LOST: The Finale

*Disclaimer: if you've not watched the finale from 5/23, discontinue reading.  Post contains spoilers.

--Christian Shepard's casket finally arrives and Desmond signs for it.  Desmond and Kate talk, as he tells her: "No one can tell you why you're here, Kate...I wanna leave."

--Jack seems to find what he's been searching for.  And Kate must let him go.  Jack says that the Island is the only thing that he hasn't ruined.

--Sawyer surprises Locke/Smokie with the news that they are no long candidates.  But as he walks aways, Smokie discovers Vincent's tracks.  Vincent is with Desmond, Rose, and Bernard.  Rose says they don't get involved.  So after Desmond eats, he needs to move on.  In that moment, Locke/Smokie and Ben show up.  Smokie says Demond has to come or he will kill Bernard and Rose.  Smokie says Desmond WILL do what he wants. 

--Desmond surprises Smokie by guessing where they are going.  Miles tries to stay in radio contact with Ben, after he finds Richard.  So we discover that Ben hasn't completely turned to the dark side yet.  Miles and Richard continue on to blow up the plane.  

--Sideways Sun has a flash of Juliette and the ultrasound.  Then Jin remembers as well.  

--Jack and Smokie meet across a field.  Jack says, "We're all going to the same place."  Sawyer: "Then what?" Jack: "Then it ends."

--Richard get his first gray hair and tells Miles: "I just realized I want to live."

--Jack tells Desmond: "What happened, happened."  We take this as a moment of disbelief, but turns out to be telling us, "This is happening.  This is real."

--In the sideways reality, Sayid and Shannon are reunited in remembrance, and Boone comes back as well.

--Kate delivers Aaron and it's in this moment that she and Claire both remember.  Interesting to note that it was Aaron who awoke Kate, not Jack or Sawyer.  It was motherhood that defined her, not a man.

--Eloise confronts Desmond and asks if he's going to take Daniel.  Desmond says no and for a moment, I feel bad for Eloise.  She seems to be caught as much as all of them.  What is this mysterious pull and information that she's always had on the Island?

--Locke recovers instantly from surgery and as he moves his toes, he remembers.  But Jack only remembers for a second.  Locke says to Jack: "I hope someone does for you what you just did for me."

--Ultimately we see Jack kill Locke/Smokie on the Island and he returns to restore the light as the others escape.  Jack tells Hurley that he was chosen just to restore the light, but it was Hurley that was always meant to protect the Island.  As Jack descends into the cave, Hurley recruits Ben as his #2 in command.  Ben encourages Hurley to run the Island his way, "take care of people," re-write the rules.  

--In the sideways reality, Sawyer and Juliette are finally reunited in the most powerful scene of the series.  This scene was full of past references: "It worked." "We could go dutch."  "I had ya."  When Juliette died at the beginning of the season, she said they were in LA having coffee.  Looks like she was right.   An epic relationship for an epic show.  Flawed, unlikely, perfect.  Had me crying like a baby.

--Ben and Locke reunite at the funeral and Ben apologizes to Locke, to which Locke forgives him.  Reminds me of when Michael said the people on the Island were seeking forgiveness.  Ben says it means more to him than Locke can know.  But still Ben waits.  Hurley tells him he was a good #2, and Ben tells Hurley he was a great #1.  What is Ben waiting for?  If the rules have changed, could Ben still be alive protecting the Island?  Or is he simply waiting for Alex to remember?  In the scene a few weeks ago, I couldn't help but think that Rousseau, Alex and Ben would make a great family, if not a little twisted.

--All of Jack's memories come together as he touches his father's coffin.  Interesting that it wasn't when he kissed Kate.  Perhaps it has something to do with how he always felt he was in his father's shadow, how the Island finally made him grow up in a sense.  His father tells him that he is dead, they all are, dying at different times.  That this is a place they all created to find each other, to remember, to let go.  And as an audience, we are in a sense being told to let go.  

--In this funeral scene, Christian opens the back door for them to move on, and all we see is light.  Can I just throw in my two cents worth and say, I would have loved to have seen the Island on the other side of those doors.  But as viewers, we were again left with no definites.

--And some last notes to an epic show:

--I'm ok with the unanswered questions, but I truly missed seeing at least Miles and Richard in that final scene.  I loved the relationship that was developed between Sawyer and Miles and felt as though he was an integral part of the cast.  And what about Frank?

--The sense of community developed, particularly in that last scene, is so... speaks to the sense of community we all build as human beings, especially Christians, in an effort to truly live.  Very rich and a lot could be written about that one scene alone.

--Did not like the all roads lead to heaven bit.

--Scene with Sawyer and Juliette,... still can't get over it.  Best written and acted scene ever.

--As for our LOSTIES who left on the plane...  Perhaps they returned to another "time" and reinvented themselves, living out the rest of their lives in relative harmony.  I'd like to think so.  

I was a little sad at the end at first.  I wanted a joyous happy reunion with everyone alive and off the Island.  I wasn't too happy with the Purgatory bit.  But after thinking about it, I realized I got exactly what I wanted.  A reunited, forgiven, restored cast... relationships as they were meant to be... people reunited by the experiences they had... community... closure.

What a crazy end to a wild ride!  Still churning over details, but satisfied with what's been left.

Good-bye, Dear Friends!

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