Lost Finale: Web Reactions

Few shows in memory have had the kind of rabid following Lost has enjoyed. It’s no surprise then that its final episode ever engaged critics all over the internet. Of course, as always, we’ll have Billie Doux’ review. But here’s what some other online critics had to say about “The End”:

Good character closure?
“To me, the closing of Lost was not telling me that I do or do not have an immortal soul; it was telling me what these characters lives meant. And that meaning, like all our lives’ meaning, derived from the interactions they had with, and the memories they shared with, other people.”
TIME, James Poniewozik ( http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2010/05/23/lostwatch-all-of-this-matters/#ixzz0orSdfcZu)

Imitation of life?

“Big, giant answers about what the Island was or its place in the world’s cosmology or why it had Egyptian stuff all over it or anything like that were probably bound to be disappointing, as most of the answers dispensed this season were, only even more so. Saying what the Island is is like saying what the meaning of life is; it’s a question you can ask but never receive a really satisfying answer to…”
- LATIMES, Todd VanDerWerff

Coupling in the great hereafter?

“And then let’s talk about the “flash-sideways” universe. So… almost everybody gets awakened to their memories of the “real” world by encountering their true love. Which means that Jack really was Kate’s true love after all? But Kate wasn’t Jack’s. And Shannon was Sayid’s true love? I mean, really? Shannon? Not Nadia? I mean, okay, whatever.”
-Charlie Jane Anders, io9.com

Anti-climactic?

“In the end, the electromagnetically charged mystery island gave way to a hug-filled waiting room leading to a pan-spiritual afterlife, led by the aptly named Christian Shephard. Whew!”
Ree Hines. msnbc.com

Climactic?

“If you were looking for explanations for every twist and turn, you didn’t get them. (Some viewers won’t be satisfied until the producers churn out a multi-volume island manual that answers questions that were never actually posed.) But if you could be content with the “big” answers to the big questions — with exciting adventure, tragic consequences, flashes of humor and romance, and, ultimately, a happy ending — there was satisfaction in abundance.”
Robert Bianco, USAToday

Behind the scenes thought process??

“A series like “Lost” doesn’t need to solve all of its riddles, but it does need to address the right ones. (The first season of “Twin Peaks” is an object lesson in how to provide enough resolution while preserving the delicious mysteries of a fictional universe.) From statements the producers of “Lost” have made over the past five years, they developed a dynamic with die-hard fans (and disillusioned fans and skeptical non-fans) that was infinitely more complex than any of the personal relationships among the series’ characters. Could it be that in resisting the geekiest, nitpickingest, most Aspergerian demands of their audience they swung too far in the opposite direction, dismissing as trivial everything but the cosmic (the tedious and largely unnecessary Jacob-Smokey background) and the sentimental (making sure that every character receives his or her designated soul mate or therapeutic closure of the most banal Dr. Phil variety)?”
-Laura Miller, slate.com

Hey, honey, is anything good on tonight?

“On its final night 13.5 million viewers found Lost, the ABC drama’s highest ratings in two years and an impressive feat for a highly-serialized series that has long struggled to maintain viewers. (The network’s pre and post-show specials, Lost: The Final Journey and Jimmy Kimmel Live: Aloha to Lost, respectively drew 9.8 million and 3.4 million viewers, according to early estimates.)….Not bad, but it’s a figure few other broadcast hits would bother boasting about…it pales in comparison to previous finales of similar hype. Among them: Seinfeld (76 million), Friends (52 million) and Everybody Loves Raymond (33 million), according to the Nielsen Company. In fact, it barely out-rated some of cable’s last hurrahs, including HBO’s The Sopranos and Sex and the City, which drew 12 million and 11 million, respectively.”
Lacey Rose, forbes.com.