Posted May 24, 2010
My Final Verdict on LOST: Come for the plot, stay for the characters.
The first few seasons get your brain active in trying to figure out what the hell is going on at the island. You stick it out cliff hanger after cliff hanger hoping you will figure it out, but it only gets increasingly confusing. Along the way, there is some great character development. You really grow attached to these people from viewing their struggles. To appreciate LOST, you have to be willing to give up on the plot at some point while still caring about the characters.
I can't say I'm disappointed in the finale, but only because the rest of the season had prepared me for the fact that there was no way in hell they could tie all the loose strings together in the plot. In fact, I really liked the finale. What they did was create incredible pathos for all of the characters. I think they excelled at that. I was moved throughout the final episode and cried like a baby every time another couple in the sideways reality regained their memory of their life on the island. Though I disliked them at first, I came to really appreciate the flash sideways scenes by the end of this season because in the remembering moments it made everything on the island seem more important and worthwhile. The finale tied things up for me emotionally, if not intellectually.
Ultimately, I do feel a bit jipped about the plot of the whole series though. I put quite a lot of thought into trying to figure out what was going on, only to realize that it's an unsolvable riddle. The story is too nonsensical for there to be any real derivable answers that coherently weave everything together. I felt similarly about the movie Donnie Darko, which also provided a really cool experience that was ultimately never explainable, though it gave the illusion of providing you clues that would lead to some sort of sensible conclusion.
I've enjoyed LOST. I would still recommend it to those that haven't seen it. Ultimately, I don't know if an explanation to all of the events of the season would have felt all that satisfying. It's a bit of a cop out, but understanding the show is about understanding the struggles of the people, not making sense of the situations that they struggle through. I still found that a gratifying experience, despite some lingering feeling that I should have been able to figure it all out. I guess that's how life is though.
The first few seasons get your brain active in trying to figure out what the hell is going on at the island. You stick it out cliff hanger after cliff hanger hoping you will figure it out, but it only gets increasingly confusing. Along the way, there is some great character development. You really grow attached to these people from viewing their struggles. To appreciate LOST, you have to be willing to give up on the plot at some point while still caring about the characters.
I can't say I'm disappointed in the finale, but only because the rest of the season had prepared me for the fact that there was no way in hell they could tie all the loose strings together in the plot. In fact, I really liked the finale. What they did was create incredible pathos for all of the characters. I think they excelled at that. I was moved throughout the final episode and cried like a baby every time another couple in the sideways reality regained their memory of their life on the island. Though I disliked them at first, I came to really appreciate the flash sideways scenes by the end of this season because in the remembering moments it made everything on the island seem more important and worthwhile. The finale tied things up for me emotionally, if not intellectually.
Ultimately, I do feel a bit jipped about the plot of the whole series though. I put quite a lot of thought into trying to figure out what was going on, only to realize that it's an unsolvable riddle. The story is too nonsensical for there to be any real derivable answers that coherently weave everything together. I felt similarly about the movie Donnie Darko, which also provided a really cool experience that was ultimately never explainable, though it gave the illusion of providing you clues that would lead to some sort of sensible conclusion.
I've enjoyed LOST. I would still recommend it to those that haven't seen it. Ultimately, I don't know if an explanation to all of the events of the season would have felt all that satisfying. It's a bit of a cop out, but understanding the show is about understanding the struggles of the people, not making sense of the situations that they struggle through. I still found that a gratifying experience, despite some lingering feeling that I should have been able to figure it all out. I guess that's how life is though.
