Lost - "The End"

SPOILER ALERT

If you read my blog, and you like TV, there is a good chance that you will already have seen "The End."

But if you have not, please don't read any more.

I do not want to spoil this show for anyone. And, as hard as it will be for a person who has not seen Lost to avoid hearing spoilers, I do not want to be responsible for spoiling anything.

You've been warned.

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They did it.

The team that brought us one of the most fascinating, thought-provoking, mysterious shows ever wrapped up this 6-year journey with an episode that contained answers, more questions, and "The End" for our characters' stories.

I could write about this for a long time, and I'm sure I will have many conversations with other "Losties" about it, but let's get to the main question:

"What really happened?"

Though I will discuss some theories, I want to first state this: It is a non-question. Or perhaps more precisely, it has no answer. In the vision of the creators of the story, there is always ambiguity and mystery. There is no single answer, because life doesn't have a single, knowable answer. Amazingly, this series dealt with Faith and Redemption, but did not proselytize. It touched on the meaning of Sin, Morality and Mortality, but it never told its audience what to believe. In order to answer "What really happened?" viewers have to decide what they believe, or at least what they think the story was saying about what should be believed.

Theory 1: Jack was the only true character in the story, and the entire series took place in the moment he was conscious after Oceanic 815 crashed, as his soul wrestled with the emptiness in his life and he came to grips with The End. Supporting clues: the closing image, exactly the same as the opening image; the continual return of the plot to Jack's struggle to appreciate the role of faith and to accept his father's love; the images of the apparently fresh crash debris.

Theory 2: The story happened, as portrayed in Seasons 1-5. When the nuclear explosion happened, the people who survived had their story represented in Season 6 by the story on the island, but the "Flash Sideways" storyline took place in the "post-death" "pre-paradise" existence where souls learn to let go of the troubles they had in life. By this theory, everyone who survived the experience on the Island got to leave it in "real life" except Hurley and Ben, who stayed behind. Supporting clues: Jack's clothing & hair did not match the opening of the show; Jack saw the plane with Sawyer and Kate on it flying away; the words of Jack's father in the church.

Theory 3 (the blend): The story happened, as portrayed in Seasons 1-5. When the nuclear explosion happened, everyone was blown up. Jack was blown to his original position on the island. Both Season 6 story arcs occurred as Jack and the other people on the island wrestled with letting go.

There will be more theories. It hasn't even been 24 hours since the show aired. We "Losties" will come up with more. And we'll discuss possible interpretations. And the characters will live in our memories as we tackle what the show "really" meant, but the ultimate result will be millions of people asking questions about faith and morality in the context of heroes, realistically flawed characters, and the inscrutable mysteries of life.