Lost's finale was just so plain weird and wacky, it deserves its own entry in my continuing season finale guide. Worry ye not, UK viewers, I won't spoil it for you.
Most of the second season has been dull. Sorry to say that, but it's been dull (and, it turns out, mostly pointless). The last few episodes have reversed that with several hours of shocking carnage that have wiped out all kinds of popular characters you never thought would get the chop (assuming they don't make miracle recoveries, hide under large objects, etc). It's all been really rather good. The finale was some really tasting icing on the cake, though.
First off, don't expect any answers to questions you might be having. You won't get any. At least, you won't get any that make any sense or that couldn't be elaborate bluffs. Yes, you will find out what happens if you don't keep pushing the button down the hatch, but you won't really know why. You'll find out why the plane crashed on the island, but again, it won't make too much sense. Etc etc. Lots of revelations. Lots of flashbacks where you see characters' pasts intertwining. My theory of a live-action role-playing game is starting to make more sense, too, given the number of wigs and false beards that people are starting to sport.
But it all doesn't matter because all the new questions are even more interesting and send the show in all kinds of odd directions. I got the feeling while watching the finale that Lost was turning into 70s weirdo Bermuda Triangle show The Fantastic Journey. Look at the picture above. That's a giant statue of a foot (we're assuming there used to be more to it than that, but who knows). Now count the toes (click on the picture to make it bigger, if you need to). See what I mean? Weird. And there's a whole lot more weird where that came from (this was purely incidental weird that doesn't affect the plot in any way, BTW, so don't think I've ruined anything for you).
It's going to be a long wait for the next season, given they're going to try to run it without re-runs (January start instead of September, next season?) and the ending is particularly gripping, so I'm giving this a high tension rating
Tension rating: 10/10
PS One of the great things about Lost incidentally, is that it uses Australian and other non-American actors. Apparently though, there are enough Australian actors in the US for them to be used to play non-Australian roles in Lost, too. I say this because the finale casts Alan Dale (Jim from Neighbours) as a posh English bloke. Odd.
PPS Am confidently expecting an article from Lucy Mangan to appear in The Guardian in about 18 weeks or so about what she'd like to see happen in the finale. At about 1600 words for a double-page spread and at the standard freelance rate for The Guardian, that would be about £350 or so that could be mine if I wrote it right now. But I'd never pitch it because it would be a complete waste of time and space for everyone including the readers. Sigh.
Updates and related entries
July 21, 2006: In the UK, Channel 4 is only halfway through the second season of Lost. But you can find out what's going to be happening in season three, thanks to a TV Guide interview with exec producer Carlton Cuse. One...
June 2, 2008:
A review of the finale of the fourth season of Lost
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