I have been a big fan of Lost every since the first season. 6 years back one of my friends told me not to miss the pilot episode of a new show. Reason? According to her, it was the most expensive pilot ever made. Lost was a J.J Abrams brainchild. He was responsible for the pilot episodes and that was good enough for us. I watched the pilot episode and I was hooked like so many others. My initial impression after the pilot was that Lost would be similar to the reality shows like the Survivor series. A bunch of people left on the island to fend for themselves, with no rescue in sight. Then the questions started. Each episode seemed to throw up a new question.
Over the course of 6 years the questions just piled on and on endlessly with no answer in sight. At the end of each season I couldn't wait for the next one to start. I would imagine the final season unraveling all the mysteries and leaving me spellbound. I had such a long list of questions. I don't think I remember most of them anymore. What's a polar bear doing on that island? What's so special about Walter? What is the significance of those numbers? How do they drive a person crazy, make you win lotteries? How does a man with permanent disabilities walk on the island? What makes it so special? It even cures you of cancer and in the case of Korean women it makes you pregnant when you are not capable of it. However it is just not possible for everyone to conceive a child on it. Both mother and child are doomed. And then there is the Smoke. We don't know what it is. It looked like it was the island's protector. It was delivering judgment on the unworthy. Or was it? It came out of nowhere and then disappeared into oblivion. You could time travel on the island, you could make the island disappear, and you could even get yourself magically transported out of wilderness by turning a cartwheel. What about the statue with four toes? Anyone? What is it with the island? Why is it so special? How does the Smoke threaten mankind if it is ever escape the island? All it ever wanted was to leave the damn place. The consequences of it leaving the island were conspicuous of their absence. What about Desmond? What made him so special? He could at one time foresee people's death and tried to prevent Charlie from dying. That aspect of his ability was completely ignored in the later stages. Instead his immunity to the electro-magnetism came to the fore.
And then there were The Others. Possibly the most disappointing answer to the torment of The Others was that they were doing it so that they could force the hand of a spinal surgeon to operate on their leader. It never occurred to them that they could simply ask the guy and then send the surgeon and his people back home in the submarine. They had to kidnap and they had to kill.
And then there were The Other Others. The people we were introduced in the final season. They had been living in the temple all long. We just didn't spot them in 5 years. The Japanese guy could keep the Smoke out of the temple. How? Why? Well you are not allowed to ask that question. The people of the temple can also cure you of fatal wounds. Linus and Sayid know a thing or two about it. The rest of us are clueless.
Mid way through the 6th season I was convinced that there would be no meaningful ending to this show. There would be no awesome revelations to marvel at. There would be no significant answers. For starters there were too many questions to be answered. The MO of the show was always to answer questions by raising more questions. It kept the show's faithful viewers on tender hooks. It made sure its fan base stayed loyal till the very end. It didn't make any sense to change that style. Plus now that the show had ended, the questions it posed will remain forever unanswered and forever debated. It's virtually guaranteed that the show will go down in living memory as one of the most talked about.
As an armchair critic who watched the show and had the usual clutch of questions I reserve the right to my own judgment, which perversely enough is what the creators expect from the show's audience. They had it planned all along – I don't buy that. The writers were clueless about the direction the show will take. Its mythical ending was not what they had in mind when they started the show. They did their best to tie up together so it looks like it. Jack closing his eyes surrounded by bamboos, to end like it began. And to remind us about the two skeletons we found in season one. The direction of the show eventually took did not form until the 3rd and the 4th season. I don't really have a problem with it. The problem is with the claim that the writers knew what they were doing all along. That's insulting the audience that's watched the show over the years.
Now that we don't have an intellectually stimulating ending, no wonderfully explained answers, I am so glad the show has finally ended. Ever since the pilot episode, I have waited impatiently for the new episode to be telecast. When the season ended, I kept on eye on TV.com, visiting it once in a while to determine the date when the new season will begin. Once I knew the date, I would have it etched in memory so I don't forget to miss the start of the new season. No need for calendar reminders for this one folks, it was so intriguing that I didn't need a reminder. I just needed to know the date when the new season would start and I would faithfully be waiting for it on the given day. Now I can finally let go. I can move on. I can promise myself not to get so invested in any other show. And I don't have to wait impatiently anymore for a new dose of Lost. In a way I identify with the characters who realize they are dead and they congregate together so that they can leave – as Jack's father so aptly put it – move on. Finally!!!
Credit should of course go where it is due. I enjoyed the show even if I was not completely satisfied with the final season. It kept me interested since its inception. And many others like me. A question for the Lost fans out there. Knowing how the show pans out, would you still have watched it when it first started out. I would. Because the narrative, the parallel stories, the intrigue, the mystery, the character centric episodes were all unique TV viewing experiences. Even discounting the background story, some of the individual episodes were brilliant. Like the Long con, or the Science Vs Faith, or the background on Richard Alpert, or when they introduce Jacob and MIB, with Jacob mysteriously stating 'But it only ends once, anything that happens before that, is just progress'. Remember the surprise when they introduced the tail-end survivors and the impressive Eko. I was so disappointed when Smoke killed Eko and I will never find out why the Smoke killed him and so many others and yet spared many that lived outside the security of the fences erected by the Dharma chaps. BTW – How did the Dharma people know that those electric fences would keep the Smoke out? I think reminiscing about old episodes will just raise more questions, it would be best to say no more. Like all shows, this one must also come to an end. Like most popular shows, this one will also have a dissatisfied ending. Perhaps a tribute to the show, because it lefts its viewers wanting more.