If there’s one thing “Lost” has always been good for, it’s an explosive season finale, but while tonight’s two-hour cliffhanger was definitely explosive, it was for completely different reasons. Don’t get me wrong, the finale had me salivating over the possibilities of the show’s future, but it just wasn’t as spectacular as past years.
For starters, let’s address that silly spy report I linked to at the end of my last post. I had a feeling that Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof would film some decoy endings to keep people guessing, and my suspicions were confirmed on three separate occasions. The first occurred during Jack and Locke’s discussion about the island’s potential powers. As soon as Locke made a point of asking Jack to stay, it was pretty clear that the reason Jack is so upset over the death of Jeremy Bentham in the future is because he considered him his best chance to get back to the island. The second clue happened right after, during Walt’s visit to Hurley in the mental institution, when Walt mentioned that Bentham was the only person to visit him in New York. Finally, the third is probably the most obvious (ABC’s commercial about the alternate endings on tomorrow’s episode of “Good Morning America”), but if you hadn’t already figured out that Bentham was Locke by then, well, you’re just not paying close enough attention.
Now, we don’t know why Locke changed his name or how he got off the island, but we do know that in order for Jack to return, he needs every member of the Oceanic Six (including Locke’s dead body, and possibly even Ben) to do so. We also know that some very bad stuff went down following their departure and, along with Jack’s crusade to get back to the island, this will likely play a major role in the final two seasons. Unfortunately, that won’t include the rescue of Michael and Jin, who both perished on the freighter ship (along with several other background survivors) when it was blown up as part of Keamy’s “life insurance.” The good news in all of this, however, is that Desmond isn’t dead. In fact, it was Penny’s boat that eventually rescued him (along with Frank and the Oceanic Six) when their helicopter crash-landed into the ocean. I’m not sure if this means Desmond will no longer be a part of the story when the show returns in 2009, but with Charlie and Jin now gone, I don’t know if I could accept another great character to disappear for no reason.
And in case anyone was wondering, here’s a quick rundown of who’s doing what as of the end of this season:
Jack – desperate to return to the island
Kate – doesn’t want to go back, haunted by visions of Claire
Sayid – still working for Ben
Hurley –still seeing ghosts, but no longer at the asylum
Sun – making a deal with Widmore involving the island
Ben – helping Jack get back to the island
Locke – the new leader of the Others (dead in the future)
Claire – still roaming around with Christian
Sawyer – back on the island after jumping out of the helicopter
Juliet – never boarded the freighter
Desmond – on Penny’s boat
Frank – on Penny’s boat
Bernard & Rose – never boarded the freighter
Miles & Charlotte – never boarded the freighter
Daniel – deserted in the middle of the ocean
