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I Used to Like the "Lost" Finale. And Then I Saw This Video

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (90)



lost-fox-lilly-2_l.jpg

I always considered myself mostly a casual fan of “Lost.” I watched every episode from the beginning, but I never really got caught up in the mythology of the show. I liked the characters intermittently, and on most weeks, that was enough to keep up my interest. In the end, I was fairly satisfied with the “Lost” finale because I wasn’t that invested in the mythology and the lack of answers didn’t really bother me too much.

Until now. If you haven’t seen this video — One-Hundred Unanswered Lost Questions — I don’t know whether to encourage you to or not. As someone who was satisfied by the finale, I am no longer after watching this video for the simple reason that it articulates the scores and scores of unanswered questions. In less than five minutes, whether intentional or not, it exposes all six seasons of “Lost” for the sham that it apparently was. They really did just make up shit whenever they felt like it, didn’t they?

I wasn’t pissed off. But now: I kind of am.









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Comments

Yikes. I'm upset now too.

Posted by: Jarsh at May 25, 2010 8:16 PM

People need to breathe and enjoy the ride. Hard answers will never satisfy. Is it weird that I don't feel the need for all of this to be answered? A lot of those questions were pointless, and, also, most of the answers can be extrapolated from conversations through out the show's run.

Posted by: adam at May 25, 2010 8:18 PM

Adam, I wish I had your zen-like calm in the face of all these unanswered questions. The more I reflect back on the finale, the more upset I get. I knew they were making a lot of it up as they went, but DAMN. Watching this video, there was a whole hell of a lot they would introduce and then abandon and never bring up again, and we'll never know what most of it meant.

Posted by: MelBivDevoe at May 25, 2010 8:30 PM

Dearest Messrs Lindelof and Cuse,

This is my first and last letter to you. Enclosed are my severed middle digits. Please insert, rectally, and then rotate, slowly, in the direction of your choice.

Kindest regards,

Lauren

Posted by: Lauren at May 25, 2010 8:32 PM

Never saw a single episode of Lost. After watching this video, I'm thinking I made the right choice, as I would have been in full "Aw! Fuck this shit!" mode by episode 6, at the latest.

Posted by: Groundloop at May 25, 2010 8:35 PM

Nobody tell Cindy about this. No ONE! She was mad enough.

Posted by: Optimus Rhyme at May 25, 2010 8:45 PM

I figured out my own answers for a lot of this, and the advantage to them not answering the questions is that they don't fuck with the ones I created. I mean, is it worse to have no answer, or an answer that is so fucking bad it makes you want to scream. My go to example for this is Star Wars I where we learn that the force has to do with tiny animals that live in your blood stream. I was much happier thinking it was special humans (and aliens) who were able to use more than just 10% of their brain. I guess my point is sometimes getting an answer is worse than not getting an answer.

Posted by: Morgan LaFai at May 25, 2010 8:45 PM

Nobody tell Cindy about this. No ONE! She was mad enough.

Heehee. She'll never come out of CAPS LOCK mode if she sees this one!

Posted by: MelBivDevoe at May 25, 2010 8:55 PM

Too late Optimus.

I'm going to take a deep breath and march on, knowing that I was right. Cop out finale.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Posted by: Cindy at May 25, 2010 8:57 PM

I feel like I knew who the Economist was - Ben or Widmore? I forget now.

Posted by: Cindy at May 25, 2010 8:59 PM

oh cripes. i don't know whether to watch this or not.

Posted by: stopthemadness at May 25, 2010 9:01 PM

I still like the Lost finale. I like it more the more I think about it.

I don't even remember most of what they mentioned, so clearly it wasn't that big of a deal.

Posted by: Forbiddendonut at May 25, 2010 9:02 PM

i was just thinking about what cindy's reaction will be.

oh frack, i guess i'll watch it.

Posted by: stopthemadness at May 25, 2010 9:02 PM

So many questions...so many awesome things that could have been done...and instead we got The Light. Which also goes unexplained. Stupid Lost!!!

I agree that it might be better to wonder than to get shit like midichlorians. Damn, that made me mad! Excellent point.

Funny video tho.

Posted by: Chickaboom at May 25, 2010 9:08 PM

i'm not pissed! phew. there are a few questions that i would have liked "official" answers to (fertility, the rules, how christian appeared off island, to name three), but a lot of those questions i figured out based on message board chatter and going back and rewatching a handful of episodes from each season prior to sunday night.

serenity yesterday.

Posted by: stopthemadness at May 25, 2010 9:08 PM

Come on, I mean, who WASN'T surprised that a JJ Abrams show left hundreds of important questions and plot points completely unanswered?

Did anyone see Alias!?!! This is what this man does. He has no plan, no goal, no overarching ideas for his shows. He says "what would be the craziest, most mysterious thing that could happen next?" ...Then drops the ball.

Thinking back on Alias: Arvin's good, he's evil, he's good, he's evil, he's neither, he's good.... Sydney's mom: She's dead, she's alive, she's undead, she's evil, she's alive, she's good. I couldn't take "the ride" anymore.

Posted by: Vince Noir at May 25, 2010 9:12 PM

THE FORCE IS TINY ANIMALS THAT LIVE IN YOUR BLOODSTREAM?!

Posted by: vikky at May 25, 2010 9:16 PM

One: I'm pretty sure we know the answers to a whole lot of these questions. It's not like they had someone just come out and say things outright, but there are certainly enough clues to piece it together, which was part of the charm of the show.

Two: Some of these things matter so little ("Who was Libby's ex-husband who gave her the boat?" Seriously?)

Three: Sometimes, there are just coincidences (The polar bear in the comic).

Four: This was a story about a very specific group of people, and what happened to them from Point A to Point B. As in life, the things that happen from A to B may affect you, but the history of those things doesn't matter. (If I got a parking ticket, I wouldn't wonder who the cop's father was and why the cop noticed my meter and where I have seen him/her before, I'd just pay the ticket and be more careful about feeding the meter from then on.) Those are other stories. It's not like people don't enjoy the Wizard of Oz because they don't know why the flying monkeys have and allegiance to the Wicked Witch.

Five: All stories are made up as they go along by people who make mistakes. There's a beautiful forest there, quit growling at the ugly trees.

A lot of this complaining reminds me of Fred Savage in Princess Bride. Peter Falk told him to shut up and enjoy the ride when he kept questioning everything. We do all still love Princess Bride, right?

Posted by: myjetski at May 25, 2010 9:21 PM

How did the "tiny animals" get there? What is the turtle standing on? We could do this all day.

Midichlorians don't remove the mysticism. They just confirm genetic inclination for the Force, which we already knew from the original trilogy.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at May 25, 2010 9:49 PM

JJ actually explained the downfall of Alias, also known as Season 3 (DIE COW DIE!!!). He blamed it on ABC meddling.

The lesson I learned from all Bad Robot shows? It's going to start out wonderful and JJ's going to get distracted by a new shiny show or movie and voila! Your show is deadsies.

Posted by: Melody at May 25, 2010 9:58 PM

Thank you myjetski! You have no idea how many people I've had to deal with the past few days hating on how horrible lost is by not answering so many of these questions. You just summed up everything I was thinking and have been trying to explain.

Posted by: boomtown at May 25, 2010 10:01 PM

I know the secret: You've been duped into watching an aimless television show for years, years that you can't get back.

Enjoy!

Posted by: Recondite at May 25, 2010 10:03 PM

The finale pissed me off. But this, surprisingly enough, calms me down. I'm happy someone else made this video to show just how flawed LOST was. Now I can move on.

Posted by: Scully at May 25, 2010 10:12 PM

Actually, I've only got one question. What is up with that picture of Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly? Are they practicing for Twister?

Posted by: DarthCorleone at May 25, 2010 10:12 PM

Holy crap! Matthew Fox looks like Mitt Romney. That sucks.

Posted by: Martin at May 25, 2010 10:14 PM

I'm not going to be one of "those" people who trumpets the fact that I stopped watching LOST before Season 1 was over. The simple fact was that although I enjoyed the style of the show, I couldn't work up any interest in the ensuing mysteries (such as they were at that point). So there's that.

However, out of morbid curiosity I *did* watch the series finale (why? WHY) and even though all logic begs otherwise I'm thinking I might have to get the DVD's and watch the train wreck from start to finish.

Somebody please talk me out of this.

Posted by: Barry at May 25, 2010 10:38 PM

I am more annoyed that there was no mention the Hurley bird than at all the unanswered questions the video itself contained.

Posted by: Shibuyama at May 25, 2010 10:39 PM

When I think of LOST I think about X-FIles.

You could ask the same amount of questions about that show.

What happened to Mulder's sister?
What was that black oil?
Who were the guys with one arm?
Etc, etc.

Posted by: John W at May 25, 2010 10:45 PM

The turtle is not standing on anything. It is swimming through space, thinking very slow thoughts, and heading towards a star.

Posted by: Morgan LaFai at May 25, 2010 10:46 PM

myjetski - EXACTLY! Thank you.

Posted by: Anna at May 25, 2010 10:51 PM

myjetski, Amen!

i was actually kind of surprised that so many people on this site wanted things spelled out for them, but whatever. they did answer a lot of the questions i've heard in the last few days--but you did have to pay attention and accept answers that you didn't like.

Posted by: pq at May 25, 2010 10:52 PM

So glad I never got into this show. Yikes!

BTW, wasn't the whole point of announcing the show's deadline a few years back that the writers would know exactly how much time they had to finish the story and could begin to start putting together answers to the riddles they'd asked?

I jumped off of Fringe before that decided to get stupid.

Posted by: Fredo at May 25, 2010 10:53 PM

Sheesh, seriously? A lot of the answers to these questions can be pieced together through a few short leaps of logic. Do we really need them spelled out? Examples: fertility problems were caused by the incident. Food drops were done by the stateside Dharma folks (they maybe knew that the purge occurred, but they also knew somebody was still in the swan station pushing the button). Walt told Locke not to open the hatch because maybe his powers allowed him to see that it would lead Locke down an unfortunate path that would end in his death, etc.

Posted by: Cree83 at May 25, 2010 11:01 PM

It's good you've let go, Scully. now you may go to the light.

As far as mythologies go, XFiles may have left a few questions unanswered, but I thought the alien conspiracy arc was wrapped up quite nicely and logically. Though I never did understand exactly what happened to Mulder's sister...

Posted by: stryker1121 at May 25, 2010 11:09 PM

BTW, wasn't the whole point of announcing the show's deadline a few years back that the writers would know exactly how much time they had to finish the story and could begin to start putting together answers to the riddles they'd asked?

So we thought. But, I think it's obvious now that it was just to buy time and save their jobs.

Posted by: jM at May 25, 2010 11:17 PM

@DarthCorleone - it's turtles all the way down, my son.

Posted by: koj at May 25, 2010 11:17 PM

Didn't Dustin say there weren't going to be any more LOST related posts after Monday?

Sigh.

Posted by: Brie at May 25, 2010 11:22 PM

Ha. I suppose that's what happens when you write and then film your novel, one chapter at a time, and then let millions of people see it. Then write the next chapter and film it, and so on. It's hard to do an edit at the end to cull the dead ends and flesh out out good parts.

At least Darlton worked to limit the seasons, not agree to make the show for ten years like ABC originally wanted (maybe then they could have answered more?).

A lot of those questions are not important, the characters were. I still liked the finale.

I really like Fringe, it seems like they have a more solid handle on the mythology. After LOST, the producers may have learned a few things. And Doctor Who, which seems to tell a new story each Series.

Posted by: Doom70 at May 25, 2010 11:22 PM

Posted by: Groundloop : Never saw a single episode of Lost. After watching this video, I'm thinking I made the right choice, as I would have been in full "Aw! Fuck this shit!" mode by episode 6, at the latest.

I was in that mode by the second episode. I walked away and never looked back.
~
Posted by: John W : When I think of LOST I think about X-FIles.

You could ask the same amount of questions about that show.

We did ask, I can assure you - we did.
~

Posted by: Meander at May 25, 2010 11:25 PM

"What happened to Mulder's sister?" She's dead. She was abducted by the CSM and lived with Spender at the military base where she was subjected to experiments. When she could no longer stand them, she ran away and ended up in the hospital, where she was taken by the "Walk Ins".
"What was that black oil?" The alien virus.
"Who were the guys with one arm?" People who were experimented on. Their arms were cut off to prevent the alien black oil virus from infecting them.

As far as endings go X-Files was far from perfect. But Cuse & Lindelof can learn a lot from Chris Carter.

Posted by: Scully at May 25, 2010 11:27 PM

Earlier this evening, I was washing my face when pseudo-Mr. vB, from the living room, shouted, "AvB! That was JUST the worst finale ever."

Honestly, I'm fine with the finale. It gave me emotional closure as far as the characters were concerned. I decided earlier today that judging by the way they handled this, or anything since the first season really, any answers they DID give for all the questions would likely have been stupid or half-assed, and no given answer would satisfy more than 20% of the audience. So, I'd rather have the mysteries survive on as mysteries in my head than have stupid, half-assed answers.

Posted by: Anna von Beaversmack at May 25, 2010 11:31 PM

People need to chill the fuck out on the Lost finale and the unanswered questions.

More than half those questions are so miniscule that you didn't even remember them until now! A few them, I'm positive, were even answered episodes back!

The finale was good.

Posted by: citizen_cris at May 25, 2010 11:41 PM

I can overlook not getting all of my questions answered. It's not like I really expected everything to be answered from Lost. What I call shenanigans on is that JJ Abrams apparently picked out an ending from an Internet message board, and then he effed it up.

The things that really got me: Lost has the world's worst parents. I loved Sun and Jin, they became these amazing complex characters throughout the show, then they decided to orphan their child. Not cool. But worse than that, Sayid is not spending all of eternity with Shannon. I refuse to believe that. He searched for Nadia across multiple continents and like a decade. He's spending eternity with her, not some stupid blonde chick that he screwed for two weeks while on the world's worst tropical vacation.

I am so glad that other people are angry about the Sayid thing. People keep telling me that maybe he really loved Shannon. I think he liked Shannon. I think he enjoyed having sex with Shannon. I also think that no long-term (like eternity) long relationship is based on two weeks of sandy beach sex.

Posted by: ashleigh at May 25, 2010 11:41 PM

Also, if you take what you know already I'm sure you could answer some of those questions yourself.

Posted by: citizen_cris at May 25, 2010 11:42 PM

Anyone who watched the show at this level of detail missed the point. 95% of these questions are irrelevant. The show was always about the characters. The island was just a backdrop.

Posted by: Johnny at May 25, 2010 11:56 PM

I so don't care. I'll watch the series over again and that'll be enough, I don;'t need some cheapo vid.

Posted by: figgy (Beatufulia Hummingbird) at May 26, 2010 12:30 AM

You can't have a show that's built on mysteries and the unknown, fill it to the brim with so many riddles that an entire side-section of the Internet, full of podcasts, websites and message boards, is created to just catalog and ponder their meaning and then turn around and go, "It was never about the riddles or the mysteries."

It'd be like saying The Sopranos wasn't about the Mafia.

Posted by: Fredo at May 26, 2010 12:48 AM

I agree with Johnny. I only watched half the video, but in that half, 90% of the questions were completely irrelevant, and at least 5% of those questions were answered. And "That's not an adequate answer" just demonstrates why more solid answers would not have helped anything, but only made it worse. Being upset because Lost never answered how some sci-fi aspect worked is akin to getting angry at Star Trek for never adequately explaining how their propulsion systems or phasers work. And if Star Trek's writers then tried to create a solid answer, getting upset because the science isn't sound. Would you really have liked it better if you got something like, "the light is the earthly embodiment of god" or "special alien artifacts beyon our understanding make the Donkey Wheel work?"

Do I still have some questions? Yes. Do I feel cheated because they weren't all answered? Frankly, I'd feel cheated if they were all answered. That's not the kind of show Lost ever was.

Posted by: Bistro at May 26, 2010 12:53 AM

LOST has always had its sympathies with eastern religious tradition, namely Buddhism and Hinduism. A big part of that religious tradition is the focus on questions and questioning and less on universal answers. The belief is that there are very few, if any, universal answers. LOST seemed to hammer that point home over and over again. Locke wants answers, thinks first the answer is in the Hatch and then with Ben and then with Jacob. Each time, those potential sources for answers prove not to have answers at all. Jacob was set up as a Jesus Christ figure and then was revealed to be just a man who had a task to do that he didn't even really choose to do. Meanwhile, the tragedy of Locke is that he couldn't simply appreciate the fact that he was a paraplegic who was now walking around. The obvious contrast was Rose, who simply lived in the moment. No need for answers. She was alive and with the man she loved. That was enough

I found that this was implicit in the LOST story, but unfortunately we have had a lot of shows that fixed on setting up mysteries and then trying to reveal them in somewhat lame ways (X-files and Twin Peaks come to mind). This may have set the expectation for LOST and the writers didn't do anything to dispel that. Let's face it - if Cuse and Lindendorf said, "Hey, LOST is a Buddhist pulp fiction." they could have kissed their shrinking audience goodbye. And so here we are. Anger, confusion, feelings of betrayal. That's what you get if you try to go subtle with a mass medium that's intended to entertain.

I enjoyed the ride, but I also expected very little by way of answers.

Posted by: eastwest at May 26, 2010 1:04 AM

You know what invalidates this video? The fact that they questioned wine being magic. Everyone knows wine IS magic. Mmm, wine...

Posted by: Even Stevens at May 26, 2010 1:20 AM

"Anyone who watched the show at this level of detail missed the point. 95% of these questions are irrelevant. The show was always about the characters. The island was just a backdrop."

Then why introduce that 95%, those mounds of extraneous and dead-end mysteries? They wrote the show. They made those things up. Why include them at all if you're not going to resolve or justify them, and in fact ignore them completely in the final season? The characters have always been slightly fleshed-out archetypes... I did not watch LOST for the characters.

Posted by: ben at May 26, 2010 1:20 AM

Do I still have some questions? Yes. Do I feel cheated because they weren't all answered? Frankly, I'd feel cheated if they were all answered. That's not the kind of show Lost ever was.

Bistro, I completely agree. Which is why I did feel cheated by the episode that explained Jacob and MIB's backstory. Because of that episode, and a couple of other lame explanations in the 6th season, the Finale felt like a disappointment.

Let's be honest. The previews of Lost's Final Season explicitly said "Questions Will Be Answered", "The Answers Are Coming". The writers said "We knew where it was going to end."

So was LOST about the mysteries and answers to those mysteries? Maybe not...but THE FREAKIN WRITERS, PRODUCERS, AND PROMOTERS MADE IT ABOUT THE ANSWERS.

Bottom Line: I feel cheated.

Posted by: Littlejon2001 at May 26, 2010 1:32 AM

One more thing:

Did anyone for a second, when the light went out in the Series Finale, that LOST was going to end on a dark note? I was scared...but thrilled in a sick way that the light would actually go out, MIB would actually escape, and the world as we knew it would "come to an end".

Too bad that didn't happen.

Posted by: Littlejon2001 at May 26, 2010 2:15 AM

The only thing that makes me angry about that video is it's from that self promoting ass who thinks he's funny when he definitely is fucking not.

Many of the questions he asks I know the answers for or can be easily be inferred. A bunch of others are in fact not answered. So fucking what. I'm sick of people whining up a storm about this. It was quality television with excellent actors and production values that kept people to varying degrees involved. If you can't stand some mystery, go and watch Two and a Half Men.

-frob

Posted by: frobme at May 26, 2010 2:57 AM

gah, fuck it.

Posted by: Jackseppelin at May 26, 2010 4:35 AM

As someone who enjoyed the ride for the last 6 years... yeah the ending left a lot out... but it did end the characters... I like what myjetski said about princess bride... right on... shut the fuck up and enjoy the story... True there was a lot left unanswered... I know that there is a lot in my life that is unanswered... where's my manual to life...

cindy the economist was Locke coming back to visit people to convince them to come back to the island... Jeremy Benthem...

Posted by: El L Cool J at May 26, 2010 6:58 AM

Not to derail the finale hatred (or Jedi-like acceptance of it)but has anybody else noticed how tall Elizabeth Mitchell is? I mean in the scene from the video up there where she's got her arm around Jin...I mean, I know he's Asian and all, but I didn't think he was that short. And when her and Claire and her son are standing in line at the concert, I think Claire was about eye level with her kooch. Woman be Amazonian. Me likey.

Posted by: ASterisk at May 26, 2010 7:37 AM

I'm with you Fredo, the writers were apparently banking on the fact that their viewers would have short attention spans. Didn't the fanboys unpack every single moment of every single episode every single week in search of leads? The writers knew this, and gave the audience a new shiny thing to worry over every few weeks so they would keep coming back. Battlestar Galactica did the same thing, and that finale is generally held to be sub-par, ESPECIALLY in the eyes of the devoted fans.

Sorry nerds, hate to break it to you, but your show sucked.

Posted by: Mr. Tusks at May 26, 2010 8:00 AM

I think people are taking way too much stock in the purgatory plotline. The way the island story ended was great. The island is blowing up, MIB figures out he has made a huge mistake, and Jack and Locke finally go head to head with intent to kill. That over, mortally wounded Jack makes a desperate last effort to "re start" the light while Sawyer, Kate, etc make it off the island just in time. Sure the cork in the light was kind of simple. But the characters had no idea it was going to be. Do you think Indiana Jones would have gone through everything he did if he had known the Nazis were going to be wiped out with zero effort as soon as they opened the Ark? Hind sight is always 20/20.

The ending of the story was great. The purgatory thing was confusing but it's not what it was about. It was just epilogue, a stab at a "happy" ending after so much death and dispair for these people. The final shot of Jack in the bamboo looking up smiling as the Ajira plane finally escaped the island was fantastic and in my top finale moments right up there with the school bus fleeing Sunnydale and Adama getting shot.

I was surprised the very end wasn't Jack's eye re-opening, back at the crash site, as it all started again. For years I have thought that was going to be the ending. I think it works better then a bright light, so it's kind of the ending I'm going with in my head. And I like the darker ending for a show that has never been all that happy for long.

Many of the questions related to the island are based on the capricious nature of Jacob. His game, his rules. I got the impression he was kind of simple and just made up the rules to the game as he went along. Ultimately, I don't think anyone knew all the answers. Certainly not Jacob, and obviously not MIB either based on his look of sheer confusion when Jack is able to draw blood.

I'm in the opposite camp than many of you, the more I think about the finale, the more I really like it.

Posted by: TylerDFC at May 26, 2010 8:08 AM

Many of the questions in that video are trivial, but yeah, LOST was ultimately an epic letdown. I've enjoyed the relationship that LOST has had with its more devoted fans, in that fan theories & discussion went far to fill in the gaps of the many mysteries of LOST. We expected that many of those mysteries would be left to our debate, but we also expected LOST to tie everything into a grand Theory Of Everything by the final episodes, which it didn't. It just layered on additional mystery, added a secondary plotline for the final season, & provided a denouement for that plotline that a.) was contradicted by the plotline itself, & b.) took the show in an unexpectedly spiritual direction, & c.) seemed to exist for the sole purpose of giving the characters a more wistful send-off than in the main plotline.

Here's a broad LOST rewrite, something for which I thought they'd laid the foundation:

-The Island isn't the Well of Souls or Eden or anything, but it's just an anomaly with particular properties (temporal, geophysical, etc.).

-Jacob & MIB are 2 immortals/aliens/whatever who are seemingly trapped in a battle of wits, for the future of humanity, where mortal humans are the pawns.

-The Numbers correspond to intervals at which the Island's EM energy is emitted, & subconsciously influence particular people across the world, leading them to go the island, put the numbers on a hatch door, use the numbers in the Lotto, etc.

-Dharma is the first wave of pawns to settle the island, observe & manipulate its properties, all while protecting themselves from the influence or wrath of Jacob & MIB. The main threat comes from Dharma, in that their experiments threaten the world.

-The 815ers are merely the final wave of pawns, drawn to the island in various ways. They sacrifice & persevere, Jacob & MIB are toppled, Dharma & the Others are eliminated, the Island is preserved (Hurley & Ben FTW), & the world doesn't end.

See? This is all stuff that people have theorized over the years, tied into a Theory Of Everything, & one that, IMO, would've made for a kick-ass conclusion. Instead, we got a season with 1970s Dharma that explained surprisingly little, a new mythology with Jacob & MIB, a temple, Dogen, magic pee river, & Cork Of Doom, then an entirely superfluous, secondary plotline that nobody wanted.

Posted by: the new transported man at May 26, 2010 8:33 AM

RE: Sayid and Shannon. I liked them as a couple. I was under the impression that Sayid felt unworthy of love because of what he had done, and Nadia knew about that and loved him anyway; when he met Shannon, and they started to like (and grow to love) each other, even though he told her what he had done, he recognized that he *was* worthy of being loved in spite of that. Nadia was LONG gone by that time, and Shannon helped him to that realization, so it's fully logical that she would be the one he'd meet. Or, y'know, mostly.

Posted by: Anna von Beaversmack at May 26, 2010 9:04 AM

Nadia was LONG gone by that time, and Shannon helped him to that realization, so it's fully logical that she would be the one he'd meet.

It would have to be Shannon if the point was for each of the 815ers, in the Afterlife of course, to rediscover a connection to another 815er & move on, back to The Source with ye. But that's so arbitrary, like "Hey, here's how to get all of them in a room together before they pass on." Sayid woulda been like "Naw, I was married to the love of my life for a brief time. I think I'll just make THAT my afterlife, thanks tho."

Posted by: the new transported man at May 26, 2010 9:13 AM

All you satisfied fans bitching about us not satisfied fans bitching need to stop bitching.

Ooooo, good for you. You liked the ending. I am so happy for you all. But I didn’t. And I will bitch and moan and lament all I fucking want. It was a cheap ending compared to all the awesome the show promised; a hot, high end call girl who didn’t get you off and left you with gonorrhea.

Didn’t Cuse & Linedlof say they wanted an ending that people would talk about for years? Well, they got it. But not in the context they wished.

Bad Robot! Bad, bad, BAD ROBOT!

Posted by: Scully at May 26, 2010 9:36 AM

I didn't like Shannon either but I guess she was the love of Sayid's life. I think he also loved and cared for Nadia deeply but because he made her his sister-in-law in his Fantasy Timeline, I think she must not have been The One for him.

Posted by: MillyQPublic at May 26, 2010 9:43 AM

Bahaha! That was funny...oh and they forgot the ultimate Lost mystery: "why didn't Hurley ever lose any weight?" From what I understand the answer is: "Because he was dead." What a bunch of crap. I'd feel cheated if I'd watched the whole thing. So glad I stopped watching at the polar bear episode.

Posted by: carensandiego at May 26, 2010 9:46 AM

I love how messageboard posters get such validation out of announcing that they never watched LOST, or gave up during the 1st season. "When that Locke guy started wiggling his toes, the show jumped the shark." Every LOST post I'm on, there's nerds in there proclaiming that they didn't watch LOST. Shut up, then! Go post about something you DID watch, holmes.

Posted by: the new transported man at May 26, 2010 9:58 AM

Actually, the vast majority of those questions were answered (though some indirectly-you gotta pay attention) throughout the show. That's not to say there weren't still some loose ends, dead ends or course corrections (there were plenty), but I find it odd that there are people who were apparently looking for the finale to essentially be 2 1/2 hours of exposition. And these are largely the same people who (rightly) bitched about "Across the Sea" for being just that. They must really loathe David Lynch movies.

I'm not an apologist. There were plenty of things I would've liked to see done differently, but leaving aside the "heaven" storyline, pretty much everything else was wrapped up fine. The questions that were answered were the ones the characters themselves sought answers to, as it should be. My take, in case y'all are still reading, they were all brought to the Island to save the world from Smokey and take over for Jacob (who knew he had failed). He brought them all because no one of them could do it alone. Along the way, much like in Fat Albert, they all learned a little about themselves. Some found redemption and life and some died. The end. Given that as the basic story, is it really that important where a toy truck came from?

Posted by: mr friendly at May 26, 2010 10:04 AM

wow you're a complete whiny bitch. A few of those are legitimate, but most of them are irrelevant to understanding the point of the show, and most of them can be deduced if you're paying attention, or else are open for valid interpretations.

Posted by: Mike at May 26, 2010 10:22 AM

I've got mixed feelings about this video. Most of them are irrelevant, some of them had been answered either directly or indirectly, and some of them are important, unanswered questions that fans legitimately had a right to know the answer for.

I don't really care what the Hurley Bird was all about, and I can just make an assumption on who built the statue/temple. I know why Dharma was there, and I think I know why Richard said he saw them all die. I honestly don't care about why Eko or the pilot was killed by Smokey.

However..... Waaalt- I understand why he needed to be written off the show in real life, but the way they handled it in-show was to just not address it? Just saying the island was done with him, and he should live his life? That was a copout. The infertility issue is another thing that was never explained, that we deserved an explanation (in-show) for.

My point is that they've been doing this from the beginning, and I think they at some point made a conscious decision to just not explain certain things, maybe before they even brought them up. They made the fatal mistake of thinking "mysterious island is mysterious" would be an acceptable answer. They also made the mistake of letting us think that we would get specific answers.

I'm sorry, but that doesn't change my feeling about the finale, though. Still gripping and emotional. Doesn't change the fact that I had a great time watching it over the years.

Posted by: logar at May 26, 2010 10:23 AM

Mr. Tusks, you make an interesting analogy regarding Lost and Battlestar Galactica.

Both started out so great and set up worlds full of questions. However, the longer they went, the more introspective and philosophical they seem to have gotten. They dropped things that seemed vital at the start and introduced new elements out of nowhere. And when Galactica ended, it left with so much unrealized.

Sounds like Lost left the same way.

Posted by: Fredo at May 26, 2010 11:41 AM

Hi fans !

Carlton and I decided that we needed to provide you with some answers that we kept only for you, because we love and respect all the opinions we keep reading on this awesome site that is Pajiba !
So we read that some of you seem to be a bit disappointed by the series finale. We can understand that. We really messed up with all the emotional bullshit, but really, how could we do otherwise ? We tried to explain all the shit we've been dragging with us since the beginning of the show, but it still didn't make no sense !

We watched "The X-Files" finale, and then the one from "The Prisoner" over and over to inspire us; but for us it was too damn difficult to answer it all in only two episodes ! Yeah, I know, we had a whole season to do so... But see, Carlton wanted so much for people not to see that the mysteries were bullshit from the beginning that he made me piling that shit up til the end, when it was too late to undo anything.
So what did we do ? We did like everybody else: when desperate and looking for answers, we turned to religion, like every good mystery (but really, it was all about the characters since day one) TV Show. And so, our message to all LOST fans is really this: go to church, embrace our god (the Christian One - yeh, we did explain this name !), then you'll find all the answers you need. Except the ones for the LOST mysteries, noone has them.

God Be With You,
Carlton&Damon (wefuckugood@hotmail.com).

Posted by: Carlton Cuse&Damon Lindelof (422048) at May 26, 2010 11:44 AM

I just hope this wasn't a serious post, because many of those "mysteries" are either solved by logic or a just plain irrelevant (what's the deal with the outrigger? the way people complain about make it seem like it's the cure for AIDS or something like that). There are some open ended questions that are kind of relevant (like the fertility issues and the backstory of the Others around the time of the Purge), and I can agree that we should have gotten answers to that, but saying that those ruined the show to anyone is just dumb, who watches a show only because they want answers? even the many forensic shows like NCIS or CSI have characters that, for some reason, people like.

The only thing I fully agree with the video is that Michael, Frank, Miles and Richard should have been give some closure and appear in the final scene.

Posted by: Radlum at May 26, 2010 12:08 PM

totally agree w/myjetski and everyone else on here who didnt need every little answer spelled out for them. (although I really do wish they hadn't given up on explaining what Walt was and why the Dharma initiative couldnt deal w/trying to figure him out)
Most of the answers were provided or easy to piece together. Most of those questions are ridiculous and would have equalled alot of stupid full disclosure moments on the show.
Also, I wish people who barely watched the show would quit chiming in about how right they were and how none of it made sense or satisfied...Of course it didnt work for you... you didn't like the show.
To the avid fans who still feel disappointed, its definately sad you couldnt enjoy the way it concluded and feel cheated, but I honestly feel like that finale was completely in sync w/ the themes and tone that the series represented throughout all six years. It wasn't a left field cop out...it just wasnt the aspect of the show that you had been maniacly honing in on. oh well.

Posted by: valerie at May 26, 2010 12:21 PM

"I Used to Like the "Lost" Finale. And Then I Saw This Video"

So what you're saying is that you're not capable of making your own decisions, and need the help of a fan-made video poking fun at the show to make your mind up for you.

I loved the finale. Having watched the show from the beginning, I know about everything in that video. I didn't need to watch it to know that there were a ton of unanswered questions. But at some point in season 6, you had to realize that these questions wouldn't be answered. If you didn't figure that out by the time the finale was airing, you really haven't been paying attention.

If the writers used the finale as a tool to go through a checklist of questions and give all the answers, it would have been HORRIBLE. Hell, when we did get answers this season, no one was happy with the explanations that were given (Michael/whispers, for example. And rightly so - it was poorly executed). Instead, we got a solid, emotional ending, and got to see many of the characters we've grown to love redeem themselves before passing on.

I'm sorry that an internet video ruined the show for you. Maybe you should stay off the internet.

Posted by: Dave at May 26, 2010 12:32 PM

Fredo, BSG was an amazing show until the last episode, when it finally became clear that the writers were just pulling it out of their asses. Before Starbuck disappeared like a fart in the wind the show was a must-have box-set purchase for me, but afterwards the entire show became tainted. I can't go back and relive the mystery because I'll know exactly when I'm being cheated. Like someone said, this is the problem with having to publish parts of your story, in order, before you even finish it.

I'm no creator of fiction, but if I were, I wouldn't ask people to buy my shit if I didn't know where it was going. If I ever write a pilot, I'm at least going to THINK about how the show would end and what my story would basically be about. Sure, I'd pump in filler mysteries to ensure long-term employment, but I would still have an objective in mind. I think that's just the responsible thing to do, as it marks the difference between a great storyteller and a hawker of cheap entertainments.

LOST will forever be known as an example of "make it up as you go along" storytelling. And I'm not quite sure that I dislike the show for that reason, or because of the apologists who insist that that isn't the case. BSG fooled me once, shame on me; it didn't happen again.

Posted by: Mr. Tusks at May 26, 2010 1:01 PM

So...if you liked the finale, and still have a questions or would like to have seen something resolved, how can you slam those who didn't like the finale OR have a ton of questions? Don't get that. I don't want to fill in my own answers. Not because I am too lazy to do so, but because I wanted to see how the people who created the questions would answer them. Don't tell me that I should use "logic" to fill those in. Why? Because a lot of those things are completely illogical and it's not my job to do the writing for the writers. It's their job. And they should have done it. Watching everyone hugging and happy at the end has nothing to do with the entire set up of the show in itself. It was not only about the characters that crashed there. It was about a lot of things, and while I don't feel like judging that all of those six seasons boiled down to getting out of some kind of purgatory, self created or otherwise, I will say that most of the characters did not resolve their issues, but simply changed how important those issues were at the whim of those lazy ass writers who didn't feel like resolving or answering their own questions. Was I entertained by the last 5 seasons? Most of the time. Did I enjoy the endless theorizing? Yes, because it made things interesting. But if they're going to say the answers are coming, then that's what they should have brought. They didn't. Whether people have the right to complain about feeling ripped off is for no one to say but those who feel that way. It's ridiculous in the extreme to tell people how they should feel, esp. if they've felt invested in what could have been such a fun show. Let 'em feel it, and feel satisfied in yourself for not feeling the way they do.

Posted by: Chickaboom at May 26, 2010 1:03 PM

Let. It. Go.

Posted by: Adere at May 26, 2010 2:49 PM

Let. It. Go.

Exactly, it's been a whole 3 days since the finale! Not like you were devotedly following the show & theorizing about its mysteries for the last 6 years or anything.

Posted by: the new transported man at May 26, 2010 3:19 PM

One question and only one from me. In the first season it was hinted that Walt had these "powers" in a flashback when he is angry a bird flies into his window (later hinted at when they talk about the polar bear and Michael looks at his son in a "you're a freak" way). I'm annoyed that was never answered. They should have made Walt a 13 year old (instead of 10 years old) because then the whole "growing up thing" would have fit with the timeline of the series and they could have kept him.

Why is it impossible to create a series where you have a clear sense of where you are supposed to go and where the show should end up.

Posted by: Simon at May 26, 2010 7:50 PM

THE VAST MAJORITY OF THESE QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED. Maybe not directly, but we know almost all of it.

The only major thing left unanswered was "what's the deal with Walt?" and that's because they no longer had the actor (or at least, a version of him that resembled Walt, rather than a 6'2" adult).

Lost detractors will be coming out in droves. I'm sure they can do better than this.

Posted by: Steve at May 26, 2010 9:49 PM

I had the opposite reaction after watching this video. That stuff either didn't seem all that important or we pretty much could infer the answers from paying attention all these years.

Posted by: L.O.V.E. at May 26, 2010 10:34 PM

"Anyone who watched the show at this level of detail missed the point. 95% of these questions are irrelevant. The show was always about the characters. The island was just a backdrop."

Posted by: Johnny at May 25, 2010 11:56 PM

But so many of the questions and mysteries were pertaining to the characters. Those are the mysteries that bother me the most. The ones involving the characters. Like, I would have loved to have seen Mr. Eko's church finished. I know it wasn't wholly the writers' fault that that plot was abandoned, but that wasn't the only character driven storyline that went nowhere.

As far as the video is concerned only about 15 of the questions I actually would love to have had answered. (Who's the economist, who was trying to kill Sayid and Hurley, the whole hatch explosion nonsense, the cabin stuff) There were at least 8 that were already answered (sorta) - for example, the issue with Aaron's son... he wasn't raised by Claire and things didn't turn out too peachy for Claire did it? Looks like the Psychic was right. The rest of the questions asked are mysterious, but aren't that big of a deal to me (Kate and the horse, Mikhail's Russian letter, who built the statue, the outrigger, Naomi's R.G... who even remembered Naomi?).

Posted by: kayla at May 26, 2010 11:29 PM

Simon, I actually thought they had moved the show up three years so that they could fit Walt back into the show, but alas, I was wrong.

Posted by: kayla at May 26, 2010 11:32 PM

Is it okay if I borrow the Murdertank? Because I think I need to use it for something. Trope-Tan is riding shotgun.

Posted by: Oracle at May 27, 2010 2:20 PM

Just found this:
http://www.spoilertv.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=19342&start=0

It's written by a supposed Bad Robot employee (claims to be a writer for Lost) and he tries to explain the big unanswered questions.

he basically says they intentionally left some things vague so that the viewer could attach their own answers, and ultimately, their own meanings to some of the mysteries of the island.

To me that's what good literature (art? cinema? TV? whatever?) should do: get your mind to thinking without imposing answers upon you. In essence, it should make you think on your own about whatever it is the piece of art sparks in your mind.

Maybe that's why so many painters and writers never really explain what their stuff is about...the works don't mean the same thing to everybody, but as long as they prompt you towards "A" meaning, the art has achieved its purpose.

Posted by: Asterisk at May 27, 2010 3:57 PM

Yes, Hurley eating the ranch dressing was VERY disgusting :)

Posted by: Joanna at May 30, 2010 1:08 AM

Excellent job.

Posted by: Prior Lake painting at August 5, 2010 3:56 AM

The great strength of computers is that they can reliably manipulate vast amounts of data very quickly. Their great weakness is that they don?t have a clue as to what any of that data actually means.

Posted by: Wendi at October 31, 2010 5:32 PM

I love youtube vids. I sometimes take vids during my holidays and put them up on youtube. I cant get over how many people watch and comment on my vids. Have even made some friends via youtube.It's great!

Posted by: Beach Reviews at November 24, 2010 1:09 AM

Precisely what some really good cd players for kids? My cousin is 5 years of age and for christmas I need to buy her a mp3 player, she loves my nano but I think it would difficult for her to work with it. Are there any good ones for kids?

Posted by: MP3 players for kids at March 18, 2011 7:03 PM