I had very mixed feelings about the finale. On one hand, they did tie up most of the characters very nicely. Ben and Hurley as the island's guardians was absolutely one of the highlights of the episode. I can't think of a better duo to be in charge of that place, especially with Rose, Bernard, and Vincent to keep them company! The well of light going out, Eloise's comment about Dan, the Juliet/Sawyer reunion . . . lots of great moments.
The two bits I didn't buy were Shannon/Sayid and the battle with Smocke. I think the first speaks for itself. The battle with Smocke was well done as it was, but I wanted MORE. That was set up as the ultimate rivalry, the ultimate battle, really just above and beyond anything we've seen so far. I get that he was made mortal, but that's so anti climactic. I wanted ALL of them to be involved, I wanted to see what Benjamin was plotting, I wanted it to be EPIC. Not only was it over too quickly, it was over half way through the episode!
But even more than that, I have not come to terms with the alt yet. Maybe it was the saccharine reunion scene in the church, but it felt like it canceled out everything I spent the last six years watching and wondering and pondering about. All the pain, betrayal, death, and sacrifice that these people endured evaporated. No matter who they were in life (I'm looking at you, Sayid), they got to go be happy and heavenly. It just felt too
nice, more Touched by an Angel than Lost. That's not to say there aren't things I didn't like about it -- Ben's lovely little moment apologizing to Locke, for instance, or Juliet and Sawyer's reunion. I suspect this is more an issue of execution (not to mention my personal taste for tragedy and cataclysm...) but it didn't quite jibe.
As far as the plane wreckage over the credits, although I did spend a couple of days trying to figure out if the island was looping or some similar crazy scenario, it was nothing of the sort.
Those photographs were not part of the "Lost" story at all. The network added them to soften the transition from the moving ending of the series to the 11 p.m. news and never considered that it would confuse viewers about the actual ending of the show.
"The images shown during the end credits of the 'Lost' finale, which included shots of Oceanic 815 on a deserted beach, were not part of the final story but were a visual aid to allow the viewer to decompress before heading into the news," an ABC spokesperson wrote in an e-mail Tuesday."
Not gonna lie, I love that they decided to give us a cushion in between Lost and . . . everything else. Thanks, ABC execs!
Finally, the end. The end of The End as it were. That last moment, that last shot was sheer perfection. Jack's slow walk back to where he began, Vincent coming to lie down next to him, and finally, the shot of his eye closing. That could not have been better in anyway. Apparently Darlton had that image from the very beginning (and told Matt Fox about it). For all their faults, when they get it right, they get it really right.
I know it was time for the show to end, but I'll miss it nonetheless.