I liked it a lot.
I didn't *love* it. I'm having a slight case of "That's not what I would have done!"-ness. (Let us henceforth call this odd sense of fandom-entitlement "The 'Matrix Reloaded' Effect" [though I was fine with that ending too], or even better, based on Neil Gaiman's wonderful essay on the subject, The "George R.R. Martin is not Working for You" Problem). But I really liked it.
Part of the reason why I really liked this finale is simply because it made a lot of people angry. This is a show that never did the expected or "easy" things; characters could be downright unlikeable for large swathes of time, story arcs went down unexpected paths, weird stuff was introduced and never again addressed (there is now a small, steaming crater now where TV Tropes' Big Lipped Alligator Moment page once was.) I will admit, I am human and I would have liked a few more explanations (no, seriously, why were there so many ancient Egyptian things on the Island, what the hell was going on with Walt, and just what the heck *was* Smokey?) A lot of people said they feel as though the writers screwed them over by not addressing many of the stranger plot twists and have even started to resent the series as a whole. (Seriously. Take a shot when you run into a comment like, "They didn't address my pet mystery so now the whole series that I have been 100% on board with for longer than most people spend in college sucks and we hates if forevers!") My thinking is, if "screwed over" means six years of terrific television with smart science fiction and some of the best characters I've ever had the pleasure to meet, then I would like to get screwed more often.
That came out wrong... O.o
I like how some people will be debating those final ten minutes for weeks. I like how those final ten minutes are destined to be misinterpreted -- even though, and I don't mean to insult anyone, if you didn't understand what was actually going on there, I am in no position to help you. (Tellingly, a LOT of negative comments online are from people who just watched this last episode out of curiosity or otherwise didn't pay much attention to the series as a whole. It's pretty much your own darn fault for not liking it.) I've been on this ride since season two (my curiosity about the series was piqued when I saw the late, lamented "Best Week Ever" summarize the season finale), and I'm going to miss my weekly visits to The Island.
Listen, I was doing fine until around the twenty-five minute mark. Then it got really dusty...
(Oh, by the way, I totally called it. In a manner of speaking.)
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Sketch of the Day! This has nothing to do with "Lost", but it's still funny.
