The age of the first seasons of the series has stepped over 10 years, but the popularity of “Lost” does not decrease over the years. What is the secret of the success of the epic series, why is the debate about the true meaning of the film still not subsided? Watching first: an adventure film with a super-twisted plot. The plane crashes, the island is full of secrets. I wonder how the victims will survive on a strange island? We move on. Not everything is so simple anymore, the number of mysteries is only increasing. Ending: surprisingly, as it turned out, everything was not about that at all.
Series and audience
The rich imagination of the scriptwriters plus the vivid embodiment of the story on the screen turned this series into a cult series for millions of people. Many spectacular techniques that do not allow the viewer to relax: flashbacks, flashforwards, alternate reality, parallel timelines. Breaking the series at the most intense moment – cliffhangers on the level.
The audience, as usual, was divided. A huge army of fans accepted the series immediately, entirely and unconditionally. For them, there is nothing cooler than “Lost”. For some fans, the series ended in its second season. Perhaps they can be understood: it is difficult to reach the level of the first two seasons. And, as always, the critical “electorate” insists that everything is incredibly dragged out, but there is no point to be found. These didn’t even make it through the first season.
Let’s try to figure out if everything is really unclear.
Start: Lost
The name “Lost” was given to the film at the suggestion of Russian producers. And in the first seasons, the audience seems quite adequate. The plane crashes on an island in the ocean, a group of passengers are trying to survive in the ways available to them.
Before the disaster, each of them had their own difficult life. The flashbacks to the characters’ past lives are very good. Unexpected twists and turns are unpredictable, skeletons in the closet are for everyone, positive characters are not really so positive.
Viewers who watched only the first two seasons were completely convinced that the series was an adventure-fiction, and the plot was about survival.
An unexpected twist: they all died
The true name of the series “Lost” / Lost (options – lost, missing, dead) is much more consistent with the meaning. But you begin to understand this only in the final, and far from everyone has reached it.
There are many interpretations of the plot. One option: all the passengers on the ill-fated flight number 815 died during the crash. The island is a purgatory that the souls of sinners must go through before moving on. And then the dead passengers become lost souls.
If we accept this version, it turns out that in fact nothing happened on the island. And then the next question arises.
Does an island exist?
The island itself is real. At all times, he maintains the global balance of Light and Darkness. Or Good and Evil. The island needs a Protector or Guardian. Jacob is far from the first (and not the last) who is destined to fulfill this function.
In the last dialogue, Jack’s father gives an exact answer to the question about reality:
Yes, I’m real. And you too. And everything that happened was real.
In the context of the series, life after death is quite real. The island became a purgatory for the heroes after their death, united close souls for the upcoming joint path to the Light.
The concept of time
In the so-called “alternative reality” there is no concept of time as such. The heroes gathered in the church died at different times: some a long time ago, and some in the distant future. All of them are simultaneously alive and dead due to the absence of the usual flow of time.
There is no such thing as “now”.
Mixing religions
References to biblical and mythological stories are found repeatedly throughout the series. A video series of pictures with images of objects characteristic of religions and cultures of different peoples: Maya, Ancient Egypt, Hinduism, Sumerians are clues.
The series expresses the concept of a single God: God is one, he is above conventional religious partitions. People cannot rise above these walls, which makes it difficult for them to accept the philosophy of unity.
Mysterious numbers
What do the code numbers in the bunker mean: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42? If you add them up, you get the number 108 – it is after so many minutes that you need to enter the code.
These numbers are crossed out in Hurley’s lottery ticket, they also haunt him through life and bring misfortune. This is probably a sign, because later Hurley will become the Guardian of the island.
Good and evil
Lucifer is a fallen angel, he is the devil or Satan. His name in translation means “light-bearing”, “carrying light”. Jacob’s brother, thrown into the cave with the Light, turns into Black Smoke (Smoke Monster). He is also the Man in Black, who calls his brother Jacob, Keeper of the Light, the devil. Perhaps Jacob is not so kind and sinless, and the Man in Black is not the focal point of world evil.
Good and evil are not at all as unambiguous as they seem. The devil can tempt a person with beauty, but the Lord can punish sins inexorably. Is Darkness always evil and Light always good? Perhaps these concepts are too arbitrary and only look obvious. Rather, the global balance of these substances is important. And this balance is designed to maintain the Island.
The meaning of the series
Lost has kept viewers on their toes for many seasons. Although the film began more like an adventure, its true meaning was revealed by the end. The series unexpectedly makes you think about important spiritual and philosophical issues: about life after death, about faith, about the nature of good and evil.
Each of the passengers of flight number 815 was not happy in his life “before the Island.” They are all sinners who needed to find something important. The search for spiritual harmony and kindred spirits brought them to the Island and united them. The heroes who met in the church found their destiny and proved that they are worthy of it. Characters who do not get into the church are not allowed there yet. Their main test is yet to come.
Lost Ending explained
It should be noted right away that the meaning of the ending of the series “Lost” comes down to death. Yes, all participants in this story died. The church where they gathered is a kind of Purgatory, from where the path to the afterlife opens.
Remarkably, the creators of the series wrote the final part almost immediately after the release of the pilot episode. Therefore, the main storyline is only a twisted guiding thread that connects the beginning and the end. Let it be a little tight.
At the same time, the Lost universe is much wider than such a simple explanation. For example, Evangeline Lilly, who played the role of Kate, commented on the ending of the series at the Dragon Con festival. According to the actress, the series attracted viewers with its philosophical concept. In each series, the viewer received another riddle that could be discussed among friends or like-minded people. At the same time, the interpretation of the question posed by the screenwriters often turned out to be philosophical.
According to the actress, this is exactly what the ending of the story should have been. Evangeline likens the series Lost to a work of art that is difficult to perceive unambiguously. Each person creates his own impression of what he sees, and he finds personal, only he understandable answers to questions.
Therefore, there is no unambiguous ending to the series “Lost”. Each viewer can perceive the ending in their own way. Moreover, one of the people who participated in writing the script commented on the ending as follows: “The island is real, and the events taking place on it, too.”
Based on this formulation of the question, then Jack could well have ended up in the church after he was mortally wounded in a fight with black smoke. After all, his father unequivocally told him that all people die, some earlier, others later, but they always end up together. Such an explanation of the ending will definitely appeal to viewers who did not like the banal ending. The intrigue can be maintained and maintained by finding Easter eggs with each viewing that will help to get to the bottom of the truth.
An explanation from one of the writers Lost
Is all the action on the island a fiction?
The island is real. Everything that happened on the Island was real. The plane actually crashed. The survivors did discover the Dharma and the Others.
What is the essence of the Island and what are the goals of Jacob and the Man in Black?
The island maintains the balance of good and evil throughout the world. He has always fulfilled this role and will continue to do so. And the Island always needs a “Defender”.
Jacob wasn’t the first, Hurley wasn’t the last. But Jacob had to face his opponent (the Man in Black) and Hurley didn’t. Jacob created the devil and had to find a way to kill him, even though the rules didn’t allow him to do so. Thus, Jacob decided to bring candidates to the Island to do what he couldn’t do himself: kill the Man in Black. Jacob had a huge list of candidates from more than one generation. But every time these people got to the Island, the Man in Black forced them to kill each other.
And yet, despite his grand plan, Jacob wanted to give his candidates (our survivors) one thing that his Mother didn’t give him: freedom of choice. He recruited many candidates and eventually let them choose who would do his job. Perhaps he knew that only Jack could kill the false Locke, and Hurley would eventually become the keeper. Or maybe he didn’t know.
But that has always been the show’s key struggle: destiny vs. free choice. Science versus faith. Personally, I think Jacob knew from the beginning that everyone would play their part over the course of six seasons to help Jack eventually kill Smoke and make Hurley the Island’s keeper. I know that almost all screenwriters hold this point of view.
What is the main idea behind Lost?
The main goal of the series was an attempt to tell that we are all connected with certain people in our lives. You can call them “soulmates” (although this is not the best definition). But these people are present in the most important moments of our lives, as Christian said. These people move with us from one life to another. These ideas are taken from Hinduism with a touch of Western religions.
Based on the ideas of different religious teachings, the writers came up with the idea that the Survivors subconsciously created an alternate world that is essentially purgatory until they “wake up” and find each other. When they do this, they can move on. That is, in the 6th season, the series periodically showed events taking place in the afterlife. Each hero has created their own alternate reality, purgatory with its “soul mates” from their lives until they can move on together.
It’s a really interesting idea that sets the tone for the entire series from the very beginning. These people were destined to be on that plane together. They were destined to go through all the events, not only because Jacob wanted it. But because the Universe or God wanted it (choose according to the degree of your faith). The show has always focused on science versus faith, and in the end, faith won out. This was the MAIN response of the entire series.
But in the final season, the writers compared the “alternative purgatory” with the Island itself. Remember when Michael appeared to Hurley and said he wasn’t allowed to leave the Island? Like the Man in Black, he could not enter either the alternate world or the normal world, and he had no way to go further. Why? Because he proved by his actions on the Island that he was not worthy of it. He failed the test.
The rest have passed. They did it in an alternate world after death – some before Jack, some after. In Hurley’s case, maybe centuries later. They existed in their alternate worlds until they “woke up” and were unable to move on TOGETHER because they were bound. They are destined to be together forever. This is their destiny.
They weren’t related to Ana Lucia, Daniel, Russo, Alex, Miles, Frank (and the rest who weren’t in the church and who were absent in the first season). But why? Again, decide for yourself. I like to believe that these people who are left in the alternate world must find their “soulmates” before “waking up”.
Was the finale of the show really written at the very beginning of work?
Ben and the others who weren’t in the first season didn’t end up in the church due to the creators writing the ending almost immediately after writing the pilot episode. And they never changed it.
The showrunners always said (and many didn’t believe them) that they knew about the ending from the very beginning. I applaud them for this. It’s amazing. Initially, Ben was destined to appear in only three episodes. However, he has become a big part of the series. They could have just changed the ending and pushed him into the church. But the problem was solved in a different way. He was given a GREAT scene with Locke at the church and here it is the finale.
For those who are interested, the original idea began with Jack entering the church and touching the coffin, closing his eyes at the sight of a flying plane. This was ORIGINALLY the ending of JJ Abrams . And they kept her.
LOST for me is a series about faith, the afterlife and other important spiritual issues that other series have not touched. And for me, they never faded even with all the scientific details that are present in the series. To exist for so long, all the while keeping the viewer in suspense, is a truly amazing achievement.
