WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?

 AN OUT-OF THE BLUE QUESTION:

WHAT IN LOST WOULD YOU HAVE CHANGED?

 There were plenty of unanswered questions, plenty of angst about the final seasons direction, and curses about the Ending. But generally, what would you as a loyal viewer want to have changed in the original series?

PLOT ELEMENTS? 

Did the show have to have its start as a plane crash survival story? Could have it been set in a different location such as hospital, mental institution, a secluded university campus or secret military base?

Did the show have to have a mixed genre premise? Could it have been a straight drama? Or could it have been a straight action-mystery?

Did the show need to have unclear time travel rules and supernatural smoke monster elements? If you took away the Jacob and the Island story line, would LOST still have delivered on its character goals?

CHARACTERS?

Would you have pared down the ensemble cast into a smaller focus group? Would you have eliminated the Tailies from consideration? Would you have changed the Others from its Ben's cult status to something else (like pagan, primitive natives with special powers such as worshipping the smoke monster)?

Would you have not used flash backs and flash forwards to give us the main characters pre-island stories? Would you have given the broken characters a new chance to live out their lives in their set, reality pain (such as Locke and his paralysis)?

Would you have given a secondary character a bigger role in the main story? Would the Others been better served under Patchy? What if the pilot survived to take control away from Jack? 

THE ENDING?

What did you really want to see in the final episode? Did you need a happy ending or could you have lived with a bitter island bloodbath? Did you need to see a post-island epilogue of the final survivors trying to cope back in the real world (such as Sawyer maybe uniting with his daughter)?

Would you have wanted to erase the flash sideways world in its entirety? Would you like the island stories to end, in context, on the island?

Would you have wanted one last twist - - - such as Hurley in the mental institution playing with an island snow globe?  

Would you have accepted a Sopranos style ending (sudden end to black) which was considered by the show runners?

GHOSTS

There will always be a debate on what the characters were on the island: human or spirits (souls).

But a subset of this debate can be the theory that the main characters did not know they were ghosts or spirits, so they lived a continuation of their lives as humans. Another tangent would be that they were spirits but were on the island to redeem their souls to become human once more.

The latter would be an interesting concept. One of the themes were "second chances."  What if there newly deceased had a second chance to reclaim their human life?

How would one go about reclaiming one's humanity?

If you were an evil person, would you have to do something "good" as in sacrificing yourself to save another?

But if you were a normal person, would you have to do something different, to erase a haunting "regret" in order to be saved?

The island whispers were said to have been trapped souls, such as Michael, after he died. Trapped souls infer that the island was some kind of purgatory where spirits could not move on unless something changed or they were released from their bondage.

If the island was merely a series of "humanity tests," who were the people that passed - - - and left the island as humans? It is noteworthy that Ben and the Dharma group both had a keen interest in island pregnancies. What is human life more than a fetus? It is the start of human life. But children could not be born on the island because their mothers were not human. But the experiments tried to create humans from ghosts in order to find the key to transform back into their human bodies.

Frank survived the submarine explosion and was found by Alpert and Miles, who had decided to continue as planned without Ben who had joined up with Flocke. Frank suggested that they escape the Island in the Ajira plane instead of destroying it. Upon reaching the plane, they repaired its broken windshield and damaged hydraulic systems. This brought the plane into good working condition, allowing Frank to prepare for takeoff. As the plane was taxiing down the collapsing Hydra Island runway, it managed to slow down so that Ford, Austen, and Claire could be pulled aboard. The Ajira plane safely took off just as the runway began to crack; its occupants managed to escape the initially self-destructing Island.

Who were the final survivors? Frank was an alcoholic pilot who should have died in the original 815 crash. Miles was a mystic con man who befriended Sawyer. Sawyer was a vengeful con man who killed the man who ruined his life. Kate was a troublemaker who killed her father and fled from responsibility and justice. Claire was bad daughter (her negligence killed her mother) and bad mother (she abandoned her son and went crazy). None of these characters had any major revelations or changes in their personality or morals to deserve to be "re-born" as humans to travel back to their past lives.

Jack was the one who sacrificed himself so the others could flee the island. He took on the guardian role to defeat Flocke (even though it was Kate's bullet that downed the smoke monster human form.)

The Ajira survivors all had deep rooted mental issues tied to self-esteem problems from events early in their lives. They had a sense of abandonment by one parent; they had family secrets which made their skin crawl. They did not want to take full responsibility for their actions. They wanted to escape in their own fantasy image of themselves.

But everyone dreams about their perfect self. Hurley wanted to be a confident, witty, popular and successful businessman with a charming wife and adoring family. But in the end, he did not achieve that self-image.  The same is true with Locke. He also had a strong longing to have a sense of "family" but he had a hard time gathering the trust of even friendships. In the end, he was alone in the church. He never did find the family he was looking for through all the hardships of the island.

What was the greatest "asset" the Ajira survivors maintain during their island ordeals to gather their ticket home? Frank, Miles, Kate, Claire and Sawyer all kept away from making leadership decisions. They were soldiers not generals. They did not want to seize power or control. That fit into their plan of self-survival - - - but in reality, the thing that tied them all together was being selfish.  They generally lacked consideration for others; they were concerned chiefly with their own personal profit, pleasure or safety.

If true, then "self-sacrifice" was a death sentence on the island. It would be the opposite of common sense or a normal story trope. If only the selfish survived, that would be a bad moral to the story.

But LOST was never really about morals. Characters did dubious things for strange reasons.

If Frank, Miles, Kate, Claire, Alpert and Sawyer were ghosts who passed the island test to regain their humanity, what actually was the test?

They all did survive the judgment (and destruction) by the smoke monster(s). None of them really wanted to seize the island's magic powers away from the guardian. Some of them did kill other people while on the island so a good-evil, right or wrong judgment seemed not to apply. But all of them really had no one waiting for them when they returned home (except for Claire and her son who may be of the age to know his mother had abandoned him in order to reject her). The LOST main story could have been told without any of these five characters. So why did they get special treatment at the climax of the show?

Unless they were always humans trapped in a spirit world. All the other characters on the island were spirits. We know Alpert, who left with them, was a spirit. He became immortal by the gift (or curse) of the guardian to serve him as a go-between with the people he brought to the island. But once Alpert cleared the confines of the island, he began to age. He regained his humanity not by serving the new island guardian or fighting for the black smoke monster - - - he got lucky enough to find himself with an opportunity to leave the island.

And this is why LOST will always have mixed commentary and two sides to any issue. There was no clarity in character traits and story line answers. The ambiguity weaved throughout the series fed the imaginations of the viewers to the point where fan theories were more canon than the show runner's scripts. The stories themselves cast ghosts into the mythology of the series.

The idea that no one survived Flight 815 break up and crash was probable. The idea that the deceased souls could not pass over in the after life because of unresolved personal issues was plausible. The idea that the island ghosts could have a chance to reclaim their humanity is possible.

THE MISSING

Korea's LOST TV series, The Missing 9, is a critical panned and low rating series which the reviews continue to gripe about slow plot lines and very little information per episode. Television series are often copied but rarely reproduced to the original's glory.

Now that the American series has been off the air for a long time (and not in syndication), what are the nine characters you miss the most? What character stories have we missed out on?

In no particular order:

BEN

There is something about a really good villain. Ben's character had the psychotic twist that made him the most memorable character in the series. Michael Emerson played the role to perfection.  He made a short guest appearance into a long running fan favorite. It also garnered him steady work in subsequent network series (though not to the level of fame as his LOST character).

LOCKE

Locke was the original fan anti-hero. The Locke character was the beaten down average Joe who was looking to something more important to break out of his miserable life. His abandonment and loneliness led to dead end jobs which many people can relate to on a personal level. Terry O'Quinn was able to change his character's emotional state from season to season. He was able to adapt an evil character, Flocke, in order to try to get the series to the finish line. Locke's fate at the hands of Ben was probably the most shocking scene in the series.

HUGO

Hurley was the comic relief and the audience's eyes and ears in the series.  For a loner, he got along with everyone. But underneath his friendly but shy demeanor lurked his psychological demons, also fed by abandonment issues. Jorge Garcia was the most fan interactive actor in the series, communicating directly with the fans through his blog posts. Hugo could have been a much more complex character, but in an ensemble cast he was the most charismatic of the second tier characters. His centerpiece episodes had tragic comedy aspects.

KATE

There are two stark camps on Kate: some loved her and others loathed her. But most would agree that she embodied the spunky, independent, funny, tomboyish girl-next-door woman that most men find extremely appealing - - -  to the point of being hurt by her selfish betrayals. Kate was the most attractive character because her charm, guile and persistence made her the best at the game of survival. Evangeline Lilly may have not been the most accomplished actress in the series, but she maintained a level gritty determination that made her a likeable character. The problem some people had with her character was the poor to unbelievable story lines (especially once she left the island).

ELOISE

Eloise Hawking may not be on the top list of main characters, but we miss the point that she always knew more about what was happening than we, the viewers, would ever be told. In that regard, we miss the opportunity to learn more about the island mythology and secrets. Fionnula Flanagan played her mysterious mean character in a subdued fashion which increased her evil quota by ten fold. We only got a glimpse of her back story when she was a young islander. She should have had a flashback to explain her relationship with Mr. Hawking and Daniel's upbringing to be sacrificed for the island. One could easily suspect she could have been the continuation of the Crazy Mom who stole Jacob and MIB from their mother or an advanced smoke monster  - - - which would have answered one of the confusing mysteries: what is a smoke monster?

SAWYER

Sawyer was the protagonist who got under everyone's skin. He was the charming con-man who had a cruel streak. He had a sense of humor, but usually directed at the flaws of other people (like Hurley). He was one of the few characters that actually changed during the course of the series. His growth into a competent adult from a bitter, vengeful child was a testament to Josh Holloway's ability to evoke emotions by mere facial expressions. His character's story had the most open ended possibilities, especially when the plane took off with the final survivors. Instead of the flash sideways world, we missed out on what would have happened when Sawyer returned home - - - what would he have done, and who would he have partnered with?

CINDY

For a minor character, flight attendant Cindy is still the major prize in the claw machine that we cannot capture. Cindy is like a codex to unravel the island mysteries. She gave Jack the extra liquor bottles which were important to him after the crash to be an antiseptic to his wounds. She was also the one who gathered and protected the children from the Others and later, Flocke's killing spree. Kimberly Joseph's portrayal of Cindy was subdued but important clue. Was she an Other planted on Flight 815 in order "mark" the survivors for Jacob? This would mean she would have had direct access to Jacob which Ben did not. Or was Cindy merely a nice woman who quickly adapted to an unbelievable situation with maternal instincts so strong that she kept Emma and Zach from harm. Or, like Eloise, was she a continuation of Crazy Mom, an island smoke monster or a different guardian angel?

WALT

 Walt's ticket off the island was a growth spurt in real life. Malcolm David Kelley  literally outgrew his part! But Walt had abilities that were not fully developed or explained in the series. He could have had a major role (even more important than Hurley being the fan's representative in the show). Just as the Others were interested in Walt and his abilities, so were we. We saw Walt adapting to a "normal" life as a student living with his grandmother. It was a sense of normalcy that Locke could not bring himself to try to get Walt back to the island. In another story flaw, the rule was that everyone had to return in order for the mission to succeed. Without Walt, everyone did get back to the island. But if Walt was supposed to be the keystone - - - who took his place in the final showdown. Apparently, it was Desmond, whose anticlimax "superpowers" was a final season head scratching moment.

EKO

Of the Other 48 characters, Eko had the biggest presence. A contract dispute with producers led to Adewale Akinnoye-Agbaje's early departure from the show. Eko's character had the inner conflict between redemption and rage. If there was a character who was living in a recognized purgatory, it was Eko. We got a good understanding of his character's pain with his gangster flashback which caused the anchor of guilt on his brother's murder hanging over his head for the rest of his life. Eko's complex emotional state of adopting a religious penance while defiant in accepting his fate was perfectly exposed when he was killed by the smoke monster. If Eko had stayed on the show, it would have missed a great show down between Eko, Jack and Flocke for the leadership of the island survivors.

Now, some may ask why not any of the other main characters like Jack, Desmond, Charlie, Michael, Sun, Jin, Claire or Shannon? Everyone has their opinion on how important each character's story and development was to the overall affect on the series. But in this column, the idea is simply which characters and their story potential do you miss the most. In my view, if you had to re-boot LOST with just nine (9) characters, I would choose Ben, Locke, Hugo, Kate, Eloise, Sawyer, Cindy, Walt and Eko. It would make a dynamic, complex character driven show.

LOST BUTTERFLIES

In 1961, meteorologist Edward Lorenz entered a microscopically different value into his computer model -- .506 rather than .506127 -- and discovered that it had drastically altered the results of his weather prediction. His subsequent paper titled, "Does the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?", officially coined the term "the butterfly effect." It is the theory that small events can have significant consequences.

What were the butterfly effects in LOST?  What little change(s) had dramatic effect(s) on the series.

1. The rework of the pilot episode. It was the most expensive pilot produced at the time. The network was going through management changes. It decided to fire the original writer to put the project in the hands of new Hollywood golden boy, J.J. Abrams, whose show runners made a few changes to the script and filmed the first show.

If the regular production company was in charge of the series, the emphasis would have changed from being a Jack leadership role back to Kate being the lead character. It would have been more a show about survival than a supernatural/mystery series.

2. The two-show story arc of Ben's character. Ben was only supposed to be a guest character for a two episode arc. It was to show how the island would change the 815 survivors into dark killers. It was thought that after Sayid went to find the balloon crash site, and learned that Ben was not Henry Gale, Ben would have died at the hands of the castaways. It would have been a commentary on the nature of normal human beings in pressure situations. But since Ben's evil character was so good, he was written into the rest of the series as the villain.

If Ben's character was killed off, the Others series arc would have less meaning and would have probably ceased in a short time. It probably would have truncated the Widmore involvement in the story as his main rival was Ben.

3. The use of flashbacks to tell the back stories. One complaint during the series was that the characters would not ask each other basic questions or want to learn information about missions, etc. If the production team let the characters converse with each other to pull out information, secrets, motivations, etc., the series would have had a different feel and story progression. It would have been more one to one dialog driven shows than the action adventure sequences.

Many believe the flashback technique was used as "filler" to keep the series main story line from collapsing or it was a means to save production costs by using more interior sets.  But when the reliance of flashbacks ran its course, the show runners did something significant to keep the format alive: invented "flash forwards" which led to the slippery slope of the illogical sideways universe story arc.

4. Locke being able to walk on the island. If Locke remained handicapped and in his wheel chair, his character would have never been able to be the fantasy outback survivalist. If Locke remained physically unable to run around the island on missions, his character would have quickly fallen to that of a beach extra.

But the action of giving Locke a "miracle" recovery on the island (as well as a cure for Rose's terminal cancer), it set off a series of theories about the special properties of the island. But it also led to the growing complaints that the writers were not explaining the miracles or supernatural elements. This led to fans breaking into their own story camps and heated arguments on the premise of the show (whether it was real; characters in purgatory; or just all a dream).

WONDER TO GO

In 1977, I went to a large suburban theater to watch the first Star Wars movie. I do not recall what actually motivated me to see the movie, except that that was what kids did on Saturday afternoons.

The old theater had a monster screen and new Dolby sound. It could fit three current theaters into it. It was the last arc of the grand movie palace experience, where the characters and action on the huge screen was larger than life.

I remember it was a very good action-adventure movie. So much so, that I made a point of seeing the next two sequels.  But then after that, I had no interest in George Lucas' prequels. It came mostly from negative reviews and the lack of the original characters involved in the movies.

And that is a point of franchise stories: people get personally invested in the characters that they are drawn to . . . in such a fashion to follow their stories to the bitter end.

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I can guess a couple of major plot twists because I know that Hollywood rarely has a totally original story idea. I have been spoiler free in internet surfing so if I make the commitment to elbow through the mobs this holiday season to see the picture, I will get the full effect of re-boot.

But I am thrilled with JJ Abrams at the helm. As a loyal, old school Roddenberry Star Trek fan, I was disappointed with his franchise reboot to the point of not watching any more of his "alternative" universal thought. It seems the younger generation does not care about alternative canon story lines since the major comic book makers seem to re-boot their franchise characters every couple of years, to the point of total confusion of character roles and motivations. Example, is Batman good or bad?

So I wonder if the new Star Wars movie will hold to Lucas' vision, or will it be a tale of Hollywood Disneyification profiteering, or a mixed bag of hope dreams bruised by formula pole tent movie making.

Great science fiction charges one's imagination. Poor sci-fi clouds the mind.

This new Star Wars movie is supposed to break all box office records. But industry insiders think it will be a commercial flop if it does not make $1.5 billion at the box office. Reports indicate that Disney has strong armed many theater chains to pay higher ticket gate percentages in order to show the film. To be super successful, Disney hopes for multiple viewings by fans and a huge rush of merchandise purchases.

But let's hope the old characters can gracefully hand over the story to the new, younger Jedi characters. Because in the end, it is still the story that counts the most.

LIFE

The age old question is "when does life begin?"

Politically, this question has been hijacked in the abortion debate (which itself was a very early, fleeting theory that the childlike behavior of the main characters showed that they were not really adults but kids projecting themselves as adults in a fantasy world - - - one created because these characters were actually souls of aborted babies who never had a chance to live a life.)

But this is not a post about family planning (if anything, LOST was the anti-family planning show with unplanned pregnancies, abusive parents, foster care, etc.)  

What is life?

 Life is defined as the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death; living things and their activity.

A person's life is existence; either of the two states of a person's existence separated by death (as in Christianity and some other religious traditions) or any of a number of successive existences in which a soul is held to be reincarnated (as in Hinduism and some other religious traditions).

As LOST was not a religious show, more a secular mash-up of Western and Eastern philosophies with a heavy dose of ancient Egyptian death rituals, we should avoid defining life as merely a religious context.

At the base level of all life is this simple formula which I have developed over the years:

The purpose of life is to gather, store and consume energy.

All organisms, plants, animals, humans fit into this simple formula. How each life form goes about gathering its energy needs and resources are the variables in life.

Higher life forms like mankind think about the basic needs in more complex ways. To distinguish themselves from dumb animals, man has created his own mythology about creation, life and death. It was to explain the unexplainable. It was to comfort those against the impending losses (since everyone is born with a death sentence.) It was to create a greater purpose and foster hope for an unlimited future. 

The fundamental purpose of life to pass on one's own life to the next generation. That is the cycle of renewal that most people understand and can fully grasp. It is the belief structure upon death that separates the believers from the non-believers.

Some may think that our existence on Earth is merely an embryonic state in which, like a larva turns into a butterfly (releasing a soul) upon the death stage to the after life. Others believe that man is just a chemical factory of complex neurons that returns to its inert, organic state to be renewed by other organisms. 

LOST is more hopeful than that. At least the main characters found a way to another level of existence in the sideways world. Even if it was purely a dreamlike fantasy after death, where a person's own memories fuel an everlasting loop of dreams, that is still better than chemical decomposition theory.

But what is missing is clear: life still needs to be lived. Lived to the fullest. The LOST characters were anchored in misery by their own regrets and failures. They failed to use their own mistakes, failures and faults to become better human beings. Being better people would have made them happier, fulfilled and loved. They would not be bitter loners just waiting for the end. They would have cherished their moments with their loved ones so as not to care about the end.

Life was described as a bowl of cherries, which sometimes contains the pits. It is navigating around the pits that makes life worthwhile.

DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

One of the themes was good vs. evil. Most literature has this theme in one form or another. It is the basis for most conflict between characters and it gives a writer a redemption road map to change an evil person to change to good.

Jacob was protrayed in white. White is symbolic of good. MIB was dressed in black. Black is symbolic of evil. But things may not be as they appear.

There are various theories that have Jacob as the Bad Guy. And there is plenty of support for it.

Why would a good, immortal angel like Jacob walk up to Locke just after he was pushed through a skyscraper window to land crippled on the ground just to say he was sorry. Wouldn't a "good" supernatural being heal Locke - - - give him the miracle he was searching for?

Also, when Sayid finally found the love of his life, Nadia, in the O6 story arc, it was Jacob who stopped Sayid from crossing the street - - - which allowed Nadia to be killed by a motor vehicle. Wouldn't a good supernatural being protect Sayid - - -  and stop both of them from harm?

And the clearest story of the series about Jacob came from Dogen. Dogen was the man who supervised the Temple. He said that he was a distracted father. He never cared much for his son. But after he was in a traffic accident, and his son was critically injured, Jacob came to the hospital and offered Dogen a deal. He would save his son in exchange for Dogen coming to the island to serve him.

Dogen made the deal.

He would not see his son again. But he knew that his son would live.

This story is a key foundational element that Jacob was not good. Why would someone good make a father chose between his own life and his son's?  Logically, the bargain was Dogen's life for his son's. That means that Dogen would the substitute soul that the grim reaper was going to take to the underworld. That means that Dogen gave up his life in a bargain with the Devil. That Dogen gave up his life to follow Jacob to the island means that the island is Hell.

In Christian texts, the Devil was fallen angel banished from heaven after he had a jealous rage against God. The Devil vowed one day to return to overthrow God and rule paradise. But the Devil was never strong enough to do so. Other texts believe that the Devil was sent to Hell not as a punishment but to prepare human souls for their journey to Heaven. The Devil is a warden for those sentenced to Hell, the portal purgatory between life, death and the after life.

But even the job of being a warden would be a dull, thankless task. Dealing with the worst, immoral and corrupt people for eternity, far away from the paradise he once enjoyed, the Devil would want to find a "loophole" from God's service. The loophole he sought was a person who would take over his job and become the Devil - - - the guard of the island (Hell).

The candidates were good people who could do the thankless job of helping other people through their sins. But Jacob could not tell them. Each soul retains their own free will. For example, Ben's psychotic anti-social behavior did change after he killed Jacob. Jacob's own followers decided not to kill him - - - which gave Ben a chance to change to become a good person. Even in the sideways world, Ben's new attitude was that he needed to make amends for his past mistakes before moving on to paradise.

If one looks at LOST through the "prison" of various deals with the Devil, Jacob, it is interesting that most characters did achieve something that they were missing or looking for in their pathetic lives. Charlie got his own "family" in Claire and Aaron. Claire actually found a man who would love her unconditionally and never leave her. Locke found something he never had: a group of friends who believed and respected him. How each character got to their revelation moments is actually quite sadistic and dramatic, but there is that underlying theme that the characters were pushed into their decisions, deals, with Jacob for a greater purpose.

CREATURES

When you rise in the morning, form a resolution to make the day a happy one to a fellow-creature. - - - Sydney Smith

A "creature" is normally defined as an animal, as distinct from a human being, however it can be used for either an animal or person, such "as fellow creatures on this planet, animals deserve respect."

It can also mean a fictional or imaginary being, typically a frightening one like a creature from outer space.

There is a possibility that the characters on LOST were a combination of both definitions. The main characters could be human, animal or imaginary beings from another world.

It goes back to the survival of one coming to the island. It is debatable whether anyone of Flight 815 survived the crash. However, if one looks back on how other people got to the island, there is also a clue about what dimension the island truly occupies. Juliet was given a massive overdose of drugs in order to board the submarine which would take her to the island. There is no reason for a person to be sedated in order to travel the Pacific in a submarine. It was a possible ruse to kill her and take her spirit to the island. Likewise, Desmond came to the island after being adrift on the Pacific Ocean for weeks, which could also have led to his own demise before reaching the island.

The island could be the bridge between the human world and the spirit world (and the after life).

This nexus point between real, unreal and surreal does touch on elements of the series that are unexplained, unexplainable and unknown.

Theology aside, what happens to a person when they nearly die? There are ample studies of the "near death" experience where patients get to a euphoric dream state where there is a white light. There body is still alive, but their mind (or soul) has left it to start another conscious passage to another place.  The question is the place, for people who don't come back cannot tell their doctors what was that new place.

So in chart form, one can imagine:

LIFE   - - - - NEAR DEATH - - -  DEATH - - - - AFTER LIFE

If one believes that man has more than just a biochemical body, a soul which differentiates man from other creatures, then a body's demise does not mean actual "death" in the conventional sense. A person's mind can live on, and possibly be re-created with a new "body" or vessel.

I theorized during the series run that if one ties the show to the ancient Egyptian rituals referenced in the series, the premise of the plots could center around near death and death experiences in a supernatural underworld. In the near death phase, the characters like the 815ers do not realize they are dead (or they don't accept it), therefore their spirits continue to "live" their past lives in a different dimension created by their collective memories. It is when these spirit creatures actually realize and accept their mortality, do they become full spirits in the sideways world, ready for their journey into the after life. This multi-stage process helps clarify the apparent conflicts within the plot about who dies and what happens to them (such as Patchy dying several times but somehow came back to life to torment the castaways).

By viewing the main characters not as continuations of their past selves, but as spiritual creatures trying to reel in their fate (death) by masking it with subconscious and dream state emotions would be a complex resolution to the characters' overall development.

CONVERGENCE

Convergence?

One of the worst film and TV tropes  is when a character has a very important piece of information, but refuses to explain what’s going on because “you just have to see it or figure it out for yourself.”

To the average viewer, this proposition is almost never true; it’s just a contrived way of dragging out a scene for a dramatic effect or to stretch story arcs with filler material.  In reality, there are very few events that cannot be explained in one sentence.

How many times during LOST did you yell at the screen telling a character to ask an obvious question to another character?!

In their end chats, the producers are keen to say that part of the appeal of LOST was the questions and not the answers. Well, yes and no. Yes, viewers were captivated by the mysteries and unanswered questions, but no, the vast majority of viewers wanted answers to those mysteries and questions. And the funny thing is, any answer would have been okay.

The collision of two parallel universes with the island as a focal point. Fine.
The collective delusions of a mental institution patient roster. Fine.
The surreality of phasing between realms like heaven and hell. Fine.
The overlapping world of invisible dopplegangers. Fine.
It was all a dream. Fine.

A bad answer is still an answer. It is a matter of subjective opinion.

But not to answer is a matter of objective scorn.

Mysteries and questions create the action which must converge with answers in order to resolve the story plot issues. Otherwise, it is mostly a mental roller coaster ride of nothingness, just the fleeting thrill of the plot twists and turns.

If you want to leave the viewers to figure it all out by themselves, then you must give them actual clues and not dead ends or red herrings to get to the answer. Agatha Christie does not end her books with a a blank page after the sentence, "and the murderer is . . ." LOST gets poor marks from giving clues in context and continuity to paint the final picture for viewers.

Some believe that the "filler" or the roller coast ride so to speak dragged down and altered the LOST experience. The idea of the Other 48 tail section passengers was clearly filler. In the Star Trek universe, they were Red shirts (fodder to be killed off). The back story of the Dharma folks was immaterial and irrelevant to the castaways story of survival. The back story of Jacob and his brother was also not a focal point to move the viewers toward Season 1 and 2 answers. The time travel story arc was a continuity mess and weakest part of the show.

If you strip away the layers of filler paint, what is left on the canvas?

The producers claim that the big picture was The Big Question: life and death.

But they did a poor account of communicating their position on the meaning of life and the purpose of death. There was no moral center in the stories. There was no judgment or punishment for sins. There was no redemptive moments. TPTB that the ending was more spiritual than anything else. But that is not an answer, it is a white wash because spirituality can mean thousands of different things to a thousand different people. How did Jack become "spiritual?" He never did either in life or in death. He had no religious convictions or contemplation of the universe during the series. So it is specious to say that the show was about Jack's spiritual journey.

The only thing that converged in the end was Jack's soul to his body in some after life church. But that does not answer how or why Jack got to that point of existence, or for that matter, what existence Jack had before entering the church.

Perhaps the writing of the show was parallel to early first person shooter video games, that run through various levels of game play (the action) with no real end point or goal.