SPOILER ALERT: Do not proceed if you haven’t seen the finale. Unless you’re my college roommate and just plain don’t care.
I loved it. It took me a night of sleep and a few clarifications and constant reassurance from my husband, but that’s where I ended up. Loving this episode as much as I loved the previous seasons. In fact, the longer I think about it, the more I like it. Sure, there are unanswered questions and I know a lot of people are really, really upset. I’ll address that later (in part two).
As for the 10 questions I thought they might answer, let’s look at how it turned out:
- Is John Locke (The Real John Locke™) gone for good?
In this life, yes. I think now that we can see what became of him there is much to appreciate. Also, that John Locke and his journey represent about 50% of the LOST viewership (more on that later). - What is the alt-timeline and how does it relate to the on-Island timeline? Is it the “end” that these “means” are getting us to?
We certainly got this one. It is the end that the means helped our characters arrive at. I never imagined it was that kind of end, but it worked for me. It appears to be a limbo state/created universe/collective conciousness that our Losties built together (or perhaps Hurley did it for them, I’m hearing that theorized in a number of places) so that, according to Christian Shephard, they could “find each other.” I like this idea and looking back at some of the literary clues we were given, I should have seen this one coming. - What is Charles Widmore’s importance and is he really dead? (I do NOT believe he is dead.)
Wrong, Lizzy. Apparently, he was. His importance to the story and role on the island are two of the many mysteries we are left to ponder for the rest of our days. Or until The Lost Encyclopedia comes out (assuming they address him). - How will Desmond act as a fail-safe this time?
He got the plug out of the hole but wasn’t destined to be the one to put it back in. I would like to know how Widmore had planned to use him. - Who is David’s mother? (My guess is Juliet since they seem to be building up to it and she’s the only really important female character that we haven’t seen in the alt-timeline so far.)
Picture me, fists stretched high in the air, as Juliet talks to her son, David. - Will Jack be able to kill the Man in Black? HOW?
I don’t know if he would have been able to, considering that knife to the gut he delivered to Jack mere seconds before SuperKate blasted a once-again-mortal in the back with the bullet she saved for him. - Will Jack make it off the Island? (Guess: No.)
Score. I figured the last scene would be what it was, but had no idea how they would get us there. The execution of this scene was something far more dramatic and beautiful than anything I could have imagined. - Who will Kate’s romantic choice be or will there be one at all?
Clearly there was one. I had no idea it would break my heart like it did. - Were any of these people really special or was it all just chance?
I have some theories for real life about who you run into, why they are in your life, their importance, etc. These lives were set on the same orbit, revolving around some magnetic force (I question if it was the island or just “something,” considering how many unknown [to them] ties they all had before the crash of Oceanic 815) that pulled them closer and closer together and on the island they finally collided. They were special. To each other. - What are they preventing from happening by killing the Man in Black?
In a roundabout way, the destruction of the island and what I can only imagine would have ended up being the rest of the world and all mankind. Looked like that bathtub drain/portal to Hades was getting ready to suck everything down.
A few of my more in-depth reflections will be posted later today. I wanted to go ahead and get this out there, plus the rest is getting pretty long!
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Oklahoma girl through-and-through. Writer, aspiring domestic goddess and totalitarian dictator. Taking on the world one carb-induced coma at a time. Founder of GodlyGals, a ministry for women established in 2002. Co-host of Picture Shows & Petticoats. 
The first time around I was disappointed because a lot of my big questions went unanswered. The second time I was satisfied and more moved, like crying during emotional parts.
I think it was a great way to end the series and I can’t wait to re-watch now that I know the ending and see what sticks out.
@Becca – I was shell-shocked immediately after the show ended. So much to digest.
Kevin and I have already started our re-watch of the series and it’s UNBELIEVABLE the things you’ll notice in just the first three episodes. Watching in the complete context of the series is very interesting.
It took me a couple of days and plenty of other viewers’ thoughts for me to finally accept my interpretation of the end as well as enjoy it. Do you read the EW articles where they get really in depth about the philosophies and nuances of the show? Those are my favorite. I also saw a couple of other sites I thought were interesting. One is supposedly written by someone who used to intern at the show, and while not all accurate, a very good take (http://lostmediamentions.blogspot.com/2010/05/someone-from-bad-robots-take-on-finale.html), and the other is another humorous take on 10 Unanswered Questions (http://geekscape.net/the-top-ten-questions-lost-never-answered.html).
@Casey – You’d better believe I’ve already hit all those articles! The ones from EW are particularly good. It took me a bit to wrap my mind around some things, but the next morning I was feeling pretty good about it. I understand that some people are unhappy with it, but I cannot figure out the outright HATE. I think if someone was along for the ride to wait for ALL the answers, they were watching the wrong show.
I totally agree with you Elizabeth. The more I have thought about what went down in this finale, the more satisfied I am and the more I like it. I still haven’t had time to re-watch in full
Reading your question about “What was Widmore’s purpose” made me realize that Desmond’s realization of HIS purpose on-island (at the end of “Happily Ever After”) was (or seemed to be) the result of the massive blast of electromagnetism that Widdy gave him. Not sure if Desmond was clear right away that he was going to be pulling out the island’s cork, but he seemed to be suddenly cool and zen about everything. So I guess Chuck’s purpose was to “wake-up” Desmond – what do you think?