The Meaning of the Lost Finale and Series, Part 3

Okay, after reading other reviews, everybody is coming with this conclusion about the Lost Series Finale. It is that the Island exists. Sideways World is kind of purgatory where time has no meaning. That part I understand. But what this means is that the show now kind of sucks. I mean there is an Island where smoke monsters exist, paralysis can be healed and you can survive a nuclear explosion! Yes, I know it's supposed to be paranormal. But at least with a movie like Harry Potter, they tell you that magic exists. The problem is that the writers used reality based flashbacks, flash forwards, and sideways to ground the show. And then they teased us with science fiction concepts, only to end it with this New Age crap. Did they explain anything significant about the Island? No. Aaaaaaaaah! And the end was saccharine and contrived. Everybody is in the church with their significant other. Jack dies on the Island but reunites with Kate in Sideways World. I'm getting cavities. He can't even die alone. Vincent, the yellow lab has to comfort him as he moves onto Sideways World. This guy (DabramahBull) on YouTube does a great job explaining the way I feel.

Alternate Endings to Lost

Spoiler Alert. First, let's see the real end of Lost.



Here's Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof's "Alternate Endings" to Lost from Jimmy Kimmel's show.



How about Jimmy Kimmel's Alternate Ending?



I like the alternate endings better.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Review

I'm not one who says videogames will make bad movies. I believe some games are great ideas for movies. Halo. Half Life. Grand Theft Auto. Some videogame movies also have a history for bad films. Super Mario Bros. Doom. So when I watched Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time which is based on a 2003 game, I was mildly surprised. It didn't stink, in fact it was alright.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Dastan, the adopted son of Persian King Sharaman. (Ronald Pickup) The king's brother George W. Bush convinces Persia to invade the City Alamut because he believes it has weapons of mass destruction. Um. sorry, that didn't happen. The king's brother Nazim (Ben Kingsley) convinces his nephews and stepbrothers of Dastan to invade Alamut because he claims they are selling weapons to Persia's enemies. During the invasion, Dastan captures a magical dagger which causes the person wielding it to go back in time for a few seconds. Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) has the duty to protect the dagger and the secret of the city.

Dastan is framed for the murder of the King. The other princes order his arrest. Tamina helps him escape. But her motive is to get back the dagger and protect the secret of the city. They go on a journey to clear his name, save the city and some hankey pankey.

Director Mike Newell captures the videogame's platform jumping with many scenes of Dastan running and jumping ala parkour. The problem is his staging of the fight scences. First they're shot too close. A good fight is like a dance. I want to see the bodies in action. Second, there's way too much CGI and fancy editing in the fight scenes. I would rather he do it the old fashion way, with more stunt men. The story is well crafted, intriguing and it's romantic.

Performances are good. Jake Gyllenaal takes the material seriously and it shows. You're interested in his plight. Gemma Arterton is an exotic beauty whose performance radiates sincerity. Ben Kingsley, in this kind of role, hams it up but what do you expect? Gandhi? English accents of the actors give the movie a classic feel. One particular fun performance should be noted. Alfred Molina (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spider-Man 2) plays a kind of Arabian Donald King. He is a hoot and nearly steals the movie.

It's not as good as this year's How to Train Your Dragon but I would not mind seeing a sequel. An enjoyable movie. The grade is B Minus.

The Meaning of the Lost Finale and Television Series, part 2

Michael Emerson who played chief Other Ben, recently said on "The Attack of the Show" that the Island was real. Okay, this blows up my theory that everyone on Oceanic 815 died in the plane crash. So according his version, then the passengers on Oceanic 815 died at different times. When Jack dies on the Island, after saving it, he goes to Sideways World where he meets his friends. I know, it doesn't make sense from a time perspective. But if you accept time has no meaning in Sideways World then you can see how this contrived finale works. And don't ask me about the nuke. I don't care anymore. Anyway, here's the interview.

Game Reviews - E3 2010 - Movies and TV

The Meaning of the Lost Finale and Television Series

Namaste. Here are the big answers to "Lost." And by that I am talking about the main concepts of the show. First, those of you liked the science fiction elements in Lost can now skip the DVDs and buy Star Trek DVDs pre-Abrams. Why? We can now say that Lost is a religious television series. Second, we can all agree that Sideways World is kind of a purgatory since the castaways are all dead. Finally, I am not going to explain all the other mysteries because frankly I don't give a damn.

1. "Guys... where are we?," Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) asks about the Island. To answer your question, Charlie, you're dead. Your plane crashed on the Island. Now it could be fate, the word on Charlie's finger bandages, that you crashed on the magical Island but guys, your pilot was not Sully Sullenberger it was Gregg Grunberg.

"Plane" of Existence. First, let's talk about a big hint dropped in season two. It was the introduction of the Dharma Initiative, the mysterious organization set up to study electromagnetism, psychology, parapsychology, meteorology and zoology. Note that members of the initiative use the greeting Namaste. Dharma and Namaste are Hindu expressions. Dharma means upholding one's righteous duty and Namaste is a greeting recognizing the divinity in a person.

From those hints in the show, we look towards how Hindus view the afterlife. It seems that there are multiple levels beyond the earth. There is also the idea that bad karma leads to punishment in the afterlife. Now, the show is not just about Hindu religion but is a mishmash of different religions. However, some religions also have various planes of existence after one dies.

Okay, so how does that prove that the passengers of Oceanic 815 died in the crash? It's because of Sideways World. In that plane of existence we know that they are all dead. The whole series was told back in flashbacks that occurred before the plane crash. And if you noticed, most of the passengers had bad karma. The show had themes of redemption. The Island was a test or a chance at redemption. It may have been punishment. But once Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) detonated the atomic bomb in season five, they were all hurled into Sideways World. That's why her ghost told Miles, it worked. Finally, the last scene in the finale "The End" (appropriately named) accompanying the end credits is of the beach and plane wreckage. The beach is empty. A sign that from the beginning, they were killed in the crash.

And don't forget that Locke was crippled before the crash. He's on the island and now can walk. That can't happen in our real world.

2. "Time has no meaning here." Soran (Malcolm McDowell) Star Trek: Generations

Hold on. How can Jack (Matthew Fox) be on the island and Sideways World at the same time? For that matter how can Hurley (Jorge Garcia) be guardian of the island and be in Sideways World at the same time? Well, remember in the finale, when Jack meets his dead father, he asks why the passengers are all here now. "Well, there is no now, here." See clip below. So time has no meaning. You die in the Island plane of existence, then move onto Sideways World. Yes, it's a cheap way to bring the whole cast together since some of the Church audience were not on the plane and make one big saccharine happy ending.

Detonating the bomb, did reset the future for the castaways. It allowed them to move onto Sideways World and land in Los Angeles. At the same time it allowed the Island to give Jack one more chance at redemption. Again, ignore time since it has no meaning. Jack is hurled back from the seventies to 2007 where he passes his test as Guardian of the Island by defeating the Smoke Monster, who is evil incarnate. When Jack dies on the Island, he moves onto Sideways World.

3. And They Lived Happily Ever After. Now you've noticed this season, that Sideways World is actually a more positive lifetime for many of the castaways than the Island. That's because of positive karma. You see, good acts in the Island world sowed rewards in Sideways World. So when Jack's father opens the door at the back of the Church, they move on, perhaps to an even higher level of the afterlife, maybe Heaven.



Wait a minute, you ask. Jack's father says that some of those in the Church died before and after him. How can that be in your theory, Bernie? We are basically now talking about Desmond and Penny who weren't on the plane. Like I said the show has so many mysteries that the creators heaped on us, there's no point in going over all of them. Some of the questions, I believe are caused by discontinuity by the various writers. And just recently, ABC said they put the last scene of plane wreckage to transition the moving ending to the news. ABC indicated that Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof had nothing to do with it. Aaaaaaaaah! Was that a big enough scream? Okay, ABC why put a picture with plane wreckage as a soothing transition to the news? Okay, ABC how did Jack, Sawyer, Juliet, and Kate survive the nuclear blast? I'll believe it when Cuse and Lindelof finally explain it.

Update: There's a consensus that the Island was real. The show did not explain what the Island was. So smoke monsters exist, there's cure for paralysis and you can survive nuclear explosions? People, even with "Harry Potter" they tell you magic exists. Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof won't even explain the Island in broad terms? Okay, it's some type of cork in the bottle of evil. But what about the magical stuff? Aaaaaaaah! Six years of watching the show and all I got was this contrived New Age crap?

Namaste.

When Lost Jumped the Shark

Spoiler. You've spent six years watching Lost and were praying for a great series finale. Unfortunately, you got a show with New Age religious overtones. It looked like a show that was going to go heavy into wormholes, time travel, parallel universes and electromagnetism. But no. Sideways world is some type of purgatory where the castaways get together for a happy ending. This doesn't explain why Hurley is now protector of the island when he's dead and in purgatory. Unless time is meaningless and Hurley joins the group after he dies which kind of makes him a god. Update: There's a consensus on the web that Sideways World was a purgatory where time has no meaning. That means when Hurley dies he can meet up with Jack at anytime. How convenient? The Island according to many is real. Don't ask me about how they survived the nuclear bomb. Awful, just plain awful.

So when did Lost jump the shark? That's where a television series like Happy Days went bad. In Happy Days it was an episode where Fonzie literally jumped a shark on skis. It starts where we finally meet Jacob (Mark Pellegrino, above) in the flesh and also his nemesis, the Man in Black (Titus Welliver), in the fifth season episode "The Incident." (2009) The show finally jumps the shark in the sixth season episode "Across the Sea" (2010) Now the show has become a full blown religious allegory. Don't you wish the show's writers had hinted at this New Age religious stuff way before the last season? It's quite a jolt. And it doesn't fit the science fiction material developed in the first five seasons. Memo to Bad Robot. Please keep Damon Lindelof away from Star Trek 2.

Lost Series Finale Review

SPOILER ALERT. Okay, you've spent six years watching Lost and trying to figure it out. What do the numbers mean? How come there's a polar bear on the island? How come Hurley never loses weight? So did we get answers from last night's series finale? Sort of. I'm going to review the final episode and discuss the meaning of it. So if you don't want to know about the ending, stop reading until you see it, then come back.

The show bounces between sideways world and the island circa 2007? Most of our castaways in the sideways world are happy. Whereas, back on the island, Jack (Matthew Fox) has become protector of it. Smoke Monster aka Fake John Locke or Smokey (Terry O' Quinn) wants to get off the island. He's evil incarnate. He forces Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) to enter the lighted tunnel which gave birth to him. Jack helps with the confidence that Smokey will be destroyed by the act.

Back in sideways world, Desmond continues to bring the castaways together. He believes that they will remember their lives on the island. Wait a minute. They were miserable on the island. They're happy in sideways world. Why do this? But I digress. The memories cause them to recall their relationships and they all head to the church for a reunion.

On the island, Smokey's plan backfires as he now becomes mortal. About to escape, Smokey stabs Jack. But one cant' forget that Kate (Evangeline Lily) is good with a gun. She kills Smokey. Jack tells the survivors that he must restore the island. He takes Hurley (Jorge Garcia) and Ben (Michael Emerson) with him. You see Desomond had removed a giant plug that extinguished the light. Remember that the island is like a cork to keep out the evil in the bottle. The other survivors hop onto a plane and leave the island. Jack knows he's going to die in the effort, so he tells Hurley that he must become protector of the island. Hurley asks Ben to be his assistant. Ben happily accepts.

In sideways world, the survivors all meet at the church. Ben tells Hurley he can't enter the church. Jack is told to enter through the back by Kate who tells him that they are moving on. Jack enters a room where he meets his "dead" father, Christian Shephard. (John Terry) The room is full of Christian artifacts. Jack is told he's dead. Hmmmm. Jack's dad is named Christian. But I digress. Jack reunites with all his friends from the island in the church. As they all celebrate, the camera is forced backwards to a child's snow globe. Sorry, that's the finale to St. Elsewhere. Okay back to the show, Christian moves down the aisle and opens the back door where a bright light similar to the gold color beams over the survivors. Back at the island, Jack stumbles out of the tunnel and onto the beach where the camera zooms in on his eye echoing the first shot of the series. The eye closes. And that's the end to "The End", the final show for Lost. Or is it? Watching the credits you get a shot of the plane wreckage on the beach. Could that be a hint?

Like all of "Lost", this series finale was emotional and well acted by the cast. The writing was good in the way it handles the dialogue. But it's the finish that gets lost. First, I don't' believe that the heads of Lost, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse knew where it was going to go after the pilot. The show at one point embraced science fiction. The mysterious Dharma Intiative was into meteorology, parapsychology, zoology, and electromagnetism. But this season, the show veered wildly into New Age religion. Going to the light is something out of the canceled "Ghost Whisperer."

So what about the end? I think the fans who thought the whole thing was about purgatory were right. The plane wreckage as the credits rolled seemed to give me the push on this theory. The passengers of Oceanic 815 are all dead. Kate's line about moving on is telling here. The golden light as the door of the church opens comes from afterlife experiences. Go to the light when you're dead. Ben can't go into the church because of all the evil he has done. He must complete certain tasks before he can leave. So he's stuck in purgatory or sideways world.

Okay, this is where my theory gets somewhat blown up and why this last show kind of stinks. If they are in purgatory, assuming they all died in the plane crash, why is Hurley left in charge of the island? If he's dead, how can he be left to take of the island? Didn't he leave with the rest of the survivors to go into the light? Argh! "The End" doesn't provide many answers but unfortunately starts more mysteries. Update: There's a consensus on the web that the Island was real. Sideways World was a place where they could all get together after dying. Oh, and time has no meaning in Sideways World so Hurley could become protector of the Island and meet up with Jack. Don't ask me about how they survived the nuclear blast. This is lazy writing. That explains nothing about the Island. The grade will be changed to D.

This show went off the rails by taking the religious angle. Combining science fiction and religion is not a good idea. That's because they don't match. Faith and science are usually at conflict. This last season finished with a jumble of religious New Age ideas. Look, I didn't want all my questions answered but can we make some sense of a little of it?

As far as series finales go, "The End" is not as bad as the X-Files (it's' about creation of super soldiers?!) but not as good as the bittersweet Cheers. The bar in Cheers doesn't get blown up but still exists. Sam (Ted Danson) tells a customer that he's missed last call and he's sorry, "We're closed." Great end. The X-Files jumped the shark at season eight but started to get bad during season six. Lost started to go bad during season five when it veered into religion. The grade for the series finale, "The End" is D. The grade for the entire series is B minus. Namaste.