Maybe I’m getting crotchety but I do not seem to like the endings of
long serialized series. First Battlestar Galactica and now Lost. I
really liked the end of 24 but it’s not in the same category because
each season stands more or less on its own so did not have the long sweep of
these other shows.

Spoiler Warning.

First off, I did not mind that they didn’t answer all the questions
(e.g. why did the numbers on the compass win lotteries and appear in
so many places?) or plot inconsistencies (e.g. why didn’t Jack turn
into a smoke monster like the Man in Black despite “Mother’s” warning
of going into the bright light?). My main disappointment is that I
have two problems with the flash sideways from the point of view of
the story telling.

First, in the flash sideways, Desmond seemed to be the only one who
knew what was going on (and then Hurley but only after learning from
Desmond) and was instrumental with everyone having their awakenings
and getting together in the church. However, Sun and Jin didn’t need his
help and found their way from the hospital to the church. So did
Sawyer and Juliet.

Christian said that the characters created that place so they can be
together at the end. And it was clearly a timeless place because they
all died at very different times (Shannon and Boone very early, Hurley and Ben
presumably very much later). So why were some (Ana Lucia, Daniel, Ben)
“not ready” when they could allow any amount of time to elapse before
making their way to the church?

We know Desmond is special so I didn’t need to know “why” he was
enlightening people and bringing them together but the way they told
the story, he seemed to be central to the plan until we got near the
end and then he was unnecessary for many of the characters. Either
they could all meet by coincidence and become “aware” or there needed
to be an agent but why both?

My other, bigger disappointment also related to Desmond and the flash
sideways and that is the connection between the sideways world and the
island world. Again Desmond seems to have an awareness of both worlds
and knows he is playing an important role. The story cuts between both
worlds and both are drawing to their own conclusions at the same time
and the inference is that there is a connection between them. I figured
that something from the sideways world would be necessary to help
“good” triumph over “evil” in the island world. But there was no real
connection despite red herrings like Jack’s neck wound that he got in
the island world and also appeared in the sideways world. I was very
disappointed that there was no connection that affected the plot.

I did like many of the little character moments like when Hurley meets
(and then tranquilizes) Charlie in the sideways world. But plotwise the
finale did not work for me.