Episode 17 - The End (1)
28 May 2010
Review
Present: Sawyer goes in search of Desmond but only finds MIB and Ben. MIB follows Vincent's tracks to where Rose and Bernard have taken Desmond. MIB threatens to kill them unless Desmond comes with him. They meet up with Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sawyer and they all head to the heart of the island together. MIB and Jack lower Desmond down into the light. He pulls out the cork which apparently caused the light to stay on. Once the light goes out the island begins to shake. MIB is suddenly human and he knocks out Jack and runs. Miles and Richard find Frank and head to Hydra Island where they meet Claire.
Flashback: Hurley takes Sayid along as he picks up Charlie for the concert. Hurley then pushes Sayid to break up a fight involving Boone and Shannon. Shannon and Sayid recognise one another and their former lives. Meanwhile Juliet comes to give Sun a sonogram and suddenly Jin and Sun remember their former lives. Desmond helps unload Christian's coffin and then takes Kate to the concert. While Jack and Juliet are needed at the hospital David and Claire sit with Desmond and Kate. Claire gives birth to Aaron with help from Kate and Charlie who now all remember their past lives. Desmond tells Eloise they plan to leave but he won't take Daniel with him.
The Good: The opening montage contrasting where the characters are in both worlds was a nice scene setting device.
The flashsideways scenes were in their own way delightful reconstructions of the events which had great emotional significance on the island. Sun and Jin remember their baby, Claire and Charlie do too and Sayid and Shannon get a surprising reunion. The most pleasing aspects for me were the small touches. Hurley's look of utter delight and affection for Charlie was spot on. Charlie's reaction to being woken by Charlotte was really funny, both for his childlike sleepiness and his instant hopeful horniness. And huge credit to Juliet who managed to slip effortlessly back into her role and play a pre-island version of herself. She really did play the two parts of her life so distinctly that you can spot it straight away. Post-Others Juliet was emotionally controlled with a hard edge, more often than not quite sarcastic and unmovable. Here she is immediately soft and caring and emotionally present. It was nice too to see Eloise' concern for Daniel, that would of course be her major concern. The flashsideways is giving him the life that she was forced to take from him in the real world. So even though she is aware that this isn't reality she can't bear to leave.
On island there were good moments too. I liked Kate shooting at MIB when she sees him. Why wouldn't she? I liked Jack admitting that he had learnt the lesson of trying to change reality. Now he accepts that this is the way it is and he has to live with it. He also admits that Locke was right about everything which is as close as we will get to the ending of the show which seemed most obvious for so long. It was a nice touch to have dead bodies surrounding the heart of the island, a reminder of the island's long history and the fate that awaits those who get close to its heart.
It was very appropriate for Lost that a big storm would be coming for the show's denouement and of course just for old times sake Desmond and co were seated at table 23.
The Bad: As nice as the little reunions were they aren't the direction I would ever have taken the show in. Is that a valid criticism? It is as much as I can say that those emotional moments happened in the past and for me aren't worthy of being re-celebrated. Or to put it another way, I believed that those births and love stories were part of an overall journey and not the be-all end-all for those characters. Their loving recreation isn't the focus of my interest in the show and I suspect many other viewers will agree.
Shannon and Sayid being reunited is an interesting choice. Sayid got over her and left the island and found Nadia again. It seems odd to jump him back to this previous love. It's not a bad moment in itself but it rather underlines the way Sayid's character did not get an adequate conclusion.
The Unknown: MIB suddenly becoming human once the light goes out is an interesting twist and makes sense. Now he can finally leave the island but would he still take evil with him? Or is that evil released because the light has gone out?
Desmond doesn't seem to know what the flashsideways is which is also interesting. It doesn't give the clear explanation we might have expected for his zen like behaviour on island. Now we don't really have a clear idea of what he has been thinking since he woke up.
Best Moment: Charlie waking up maybe.
The Bottom Line: Building nicely for the end.
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