Quick Hits
- The explanation of the flash-sideways-cum-afters has been in front of our faces all season long. How many times have I referenced the ubiquitous color red and its death symbolism this season? They’re all dead! You’ll notice the fence surrounding the church at episode’s end was covered in red flowers.
- The Flightline Hotel is the joint Locke met his father, Anthony Cooper; where Hurley and Sayid got in a shootout with Widmore’s thugs; and where Kate met with Claire’s mother and confessed she’d been taking care of Aaron.
- Jacob’s fire died out, and so the longtime Island guardian faded from existence. I wonder if he has some atoning to do himself in light of all he’s been responsible for over the past 2000 or so years.
- Along with the obvious multi-denominational stained glass window in the church antechamber, icons of the many world religions littered the room.
- Some good comic relief moments from Hurley tonight to cements the show’s relationship to Star Wars. Hugo compares Jacob to Yoda in his penchant for vague answers, followed by describing their next steps thusly: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” For the nerds out there, that line should require no explanation. For all you other “cool” people, that’s a line uttered in each of the six Star Wars flicks.
- Table 23 (4 8 15 16 23 42).
- ABC, I gave you credit earlier, but you’re testing me with the 100-something commercial breaks that disrupted the flow of the episode. How dare you interrupt Jack’s epic monkey leap punch!
That said, the Lost-specific Target ads were pretty good.
- The mysterious neck cut we’ve seen numerous times in the flash-sideways/afters is explained.
The cut in the flashes was essentially Jack’s conscience’s way of telling him all was not what it seemed and that he had to let go of his past.
- That shoe’s been hanging on that bamboo a long-ass time.
I assume I don’t have to spend any time articulating that Jack’s death scene was a recreation of the Pilot’s opener, but in reverse.
Moments
Speaking of that epic punch, there were more than a few “EFF YEAH” moments in the finale, among them the fight between Jack and Esau atop the cliff above Jacob’s cave. The images can lay it out much better than my words.
I recalled a few other moments that stood out to me in the show’s history. By no means is this a comprehensive list, but they came to mind for one reason or another while watching the festivities Sunday night.
- After Hurley steps on a sea urchin, he urges Jin to ease his pain. “PEEEEE! PEE ON IT!”
- Locke slamming his fists on the Swan Station hatch after Boone’s death. “WHY DID YOU DO THIS?!!!”
- “It’s never BEEN easy!” Locke smashing the Swan Station computer, forcing Desmond to activate the failsafe and causing the station’s implosion.
- Dharma beer, golf, ping pong and poker for papayas.
- Jack’s resuscitation of Charlie, who’d been kidnapped and hung via noose by Ethan Rom during his abduction of Claire. A powerful moment that evokes memories of a similar scene in The Abyss, one I find to be of the most powerful and affecting in the history of movies (easy, Jeff).
Tremendous as always Jeff. It’s been a pleasure to read your recaps over the past 5 years and I’m sad that it is at and end.
Thanks for all the recaps.
Thank you for the years of explanations and analyzing. Your blog has been amazing and something I’ve looked forward to reading every week.
I have a tad bit different theory on why Ben didn’t enter the church at the end of the episode. Do you think it’s possible that Hurley eventually made Ben the protector of the Island? And thus allowing Hurley to be in the church at the end while Ben (still living on the Island) did not enter because he is now suspended in time like Jacob was when he was the protector of the Island. I don’t know, just one of my ideas about a possible ending.
Nolan, I’d tend to say no b/c only the dead appear in the flash-afters, and Hurley referred to Ben as his number 2 before heading back inside the church.
Jeff – Thanks for the years of fantastic recaps. My wife and I love waking up the morning after LOST and reading your page. Great stuff! Thanks! Now what the heck are we going to look forward to???
Part 1 of Doc Jensen’s recap has posted: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20313460_20387946,00.html
Jeff, absolutely fantastic recap! There are no words! Thank you for your dedication to all of us true LOSTIES…..I would feel dead inside, except that I know that there are many rehashes and thoughts to work out in my head!! And, I can’t wait to go back and re see all of the past episodes now that we know “the end”. Put me down for that August date….I think my birthday is around that time……:)
btw, I am no longer a skater, because I penned that name before I knew about Juliette and Sawyer! That, truly was my most favorite scene – the Sawette reunion after their dramatic separation in last season’s finale! And, yes, the “jaters” got what they wanted, too!
Just got done reading this, and your LOST recap finale was at least if not better than the actual finale. Thanks for your dedication and analysis over the years – it is truly the end of an era. “See you in another life, Brotha!”
So sad it is over. Thanks for your recaps, Jeff. My Wednesday mornings will never be the same.
I suppose I could recap Two and a Half Men each week.
ESPN’s Bill Simmons chats with Alan Sepinwall, Chuck Klosterman and a buddy about the finale: click here.
To celebrate “The End” Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have answered Lostpedia user’s fan-submitted questions about their careers and their futures. Read our Q&A with the men behind Lost.
Jeff – echoing what others have said: Thanks for the thougt and insight you put into the recaps each week. It’s been a pleasure. Thanks from Kentucky. – les
I would love to know if the writers truly had an answer for everything or toyed with the viewers! I stopped watching a year ago but enjoyed the ending more than I expected. The scene on the ocean bluff was great TV and the kiss was possibly “a record breaker” for open mouth lol! Love EL! Thanks Jeff for your interesting and intense comments!
Sweet: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1807667/
Jeff, this was a great recap. I only wish I would have found you 6 seasons ago. Would have been great to hear your thoughts along the way. Maybe I’ll buy the box set dvd’s and read your recaps after every episode. alas, I’ll need to let go of this great show. For those who still want answers and everything spelled out, did you manage to understand any of the underlining theme here. Just Let Go.
-Regards
Matt
Can’t thank you enough for your efforts. I’ve absolutely enjoyed your perspective every week and always looked forward to it. You’re a class act House.
Take care.
Great recap as always meng, thanks for helping me make sense of this awesome show over the years.
Can I suggest you do in depth recaps just like these for each bills game?
Haha — if I do them immediately after the game, I imagine they’d go something like this:
I’m a HUGE lost fan and I love the show. But I could have sworn that years ago there was a special lost recap (after season 3?) with the producers where they said that the characters were NOT dead caught between heaven and hell or living in an after life. Were they lying to us? Beacuse clearly that was the case all along. I’m a bit confused and had a really hard time following the last 2 seasons. Another question: how dud the Darma inishitive know that this island ever existed before they came to the island?
The only time they were dead on the show was during the flash-sideways(/afters) during season 6. Everything on the Island DID happen and they were alive.
I don’t think we ever found out how Dharma discovered the Island, but recall they had the ability to calculate its location via The Lamp Post station in L.A. (under a church).
In the end we discovered Ben and Charles Widmore were both on team Jacob, even though Charles had been banished from the island by Darma. So why were Ben and Charles against each other all of season 5?
Widmore (vis a vis Keamy) killed Alex.
Vincent’s story:
That is definitely my favorite video of all-time.
The flash sideways wasn’t real life. It was somewhere between death and the after life, but everything else was real life. So…. What was with that last scene?!? Where we see the plane on the beach and no people? That suggests that they all died in the crash, but that’s not the message the producers were giving.
The shots of the plane were added by the network and not the writers/showrunners. So the shots are meaningless. I thought it was cool, but there’s no extra meaning to assign to them.