Plot Monkeys

…talk about LOST!

OMG! Most AMAZING TV show ever! And therefore worthy of a loooooong post today.

Okay, if you haven’t watched it, I’m sorry, this might not interest you. But seriously, Carly and I are HUGE addicts, and even Julie has gotten into the game, catching up enough so she could watch the finale, too. I am not kidding, I spent hours on the phone today (Monday) because I kept getting phone calls from friends & family members who wanted to do a post-mortem on it.

Here’s the one thing everyone can agree on: The finale was incredibly divisive. You either LOVED it or you HATED it and I don’t know anybody who didn’t feel one way or the other.

I am in the LOVE camp and so are Carly and Julie.

I think one reason it totally worked for me is because I have known for a long time that there was no way we were going to get a laundry list of answers to all the burning questions that have been raised on this show for the past 6 years. It just wasn’t going to happen…the producers flat-out said it months ago. But honestly, I didn’t care. I had a few major questions that HAD to be answered…and they WERE. (Who were Jacob & the man in black, what was the black smoke, who were Adam & Eve? what was the story of the Black Rock, why was the island special, who was Richard & why didn’t he age, what would happen at the end) and the rest was pretty much, well, icing on the cake. If the answer wasn’t perfectly laid out, I was easily able to read between the lines and make what I think are pretty accurate suppositions and that’s quite enough for me. And I really like the ambiguity of not knowing exactly how everything played out–lets me use my imagination to picture the kind of wonderful life Desmond & Penny had; the years Hurley and Ben cared for the island and how they became a pseudo-family with Bernard, Rose & Vincent, and how Kate & Sawyer probably came back to visit, or Hurley went to see them on the mainland…after all, he’s the caretaker now, not Jacob. His island, his rules! I find it so easy to see Sawyer with his sexy grin and his drawl cruising up on his motorcycle into my driveway offering to be my boy toy. (Whoops…a little side-tracked there. )

Like I said–I’m so fine with that. It’s not, however, enough for a lot of people, who are still really mad. I am sorry, I do kind of understand your frustration, but I found the journey to be so fabulous I just don’t care to gripe about the end. And frankly, I didn’t find the end all that confusing–really not sure why so many people did, I thought it was pretty straightforward what had happened. (SPOILER: That everything this season that took place on the island was real, but off-island, the “alt” world, was all an afterlife experience shared by the castaways after their deaths…whenever those deaths may have taken place–5 years ago, or 500 years from now!)

I am not usually like this–just ask Bruce–but with Lost, I was 100% content to just enjoy the ride, rather than being desperate to get to the final destination and get all the answers. In fact, I loved every minute of the ride. I loved the characters and their humanity and their frailties and relationships and the way you never quite knew if someone was good or bad, or merely as grey as the rest of us. (Ben…OMG, right until the FINAL moments of the show, I had no idea if he was good or evil–if he was sincere in wanting to help Hurley guard the island, or if he would thrust a knife in his back to “steal” the job of protector! How fricking brilliant was that character?!? There should be a whole slew of Emmy nominations for this cast, but especially for Michael Emerson—Ben, and Terry O’Quinn—Locke.)

Anyway, Carly and I were talking a lot and I thought it would be fun if we did a little q&a with our impressions/interpretations, then hopefully you all will jump in with your answers of your own.

Here we go…

1. Were you satisfied with how Lost was resolved?
Leslie: See above! Beyond that, in specifics to the storylines, yes, I was very happy with how everything tied up. Not just everyone ending up “going to heaven” together, but in terms of how island world and alt-world mirrored each other, how everyone seemed to get what they deserved. The “reunions” were utterly beautiful and heartwrenching and soul-stirring. I don’t know which romantic reunion affected me more deeply–Charlie & Claire’s reunion, or Sawyer & Juliet’s.

Carly: VERY! I was always more interested in the characters and their journey than the island’s mysteries, so to see them all come full circle was wonderful. I cried throughout the entire thing. The romantic in me was just swept away by the points of awareness in the sideways world. I always wanted Sayid to know he was good and he finally did and found Shannon. And of course, Sawyer and Juliet. OMG I was sooo happy! Jack and Kate worked for me. And that they all realized the best time in their lives was together and they created this world to be together before going “into the light” … well, they all found themselves on the island. How perfect?

2. What surprised you most about last night’s finale?

Leslie: The real explanation as to what the “alt” world really was. I didn’t think it was real–I had long thought it was much too perfect to be reality, and had begun to think it was some kind of “here’s-the-life-you-could-have-fantasy” that Faux Locke was offering to the castaways, like the movie The Last Temptation of Christ. But it NEVER occurred to me that all the off-island scenes from this season took place far in the future after the castaways were all dead & in heaven’s waiting room.

Carly: The lack of answers (to me LOST is about questions and more questions so I’m OK with this, I just thought they’d go deeper into specifics) and the fact that they went with the ending I would have wanted most. I’m so grateful and would never have expected that!

3. What answer didn’t you get that you really wanted to know?

Leslie: What happened to Claire during those days when she disappeared? IE: Was she taken by the smoke monster? How did she die or almost die? (Which she must have if she needed to be put into the healing well.)

Carly: What happened to Ji Yeon, Sun and Jin’s daughter? I was one of those who wasn’t thrilled with them dying together and leaving their daughter alone, and I felt certain there would be a deeper reason revealed about her in the finale. There wasn’t.

4. What was your favorite moment in the finale?

Leslie: OMG there were so many! All the “love reunions” — Sawyer/Juliet and Charlie/Claire. Jack’s death–with Vincent by his side, looking up and seeing that plane fly away and knowing he hadn’t died in vain…OMG! But all the humorous moments were fabulous (“So when are you gonna tell us about your conversation with the burning bush” and when Hurley compared Jacob to Yoda and, of course, the line that’s gonna be a classic, “I may not believe in many things, but I believe in duct tape!” Really evaluating it, though, I think the absolute perfect moment to me was the exchange between Locke and Ben outside the church when Ben apologized for murdering Locke and Locke offered him sincere forgiveness. Just so understated, beautifully played. One of those moments that make you forget to breathe.

Carly: Duh. Sawyer and Juliet’s reunion! ‘Nuff said!

5. Favorite episode of Lost?

Leslie: “The Constant.” I’ve always adored Desmond. This one was a mind-bending exploration of Desmond’s mind…showed the deep love between he and Penny, explained a lot about the concept of needing a “constant” to ground you in reality, and explained mental time travel. Fascinating, confusing as hell. Just a stunning episode!

Carly: “LaFleur”. See # 4 above! I’m a very basic, linear thinking person … you can figure out why this episode rocks my world.

6. Any odd points you want to make?

Carly: Yes. Leslie and her entire family are MUCH smarter than me and I wouldn’t have survived the LOST years without asking her WTF many times! Thank you to all the Kellys!

Leslie: lolol! You’re welcome! Glad all 5 of our brains were on the job. (And Carly, I am SO going to miss those weeknights, Im’ing or emailing during commercials, comparing notes with you as they happened! I’ve loved sharing this with you!!!)

Okay, that’s it, our little impromptu interview. What do you guys think of those six questions?

Now, because I’ve been over this again and again today, I figured I’d share my entire repertoire of theories here. I have it all figured out in my own head to my complete satisfaction…lolol…not saying I’m right, AT ALL, but it all makes perfect sense to me and I’m happy to expound upon it! This might be absolutely wrong to you, or to other viewers…I know there are a lot of theories that the final imagery in the show meant the Ajira flight crashed again and they all died again and etc etc etc. But I totally believe the following….and while I completely respect your right to disagree, this is my blog day and I get to say what I think…lol! So click below the fold if you’re interested! 

Q: Were they in purgatory all along?  A: NO! Everything through season 5 really happened. Everything on-island in season 6 really happened. Only the “alt” world in season 6 was Purgatory or, as I heard it described today, “Heaven’s waiting room.” They were all waiting and living on some kind of heavenly “holo-deck” for the last survivor to die (Hurley, I would presume) so they could enter the next phase of existence–heaven–with the people who’d been the most important in their lives.  

Q: Didn’t the producers “lie” then when they said it wasn’t purgatory? A: NO!  Throughout season 1, they said the castaways survived the plane crash, that the island was not purgatory, that it was all really happening. They didn’t say the castaways would never die and experience some kind of afterlife. Yes, it was tricky. No, it wasn’t an outright lie!

Q: What was the island? A: Exactly what Jacob said it was.  A “cork” — a closed doorway, where the goodness was so strong it was able to keep out all the evil of some kind of literal or figurative hell from escaping.

Q: Why did the island have mystical powers like the ability to be moved & to heal & to time travel?  A: If you accept the heaven, hell, purgatory, why on earth wouldn’t you accept that an island that contained enough goodness to completely hold-back evil would have some mystic qualities?

Q: Who were Jacob & the MIB really? A: Brothers. Watch Across The Sea…it’s all there.

Q: Why couldn’t the MIB leave? A: When he was actually alive–because his murderous adoptive mother was a whackjob who believed that if he (or anyone else) left, they’d “tell” the rest of the world about the island and more men would come to try to exploit it. Once he’d died and his soul split-off from his body to become the black smoke, he couldn’t leave because he didn’t have any kind of corporeal form, he was a soul *impersonating* living beings–like Locke.

Q: So you mean the black smoke really was the MIB’s soul, not just something that was released when Jacob sent his body down the water? A: Yes. That’s what I mean. The black smoke was the malevolent soul of an angry, malevolent man bent on revenge and escape.

Q: So why didn’t Jack’s soul become black smoke when he went down there? A: Because Jack wasn’t an angry, malevolent man bent on revenge and escape 

Q: What’s with the numbers? A: They corresponded with the names of the candidates on Jacob’s cave wall. The last surviving candidates.

Q: Why were they candidates? A: Because Jacob saw something in them that told him they had the necessary mix of qualities to survive doing what he had done for 2.5 millennia–they didn’t have much to lose, they were all searching for something “more” — be it their destiny or their freedom; plus they were strong, independent, and could stand to live alone. 

Q: How did he know this? A: He watched them from the lighthouse. (And don’t ask me how…again, magic island!)

Q: What’s with the polar bears, rabbits, hatches, and food larders with gallon-sized jugs of Ranch Dressing that kept Hurley fat throughout all that time on a desert island? A: The Dharma Initiative.

Q: Why did the Dharma Initiative come? A: Because, like everyone else who came to the island throughout the ages, they saw its power…didn’t understand it, wanted to study it, learn from it, use it…and in the end died because they were trying to exploit it.

Q: Why did Ben & Locke get thrown into the future and/or the desert when they turned the donkey wheel? A: As MIB explained in Across The Sea, he built that wheel so he could redirect and/or focus the power of the island, so he could get off it. He just died before he could actually use it! Think of turning a ship really fast so the rudder hits a shallow reef…then getting thrown off. That’s how I envisioned it.

Q: Was it really Christian walking around on the island? A: No. It was always the smoke monster–he was the one who sent Locke to turn the wheel and go get the rest of the candidates to return to the island…probably because he wanted to kill them!

Q: Why did Ben kill Locke? A: Because he didn’t need him anymore. He was horribly jealous and wanted what Locke had–namely, the position as leader. But he thought he would need Locke to get back to the island. Then Locke revealed that Eloise Hawking (Daniel’s mother) knew how to get them back…and Ben no longer needed Locke.

Q: Did detonating Jughead work? A: It got the castaways back to the right time period. That’s it.  It didn’t change the plane crash, didn’t sink the island. Just put them back where they belonged. Why? I don’t know. And I don’t care.

Q: What’s with Widmore? A: He was kicked off the island for getting an outsider pregnant and always blamed Ben for it and wanted back on. In the end, Jacob came to him & asked him to bring Desmond back to the island.

Q: WHY? A: Because Desmond survived the blast of electro-magnetism when the hatch blew and was the only living person who could go down into the pit to “uncork” the seal…killing the light, letting the darkness in, BUT, in the process, making “faux Locke” become human again…long enough for somebody to put a bullet in him and kill him! Which they did.

Q: What was with Jack’s neck bleeding in the alt universe? A: That was REALITY trying to intrude. The memory of his own death seeping into his imaginary purgatory world, trying to make him remember.

Q: Did Jack’s son really exist? A: NO!!! (So many people are hung up on this–”how could this be purgatory if Jack had a kid when he was married to Juliet?” He wasn’t…and they didn’t!)

Q: Why didn’t Jack have to say some kind of blessed words over the water before having Hurley drink it?  A: Jack’s game, Jack’s rules! When Jacob was in charge, eveything was by his rules…Ben and Hurley’s conversation at the end make it clear Hurley’s the man who makes the rules now. So in the brief time Jack was in charge, he would have decided how things went–and if he thought having Hurley drink dirty water out of a dirty water bottle was good enough…then it was good enough.

Q: Why weren’t the following people at the church in the finale: Michael, Walt, Richard, Mr. Eko, Ana Lucia, Ben, Daniel Faraday? And why WAS Penny there when she wasn’t on the plane?

A: Michael = (from Jimmy Kimmel Live last night “I said it a few episodes ago, when my ghost appeared to Hurley. I can’t LEAVE the island! I’m stuck there, one of the voices, for eternity.” (Presumably because of the awful things he did there.)  Mr. Eko–embraced the dark side of his nature right before his death…I don’t think heaven was in his future. Walt: No clue. Maybe he’s not dead  yet! Richard: His goal was to be reunited with his wife, who had already moved on…why would he wait around for the castaways? Ana Lucia–Desmond told Hurley she wasn’t ready to let go yet. Ben: Too much guilt, and I think he wanted to stay a little longer with Alex. Daniel: Just found Charlotte…and his mommy dearest obviously *knew* they were all dead (like in the Nicole Kidman movie “The Others” in which she played a similar role!) but didn’t want to let him go because of her guilt over having killed him!)

As for why Penny *was* there…can anybody who watched this show ever imagine Desmond Hume going into his afterlife WITHOUT Penny by his side?

Q: What happened to the survivors who got away in the Ajira plane? A: Anything you *want* to have happened to them. They lived long & happy lives, or they died a quick, inglorious death (I’m looking at you, Kate! JK–I kinda liked her at the end.)

Q: Are you sure? What about the shoe hanging from the tree, and the wreckage on the beach? A: No, of course I’m not sure! But I do know from re-watching the pilot on Saturday night that there was a shoe hanging from a bamboo tree in the pilot…I assumed it was the same shoe. Sure. Why not. Could it be another one? Sure. Why not? Does it matter–only if you MUST know either way. I don’t need to. I’m happy interpreting it my way. As for the wreckage–I saw it as a mood-setter for the closing credits…not as any kind of proof that the Ajira plane crashed again right after Jack saw it flying away. I guess it’s a glass-half-empty or a glass-half-full kind of question. I saw it as half-full.  How about you?

Q: So when did this church scene happen? A: 5 years from now. Or 50. Or 500. Or 2500. No clue. Time doesn’t mean anything in the afterlife.

Q: So why did they all look the same and why was Aaron a baby? A: They were ALL dead by this point, including Aaron, but they looked exactly the way they all remembered each other looking on the island–including Aaron!

Q: Who built the statue? Who wrote the hieroglyphics? A: I don’t really care. It was said several times that men came and went throughout the ages…at some point, somebody built the statue and somebody wrote the hieroglyphics and somebody finished the donkey wheel and somebody built the temple. But honestly, so what? None of that really matters, does it?

Q: What was the deal with Walt, and Aaron, and no-babies-born-on-the-island? A: I have no idea. And again, those are questions that just weren’t terribly important to me. I can totally accept the story as it is, without answers to these questions, or the previous ones.  I know some people found those questions a lot more important, and not getting answers had to be frustrating, I just don’t happen to be one of them. (Though, I imagine the answer to Walt was that the actor just grew so much they couldn’t use him on the show anymore after S1!)

Okay, summing up, as you can see, I believe the show DID answer a TON of questions…but not all of them were answered “directly”. You have to think about the questions and everything we were  shown, then interpret some of it. But I sincerely think my interpretation is correct…or, if not correct, it at least makes sense.

 As for the rest, well, I totally understand where the show’s creators were coming from. They said, “We’ll answer a lot, but the truth is, it’s our show, and we’re going to do it our way, and hopefully you’ll like it, but we’re not going to dot every i and cross every t and answer every single question and wrap up the answers in a bow for you.” (obviously paraphrasing!) As a writer–a creator of worlds and stories–I SO understand that and completely respect it!

Okay, have at me. Feel free to hammer away at my theories, or pose more questions. I absolutely LOVE talking about this stuff which, in my opinion, is what lifts Lost to the absolute pinnacle of television history. I don’t know that any show has ever generated such interest and speculation and debate and controversy, and creativity, in its audience, as Lost. And for that reason, I am an absolute fan for life! It has not been a TV show…for my family, it has been an entire 6-year experience. I already miss it and am looking forward to going back to episode 1, season 1, and starting the whole journey over this summer!

So…discuss!

PS: I had a “Lost” contest way back in January before the season started. Only got two entries—one from Carly! Lolol! The other entry didn’t have a whole lot right, either…but who on earth could have guessed how things would have gone?!?