Random Thoughts: They Made it Up As They Went Along

Over and over again, I hear fans complaining that "They just made it up as they went along."  Well, I'm getting a little tired at hearing this.  Of COURSE they did.  Here's I have to say to the entire "making it up as they went along" camp.

Random thoughts: The Landing of the Ajira Flight

Every once in a while, I'll post a "Random Thoughts" entry.  These entries will primarily consist of thoughts I've expressed elsewhere, but are good enough to stand on their own.

I was participating in a discussion about what we might like to see that was "left out" of Lost.  In this instance, we were talking about a program focusing on the last survivors, arriving back home on what was left of the Ajira plane.  I pictured the scene like so:

What is The Flash Sideways?

One of the biggest areas of post-finale discussion involves the Flash Sideways.  Let me say first and foremost that the flash sideways are primarily a literary technique.  The Show Runners wanted the final season to mirror the first season in many ways.  They had already employed the flash-back and flash-forward techniques; they did not want to reuse either one.  So the writers conceived of the flash-sideways, a way to show a different time frame in a new and creative way.  Whether they succeeded in that or not remains up for debate.  I am not sure if they had it planned out from the start, or whether they thought it would take on a life of its own and start to write itself, as many great storylines seem to do.  Nevertheless, they ended it with an explanation that can make sense in the overall storyline.

I must say, I was initially disappointed with the ending to the flash-sideways.  Early on in the finale, I commented that it took until the last episode of the season for me to become engaged with the flash-sideways.  Then, as the credits rolled, I said I LOVED the finale up to about the last fifteen minutes.  However, as I chatted, read, and discussed, the ending started growing on me.

Ideally, this explanation would occur later in my chronology, once I've had a chance to express my take on “Across the Sea.”  However, being that this is one of the questions that's being repeated over and over in comments sections throughout the Lost Community, I thought I'd tackle it right sooner, rather than later.

First of all, the Flash Sideways was not “real”, but the events on the Island were.  Neither was it purgatory, a purely Christian concept.  The stained glass window in the church made it clear that this was a place that defied a single religious belief.  Rather, it was a place that represented  spirituality transcending religion.  In a nutshell, the sideways time represented the spirituality awakened in Jack Shepherd during his brief tenure as “Protector,” his ultimate reward and redemption.

What is the Island?

During one of their many pre-finale interviews, Damon talked about people's need for answers, where answers may not exist.  He quoted Mother's line about every answered question just leading to another question.  Damon alluded to the scientific explanation for the creation of the universe: The Big Bang Theory.

“What came first...the big bang.  Well, what came before that?  A bigger bang.”

Damon was giving us a huge hint there.  The light at the heart of the island stems from that big bang.  And to understand that, we must learn a little about the big bang theory and what it asserts.

5 Minute Assessment of Lost

I have frequented a site called DarkUfo throughout the last few years.  DarkUfo was recently voted the #2 Lost Site on the web.  After spending several hours chatting with other Lostheads, I posted this quick assessment of the show:

The island is a metaphor for that supernatural, unexplainable part of living that man just can't stop trying to understand. Dharma was a metaphor for man's quest to explain everything through science; Radzinsky went mad when he finally realized that there were some things science would never be able to explain. The Island is that spiritual part in all of us, something Jack had lost touch with. Volunteering to replace Jacob represented Jack's reaffirmation of his spiritual side and his realization that sometimes it took more than mere medicine to fix things. That is the answer. The sideways was a metaphor for the "no man is an island" philosophy, and a statement on the necessity of community to help us through the trauma. It was Jack's idea of what a "happy life" would look like for them all if there were no island and 815 had never crashed. Hurley's act of letting folks leave the island represented believing that science and spirituality can coexist in a modern world.

The answers were there, as much as they could be. You just have to look for them.

  I also posted this thought:

After spending like 3 hours in chat after the ep ended, I get it and I loved it. The island was real. Everything that happened there was real. When Jack assumed the role of protector (for all of that 10 min or so), he changed the game. The ALT is what he "wished" for everybody in that moment he reignited the light. That's why they needed him to "wake up" so that they could move on, and why they all looked like Jack remembered them in the ALT. It was NOT purgatory--it was Jack's idea of what their happy lives would look like had 815 never crashed. There's a lot more to it, of course, but I'm getting into theory length rather than comment length, so I'll stop here. I'm sure I'll get it even better after a full rewatch or 2.

 I'm repeating these comments here to whet your appetite for what is still to come.  

LOST: THE FINAL INTERPRETATION

Having invested 6 years and millions of brain cells in Lost, I am sad to see it over. I was “live chatting”, as had become my habit, during The End, and I was almost overwhelmed by the immediate backlash and disappointment from the Lost fanbase. (I must say that my immediate reaction was “I LOVED the episode up until the last 15 minutes.)

“They didn't explain anything,” fans wailed. “What was the island? What about all of our questions? The mythology?”

I contend that the answers were there, people; you just had to look for them. So what I am going to attempt to do is to clarify the missing pieces for those left feeling nothing but cheated.  If you have a favorite question you'd like to see me tackle, please let me know. 

Some of the questions I intend to tackle include:

   1. What is the Island?
   2. What was the Smoke Monster?
   3. How did the Valenzetti equation factor into things?
   4. What Motivated Charles Widmore?
   5. What Was the Deal with Dharma?
   6. What was the Flash Sideways?

I'll be writing up my initial theories and reactions, as well as any discoveries I make during the course of my organized re-watch.  I may also repost theories I've posted on other sites in the past, and note how/if my interpretations changed after the finale.

My next post will tackle the question :What is the Island?  I am working on that post now.  Let me just tease you by saying it explains the island in relation to The Big bang Theory (the scientific principle, not the TV show.)  Meanwhile, I'll start the discussion by saying that the Island happenings were real; the Flash Sideways were not.

Namaste and Aloha.


LaurelNev