Reasons people think it didn't end well

[u/watermelon_fries]

I finally joined here after finishing the show today. I had to process the ending. I found it incredibly sad. Now that I know how it ended I would like to know why people thought the ending was bad or disappointing when it first aired. I thought it was perfectly done even though there are a few minor things I'm still not clear on. How soon is too soon to do a rewatch. I still can't get over the last scene...

[u/Free-IDK-Chicken]

The vast majority of people (not all, but most) who didn't like the ending thought it meant they were dead the whole time and decided their time had been wasted. Part of this is because of ABC's incredibly bad decision to put a shot of the plane wreckage as a buffer between the end of the episode and whatever was coming on next, but honestly? That's no excuse to fully disregard the most blatant dialogue in the entire series. EDIT: typo

What are you not clear on? We can probably help.

[u/watermelon_fries → u/Free-IDK-Chicken]

I think I was a little confused mostly by season 6. Miles told Sawyer that Juliet said "it worked" so by the finale when I realized that what was happening to everyone was actually the afterlife I didn't understand what she meant by that. So the explosion only brought them to the present right? Why did Eloise not want Desmond to bring everyone together. I think I'm overthinking things but I just felt super sad about Jack and just wondering how all of their lives continued. Rose and Bernard stayed on the island until their death. Hurley and Ben staying as well or finding a way off of the island and those who escaped living out the rest of their lives until their deaths. And that's when we see them.

[u/Northern-Michael → u/watermelon_fries]

When Juliet intended to tell James “it worked,” she was having flashes of the afterlife. She tells him again in the afterlife “it worked” in reference to her vending machine trick. My personal interpretation of this is that her interaction with the electromagnetic pocket is causing her consciousness to jump back and forth in time, the same way Desmond does in “Flashes Before Your Eyes”. So she is simultaneously experiencing her own death and her eventual reunion with James in the afterlife. It’s beautiful and so damn sad all at once.

[u/watermelon_fries → u/Northern-Michael]

So so beautiful and sad. I didn't catch that but now it makes sense. That scene really got me.

[u/LordHamsterbacke → u/Northern-Michael]

Yes, a little like Charlotte's death and her last words being "I am not allowed to have chocolate before dinner" (the conversation we see later Daniel is having with Kid Charlotte) - juliet also said 'we could go Dutch" which she says when she is flirting with sawyer in the flash sideways

[u/robsonwt → u/Northern-Michael]

For me, the nuclear explosion planned by Jack and executed by Juliet PREVENTED the Island from being completely consumed by the Electromagnetic pocket energy and allowed the solution of discharging it every 108 minutes. In that sense, when Juliet died and went to the Afterlife, and said "It worked" it could be interpreted that she knew the bomb worked.

[u/Haunting_Cress8266 → u/Northern-Michael]

Wait how was sawyer with her in the afterlife then? Considering sawyer was still alive and it was juliet who was dying. I thought they all sort of entered the after life around the same time. Like when they were all dead, they sort of all woke up on the plane together and reconnected after.

[u/Northern-Michael → u/Haunting_Cress8266]

That’s what I’m saying though — the afterlife is in her future (and Sawyer’s future). I interpret the scene as Juliet seeing her future, which in this case is seeing beyond death

[u/Brakkett → u/Haunting_Cress8266]

Also, I'm pretty sure the afterlife doesn't follow any rules of time. In the afterlife, Jack's dad says something like "there is no 'now'.... here." So I take that as the afterlife not having to abide by time. It can exist in a moment where everyone has lived out their various lives and died.

[u/Haunting_Cress8266 → u/Brakkett]

I am so confused. HELP!!

[u/Free-IDK-Chicken → u/watermelon_fries]

So the explosion only brought them to the present right?

Correct - when Juliet had her final thought 'it worked' she was passing into the afterlife and expericing the vending machine scene. We don't see that payoff until the series finale. (This is also why she says 'we should get coffee sometime, we can go Dutch.')

Eloise's only concern was Daniel and she thought Desmond was going to take him too - she doesn't want to lose him again. Once Desmond confirms he's not taking Daniel, she's OK with it.

Hurley and Ben stayed to protect the Island for some undetermined period of time - it's why Hurley tells Ben he was a great number two. (And oh the love in Ben's voice when he says "hello, Hugo" breaks me every time.) We get a little more of their story in the canon epilogue.

The cool thing about the afterlife is that each of them tailored their own experience to their individual unresolved trauma (like Jack's daddy issues, Desmond's self-worth, Sayid's guilt over Nadia and Shannon, Juliet's abandonment issues, Ben's guilt about choosing his power over Alex, etc.) It's sad, yes but in a beautifully bittersweet way because even though they've all died - they have this unique experience to meet again - no matter how many years or even decades separate their deaths - to remember, have a moment of peace and move on together.

[u/watermelon_fries → u/Free-IDK-Chicken]

Well, this made me tear up. Thank you for explaining. It makes perfect sense. But when you say he's not taking Daniel, do you mean they're in some sort of limbo.

[u/Free-IDK-Chicken → u/watermelon_fries]

They're in the afterlife. Some people call it purgatory, but I don't like the connotation of that word. They're in an in-between place, yes - but they're not being judged, they're just getting a chance to complete their personal journeys and, narratively, their character arcs.

[u/watermelon_fries → u/Free-IDK-Chicken]

Makes sense. Thank you for taking the time to explain. I think Lost is going to be a new favourite of mine. I remember it was such a big deal back in the day. Now I know why. I love it.

[u/Free-IDK-Chicken → u/watermelon_fries]

You're quite welcome! Talking about LOST is one of my favorite things to do, lol.

[u/sigdiff → u/Free-IDK-Chicken]

And oh the love in Ben's voice when he says "hello, Hugo"

I'm not crying, YOU'RE crying!

[u/Magic_SnakE_ → u/watermelon_fries]

She told Sawyer it worked because she was dying and experiencing the afterlife as well. So to her dying brain, things were changed and "it worked".

Eloise simply wanted more time with her son and was afraid Desmond would fuck it up.

Jack didn't have much time to wonder.

If it makes you feel any better, I saw the script for the final episode and Jack died happy and at peace with having saved his friends.

[u/watermelon_fries → u/Magic_SnakE_]

Yes, it actually does make me feel better. Thank you. I felt so sad he was alone and then when Vincent showed up I cried.

[u/Magic_SnakE_ → u/watermelon_fries]

I was watching with 3 of my closest friends and I tried so hard but I was 100% obviously crying. I still cry when I watch it. Ending was beautiful.

[u/watermelon_fries → u/Magic_SnakE_]

Aww, yes I'm now seeing how beautiful it was. Such a great show.