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The legacy of Lost

Lost may have vanished like the smoke monster into the air. But its legacy will live on in shows we are yet to see.

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And so, after six seasons of dazzling, confusing, infuriating drama, Lost has departed our screens.

The final episode was a mix of action, romance, hope and closure. There was a battle scene between ‘hero’ and ‘villain’, the expression of yearning love, the arrival at the heart of the island, the return of ‘deceased’ characters, the meaning of the flash-sideways, the fulfilment of destiny…. it worked like an orchestra score, rising and falling, as indeed it has for six (mostly) remarkable seasons.

Lost leaves behind an indellible imprint on American television. Already there are those that have sought to draw upon its blueprint, but imposters are quickly obvious.

Lost itself drew upon other forerunners. Survivor‘s escapist nature had been an unstoppable force on television at the time. Could a drama hope to capitalise on the lure of a tropical setting? Then there was the serialised, action matinee plots. Tune in next week to see our heroes get out of this one…. Even the opening title card was like something out of an old matinee movie.

Lost revived prime-time serialisation along with Desperate Housewives, paving the way for shows like Prison Break, Heroes, Jericho, and Flashforward.

The show’s storytelling devices were king. Flashbacks, flashforwards, flash-sideways, parallel storylines. Linear storytelling was left at the door. That empowered the writers to great effect because we were so easily hoodwinked. How stunned were we to learn that Locke had been paralysed, or that the heroic Kate was actually a fugitive on the run, that the dude Hurley was a millionaire.

Lost also brought different characters forward for different episodes like Players of the Week, pausing background stories to highlight a character or a moment in time. The ensemble nature of the show has been cloned by shows including Flashforward, Heroes and more.

The cast was multi-cultural. Americans, British, Australian, Asian, Middle-Eastern.

The proportion of location to studio work was astounding.

The music from Michael Giacchano was superb. It gave the soundtrack a filmic quality.

And then there were the brilliant performances from actors like Terry O’Quinn, Michael Emerson, Daniel Dae Kim, Naveen Andrews, Michelle Rodriguez -to name but a few.

Lost did lose its way in those middle years when it was meandering around the jungle in search of stories. It was hard hanging in there out of respect, faith and sheer hope it would all come good. Many did not return.

The show’s mythology and puzzle ignited a wildfire of theories online. Forums were volatile with debates across the show’s six years. The finale has kept them alive. Some are celebrating the closing 150 minutes, some mourn its departure and others are fuming they never got the answers they felt they were owed. Is it any different to the six seasons it has run?

Lost may have vanished like the smoke monster into the air. But its legacy will live on in shows we are yet to see.

69 Responses

  1. I bawled like a baby, as I’ve done many times before over the years, when it came to an end. A good conclusion after the past two seasons, which have been a bit up and down in my opinion…emphasis on down. But maybe my epectations were a set a bit high because it was so amazing in the first place.

    There’s still a bit of confusion on the pugatory situation front in my house though. Did it start from the plane not crashing and everything before was just a false memory? Or was it like they lived their whole lives over? Also, if for example Sawyer lived well into his eighties why was he going to heaven looking like he did in his thirties? I would go into further detail but I don’t want to be one of those annoying people who want an answer to all those irrelevant details. And sorry if I’ve been a bad fan and totally missed something.

  2. I think i loved it…. It kinda threw me a bit when Jack’s father said they were dead, it blew my theory out of the water, but after reading the post by “Anonymous” it made a lot more sense to me, and now i think i love it.

    Agree with Amir, Ch 72 should replay it from the start, cause i forget so much of what happened.

    Also think season 5 was the best. This one did have a few great episodes though.

    RIP Lost

  3. Wow, what an amazing finale to a great show!

    I thought I needed a lot more answers but I’m actually satisfied with the way it ended. A fitting send off to the characters, especially some of those we hadn’t seen much of, even Vincent showed up. I feel like most of questions I had just aren’t important anymore, it was all about the journey. Though I will need another viewing when my brain stops whirling.
    I don’t feel disappointed or ripped off like I did after the BSG finale.

  4. I liked it, it was great seeing everyone back together again. I wonder if those who are saying it was bad didn’t get what christian was talking about, he was just explaining what the flash-sideways were. But maybe some people thought that he was talking about the whole show and that it was the giant rip off of them all being dead from the beginning. the island was real and it all happened, but the flash-sideways this season were some kind of afterlife.

    The character stories were tied up nicely so emotionally things felt resolved, I guess intellectually many mysteries were not explained, but could they ever have been? the island is just a weird and wonderful place that cannot be explained by science, was it ever possible to explain time travel, moving an island, healing, infertility, barriers to leaving the island, electromagnetism and all the rest of it that only faraday may have stood half a chance of understanding. theoretical stuff like that can barely be explained in writing, let alone while trying to deliver an effective story on television.

  5. It will become a classic, and will go down in history! what an amazing finale! still want some answers, but i was glad for a reunion, especially with juliet! i loved how they brought her back in

  6. Are you a man of science or a man of faith?

    If you are a man of faith, then you know you don’t get specific answers to everything..that’s what faith is. Believing in something in the absense of evidence. Jack Was a man of science, but found faith at the end.

    If your a man of science, then you can spend your whole life trying to get the answers you need and when you find the answer to one question, it only presents many more questions. Therefore you never really reach a final conclusion,

  9. Russell, polar bears were on the island becausae the Dharma Initiative brought them there for experiments in the 70’s. After the Dharma Initiative was whiped out, they ended up escaping from their cages on Hydra Island and made it to the main island.

  12. Was a very captivating episode. I was breathless for the last half hour. I cannot remember ever being so intrigued by television for a really long time, if ever. Big thanks to the whole cast and crew who worked together to pull off one of the most epic television series’ to ever been made. I doubt we will see another show in the same class as Lost for a very long time indeed.

  13. I’m so torn how i feel about the finale. It was brilliant, it was moving, it was a little expected, but at the same time still confusing and answers, but overall i think i’m satisfied, but then again i’m not sure. I still feel the final season was a massive let down to 5 spectacular seasons which is why i feel unsure on the finale, but it was an appropriate ending, and sad that its finished.

    One of the best tv shows ever made, will be remembered as such, and the first 15 minutes of it’s very first episode is the best opening scene in history.

  14. Sigh. I am going to miss this show so much. What a show, what an ending. Brilliant stuff, and no doubt the greatest show of all time. 7two..? May we please have an encore of the entire series from the beginning in a few months time?

  15. People who say, “well, it was a character story” — well, every show has characters. And the island was a character in this show. And the mysteries and other events mattered and should have been answered. The writers took the easy way out. The ending made the previous five seasons irrelevant.

    For those confused: the island events happened for real for all the characters. The flash-sideways scenes were an afterlife the characters had created when they’d all passed on (not all at the same time; some on the island, some much later on) where they could all meet up again.

  18. Character story first, mythology/mystery second. That’s how I’ve looked at Lost and that’s why i loved the finale.
    It’s a sad time knowing that there won’t be another episode. A series I’ve loved right from the beginning.

  21. Nice tribute article David. I’ve just watched the final and am still a little stunned. Not sure what to make of it. Was the flash sideways a purgatory and the final scene heaven or was the island purgatory. Did Jack actually have a son, where were Michael and his son and was the significance of Hurleys numbers ever explaned? I’ll guess we’ll never know.

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