Lost – Series Finale – Amazing Ending to an Epic Adventure

I loved the finale to Lost.   It really closed up the series well and captured all of the characters very well.   In a lot of ways it reminded me of my favorite book in the Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle.   Here are some reactions from around the internet:

James Poniewozik, Time:

The great puzzle of the last season of Lost has been: how can both the flash-sideways universe and the Island universe mean anything? If Sideways is the universe in which Oceanic 815 never crashed, who cares what happens on the Island? If the Island is where the characters’ fates are sealed, how can there be any meaning to what happens in the Sideways?

The moving, soulful finale that Damon Lindelof and Carleton Cuse gave us met that challenge. The Island world, we learned, absolutely mattered to the physical fate of the survivors. (And sci-fi purists ticked over the spiritual ending should at least give it up for this: what happened, did, indeed happen.) And the Sideways world mattered because it was the culmination of the spiritual, moral, human lives–the souls–of the characters.

It mattered, it moved, and it achieved.

Liz Kelly, Washington Post:

If, as some said, “Lost” was to be judged by its finale then all I can say is Damon and Carlton pulled it off. I’ve been crying and laughing and basically an emotional basket case for the last 2.5 hours. I could not possibly have asked for anything more. I am in awe.

Henry Hanks, CNN:

Answers or not, as two-and-a-half hours of television, the final “Lost” was extraordinary, and I think it accomplished what it set out to do: It was a very memorable ending, and people will be talking about it for years to come. One thing I never expected was how emotional I would feel watching this finale, and reflecting on it.

Jeff Jenson, EW:

“The End” was an emotionally draining epic that had me crying with almost every single “awakening” and has left me mulling the true significance of the Sideways world, which was revealed to be a Purgatory-like realm created by the souls of the dead castaways themselves.

Maureen Ryan, Chicago Tribune:

Finales are hard. And I must admit that my expectations for the “Lost” finale weren’t high. Perhaps later in the week, I’ll go into the reasons that caused me to lower my expectations. Suffice it to say, I just wanted Sunday’s finale to be … not bad. I was hoping for a middling ending, to be honest.

Yet “The End,” the show’s final episode, was so much more than middling. The first two hours were exciting and emotionally engaging, especially when the island castaways in the Sideways world began remembering their “real” lives. Those “flashes” were powerful and many cast members did some of their best work in those scenes. I got chills as I saw Juliet and Sawyer talk about that coffee date. Sun and Jin, Charlie, Kate and Claire — all their recollection moments were moving and powerful.

But the last half hour or so took the finale to another level.

Rex Hammock, Rexblog:

I think the creators of the show did precisely what they should have done with its finale: They gave the series a conclusion, but did not make it conclusive. In the same way any great work (and I’m not ready to place Lost in this category) of literature, mythology, philosophy or faith, there is still room for interpretation existing that offers those who want fundamental, simplistic answers to have one: “they all died;” as can those who want ambiguity that can provide the foundation for a lifetime of debate: “where was that plane flying to?”

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