Everything that can be said about the television juggernaut Lost has been said before, and recently, in great frequency. The show concluded its epic six season run on Sunday, May 23rd with a 2.5 hour finale event. These are my thoughts on it.

It’s tough to talk about Lost without theorizing about what happened, what should have happened, what could’ve happened, etc. I wrote this final episode in my mind a dozen times, but the final product exceeded my expectations more than I’d anticipated. And it’s because it wasn’t filled with things I saw coming, it wasn’t only filled with answers to the many island related questions that have been posed since 2004.

As a stand alone episode, it’s probably one of television’s finest achievements. It’s filled with seemingly everything a Lost fan could have asked for, yet, I’m quite sure it will be met with mixed reactions by people upset it didn’t fulfill their own personal vision. But these people are losing sight of the show, which at its heart was about its characters and their journey. It was about asking question and looking deep within yourself for answers.

The final segment alone is one of the most chilling, awe inspiring bits of television I have ever seen. It’s paralyzingly brilliant in its execution. The journeys in each timeline come to their conclusion, and the allegory that accompanies them is truly marvelous. Again, there are a lot of variables at play, including religious tones, philosophical parallels, and I guess it’s up to the viewer to interpret these things to their fancy.

Again, it’s Lost. It’s all about theories. I’ll try to avoid speculating on the specific events of the episode, but I’ll just generally describe the message I felt the episode was intent on getting across.

It seemed a great deal about coming full circle, redemption, embracing your destiny, letting go, and moving on. Each character we have gotten to know intimately over the six seasons is seen in the final moments smiling. I don’t know what more fans could’ve asked for.

I actually appreciate the creators of the show not taking the copout finale like The Sopranos or so many other shows have done when it was all a dream, or never happened, or killing major characters just for the sake of doing it.  The episode is explained very well by Christian Shephard at the conclusion, and it encompasses the show’s entire run.

The entire episode felt epic. The score was chilling, moving, hopeful. All the performances were absolutely outstanding. But perhaps no one shines as much in the final episode as Matthew Fox as Dr. Jack Shepard. Fox, for this entire season, has been on a completely new level, and the turmoil, anguish, acceptance, it all pours off the screen. Terry O’Quinn (John Locke) and Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume) likewise really stand out. But everyone is up to the task of taking these characters off of our screens on a strong note.

Plenty of fans aren’t going to be thrilled with it, but you cannot please each and every single viewer the show has ever had. That would literally be an impossible task. I just know that at the end of the day, I got what I wanted, and that was a strong episode befitting a strong show. It’s a walk-off home run in the World Series, and I only hope the show stays in retirement and enjoys it’s staggeringly amazing career.

Final Score: 9/10 (Amazing)