The television series LOST on ABC which began on September 22, 2004 concluded on May 23, 2010. LOST was a new genre for television as it was slotted as an ensemble Drama, but also held Sci-Fi and Fantasy elements keeping viewers on the edge of their seats on a week to week basis.
LOST is a character driven show steeped in mystery that postulated numerous questions both philosophical, theological and in theories about the characters who crashed on and those who lived on this island, as well as the nature of the island and the mythology of this place.
Multiple mini-mysteries of characters disappearing, being captured filled the episodes which would sometimes take a full season to answer.
Now that the show has concluded and is a complete body of work in the end LOST was about many things that have to do with Philosophy, life and humanity. Most notably man’s struggle to be free, death, letting go, the connections people have with each other and keeping balance.
The Many Mysteries of LOST
For one of the first times on television an interactive puzzle playing television show is left in the hands of the viewers to determine what did they learn from the series? How are the characters and the viewers for that matter, better people? And with some mysteries left, the imagination can fill in the blanks to paint the canvas, much like Desmond’s mural in the swan station.
LOST has left numerous breadcrumbs for viewers to follow the trail down the rabbit hole and determine what the more ambiguous clues mean to them. This is an unprecedented move for a television show that will thrill and inspire its deepest fans, and will frustrate others that do not care for stories that leave the questions to the viewer, or reader.
At the conclusion of LOST there are eight mysteries left un-resolved per the Lost bible of Lostpedia. Most of which were unimportant to the story and can be resolved such as the glass eye found, which likely belonged to Mikhail the other from the Flame station that wore an eye patch.
There were a staggering 147 mysteries at one time, in the end 123 were solved, 16 other mysteries partially solved, and 8 left unresolved. Interesting LOST trivia moment, those numbers include 3 of the ‘numbers’ from the series, coincidence?
LOST and its Fandom has Large Following
With numerous websites, theory boards, blogs and an entire Wikipedia, called Lostpedia, which even the creators of the show utilized for quick information, and updated if necessary. This was another way in which LOST was special because of the closeness in connections.
Fans and creators a like working on the same webpage is not a common practice in the entertainment world, nor are regular pod and audio casts which were done weekly by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, nicknamed ‘Darlton’ by fans.
Lindelof and Cuse are well aware that their fans refer to them by this name, and they have communicated back on DVD features and specials to their fans. Even jokingly about how Carlton got most of the name, which Cuse responded to Lindelof’s disappointment as “hey they used the D A and O N”.
LOST has used Multiple Motifs
During its series reoccurring themes were used such as black and white and the use of the camera focusing on a characters eye letting the audience know this episode will involve this character’s point of view.
Eyes are often thought of in literature to be the windows of the soul. LOST opened and closed its series with this image, indicating the journey of the main protagonist soul. The series also used life and death themes, fate verses free will, parent issues, games, cons, secrets, and the use of rain as well as twenty more. Lost was designed to make its audience care and think about the subjects, philosophies and mysteries presented and will continue to do so for many years to come.
The series has been over for several days and people are still actively speculating the final meaning, as well as smaller mysteries that received clues and information but did not film any scenes such as who built the statue? However, the statue was an Egyptian statue of the Goddess Taweret who was a protector of fertility, birth and rebirth so reason would dictate that it was built by Egyptian people at some point on the island. This idea was confirmed in a podcast on May 7, 2010 at the 22:38 mark by Carlton Cuse.
The Aftermath From The LOST Series Concluding
After the series concluded on Sunday, fans were in an uproar over footage of the original crash on a deserted beach that played on a split screen while the credits rolled, many were concerned this was part of the show to indicate the plane crashed but no one survived.
This in fact was stock footage ABC played to transition the viewers from the emotional ending of LOST to the evening news. LOST is still the number one most expensive pilot to ever be filmed, ABC was able to make one last bang for its buck on the footage, which inevitable brought many to its website to discuss the matter.
The creators of the show have stated they never planned to answer all of the mysteries as they wanted to leave it up to interpretation. Art is often considered Great over average or good when it allows interpretation. But not everyone will care about the show in that way, only the most loyal of viewers.
LOST will be releasing Season 6 on DVD with an extra 20 minutes of footage from the finale that never made it to screen, which answers some smaller mysteries on August 24, 2010.
