The End

"It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress." ~ Jacob

When Jacob said that at the end of Season 5 I'm thinking he probably was mentioning the exact set up that we find ourselves with heading into the granddaddy of all series finales this Sunday. LOST, which has been among the most critically acclaimed and debated shows in TV history, will reach its conclusion this Sunday night, and there is only one thing that I know for sure: they will leave us wanting more.

It's just the style of the show to leave you with your head spinning and your heart wanting more. I would be shocked if we find ourselves with a nice, neat conclusion that makes everyone happy. I think this will end much the same way that the Soprano's did: the way the creator wanted, not the way the fans wanted. This year has already been a controversial year to say the least, with some serious missteps in the eyes of many fans. From the third-of-a-year story arch taking place in the temple, to the seemingly needless introduction of characters such as Zoe, Dogen and Island Lennon, and even through the less than satisfactory placement (and perhaps execution) of the long anticipate Jacob/Smokey backstory, it seems that the writers have been stepping on landmines every step of the way.

But the great thing about this show, and about all the work that they have put into it, is that with one episode all of that can change. Last spring, after the season 5 finale, I told my dad "they have set themselves up with Matrix like potential, only for TV." What that meant was very simple: it was either going to go down in history as the greatest show of its kind, or as a colossal disappointment. With some of the episodes this year (most noticeable "Dr. Linus," "Ab Aeterno" and "The Candidate") having knocked it out of the park, I'm fairly certain that the finale will make the season, and therefore the show, a success. Lost is the rare show that can succeed when revealing huge answers (Richard's backstory in "Ab Aeterno") as well as delving directly into the inter-personal relationships of the characters (the sinking of the sub, and subsequent deaths in "The Candidate"). I get the feeling that there is very little backstory/answers left to be revealed in the minds of the writers; now we are just going to find the resolution of the characters, as well as the ultimate meanings of the flash-sideways.

And, to that end, I'm not going to over think and try to predict what is going to happen. I've tried to predict the ultimate meaning of the show, but while I've gotten close a number of times, it is clear that the intentions of the creators are far more complex than what I was wanting. Instead, I'm going to sit back, and watch the ending of a show which will likely never be replicated again: a network television drama with a large ensemble cast, filming at expensive locals, with total creative rights given to the writers rather than the TV executives desires. This will not happen again, at least not anytime soon. And for that reason alone we should appreciate the ending of LOST. Maybe it would have been cooler, in my mind, if Richard had been a more central character this year, and maybe it would have been nice if they had killed Jack off early to prove a point (although, I have to admit, his 180 this year has been fun to watch). But I'm not in control of the story development, and I don't want to be. I've always loved the fact that LOST shocked me, and kept me on my toes. Now there is two and a half hours left for them to blow my mind. I'm confident they'll get the job done.