Where There's Smoke

I've got my head sorted over the end of Lost. "Event" episodes of shows require some crunching. I needed to put in extra crunch time to get at the bottom of why I was so dissatisfied and what it comes down to is expectations.

Beware: here there be spoilers.

I really wanted an explanation for the Smoke Monster, something more than oh, he's that guy who got chucked into a hole. But this was a drama about characters persevering through incredible shitstorms of difficulty, not a science fiction adventure series.

Lost wasn't a comedy either, though there's a good argument for spinning one.

Emotionally, the finale makes sense. We see beloved characters reunited for a happy ending. Jack is resolved with his dad, Christian, who explains why they are all at church together: Jack created it so they could all go up into the light and spend eternity together. This was about Jack becoming a better person. Everything else was dressing. I wanted intellectual thrills but those went away with Mr Eko when he was stomped by Smokey.

Benjamin Linus staying outside the church at the end suggests that for some the journey continues and there's no reason for them to be at or inside the church. Not everyone important is there, like Michael or his son Wally who is like twenty feet tall now and nobody would believe he was the same teenager from first season. But Jack and everybody who made it to church on time did become better folks, even John Locke, healed by Jack in the sideways timeline.

Locke is the first one to believe that the island is a special place. When the Smoke Monster corners him in season one, he isn't killed but sees a bright light, the island's true nature. He does get killed later, by Linus, but appears to be resurrected when Smokey assumes his form. Believer to Beelzebub. Jack heals him in the sideways timeline (long story) and redeems the man, which was very nice of him to do.

This was a show about heart. The finale feels right, and that is just what the creators wanted to accomplish. In other words, it was a chick flick, which is cool but why not just call it Days of Our Lost. That would be truth in advertising.

Lost Again

When they killed Mr Eko, it really tore out the heart of Lost for me. Halfway into the fifth season I stopped watching. Too much soap, not enough dirt. Back when Mr Eko was around, a complicated thug-priest who carried a big stick carved with bible verses (cool, right?), the big question was Jack and Kate: are they or aren't they? Oh yeah, and what the frack is going on with the smoke monster? Good, simple stuff. They had to go and kill the show's best character and just like that it's the most mixed-up soap opera since Dynasty. (I know I wasn't the only one seeing Joan Collins and Linda Evans when Kate and Julia had their knuckly tussle.)

The smoke monster did it. The smoke monster killed Mr Eko. That damn, dirty smoke monster.

So now I'm watching again thanks to a buddy who loves the show. Hey, America loves this show, it was inevitable. I'm a good American and between watching Lost's final season or going to a Tea Party, I'll go with entertainment.

Anyhow, last week I went to Hulu and watched the episode that reveals what the smoke monster is. "Ab Aeterno" also gives up the secret recipe for Richard Alpert's anti-aging cream but finding out the smoke monster's secret identity was what we've been waiting for since the show started. Good thing they didn't wait until the series finale to give us this tidbit. Boring Tuesday nights are a thing of the past and America smiles as one.

Now I'm waiting for the ghost of Mr Eko to come back with that big stick and lay it upside the smoke monster's head.