"Whatever Happened, Happened"

So the general consensus from the geek-erati was that of anger and disappointment in regards to the LOST series finale. With my personally being a part of that constituency, I can't really blame them. There were many questions left unanswered and tons of mysteries left unsolved (the secret origins of this, the ultimate fate of that, why this happened, why that happened, why, why, why?!?!).

I know.

As a self proclaimed super fan, I know and more importantly, I empathize with your pain.

But that's just the flag waving nerd in me talking.

As a writer, I couldn't help but be blown away by the ending of an epic journey that will go down as a milestone in television history. Yes, I said it. Despite my inner super fan's protestations, I was unabashedly impressed by the series final of LOST.

LOST was a once in a lifetime occurrence. From the very first moment of the very first episode, its creators knew that they caught lightning in a bottle. The pilot of LOST set such a high precedence for the series as a whole that no one would've been surprised in the slightest if the very next episode (let alone the 6 season's worth of episodes that followed) failed to live up to its promise and potential. I, for one, was happily proven wrong.

From the flashbacks of season 1 to the flashforwards of season 4 even though the time travel of season 5, the story built such momentum by mining elements from science fiction and religious theology and grafting it onto an action/drama/suspense/comedy/love story that began with the simple concept of castaways stranded on a deserted island. Having such a wide palette of genres to play with also meant that they'd have to appease a very diverse range of viewers without compromising they story that they wanted to tell the way they wanted to tell it. That fact alone meant that no matter how they chose to end this story people were going to feel left out. To their credit, they never dumbed it down to bolster ratings.

That is what I love about the show most, their faith in their audience's intelligence. Telling a tale, no matter how dense and uncompromising, that you yourself would love to be told and it gaining a loyal following of millions who get it right along with you is a reward that is rarely bestowed upon any storyteller.

Season 6 was them rewarding us back.

From the very beginning, the crash of Oceanic 815 was the singular moment of the castaway's regret. It was that one point in time that sent them down a path of struggle, fear, uncertainty and death. Despite how life after the crash eventually made them better individuals, healed their wounds and gave them purpose, the one question that lurked in their and the audience's mind is what if Oceanic 815 never crashed?

What then?

As gratifying as finding out what the smoke monster's real name was or what the light source in the heart of the island really was, seeing how life would be for the castaways if the plane landed safely at LAX was a million times more satisfying after watching these characters I've loved for 5 years fight and suffer and die. Them presenting us that alternate timeline was not only the road less travelled, but the road that I never knew I wanted to take. In its inherent nature, LOST was all about playing on the audience's perceptions. The alternate timeline of season 6 was a masterstroke.

With that said and knowing what I know now, of course I had my moments of doubt, who didn't? I asked myself why they'd dedicate so much screen time to the alternate timeline when they should've been answering the many mysteries of the island's mythology that have been amassed along the way. Again, that was the super fan in me talking, doubting. Hindsight is 20/20.

Having the peachy on the surface alternate timeline run parallel to the original one must've been a daunting task. On one hand, watching the castaways getting almost everything they originally wanted in their lives was heart warming, but on the flip side seeing them on the blood soaked collision course with the smoke monster not knowing how great they had it on the other side was heart rending. Just another testament to the show's writing staff to evoke such a stark contrast of emotions AT THE SAME FUCKING TIME!

Without knowing that the alternate timeline was really a spiritual staging ground that they collectively made (purgatory), it was still extremely satisfying to know that their time on the island with each other would still hold relevance despite being under such drastically different circumstances. Even though the grass is greener on the other side, if you're not the person you're destined to be then life would still feel hollow no matter how nice living the good life is. Life without struggle or purpose is a life half-lived.

(Considering how steeped the story was with Christian undertones, it must've been great for the fans who originally thought the island was purgatory to be told by the show's creators that, hey, you were right, too.)

Yet another tip of the cap to the writing staff's unwillingness to compromise or retract events from previous seasons was that despite showing the other side of the coin "whatever happened, happened" and "dead is dead". They stuck to their guns and held true to the show's core values regardless of all the time travel and the apparently successful pushing of the reset button at the end of season 5. Every single moment on the island, every choice made, was necessary to get them to where they needed to go. Nothing was recanted, nothing was thrown away.

It wasn't all just a dream.

Thank goodness.

The metaphysical mechanics of the alternate timeline/purgatory aside, the finale's final moments were breathtaking. The gathering of the castaway's spirits at the church by Jack's father (who's death got Jack on the plane to begin with) may have been the ending that no one wanted but I think it was the ending that the characters needed. Having gone through such a traumatic ordeal bonds people in such a profound and unique way and when their purpose was to essentially save the world by maintaining the balance of good and evil intact, it was a lofty and fitting reward. For those present at the church, no one died in vain, purpose and destiny was fulfilled.

Although I'm not a very religious person at heart, it still made me twinge a bit. Maybe if one did enough good and touch enough people's lives for the better maybe one could get rewarded like that.

The one tenet of the show that was beautifully disproved was "live together, die alone". In the same bamboo forest where Jack first opened his eyes, the moment when their story truly began, he was joined by Vincent the dog as he closed them for the final time.

Do enough good with the time you've got and you won't have to die alone.

And, boy, it was good.

Bravo, LOST.

Bravo and goodbye.