LOST Season 6: Episode 17 & 18 Series Finale “The End”
If your parents ever told you that television would rot your brain, it was because the show Lost did not exist yet. 6 seasons, 90 plus literary references, and 6 years of debating, theorizing, and discussing have given you an intellectually stimulating and spiritually awakening television show. Lost has always called upon the viewer to open their eyes and apply the same metaphysical questions raised in the show to their own lives. Yes, there is mystery, mythology and plot, but more importantly there are characters that represent the whole of humanity. The finale was fantastic, though admittedly not without flaws. The producers opted not to cop out, but take the road less traveled. The result was an ending that surprised us all…and ending that was beautiful, daring, and perfect.
Lost…
On September 22, 2004 a group of strangers flying to the United States from Australia aboard Oceanic Flight 815 crash landed on to a mysterious island. The passengers turned castaways were each carrying more “baggage” than the luggage they checked in before leaving Sydney. They were accustomed to hauling their burdens alone. They were all flawed, lonely, broken…lost. The wreckage of their plane on the beach of a solitary island was a mirror image of their lives. Unbeknownst to them, they were intricately connected to each other, and to the island. Within the first day of salvage and survival, the unique nature of the island became clear to them. This place had existed before them, and would exist after them. It is a place where the scales of good and evil are weighed, where the soul is both illuminated and exposed, and where man is tested in life, love and faith. It is where these now doubly lost people would discover the meaning of their lives, their downfalls, and their redemptions. Their stories are the essence of our human condition, the duality of our nature, science versus faith, and, in the end, the secret hopes of all mankind.
Human Hands & Master Plans
It is sunrise on what would be Jack’s final day on the island, as he stares down at his hands and reflects over a river’s sun-glistened surface. He has taken on the mantle of Jacob, having just shared an island communion with him. Sawyer asks Jack the same question we are all wondering: Does he feel different? Jack’s response was a very intuitive and self-aware “No. Not really”. He isn’t magically changed; he is a more enlightened version of his have-to-fix-everything self. Several times throughout the series, especially the final season, Jack would gaze at his reflection. Before now, every reflective gaze would raise the questions “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” in Jack’s mind. This time he doesn’t ask those questions; this time he knows the answers. Jack’s plan is to use Desmond to kill Flocke. Flocke’s plan is to use Desmond to destroy the island and be able to leave it. Master plans have always failed on Lost. “Mother” had a master plan. MIB and Jacob had master plans. Ben and Widmore had mater plans. Etcetera, Etcetera. Even Rose and Bernard had a master plan: We don’t get involved. But no man is an island unto himself (pun intended). They found their plan foiled, after pulling Desmond out of the well. Flocke came, threatened their lives if Desmond didn’t leave, and Rose’s response was to step up. But Desmond went with Flocke, and their group found themselves face to face with Jack’s group. For the first time on the show, the two people with master plans revealed them to each other, and decided to see who would be right. However, as Sawyer pointed out, Jack’s real plan was a long con: Not to act first, but act based on what actually happens.
Life, Death, and Rebirth
Jack, Flocke, and Desmond head into the heart of the island together, so they can lower Desmond down the waterfall. Flocke, overconfident in his plan, continues to mock Jack by attempting to recall memories of Locke and in doing so, plays on Jack’s emotions. Once Desmond is lowered into the heart of the island, he sees the light “mother” had told Jacob existed. I choose to view all of this symbolically, so stay with me. “Mother” said that the light was the heart of the island, and that it contained life, death, and rebirth. She also said that if the light went out here, it would go out everywhere: No life, no death, and no rebirth. There is a seemingly ever-flowing stream of water that runs into the light, as a symbol of the flow of life. The stream of water falls into an abyss, a symbol of death and what would happen if the light were extinguished. Basically, the stream of life flows into death and from death the stream of life is re-birthed. It is the very loop that MIB wanted to find a loophole in. The stone “cork” and this cave keep the balance of life and death even, so that rebirth is possible. To disrupt this balance would extinguish the light, ending life and rebirth, and leaving permanent death or “hell” referenced as the wine in Jacob’s bottle analogy. This symbolism is manifested in reality by those who are at peace and those who are not at peace in life. The Smoke Monster is the embodiment of everyone’s personal “demons” that keep them from being at peace. It was combined with the Man In Black’s physical body and is a manifestation of the Man In Black’s relentless pursuit of leaving the island. The “light” is balance and “Smokey” is imbalance; the “light” is being and “Smokey” in nothingness. When Jacob tells Jack “Now you are like me”, it is a reference to this peace. When Desmond removes the “cork” he disrupts the balance, leaving both the island (then the world) subject to destruction, but also rendering the Man In Black fully human again.
Jack’s Destiny
With the balance (light) gone, the island begins to destruct. Jack starts to fight Flocke and discovers he is fully human. Flocke knocks Jack unconscious and heads for his boat, but Jack catches up with him. On the rocky cliffs of the island, Jack and Flocke engage in a battle that holds the whole of humanity in its scope (You got to love the ninja jack super punch). Flocke stabs Jack in his side, and has him pinned with a knife on his throat. Flocke tells Jack “I want you to know you died for nothing”, but before he lowers the final blow, he is shot in the back by Kate. Jack kicks Flocke off the edge, and he falls to his death on the rocks below. With Flocke/MIB now dead, Jack has one part of his mission left: Stop the island’s destruction. Jack must bid farewell to everyone attempting to leave the island via the Ajira plane. Jack and Sawyer give each other some much needed encouragement, as Sawyer thanks Jack for “everything”. Hurley and Ben choose to go with Jack. Jack and Kate share one last, tear-jerking goodbye, and exchange “I love you(s)”. When Jack, Hurley, and Ben reach the heart of the island, Hurley does not want Jack to die. Jack says that Hurley was actually supposed to be Jacob’s replacement, because of his love for people. He tells Hurley that he has always believed in him, something Hurley has always wanted to hear. They share island communion, and Jack tells Hurley “Now you are like me”. As Jack heads down the waterfall, Hurley invites Ben to be his new Richard. Ben receives want he always wanted, to feel needed, and humbly accepts. Jack “re-corks” the heart of the island, and reconnects the loop of balance. The stream of life begins to flow, and the light of life, death, and rebirth illuminates him. Jack lies in the light and water, laughing and crying that his destiny, the very destiny he fought against for so long, has been fulfilled. The man of science became a man of faith, and in doing so saved the balance of life.
Pentecost Sunday
The finale aired on Pentecost Sunday. Don’t mistake coincidence for fate. Having a finale that contains characters igniting their souls to the memoires of their lives and deaths on a day that, according to Christian theology, believers were ignited within by God’s Spirit is no coincidence. Maybe most Christian’s have the visual wrong, that everyone received something they didn’t have on Pentecost. Instead, maybe their awareness to it was switched on, just like our Losties (That technically makes more sense, since Christians also believe God breathed his Spirit in man upon creation). In what we thought was the Flash-Sideways, but was actually a post death Limbo created by the united spirits and wills of the Losties, we watched as each character’s soul was awakened to the reality of their life and death. For some, the flame that lit the fire was the touch of their real life love. For others, it was a pivotal moment of love shared with another Lostie. For John Locke it was remembering the original source of his faith, the island’s healing of his legs. Each sequence of awakening scenes was perfectly picked by the producers. The scene with Sawyer and Juliet was especially good. We were still assuming at this point, that all of this was happening so the Losties could live happily in an alternate reality created by detonating Jughead in Season 5. We also assumed that the island would sink in the original island timeline, given that the island was underwater in this place. It would turn out that the island being underwater was just a symbol of the Losties lack of spiritual awakening. Other clues were given, such as Jack’s neck cut and stab wound on his side, and Jack’s dialogue with Desmond where he says that all of this matters, there are no shortcuts, and whatever happened, happened. It was all building for this final moment: everyone was meeting up at a church, with only one person left to awaken his soul – Jack Shephard.
…Found
John Locke gets out of a cab and heads for the church, but stops outside to talk to Ben. Ben apologizes to Locke for everything, and Locke forgives him. It was a tender moment of redemption. Locke goes inside, and Hugo comes out to also talk to Ben. Hugo invites Ben inside, but Ben replies that he has some things he has to do (A reference to his need to absolve past sins by aiding those closest to him in awakening). Hurley tells Ben he was a good number 2, and Ben responds in kind by telling Hurley that he was a good number 1. (Both were references to whatever time they spent on the island together before death.) Kate, being spiritual awakened in the Lost-Limbo-Land, has Jack drive to the same church where everyone was gathering. Jack enters the back way, and into a church office, while Kate joins everyone else inside. Inside the church office was the coffin of Jack’s father, and as Jack places his hand on the coffin, he is spiritually awakened. Jack hears the voice of his father, and turns to face him. Jack asks “How are you here?” and Christian replies “How are YOU HERE?”. Jack, as well as the audience, realizes he is dead. The Flash-Sideways is actually a form of Limbo. Christian explains that Jack and his fellow Losties created this place, and that they need each other to move on. He reassures Jack, and the audience, that everything that happened on the island was real and mattered. He further explains that all of the Losties were connected in death, just as they were in life. They all needed the island as much as it needed them. Jack enters the main part of the church as everyone is greeting each other happily. They exchange last hugs or acknowledgements of love, and sit on the pews (in a way similar to an airplane). Christian throws open the doors of the church, and as light envelopes them, they start to move on. Back on the island, Jack awakens and walks to the same spot he first landed when Flight 815 crashed. Lying on his back, he sees his fellow Losties fly away in the Ajira plane. With a smile on his face, Jack dies. The closing of his eyes ends the show, full circle from where it started.
The Secret Hope of All Mankind
The end of “The End” was a very personal piece of writing from Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof that touches on a shared longing we all have inside us. The common thread of all faiths is the concept that our actions in this life create/shape what is to come in the next. The stained glass window inside the church office contained symbols of all major religions, and cast a vision we all secretly wish to see: Everyone was right in the end. The idea that the community we create in this life is connected in death is particularly sweet. No one does it alone, we all help each other. We segregate to our own faiths for various reasons: upbringing, curiosity, pride, lack of knowledge, and most commonly fear. We fear losing those we love, we fear eternal damnation, or we fear being wrong. There was peace in Jack’s smile as he died, knowing he did so to save the people he loves. Perfect love casts out fear. That is the secret hope of all mankind: to love and be loved; to help each other move not just through this life, but the next. For the most part, we live as if our actions have no bearing on the after life of others. We relinquish that responsibility solely to a higher power. But if you believe we were made in the image of some higher power or force, how can you not see that being within you? The truth is that it has always has been inside you. It is your choice. What life will you lead? What choices will you make? Just remember: No one does it alone. I’ll see you in another life, brother. Namaste.
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Aug 21, 2010 
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