I once was LOST…

Once again, television has brought us to a cultural standstill with the long-awaited final episode of LOST. Over the past six years, I must admit to a love/hate relationship with this show. I was fascinated by the writing and the characters, but I hated the in-your-face violence and the story that seemed to twist so tight that I couldn’t just stop watching it. Often I told myself, “I’ll just watch one more episode so I can figure out what happened to ____ .” I felt a bit like a fish who just kept getting reeled back in by that barbed hook stuck in my mouth.

I only have a few thoughts that are worth sharing about the series finale.

First — phew! I’m so glad it’s over. Now I can have my evenings back.

Second — I was seriously intrigued by the faith images in the final episode. I know, I know — it was kept vague enough that you were able to see what you wanted to see. But still. They were led off into the light (from a CHURCH nonetheless) by a man named Christian Shephard? I had to slap the side of my head when one of the characters joked about the symbolism of that name. I felt pretty stupid — I had never gotten that. Duh! At the end, I found myself humming, “I once was LOST, but now I’m found; was blind, but now I see.”

Third — So many have discussed how “intelligent” and “deep” LOST was. The more I ponder that, the more I wonder if it was a bit like The Emperor’s New Clothes. Maybe so many of us watched it because we wanted to feel deep and intelligent. Even though we (including myself) didn’t really “get it,” we continued to try to figure it out. Perhaps in the end, we just wanted to feel wise, like the foolish emperor in the children’s story. Maybe the truly wise ones were the viewers who realized there was really nothing to “get.” It was just good story.

What did you think about the show?