THE FUTURE

There are only four more episodes of the sci-fi comedy Futurama left. This show did not take itself too seriously because it was a comedy. It had distinct characters. It also had core science fiction world standards that did not change from series to series. The show itself was canceled several times, but brought back to life on cable. In some respects, it was the little show that could. The future is coming to an end.

In relation to Futurama, LOST probably would have not made it if it started this year. There are plenty of science fiction, vampires, monsters and end of the world shows on television, but none of them have the cult following to get a canceled show back on the air. LOST started out with a high note because of the pilot episode - - - plane crash survivors on a mysterious island with monsters and a polar bear. Network television was a lull (just before its fragmentary viewership declines of today).

Around Season 4-5, I always thought that the rabid fan base would have had at least one person take the show and re-edit it into chronological order. Put all the flashbacks into place to see if the story structure made any clearer sense. Even today, there are fans who make Star Trek fan episodes.  I thought one college student or underemployed person(s) would put LOST in a final fan show reel. But to my knowledge, no one ever did that.

It would have been more complicated by the insertion of the flash sideways story arc. That would have to be a separate, independent story.

But in the chronology of events, it seems that the sideways world as being the show's conclusion point was in the island's chronological future. The sideways characters were waiting for their characters to remember their island experiences in order to move on through purgatory. The sideways world was first shown in Season 6 so many assume that it was created at the end of Season 5 (when Juliet said "it worked.") Her passing into the after life at that moment helped create a non-traumatized fantasy world we called the sideways existence.

That would be one explanation. The other is that the sideways world was created first. Lost souls in the after life were given a chance to find new relationships and strong bonds needed to pass through their after life journey. The island was merely a test of departed souls a kin to traveling through the Egyptian underworld for judgment.

So, the options are that the survivors were alive on the island, but as people died they went to purgatory to create the sideways realm, waiting for their friends to join them (but somehow not remembering the island experiences at all). Or, the sideways world was created first by greater beings who sorted the lost souls into groups and put them on a spiritual island to allow them to learn, live and grow.

The latter seems to make more sense since all the characters "awakened" in the sideways world. There is no evidence that their physical forms left the sideways existence to the island. There is no parallel universe explanation for their feelings, thoughts or experiences from the island realm. The apparent end game of the series is to find a group of people close to you (the church reunion) so you can move on in the after life.  The lost souls' future was molded by their pasts. Their pasts were recreated on the island so they could work through their personal issues. It was when they remembered the bad times as well as the good, did the souls reawaken in the sideways world. The island was a dream scape compared to the sideways world.

But then again, we have no clue what the real future of the characters was going to be after Christian opened the church doors. Would their memories get erased again? Would they be transported to heaven or hell? Would they go to another spiritual plane of existence to continue to work on their personal problems?

They would not have gone back to the island like Groundhog Day. In the sideways world, when the plane did not crash, we saw a glimpse of the island under water. It was gone. It's purpose complete.