Being a “Lost” fan from its very first episode six years ago, I prioritized the watching of its finale this past Sunday, arranging my schedule around it, watching part of it at home and most of it at a neighbor’s house where we snacked and enjoyed light banter during the commercial breaks.
I loved the idea of this mysterious island somewhere in the world that offered possibilities beyond the normal. Locke, a man formerly confined to a wheelchair regained the use of his legs on the island. Rose, a woman battling cancer, began to heal. Sun and Jin, a couple struggling in their marriage, regain love. There was adventure, danger, loss, and redemption in the series.
After intense analysis and lively discussions over the episodes with other fans, I waited with anticipation to discover all the answers to my questions. One commentary explained that the characters were in a sort of limbo after their deaths in the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 that allowed them to work through their pasts before moving on.
I had friends who had believed they were in some sort of purgatory all along, but the awareness of their past lives together still seemed to be in reverse. There were flashbacks, flash forwards, and flash sideways – something rarely depicted in television, causing the idea of reality to take on a murky quality. Which came first, their connections on the mainland or the afterlife of the island? Which reality was really real?
The non-linear nature of the show made many of my friends feel crazy – and they jokingly refused to watch it. Sometimes confusing and frustrating even to us die-hards, we hung on tightly as the story line twisted and turned, changed and evolved. It seemed the writers hadn’t made concrete ideas for the show early on. Instead they were having fun, being super-creative, making psychological leaps, and finding meaning along the way.