Most of those things are explained if you watch all 6 seasons.
Television Was the ending to Lost really THAT bad? | Yes
- Thread starter Mr Pigeon
- Start date
Oh, another couple of years have gone by and one of my kids just asked what the show is about...
You're funny.
I will at some point getting around to answering them - they are indeed mostly answered.
Edit: the polar bears are referenced in most seasons for example. It’s also weird to complain about the show going “magic” when there is obviously no other answers for the mysteries in the first season. There are literal dead people walking around, polar bears on a tropical island and a pilot pulled through the roof of an airplane by an invisible monster in the first few episodes. A man starts walking again after being paralysed for life FFS. The answers were always going tk by mystical in nature.
Edit two: one of the complaints is about the smoke monster not being in the first episode when it clearly is for example.
Edit: the polar bears are referenced in most seasons for example. It’s also weird to complain about the show going “magic” when there is obviously no other answers for the mysteries in the first season. There are literal dead people walking around, polar bears on a tropical island and a pilot pulled through the roof of an airplane by an invisible monster in the first few episodes. A man starts walking again after being paralysed for life FFS. The answers were always going tk by mystical in nature.
Edit two: one of the complaints is about the smoke monster not being in the first episode when it clearly is for example.
I'd emphasize that its rating on IMDB is in the middle, but most people did not rate it on IMDB at all. The End (part 1) has 12,000 votes. The End (part 2) has 2,000 votes. Lost averaged 19 million viewers per episode, so 12,000 out of 19 million is a rounding error. The finale was mocked and ridiculed, and no one was satisfied with it. There were a couple weepy moments - who wouldn’t be sad with the final realization that
Jack and Kate were never going to work out-
Last edited:
I might finally watch the last season one day. Lost interest once I realised there were no answers to the questions they kept raising.
That was the thing: early on, the writers claimed everything they were showing had a scientific explanation. They also promised the characters were not in a type of limbo or afterlife or alternate timeline. They lied about both things. Lindelof bragged that he was paid to come up with ideas, not answers. The success of season 1 forced them to change a ton of shit they had planned. Such as, Tom Cruise’s cousin William Mapother (Ethan) was supposed to be a huge character , but then they decided to give that stuff to Ben.
Last edited:
No they didn’t. They were not in an afterlife or limbo!
They weren't.
Everything that happened on the island, and after the island for many happened. They were all alive.
It was only the 'season 6 flash 'sideways' that was purgatory to make peace with their lives and it was explained that when they died, they went to the flight as a fixed point in their afterlife and it landed, and they lived out a life there until they all went to the church together and met up to enter what I assume was heaven.
Does that actually make sense to you -- or contradict what I wrote?
Yes it makes sense and yes it contradicts what you wrote.
yes & yes
Did they really? What scientific explanation were you expecting for a paraplegic suddenly being able to walk again after surviving a fecking horrific air crash? Or ghosts walking around the fecking jungle?
Kinda sounds like some people desperately wanted LOST to be something that could happen, with no elements of the supernatural, despite it being clearly obvious from within a few episodes that it wasn’t the case.
Last edited:
Yes to both. I’m surprised that you don’t get the flash sideways in the final season given it’s probably one of the least ‘confusing’ mysteries of the show.
I was numb at that point. I had given up.
Once again, Jack's father spelled it out in the series Finale. I don't understand why so many struggle to understand this.
JACK: You...are you real?
CHRISTIAN: I should hope so. Yeah, I'm real. You're real, everything that's ever happened to you is real. All those people in the church...they're real too.
JACK: They're all...they're all dead?
CHRISTIAN: Everyone dies sometime, kiddo. Some of them before you, some...long after you.
JACK: But why are they all here now?
CHRISTIAN: Well there is no "now" here.
JACK: Where are we, dad?
CHRISTIAN: This is the place that you...that you all made together, so that you could find one another. The most...important part of your life, was the time that you spent with these people. That's why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone Jack. You needed all of them, and they needed you.
Kinda feel the same given this back and forth with you bro.
S1 E12 - Whatever the Case May Be
Kate centric episode. Bit tight for time this weekend, so here's a copy paste of the episode synopsis:
I'll be honest, it's a pretty boring episode. There's some casual flirting between Kate and Sawyer to begin with (great shots of Kate swimming in her swimming gear) but the episode is the first one in season 1 where I felt it was more filler than anything else. From the backstory we learn how desperate Kate was to get this deposit box, even being part of a fake heist to get into the area. Also, interesting tidbit - the deposit box number is 815, (which is a call back to Oceanic 815) and the number that reoccurs throughout the show. Locke and Boone are still working on the hatch, but other than that not a lot happens. There's some interesting scenes with Shannon and Sayid too. There's some scenes for Rose as well, as she helps Charlie overcome his PTSD from being hung. The first 11 episodes have been pretty rough for Charlie - plane crash, drug withdrawals (and bee stings) and now he was almost killed. Claire is still missing.
Kate centric episode. Bit tight for time this weekend, so here's a copy paste of the episode synopsis:
I'll be honest, it's a pretty boring episode. There's some casual flirting between Kate and Sawyer to begin with (great shots of Kate swimming in her swimming gear) but the episode is the first one in season 1 where I felt it was more filler than anything else. From the backstory we learn how desperate Kate was to get this deposit box, even being part of a fake heist to get into the area. Also, interesting tidbit - the deposit box number is 815, (which is a call back to Oceanic 815) and the number that reoccurs throughout the show. Locke and Boone are still working on the hatch, but other than that not a lot happens. There's some interesting scenes with Shannon and Sayid too. There's some scenes for Rose as well, as she helps Charlie overcome his PTSD from being hung. The first 11 episodes have been pretty rough for Charlie - plane crash, drug withdrawals (and bee stings) and now he was almost killed. Claire is still missing.
Last edited:
S1 E13 - Hearts & Minds
So this was Boone centric episode - one that I had forgotten a lot about, but we really see the lengths of Locke's...doucheyness here. He knocks Boone unconscious, drugs him, and leaves him tied up in the jungle with ol' smokey lurking. And he does this because Boone wanted to tell Shannon about the hatch! Crazy. The interesting thing is Boone sees Shannon being killed by ol'smokey when he's having his hallucination...and Locke interestingly says, 'So that's what it showed you?'.
Which makes me think - whatever Locke was shown by ol'smokey in episode 4 or 5 whenever (when he said 'I've looked into the heart of this Island, and what I saw was beautiful') is basically driving him to become more and more fixated and obsessed with staying on the Island (and we know it's he who knocked out Sayid and destroyed his radio equipment although they haven't revealed that in the show yet. So yea, @Samid is correct, he's a douche in this first season.
It's also nice to see Shannon and Boone get some screentime - they've been fairly peripheral so far. Also Shannon is beautiful.
So this was Boone centric episode - one that I had forgotten a lot about, but we really see the lengths of Locke's...doucheyness here. He knocks Boone unconscious, drugs him, and leaves him tied up in the jungle with ol' smokey lurking. And he does this because Boone wanted to tell Shannon about the hatch! Crazy. The interesting thing is Boone sees Shannon being killed by ol'smokey when he's having his hallucination...and Locke interestingly says, 'So that's what it showed you?'.
Which makes me think - whatever Locke was shown by ol'smokey in episode 4 or 5 whenever (when he said 'I've looked into the heart of this Island, and what I saw was beautiful') is basically driving him to become more and more fixated and obsessed with staying on the Island (and we know it's he who knocked out Sayid and destroyed his radio equipment although they haven't revealed that in the show yet. So yea, @Samid is correct, he's a douche in this first season.
It's also nice to see Shannon and Boone get some screentime - they've been fairly peripheral so far. Also Shannon is beautiful.
I watched it for the first time knowing people hated the ending but the final moments weren't that bad. It was all the random stuff that led nowhere that made it bad, it felt like the writers were just putting stuff in just to be mysterious without rhyme or reason.
Never thought it'd be said. But nothing is beating GoT for the worst ending in history.
Thinking back it must have hell waiting a year or so for the next season.
Looking back at it now, it wasn't a bad ending. I think most things got wrapped up nicely (a few answers could even have been left out) and most characters got a good end to their arc. At the time I absolutely hated it - after a promising start to the season I thought it went slowly downhill (Ab Aeterno being the notable exception) until somewhere around Across The Sea where I just straight up gave up on the show and realized it wasn't gonna give me what I wanted of it. I think my main problem back then was that the season just took a distinctly other turn that what I thought it would. I still think it's by far the weakest season, but there's still a lot good in there (flash sideways was a complete waste though) and I think the final episode hits every note it should.
As for worst ending to a series, it's nowhere near Game of Thrones anyway you look at it. The ending of LOST is divisive, but there are a lot of people who loved it, Thrones ending is pretty much universally hated. Just look at IMDb scores - a lot of people seem to think that the show was trash already in the seventh season (and even earlier than so), yet the final episode of that season has a 9.4 grade (I loved that episode myself), compared to the shows final episode at 4.0. It's a remarkable drop off.
As for worst ending to a series, it's nowhere near Game of Thrones anyway you look at it. The ending of LOST is divisive, but there are a lot of people who loved it, Thrones ending is pretty much universally hated. Just look at IMDb scores - a lot of people seem to think that the show was trash already in the seventh season (and even earlier than so), yet the final episode of that season has a 9.4 grade (I loved that episode myself), compared to the shows final episode at 4.0. It's a remarkable drop off.
Never watched Lost but have heard that it encouraged so much theory-crafting among its fans that it couldn’t help but be disappointing to some. Again, never watched it but I feel GoT did this and upset a lot of people.
I've just watched it these past months and it will at least occupy some time.
Got was in steady decline since at least season 3. By season 5 it was unwatchable. Anyone who was suprised the final season was utter shit must have been watching it for the social media reactions only.
You could tell from the underlying stats
I thought it was good but I guess the GOT ending would make anything seem good
There was nothing that random was there?
I used to think the writers of LOST got themselves in trouble and had to resort to farfetched explanations in the last episodes to try to tie up the series.
I can make more sense of it now, but I still think they were winging it.
I can make more sense of it now, but I still think they were winging it.
It's aged well in my opinion, at the time it must have been quite out there as I can't remember much being this deep with lore. It feels like the last big show of the pre-streaming era. Breaking Bad felt like the first big show of the streaming era and there was a time they were both airing like a change of the guard.
Last two season were bad, or at least huge let downs. Not getting answers about the Walter superpowers mystery hurt the most.
I mean, the were winging it to a certain extent. There's no other way to make a show if you don't know if you're gonna make 20 or 200 episodes. When Damon and Carlton negotiated the end date for the show mid season three, they wanted to do one more season after the third, the network wanted seven season more and they agreed on three more seasons. I think this was evident in season two and the first half of season three, but after they knew the end date the show was much more focused I'd say. The shorter seasons also helped as there was much less need for filler episodes.
Loved the ending. Didn't love everything in the last few seasons but the finale was an emotional rollercoaster.
Just rewatched the whole thing because my wife had never seen it.
I think it really holds up. There are only a few really awful episodes in the whole run (looking at you, "Stranger in a Strange Land").
My wife thought the ending was beautiful. She said if there is a heaven/purgatory, she'd like it to be like that.
not related to the ending but this was an interesting read
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/05/lost-tv-show-culture
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/05/lost-tv-show-culture
I agree with your wife on that one. I remember watching the finale around about the time I lost a couple of people who were close to me, and strangely it was comforting to see this whole idea of heaven/purgatory being shown on screen when you're sitting in week old clothes trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Maybe it was because the show got people invested for so long, like a comfort blanket, that it hit harder than some random vicar saying a bunch of shite about the afterlife in vague language.
But, yeah, Stranger in a Strange Land. "Hey, the guy who plays Jack has tattoos in real life so let's do an episode about that and include a fit as feck bird in it because reasons. Remember to focus the camera on her arse as much as possible." It's up there with the later "Why is CJ from West Wing here, and why is she clearly not giving a shit about trying to act?" episode.
Thanks for posting this. It's always really interesting learning about some of the behind the scenes stuff with these shows, warts and all. Going to read it now!
"That's what it says but that's not what it means."
The problem with Lost was mainly due to the writers constantly saying it wasn't purgatory and then they only went and did purgatory at the end.
That and they also said everything would be explained, but some was and a lot wasn't. But it was probably a better ending than other shows lately and probably aged fairly well.
Also the characters were generally excellent. Without the context of the complaints you'd probably like the final season tbf. One of those "you had to be there" arguments.
That and they also said everything would be explained, but some was and a lot wasn't. But it was probably a better ending than other shows lately and probably aged fairly well.
Also the characters were generally excellent. Without the context of the complaints you'd probably like the final season tbf. One of those "you had to be there" arguments.
I was too busy staring at her tits so I don't really remember anything she said if I'm honest
that might seem non-PC but it was literally the entire reason for her character in that episode. They gave the actor zero to work with other than "be hot and mysterious."Yeah. Apparently people figuring out your "twist" is a bad thing, and with it being one of the first shows with a dedicated speculation website they must have panicked. Personally if you have to rely on your twist to engage people then you've failed at telling a story. Funnily enough I don't think Lost even relied on that particular twist in the first place, it was genuinely engaging because the characters were so damn well rounded and well written. They already had a great story to tell and they told it perfectly most of the time. Even when they introduced new characters later on they did a great job of integrating them into the existing crop.The problem with Lost was mainly due to the writers constantly saying it wasn't purgatory and then they only went and did purgatory at the end.
That and they also said everything would be explained, but some was and a lot wasn't. But it was probably a better ending than other shows lately and probably aged fairly well.
Also the characters were generally excellent. Without the context of the complaints you'd probably like the final season tbf. One of those "you had to be there" arguments.
My youngest daughter keeps watching shite so I just pointed her towards this show a couple of weeks ago and she was adamant I was an idiot and she'd hate it. She's on season three now.