When I started my first watch of Lost last year, I knew I was embarking on one of the greatest television experiences of all time. Even before I was introduced to Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Sayid, I knew this ABC series had left an indelible mark on TV forever, even if I had no idea what I was getting into.
Lost, whose pilot premiered on September 22, 2004 to nearly 19 million viewers, follows a group of passengers who survive the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Left on a deserted tropical island, they have to team up to stay alive, surviving some intense natural elements, and some intense not-so-natural elements too, like the "Others," a smoke monster, and, eventually, time travel. (I still can't believe that last one).
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Lost is the kind of unhinged television we don't get anymore, where you're so affected by the show's outrageous choices, you can't help but scream at the TV, but where you've grown to love the characters so much, you can't help but understand their decision making. One aspect of the series many viewers have never understood, however, is the Lost ending.
Fans of all ages agree it was either the worst finale of all time, or the best finale of the decade (you probably won't find many impartial opinions), but something everyone wonders at one point or another is what the heck even happened? In honor of the TV show's 24th birthday, here's what actually went down during that Lostfinale.
What actually happened at the end of Lost?
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The most important thing to know about the Lost finale is that it wraps up a season featuring parallel timelines. After a nuclear bomb goes off on the island in the 1970s, Lost season 6 tells two stories: the story we know on the island, and a second "flash sideways" that seems to show what would have happened to Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and the rest of the survivors if they'd never gotten lost in the first place.
On The Island
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At the beginning of the Lost finale, the characters are split up into a few different groups. Desmond, who had been trapped at the bottom of a well at the heart of the island, comes face to face with the Man in Black. He joins the villain's group to spare the lives of Rose and Bernard.
Miles and Richard team up to destroy the Ajira plane and prevent the Man in Black from leaving the island, but decide to use the plane to escape instead, while Sawyer runs into Ben and the Man in Black, and learns about the plan to destroy the island. Naturally, Sawyer runs off with Ben's rifle and, reunited with Jack, Kate, and Hurley, realizes Jack plans on confronting the Man in Black himself.
Both groups finally cross paths at the heart of the island, and Desmond returns down the well and removes the stone at the center of the pool. All at once, the light goes out, the pool dries up, and the destruction of the island begins. Even though this was the Man in Black's plan, he has no idea that killing the light also kills his immortality. After a fight with Jack, which leaves Jack stabbed and the Man in Black shot, Jack kicks the Man in Black over the side of the cliff.
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Despite their victory, the island is still falling apart, and Jack tells his group to get on the plane and escape while he restores the light in the heart of the island. Kate and Jack profess their love for each other and she leaves with Sawyer and Claire while Hurley and Ben agree to stay — Ben because he wants to go down with the island and Hurley because he wants to stick with Jack.
In a moment that's been a long time coming, Jack appoints Hurley to take over the island. In my opinion (and Jack's too) there is no one else who could protect the island as well as Hurley! And we all know Hurley doesn't like to operate on his own, so he asks Ben to be his second.
After restoring the light, and waking up by a river, Jack collapses in the bamboo forest. Joined by Vincent the dog, Jack lies on the ground, and smiles when he sees the Ajira plane — with Kate, Sawyer, Lapidus, Richard, Claire, and Miles on board — flying away. And, in a reversal of the opening scene of the series, Jack closes his eyes and dies.
The Flash Sideways
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In the flash sideways, many of our favorite Lost characters from past and present gather for Daniel Widmore & Drive Shaft's benefit concert. Even though throughout this timeline, the characters haven't recognized one another, they begin to get memories that lead them to the church that was going to hold Jack's father Christian's funeral. Ben doesn't want to go inside, and after Hurley tells him he was a "real good number two," he replies Hurley was a "great number one."
Locke regains the use of his legs after being operated on by Jack, and then receives flashes of memory about his time on the island. Jack, despite receiving his own memory flashes through his conversation with Locke, and later Kate, fights the memories. But after an encounter with his father, and realizing that he's actually dead himself, Jack gives in and enters the church.
Everyone inside the church — Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, and other characters from the past like Shannon, Charlie, Libby, and Boone — recognize each other and remember their lives on the island. It's a super emotional scene full of reunions and embraces. After everyone sits down with their arms around each other, Christian opens the doors of the church, and light floods in.
Was Lost All a Dream?
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No, everything that happened in Lost really did happen. And it appears that the "flash sideways" shows of the afterlife where all the Flight 815 passengers reunited, remembered their lives, and moved on to find peace. (The biggest clue for me is the fact Hurley and Ben acknowledge their positions as "Number One" and "Number Two").
"Think of the flash sideways as them going into limbo/purgatory of sorts, waiting for the rest to show up after they die in the real world. Like a holding area or 'lobby' before entering the new existence," one Reddit user says.
"They have no recollection of their past lives in the real world until they come into contact with their former partner or friend from their former life, which 'clicks' the light on in their head that they need to eventually meet up on a pre-determined date at the church and get set to move on together."
The Lost finale might not be the fan service, full-of-answers ending viewers expected, but it totally fits with the rest of the show. Plus, the fact the final shot of Jack's eye mirrors the very first shot?! That's cinema. At its core, Lost is about the connections we make with people, and the biggest questions we have about life. And an ending that's equal parts beautiful, existential, and admittedly a little confusing? It fits right in.
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