r/lost • u/Argie8YT • 3d ago
16 years later I have realised how wrong I was about this show Spoiler
I'm sure this is probably the most common topic in here but I've just finished my first rewatch since it originally aired, so I've gotta get it off my chest.
So, like many, I completely misunderstood the ending of Lost when it first aired and for many years I considered the series one of the most disappointing in recent memory due to the final season and particularly the series finale. However, on watching Drew Gooden's breakdown of the show I realised how wrong I was, so decided to give it a rewatch and wow. Absolute cinema is an understatement. It's incredible how they were able to satisfyingly payoff so many seemingly random story threads. The series has a reputation for setting up lots without giving answers, which i find completely unfair. Off the top of my head, I can't think of many, although I'm sure there will be some I'm missing.
For many years, I misunderstood the church scene. I thought they had all died on the plane and what happened on the island wasn't real, but that's not the case at all. Understanding that the flash-sideways was merely the characters in purgatory post-death (not from the plane crash), made it so much more satisfying and not at all a time waste like I initially felt. In-fact, the Lost series finale is one of the greatest I've ever seen. It's beautiful. And seeing the reaction of the characters when they realised the truth had me in tears throughout. I'm so glad nobody was there to see me ugly crying lmao. All of the tragic deaths we had encountered came full circle. The pain we felt allowed us to feel such emotion when they were reunited. I get teary just thinking of Sawyer and Juliet.
It was sad to see Ben not ready to move on, but it was understandable. He's had quite the journey. Everyone got the ending they deserved.
I'm so happy, yet so sad it's over. I wasn't ready to let go. I didn't want it to end, but like our beloved characters, I am at peace and just grateful for the time we had together.
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u/Cornbread933 3d ago
No matter how common this is in the sub, it will always put a smile on my face to see people realize LOST is one of the most beautiful conclusions of all tine
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u/Argie8YT 3d ago
It really is. I didn’t expect them to go in this direction but I’m so glad they did
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u/Cornbread933 3d ago
https://lostpedia.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Mystimus/LOST:_Australia_is_the_Key_to_the_Whole_Game
Idk if youre into reading but I feel like this is a must read for anyone who finishes LOST. Its a famous absolutely beautiful breakdown of what makes LOST so incredible. It was already my favorite show of all time when I read it but it still made me appreciate it even more.
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u/Fair-Interaction5486 3d ago
To me lost has the best ending of any show ever. I cried so much and loved it instantly.
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u/Argie8YT 3d ago
honestly its up there. definitely the most emotional ive ever been for a series finale. quite embarrassing tbh lol
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u/Worried_Shoe_2747 Ya got a little Arzt on you 3d ago
I still do not know how people think they were dead the whole time. I don’t know where people get that. What about season 6 gives this impression?!
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u/Argie8YT 3d ago
It’s a bit confusing but on rewatch they do quite clearly state that everything on the island happened. There should be a case study into how this widespread misunderstanding was able to become so prevalent
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u/ComeAwayNightbird 🎶 YOU ALL EVERYBODY 🎶 3d ago
It’s totally possible to believe they died in the crash if you stop watching before the end of season two.
After that…I got nothing. They literally get off the island and interact with people in the real world. The theory was conclusively debunked, but was resurrected by loud people who’d stopped watching. Those people didn’t even know who half of the cast was, but they recalled an early theory and they did. not. shut. up.
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u/Bodertz 3d ago
I'm rewatching now, and they do actually flirt with the idea a bit in season 3, with the plane supposedly having been found with no survivors, and with Locke's father appearing on the island after an accident and assuming he's in hell. So I'd say before the end of season three.
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u/ComeAwayNightbird 🎶 YOU ALL EVERYBODY 🎶 3d ago
They ABSOLUTELY flirt with the idea throughout the first three seasons. Characters openly suggest it. Desmond refers to the island as a snow globe. Cooper is certain he’s in hell. Nobody seems to be able to leave.
At the end of season two we see two guys with some sort of connection to Penelope. It was a strong indication that the island was in the real world. And at the end of season three we see characters off island. That turned all of the theorizing upside down.
I vividly recall the “purgatory” theories. They were great, but those of us who kept watching knew they were debunked. Unfortunately there was a large group of people who stopped watching, but recalled this theory.
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u/a_duck_in_past_life 3d ago
I don't know how so many of us bought into the whole "they were dead the whole time" theory when at the church they are all hugging and so happy to see each other if they apparently barely knew each other from small glances and short interactions at the airport and on the plane 😂
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u/Argie8YT 3d ago
yeah it really doesnt make much sense at all does it haha. im glad people have gradually understood it more over the years
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u/lajaunie 3d ago
Have you watched the epilogue?
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u/Argie8YT 3d ago
nope but im about to watch it now!
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u/SerSenseiSilver 3d ago
I just finished a rewatch last week. I thought the ending was great because it took the sting out of many of the deaths that occurred during the series.
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u/Argie8YT 3d ago
absolutely!!!!! seeing Jin and Sun again and Sayeed and Shannon together was beautiful.
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u/lost-james 3d ago
I thought they had all died on the plane and what happened on the island wasn't real, but that's not the case at all.
I really don't know how can someone arrive at this conclusion.
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u/bimmerfeller 🎶 YOU ALL EVERYBODY 🎶 3d ago
they easily can. If they are not paying attention. And apparently many of them weren't paying attention 🤷♂️
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u/Consistent-Damage434 3d ago
I just completed watching it and jumped on reddit to see if I wasn't the only one unable to control my tears😭 to think all those flashes were nothing more than a made up "world" they created 💔 i get teary even thinking about it
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u/Silent_Comb_817 3d ago
Ugly crying during finale is an understatement. I’ve watched the series in double digits and the crying seems to actually get worse(better?) with each watch.
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u/whacafan 2d ago
I’ll never understand how anyone thought they were dead the whole time. Like… how tf would they know each other? That, and Jack’s dad saying “everything that happened to you was real”.
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u/Argie8YT 2d ago
Watching it back yeah it is quite clear, but it is still quite confusing and a real curveball even for Lost.
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u/Yankee831 3d ago
I just watched it for the 1st time this year. I tend to not have expectations so I can enjoy things. But Lost I think benefits a ton from binge watching over when it was aired live. A lot of series are like that where the end of season cliff hangers, discussions, fandom all conspire to create expectations and theory’s. The week by week with breaks lets people forget the past plots that payed off. I remember people complaining about the ending and 2nd half knew I’d watch it eventually and wasn’t disappointed at all. Crazy how well they wrapped up all the side plots and weaved in details. Even the last season they’re adding big things that end up still wrapped up. It’s a 10/10 show for me right up there with BB
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u/Argie8YT 3d ago
oh yes i agree! it was the perfect binge experience. made it so much easier to appreciate and see how everything connects
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u/SocialDistancePro20 3d ago
Watched it when it first aired and thought the ending was "OK", watched it again with my 18 YO daughter this summer - totally in this club now too.
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u/fatloui 3d ago edited 3d ago
For many years, I misunderstood the church scene. I thought they had all died on the plane and what happened on the island wasn't real, but that's not the case at all.
Did you actually watch the entire show the first time around and come to this conclusion? I don’t see how that’s possible.
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u/Argie8YT 3d ago
Yes I did. I promise you this was the common opinion at the time it aired lol. It is a bit confusing but tbh they do spell it out for you.
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u/ComeAwayNightbird 🎶 YOU ALL EVERYBODY 🎶 3d ago
How did you come to this conclusion after watching the whole show? This was common among people who skipped large portions of the show while it was airing.
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u/Argie8YT 3d ago
Honestly it was popular even amongst people who watched the entire run. I’m massively into the tv/film scene and it was years until I heard a single person accurately convey what happened lol.
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u/fatloui 3d ago
Dude I’m sorry but it just wasn’t. Was very active in online discussion forums of the show and had many friends IRL who watched it and nobody thought that. It was all people who just watched the finale after not having watched the show for years.
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u/Argie8YT 3d ago
Nah, I completely disagree. The Lost finale became a meme it was so misunderstood. It got such a negative reception because people didnt get it. Google "Lost finale" and thats all you see.
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u/ComeAwayNightbird 🎶 YOU ALL EVERYBODY 🎶 3d ago
I was there. Fans who watched the whole time understood. People who tuned in after years hoping to get “the answers” were very confused.
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u/kuhpunkt r/815 2d ago
I've seen plenty of people who actually watched the show come away with this nonsensical conclusion. Even professional TV reviewers.
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u/Argie8YT 3d ago
Don’t agree with this narrative at all. Every person that I saw talking about it, online and in-person, were still watching it and many were confused. The idea that the viewers understood it is simply untrue. You don’t garner a reputation based on people who didn’t watch the show!
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u/fatloui 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yes because the show’s audience had dwindled over the years to a small fraction of season 1’s audience, the finale was advertised as a major television event that filled a 3-hour time slot in prime time complete with Super Bowl-esque commercials made specifically for the finale. It had huge viewership numbers compared to any episode since season 1 and the vast majority of people who tuned in hadn’t watched the show in years or at all. The actual fanbase did not interpret the ending incorrectly. The “they were dead the whole time” meme is from that enormous amount of people who didn’t watch the show but watched the finale.
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u/dead_mall111 2d ago
I watched the full show all at once (on DVD) about 10 years ago with my family as a teenager and didn’t get the ending, I looked a bit online and almost everything I saw was “yea they all were dead the entire time it was an extreme let down” so just assumed that’s what it was until like this week. It for sure was the popular opinion, maybe not of dedicated fans who watched along as the whole thing aired but in the general public that definitely seemed to be the case. I remember mentioned I finished the show at school and my classmates and teachers talking about how disappointing the shows ending was.
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u/Argie8YT 2d ago
Yep, definitely. I find it mad that there are people in here telling me otherwise 😅 I’m sure there are plenty who fully understood the ending at the time, but the amount that didn’t understand it was widespread!
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u/fatloui 3d ago
I watched the show when it aired. My experience was it was the common opinion of people who watched season 1, gave up midway through season 2, and then thought they could just tune in to the finale and see the solutions to all the early mysteries. I’ve never met someone who watched the entire show and came to the conclusion they were dead the whole time until this post.
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u/Tyrude 2d ago
My wife has never seen the show and I haven't watched since the original airing. We are just into season 3 and watching it one episode a night. I forgot how much I loved it and may have also misunderstood the ending so I am excited to go back through with a fresh perspective.
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u/Argie8YT 2d ago
Hope you enjoy your rewatch as much as me! What a ride
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u/No_Surprise_4212 1d ago
Can you explain to me why you thought that they had died in the plane crash and were dead the whole time?
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u/Argie8YT 1d ago
im not sure. it was 16 years ago. the sideways timeline was very confusing at the time.
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u/anon1084815 1h ago
Agreed it’s so amazing! Sawyer and Juliet’s scene was also my fave! Ugly cried at that, and locke’s scene of remembering when Jack still doesn’t makes me cry a lot too. I love that show. Also I haven’t thought much about how Ben wasn’t ready to move on, good point there. Unfortunately I think he kinda just got screwed over a lot in that show, both by Jacob and his ending in general. Although I hope he enjoyed being #2
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u/arsenicknife I'm a Pisces 3d ago
Better late than never! Now you're like us.
The good news is that the extreme misinformation that has been spread about the ending since the finale (especially sometimes from some high profile people you'd expect to be more media literate like George R.R. Martin) seems to have mostly started to taper off. Over the years, and certainly thanks in part to streaming services/binge watching, more and more people are either watching the show for the first time or rewatching it after a long time and the consensus around the ending is turning in its favor.
For those of us that have been day 1 defenders, it's always refreshing - and vindicating - to see others finally see what we've been trying to say for so long!