LOST-ology

So I’ve had a chance to stew a little more on the wrap-up of LOST.

I thought about what Becky said on my last post, that (to paraphrase) the last episode made it seem like the Island didn’t matter if the whole thing was just about the characters  meeting up with people who were significant in their lives.

But…they were only significant to each other because of the Island. At least, that’s how I see it. If the plane had crashed somewhere else and they were rescued, those that survived would have just walked away and probably continued on with their lives. But they crashed on the Island, and their lives were changed forever. That's how those significant relationships were formed in the first place. Because of the role the Island played.

I will agree that there are a lot of things that were left unanswered that I would have liked to know more about. Walt and his "special-ness" is definitely one of them. But even there, I think it is important that the Island retain some of it's sense of mystery. I think being Catholic plays a part in that for me, because our faith is certainly full of mysteries. There is only so much that you can wrap your mind around and understand, and then for the rest you have to rely on faith. Yes, I just compared my faith to a TV show. But it's only a superficial comparison. That's what I’m telling myself as I type this.

Oddly enough, being religious person, I don't know how I feel about the whole mystical/mythological turn that the series took toward the end. Yes, I know that the idea of good and evil was there from the beginning, but I definitely got more of a sci-fi vibe from the show most of the time. Take the "monster" for instance. It makes noises that could be a huge machine, or a dinosaur even! And it turns out to be a guy who fell into a magical light cavern place. Also, the Dharma Initiative did all sorts of experiments relating to the electromagnetism of the Island, among other things. Heck, there was even a mechanism on the Island that harnessed that energy to travel through time!!! But again, the only explanation we get is a magical light cavern place. The sci-fi geek in me felt a teeny bit let down by the whole Jacob/MIB/Mother/magical light stuff.

So how is that for a paradox? I think that the mysteriousness of the Island is important, but I also preferred the more sciency things about the show. I can't explain my own convoluted feelings sometimes. And just because it didn't end up being what I expected doesn't mean I didn't like it. The changes of pace and surprises were what made it so much fun to watch. I probably enjoyed LOST more than any TV series I've ever watched in the past.

There may be more LOST posts in the near future, but for now, thoughts?