What was LOST?
LOST was about an island. The Island's location was originally somewhere in the South Pacific. The Island was real, it was made of earth, trees etc. The Island had special properties. It was a portal, gateway, loophole (pick your favorite space term, or alternate dimension intersection name). One of its special properties is that its location was not fixed. Was this a protection mechanism? Was this an ability to relocate to lure people to the island? (by getting in the path of a boat, a plane, drug planes).
LOST was also about the flaws in humanity. All members of Oceanic 815 that survived the first crash were flawed. Seasons 1-3 showed flashBACKs in time that demonstrated all of their flaws, insecurities, and lack of faith. The guardians of the Island were human and also had flaws. Jacob's mother, Jacob himself (more on him later) and Samuel (MIB). Richard was deeply flawed, more on him too....
Because of the Island's special properties, it sometimes would accidentally attract people that were seduced by its powers. The show highlighted people from way back in Egyptian times that came to the Island. As Jacob's mother said "many people are attracted to the light and want to take advantage of its powers". Human greed masked as "for the greater scientific good". The Dharma initiative was one example of a group that thought they could harness that electromagnetism. The Hatch, tunnels, etc were all a result of their failed attempt to control the electromagnetism (EM). In a way the Dharma storyline is a Red Herring. It leads us in a false direction. In reality, it was an example of what happens when mortals were trying control something "out of this world". The "Others" could have been cast-offs from Dharma (didn't agree with their philosophy in trying to control the EM). Some of the "Others" could have also been people that accidentally made there way to the island and Richard educated them about their responsibilities in protecting it from strangers.
Charles Widmore, who was he? He was an Other, but also seemed to be hungry for power. He understood the catastrophic consequences of the EM. He was made out as evil. OR, perhaps he was simply at a young age an "Other" who later in life ran across Desmond. Desmond was special. For that joy, Widmore sent him out on his boat around the world to be trapped at the Island. Widmore knew that Jacob would want to lure Desmond. An accident of this interaction is that Desmond fell in love with Penny. Widmore was very worried about MIB. He was worried about Dharma. Widmore and his Wife knew how to track the island. This was never explained, but anybody that could operate the sub knew this (Richard's team that brought Juliet to the Island, Ben, Widmore, etc)
Jacob was also flawed. He was brought there by accident. He didn't want his job. He was jealous and petty. In many ways, he drove his brother's behavior (MIB). After creating the Smoke Monster, Jacob slowly over many, many years became enlightened. He recognized his own failings. He also realized that he must have faith. At the end of Season 5, he let's himself be killed. Why? Because he knew he already had the pieces in place to defeat the Smoke Monster. He allowed himself to be killed. MIB thought he could win. It set up this year's finale. I don't think there was normally a Smoke Monster, because of Jacob's mistake, Jacob had to fix his mistake. He had to tamper with people's lives a bit more to fix the mess he made.
Jacob somehow aligned many flawed people to all be on that flight. It crashed. Many people died immediately (some were probably even candidates). The one's that lived, they were tested. Some resolved their issues and then either got off the island (see Walt) or were killed on the Island by the Others, etc (how convenient). Or the Smoke Monster would kill people he felt were no use to him. It was a big game, Smokey or Jacob were looking over the pieces and killing off people they had no use for. People that would "have faith and let go" would die off or leave. Jacob needed someone who was unresolved (Jack/Hurley/Sawyer/Kate). Ben wanted the job but he was too greedy.
Seasons 4 and 5 were Flash Sideways in time. They showed the outcome of the Oceanic 6 that left the island. They could tell that they did not complete what was meant to happen (Jacob's reason for bringing them to the Island). They had to go back. Also, Seasons 4 and 5 gave us more history on the special powers of the Island, backstory on Widmore, and some weird time travel bullshit that I'm not sure was used very much in the end (other than to explain how to get back onto the Island in 1975). The EM definitely controlled time travel. Hence when Juliet blows up the bomb at the end of Season 5, time jumps again.
So who was Richard? A flawed guy whose boat crashed. He lost the ability to Age (until after Smokey hit him to the ground, or perhaps after the light went out). He was a disciple of Jacob. He was never intended to replace him. He was the leader of the Others, following blind orders from Jacob to keep people off the island (or scare them off).
So was the Island Hell? Purgatory? No, it wasn't. The Island had many mystical powers, but it was not hell. The Island was real. The Flash Forwards in Season 6 were examples of Purgatory. All of them die at some point, live a life in purgatory, and then when it is "their time", they gain recognition of this, see the light, and move on (to heaven we can presume). Ana Lucia didn't recognize this because as Desmond said "It's not her time yet". Somehow time gets sychronized in Purgatory. We know Jack dies on the island. We can assume that Ben and Hurley live for quite a while after that as new protectors of the Island. We can also assume that Kate, Claire, Sawyer have another life after they fly off the island. Once all of them die, purgatory synchronizes the events and they can all "close the chapter". As Christian Shepard said "We all die sometime".
So where did all the statues come from? Probably various peoples over the course of time found the Island to be magical or mystical, so they erected statues and other shrines. This is very common. Look at Greek or Egyptian Mythology.
What about the "birth" problem (Juliet's research)? Why were the others obsessed with being able to conceive. For some reason, Claire and Sun could have a baby. They never explained this. My guess, the EM that Dharma unleashed really messed up the island. Let's just say that birth defects were a problem. The whole "injection" thing by the Other's was never explained. What were those shots? Fertility drugs?
What about the dead people in the "light chamber"? Well, they weren't Desmond, so they went down there and died. They also weren't MIB. Somehow MIB in that chamber unleashed Smokey (and Smokey took MIB's body and later he took Locke's).
We can assume that Jacob's (inherited) Mother was a protector as well. She was happy to die and move on. We can also assume that there were countless generations of protectors before her.
Are there still missing pieces, sure. But, all the Dharma, Others, Time Travel stuff was an example of humans trying to put a scientific explanation to something that wasn't all science. Once Jack stopped trying to control the outcome of everything, he found peace, and ultimately death.
Thoughts?
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