LOST Finale Discussion (Spoilers)

Television, Movies Games and Books Lost
#61

I guess for me there’s a difference between a guy who murdered a bunch of people (who wouldn’t even be there if Jacob didn’t bring them all there) because he’s stuck on this weird crazy island with weird nutty island mojo and the title EVIL INCARNATE who’s going to destroy everyone around him. He definitely did everything to manipulate others (which is also something I find annoying about both MIB and Jacob - being all manipulative and all Zeus like deciding people’s ‘fates’ - be it through killing them or luring them to the island) into doing what he wants, and did some terrible things like killing a whole bunch of people - but you’re right, it is for this one and only goal - leaving the island after being trapped there for centuries. So in that sense, sure, he’s a bad, bad dude. But in a way, not superhumanly so, just humanly bad - pretty much any type of garden variety human murderer with issues (but also a murderer under some pretty weird circumstances that was set up by whatever game Jacob was playing with him).

The problem I have is that other than Jacob’s word (that MIB will destroy the world if he leaves), I don’t think the show did enough to show me that indeed is Smokey’s end goal, and that he is some sort of a master devil who’d destroy the world if let out (and would succeed). Given this guy, smokey or not, had been stuck there for centuries, I can see his entire goal was just to escape the island and get his freedom - which was expressed lots throughout the show, once MIB found out his home isn’t the island - and not some world domination/destruction goal that Jacob believed to be. So, at least for me, I don’t think it’s completely far fetched that in experiencing the real world outside of the island without crazy mothers and weird island mojo for the first time in ages, that Smokey will cease to be all smokey like and function like any other guy (and be obsessed with the iPhone4, or porn (hey, here’s a guy who’s been sexually frustrated for centuries too! :smiley: No wonder he’s poofing around killing everyone), or something!). :smiley:

#62

The impression I got wasn’t that the danger stemmed from what Smokey would do once he got off the Island - the danger stemmed from the fact that the only way for him to leave the Island was to destroy it - and the act of destroying it (putting the light out) would destroy the world. Now - why that is? No idea.

#63

See, that is probably why the season as a whole is frustrating for me - we’re talking about the danger that is Smokey wanting to leave the island that may or may not destroy the world, but it leads right back to all that magic crap that were never explained.
Why is Smokey evil? Because he was in the pool of light and is now Smokey. So he’s EVIL in capital letters. Look, he killed all these people. That’s bad, isn’t it?
What is the pool of light? We don’t know. It’s Magic!
Why is Jacob’s game consisting of Smokey having to kill a bunch of people in order to leave the island? Who knows. But you can trust Jacob, he is the guardian of the island - but yet leaves it often enough so he could recruit a whole bunch of people (as early as from their childhood) as some kind of weird bait for Smokey to kill.
Why is Smokey unable to leave the island to begin with when Jacob could? Eh, we don’t know. Something about Jacob. Or the light. Or something.
Why is it the only way for Smokey to leave the Island was to destroy it? Eh…because something about Jacob and his game?
Why would destroying the Island (and the magic pool) destroy the world?
Hm…because the writers deemed it so? It probably won’t, but just in case, we’re going to have to imprison Smokey on this island til the end of time.

I guess that is why I would like to think that Smokey isn’t the devil and could have had a chance at being happy watching Avatar in an IMAX theatre with his girlfriend far away from the Island. If I were to believe Smokey is indeed EVIL and must not leave the island, then the show would have needed to do a much better job of explaining all that crap to justify it. And I guess that’s why I’m frustrated with the notion that Smokey is evil - ultimately it’s that underlying frustration with the lack of explanation of the logic of the show’s many plot points and in particular, the focus of this season on Jacob and MIB if it all ended up being explained with magic!pool!of!light! (even though I was emotionally satisfied and am ultimately ok with the finale).

#64

//youtu.be/mbLbbNVRmtY

Sorry if someone already posted this…

#65

That made me Howl with Laughter.

#66

You can never show this to my wife. NEVER!

#67

That was very funny! And it’s only half true.
Ok, maybe mostly true. And I say that as very enthuisastic Lost fan !! :slight_smile:

#68

And see, I totally get where your frustration stems from. The basic plot of the entire series is pretty murky (at best) and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But it doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it does some because of two things.

  1. My reason for watching this show was never the mysteries of the Island or the mechanics of the plot. It was always about the characters for me. Their time together and their journey from who they were in the beginning of the show to who they ended up being. The mechanics were always just background and catylists for growth - external forces that tested those people and forced them to move forward and individauls or perish (sometimes literally). Why Jacob brought them there or what the island really was were not as important as the fact that things happened to them and they reacted, good or bad. I was always okay with not knowing the answers because the characters didn’t know the answers - and I was along for the ride just like they were. And in the end they didn’t find out the answers to some of the questions - so neither did we. And that too was okay because…

  2. Real life is like that. Sometimes things happen in real life and there is absolutely no explaination - or there is but we as individuals never learn those explainations. I feel like if the Island actually existed and I were trapped there - and then I got off eventualy - I might actually never know what was up with the Island - because there is no one to tell me. No writers to explain things to me. I might go my entire life and NEVER know what was really going on. But in the end - if I died and was able to reunite with the people that meant the most to me in my life, and be with them forever - that would be the best I could ever ask for.

Having said that (sorry for the rant) I do understand your questioning of the whys and wheres and hows. And if you want to imagine Smokey could have lived his life off the Island in peace - well that’s your take on the story so I’m not going to argue with you about it anymore. :slight_smile: I will end with this though - if that really is the case - well I guess it makes me sad because that means that Jack died for nothing. But, I guess that’s okay too because it was really all about the journey anyway…

#69

I have to agree with you- for me it was about the relationships, the growth of the characters. The most interesting part, and what moved me the most, was remembering where all these characters started, what they meant to each other, and where they ended up.

All the questions about the island were intriguing and exciting, but what held me was, as you said, the journey. All in all, a most satisfying story.

#70

Oh, I agree with that at least. I do watch Lost for the characters (even though I still want Kate to die. :smiley: How frakked up is that that I want Smokey to live a happy life outside of the island, but I want Kate to die a miserable death? Hey, she is a murderer. hee.), so in that respect, other than Jacob, Smokey and especially all those Temple people, I’m happy with the character arcs for the main players in the show. That’s why the finale was for me emotionally satisfying (while mentally frustrating as heck). I still cried tears of joy seeing Sawyer reunite with Juliet, seeing Jack die with Vincent by his side, etc. Ah, I have to go watch that scene again now.

I only wish they managed a better balance between the two - since emotionally satisfying and mentally satisfying aren’t mutually exclusive! For me, that is where the last season of Lost (especially after a kickass season five which succeeded on both counts for me ) failed - aced it in the character arcs, flunked it in the plot arcs (In this case, I’m not even looking for precise answers - I prefer having these vague answers we’ve been getting throughout the series, especially knowing that they all ended up having to be explained by ‘magic’ and ‘religion’, which is worse). In any case, I would have been equally disappointed if the finale was mentally satisfying but gave us no resolution and closure on the character arcs. In a way, because of how the season went, I was already prepared to be disappointed by the finale, so I was a lot more forgiving of it - I would have been a lot worse if that wasn’t the case. :smiley:

More selfishly, I guess I wanted Smokey to have a happy ending (and Jack wouldn’t have died in vain! Smokey would have been pretty decent in my scenario. :D) because … I really, really, don’t like Jacob. :smiley:

Hee! I love that video.