How LOST could have had a deeper meaning... by JB

I enjoyed seasons 1-5. I, like many others, got the distinct feeling that we were heading towards something mind-blowing with the mysteries of the island, time travel, MIB/Jacob, etc.

Then the rug got yanked out from under us in Season 6.

For the record I did like the ending and I appreciated how it was "about the characters". However, I do think the last few episodes and finale of season 6 show that the writers had no clue where the show was going and no idea how to sensibly wrap it all up. They created so many mysteries and questions that they either lost track of them all, or were too lazy to go back through and find a way to address them in the last season.

I do agree with many of the other posters here that some of the mysteries don't need an answer, as some are irrelevant, pointless, or could be answered with simple logic. But to not answer MAJOR mysteries of the show that affect the overall plot? C'mon... How hard would it have been to answer some of the mysteries with just a few sentences of dialogue, like they did with Hurley and the whispers, or with Jack asking MIB if he impersonated his father? The biggest mystery of the show, what the smoke monster is, could have been answered this way in a few clips and not a whole entire backstory like some say it would have taken.

For example: Sawyer is with MIB/Locke before going over in the boat to Hydra Island.

Sawyer: "So...before I do anything, how about telling us what you are there, Smokey? How can a damn man turn into a cloud of smoke!?"

MIB: Well James...I'm what people in your time would call a scientific anomaly. Something happened to me along time ago that allows me to turn my body into....energy, you could say.

Sawyer: "And what the hell does that even mean?"

MIB/Locke: Chuckles, smiles. "I don't expect you to understand James. If a whole team of those scientists were still here they wouldn't understand either. People in your time are far from understanding how something like me could exist....... But don't worry James, someday they will...

While far from being the explanation that everybody wants or would be happy with, this example gives some kind of answer that can be believed in a pseudo-scientific, LOST-esque kind of way. Seasons 1-5 always gave some sort of scientific possibility of how things could occur, and that is what made LOST so interesting. THe hatch being explained by electromagnetism, the time traveling being exlained by Faraday, the changing of time with the bomb, etc. All these had some sort of substance and a possible explanation, albeit pseudo-scientific, but not in the supernatural realm. The whole possibility of the island being something that could actually exist within our laws of science was what made the show so unbelievably interesting in the first place. Once you cross the realm into the supernatural where you know the events couldn't even be vaguely possible, the story loses much of its luster and it what happened with the last few episodes of season 6.

Now, I realize some of the mysteries had to have some sort of supernatural explanation, such as Richard being the only one that doesn't age, the ghosts, or the powers of the protector. There had to be some small doses of the supernatural to make up Lockes faith vs. Jacks science, and I was satisfied with that. I was happy with the way Richard's agelessness was explained for example, but was very let down when we were given no answer whatsoever on how the protector can have powers, what are the limits, and where they came from in the first place. That was something MAJOR to the whole story, as through Jacob's powers our characters were watched, selected, and brought to the island in the first place. Again, something like that could have been answered with just a few sentences of dialogue with Jacob, or with his mother.

And now for the ending....it was sad, I liked how it was about Jack, and that they were all reunited. But the importance of the island, where they spend the whole show fighting, dying, and trying to protect it, is left completely unanswered. At the beginning of season 6 I was totally expecting that the island was the key to the survival of the world, if not the universe, and that would be made abundantly clear to us all. It wasn't, in the end it was just all about savoring the time with the people you care about. Although that is a great life principle and something that we should treasure, in a story/drama it is a cheesy way to end a show and a terribly cliche conclusion to such a great series.

Here is how LOST could have meant so much more:

1. Flashback sequence showing the Egyptian origins, the building of the temple, Taweret, etc. Perhaps the island was a part of the early cradle of civilization, Fertile Crescent or some such place of significance, showing that it is the source of the world's life force. They recognize the island as the source of earth's life and realize the need to protect it. Rules are made by enlightened ones with knowledge of the spiritual realm from Egyptian mythology, Horus, Osiris, etc. to guard the island and appoint a "protector". At some point the energy is breached and the island shifts through time and/or geographical location.

(This could have taken a few minutes at most to show, not even half an episode). This also gives the island its significance and shows why it is so important, instead of the lazy explanation given by the crazy mother that the "light could go out". We didn't even know if she was telling the truth, if that meant only the island itself would be destroyed, or if it would affect the world at all.

2. The show should have had Jack's saving of the island and defeating the MIB consequently saving the whole world, or universe if you want to go that big. I think that is what many people had expected at the start of season 6. Some theorized that the island crumbling when Jack removed the cork was the whole world being destroyed too, but that is never confirmed during the series. In fact I was given the distinct impression that only the island itself was being destroyed. The show and ending thereof would have had WAY more meaning if it had been made CLEAR that the island being destroyed and MIB escaping meant certain destruction of our world or universe. Not the cryptic references by Hurley of us all going to hell, or that bad things will happen if the light goes out etc, but made CLEAR, such as a flashforward of the earth's destruction or some other such disaster. Jack then saving the island, thus the world, would have been his ultimate "fix it".

3. The ALT should have been a real ALT, not the afterlife. In keeping with the scientific themes of the show and the time travel theories of Faraday, the Incident should have created another time line for the characters where there lives were different. To me it would have been a much better ending if Desomond had gone around getting everyone to remember, then they meet up and all remember what Jack did for them, how he saved them all and the world. Then they go on living their new ALT life as friends, neighbors, etc. It still would have had the same emotional feel as the other ending; Jack would have still died on the island, but instead of them all being dead they would "wake up" in the ALT, remember everything and then lead their new lives together.

4. As I mentioned previously, many of the other mysteries could have been answered with just a few short scenes.

I've read many of you saying that "writers shouldn't spoon feed us", or "you should use your imagination to solve the mysteries", or other such arguments. Some of the points I understand, but in the end this is a story, and a story has to have certain plot points filled in and questions answered to make it a good story. In the end I want to see the WHOLE story, not have it "left open to our interpretation" like others keep saying. If that was the case then I would have just written my own show and not bothered to even watch LOST. The great thing about reading a story or watching one on film is getting to see the creators opinions and their answers (usually at the end) to the questions presented in the story. Then we all judge the story or film based on whether we liked the answers and plot presented. When the audience is not given any answers, not shown the point of the plot, and the plot is left with huge holes means that the story was not well told or well thought out to begin with. To then blame dissatisfaction on the viewer by saying "well you just have no imagination", or "you just want to be fed answers" is a cop out, and is said by those who just want to defend LOST tooth and nail and not admit they wish their questions were anwered too. :)

In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed LOST as a series. LOST was an incredible show....but it could have been a MASTERPIECE.