Lost- What I feel it all means and how it has affected me by Josh Mayzler

-LOST-
An understanding of the Series and Finale.

There have been only three occasions in my adolescent life where I have cried.

When I was 10 years old, my parents divorced. It was an ugly several months of arguments and sadness. When I heard my dad fall to his knees and beg my mom to take him back and to allow him to make up for his mistakes of betraying her, I emotionally collapsed. I was torn in every emotional way for several days, but I was soon fine. And the reason I was fine was one of the main messages of Lost.

The second time I remember crying hysterically was when I was 11 years old. At this point, my parents had divorced and I recently gained news that I was moving to a new town and had to leave my amazing friends and my first girlfriend behind. I became extremely upset at the loss of these friends, but I regained my happiness and was able to enjoy the last moments with my friends. As soon as I got into the moving truck and saw the “Now Leaving North Brunswick” sign, I cried once more for almost an hour.

As I finished my first year of school in my new town and school, I gained some new friends but not enough to fill the whole I felt after I left. I felt very alone and homesick. One night during my 13th revolution around the sun, my mom turned on the TV and told me a work friend told her about an interesting new show called “Lost.” We watched the Season 1 Finale which was followed by the Season 2 premiere. I watched the scene between Jack and Locke—two names I didn’t know then, but now will never forget—when they discussed their views of faith and purpose. I had never really thought about outside forces or things bigger than me at that age and I was immediately intrigued.

I finished watching the episode Lockdown after skipping episodes here and there. After this episode I decided to watch all of season 1 and re-watch season 2. After the first 6 episodes of Lost, I became a religious viewer. When the episodes came back on the air in the February of 2007, I watched the show and never missed an episode. After the Jacob episode, the Man Behind the Curtain, some emotional and philosophical gears started turning in my head and I truly began to reason about outside forces and how they might be affecting my life. Once the season 3 finale concluded and I heard and saw the infamous “We have to go back, Kate,” I became intrigued an confounded and ballistic as the screen turned to Lost. I almost shed my first tear in a long time, but never did.

After I learned that Lost actually had an end date, I knew the show was going somewhere special, and me along with it. At the dawn of the fourth season, I became a religious viewer. I would check sites like darkufo and sl-lost for a daily Lost fix. At this point, I began thinking about my life and what Lost was going to bring me in my philosophical awakening. Then the season 4 finale came. I was on vacation riding quads with my step-dad in West Virginia. We stayed in a log cabin on a campground with some other people we knew. After the first of three nights we were there, I became extremely ill and was puking acid from my stomach. However, part 1 of the 3-part finale aired on the second night. My step-dad refused to rent a tv for our cabin and I was furious. However, there was a bathroom hall in the middle of the campground as well as a washing machine, accompanied by a tv in the middle of the hallway. The entire episode I would watch the TV in the corner of that hallway while standing up and every commercial would turn to the toilet next to me and puke. The episode was amazing. It was worth it. But what was more important was the season 4 finale the week after. By this point, I had recovered from my sickness and watched the beautiful conclusion without interruption. As I saw Jack come to Ben as a broken man wanting to be saved, I matured profoundly. And as the finale came to a close, I realized the one thing I wanted out of my life: purpose. I never thought so deeply about my wants and needs and what I desire out of my life as I did that night, and Lost helped me do it. It made me a better person and I began to talk and treat people differently.

Season 5 came around and I was half-way through my sophomore year in high school. It was an unforgettable season. As the season came to a close, I went nuts watching that bomb explode. It made me question everything I was beginning to believe. When I saw that teaser for the final season, I smiled bigger than I had in a long time. Season 5 further established my need for purpose and that whole 8-month hiatus I contemplated how the series would end.

As the final season approached, I believed I would get answers to the many mysteries the show brought up. What I got was unexpected. I was on the edge of my seat each episode. When Jack told Sawyer he knew that they were there for a reason, and that they were supposed to stay on the island, it felt like a great weight was lifted on my shoulders. It further planted my beliefs of something greater in the real world, and the show truly began to affect what I believed in the world around me. As I watched our beloved castaways come so close to death in the Candidate, I stood up and could not sit back down. I realized I how much I’ve invested in these characters.

Then, “What They Died For” aired. I became sad and happy about the end of the show finally coming around the corner. I dreaded Sunday, and at the same time I couldn’t wait for it to come.

The finale special aired and I became very emotional after watching those montages. I watched videos all week and literally hanged on each Lost update that came my way. When I saw the Times Talks Lost Live special, I became very upset that this critical and influential part of my life was coming to a close. I knew it would shape me as an adult and as a person.

Once the finale began, I turned to my friends and we knew this was it. And what I saw was beautiful.

Several awakenings in the finale almost made me cry. It had been so long since I cried. Almost 7 years, just under half of my life. I was able to hold my emotions in from my friends so they wouldn’t see me so vulnerable. When Jack saw his dads coffin and made a circle around it, then saw his father “alive” and well, I lost it. I started to tear uncontrollably. Everything just clicked for me and I felt like I myself had been enlightened. I understood every aspect of the finale and the series as a whole and the message was. When Jack closed his eye and simultaneously moved on in the limbo world, I let out more tears. I relived the intense 5 years I spent watching this show in an instant. I remembered all the times I watched with my mom and all those realizations I had about myself and the universe around me. I almost couldn’t breathe when LOST showed on my screen for the last time. All my friends were only recent fans of the show, so they couldn’t understand why I was so sad and yet so happy. The finale was so beautiful and poetic I rushed my friends to their cars and sat on my couch. I looked at the screen, no longer with new Lost content, I bawled and cried harder than I ever had I my whole life. I was so happy with what I saw and what I took from the finale that I could barely speak. That night, I could not fall asleep and I watched the finale once more after Kimmel. I cried all night after that and dreaded school this morning. I felt so depressed and sad I didn’t want to talk to anyone unless it was about Lost. I was not ready to accept that it was over. I was not ready for a life after Lost. I was not ready to let go.

What I saw during the finale:


As I saw Jack’s realization moment, the whole message of Lost and what the show was meant to represent became clear. For those of you who still don’t understand the poetic conversation between Jack and Christian Shephard, I recommend re-watching it before reading this.

Heading into this finale, we really see the evolution of our characters. After years of arguments, deaths, drama, corruption, our protagonists were finally on the same page, finally on the same side. It took them so much to realize that they needed each other more than anything else.

The Smoke Monster and his Goal:

The finale was the ultimate reason the survivors were put on the island: to stop hell from escaping. The survivors were meant to stop the smoke monster, but he is not pure evil. He was a man who was brought up by a crazy woman and was never shown love. His goal was to leave the island. After he was sent down the waterfall, he connected with the source, his soul was taken from his and was released as the smoke monster: a soulless, immortal being. This incident kept him bound to the island, perhaps allowed him to even be one with the island. His goal to leave the island, but in order to do that, his bond with the island was needed to be broken. The only way to do that was to destroy the island.

The island, as Jacob said, is a cork, holding evil and darkness kept in. The source of the island was equally opposite in goodness as what was underneath it (hell) was evil. The cork at the bottom of the island would unleash hell. This, in fact, was the real reason that the smoke monster was dangerous, because he wished with all his being to unleash this evil so he could leave the island.

When the island began to crumble, he lost his connection to it and its powers. The smoke monster was not privy to this information. The light was the source of the MIBs immortality and abilities, so it needed to be put out momentarily in order to destroy the monster, similar to how Voldemort’s horcruxes needed to be destroyed before he could be mortal again. Immediately after his death, it was necessary for the protector of the island to return the light to the island.

How Jacob Won


Jack had to protect the island for as long as he could. He gave up everything, even his own love for Kate, for the greater good. He knew his purpose. He could’ve chose not to accept it. They all could’ve. They could’ve been on their merry way and feed their selfish wants and needs. But they didn’t. They broke the chain. The were the key to Jacob’s plan.

Jacob wanted his whole to prove one thing: that people are inherently good and that he didn’t have to intervene to prove this. The end to the island timeline was beautiful because of how Jacob proved his belief.

He picked the worst group of people; a terrorist, a con man, a heroin addict, a murderer, etc. He got them all together on the island. He just pushed them their. Once they were there, each character redeemed his or herself and did so by contributing to the greater good, no matter how much that forced them to sacrifice. In the end, they were all on the side to keep hell at bay and end the reign of terror of the smoke monster. They proved they could put aside their wants and needs for the better of all man, and they did it. They did it without Jacob’s help. They were broken, and the common goal of saving humanity brought them salvation, as well as peace to the planet.

The Sideways


The island survivors has hard lives. They were given a choice during their life, but at the same time, they were denied a choice. They always had to pick the right side to fight on because of their consciences and because these people were all good at heart. And so as their lives continued, they continually had to hurt themselves for the benefit of others. And they were rewarded for their actions.

When Jack finally closes his eye on the island, I imagine he wakes up on the sideways Oceanic 815 flight. As the season opens, you can see Jack seem somewhat new and confused as to where he is, but he also already knows where he is. The plane hits turbulence and when its all over, Jack is scared. Rose tells him “You can let go now, Jack.” Jacks purpose was fulfilled, and he is able to let go whenever he is able to accept the decisions he made in his past life and when he can redeem himself in the reality without an island. The same is true with everyone. For those with longer more meaningful lives that had harder decisions to make, they took longer to wake up. When Jack was able to finally redeem himself by becoming a successful father in spite of the wrongs of his father. At this point, Jack was able, but still not willing. He didn’t want to accept his former life. Until his father came and he was able to face that it was time to move on. Everyone needed to do something similar to this; basically face the choices of their past life and get a second chance to be with the ones you love.

One more important thing to note about the sideways is that people, when they wake up, remember everything. Hurley remembers his time as a leader, Ben remembers helping him. Kate remembers missing Jack, Jack remembers sacrificing himself. Because these people realized they were dead, they knew that they were supposed to move on and let go, making them so concerned with “leaving.”

Why weren’t other characters in the sideways?

Not everyone was ready to let go. Some people had loose ends they needed to tie before they were comfortable with moving on. Ben had may sins in his time, and he realizes he needs time for him to feel whole. Michael, Walt, Ana Lucia, they were not ready to go.
Another thing to remember about people like Michael is the fact they did horrible thing like killing their friends, and not all people are meant to move on to the good. Some must pay for their sins in the darkness.

Why did everyone have to wait for Jack?

The whole series is about redemption for these characters. All their lives they were alone and hurt, only until they crashed on the island. Once their, a group of loners came together, and through their community, they were able to redeem each other. The only way to achieve this redemption was togetherness because “no one can do it alone.” So when our loved characters spent time with each other, the spent “the most important parts of their lives” together and always needed one another. They moved on from their pasts and their previous mistakes together. So in the limbo universe, it was necessary for each person to be with one another again before they could move on to heaven.

Important symbols

Water.

Throughout the series its meant rebirth, life, and death. When it rains, bad things happen, usually resulting in death. When water is calm, it brings life, or even new life to characters. Just in the last season, when Jack jumped off the boat, he jumped into the water and came out a new man, a complete believer. When he received the role of protector, his feet were in the water. When the cork was unplugged, water was gone, representing death. Once Jack sacrificed himself for the island, water returned and washed over him, giving him just enough life to bring things full circle.

Mirrors.

Throughout the entire show, things were mirrored. In the limbo universe, island events were recreated. Not only this, but characters even looked in mirrors in the sideways to help them realize where they were was not real. Jack looked into his mirror and saw his cut, and just as he is on the brink of realization, his fake son pulls him back in because he was not ready. Mirrors were a gateway to the end, but were never directly responsible. It was always the people.

Circles.

The circles work somewhat like the mirrors. The show significant things in the shows plot at the beginning and end. Jack opens his eye, he closes it. Kate stitches Jack, Jack stitches Kate. Jack and John look down into the abyss were Desmond is, then Jack the Protector and the Smoke Monster look down the well where an enlightened Desmond lies.

Togetherness.

No one does it alone. People have always been in groups on the island, and were always happier in groups. People were alone and miserable before they were together on the island. All these years people stayed in groups, and eventually were able to become one big happy group at the end of their time on the island and the limbo universe.
People need others to let go, and they needed others to survive. While this is obvious when looking at most of the revelation movements and seeing that they always involved more than one person, it is best scene when Jack asks Locke to let go with him, because Jack doesn’t want to do it himself. Togetherness is crucial in the shows plot, and goes hand in hand with love.


What to take from the show and the finale and what it all means

“The most important part of your life was the time you spent with these people.”

Their lives on the island were extremely important, but were only possible because of the togetherness of people. Although Lost ended with many loose ends, it ended just as it should. Lost is about life, human nature, and, ultimately, what people want.
In life, you don’t get all the answers. They don’t matter. The mysteries we leave behind do not impact our purpose. Who cares what was in Ben’s little box in “Because You Left?” Who cares who came before Mother or that we never get a name for her or the MIB. All that matters is that our purposes were filled and that if we make the right choices in life, we are rewarded by being aware of our actions and sacrifices and by being reunited with the ones we love before we move on.
Lost is about proving that humans are good at heart, that they could be redeemed, and the importance of being in the company of the ones we love.

We are good at heart. We can be redeemed. We need to be with the ones we love. We are given the choice to make decisions and are rewarded for good choices. It doesn’t matter what religion you believe. In the limbo universe, the church had a mural of all religions under one key message: being good.

When I was sad about my parents divorce, I went to school the next day with the company of my friends. My friends helped me become happier.
When Lost ended, I felt like I had lost a good friend I’ve known for 5 years, who changed my life and let me think deeply about the universe and what I wanted from life. When I came into school this morning, I was sad and depressed and puffy eyed. When I was in the company of my friends and then my family when I came home, I was happy. This is when I realized Lost is not just about having purpose, but about cherishing those we love and what they can do for us.

The ending to Lost was beautiful and poetic. These peoples lives were extremely important and had to make sacrifices to fix the mistakes of others, even when they really had no obligation to do so. They were rewarded for their sacrifices and were given a second chance to be with those they loved and go in peace with them.

This morning I was not ready to let go of Lost. After a day of school with friends and family, I’m ready to watch the finale a third time with all of this in mind, and when that black screen comes up and says LOST, I will be ready to let go of one of the most important things that ever happened to me.

I hope this helped you understand Lost’s conclusion and it as a whole. The lives they lived were important, but everyone dies sometime. Just try and be with them before that happens.


Thank you Mr. Damon Lindelof and Mr. Carlton Cuse for opening my eyes to the importance of the things right in front of me.

And thank you for reading this.

Namaste,


Joshua Jacob Mayzler.