So, while I'm working through the episode guide I'm also constructing the finale ep guide as I go, because I assume it'll probably be the longest one I'll write in all of the books. And one of the things I was planning to focus on in light of what we ultimately see in the finale is a pivotal scene from season 1's "White Rabbit," where Jack and Locke have a discussion and you can see the seeds of what will ultimately happen to Jack. And then... I found this video by DJC Productions. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
Many people loved the finale, many people hated it. And while you all know I was in the love camp, I have a lot of sympathy and understanding for those who either hated it or were unsatisfied by it. But for those who thought it was random, that it proved the writers didn't know where they were going, maybe this video will show you that the threads of what ultimately happened on the show were already there in the beginning, something I've been suggesting since the series ended three weeks ago (wow, has it already been that long ago??) I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did:
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23 comments:
That was really marvelous. Thanks, Nikki, for posting it. I have recently started re-watching, AGAIN, and I am looking at it with a whole new set of expectations. I too am looking for the clues that bring us to THE END. While I sympathize with those who were disappointed in the finale, I think we were watching different shows for a different reason. On my new rewatch, I have gotten through Season 1, RAISED BY ANOTHER, and am really seeing how this is ALL about these people more than it is about the mystery.
VW: toonew. Aha, I thought so.
Great video. I never thought that the finale was "random"--I can see how threads of the ending were hinted at all the way back from the first season.
That being said (and of course I'm only speaking for myself here), I'd say my dissatisfaction has to do generally with the plot threads that were dropped. This was a problem that certainly couldn't be solved by a final episode, and probably couldn't even be solved by a final season. But it's something that I find myself dwelling on a fairly great deal now that I have the ability to look back on the series as a whole.
So I suppose it's this weird dichotomy--I found the series finale to be a truly excellent episode, and a captivating couple hours of TV. But my opinion of the series as a whole has gone down a couple notches (not the point of being "bad," but not up to the level of "sublime" that I used to consider it).
Also, random insight after watching this video--wouldn't Jack and Locke have made a great Number One and Number Two back before they hated each other? :-P
Wow. Just. wow....
Loved it...made me cry. I really miss this show!
Now I'm crying again!!! I absolutely loved the finale and thought the ending was truly beautiful. I can't watch it without crying and I appreciate you posting this about connecting the dots between Season 1 and Season 6. Oh no, now I'm compelled to go watch the entire episode of The End again! I have my tissues ready.
I believe, especially after the NYTimes Talk with Darlton, that the whole picture was there from the beginning. This video just brings it home as it is not linear but pieced together so it is more obvious.
Now I am crying for the second time today. Damn...
In television, the axe can fall at any time. That could explain things around season 1, ideas that did not ultimately make the grade or time could not be spent in great detail to bring to a conclusion. There are no guarantees shows will make it to The End. I think we should consider ourselves lucky that this show did.
I am happy to not know everything. What I do know is enough, what I can now use to reflect what came before the finale - I will use in rewatching this show. To me, things were wrapped up very well - not with a perfect bow, but with lots of love!
I saw something someone wrote today, and I am not quoting verbatum, but it kind of went like this and reflects my feelings about this show.
I gave 6 years of my life to LOST and I don't want them back.
I enjoyed that. Glad you posted it.
See, this is why I can't wait to watch the entire series over again. To pick up on things like this that I missed in the first go around. That was awesome!
Thanks for posting this, Nikki. It was pretty all-around wonderful. Was I the only one who was waiting for “boom... L O S T” at the end?
It feels good to be posting a comment on Nik at Nite again. Just today, I was thinking how much I’ve been missing all the fine folks here in the clubhouse. Stay cool! (I mean that literally. It feels like the Amazon rain forest lately in Kansas.)
Good stuff. Thanks for posting, Nikki!
I know, I miss it, too. In fact, I've got SO much to say about Slayage, but put up a post on it last night to almost no comments. So I thought OK, I'll find a cool Lost video and was totally blown away by this one. And sure enough, almost no work on my part garners more comments. ;) Ah well... my remaining Slayage posts will still be long, even if I'm the only one reading them. Heehee...
Of course, I'm SUPPOSED to be writing my book right now... d'oh.
That was beautiful. Sums up the series so well. It was both heart-warming and saddening. Thanks for sharing Nikki!
Thanks, Nikki. This did give me the impression the direction of the show was there in the beginning.
I am still disappointed at all the unanswered questions.
But I rewatched the final episode with all commercials removed and, standing alone, it is a beautiful episode.
Is it true the box set will be Blu-Ray only? That's insane if true. I wanted to buy it and watch everything all over again from start to finish. Guess I never will...
WV: ovensupe - What I come home to if I forget and leave the oven on full blast all day and it melts all over my kitchen floor.
Convergence, the complete box-set of Lost will be available on both DVD and Blu-Ray. According to TVOverMind, the Hurley/Ben epilogue will be on both versions.
Love the white light and haunting echo-y effect on the audio! It seems almost as if this entire video was something Jack would ahve seen after being embraced by the light in the church: to finally help him understand and let go, and to prove to him that he always did have what it takes.
Rest in Peace, Jack Shephard
Totally awesome.. Great work by these guys in capturing all those bits and pieces that make it all tie in well at the end. Got tears again ... crap .. Can't wait to receive my box set so I can re-watch it all. I miss the series so much. The evenings (and days) are boring now that it's all over. Been looking at another series but it's scheduled to be only for this summer season.. Well, I guess just enough to let me hang on 'till I get my box set I guess.
I must regard this little bit of film as a specious argument for plot foreshadowing on the part of the writers. It is now known that the alternate world of Season 6 did not crop up until somewhere in Season 3. The end point of the narrative arc (Jack's death) was already known at the beginning before production of Seaosn 1, but the narrative direction to such such an ending was still uncertain.
Furthermore, use of overexposure (such as Oliver Stone used in JFK) is a cheap trick in film, and in terms of signifiers it depreciates the power of the body as a visual signifier. LOST, which had for so long focused on the body as visual marker of importance, itself did not use light overexposure until the very end. I suggest we let LOST speak for itself, rather than try to redefine the semiology of its visual grammar.
That said, I am a fan of the Finale, which is why fan fiction/film raises such hackles. Is it really done out of love of the show, or is there an unconscious desire to replace the show with one's own vision "sampled" from various episodes. While the show was in progress, such fan film was acceptable as it defined in parameters readings of LOST through its visual and aural structural strategies arranged in taxonomies: mystery, romance, spiritual, journey of self-discovery. All of these liminal productions are an ongoing dialogue between fan and story. This production seems one between disgruntled fan and adoring fan. Indeed, it argues: there are semantic elements shared by adoring fans which have not been processed or absorbed by the disgruntled fan. However, it itself requires a leap of faith to ignore other possible readings which might problematise such an interpretation.
If we are true fans of LOST, we should allow such advocacy to be set aside for the experience of possible aesthetic pleasures from rewatching in the future. While we might assume that with the conclusion of the show a defining interpretation is in order, paratextual elements have now begun to abound, heightening our awareness of alternate interpretations. Evaluative criticism will not rely on a singular or correct "taste," but generate combinations of narrative points accentuating LOST's hyperdiegetic quality.
Nikki - thanks for posting this. It was beautifully made, but I personally didn't need it to help me understand how everything was connected.
I am re-watching now, up to season 2, and of course, re-reading your guide. It is fun to see some of the old questions and theories and know the answers!
I think the series explains iteself just fine - there are things left out, but there is a whole lot more there. Sorry, I'm not particularly eloquent this morning.
Just rewatching "One of them" was interesting. Though Danielle didn't point to "Henry" as the man who stole her baby, she knew he was one of them, and didn't hesitate to shoot him. Sayid always knew he was lying, and their first interaction, with Sayid doing "what he does", is consistent with the relationship they have later in the series. Had Sayid continued to trust his instincts, rather than believe what Ben told him, he wouldn't have to be the "killer" he was.
Lisa (ufn) - I am waiting for season 1 from the library and already have gotten season 2 - -debating if I know the first well enough. Your comment makes me think I'm going to wait and watch then in order. I also have Nikki's book that I am going to read along with the eps.
ps -- I miss all of you and your amazing insite and diverse perspectives!
Just read all the comments and noticed several mentioning rewatching.
May I suggest that some of us try and do that together? I know I would be behing the curve, but we could use Nikki rewatch site and then we would have the insight of the other people who already did the rewatch at the end of last year. Anyone else game?
Oh dear. I hated that almost as much as the finale. Especially the dreamy soft focus and the "you're the one" religious bs.
If LOST had been this sentimental, I would never have watched it. Let alone rewatched all five seasons last year.
I don't know...I've been doing a bit of re-watch myself and I'd say the conversation between Penny and Des in The Constant was pretty sentimental. Michael bringing Walt his dog is pretty sentimental. Actually there was a lot of sentimental in the first season.
IMO ...of course..
I side with Fred on this one; it is an attempt to link elements that are not actually connected...at least in terms of the writers' intent for the series ending. Clearly, they knew that the show would close with Jack's death, but the FSW was not conceived until much later (sometime in S3 seems about right, though I do not remember that specifically.
And I, too, dislike attempts by fans to manipulate my opinion of the finale, which, though it has changed somewhat (my dislike is not so vehement), my disappointment remains unabated. It just could have been better.
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