Monday, May 24, 2010

Lost: The Mo(u)rning After

When I go to bed and my head is still processing the day's events, it's usually not a good night for sleeping. Last night was an absolutely lousy night for sleeping.

During the few hours in which I managed to get any sleep at all, I naturally dreamed about Lost. In one of them, I was sitting at a table with two or three other people (I don't remember who) and started weeping at the thought of SPOILER ALERT! what happened to Jack in the finale. Then I woke up to discover that, sure enough, there were tears running down my cheeks and onto my pillow! That's the kind of night I had.

One of the most interesting aspects of the wrap up, for me, was learning the meaning of the so-called Sideways world. Once it became clear what it was, it immediately reminded me of the sleight of hand that the creative team pulled on us at the end of Season 3. There, it was the "flashback" with Jack that turned out to be a flashforward, revealing that at least some of the castaways actually do get off the island. Here it was a twist that relied upon us buying into Daniel Faraday's crazy notion of blowing up an atomic bomb over the island's electromagnetic "hot spot" in the hopes of rebooting reality from 1977 forward. This assumption was further amplified in Season 6 when Desmond seemed to connect with his Sideways counterpart, although now we know that that particular juxtapositioning was either a red herring or a reflection of Mr Hume's unique ability to perceive time differently (my memory's on the former). Probably the revelation of that world's true meaning has left some fans even more disenchanted with its existence, but for me it actually gave those Season 6 vignettes greater poignancy, not less. The Sideways glimpses provided a denouement to those characters' stories in a way that spoiled nothing while still moving them forward, in a fashion.

I'm sure the hating on the finale is already is full voice by now (12 hours after it concluded), but Vicki and I absolutely loved it... from start to finish. It provided both a realistic ending, in which some lived and some died, and a more emotionally satisfying conclusion in which long-lost lovers were reunited and the promise of something "new" for them was dangled, albeit only for our imagination to enjoy. I can't think of any way the creators could have finished the six year run that would've left me more appreciative of all they accomplished. As I told Tammy over Instant Messenger last night, Lost has probably bumped Babylon 5 out of my Favourite Show of All Time spot. I'll be mourning its passage for a long time to come, I suspect.

2 comments:

The Rush Blog said...

Was LOST a good show? Perhaps. Somewhat.
LOST reminded me of STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE. It had an exceptional premise that would be told throughout the series' run. And it was pretty good. But in the end, as far as I'm concerned, its questionable writing tripped it up. Personally, I feel that it failed to be just as good as the likes of BABYLON 5, FARSCAPE, and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER.

Vicki said...

Interesting...comparing Lost to the dreck that was Deep Space. Not in my universe but to each his own.

Wow the last episode was too long to qualify for the Emmys. The show had to get special permission to be qualified! Bet they'll sweep the Emmys.