Tag: Lost series finale

“Lost” finale leaves a lot to be desired

There’s an old adage in show business — leave ’em wanting more. With last night’s finale, “Lost” showrunners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof took that line a little too far, offering up one big, metaphysical argument while leaving many questions unanswered.

Slate’s Laura Miller argues that the show’s fans might be to blame:

Could it be that in resisting the geekiest, nitpickingest, most Aspergerian demands of their audience they swung too far in the opposite direction, dismissing as trivial everything but the cosmic (the tedious and largely unnecessary Jacob-Smokey background) and the sentimental (making sure that every character receives his or her designated soul mate or therapeutic closure of the most banal Dr. Phil variety)?

If so, “Lost” may be the quintessential example of a pop masterpiece ruined by its own fans. The comic-book paraphernalia and texture of the island — its secret bunkers with their code names, Jacob’s migrating cabin with its creepy paintings, the ersatz normality of the Others’ compound ringed by those sonic pylons and the fantastically mechanical grinding and dragging sounds that used to accompany the appearance of the smoke monster — were not peripheral to the heart of “Lost.” They were the very essence of its appeal, what that show did better than any other. If I want to contemplate the nature of good and evil, I’ll turn to Nietzsche or Hannah Arendt (or, for that matter, Joss Whedon), and if I want ruminations on love, give me Emily Brontë or John Updike (or “Big Love”). From “Lost” I wanted less profundity and more fun. And I still want to know what the deal was with those numbers.

Ree Hines of MSNBC had a problem with the actual ending:

Sometime after his “Hey, kiddo!” and Jack’s understandable “What-the-what?” reaction, the silver fox explained precisely what the alternate reality was — a place Jack and his past pals created to have one giant, post-mortem meet up.

That’s right. It wasn’t a different thread of reality created by the time-changing blast Daniel Faraday suggested. That makes too much sense. Instead, it was all just some oddly plotted excuse for everyone (minus Michael, Walt and loads of other characters) to get together after their respective deaths but before they moved on to whatever follows.

What was the point of everything before that? What about all that alt-action? The alt-escapes? The alt-killings? The alt-family members who don’t really exist? (Sorry, David! And sorry anyone else who paid attention to your now meaningless story.) There weren’t any.

The end.

Really this time.

Those who spent the better part of the last six seasons wondering where in the heck the sometimes frustrating, almost always entertaining mystery could possibly go finally got their answer. If they can make sense of it, that is.

In the end, the electromagnetically charged mystery island gave way to a hug-filled waiting room leading to a pan-spiritual afterlife, led by the aptly named Christian Shephard. Whew!

It’s a daring way to end “Lost” — leaving plenty of questions unanswered and winking out on what has to be its least satisfying twist to date.

At least no one can say they saw that coming.

In other words, the ending was a surprise, and not a good one.

In terms of opinion, I fall more in line with Hines than Miller. While I see Miller’s point, the time to answer many of the questions that plagued her — the meaning of the numbers, why children were being abducted, how the island came to be, etc. — was not the finale. Those should have somehow been answered earlier. Within the context of the finale, it didn’t make sense for Jack to stop Ben and say, “Hey, why did you kidnap Walt anyway?” or “What’s the deal with the numbers?”

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LIVE BLOG: Lost 6.17 / 6.18 – The End

Welcome one and all to tonight’s live blog of the “Lost” series finale. As you can tell from the episode’s title, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof aren’t messing around when they say that this is the last we’ll see of our beloved Losties. No silly spin-offs, or God help us, feature films, but I guess you can never say never when money is involved. With that said, however, I’m not going to pretend like I’m a seasoned pro at this whole live blogging thing (in fact, it’s the first time I’ve ever tried it), so bear with me as my updates will likely be subject to a slight delay as I gather my thoughts and update the post, all while keeping track of the action onscreen. Continue to refresh this page for all updates and feel free to comment below. Enjoy the show, and don’t forget to check back after it’s over for my final thoughts.

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Countdown to the “Lost” finale

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It all started with a plane crash, but in the six years since “Lost” premiered, ABC’s hit drama has become about a lot more than just a group of castaways trying to get off an island. From polar bears and smoke monsters, mysteries and revelations, and enough jumping back and forth in time to give audiences their own nosebleeds, it’s been one helluva ride. With the series finale only a few days away, however, it’s time we finally come to grips with the fact that our favorite show is ending for good.

At least it’s going out with a bang, as last Tuesday’s lead-in to the finale appears to have set the stage for what is sure to be an incredible farewell. On Earth-1, Jack has agreed to remain on the island as its new protector (while Kate, Sawyer and Hurley celebrate the fact that it isn’t them), and Smokey has devised a new plan to exploit Desmond’s superhuman resistance to electromagnetism by blowing up the whole damn island, hopefully breaking his centuries-long imprisonment in the process. And over in Earth-2 (a mirror universe that’s like some kind of “Matrix”-esque simulated reality where the Losties aren’t cognizant of their Earth-1 lives), a recently awakened Desmond has begun to dole out his own version of the red pill by jogging their memories and assembling them all together at a concert in Los Angeles. How this will tie into the lives of the surviving Losties on the island remains the biggest question of all, but I think it’s safe to assume that it’s one the writers plan to answer before it’s over.

And don’t forget, I’ll be live blogging the series finale this Sunday starting at 9PM EST right here on Premium Hollywood. ABC will also be airing the original two-hour pilot Saturday night, a two-hour preview show Sunday before the finale, and a special edition of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” directly after. If that’s still not enough, be sure to check out Bullz-Eye’s brand new
Lost Fan Hub for interviews, DVD reviews, and much more.

To help get you in the mood, I leave you with this, a somewhat upbeat look back at the many deaths that have occurred throughout the course of the show. Enjoy.

TV Roundup: Chuck/Heroes finale ratings, more on Scrubs and Privileged

– Ratings for the season finales of “Chuck” and “Heroes” failed to impress. This is especially bad news for “Chuck,” which is definitely on the bubble to get a pickup.

TV.COM reports that talks between ABC and the producers of “Scrubs” are heating up. The ratings haven’t been great, but ad sales have been solid due to the upscale nature of the show’s audience. This season has been up and down, and has suffered some with portions of the cast missing significant time (as a planned, cost-cutting measure). But when everyone’s accounted for, the show still has its moments.

EW.COM is reporting that the CW is planning to run repeats of “Privileged” this summer, which could be taken as a good sign as far as the show’s future is concerned.

VARIETY discusses the still-a-ways-off-series-finale of “Lost,” and how the producers are approaching it.

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