OUT OF SYNC

In biology class, students were required to dissect a frog. By cutting open the bloated corpse, students were supposed to learn how the internal organs worked inside the frog.

If we take the series as the frog, we can find three distinct organs or story lines:

1. The island crash survivor story arc which was the beginning of Season 1.

2. The Dharma-Others, Ben vs. Widmore story line which took root in the middle of the series.

3. The sideways story arc dominated the final season.

These are three distinct stories which really do not mesh well together.

It may have been better to break a part each of these three main stories into their own self-contained mini-series.

I think the overlap of the stories (in an attempt to amp up the drama and conflict with the 815 survivors) made things too complicated and muddled over time. The initial conflicts seemed to get overwritten then dropped as the series continued toward the Ending.

For example, the Ben vs. Widmore "war" was promoted as an end-all bloodbath with deep seeded roots, but it sputtered and really was never presented as much more as a board room clash over the remains of the Dharma assets and the Others loyalty.  The final conclusion was Ben's petty assassination of Widmore, but that did not change the direction of the show or create any lasting impact on character development.

If you kept all three dramas separated, it may have made a clearer focus on the actual characters (in a character driven show). If the plane crash survivors did not have to deal with outsiders, but merely try to cope with survival and creation of their own new civilization, there could have been as much conflict and action that was not juiced by dangerous outsiders or black smoke magic. If the Dharma-Widmore-Ben-Others conflict was carved out as a separate story (without the time travel 815ers interventions) that may have concluded in a better fashion (possibly, with no one left on the island if Ben and Widmore truly went to war.)  And the sideways story arc needed to really separate itself from the forgotten character back stories to show a real alternative for each character (a real lesson to viewers that choices do matter in one's life.)

Season 1 and 2 could have been 815 crash survivor centric. Season 3 and 4 could have been Dharma-Widmore-Other-Ben flash back island history in conflict/war. Season 5 could have been the sideways alternative. Which would leave Season 6 to weave these resolutions together.

The main 815 characters could have learned the history of Dharma-Others in Season 3 by stumbling across the empty barracks and records/journals of those who fought those battles. It would be a lesson plan on how not to survive on the island by petty jealousy, power plays or betrayals. The sideways alternative could have been positioned as the main characters "dream" scenarios of how their life was, or could have been and what it might be if they were rescued. Since the survivors were not going to be rescued from the island, each character would have a lot of down time to imagine what happened to their lives, their regrets and their lost future. The sideways would not be a place in the after life, but the subconscious desire of each individual.

Then how could these three distinct story modules come together in the final season?

Simple. After years of being on the island, the 815ers are rescued by a passing freighter which was blown off course in a storm. As the 815ers tale of survival is told, it brings back the prior survivors of the Ben and Widmore more to the 815ers on the mainland, to share what happened to them when they got back "home."  The final season would involve how the survivors would cope coming "home" to the mainland - - - how their families had changed, how their jobs were lost, how they "didn't fit in" and then how they missed their fellow castaways.  Culture would build them up as instant celebrities, then bring them down as flawed characters out of touch with current society.

There could a final reunion in an LA marina. The main characters could meet to discuss their problems fitting in to their re-booted lives (which probably in some ways mirrors their lives prior to Flight 815). There also could be former island survivors like Ben who give the forlorn castaways the ultimate choice: to return to the island.

Each character's final decision making process would be the climax of the show. Who would stay and who would give up their re-newed life on the mainland, for the harsh life on the island? Who would step up to be the new (or old) leaders? Who would tearfully break the final bonds of friendship to stay in LA? And that is how the three story lines could sync together.