Finally, the Finale

            Knowing that I was the person who would have the answer, people would always ask me the same question about the end of the show: What do you think happened? They would also tell me that they thought it was terrible and confusing. In a brief summary I will explain what I believed happened and why the ending is not as bad as others make it out to be. I think a spoiler alert is implied.

            The final season is separated by alternative-flashbacks and the reality on the island. On the island, the remainders of the survivors are fighting the smoke monster, aka the man in black, who is actually is a bitter ghost-like presence whose only desire is to leave the island. He cannot leave, however, because the island's electromagnetic containment prevents him from doing so (This is the most farfetched concept on show but once you understand it, it gets easier to accept). By releasing the electromagnetism, the man in black would be able to leave the island as cause havoc somewhere else. It's as simple as that. In the process of doing so, a few survivors die but what's a finale without losing a few casualties.

            We find out that the flashbacks are actually the island's way of  regrouping the original survivors in the afterlife. Each survivor was "lost" in some way, or broken. The island "found" them in a way that none of them ever expected. Instead of healing their mortal soul, the island felt that is was more important to give the survivors eternal rest. Every person on the island had a loved one. By reuniting them in purgatory (which was the alternate flashback), the survivors could finally be at peace with the one they loved in the afterlife, which I assume is heaven.

            Then there were those people who understood the ending but didn't like it because it wasn't climactic enough. I thought the ending was great because the show was about more than just excitement all the time. The show taught me that these characters were too broken on the island to be repaired. After all the characters left their mortal bodies, they wandered around in purgatory looking for their soul mate. When they found that person, they met at a church and waited until everybody they were close to arrived to walk to nirvana together.


            As long as there is an overlying resolution between all the characters, which there was, then they left me as a satisfied fan.

What the show leaves the audience with after the show ends and the credits roll: a view of the beach

Lost: On Location

     Having been filmed on the beautiful Hawaiian island of Oahu, Lost had another feature that drew in a crowd, scenery. Because most of the characters had an undying thirst for exploration and adventure, almost every episode featured a new spot of beauty. The crash site on the beach was the prettiest spot which was fortunate because it became the main setting for the first few seasons.

Mokule'ia Beach was used as the crash site on the show.

            Even when not exploring the characters found a way to enjoy the peace and serenity that comes from being on a deserted island, by enjoying the view. On the show Hurley builds a golf course with no lines and the best view a pro golfer could ask for.

Ka'a'awa Valley made the perfect spot for Hurley's golf course.

            Every scene of the show was shot in Hawaii, including the ones that were set in Korea, Sydney, L.A., even Iraq. Some of the most unique locations had to be found to film such complex scenes, especially the scenes set in Africa on a dry, sandy field; a rare sight in Hawaii. The crew utilized their resources with extreme precision to convince their viewers that what they were seeing was real and not just a set.

Old Waialua Sugar Mill was the set for a
Nigerian village in the show

            I was captivated from the beginning. The show turned a tropical paradise into a new world for me just waiting to be explored.

            For a fee, the island of Lost can be yours for a few hours if you take guided tours and have the island explained to you. OR you can search the locations on Google maps and find a way to sneak into the areas that are blocked off which is what I plan to do when I visit Oahu in the future. If you're a true fan of Lost your thrill for exploration will stray you from the guided tour and take an expedition for yourself. Try not to get Lost though. 

What is the Island?

Since season one of the show the only thing on everybody's mind was the island. What the bloody hell was it? For a while people thought the whole show was Hurley's dream and the island was just a figment of his imagination. Other people thought the island was purgatory and that everybody died when the plane crashed (they weren't too far off with this guess). The island is something a little more complicated than that.

The man in black examines the bottle and cork metaphor

            The island contains strong electromagnetic forces contained within it, like a bottle containing fluid (the comparison they make in season 6). When the cork comes off the bottle, fluid comes out. The island has a "cork" that contains the electromagnetism. A chink in the armor. If the cork comes off, the radiation is uncontained and all hell breaks loose. This is why Desmond was put in the hatch, to push the button every  108 minutes to contain the radiation.

            The reason the radiation is bad is because it contains the smoke monster on the island. If the radiation is let loose then the smoke monster can leave the island and do bad things elsewhere, I don't know (this is where the story got a little farfetched).

The physical cork as seen in the finale that keeps the
electromagnetism from leaving the island. (Who'd have
 thought they were actually talking about a REAL cork?)  

The smoke monster in his human form (left) and
his brother, Jacob (right), leader of the island.

            Like any epic saga (which is what I guess you could call Lost) there is a good to every bad side. As the smoke monster is evil, the white knight is Jacob, the savior of the island. He keeps the smoke monster from leaving the island. The feud between them started hundreds of years earlier and comes to an end in the finale.

            In addition to all of this other mumbo jumbo, the island can move! It can relocate itself as long as someone turns a giant wheel. The only rule is the person who turns the wheel is not allowed back on the island.

            So that's all the island really is. It's a container for electromagnetism. This is just in its physical state. The island has a much larger, spiritual purpose in the lives of the characters which is explained in the finale.

Man of Science, Man of Faith, Man of Lost

Jack Shepard,
 Man of Science

          The main themes of Lost can pretty much be summarized in one single episode. The episode titled Man of Science, Man of Faith is the first episode in season 2. The show's main conflict comes from the two main characters Jack Shephard and John Locke. Jack, the doctor, is a man of science and always has been. In contrast, Locke is a man of faith. Locke believes that there is more to the island than meets the eye. He sees the island as a second chance, or a re-birth with a new spiritual beginning. Jack is not as optimistic. He believes that there is always a rational explanation to an unexplained phenomenon.

John Locke,
Man of Faith

            The second season opens with the hatch that has just been blown open, of which John wants to explore and Jack wants to avoid. Because of Jack's inability to view the hatch as a half full glass of water, the shows displays an intimate flashback oh his that will help him throughout the episode.

            Before the island crash, Jack had a female patient who was paralyzed from the waist down. Having terrible bedside manner, Jack tells her that, even after surgery, there is a very slim chance she will ever walk again. Jack's father pulls him aside and tells him to give more hope, even when there is none. With slim expectations that the surgery will be successful, Jack performs it, goes jogging in a stadium and meets a stranger to whom he explains his disbelief in hope and miracles. After a discussion, the stranger leaves Jack with a phrase that will be heard multiple times throughout the show, "See you in another life, brother."

            When Jack returns to his patient, he discovers that a miracle has in fact happened. She can move her toes, meaning that the surgery worked and a miracle has happened. What happens on the island in this episode is irrelevant because the real transformation of Jack happened in that flashback, and it made him who he is today. What Jack should have learned is that faith can be as effective as science. Without faith, Jack would have lost hope.
             This episode is important to me because it set the tone for the new season, it introduces a pivotal character, and because it showed me how far hope can take you. This is a show where anything can happen, miracles included.

Lost on an Island with 5 Women

The women of Lost play a very important role in the show. Because children cannot be conceived on the island, female survivors became a key target of interest of the mysterious Others, pregnant Claire Littleton in particular. But the women on the show have an additional role, and that is to be the best eye candy they can be both in physical attraction and in character. Let's examine the top 5 most attractive women on Lost. Who wouldn’t want to be stuck on an island with these broads?

1. Kate Austen: Fugitive, Lover, Fighter.

Kate Austen, pretty from beginning to end.

Always on the move and never willing to stop. That’s the way Kate looks at life and her men. After the plane crash she flocks to Jack's rational heroism and bravery; plus being a doctor helps Jack's case. When Sawyer's raw masculinity and rebellious attitude overthrows Kate's desire for Jack, she decides switches from Team Jack to Team Saywer (And yeah, Twilight isn't the only series to have teams. The series finale reveals who her destined partner is but it's a long journey for Kate to realize who it is. I love you Kate for being my first high school love, and for looking the way you do. You're the only one who looked the best with a sweat drenched shirt and dirty hair.

2. Claire Littleton: Maternal, Abandoned, Australian Cutie.

Claire and her son, Aaron. What a cutie.

Only the cutest girl on the planet. But maybe that's crossing the line, I mean that is Charlie's woman. Since day one of the crash, Charlie Pace took a liking to her (and who can blame him with those pretty blue eyes of hers). When her baby pops out he's like the cutest think ever. Who couldn't love the helpless mother? As the seasons went on, Claire only got prettier. She became less stressed, more put together. Plus she got bangs in season 3. It's hard to pull that off nowadays but she has got it down.

3. Juliet Burke: Scientist, Unpredictable, Badass.

Badass Juliet with her gun, never
knowing what she'll do next.

Before there was Sawyer and Juliet in season 5 and 6, there was Jack and Juliet. In season 3 they were quite the hot couple. Maybe just Jack's way of back at Sawyer for stealing Kate. She worked for the Others but we never really knew what she was thinking. Sometimes she was loyal to Jack and other times she followed Ben. Because she was so unpredictable, you never knew when she would pull a gun on someone, anyone. Who doesn't love a pretty blonde who knows how to hold a gun?

4. Sun Kwon: Wife, Adulterer, Korean.

Sun from season 1

Sun from season 6

During season 1, Sun was the oppressed housewife who had to hide secrets from her short tempered husband. At the end of the season, when Jin left on the raft and disappeared for a while, was when the pretty Sun would come out to shine. Maybe the time apart gave her the freedom to look the way she wanted to, and when Jin and her were finally reunited she probably looked so good that her husband decided to let her stay with her look. Regardless, she is the only woman on the island who has conceived a baby on the island, when no one else could. She must be one special lady.

5. Penny Widmore: True Love, Daddy Issues, Desmond

Beautiful, Beautiful Penny Widmore.

We know very little about Penny except for her unrelenting love for Desmond Hume. She is also a victim of her father's expectations for her suitors, which is what separated her from Desmond in the first place. When Desmond went off the map, she spent her millions looking for him on land and sea. She was so beautiful and captivating that the image of her kept him alive for all those years. She makes the audience remember the feeling of letting someone you love go, never realizing if you'll see them again. 

Me and Lost

Me in my original, ratty Lost shirt and
 my beloved blu-ray set of the series

Before I babble on about more Lost mumbo jumbo, I feel that I should explain the extent of my fandom. On September 22, 2004, the obsession began. Since day one, I have loved the show. I wasn't one of those people who started watching halfway in, and then went back to catch up. I am proud to say that I've been Lost since the first day.

            My obsession in the show went to a new level in 2007 when I bought my first shirt from the online Lost store. 4 8 15 16 23 42 read across the front. I liked the show so much that I had decided to wear my "Lost shirt" every Wednesday (because that was that day of the week that the show was usually on). That shirt and I went through everything together. When the show would move to a different day of the week, I would wear my shirt that day.

            Not more than a year after I buying my shirt, my sister accidentally spilled bleach on the front and back giving my black shirt a nice big red stain. Even though my sister told me she would buy me another shirt, I didn't really care because the red stain actually looked kinda cool.

            Over the years, holes infested my shirt, one by one. While running on a hot day, I took my shirt off only to rip the back of my shirt almost beyond repair. Because of the massive rip, I was forced to take a hiatus from wearing the shirt. While Grandma was still able to sew it back up, I decided to hang up the shirt for good. Luckily my sister kept to her word and bought me another identical shirt to make for the other one. 

             This video is an xfinity commercial that parodies off the song "All I Have to Do is Dream" by the Everly Brothers. At the end of the commercial, they use clips from Lost saying that if you want to watch the show, all you have to do is stream, stream, stream, and it will show up on your TV. This commercial reminds me that when I miss Lost, all i have to do is turn on my TV and pop in the blu-ray discs and watch it. It's that simple. "Whenever I want you, all I have to do is dreeeeeam."

Team Others

           Who are the others? One of the most asked questions for the first two seasons until many of them were answered in the third season. In the first season all we knew was that they were already on the island before the crash and that they are in the baby stealing business. And with pregnant Claire and everybody having so much unprotected sex on the island, the business was a booming. Hell, they stole Walt right off the raft in the first season right before burning it.

The mindblowing season 3 premiere shows
that the others are actually civilized. WHHAAAT?

            They are ruthless, skilled, strong, and most importantly…silent. Their footsteps make no sound as they walk. They dress in savage clothing to hide their comfy suburban lifestyle on the island, as shown in the photo. But their story is even more complex.

            Although they may steal children and often kill off one or two minor characters, the others are actually quite docile people, especially when they have an alternative motive. In the third season we get behind the scenes of the others and see what they're really all about. After they kidnap Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, the others befriend Jack, the spinal surgeon, in hopes to recruit him to Team Others so that he could perform surgery on their leader's spine. Fate? That's what the others think.

The Dharma Initiative after Benjamin Lunis gassed them.

            But a leader doesn't become a leader unless he takes a little something. Benjamin Linus, the leader, was recruited on the island as a child when his father got a job in the Dharma Initiative, a covert company in conflict with the island natives (the others). When child abuse from his father caught up to him as an adult, Linus took revenge on his father and all those in the Dharma program by wiping them out with poison gas. By doing this, Linus took the opportunity to rule the island with the others.

            While this may be massively confusing, remember that the show has six seasons and lots of time to explain this in detail. Nevertheless, the others provided the most mystery on the island, and the most entertainment on the couch for me.

"Christian" Shepherd - Father of Lost

Lost reinforces the theme of religion throughout the show constantly. One of the first examples was with the introduction of the character Christian Shepherd. His name alone rings with religious symbolism. 

Dr. Christian Shephard played by John Terry

A Christian is one who belongs to the faith of Christianity. Within this faith is the belief in the holy trinity. Christian represents the father, the protector. Jack is the son, with much to learn. The smoke monster (the man in black) is, as you guessed, the holy spirit.

Okay maybe it was a stretch comparing Jack to Jesus and the menacing smoke monster to the holy spirit but you know what I mean.

Before the island, Christian was a prestigious doctor until he was brought down by his son when he performed an operation under the influence. Spinning in a whirlpool of despair, Christian runs off to Australia where he hopes to reconcile with his daughter (Claire). Ironically, Christian travels with Ana Lucia (another crash survivor). After ruining his relationship with Ana Lucia, Christian stumbled into a bar, meeting Sawyer.

While his actions and intentions in his mortal life proved otherwise, Christian's spirituality grew in his afterlife on the island. Only in the afterlife was Christian a representative of his last name. A shepherd is one who watches after sheep (represented as weak, defenseless and misguided) and provides protection. Without giving too much away,  the finale of the show revealed that Christian has always been a guardian. He watches over the souls of the survivors making sure they achieve nirvana in one life or the next. (My apologies if this is confusing. I assure you, because the show is longer, it is way less confusing.)

Christian Shephard may have had some skeletons in his closet while alive, but through death he was offered a second chance at redemption. The greatest gift the island could give is second chances.

See you next week Lost lovers.

The Sound of Being Lost

           The team that went into making Lost took professionalism to a new dimension. They were able to maintain the dramatic tone encompassing excitement that keeps you on the edge of your seat as well as make you feel closer to the show.

Giacchino at the Oscars accepting his award in 2010.

            One of the ways the show draws you in is because of the music. This imperative element lets one know when something exciting or comedic or heartwarming will happen. The music for Lost was successfully composed by Michael Giacchino, who has composed the score for numerous films such as Star Trek, Super 8, and Disney Pixar's Up for which he won an Oscar in 2010. 

            My favorite musical piece from the show is from season 2 right after Rose prevents Hurley from blowing up the food pantry after not being able to handle the responsibility. Hurley decides to hand out all the food to the plane passengers and try to be the good guy instead. The music that plays in this scene perfectly captures the moment and mood which is vital when entertaining an audience. The youtube clip below shows the scene with the music, unfortunately the small amount of dialogue is in Spanish.

            It was this scene where I fell in love with the show because of the perfect blend of emotion and spontaneity the show brings to the table sometimes. At the end of the scene, the show reveals that a husband and wife separated by the crash are alive. During this emotional scene the music is there to comfort you immediately. Only Lost could have characters and music that can evoke emotions never experienced before. Usually the end of the show ends in a BANG, usually leaving a cliffhanger for next week's episode. The episode with this scene ends very pleasantly with a musical conclusion, leaving the audience with some closure on the characters.

            Not only is the music fantastic, but it is fairly simple. Giacchino occasionally uses the same melodies for "same-genred" scenes.  For the action scenes, Giacchino use a variation of the same tune but will make small adjustments for each scene. In emotional scenes he will use the same music but change it slightly, customizing his music to fit each scene perfectly. He also did this for the Up soundtrack, still winning the hearts of millions.

            Great job on Lost and I'm looking forward to your future projects. 

Back to the Island

Flight 815 on September 22, 2004

What's so wonderful about Lost is that it is so well written and believable that it becomes a complex multi-faceted reality to it's continuous viewers. It is so complex that it should be viewed several times, especially for it's avid fans.

Not only does Lost deliver an amazing story with some of the most compelling characters, it is a cache of symbolism, morality, and philosophy. When one uses the names John Locke and Jeremy Bentham as characters, you should expect a little philosophy lesson here and there.

Many fans come up to me and ask me to explain the series finale to them because either they didn't understand it or didn't like it. I tell them that the island brought people together who were lost and had no direction. The final scene shows that, while everything that happened on the island was real, the only important thing in the character's lives was having someone to enter the afterlife with. While this may have disappointed some fans, I found this to be a comforting conclusion to the series.

What kept people hooked on Lost was the complexity of the characters and the unknown connections that they had with each other. Of all the minor characters, Christian Shephard is the focal point of relationships between the main cast, which is only appropriate since he is the one who leads them through the gates to nirvana in the finale. He is the father of both Jack and Claire, grandfather of Aaron Littleton, companion to Ana Lucia, acquaintance of Sawyer, and takes the form of a spirit before John Locke and Michael Dawson (before his demise). Additionally, multiple other characters crash into each other unknowingly adding ironic amusement for the audience.

What I will address in this blog is all the things about Lost that makes it a novel and compelling story that captured the attention of millions; from the minor characters like Scott and Steve to the significance that the soundtrack plays throughout the series. By pinpointing specific elements from the show, I'm trying to revisit the show and discover for myself why I enjoyed it so much. I want to experience the feeling that Jack Shephard obsessed about at the end of season 3. "We have to go back Kate. We have to go back."

It's been two years since the finale of Lost and I need to go back.