Lost Season 6 Finale - The End - Review

"I don't believe in a lot of things but I do believe in duct tape."

 So, after 6 long years of confusion, mysteries, action, romance, heartbreak, twists and amazing scenery Lost has finally come to an end with the final episode, appropriately titled The End. At 2 1/2 hours it is certainly one of the longest and most epic season finales in history and similarly to recent season finales it seems to have polarized audiences in equal measure.
So to be fair and write an objective (with a smattering of the subjective thrown in) review I will outline both the good and bad things about the final episode followed by a conclusion on my personal thoughts of Lost.

AGAINST

"I've got a bad feeling about this"

The real big problem with the ending of Lost was two fold; firstly the answers we had been "promised" never came. I can see why this would irk so many people. I personally wanted to know who, when and why The Statue of Tawaret was built especially as "Across The Sea" inferred that the Egyptians existed or visited the island prior to Jacob's time there. I also wanted to know who, when and why the Temple was built. There were other questions pertaining to what the Island actually was, what the source was and why it was so important to be protected, but in some ways these questions were answered. The annoyance seems to be that absolutely no questions where answered and if anything more were raised.
The second major point of annoyance seems to stem from the final big twist and revelation about the "flash sideways" timeline. For me what initially made this seem so wrong was that tonally it didn't seem to fit, it had no precedent in any of the previous five seasons and also could be argued it never fully explained its connection to the main storyline. All this seems to have led to the assumption that Lindelof and Cuse we're making it as they went along and this ending, on first viewing, failed to fit with the tone or resolve the main themes of the show. Add to this that the ending worked as a massive twist unlike anything in Lost's history and you can see why so many people grumbled that Lost had finally, well, lost it.
On a personal note the actual ending, despite know feeling so apt and inspired, actually felt somewhat abupt on my first viewing; I expected the story to continue and tie up some of the loose ends which were left dangling.

FOR

"Christian Shepherd, seriously?"

Lost season finales having always had multiple storylines, fast paced plots and massive reveals or twists and "The End" was no different. In fact for the most part it was superior to anything Lost had ever done before. A real sense of tension, suspense and pace exploded as soon as the show began, especially as Hurley said "I have a bad feeling about this" which marked the second Star Wars reference in as many minutes and set up a nail biting, toe tapping ending. Following the opening the show continued to raise the stakes and crank up the pressure with a quick reappearance of some old beloved characters. Ultimately though the end stuck closely to the heart of the show focusing on the characters and it was wonderful to see so many of the shows long dead characters return. What was really special was the devotion Lindelof and Cuse demonstrated for almost every major character from the series. It would take a cold hearted person not to reach for the kleenex at least once in the episode, and for getting the balance between plot, pace and emotion so right they should be commended.

The truly great thing about the show though was that it feel so epic in scope and execution. The final battles felt bigger and more important than anything before it and every major character seemed to get at least one great scene either by reuniting them with old characters or just through their actions (personal favourite was when Hurley saw Charlie again then shot him).

So in conclusion I can completely understand the annoyance a lot of fans have had with the end of Lost but I also see, from the reviews I've read, that the man reason for disappointment is that Lost never pandered to what their fans wanted instead sticking firm to their idea and conclusion of the show. And at the end of the day the reason I love Lost isn't just the mysteries, the plots, the characters or the scenery, it is because it has always provoked a strong reaction, has been bold, confrontational and above all, has got me thinking and deliberating what the hell I just saw, which the ending has certainly done. There may be some flaws with the show and the ending, and people who aren't prepared to give themselves over to the show are probably never going to love it, but for me, after letting those final few images sink in I can only say this. Lost is without doubt one of the finest pieces of television ever created and I wouldn't change a thing.