LOST - What did it all mean?

So, the show is over and the final episode has been aired about the globe, but, what does it all mean? Is there a single understanding of what the show actually presents to us?

Clearly the cast is important, but, the island itself is probably the biggest character in that all events are tied into the happening on the island itself.

Personally, I believe the follow:

The crash of Oceanic flight 815 was always a metaphor for death and the island itself was a means of allowing the deceased to reconcile themselves with the events of their lives, to finish unfinished business, to accept the failings of their lives, to be ready to move on to the afterlife 'proper'. All interaction (i.e. when the escape occurred) is basically an illusion to allow the islanders to achieve that state of reconciliation. I suppose the island acts as a kind of purgatory.

The only 'real' escape from the island was to accept that they were dead and to have reconciled themselves to their lives. Various events on the island were means to test individuals to let them learn something about themselves.

I feel that certain characters had known that they were dead but had prevented themselves from moving on to the afterlife 'proper', even trying to capitalise on the power of the island itself, trying to reinsert themselves into the world they had left behind.

All in all, they had died, they were transported to the island to prepare for acceptance of death and to reconcile their lives and finally meet in the 'church' to progress to the final level of the afterlife.

of course, I could be completely off the mark... what say you?

[edit on 24-5-2010 by SugarCube]

reply to post by SugarCube


Actually, your scenario sounds pretty logical to me. I'm fairly sure that they WERE all killed in the plane crash. After that, any guess is as good as yours, and since the producers didn't provide a definitive answer, I like your theory.

you are COMPLETELY off the mark. The conversation with Christian Sheppard and Jack was placed there to literally hit you over the head with what it "meant."

CHRISTIAN: Hey Kiddo

JACK: Dad?

CHRISTIAN: Hello Jack.

JACK: I Don't understand. You died.

CHRISTIAN: Yes. Yes I did.

JACK: Then how are you here right now

CHRISTIAN: How are you here?

JACK: ...I died too...

CHRISTIAN: It's okay. It's okay. It's okay son

...

JACK: Are you real?

CHRISTIAN: I sure hope so. Yeah I'm real. Your real. Everything that ever happened to you is real. Everybody in that church, they're real too.

JACK:Everybody in there is dead?

CHRISTIAN: Everybody dies sometime, kiddo. Some of them before you, some of them long after you.

JACK: Why are they here now?

CHRISTIAN: Well there is no now, here.

JACK: Where are we, dad?

CHRISTIAN: This is a place that you all made together so you could find one another. The most important part of your life was the time 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 all needed you.

JACK: For what?

CHRISTIAN: To remember -- and let go.

JACK: Kate, she said we were leaving.

CHRISTIAN: Not leaving -- no. Moving on.

JACK: Where are we going?

CHRISTIAN: Let's go find out.

*****

They survived the plane crash. Some died on the island (Boone, Shannon, Sayid, Jin, Juliet, Sun, Jack etc etc,) and some died well after leaving the island, some after a long life. (Kate, Miles, Sawyer, etc) and some REAALLLLLY long after (Ben and Hurley.)

But no, the island was real.

^^^ Thats exactly what I got from it as well. What really kind of bothers me though is that it makes the first 5 seasons rather irrelevant in the overall scheme of things. I was holding out hope that the final scene would be Jack and Locke sitting on the log the same as when we first met MIB and Jacob but it was not to be.

The final message IMO is that finding a meaning and purpose in your life is necessary to move on after you die, else you may just linger in Limbo for eternity.

Until the crash, none of the Losties had any direction. The events on the Island made their lives worthwhile.

Of course, knowing the Island was real leaves loads of unanswered questions about that ....... to be resolved in the never to be filmed Lost II: The Hurley & Linus Years (if I say it often enough someone might get the hint )


[edit on 24-5-2010 by Essan]

reply to post by SugarCube


It means we're all lost, according to the producers.

Originally posted by Kronik98
^^^ Thats exactly what I got from it as well. What really kind of bothers me though is that it makes the first 5 seasons rather irrelevant in the overall scheme of things. I was holding out hope that the final scene would be Jack and Locke sitting on the log the same as when we first met MIB and Jacob but it was not to be.

Now THAT would have made it all pointless, because that means 1) That nothing changed and 2) The characters are going against themselves.

What we do have is in fact a conclusion. Jacob brought everybody to the island for a reason, and that was to prove Jacob's brother wrong. He needed to prove that people, even the "broken" ones could be selfless, be different, be more than human. Jacob was able to defeat, through Jack, the monster he created. For further progression and conclusion, you have the redemption of Ben and Hurleys accepted role as protector, who fixes Jacobs mistakes and becomes better than he could have ever been.

The End is the natural conclusion of the progress made by the characters, your idea is not, it's a reversion, a loop, which, while is interesting, is not satisfying.

reply to post by WolfofWar


I get different interpretation from that exchange with Jack - I agree with what you said about the characters dying at different points which is why I say that the crash was a metaphor for death and metaphysical tool to simply brought them together to experience the island at the same time. Everything was aimed at not freaking them out about being dead already.

They had died at different times but were brought together 'outside of time' to be together - "nobody does it alone". I see their experience as 'real' from a spiritual perspective in that they themselves didn't realise that they were already dead but of course, what they experienced was real to them, individually and as a group.

Although they may have 'died' at different points when in real life AND when they departed the island through death or other means, they all finally meet at the church once they have attained that state of 'letting go' via the experience of the island, since it is basically 'out' of the past/now/future time context.

I just do not see the island itself being real. Everything on it was a construct relevant to the characters that needed to be brought together to go through the experience.

Everything that happens occurs outside of the reality of time, right from the point at which they arrive on the island.

It is just a point of view since there is no definitive explanation as far as I aware of...

reply to post by SugarCube


No. they are EXPLICITLY clear that the island was real. It was not all purgatory, or an afterlife, the writers already expelled that myth multiple times. Christian was saying that their lives on the island were the most important times of their entire lives.

reply to post by WolfofWar


I hear what you're saying but I just don't buy it... it doesn't make sense. It would be like Chris Carter coming out and saying that 'Cancer Man' doesn't really smoke and that it is all just for show when we plainly know different from the story line that is presented.

I would like to let Annie Wilkes convey my thoughts on the statement that the island was 'real' in the sense that it was in out physical world:

Annie Wilkes: [shouting] I know that, Mr. Man! They also called them serials. I'm not stupid ya know... Anyway, my favourite was Rocketman, and once it was a no breaks chapter. The bad guy stuck him in a car on a mountain road and knocked him out and welded the door shut and tore out the brakes and started him to his death, and he woke up and tried to steer and tried to get out but the car went off a cliff before he could escape! And it crashed and burned and I was so upset and excited, and the next week, you better believe I was first in line. And they always start with the end of the last week. And there was Rocketman, trying to get out, and here comes the cliff, and just before the car went off the cliff, he jumped free! And all the kids cheered! But I didn't cheer. I stood right up and started shouting. This isn't what happened last week! Have you all got amnesia? They just cheated us! This isn't fair! HE DIDN'T GET OUT OF THE COCK-A-DOODIE CAR!

:-)

[edit on 24-5-2010 by SugarCube]

reply to post by SugarCube


I'm sorry, it does make sense. It's the entire point of the show. You are wrong.
Spin it however you wish, but if you really don't understand it, I suggest you buy the dvds or rewatch the show. The entire show is about the connections they have on the island (a real island) and the end is how important it was in their lives that they were on there.

The best explanation:

Please feel free to carry on your thoughts and discussion regarding this show.

Thanks!

I'd say they were all dead on impact of the plane with the island. The fact that a pregnant woman could give birth on the island, but that it was impossible to conceive on it is because death can not reproduce with death.
Being already pregnant meant the child was also alive before dying...

Remember Locke's dad? He had a terrible car accident, and woke on the island unhurt. He did say they were in hell and that they were dead...

Only the three kids survived, or resurrected. IMVHO!

At first I thought they were in hell, seeing they were always denied something by fate...

To answer your OP question; the producers got Lost in the show's script?... LOL ( Laugh On Lost )

[edit on 24-5-2010 by Aresh Troxit]

[edit on 24-5-2010 by Aresh Troxit]

Guys, watch the episode again... They VERY EXPLICITLY state that the island was in the real world, and that the flash sideways was purgatory or rather "a place they made for each other".

What angered me is that they never actually stated what the island was.. My take is that it was the gate to hell. I went for 6 seasons of this island being a major character, and it was the only part of the show they didn't resolve, I guess in order to say that the island is still very existent.

Also, the whole purgatory thing could've been done by any dramatic show.. it was not relevant until the last season. Why is this? What I mean is that anybody could've ended any show in this way. It seemed a tad cheap, but I still felt pretty good after the show.


ETA: Jin and Sun's baby was not real in the end.. It was part of what their spirits had made for themselves in this purgatory. Notice how in purgatory everyone's life seemed much more on the straight and narrow? When Jack and the Oceanic 6 originally left the island, their lives went to crap.

Also, Locke said after his surgery that Jack never had a son, which is true. Jack had made his son up after he died for his soul to cope with purgatory.

[edit on 5/24/10 by SantaClaus]

Originally posted by Kronik98
I was holding out hope that the final scene would be Jack and Locke sitting on the log the same as when we first met MIB and Jacob but it was not to be.

Yeah that is exactly how I thought it would end as well... Apparently not

If I may say, in my opinion this has been the best television series ever! Sad to see it go.

Originally posted by SantaClaus

What angered me is that they never actually stated what the island was.. My take is that it was the gate to hell. I went for 6 seasons of this island being a major character, and it was the only part of the show they didn't resolve, I guess in order to say that the island is still very existent.

They did though. It was an island which house a force of energy. the energy was an allegory for the power that man thirsts for. "This light shines in the heart of every man. They try to get more, but if they take it the light goes out."

the light grants people that power, as almost a wish fulfillment. It gave Locke the ability to walk, Jacob his powers, MIB his smoke ability to enact revenge, etc.

reply to post by WolfofWar


Seems when Desmond let the "light" out, it pretty much did nothing but destroy. The light may have been from the pillar of rock desmond removed and that jack replaced, but it still says nothing definitive about the island.

Here is what doesn't tally for me:

- Agreed, they meet at the church ready to pass on to 'the next world'.
- The island manifests certain 'wishes' or 'desires' and can be regarded as having a 'supernatural' presence.

Are we to assume that the island was a coincidence in terms of their final meeting at the church, or a necessary prelude to meeting at the church.

You see, my gut feeling is the 2nd option, but from what folks are saying, the 1st option appears to be the 'scripted' version.

If the island was real (i.e. within our physical world and not a 'construct' as part of the events of their death) then their experiences there could have been avoided if the plane had not crashed there. It just seems a bit tenuous, regardless of stated quotes.

If they were really alive, it would surely mean that their experience was entirely coincidental and was important only in retrospect, or they were 'placed' on the island in view of the experience that they needed when they came to die in real life.

Surely the whole premise of the island is that it allows the characters to 'let go' via their experience there in which case it is a necessary prelude to their final church meet?

Can anybody else see this dilemma? I am happy to see that I am wrong and that the script describes a different scenario, but I haven't seen anything that makes it 'make sense' to me. if it isn't supposed to make sense, fair enough, I suppose I am being too analytical.

For me, this is 'Matrix Revolutions' all over again.