Purgatory after all by Gravastars

Just moments after the finale I felt a pang of disappointment because of its lack of sci-fi, but that's when I learned to 'let go' I guess.

The twist was, in the end, that under the guise of science fiction, the island was a kind of purgatory after all. At least that's my interpretation - - but it means everything fits in the end.

CHRISTIAN SHEPHERD

Was actually the ghost of Christian! I was clinging on to the monster's lies all along that he somehow 'used' his image to manipulate people, but I genuinely believe that Christian needed to help his son 'move on' after the crash. That one mobisode now makes a ton of sense ('go wake my son, he has work to do)

THE MONSTER

Is the devil. Attempting in vain to manipulate people into becoming completely corrupted by darkness/sickness/evil. Escaping the island meant escaping into reality and threatening to corrupt everyone outside.

ISLAND

As I said, purgatory. But it's also more than that - - it acts as a prison for the devil. The 'cork'. As a purgatory, it allows people to redeem themselves before they pass on. The people who fail to do so - such as Michael - fail to move on, and forever remain in this purgatory as whispers and ghosts.

MiB

The man in black did NOT become the smoke monster. By entering the light cavern, he unleashed the devil from 'Hell'. He died on the rocks. The devil however, took his form.

TIME TRAVEL

Purgatory is ultimately timeless. What's more however, time travel is used as a storytelling device to tell us that indeed, whatever happened happened. Characters cannot cheat death nor can they erase past actions. Only through redemption can they move on.

'WE HAVE TO GO BACK'

Okay, so if the island is purgatory - how/why did they escape? The answer screams at us however, from one iconic scene: WE HAVE TO GO BACK. Escaping the island should NOT happen, plainly. Everyone who escapes goes back in the end.

WAAAAAAALT

Except Walt. Why why why? Because, simply, as a child he gets a second chance. He hasn't done anything to warrant purgatory, and so gets to live out his first shot at life back in the real world.

JACOB

Another ordinary person. Flawed, in need of redemption from what he did to his brother. (killed him)

THE RULES

I'm just gonna go and say, the rules - there are none. In purgatory, you can bend reality however you like to acheive an end (with the right amount of light). The protector of the island can be one person, it can be any number of people. Drinking the water is a symbolic rite of passage. A leap of faith. The rules are so because people believe them to be real.

ALTERNATIVE REALITY

Literally, it is an alternative reality but it is also much more than that. It is the reality in which people can live out the lives they've always wanted. Daniel always wanted to be a musician for example, and everyone gets to be we who they've loved. Heaven.

THE LIGHT/HELL

Divine energy. Whatever you want to call it - the ineffable. Most telling however, is that its source is 'Hell'. Now tell me - what good has the energy ever been? It corrupts people, makes them powerful and influential ubt also curses them. Richard could never age.

On the other hand, the light allows purgatory to exist. Without it, the island crumbled and withered away.


THE DARKNESS

The 'darkness' that spread inside Sayid? It was ironically the light that stopped him moving on within the temple.

DHARMA INITIATIVE

Now this is interesting. I think the people of the Dharma initiative entered purgatory physically - alive. They found the metaphysical loophole that allowed them to study what should never be studied. This is why Jacob purged them: they threatened the island.

THE OTHERS

Literally, 'others'. Other not-quite-dead people who must find redemption on the island. And the whispers? It makes sense that they follow these others, as their history on the island perhaps spans a lot of time.

WHY BABIES CANNOT BE BORN

Babies are only born on the island for purposes such as Claire's. In Claire's case, she needed to raise Aaron in order to save her soul. She couldn't run away from this responsibility. Like Walt (and Ji Yeon) Aaron gets to live out the rest of his life with Claire.

LEAVING THE ISLAND ON AJIRA

Those that left the island on Ajira were gifted with living the rest of their lives before they died. More importantly, they need to raise the children of the island. They don't need to go back to the island because they don't need to redeem themselves anymore. Eventually they'll die of old age.

HURLEY

Was set up to protect the island all along. His redemption followed a life of having no self esteem - never believing he had what it takes, and always blaming himself as being cursed. Protecting the island is his redemption. It explains his ability, more than others, to be able to see ghosts. The island communed with him the most.

DESMOND, THE FAILSAFE

Desmond's ability to withstand the island's light ultimately made him special. His abilities are not unique however, more so inhereted after so much time exposed to and venting the 'electromagnetism' under the swan hatch. These special abilities made him the communicator between purgatory and heaven, otherwise all that redemption would have been for nothing.

His 'failsafe' properties meant that he could absorb all the energy on the island before the monster could get to it, or so Widmore thought. In reality, the monster realised that Desmond's ability would uncork the light and allow all evil to escape. He was a failsafe for evil, but thankfully - failed, safely.

AND JACK'S PURPOSE...

As he said, was to make all this happen. He was never meant to be the island's protector as the island never communed with him. His redemption came in the form of taking that final leap of faith. Ultimately, the message in the end, is that the disgruntled viewers could perhaps fair better following a similar redemptive arc.


THE END

Am I happy with how it ended? Emotionally - yes. Intellectually - at first I thought no, but now I'm at peace. Everything came together, and all it took was for the audience to take the same leap of faith that Jack did.

My only qualm is the pretense of science fiction that led us here. But it was clear that THIS was the ending they planned all along. From watching the pilot, everyone guessed it was a kind of purgatory and they were right. In the end, I can't blame the show's producers for shaking their heads whenever someone spoke the word. It was the most obvious, but most satisfying way the show could end.