of there: “In case you haven't noticed, I'm a pilot.”
Back on the main island, Team Jack and Team Flocke intersect at on the way to the cave. Kate immediately opens fire on Flocke, yelling “You killed them!” To which Flocke calmly replies: “You might wanna save your bullets.” (Executive Producer/Writer Damon Lindelof once wrote that Americans “like it when characters have pithy catchphrases” and this Locke line sets up a really good one later in the episode.)
Flocke goes immediately to Jack:
FLOCKE: So it's you.
JACK: Yeah. It's me.
FLOCKE: Jacob being who is, I expected to be a little more surprised. You're sort of the obvious choice.
Flocke is of course speaking for the audience who saw Jack as Jacob’s replacement coming from 3 seasons away.
JACK: He didn't choose me. I volunteered.
FLOCKE: I assume you're here to stop me.
JACK: I can't stop you. In fact, I uh, wanna go with you.
FLOCKE: I'm sorry, Jack. I think you're a little confused about what I came here to do.
JACK: No I'm not. No, you're going to the far side of the bamboo forest. To the place that I've sworn that I'll protect. And then you think you're gonna destroy the island.
FLOCKE: I think?
JACK: That's right. Because that's not what's gonna happen.
FLOCKE: Then what's gonna happen, Jack?
JACK: I'm gonna kill you.
FLOCKE: How do you plan to do that?
JACK: That's a surprise.
I really like this exchange. Not because it has deep meaning, but because it represents the point where Flocke/MIB/Smokey, goes from being the man pulling the strings to the one being played. Jack is now in charge.....confident and in control. Maybe Jack is bluffing, but we know from the Season 2 episode “Lockedown” that Jack Shephard is a poker player. And poker is one game where you don’t need the best cards to win.
We switch back to the hospital where Jack and Juliet interact for the first time in the Sideways. When David, Jack’s Sideways son, arrives, it is revealed that Juliet is his mother and Jack’s ex-wife. I called this one way back in “Lighthouse” (for those of you keeping track at home that is one right....everything else wrong). So, this may be as good of a point as any to talk about David. Later in the episode Locke says to Jack, “You don’t have a son”, and this is true. So what is David? My interpretation is that David is a self-projection of Jack himself, to help him reconcile the bad relationship he had with Christian. Jack has repaired the relationship with David in a way that Christian was never able to do with Jack....and maybe that makes Jack’s reunion with Christian easier at the end of the episode. So, what about Juliet’s connection to David? Juliet is a fertility specialist who never had children of her own. Perhaps David is filling a void until she can be reunited with James.
And we get a close call in that regard....as Juliet leaves for the concert with David, she passes Sawyer, who is exiting an elevator...looking for the Sun.
Back on the island, the Team Jack and Team Flocke continue their march to the cave. As they approach the bamboo forest, Flocke suggests that only Jack, Desmond and he should go the rest of the way....Jack agrees. Hurley stop Jack and tells him, “....I believe in you, dude.” It is a nice gesture, but, more importantly, it is a line that will be revisited later in the episode.
As they move into the forest, some thunder crashes and Locke notes, “Gonna be a bad one.” Throughout the series rain has often been an indicator of significant events, sometimes associated with danger and death. The fact that a bad storm is coming (was also noticed by Richard earlier) portends something really big coming.
As Flocke prepares for heading into the cave, Jack and Desmond engage in one of the key pieces of dialogue, in the episode:
DESMOND: This doesn't matter, you know.
JACK: Excuse me?
DESMOND: Him destroying the island, you destroying him. It doesn't matter. You know, you're gonna lower me into that light, and I'm gonna go somewhere else. A place where we can be with the ones we love, and not have to ever think about this damn island again. And you know the best part, Jack?
JACK: What?
DESMOND: You're in this place. You know, we sat next to each other on Oceanic 815. It never crashed. We spoke to each other. You seemed happy. You know, maybe I can find a way to bring you there too.
JACK: Desmond, I tried that once. There are no shortcuts, no do-overs. What happened, happened. Trust me, I know. All of this matters.
Desmond’s assessment of the Sideways is based on his experience earlier this season in “Happily Ever After”. However, what Desmond seems to be interpreting as an alternate universe (as we all are), is actually death. I believe that when Widmore placed Desmond in the electromagnetic box, he had a near-death experience. But, he was awakened in the main-timeline before Sideways-Desmond achieved the full understanding of what was happening to him.
Jack on the other hand has it right....”there are no do-overs”. When the bomb was detonated, it did not create a reset. The result of the Jughead explosion was exactly as Miles had called it.....it caused the incident that led to the Swan Station containment system being built. It also delivered the Losties back to the correct time. And this is one thing that I am very happy about. I never liked the idea of the Losties being the “variables” that could change the past. I was always on the “whatever happened, happened” side. And now we have confirmation that this was true. The Losties ALWAYS detonated the bomb in 1977. The button ALWAYS had to be pushed. Oceanic 815 ALWAYS crashed. As Jack says, “All of this matters.” The island is real and the choices they make have real world consequences.
Jack, Desmond and Flocke proceed into the cave.
We next switch back to the Sideways, where Hurley and Sayid are waiting in the Hummer outside of a bar. Sayid wants to know why they are there, but Hurley tells him that there are rules (hmmm.....who makes the rules in the Sideways?) and that they need to trust each other.
SAYID: And what, may I ask, have I done to deserve your trust?
HURLEY: I think you're a good guy, Sayid. You know, a lot of people have told you that you're not. Maybe you've heard it so many times you started believing it. You can't let other people tell you what you are, dude. You have to decide that for yourself.
SAYID: I'm sorry. You clearly don't know anything about me.
HURLEY: I know a lot about you, dude.
This absolution is important. Sayid has internalized the sins of his past and believes there is no good within him. From the very beginning, when they first talked on the island....Hurley saw in Sayid what he could not see in himself: “You're okay. I like you.” And now, as the end approaches, Hurley is there to remind Sayid that there IS good in him.
And Sayid gets to show it. A fight breaks out outside the bar and a woman, revealed to be Shannon, is pushed to the ground. Sayid gets out of the car, subdues the man who assaulted her and helps her up. They both flash to their time together on the island and they kiss.
This was a rather interesting choice by the writers. Throughout the show, Nadia was portrayed as the love of Sayid’s life....and they were even married. Shannon and Sayid were really only together for a few weeks. But, one could argue that it isn’t the amount of time you spend with a person that matters, but rather what you do with that time. Perhaps Shannon was really the great love of Sayid’s life. If not, it was a nice way to bring her back onto the show.
As Sayid and Shannon are awakening, Boone greets Hurley at the car....already “awakened” and in on the plan. Recall that Locke had a sweat-lodge/drug-induced vision of the already dead Boone on the island in the Season 3 episode, “Further Instructions”. I went back and re-watched that scene and while you can’t make a direct connection between Sideways-Boone and Ghost-Boone, there are some parallels one can draw regarding the dead helping other Losties.
Back on the island, Ben walkies Miles and they catch up on each other’s status. Miles informs Ben that they are heading to the plane to prepare it for flight and that they need to get back to Hydra island. Claire emerges from the jungle, and after a little gun play, refuses to join them in departing the island.
Inside the cave, Jack and Flocke lower Desmond into falls where the light is coming from.
LOCKE: This remind you of anything Jack?
JACK: What?
LOCKE: Desmond going down into a hole in the ground. If there was a button down there to push, we could fight about whether or not to push it. It'd be just like old times.
JACK: You're not John Locke. You disrespect his memory by wearing his face, but you're nothing like him.
This was an interesting exchange. I find it curious that Flocke likes to recall memories from John Locke. It really begs the question of exactly what Flocke is. The consensus opinion is that MIB was transformed into the Smoke Monster and then took on the form of John Locke. I’ll talk a little bit about my thoughts on Smoke Monster in general, but I actually prefer to think of the Smoke Monster as a supernatural entity (“evil incarnate” as Dogan called it) who has absorbed the memory of both MIB and John Locke. I believe the reason that he acted like MIB for so long is that this was the only person it had absorbed to that point. Once he took on John Locke’s form, his personality became an amalgam of both MIB and Locke....with MIB remaining dominant. But this is a perfect example of something we will never get a clear answer on. It is left intentionally ambiguous, so you can take any interpretation of the monster that you choose. But Jack’s opinion of the monster is quite clear and I love his defense of Locke:
JACK: Turns out he was right about most everything. I just wish I could've told him that while he was still alive.
LOCKE: He wasn't right about anything, Jack. And when this island drops in to the ocean, and you drop with it, you're finally gonna realize that.
JACK: Well, we just have to see which one of us is right then.
You know Jack....this will be good practice if they ever bring back “Battle of the Network Stars”.
Up until John Locke’s death, Jack and Locke were the opposing forces among the Oceanic survivors. Jack (the man of science) and Locke (the man of faith). Always at conflict, until Locke’s death. Notice now that he is gone, the monster may have assumed Locke’s form, but Jack is channeling his soul.
We switch back to the Sideways and to the site of the much-anticipated concert. As Juliet, David and Claire are getting ready to enter, Juliet gets a call from the hospital....where her destiny awaits.
Backstage, Charlie gets woken up by Charlotte, who is trying to get the band together for the show. Charlotte also runs into Daniel...but they do not flash to the island. I interpret this to mean that they are not quite ready to “move on”. We saw in the episode “Happily Ever After” that Sideways-Daniel has some understanding of his other life, but he just has not made the right connection with Charlotte to complete the picture. Daniel and Charlotte do have some physical contact (a handshake) in this scene, but it just isn’t enough to bring the memories.
When David and Claire find their table (23....one of the numbers), they find Desmond and Kate there. Claire and Kate recognize each other from their contact earlier this season in the Sideways. Before they can catch up, Dr. Pierre Chang (in a nice cameo) introduces the performers....Daniel Widmore and Drive Shaft. Notice that the posters for the concert refer to it as “fusion”....meaning a combining of different forms of music (rock and classical)....but it can also apply to the bringing together of the Losties....merging the two realities. As the band begins to play, Charlie makes eye contact with Claire (the girl he saw when he was choking on the heroin bag in “LA X”)....and her contractions begin.
We return to the cave, where Desmond has been lowered to the bottom. There he passes some human skeletal remains before finding the source of the light. A glowing pool of water with a stone in the center. Desmond enters the pool, in agonizing pain from the electromagnetism, and removes the stone from the center.....which is essentially acting a drain plug (An interesting side note is that writing on the plug has been identified on Lostpedia as a form of Cuneiform script....one of the oldest forms of writing, used between 5000BC and 1000BC). The water drains and the light is extinguished.
This is much more comfortable than it looks.
So let’s pause here for a minute to talk about the light. While we have been told that the light is: “Life, death, rebirth....It's the source, the heart of the island”, we don’t really know what it means or how it works. And I know that some people will hate this answer, but....it doesn’t matter. The light is a MacGuffin. See the following explanation from Wikipedia:
A MacGuffin is a plot element that catches the viewers' attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction. The defining aspect of a MacGuffin is that the major players in the story are (at least initially) willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to obtain it, regardless of what the MacGuffin actually is. In fact, the specific nature of the MacGuffin may be ambiguous, undefined, generic, left open to interpretation or otherwise completely unimportant to the plot. (Examples might include money, victory/glory, survival, a source of power, a potential threat, etc....or something entirely unexplained.)
The MacGuffin is common in films, especially thrillers. Commonly, though not always, the MacGuffin is the central focus of the film in the first act, and later declines in importance as the struggles and motivations of characters play out. It usually comes back into play at the climax of the story, but sometimes the MacGuffin is actually forgotten by the end of the film.
This description works for what we know about the light (and the nature of the island itself). It is simply a device that drives the story. The less we know about it the more interesting it becomes. One of my favorite MacGuffins is the briefcase from “Pulp Fiction”. The contents are never revealed to the audience, but it drives the story. To find out what is inside would not be nearly as interesting to know as the speculation that surrounded it, ranging from the diamonds from “Reservoir Dogs” or Marsellus Wallace’s soul. The same goes for the light on the island. We know it is important, we know it is connected to human existence, we know that someone must protect it.....but what it is doesn’t matter.
Back in the cave, the Island begins to shake and the hole from which the light was emanating is now glowing a volcanic red. Desmond screams “No!” and Flocke views this as victory: “It looks like.....you were wrong. Goodbye, Jack.” Jack chases Flocke out of the cave, tackles him and punches him in the face. Flocke is shocked to find that his mouth is bleeding. Jack smiles at this as says, “Looks like you were wrong, too.”
Okay....okay.....I’ll give you my lunch money.
So, why can Flocke be injured? Originally, I thought it was because Jacob was gone, but then I remembered that Kate tried to shoot Flocke earlier in the day. Clearly, Flocke’s ability to be injured has to do with the extinguishing of the light....which was also the source of the Smoke Monster.
Flocke knocks out Jack with a rock and takes off.
We switch back to the concert, where backstage Claire has gone into labor. Kate finds her and helps her to a couch.
Meanwhile, Eloise Widmore (aka Hawking) sits down next to Desmond. Ms. Hawking always adds some interesting, thought provoking dialogue and this is no exception:
ELOISE: I thought I made it clear that you were to stop this.
DESMOND: Perfectly clear....I chose to ignore you.
ELOISE: And once they know....what then?
DESMOND: Then...we’re leaving.
ELOISE: Are you going to take my son?
DESMOND: Not with me....no.
Looking back at this scene after experiencing the end of the episode, it is clear that Eloise is aware that she (and everyone there) is dead. However, either she is not ready to move on OR she fears what may lie ahead. Would Daniel forgive her for sending him back to the island where she knew he would be killed by her own hand? Here in the Sideways, she has the two people she loves most....Charles Widmore and their son Daniel. The LOST finale is all about letting go, but Eloise won’t let go. But eventually, Daniel will be awakened and move on.....with Charlotte.
Desmond, you can’t leave yet. Snoop Dogg is going to join the band on the next song.
This scene also got me thinking about our first encounter with Ms. Hawking in the Season 3 episode “Flashes Before Your Eyes”. In this mind-bending episode, we first see what we believe to be Desmond time-travelling....and Ms. Hawking is portrayed as some kind of time-cop. However, in retrospect, I believe this wasn’t time travelling at all, but an electromagnetically-induced, near-death experience (brought on by the destruction of the Swan Station). Even the title of the episode suggests the connection to death. Ms. Hawking understood in that episode that Desmond needed to return to the island....just as here she has recognized that he is choosing to move on.
Backstage, Claire is about to have the baby, with Kate’s help, and Charlie has come back to find the girl from his vision. As Claire gives birth, Kate has visions of Aaron’s birth on the island. When Claire passes the baby to Claire, she remembers as well. Claire grips Charlie’s hand and he too has visions of their time on the island. This was the first scene that had me reduced to tears. The recall of the birth of Aaron was quite special, but it was Charlie that really did me in. In my opinion, Charlie’s death scene in “Through the Looking Glass” was the best (and saddest) moment ever on LOST. No character deserved getting back what they lost more than Charlie. This scene was absolute magic.
Claire.....you can’t imagine how long I’ve been waiting to tell you this....I think we should see other people.
Back on the island, the earthquakes intensify. Ben pushes Hurley out of the way of a falling tree, which then pins him down. Notice that in a moment of instinct, Ben makes a selfless act....suggesting that there is genuine good in him. Torrential rain begins to fall as the Losties try to help Ben out. Miles radios them to tell them they are leaving Hydra island on the plane in an hour. Ben says they can get there with Flocke’s boat.
However, Flocke is already one step ahead of them and is already heading to the boat. Jack has managed to catch up to him, though, and they have one of the great LOST brawls on a rain-soaked seaside cliff.
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou.
As it appears Jack is about to win, Flocke is able to get a grip on his knife and stab Jack in the abdomen (interestingly, right in the same spot where Jack had his appendix surgery in Season 4). Jack collapses, but continues to struggle with Flocke, who brings the knife down onto Jack’s neck. As he begins to press the knife down, Flocke says, “I want you to know, Jack....you died for nothing”. Before he can finish the job, he is shot by Kate, who says, “I saved you a bullet.” (yes...there is that pithy catch phrase). Jack gets up and kicks Flocke off the cliff (mirroring Flocke kicking Jacob into the fire in “The Incident”).
Look....we’re friends and all, but I draw the line at shaving each other.
I wonder if Flocke/Smokey is indeed MIB (as opposed to my suggestion above) would this mean that he could be trapped on the island forever as one of the whisperers? That would be a rather ironic twist. The entity who spent an existence of thousands of years searching for a way off the island, may end up doomed to remain there for all eternity. I kinda like that.
We switch back to the Sideways where Jack is escorting John Locke back to his room after the surgery....a nurse notices the bleeding on his neck. This is the first direct connection we see between the main timeline and the Sideways and also gives us an answer for the cut we have seen in previous episodes.
Locke begins to wakes unexpectedly early from his surgery and can feel his legs. He wiggles his toes and flashes to the moment he first moved his toes following the crash. Then more memories come flooding in:
LOCKE: Did you see that?
JACK: See what?
LOCKE: You don’t remember?
Jack gets an instantaneous flash of looking into the Swan hatch (gave me chills). Jack tries to shake it off....but Locke has been truly awakened (notice that this awakening occurs at immediately after we see Flocke killed on the island).
LOCKE: What we need to do is go.
JACK: No, no, no. John-
LOCKE: No....will you come with me.
Locke flashes a knowing smile.
JACK: You’re not going anywhere. You just had extensive spinal surgery and I need...I need to go see my son.
Jack is completely in denial.
LOCKE: You don’t have a son.
JACK: What?
LOCKE: You don’t have a son, Jack.
This moment is very reminiscent of the scene in Season 5’s “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”....where Locke is a hospital bed trying to convince Jack (standing at the door) to return to the island. When Jack refuses to listen, Locke says: “Your father says hello.” But Jack remains in denial...just as he does in the Sideways.
Sideways-Locke, having been enlightened.....just smiles at Jack and says, “Jack.....I hope that somebody does for you.....what you just did for me.”
What? I have bunions?
Remember back to a few episodes ago, in “The Candidate” when this exchange occurred:
JACK: You can let it go.
LOCKE: What makes you think letting go is so easy?
JACK: It's not. In fact, I don't really know how to do it myself. And, that's why I was hoping that…maybe you could go first.
This is exactly what has happened here. Locke went first, but Jack is still refusing to let go.
Back on the island, Kate is helping the wounded Jack and he jokes about having some string and counting to five (a call back to the “Pilot” and “What They Died For”). Sawyer, Jack, and Hurley arrive and tremors continue. Jack notes that whatever Desmond tuned off needs to be turned on again and insists that the others leave now to get to the plane.
KATE: You can come with us too, Jack. You don’t have to do this.
JACK: I do have to.
KATE: No, you don’t. Let the island sink Jack.
JACK: I can’t.
Since Jack returned to the island....he has felt that he has had a purpose....but he didn’t know what it was. Finally, he knows why he is here....to save the island.
It is decided that Sawyer will take the boat to Hydra island. Jack and Sawyer, shake goodbye:
JACK: Good luck to you James.
SAWYER: Thank you, doc....for everything.
Jack smiles at this acknowledgement. These two have had many moments of strong disagreement, but now...with both of them realizing that they will never see one another again....Sawyer expresses his appreciation for the man who led them from the moment they crashed on the island. In Season 2’s “Three Minutes” Sawyer said to Jack, “...you're about the closest thing I've got to a friend, Doc”, and now he knows that he is losing that friend.
Ben tosses his walkie-talkie to Sawyer and says, “If the island is going down, I’m going down with it.” This was about as true to the character as you could get. Ben has served the island almost his entire life (despite great personal sacrifices)...and for him to abandon it now is unthinkable. It is all he has. Hugo chooses to stay as well. Partly because he doesn’t want to climb down the cliff side, but mostly because, as he says to Jack, “I’m with you, dude.” Hurley once chose Locke over Jack (Season 4’s premiere, “The Beginning of the End”) and it was a mistake he lived to regret....but now he is on Team Jack to the bitter end. That just leaves Kate:
JACK: Kate, you’ve gotta go.....get Claire on that plane.
Jack reminds Kate of the reason she came back to the island. It wasn’t to be with Jack. It wasn’t to find Sawyer. It was reunite Aaron with his mother. Kate knows he is right, but wants to know that she will see Jack again. Jack knows it won’t happen and just shakes his head. She kisses him passionately.
KATE: I love you.
JACK: I love you.
The Jaters cry tears of joy (and simultaneous sadness), while the Skaters scream in angish....Kate has made her choice. And it is the one destined from the start. While I am not much of a “shipper”, I always believed Jack and Kate would end up together. And though it only lasted a moment, to quote Desmond from the “The Constant”: “It was enough.” Bittersweet.
Wait a minute....why does Kate taste like fish biscuits?
In the Sideways, Sawyer finds the Jin and Sun at the hospital. They both are very amused at the sight of their con-man friend as a cop: ”Hello....detective.” They refuse his help and as they leave, Jin says, “We’ll see you there.” But Sawyer....not having been enlightened yet is just confused.
As Sawyer walks through the hall he runs into Jack (wearing just an ordinary suit...his concert attire).
SAWYER: Hey, you know where I can get some grub around here?
JACK: The cafeteria is closed, but there is a vending machine down the hallway.
SAWYER: Thanks, Doc.
Sawyer does a double-take before walking away. Notice though that Sawyer refers to Jack as “Doc”, when there is nothing about his appearance to suggest he is a doctor....it is just his usage of this moniker for Jack on the island that he is recalling.
At the vending machine, Sawyer selects an Apollo candy bar, but it gets stuck....just like the one Jack tried to get out in last season’s “The Incident”. As Sawyer snakes his hand into the vending machine, we see his reflection in the glass...showing us the criminal-Sawyer...not the cop.
Juliet catches him and after a little playful banter she suggests he unplug the machine and plug it back in. She is essentially suggesting a “reset”, which is EXCATLY what they hoped to do by detonating the Hydrogen bomb. When the candy drops to the bottom, she says, “It worked” (this is what Miles told Sawyer Juliet said after they buried her in “LA X”....which we all interpreted at the time to mean the bomb worked) and when she hands him the bar, their fingers touch and they flash to their time together in Dharmaville.
SAWYER: Whoa....did you feel that?
JULIET: We should get coffee some time.
SAWYER: I’d love to but that machine ate my dollar...I only have one left.
JULIET: We can go Dutch.
She grabs his hand again and there are more flashes. They remember.
SAWYER: Juliet...Juliet, it’s me.
The hold each other.
SAWYER: I gotcha....I gotcha.
JULIET: Kiss me, James.
SAWYER: You got it, Blondie.
If you compare this dialogue to Juliet’s death scene in “LA X” it begins with only Juliet’s side of conversation matching....but as the flashes continue, James’ dialogue begins to match that from “LA X” as well. The converging of the dialogue to that past scene really gives this moment an incredible amount of emotional power. It might be the only scene in series history to approach the romantic impact of the climax of “The Constant”, in which Desmond finally contacts Penny.
I’m sorry James....I only date bad boys.
We next switch to Jack, who has returned to the concert long after it is over. No one seems to be around, except for Kate (who, by the way, looks absolutely smokin’ in that dress Desmond gave her to wear). Jack tries to explain about his son....but that suddenly doesn’t seem that important.
JACK: Where do I remember you from?
KATE: I stole your pen.
JACK: What?
KATE: Oceanic 815 from Sydney. I bumped into you coming out of the bathroom. I stole your pen.
JACK: And that’s how I know you?
KATE: ....No, that’s not how you know me.
Kate approaches Jack to put her hands on his head....and Jack gets flashes of the two of them together. Then she says, “I’ve missed you so much.” And even more flashes come to Jack, before he turns away.
Before continuing notice Kates words. I interpret this to mean that Kate has lived a very long time after leaving the island. It makes me wonder what Kate’s life was like back in civilization. Did she live a full life and find love with someone else....but it probably doesn’t matter, because now, as she prepares to move on, she is with her one true love....Jack Shephard.
KATE: I know you don’t understand, Jack.....but if you come with me.....you will.
If you come with me....you might find out what is under this dress.
We flip back to the island where Jack, Hurley and Ben head to the cave. Jack informs them that he is going in alone. Hurley disagrees and says, “...Desmond didn’t make it alone...How are you going to survive?” Jack just shakes his head.
HURLEY: No....no way. I’m not going to let you die.
JACK: Hurley. I’m already dead.
Now, I’m guessing that some folks are taking this line literally to mean that they are all already dead on the island. I don’t think this is what was intended at all (of course the writers do love to throw in misdirection)....it just means that Jack knows he can’t survive the knife wound.
HURLEY: You said you’d protect the island.
JACK: And that’s what I’m doing.
HURLEY: You’re committing suicide.
JACK: I’m not. This is the way it has to happen. This is what I’m supposed to do.
HURLEY: You’re not supposed to die. The island needs you.
JACK: Hurley....it needs you.
HURLEY: What?
JACK: It needs to be you, Hugo.
HURLEY: I can’t....It’s supposed to be you.
JACK: It’s only supposed to be me, so I can do this. But if someone has to take care of the island....if someone has to protect it...then it should be you. Hurley, I believe in you.
Matthew Fox and Jorge Garcia are often overshadowed, from an acting standpoint, by the superb Terry O’Quinn and Michael Emerson. But I have to say that Fox and Garcia’s acting in this scene is as good as any in the episode or the entire season for that matter. When Jack tells Hurley he believes in him, it is an echo of the same words Hurley said earlier.
Hurely agrees to accept the responsibility for the island. Jack asks for something to drink out of and Ben produces an Oceanic plastic water bottle (great touch). Jack fills it and gives it to Hurley. Notice that there is no Latin incantation this time. While that may have been the way “Mother” and Jacob needed to do it, for Jack all he needs is the water. My guess is that you don’t even need to have the water....the willingness to accept is all it takes. The ritual is just symbolic so that both sides accept the covenant. Hurley drinks the water and Jack says, “Now, you are like me.” Having watched these transition-of-power scenes multiple times, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no transfer of magic. Instead, the magic comes from the belief in yourself that you can be the leader. When Jack says, “Now you are like me”, he is in essence saying “you have what it takes” to be the leader. The island takes care of the rest.
One more thing, Hurley....you’re going to have to get a haircut.
Back on Hydra Island, Frank gets the plane started with a little help from Richard and Miles (“I don’t believe in a lot of things, but I do believe in duct tape.”). But time is running out.
Hurley and Ben lower Jack into the cave. Before he gets to the bottom another tremor hits and they let Jack fall the remainder of the way (a call back to Locke’s fall into the well after a time flash in Season 5’s “This Place is Death”). Jack is hurt, but able to continue on and finds Desmond.
DESMOND: The light...I put it out. It didn’t work....I thought I’d leave this place.
JACK: (helping Des up) I gotcha...Come one.
DESMOND: Still here. You were right Jack.
JACK: Well, there’s a first time for everything.
Desmond misinterpreted his previous flashes as departing to another reality....but he was wrong and was not able to leave. Also, notice Jack’s self-effacing acknowledgement. He knows now he was wrong to leave island, wrong not to believe in Locke, and wrong to blow up the bomb. But this, he is right about....and he is going to fix Desmond’s mistake. Des explains what need to be done and wants to do it himself, but Jack will have none of it:
JACK: Desmond, you’ve done enough. If you want to do something, go home and be with your wife and son.
DESMOND: What about you Jack?
JACK: I’ll see you in another life, brother.
This is the sixth time in the history of the show that this line has been said (in one form or another), but only now does its significance become clear. They will see each other in another life....the afterlife.
Jack is able to re-plug the hole. The waters start back up...and the light returns. The world is saved and Jack is the hero.
All that effort....and there is no hot water left!
Recall the Team Ilana question from last season: “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” The answer was, "Ille qui nos omnes servabit”, which translates to: “He who will save us all.” The “he” who saves us all is Jack. Perhaps, “lies in the shadow of the statue” is a reference to Jack lying down in the bamboo forest at the opening of the series.
Meanwhile, Kate and Sawyer make it to Hydra island and find Claire. Claire does not want to leave.
CLAIRE: Look at me. This island has made me crazy....I don’t want Aaron to see me like this. I don’t even know how to be a mother anymore.
KATE: None of us do....not at first....but you’re not alone. Let me help you.
Damn right Kate: Live together, die alone!
Claire....there are hair salons that can help you.
Claire agrees and the three of them get to the Ajira plane just before Lapidus is about to take off. They board and Lapidus gets them off the ground before the runway (which Kate and Sawyer ironically helped build as prisoners of The Others in Season 3) is about to rip apart. The plane clears the trees and they soar into the sky. Kate and Claire are gripping hands....Thelma and Louise ride again. Sawyer takes one last look out at the island. I have to wonder what is going through his head. Is he thinking about Jack’s sacrifice? Is he thinking about the loss of Juliet? Is he thinking about the uncertainty of his future? Maybe all of the above.
Did Alpert just wink at me?
So let’s talk about the people who made it off the island on the plane. Frank is the pilot...so obviously that works. Kate and Claire....this is absolutely the right outcome for these two. Kate’s purpose for returning to the island was to reunite Claire and Aaron. She is accomplishing this and apparently, she will remain a part of Aaron’s life....this is a nice outcome. Going into the episode, I was expecting Richard to die and be reunited with his wife, Isabella...but the way it played out with Richard being able to live out the remainder of his life works for me. While Richard has been able to leave the island, for 150 years, he has essentially been a slave to it....a prisoner. As the plane was taking off, I couldn’t help but think that Richard was a lot like Red from “The Shawshank Redemption”, after he is paroled and seeks out his friend Andy Dufresne: “I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.” To me, Miles seems like a random choice to survive. While he is a likeable character, he could have just as easily died as survived. I sort of like the closure that comes when only the characters that must survive make it to the end. And for Miles there is no real reason for him to make it out alive. That brings me to the one thing I would have changed in the finale....Sawyer. I was a little disappointed that he made it off the island. For me it seems truer to his character for him to die trying to get the others off the island....the selfish con-man going out in a selfless act of heroism. (Alternatively, it would have been cool to see him as the unidentified person shot by Juliet in the outrigger chase from Season 5’s “The Little Prince”) I have to wonder what kind of life Sawyer will return to (maybe he and Miles will start a supernatural detective agency.....I smell spin-off). Perhaps he seeks out his daughter Clementine and builds some sort of a relationship with her. I can live with that outcome.
We return to the Sideways where Locke arrives in a taxi at the church. He is still in a wheelchair and passes Ben, who is sitting outside the church by himself. What transpires is one of the great LOST scenes:
LOCKE: Hello Benjamin.
BEN: Hello John.
LOCKE: Is everyone already inside.
BEN: I believe most of them are....yes.
Locke begins to wheel away.
BEN: I’m very sorry for what I did to you, John. I was selfish...jealous....I wanted everything you had.
LOCKE: What did I have?
BEN: You were special, John. And I wasn’t.
LOCKE: Well, if it helps Ben....I forgive you.
BEN: Thank you, John....that does help. It matters more than I can say.
Simply beautiful. Ben gives his confession....an act of contrition. And Locke provides forgiveness....absolution. But there is still penance:
LOCKE: What are you going to do now?
BEN: I have some things that I still need to work out. I’ll stay here a while.
Ben isn’t ready to move on yet. One can look at it as needing to remain in “Purgatory” longer....but I believe what he really needs is to make peace with Alex. For I don’t believe Ben’s salvation lies with moving on with Jack’s group....but he will move on with Alex, when she is ready to move on.
Before these two souls part, Ben tells Locke that he doesn’t need the chair anymore. He steps out of it (as if casting off his earthly bounds) and climbs the steps.....ascending the stairway to heaven.
We return to the island where Hurley, Ben, and an unconscious Desmond are outside the cave.
HURLEY: Jack’s gone....isn’t he?
BEN: He did is job, Hugo.
HURLEY: It’s my job now. What the hell am I supposed to do?
BEN: I think you do, what you do best....take care of people. You can start by helping Desmond get home.
HURLEY: But how? People can’t leave the island.
BEN: That’s how Jacob ran things. Maybe there’s another way....a better way.
HURLEY: Will you help me?
BEN: I’m sorry?
HURLEY: I could use someone....with like experience. For a little while. Would you help me, Ben?
BEN: I’d be honored.
This is a truly wonderful moment. When we were first introduced to Ben he was pretending to be Henry Gale...a balloon-crash castaway on the island. Later, we learned he was the Machiavellian leader of The Others. He was a liar and a manipulator. Just when we thought he was the ultimate in evil, we met a young Ben....a quiet, abused boy. Ben wasn’t born bad....he was a victim of his upbringing. Nothing was ever given to Ben....he had to take whatever power he could and eventually....through murder and manipulation, he became an island leader. Never elected....never appointed. No one ever wanted him.....until now. Hurley reaches out to Ben and asks for his help. This is all Ben ever wanted. Think about Ben’s Sideways story in “Dr. Linus”. Ben had an opportunity for power and gave it away to help a student. There is good in Benjamin Linus....it just to someone like Hurley to tap into it. And from what we learn in the Sideways, it sounds like this partnership lasted a very long time:
HURLEY: Hey dude.
BEN: Hello, Hugo.
HURLEY: We’re all inside.
BEN: I don’t think I’m coming in.
HURLEY: Ya know...you were a real good number two.
BEN: And you were a great number one, Hugo.
HURLEY: Thanks, dude. I’ll see ya.
As Bens story ends, I want to say thank you to Michael Emerson and the writers for creating one of the all-time great television characters. He was my favorite. I’ll miss you Ben.
Kate and Jack drive up to the Church:
KATE: Do you know where we are?
JACK: This is where I was going to have my father’s funeral. He died in Australia.
KATE: I’m sorry.
JACK: Why did you bring me here?
KATE: Because this is where you were going to have your father’s funeral.
I took this as Kate trying to find a way to help Jack make the connection with the his life. But, she realizes that he will come to let go soon enough and gets out of the car.
JACK: Where are you going?
KATE: Inside. I’ll be waiting for you there...once you are ready.
JACK: Ready for what?
KATE: To leave.
We return back to the island, where a bloody Jack awakens on the rocks (the same location MIB’s body was left after he went into the cave). He gets up and heads into the jungle.
We jump back to Jack entering the church and the room with his father’s coffin. He touches it, and flashes to the opening of his eye (the opening scene of the series). This is Jack’s awakening. It scares him, but he touches it again. He sees an extended montage of his friends from the island....concluding with his final kiss with Kate.
Jack opens the coffin., but it is empty...a moment that recalls when Jack found his father’s empty coffin on the island in Season 1’s “White Rabbit”.
CHRISTIAN: Hey kiddo.
JACK: Dad?
CHRISTIAN: Hello Jack.
JACK: I don’t understand...you died.
CHRISTIAN: Yeah....yes I did.
JACK: Then how are you here, right now?
CHRISTIAN: How are you here?
JACK: I died too.
Jack begins to cry.
CHRISTIAN: It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay, son.
Christian hugs Jack. In death, Christian is able to provide the comfort only a parent can....and it is the comfort that he was never able to provide Jack in life. And Jack embraces his father tightly. This is a moment that Jack longed for his entire life...its absence shaped the man he became. But now, Jack is able to let go and forgive his father.
JACK: I love you, dad.
CHRISTIAN: I love you too, son.
Uhh....Dad? Can I borrow the car tonight?
This moment is important to Christian, too. He was ashamed of his inability to express how much he loved is son. It led to his alcoholism....and ultimately, his death.
JACK: Are you real?
CHRISTIAN: I sure hope so. Yeah....I’m real. You’re real. Everything that’s every happened to you is real. Those people in the church....they’re all real too.
JACK: They’re all....They’re all dead?
CHRISTIAN: Everyone dies sometime, kiddo. Some of ‘em before you....some.....long after you.
JACK: And why are they all here now.
CHRISTIAN: Well, there is no now....here.
JACK: Where are we, dad?
CHRISTIAN: Well, this is a place....a place that you all made together, so that you could find one another. The most important part of your life, was the time that you spent with these people. That’s why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone, Jack. You needed all of them....and they needed you.
JACK: For what?
CHRISTIAN: To remember.....and...to let go.
KATE: She said we were leaving.
CHRISTIAN: Not leaving...no.....moving on.
JACK: Where are we going?
CHRISTIAN: Let’s go find out.
Jack looks into the room at his friends greeting one another. Regardless of what you believe....THIS is the fate we all want for ourselves. Spending eternity surrounded by the people we love.
As Jack steps into the room with the others....we see him on the island stepping through the bamboo forest.
Locke shakes his hand...welcoming him in. The two rivals...united through their actions to save the island.....and reunited in the hereafter: “We’ve been waiting for you.”
For the final several minutes of the episode, there is no dialogue....it isn’t necessary. There is only music and were are shown the church reunion interspersed with scenes of Jack’s final journey through the bamboo forest (he passes a white sneaker hanging from tree....aged three years from the moment he passed it in the “Pilot”).
As the Losties sit in the pews of the church, Island-Jack collapses to the ground in the exact spot he woke in the “Pilot”.
Christian grabs Jack shoulder as he passes him in the church.
Vincent comes to Island-Jack (as he did in the “Pilot”).....If you weren’t bawling already, they had to play the damned dog card to seal the deal. Vincent lays down next to Jack.
Ugh...Vincent....what did you eat this morning?
There is a connection here between Vincent and Christian. In one of “Missing Pieces” clips (extra scenes shot between Season’s 3 and 4) Christian sends Vincent to wake up Jack before the opening scene of the series. You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWW9vw_ZmmI. I wonder if Christian (and I am going to assume for a minute that the Christian in this clip is not MIB) sent Vincent to Jack at the time of his death....just like he sent him to Jack when it all began.
Looks like he has no idea I was making out with Sawyer 10 minutes ago in the confessional.
Christian opens the church doors and the church fills with light consuming the LOSTIES. The same light that is at the heart of the island. Together, they move on. Live alone....die together.
As the camera pulls back to Jack and Vincent lying in the bamboo forest, Jack see the Ajira plan fly across the opening in the forest canopy. His last sight is of his friends getting off the island...the one mission he has been on since his arrival on the island.
And the final image is of Jack’s eye slowly closing. The circle closes and LOST ends. With tears running down my face, I sat in front of my TV and applauded. No television show has ever made me cry before this day....nor has one every made me applaud. My expectations were exceedingly high for this finale....and somehow, LOST managed to transcend them.....giving me more than I could have ever dreamed possible.
No ending could have been better than what we were given. It was true to the series, true to the characters.....beautiful....poetic....perfect.
Thank you LOST.
I’m not dead....I’m feeling better.
Before getting into some additional analysis, I want to recognize the amazing use of Michael Giacchino’s music in this episode. Every one of the most familiar musical pieces was used at some point in the finale, including “Parting Words” (the music from the Season 1 raft launching), “Life and Death” (accompanied the birth of Aaron and many of the deaths on the series), “Hollywood and Vines” (the theme we here when people are moving from one major location to another), “Desmond and Penny’s Theme (best known from the conclusion of “The Constant”), Jacob’s theme, Juliet’s Theme and the Oceanic 6 Theme. It would have been impossible for this episode to have the same emotional impact without the music. It was absolutely magnificent.
I know there has been a lot of debate about whom we saw in the church in the final moment and whom we didn’t. While there is some artistic license here, I think they made the right choices (for the most part). Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Sayid, Sun, Jin, Claire, Charlie, Aaron and Hurley were automatics....they had to be there. I doubt anyone had any issue with Rose and Bernard either. Similarly, Shannon and Boone were part of the initial group of main character survivors. My guess is that the beef here is with Shannon being with Sayid instead of Nadia. I’ve addressed that earlier....and I don’t really see a problem with this. We, the audience have no real vested interest in Nadia, but Shannon (as annoying as she could be) was a big component of Season 1. Juliet pretty much had to be there too, because of her significance to the story and her relationship with Sawyer. Similarly, Desmond is a main character that that was not in the Oceanic crash....but he was one of the most popular characters on the show....plus he was the catalyst for bringing the characters together. He had to be there. But I’ve seen some people complaining about Penny and Libby being there in the church, because they weren’t as important to the series. I would argue that their presence is more related to their importance to their respective partners. How could Desmond move on without Penny? Similarly, think about the pain Hurley expressed earlier this season in “Everybody Loves Hugo” at the gravesite of Libby. He needs her and cannot move on without her. OK, so that begs the question about who is missing. What about John Locke’s ex-fiancé, Helen? While he did once love her, Locke only ever had one true love.....the island. What about the freighter folks....Frank, Miles, Daniel and Charlotte? Well...we’ve seen that Daniel and Charlotte aren’t ready to move on yet earlier in this episode. As for Frank and Miles, I don’t think there is a specific reason they needed to be there. Yes, they were popular, but they were really secondary characters. Additionally, I kind of like to think that what we see in the church is the perspective of Jack....the people that were most important to him. Maybe, if we saw it from Sawyer’s perspective, Miles would be there. Maybe if it were from Sun’s perspective, Ji Yeon would be there. The one legitimate question about the church attendees is: Where were Michael and Walt? I can accept that Michael is stuck on the island, as we learned earlier this season that as one of the whisperers, he could not move on. Walt however is the one MAJOR complaint I have with the finale and Season 6 in general. Walt was so important to Seasons 1 and 2, I am very disappointed that they did not give us some closure on what his role really was. I understand that his role was diminished because of the actor’s aging, but they should have given us some closure. The one explanation I have for why he may not be in the church is that perhaps Walt becomes Hurley’s replacement as protector of the island.
OK....Let’s talk about some of the open-ended mysteries.
The Egyptians. Throughout the island we have seen hieroglyphs suggesting that the Egyptians have been to the island. Additionally, there was once a giant statue of Taweret, Egyptian goddess of fertility/childbirth, on the island. I think the Egyptian connection is simple. Just like other groups have come to the island (The Black Rock, the DHARMA Initiative, the US Army, the French Science Team, Oceanic 815, the Freighter, etc), a group of Egyptians came to the island. Now, one could argue that the Egyptians came before the Romans (which is likely where Jacob/MIB’s mother came from...based on them speaking Latin and the appearance of a pugio dagger), but keep in mind that the island has the ability to move through time. At some point, someone must have finished construction of the frozen donkey wheel and tried it out...initiating jumps in time. While Jacob/MIB likely arrived on the island in the waning days of the Egyptian empire, the island could have easily gone back in time to the height of Egyptian culture....and then at some point later jumped to a point in time later.
Pregnancy Issues. A big theme of Season 3 and the Juliet storyline was the death of pregnant women in their second trimester. However, we know that Amy Goodspeed gave birth to Ethan in 1977 on the island. I believe that it is a pretty safe assumption that the pregnancy issues began with the incident (detonation of Jughead). However, I also believe there is a connection here to the Taweret statue. It seems likely to me that the incident was NOT the first time island inhabitants mucked around with island electromagnetism. My guess is that at some point during the Egyptians time on the island, there was a similar incident that caused childbirth issues. For the Egyptians, the solution was to build a statue of a fertility goddess. For Benjamin Linus, the solution was to address the issue through science and medicine. The story we have watched is only the story of the Oceanic 815 survivors. There may have been hundreds of other stories throughout the history of the island with repeats of the same issues.
Jacob’s Cabin. This one is really tricky. When we first saw the cabin in Season 3’s “The Man Behind the Curtian” it was surrounded by a circle of ash. Some have suggested that the ash was used to keep MIB inside as a prisoner. This seems highly unlikely, as we have seen the smoke monster around the island in Season 3. It seems much more probably that Jacob was indeed inside as a location of protection from the monster. When we see the cabin again in Season 4’s “The Beginning of the End” and “Cabin Fever”, Christian Shephard appears in the cabin. MIB has claimed to have taken on the form of Christian, so it is likely that this is Smokey in the cabin. In Season 5, when Ilana and Bram visit the cabin they find the circle of ash broken and Ilana says, “He isn't there....hasn't been in a long time. Someone else has been using it.” So, this tells me that Jacob was in the cabin in Season 3; something caused him to leave it before the start of Season 4; he returned to the statue base (where he had lived previously); and MIB began using it as a place to deceive John Locke into turning the wheel and leaving the island.
Smoke Monster. Sorry, but again, the Smoke Monster is a MacGuffin as well. It doesn’t matter what the Smoke Monster is or how he was formed. That isn’t part of the Oceanic 815 survivor’s story....it’s Jacob’s story. We only had one episode to explore that history.....and even if it were 4 or 5 episodes that were dedicated to that story, it would likely raise even more questions. As “Mother” said in “Across the Sea”: “Every question I answer will lead to another question.” You don’t need to know the answer to every question to be entertained. The problem is LOST was somewhat a victim of it’s own success. They created a grand mythology that has been picked apart for any clue possible. The original concept for the Smoke Monster was likely just to be an evil entity trying to leave the island. Its origin was probably viewed as unnecessary by the writers, but given the fan passion...they’ve created a loose back-story on the monster.
The last items I’ll touch on the submerged island we saw in the Sideways during the Season 6 premier, “LA X”. This certainly had the theorists running wild earlier in the season. But, looking back, with the information we have from the finale, it appears to have been mostly symbolic. In the Sideways, the island itself is not needed....only the light. However, their time on the island is below the surface of their awareness. So, the island below the surface of the water is symbolic of the island being below the surface of their consciousnesses.
There have been rumors in the last week or so that on the Season 6 DVD set, there will be additional footage to explain some of the open-ended mysteries....including some of the time during Hurley’s reign as island protector. I’m looking forward to these....maybe I’ll give a bonus write-up when it comes out.
I guess that just about wraps it up. The LOST experience has been a rewarding one for me. I have really enjoyed analyzing every minute detail of the show to try to put the puzzle pieces together. However, I also feel like a graduating Medieval European History major....it’s been interesting, but what am I going to do with this info now. I guess I can look forward to indoctrinating my kids into the LOST universe when they are old enough to understand it (what age is that?).
Thanks for reading and Namaste.
