This is a thread based on the US run, but I am going to spoiler the below just in case.
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I watched the season finale last night, and thought that it was probably the show's best episode since Exodus Part II, the penultimate episode of Season 1. It was suspenseful, action packed, and, at times, rather moving. The acting was great by the show’s standards, and, for the first time since the pilot, the production values, the camerawork and the direction once again cinematic. Even though it suffered from many of the show’s usual failings, the back-to-basics feel to the episode, with all the Lostaways finally together on some – probable - fool’s errand, and finally an interesting – and pertinent – parallel-plot elevated the show above the levels of most other mainstream dramas. Not just that, but it was also unsettling in a way few shows ever dare to be.

I really liked Charlie, and that had a lot to do with Dominic Monaghan’s pitch-perfect performance throughout his run. Even though it’s a shame he had to die, I think it was understandable from a story-point of view as his character arc had been complete for a while now. His final self-sacrifice was very moving: a testament to the character’s growth while on the island, as well as underlining the show’s overall theme of redemption/damnation.

In fact, that Yin-Yang relationship is more obvious than ever before as demonstrated by, for example, the recent developments in Locke and Sawyer’s respective characters. Locke’s inability to kill his father, or himself, or, in fact, Jack demonstrated that he might not be the hunter/hero that the Island seemed to have molded him into. This subtle emasculation was contrasted by Sawyer’s transformation from a joker/con artist to a murderer. Whereas he was haunted by the memories of killing the man in Sydney, he did not seem to show any remorse for strangling Anthony Cooper, as attested to by his shooting Tom even after the latter had surrendered. I have a feeling that Locke’s confrontation with Jack and Sawyer’s with Tom are linked stylistically (of course), and thematically. I think the Others wanted Locke to kill his father because they wanted to see if he would be able to kill one of his won men should it ever come to it. Obviously he failed – but Sawyer would not have.

The redemption/damnation motif also formed the basis of Jack’s story. I know that he is despised more than any other character (apart from Charlie, I suppose), but Jack is one of my favourites. It’s an old caveat of – good – comic book writers that it is far easier to write Wolverine than Cyclops. Similarly, Jack - an uneasy leader whose decisions usually produce ambivalent results - with all his genuine goodwill, heroism, altruism as well as his almost psychotic obsessiveness, sins-of-the-father issues, and, err, voice-control problems, is a much more complicated character than many others on the beach. His arc is the show’s arc – damnation or salvation. And Matthew Fox’s performance, which, admittedly, comes and goes, has been fantastic enough in the last seven or so episodes to rise to that larger challenge. So it was a combination of all these factors that made the final revelation in his flashforward that Jack was not redeemed all the more shocking.

Oh yeah – the flashforward.

I can’t say I didn’t see it coming. When we were talking about Lost on another board I frequent a while back, a friend mentioned that he would like the series finale to be a slowly-revealed flasforward that would “flashback” to how the Lostaways escaped the island. I had entertained similar convention-defying possibilities before (not like that, you filthy heathens), and, albeit slightly similar to the Voyager finale, my mate’s idea was great. A few days ago, I accidentally saw an avatar on another board of LeonidasJack, and, remembering the leap-in-time approach of the Battlestar Galactica third season finale, I entertained whether a similar idea was introduced in Lost. There were also a few tell-tale signs in the episode as well. The first one was the deliberate obscuration of the date of the paper, and the identity of the person who committed suicide. Another sign was Jack’s mobile, which was a Motorola Razr, and not released until 2005 (or, maybe, 2006). Even though Jack’s mentioning his father threw me off at first, I thought it was too obvious a red herring, and that, if confronted, the producers could just write it off as Jack’s being high as a cloud at the time. Still, I was flabbergasted when Kate walked out of the shadows. It was such a bold, and imaginative move - setting up a great avenue to explore for the three seasons ahead. The fact that Jack had not been redeemed after all they went through (a line of Jack’s at which I raised an eyebrow) was an incredibly powerful way to end the show. It was like the producers’ saying: “Right, so you want answers? Here’s one: Kate and Jack get off the island, but they end up estranged, and, even better, Jack is more fcuked up than ever! Happy now, bitches?” In one single episode, the show managed to undo most of the effects of introducing The Others as regular characters, which led to their demystification. Unlike the end of the second season, we were left with genuine questions. Who’s in the casket (I reckon it’s Michael). What makes Jack go nuts? If I rigorously followed the wise teachings of Rhonda Byrne and The Secret, would Kate ever get her kit off?

I was disappointed with the second season, and most of the third season. I am so glad that the sheer brilliance of the first season is back, and I cannot wait for the next three season. We’re halfway there.
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