A WORD FROM THE CREATORS

 At a recent virtual panel at NY Comic Con, LOST showrunner continued his advocacy for LOST. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse said there no plans for a reboot or spinoff of the series which had its 15th anniversary of its premiere. However, they would support another show in the LOST "universe" if someone had a great idea to convince Disney/ABC to do it.

 Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were asked what they both think about any possible reboot or spinoff. 

"It would not be a good idea for us to go back," Cuse said. "This comes up all the time and, I think, Damon and I have been very consistent and forthright on this topic. We told the story that we wanted to tell."

Over six seasons, LOST followed a group of survivors of Oceanic flight 815 who crash landed on an island. As they tried to go back home (and then get back to the island), it was consistently a top-rated show on ABC.

To this day fans love re-watching and discussing the series' few unsolved mysteries — including one Cuse and Lindelof said they'll never answer about the identity of the people on the Season 5 outrigger.

While they have no interest in rebooting "Lost" or exploring any spinoffs, Lindelof said he would be supportive of anyone who pitched a good idea. 

"If somebody else comes along who has a great idea to do something set in the 'LOST' universe and sells that to The Walt Disney Company, they will have our blessings to do that," Cuse said. "We see no reason to do it. It doesn't feel like there's anything that we have left to say that's worth saying. We did it."

Lindelof said Disney has never come to him with any other show pitches since the show wrapped up in 2010.

"For the three final seasons of the show — four, five, and six — we put so much emotional energy into ending this show," Lindelof added of why they have no need to revisit this world. 

After 15 years, the show continues to be a iconic series from the past. To re-create a show with that much detail and location shooting would cost double or triple the old budget (which was already high for its time). Another re-boot problem would be that it was a serial show, where each episode was linked to the next. This made it impossible for secondary revenue like television syndication, which demands intact single episodes of shows (in case people cannot watch everyone in a row).

The LOST universe itself is a cryptic concept. Fans still debate whether it was science fiction or fantasy. Fans still debate whether it was real, imaginary or a hybrid psychotic event(s). For all its flaws, it would be very difficult for another producer to re-create the magic of the Island and its mysteries.

REBOOT

Television is a sausage content factory that continues to re-boot old product.

One reason is that it is cheaper to produce if your company already owns the original content.
Second, if the original was popular, the theory is that you have a built in audience.
Third, executives love the concept of "evergreen" shows that continue to sprout spin-offs (like Star Trek).

Damon Lindelof was asked about the possibility that ABC would in the future re-boot LOST.

He understood the concept of the reboot, but he would not want to be part of it. He said his team tried their best to give closure to their characters. Any reboot of the series, he said, should not include the original characters for that reason. He said it would be interesting if another show runner took the mythology of the island and did something with it.

To be honest, a LOST re-boot would be a terrible idea.

For the two ends of the Ending spectrum, those who loved the character finale to those who hated it, those fan bases would have no compelling interest to watch a new LOST with their lasting strong feelings remain from the old LOST.

And if someone really wanted to do something different with the LOST castaway shell, well TBS tried and failed with the comedy, Wrecked.

ABC would like to try to re-mine the series "brand" for some profits. LOST was never a series that lent itself to syndication. As an hour long drama with twisting maze of plot lines, people cannot get into the series if they miss an episode or two. Half hour sitcoms like Seinfeld or MASH are syndication gold because each episode is a self-contained story.

Part of the problem with re-doing LOST is that much of the big premise foundation items are subject to open debate. A new LOST would probably have to answer those basic story elements which in some way would undermine the original series.  For example, if the reboot is about the Island, the new show runners will have to state what exactly is the Island: a UFO, a dimensional riff in time-space, a magical place, purgatory, the afterlife, hell, a military base like Area 51, virtual reality grid, the imagination of a comatose patient, the madness of a mental patient, or something else.

For example, if the new LOST states that the Island is actually an alien base used for centuries  to experiment on human beings (with the guardians as the immortal beings whose technology equates to "magic" to humans), then the themes of free will, self-determination and redemption of the original LOST characters are diminished since they were basically lab rats for superior beings. The "happy" ending may just as well have been a mental image implanted prior to extermination and autopsy.

If the new LOST was to follow the blueprint of the old series, would anyone really watch it? If another plane load of characters crash lands on the Island, what would be different? And the new show would challenge the alleged canon that the Island "was closed down" by Hurley and Ben.

It would be hard to take the DVD extra to create an entire series about Hurley and Ben closing down the island. Where is the drama in that?

Lindelof was clear he did not want his old characters or even any of the actors return to a reboot. He said the writers tried hard to complete each character's journey. Sending them back for another try on the island would lead to confusion between the stories. (In Star Trek universe, different spin offs kept their story lines apart but through the science-fiction manual of the Federation principles and technology. In LOST, there was not a deep set of iron clad rules and sci-fi principles to build a new tangent series.) So a hard reboot with the old characters would not work. And a series that focused in on the early days of the island would be fraught with open questions that were not answered in the original series, like who were Crazy Mother, Jacob and MIB?

Nostalgia for the series is fine. Continuing debates on show theories is fine. But to recast the show into something else seems to be a terrible idea.

X-FILES LOST FINALE

In the world of nostalgic reboots, X-Files would have been an easy choice. It was a network cult sci-fi series. The original creator was on board. The original cast was on board. But this 6 episode miniseries was totally overboard.

Instead of one continuous six hour plot, it had a shotgun approach of several desperate stories which in themselves had no climax or interwove connections. The last two episodes were a trial balloon for a younger spin-off series starring agents Miller and Einstein, younger clones of Mulder and Scully.

As a result, the charm, the humor and intensity of the original series was lost. Only one episode that dealt with werewolves had any resemblance to the old series.

In the rapid fire finale, science snapped its finger to make an alleged miracle vaccine in a matter of minutes, then a desperate race by Scully to find a dying Mulder. But the big questions of why the pandemic started and how was behind it were left in the darkness of the viewer's confused imagination.

But worse was the LOST ending, where the light from above followed the camera directly into Agent Scully's right eye. Cut to black. Sopranos-style open ended ending. Terrible.

You don't know who is commanding the space ship. You don't know if they are present to help or hurt Mulder or Scully. You don't know whether they are aliens or the government.

As consumers of popular entertainment, viewers are entitled to a story that contains a beginning, a middle and an end.

A cliffhanger is a literary cop-out by the writer-creator. It is horrible trend that needs to put out to pasture just as this miniseries has done with the X-Files franchise.

THE TURN

In the first Act of "LAX, Part One," this happens:

[The Previously on Lost ends with the detonation of the bomb - then cuts to the clouds, as the view zooms out to Jack. Jack is then interrupted by Cindy.]
CINDY: So how's the drink?
JACK: Uh... it's good.
CINDY: That's not a very strong reaction.
JACK: Well, it's--it's not a very strong drink.
[She hands Jack a single Vodka bottle.]
CINDY: Don't tell anyone.
JACK: It'll be our secret.
[As Jack pours the Vodka into his drink, the plane shakes causing him to spill a little. Jack buckles his seatbelt.]
CINDY: [Over P.A.] Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has turned on the "fasten seat belts" sign.
[Rattling stops.]
CINDY: [Over P.A.] Please return to your seats and keep your seat belts fastened.
ROSE: It's normal. My husband said the planes want to stay in the air.
[Jack chuckles.]
JACK: Sounds like a smart man.
ROSE: You be sure and tell him that when he gets back from the bathroom.
JACK: Well, I'll keep you company until he does. Don't worry--
[The plane starts to shake again, this time more violently. Luggage falls from the overhead compartment and Jack grips his seat, almost in anticipation. The turbulance ends and Jack breaths a sigh of relief.]
ROSE: You can let go now.
[Passengers murmuring.]
ROSE: It's okay. You--you can let go.
[Jack let's go and sighs.]
JACK: Looks like we made it.
ROSE: Yeah. We sure did.
[Bell dings.]

In the previous story, the plane does not survive the turbulence and it crashes on the island.

But in this scene, the plane does not crash. It lead to many viewers thinking that LOST was a) jumping the shark; b) introducing another sci-fi element in parallel universes; or c) giving us clues that the what we had previously seen was not true (like reworking a dream over and over again) or d) that the atomic bomb somehow re-set the time line so the plane would not crash.

But in retrospect, there are several key elements in this short scene that have great import in trying to understand the big premise.

What does Cindy represent?
What does Rose represent?
Why are they comforting Jack, who is a man used to pressure situations?

We know that Rose has terminal cancer. She has come to terms with her fate, that she was going to die.

We know that Cindy represents as a flight attendant, a kind person who works in the sky, which could symbolize a guardian angel.

We would learn later that Jack would have his inner demons tear a part his soul in fits of rage, addiction and regret. Perhaps, this is the point in time where Jack actually dies.

Instead of walking into a tunnel of light, Jack is rocked and jolted into "letting go" by a kind and wise older woman who herself is on the ride to the other side.

And so this flight is merely symbolic of Jack and the other soul's journey into the after life (as represented by the sideways world). The transition period of not truly understanding one's own death is the key to inner peace that is required in the sideways world in order to "awaken" one's spirit to move on to heaven.

LOST BY THE WAYSIDE

If there is one continuing problem with the LOST conclusion is that it did not solve the biggest issue of all: what was the big premise of the series?

Was it purely a real life drama of survivors of a plane crash?

Was it a science fiction adventure story about survivors of a plane crash?

Was it a fantasy story, like the Wizard of Oz, where people are transported to a different time, place, dimension, reality?

Was it a surreal to absurd hybrid of various elements of drama, science fiction and fantasy?

Depending on how one views the story premise, there are different answers to the big remaining questions.

Readers of quality fiction demand that the author give me believable characters, in realistic situations, reacting naturally to harsh events, solving problems within their intellect or means, and finding a final resolution to their adventure-quest-issues.

LOST gave us none of that.  No one can tell us (and TPTB refuse) what the story was really about.

If one takes every character and every back story as a puzzle piece, the resulting pieces do not fit together. It is a jagged mosaic of conflicting facts and circumstances. There is no clear, direct conclusion to any of the story plots. There is no great "ah ha!" revelation of character development in the end. Season 6 muddled and whipsawed through new character back stories in an attempt to get some substance to end the series, but those tangents had no material bearing on the final scenes.

So viewers are left to their own devices, their own opinions, and their own questions.

THE ENIGMA OF WALT

We were constantly told that Walt Lloyd was "special." So much so that the Others kidnapped and allegedly did experiments and tests on him. His father, Michael, went murderously insane trying to get his son back. There was a lot of action around the Walt character, a lot of blood shed and tears - - - but for what end?

Walt was born on August 24, 1994 to Michael Dawson and Susan Lloyd. In some respects, Walt came from a broken home. His parents never married. Michael went from job to job while Susan became a highly paid professional. After Walt was born, Susan took him to Europe. Two years later, Michael was in a car accident after they had an argument. At that time, Susan told Michael that she was going to marry her boss and she wanted his consent so her husband could adopt Walt. This would terminate all parental rights to his son.

Michael tried to fight the process, but in the end he gave up. He thought Walt would have a better life with his mother.

We were shown that Walt has some unexplained spooky powers as a child. The prime example was that he would think about birds and suddenly they would smash and die against the nearby window. It was so weird that his step-dad Brian freaked out and sent 10 year old Walt to live with Michael when Walt's mother died of "a blood disorder." Brian told Michael that "there's something about him (Walt). Sometimes, when he's around, things happen."

We are never told whether Walt's special powers are real, imagined, coincidental or magical.

On Flight 815, Michael is bringing Walt back the United States to start a new life.

Walt's character was the flash point in the first four season finales:
1) he was kidnapped by the Others;
2) he escaped the Island;
3) he appeared as a ghost to John Locke;
4) he was visited by Locke on the mainland.

Walt had special abilities to see or control nature. But he also may have had the ability to appear as a ghost image after he left the island.But he did tell Shannon not to "press the button." He had knowledge of the Hatch, but did not warn Locke about not opening it. (One could argue that ghost Walt was merely another ruse by the smoke monster to manipulate Locke).

It could be said that Walt was the spy within the group. Who would consider a young boy as a dangerous smoke monster? But that would assume that Walt was not alive, but we were shown Walt leaving the island with Michael after Michael betrayed his friends.

For a boy who never wanted to leave the island, Walt had no indication that he wanted to return to it. Did the Others traumatize him when he was kidnapped? Did Ben want him off the island because Walt's special abilities would lead to a coup like Ben achieved against Widmore?

Or was the real problem with Walt is that the actor grew up during the first four seasons which did not fit the script time line of the island. That may be why the mulligan of Time Travel was introduced into the series as a Hail Mary pass to keep the character of Walt relevant. But that failed. All the build up about Walt being a central character, a major clue to unravel the mysteries of the island, were scrapped when he left the island.

When he was captured, the Others said he was safe, like Emma and Zach. But the children taken to the island were never truly safe; especially when Flocke was on its rampage in Season 6. We have discussed the treatment of children by TPTB throughout the series. 

Walt makes no appearance in the sideways world. One could assume that he was alive. Or one could assume that he was not ready to move on, reconcile with his father who was trapped as a whisper on the island. But Walt never wanted a relationship with Michael. Walt probably wanted to punish his father for abandoning him as a child. As a result, some theorize that if LOST was about the a mental world of anger, abandonment and punishment, then the series could have been found in the vivid imagination of a special child like Walt.

Walt turns out to be an early captured pawn, and a discarded piece on the island chess board. He has no role in the conclusion of the island 815 saga. Walt was built up to be a central pillar of the answers to the island's mysteries, but he literally out-grew his purpose.

A HERO'S JOURNEY

In any epic adventure story, the main character (the hero) must go through various stages or ordeals that allows the reader/viewer to see the hero take on adversity and come to a rewarding change at the end of his journey.

Does LOST fit into this epic story telling format?

If Jack is the centerpiece character for which the LOST universe, what was his journey all about?

First, there was nothing harsh about Jack's background. He came from a wealthy home. His father was a highly compensated surgeon in Los Angeles. He did not have any real obstacles growing up. He did not have the issues of a poor child facing daily adversity in the inner city.

Second, Jack's home life is typical for that socio-economic class. When a father works hard in a hard stress occupation such as medicine, there is some disconnect between father and son. Jack was an only child so that could have added pressure on him to succeed. It also would possibly cause some isolation since he did not grow up with siblings to interact with on a daily basis. But being an only child in an upper middle class family in itself does not cause "hardship" usually associated with a hero about to take a life changing journey.

Third, Jack's personality apparently was to be competitive with his father. Jack took it personally that he had to be as good, or better, than his father. Jack followed in his father's footsteps, including working under his watch at the same hospital. He never broke the parental bond, even in his career path. This shows that Jack at some level is insecure. This insecurity could be the result of his comfortable upbringing.

It is not that a person in an easy lifestyle can be the center of a personal conflict. For example, Dan Akroyd's character in Trading Places gets his world turned upside down, from country club to poverty, caused not by his own actions or behavior but at the mere whim of his alleged mentors. But Jack never gets turned inside out by an out-of-character situational change. As a spinal trauma surgeon, he takes on matters of life and death on a daily basis. The bloody aftermath of the plane crash would not be outside the realm of his past experience in coping with the human condition.

Fourth, Jack's position of authority never truly changes after the 815 crash. Despite the appearances and flashback statements from his father that Jack lacked leadership qualities to make life and death decisions, Jack as a surgeon is the captain in the operating room - - - everyone on the medical team would follow his instructions and lead in treating a patient. So it is not realistic to believe that Jack did not have the leadership skills to take charge in an emergency when 815 crashed on the island. The proof is that the survivors immediately gravitated toward him because he took his instinctive action in helping other people. Again, this is not a revelation for a physician.

So we have a talented surgeon thrown into a medical emergency situation which he handles like any other competent physician would in a code red emergency room triage. Instead of a clean hospital, the setting is on the sandy beach of a tropical island.

Fifth, what was Jack's "true" island ordeal? At first glance it seems a simple question. But it hard to answer. What were the bad things thrown at Jack to solve? There were many injured people - - - which is normal based on his medical experience. He treated the people as he found them so that was not an "ordeal" but another day at the office. There were many scared individuals in shock after the crash. Again, he deals with people in shock all the time. Then, there is emotional state within the group to do something to help rescue - - - but Jack, in treating accident patients, had experience dealing with emotional family members who ask difficult questions. The only "burden" placed on Jack in the first days after the crash was the role of "group leader." Again, Jack was used to giving "orders" to stabilize a patient's situation. It really would not be a big stretch for Jack to use his knowledge and experience to stabilize the beach survivors into work groups. In fact, he solidified his role with his "live together or die alone" speech.

The role that Jack now plays is a father figure. Why that would be an emotional burden on his soul is stated in the estranged relationship he had with his now dead father. He never had the opportunity to set things right with Christian. Jack was the cause of his father's fall from grace (but from a medical-legal basis, Jack's career should have also been over as he was part of the "cover up" of Christian's errors). Why Jack would fell more "pressure" as an island leader is not really clear. He would get into paternal type conflict with other group leaders, such as Locke, but Jack's character never changed as a result of these strategy conflicts.

Six, if the burden on Jack's soul was his decisions causing other people to die on the island, then it was a burden shared by all of the survivors. Jack's decision to move to the fresh water of the caves saved the survivors from an early demise, but that important event was orchestrated by the smoke monster in Christian's form. Jack continued to chase the fake ghost of his father from the moment he left Los Angeles until the moment he closed his eyes for good in the island bamboo forest.

So if Jack's entire journey was one of self-reflection on his strained relationship with his father, that seems like a weak foundation for a six-year long series. Further, he never truly resolved his relationship issues with his father.  He never broke the bond of his father's shadow because at the end, he needed his father to guide him to the next level of existence.

Jack's island life mirrored his previous life as a surgeon in LA. Jack's role as a leader of the survivors was not that much different than his role as operating room leader. The only change to Jack was the "guilt" of leaving people behind after the O6 rescue. This guilt drove him to drinking and drug use. Why this guilt of leaving people he only knew for a few months behind would drive him nearly insane is hard to believe. And the only way to resolve his guilt is to go back to a hellish island prison seems illogical for a man of science. Is the personal toll that the guilt inflicted on Jack (by his own hand) the adversity that a real hero needs to overcome for the greater good?

Probably not.

But then, viewers will state that Jack's personal sacrifice of himself to be the temporary island guardian (which cost him his own life) was needed to save his friends. But if you look objectively at the facts, most of Jack's "friends" from 815 were dead (Locke, Jack, Charlie, Jin, Sun, etc.) The only people allegedly "saved" were Kate, Sawyer and Claire - - - but it was Frank, as the pilot, that actually got those people off the island (rescue), not Jack. And Rose and Bernard were not "rescued" by Jack's demise - - - they were content to be left alone on the island. So what did Jack's death accomplish? It punted the responsibility of the island to Hurley. But does a hero delegate his role to another lesser character to finish the task? It was Hurley, through Desmond, through Charlie, that awakened the souls in the sideways world, not Jack. Jack was literally the last person to the after life party.

So when commentators believe that the LOST story was all about Jack, then what was Jack's story resolution? In the end at the church, there was no great moment of remorse, apology or understanding with Christian. It was just a light bulb moment that Jack realized that he was dead, that everybody was dead. If the message is that death solves all human problems, then Jack's story is not unique.

Jack as a hero figure went through many missions and conflicts as the leader of the 815 group, but those events and adversity never truly transformed Jack into a different human being or allowed him to gain a special insight that he was lacking before his adventures began. And his reunion with his father at the church was anticlimactic. It did not solve any of his daddy issues.

The only thing that occurs at the end is that the other people in the church "waited" for Jack. They waited for him to realize that he was dead in order for all of them to move on in the after life. At best, they believed that Jack was the glue that kept their group together. At worst, it was a plot device to create a happy ending. One could argue that all the people in the church led very lonely lives. The greatest moments of friendship, for good or ill, happened because of the crash of Flight 815. But that is not an epic heroic journey, but more like a nursery rhyme.

CHARACTER OF ROSE

There was only one true "adult" in LOST and that person was Rose.

She was clearly a secondary main character (if one defines main characters as those who wind up inside the after life church). She stayed in the background, but when she made her presence felt in asserting questions to the other cast members or had a calming influence when times of stress. She was one of the few people brought to the island who immediately felt at peace.

Rose Nadler is a 50 year old woman, married to a dentist, Bernard. Rose was diagnosed with terminal cancer; no chance of recovery. Bernard arranges for an Australian honeymoon, but he has the alternative motive to take Rose to a special "healer." Bernard appears to be "lost" without Rose in his life. So he is desperate to save her so they can live a long life together.

But Rose is pragmatic and stoic. She is aware of her condition and she accepts her fate. She just wants to live the remaining days of her life in peace.

Immediately after the 815 plane crash, Jack finds Boone standing over Rose. Her heart had stopped beating, and Jack takes over administering CPR because he says Boone was doing it incorrectly. Boone suggested they make a hole in Rose's trachea and insert a pen to help her breathe to which Jack agreed only to get Boone would be out of his way. Jack managed to revive Rose but ran off to help other survivors while Rose struggled to breathe.

She is later seen by a campfire kissing Bernard's ring. That night, Rose was present when the survivors heard the sound of the "Monster" in the jungle for the first time. The next morning Rose notably mentioned, it sounded "awfully familiar."

Sometime later, Jack invited Rose to the memorial service taking place that night, expressing his belief that everyone who was in the tail section was killed. Rose told Jack her husband was in fact alive, saying "they're probably thinking the same thing about us." Her statement that Bernard and other tail section passengers were still alive turned out to be correct. Some may consider Rose's "faith" in the outcome of reuniting with her husband to be natural, or a mere hope. But one must consider that if Rose was aware of her own demise (the only way to eliminate the pain of her cancer was to die) then she possessed special knowledge of everyone's existence that everyone else had failed to recognize.

Rose was quickly aware that her cancer is gone. In her back story, the outback healer tells Bernard that the special "energy" in Australia could not cure Rose, but maybe a different kind somewhere else could help her. There is no medical basis for electromagnetic energy in curing terminal cancer.  So when Rose becomes aware of her cancer free state, she does not rejoice or proclaim it a miracle. Her subdued perspective is a key clue to one main theory: that Rose was the first 815 "survivor" to realize that she died in the plane crash and that the island was part of the after life.

When she sits alone staring out into the ocean, Jack tries to comfort her but she actually comforts him. She "knows" that her husband is "alive" and they will meet again. She knows this because she believes Bernard is also dead. Whether the island was heaven, purgatory or hell, it did not matter to Rose. Her one focus was to be reunited with Bernard. She considered the rest of camp drama as a nuisance. She does not concern herself with rescue, getting off the island or even fitting in to a faction within the larger group.

Rose's acceptance of the logical conclusion about her cancer being extinguished is the mirror opposite of John Locke's illogical conclusion that a plane crash "healed" his paralysis. If there were any wishful thinking, it was with Locke. Rose continued to have an independent and distant view of the island world. And once reunited with her husband after 50 days, she had no real use for anyone else. So it was natural that Rose and Bernard would head off and make their own jungle cottage when the island characters flashed to 1974.

When the 815 Dharma people stumbled upon them in the jungle in 1977,  Rose and Bernard showed them the small cabin in which they had been living with Vincent for the past three years. They expressed that they were happy living peacefully on their own, away from the violence and drama that the other survivors had always been involved with. Rose showed no signs of concern about a nuclear weapon on the island, and promptly directed the group towards the Barracks, saying farewell. Again, this was another clue that Rose realized that a weapon of mass destruction was irrelevant to their safety because she knew they were already dead. She had settled down into her little patch of heaven in a hellish conflict between self-absorbed lost souls.

There is one bothersome aspect to the Rose and Bernard story line. They were happiest being away from the other 815 survivors. So why did they wind up in the church with them?  Would they have been more content to stay on the island forever?

Rose was symbolic of the common sense attitude that was severely lacking in most of the characters and story arcs of the series. She had more motherly instincts than actual mothers on the island. She had more influence in her quiet resolve than the boisterous leaders trying to convince people to follow them.

If one is trying to find answers to the mysteries, one must look to the background for answers. Rose, as a key background character, gave us more clues to the premise of the series than the more active main characters.

CHARACTER OF CHARLIE

Charlie was the one character with the most "near" death experiences. Or death experiences, depending on how you fall in the Big Premise debate.

Let's review the near death/death aspects of Charlie:

1. He was a heroin addict and took near lethal doses when his life turned sour.
2. He survived the plane crash.
3. He nearly got sucked into the airplane turbine (like another passenger would do).
4. He was nearly beheaded by a piece of falling plan debris (after engine explosion).
5. He survived two perilous ordeals with the smoke monster.
6. He was attacked by a vicious swarm of bees.
7. He was nearly trapped in a cave collapse.
8. He was hanged by Ethan (and had to be revived from death by Jack).
9. He nearly fell into gorge with old suspension bridge failed.
10. He was speared in the throat by a Rousseau trap.
11. He had a large bag of rocks fall on his head.
12. He survived the dynamite blast at the hatch door.
13. He survived the Hatch explosion-implosion caused by Desmond's fail safe key.
14. He survived Hurley's van plunging down a hillside.
15. He almost drowned saving a drowning woman in the ocean.
16. He was almost hit by lightning bolt on a clear day.
17. Charlie drown in the Looking Glass radio room.

Charlie was the luckiest or unluckiest man alive, again depending on one views the LOST world.

It is hard to pin down what purpose the Charlie character was supposed to bring to the table. If one thinks Desmond was the catalyst to fuel the conclusion in the sideways world, that would underestimate the role of Charlie, who got Desmond to awaken by nearly killing him by steering the rental car into the harbor (to recreate his own Looking Glass death scene).

Charlie's past was one of a religious upbringing in Northern England. It appeared that his closest friend was his brother, Liam. They created a one-hit wonder band, but drugs tore it a part. When Liam left to start his own family, Charlie was alone and consumed by his own drug addiction to the point of hospitalization. He went to Australia to reunite with his brother and rekindle the band, but he was rebuffed.

It is clear that Charlie was a follower for his entire life. He had a longing to belong to something bigger than himself. He wanted to be useful, to be needed, and to have someone who could rely upon him. That is why he gravitated toward helping Claire. From the beginning, he was protective of Claire. Then, most fans believe he fell in love with Claire because she gave him something he desperately wanted: a family.  He says that the best moment of his life was when he met her.

Like most performers, he lacked social skills. He was cheerful and liked to make jokes to ease the atmosphere. He became friends with Hurley.

If Charlie was supposed to represent a religious contrast, a crisis of self, then the series missed this plot line. He was a wayward child who did not practice his religion. His lifestyle rebelled against it. He lost his faith due to his drug obsession and band crisis, but went whether it was real or not he may have regained it as his last action before death was making the sign of the cross.

Was Charlie's death the sacrifice that saved his friends? No. Widmore's crew still came to the island. Flocke continued his rampage of terror and manipulation.  Desmond's vision of Claire leaving the island with Aaron proved false.

If the island was a place of death as alluded to many times during the stories, then it is clear that Charlie died FOUR times on the island: in the plane crash, hanged by Ethan, in the Hatch explosion, and drowning in the Looking Glass. Since Charlie experienced the "most death," he was the one who was the most likely to haunt his friends like Hurley - -  to be a personal messenger, guardian or spiritual protector. Since he knew about his death, that the island was death, he could accept it (which is the hallmark of awakening in the after life) which meant that Charlie was the key in the sideways story to get the people to the church (in an illogical and inconsistent way since Charlie truly awakened second to last when Claire gave re-birth to Aaron backstage at the concert).

If this was Star Trek, Charlie would have been cast as the classic red shirt. His purpose was to show the dangers to be faced by the other (more) main characters.

CHARACTER OF THE ISLAND

One of the least discussed main characters of the series is the Island itself.  No one has answered Charlie's pilot episode question of where they were, or what the island was . . .  but it seems that the Island is a personification of something bigger than the human characters.

The Island appears to be a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,000 miles from Fiji. However, it has been said that the Island has the ability to relocate its physical position which defies the natural laws of the planet.

The Island contains a large amount of special electromagnetic energy. People who have arrived on the island, from the ancient civilizations, to the military, to Dharma, have all dug pits to find the pockets of the power. This energy was said to heal sicknesses including cancer, paralysis, brain damage, male infertility, but causes pregnant women to reject embryos which kills the mother and the fetus. However, the healing power does not cure gunshot wounds, poisonous spider bites, strangulation, or spinal tumors.

The Island's electromagnetism may have created a shell (Desmond called it "a snow globe") barrier or shield to hide it from the outside world. The power of the EM fields allows teletransportation of people from the island to the mainland (through the turning of the FDW in an underground chamber). Despite being difficult to find, normal people like Dharma and Ben's people routinely left the island by submarine to bring supplies and new recruits to the island.  However, there is a reference that only Jacob, as the island's guardian, had the power to bring people to the island.

According to Jacob, the Island acts as a cork, holding back a malevolent force that would destroy the world if released. When the MIB  made contact with the site of this suppression, the light cave, he transformed into a smoke monster that plagued the Island for thousands of years. A guardian protects the Heart of the Island, the source of life, death, and rebirth. Despite the Heart, or possibly because of it, not all who die on the Island move on - some remain, whispering. Other ghostly images of various origin also appear, often confronting people with images from their past.

The concept that the island's heart (a human trait) is the source of all life, death and rebirth may be literal or it may be a metaphor. But those who have been on the island for some time begin to reference it as a person. Some examples of this personification are:

Locke told Jack that the Island brought all the survivors to it.
After his first encounter with the Monster, Locke stated, "I looked into the eye of this Island, and what I saw... was beautiful."
Ben told Locke that the Island is very selective regarding whom it chooses to heal. He added, "I can't wait to show you what this Island can do."
The Island chose not to heal/prevent Ben's tumor and Jack's appendicitis.
Tom told Michael off the Island that the Island wouldn't let him commit suicide because Michael still had "work to do."
Eloise tells Desmond that "the Island isn't done with you yet."

One could argue that the "island" is a mere misnomer for the island's guardian, Jacob, who was the mastermind behind all the events that engulfed the characters on his island.

One further personification of the Island comes from Rousseau's map of the island.

If you look at this map, one can see two spinal columns laying side by side like a man and a woman, Adam and Eve, which is the religious beginning of mankind on this planet. The island itself could be the physical manifestation of the two key components (male and female) that creates life itself.

So what is the Island?
Fans have had various diverse theories of what the Island was:

Electromagnetic hidden bubble, like a Bermuda Triangle

Hell

Purgatory

Gateway to spirit world

A malfunctioning spaceship in need of a “pilot”

Island is a quantum dimension where everything is real, but behaves in unpredicted and unintuitive way. The source is a quantum phenomenon, which make time and space to behave in a strange way. The quantum phenomena here means, that each point in time and space is not a definite point, so you can't be sure about anything around the source and everything can become something else.


The deranged mind of a person or a collection of persons (possibly institutionalized or part of a grand experiment on coma patients.)


An interactive, open and unlimited mind connected video game where the players subconscious is the game controller(s)


The Island is whatever anyone wants it to be; a "freedom station" to work out one's deepest problems. The Island, simply put, is whatever you want it to be. It is a place where people can come to start their lives anew (Tabula Rasa) despite whatever sins they've committed in the past. The past cannot be changed (as Daniel Faraday and Miles example) and it is only the future that matters. The Island's healing properties promote fast recovery (various examples including Ben Linus) and promote new life (Ji Yeon's (Jin and Sun's daughter) conception). Other rewards include increased longevity (Richard Alpert) and possibly the reincarnation (John Locke, others) and resurrection (John Locke?, Sayid?).

The Island could be a "wishing well." The Island can do anything requested - it simply requires a sacrifice (or a "toll") as proof that those seeking to be free are ready, willing and devoted to their new path in the world. The character's deepest wishes can come true if they are true to themselves.


The Island was a living, intellectually advanced organism. It brings human souls to it as pets, playthings or experiments to learn about humanity. It is neither good or evil. It is not judgmental or caring. It's power is beyond normal comprehension so it is seen as a god-like being to lesser species.


And finally, a new theory: that the Island was Jacob's sideways world. He constructed it in order to "awaken" his dead brother, MIB, to remember his long lost humanity, so they both could move on together in the after life.


All in all, the Island was a main character of the show. It housed the most mysteries. It still has the most unanswered questions. It is the one character that allowed fans to use their own creative imaginations to synthesize their observations into a credible final premise.

CHARACTER OF CHRISTIAN

Christian Shepard is an anomaly.

In the fourth episode of the series, Jack begins to see visions of his dead father. A father who he was estranged from ever since Jack squealed on his father's alcohol induced medical negligence. Christian lost his medical license and his son.  Apparently, Christian went to Australia to see his former lover, Carole Littleton, who was severely injured in an automobile accident with his illicit daughter, Claire. Jack's mother sent him to Australia to bring back his father, but Christian spoiled that reunion by dying of an alcohol induced heart attack.

Jack accused his father of embarrassing him in front of other doctors during his internship. Then Jack believed people at St. Sebastian believed Jack got his position because of nepotism and not skill. But despite their rocky relationship,  Jack did not find work at a different medical facility which probably led to the staff's view of Christian's favoritism to his son.

Jack had a cold and distant relationship with his father as he grew up. Christian reinforced negative comments, like Jack did not have the stomach to be a leader; that he could not make the "hard" life and death decisions, and that you cannot "fix" everybody. It would appear that this is a long succession of daddy issues as Christian inferred that his own father did not approve of Christian's marriage to Margo, Jack's mother.

Christian's sudden death racks Jack's mind and emotional state. Jack cannot solve the problem of not correcting his relationship with his father. One can assume that this strong emotional state and memories of his father were "used" by the island (especially MIB) to manipulate Jack.

Following the crash of Oceanic 815, the Man in Black took on the appearance of Christian and began appearing to many of the survivors:
He appeared to Vincent and told him to wake "his son," whom he claims has "work to do."
He appeared to Jack a few days after the plane crash and led him to the caves. Years later, when confronted by Jack, MIB/Flocke would admit to using "Christian's form" when leading Jack to the caves, claiming that he was trying "to help" the survivors.
He appeared to Claire in the jungle and convinced her to abandon Aaron and follow him into the jungle.
He appeared in Jacob's Cabin and instructed Locke to move the Island.
He appeared to Locke in the FDW and told Locke he needed to find everyone, bring them to Eloise, and "to die" because "that's why they call it a sacrifice."
He appeared to Michael on the the freighter just before the explosion.

Even after leaving the Island, the image of Christian appeared to Jack. Christian appeared to Jack twice after the departure from the Island. First, Jack caught a glimpse of Christian as he walked by in the hospital. The second time also occurred at the hospital, while Jack was working late hours. He heard a smoke detector go off in the lobby. Christian said Jack's name from a nearby sofa, but one of Jack's co-workers appeared and Christian vanished. Believing this to be a hallucination, Jack requested a prescription for clonazepam.


The evidence suggests that throughout the series the image of Christian was a mere illusion. Christian was not Jack's father, but a re-creation from Jack's own memories but controlled by a supernatural smoke monster. The reality of the fake Christian was enhanced by the memories of other characters, like Sawyer and Ana Lucia's interactions with Christian in Australia. Jacob and MIB used that information to construct a puppet that could guide and manipulate Jack. There was a deep seeded need in Jack to seek final approval from his dead father. The island illusionists used that emotional pit to lead Jack to serve the Island/MIB/Jacob purposes. 


Since Christian was not "real" in the sense of a reincarnated person or even an independent ghost/spirit protecting Jack from the evils of the island conflicts, we must look closely at who was fake Christian. We have an admission from MIB that he used Christian's form to lead Jack to a fresh water supply to save the survivors. Why would MIB want to keep the crash survivors alive on the island when he told Jack centuries before that humans were destructive and corrupt?  MIB's grand plan was to use the survivors (especially the candidates) to "kill" Jacob so MIB "could leave the island." However, if Christian's image was seen by Jack off the island, who was that Christian?  If MIB was truly trapped and could not leave the island, it must have been Jacob. This would be evidence that Jacob was also had smoke monster shape shifting powers. That would make sense, since two equal smoke monsters would not be able to kill each other.


But if Jacob was Christian to Jack in the off-island appearances (we were shown Jacob touching other candidates off island so he had the power to leave the island at any time), why could Jacob not pretend to be Christian on the island?  Jacob said he never interfered with the people he brought to the island, but that is a bold face lie. Even MIB told Alpert early on that Jacob was a liar.


So we have island Christian being the smoke monster illusion in a physical form. But then, we have one more grand appearance of Christian in the sideways world. Christian is the master of ceremonies at the sideways church. Why is he the only parent of the 815ers present? Was Christian's appearance needed for Jack to be awakened so everyone could move on in the after life? But was that really Christian?!  Could this sideways master of ceremonies be the mirror reflection of the island's master of ceremonies, Jacob?

In the sideways church, Jack goes into a back room where his father's coffin is placed near a stained glass window reflecting all major religions. Jack touches the coffin and, with his memories awakened. He opens the coffin only to find it empty. Christian then enters the office, and explains to Jack that he had died and that this reality had been created by Jack and his former friends in order to find each other and "move on" together.

CHRISTIAN: This is the place that you...that you all made together, so that you could find one another. The most...important part of your life, was the time that you spent with these people. That's why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone Jack. You needed all of them, and they needed you.

JACK: For what?

CHRISTIAN: To remember...and to...let go.

The two shared a hug. We are led to believe that Jack and his father have reconciled their differences. But there is one glaring hole in Christian's explanation. Christian did not create the sideways world, Jack and his island friends did. So why is Christian truly part of this sideways reconciliation or is Christian a mere "prop" like Jack's sideways son, David?

After Jack reunited with his friends at the church's nave and sat with Kate at a pew, Christian emerged and briefly patted his son on the shoulder. He then opened the church's doors, allowing a bright light to engulf all those present as they crossed over to the next stage in their afterlives.

It would seem that the ending was brought about by a supernatural power - - - one that would have been beyond a mortal soul, such as man like Christian Shepard. It leads to an open question: was the sideways Christian a final illusion, possibly Jacob in disguise, rounding up the lost souls that helped him escape from his own island purgatory?

CHARACTER OF JACOB

The character of Jacob may be the hardest nut to swallow. Was Jacob a god, a devil, a spirit, a smoke monster or an illusion? 

Jacob came to the island in his mother's womb. Claudia was a woman in the classic Roman period (27 BC to 400 AD). She was shipwrecked on the island. She was separated from her ship crew. she was befriended by an island woman, who midwived the birth of twin boys. Then the island woman (CrazyMom) killed Claudia. CrazyMom then raised Jacob and his brother.

From what we were shown, CrazyMom was the only person on the island when Claudia's ship wrecked during a storm. We do not know her back story or how long she had been the island guardian. However, she grants Jacob and his brother a form of eternal life and she set a rule that neither could harm each other. CrazyMom was like a lighthouse keeper. Isolated, alone, but with a specific important job to do, one that apparently she was either chosen or manipulated into taking.

There was a growing consensus that Crazy Mom may have been human at some point. But on the island,  enlightenment changed her being into a semi-god status. She was probably tricked into becoming the guardian. She needed to trick someone to take her place, and children are easier to manipulate. Only when she could confer her powers onto another being (like Jacob), could her job be complete and she could pass on (to next life, rebirth, etc.) So being a guardian is not all it is cracked out to be. The parallel with Desmond and the button is the best way to look at this theme. You believe you are doing something important and good - but you grow weary and tired of your obligation, so you also want to pass it on to someone else, so you can achieve your personal peace.

Crazy Mother kidnaps Jacob and MIB and raises them as her own. She sets the rules. The children cannot harm each other. But we will learn that there are no real rules on the island.

MIB grows weary of the island and goes to live with the surviving Romans, who are tapping the EM Life Force in an attempt to “go home” or leave the island. MIB has contempt for the humans, but needs their knowledge and technology to break CrazyMom's rules.

Crazy Mother is upset with MIB, and kills all the Others, which makes MIB mad with rage so he kills her. In his own rage over the death of his alleged mother, Jacob kills MIB (or destroys his soul) by throwing him into the Light Cave where MIB is transformed or released into the smoke monster. This transformation apparently binds Jacob and MIB to eternity on the island, together.

Jacob views the island as home and needs to be protected; while MIB views the island as a prison. As the protector, the leader, Jacob sets “the rules” between themselves.  In order to ease his mind, he creates a "game" to play with MIB/Smokey which is the manipulation and destruction of lost human souls.

CrazyMom called the shipwreck survivors "people," like it was a derogatory term. MIB also called the people brought to the island in derogatory terms: people always "fight, destroy and corrupt." But Jacob, who was the only person allowed to bring people to the island. Jacob  remarked it all was "progress" in some grand plan between Jacob and MIB. But it appeared that for hundreds of years, people brought to the island "served" some vague purpose.

Which leads to the strange behavior of Jacob. If it is true that he continues to bring people to the island (like CrazyMom did to find her successor by shipwrecks?), as a demi-god why did he need people to build temples or Dharma stations? Likewise, why would he need to leave the island to recruit in order to protect it? Besides, that would prove MIB was right: there was something "across the sea."  But maybe bringing people to the island for centuries was all Jacob's cruel, new game with his brother, that "lowly people" are bad and their CrazyMom was right. However, "across the sea" could have used as a metaphor. It could mean across the galaxy, the plane of existence, the after life or dimensions.



Jacob had the ability to leave the island and "touch" candidates and manipulate man or nature to get them to the island, so there was no logical reason why Jacob needed an elaborate  plan was to find a successor: he could have kidnapped a person, made him guardian, then flee the island. There was no need for an elaborate, centuries long, twisted tale of treachery, worship and murder.


The only conclusion is that Jacob never "left" the island, per se.  If he could not physically leave the island, then he would need "help" from the people he brought to the island. Help him to do what?

We assume that when MIB killed CrazyMom and Jacob killed MIB, Jacob's soul was "imprisoned" on the island forever. But after his guardianship was secure, Jacob did leave the island so the concept of Jacob being trapped on the island would be incorrect. We also assume that MIB is also trapped on the island by being a smoke monster, but we don't know if that is true.

One interesting discussion point was why Jacob or other demi-god on the island need people to build huge monuments or temples.  Or why MIB/Smokey needs a dead body in order to take human form.
The island powers do not enable the guardian to create mass - he simply can influence people. Jacob seemingly can't just blink, and presto - we have a lighthouse. So proponents of "the Genie theory" that island guardians could create anything with a blink of an eye surrendered with this explanation. If Jacob, MIB or smoke monsters cannot create objects or things out of thin air (or in nature with fundamental elements), then that could mean that they themselves have no cohesive mass - - - that they are truly spirits seeking a material world.

And even after Jacob's "death" he created himself as a man and as a young boy to interact with people still left on the island. So if Jacob could re-create his spirit into various forms, then one could assume that he could have done that before Ben stabbed in the statue. And we know that MIB is the smoke monster who can create various human forms, including Flocke.

We have been told that Jacob was the one who has been bringing people to the island. Was it was not for MIB's sake?  One explanation is that Jacob accepted the fact that he caused a cascade of events that led to both his CrazyMom's and brother's death. His world had ended. He was left with a substitute brother, the smoke monster. He was looking for a candidate so he could die (his punishment) and rejoin his real brother in death, but he had not found one person who would "accept" the position as guardian. So there had been a complex con-artist adventure story under the guise of emotional brainwashing to beat down Jack to accept the guardianship.

But is the real island conflict simply that MIB's ghost does not want Jacob to scheme his way off the island by death; he wants to continually punish Jacob for what he did to MIB by keeping Jacob on the island for eternity? Except, MIB's "loophole" was a means to actually "kill" Jacob - - - to break down the barrier of god-like status with the lowly human beings brought to serve him. The means of leaving the island was an act of betrayal, just as MIB's death was caused by an act of betrayal.

In one respect, the island also served as a prison for the 815 characters. Part of them were trapped in the island drama for no apparent reason except to free Jacob and MIB from their servitude to some unknown higher deity. Perhaps, with Jacob and MIB's island deaths, they would be awakened in their own parallel sideways world that their real mother created for them.

 But what was Jacob supposed to represent in the series?

The boogie-man? The man in the shadows? The puppet master? The means to the end?

If one looks at the full storyline, the Jacob character is the most important element to the island conclusion - - - but at the same time the most irrelevant character in the 815ers after life reunion.

In one respect, Jacob was a psychopath. He kidnapped, cajoled, manipulated and killed people he tricked into coming to the island. He stalked his candidates from a young age. From the light house wheel, at least 340 people were brought to the island and did not "pass" his test to become the next guardian. If one did not become the guardian, MIB/Smokey disposed of them. There is a tag team mass murder dynamic.

Why would someone he vowed to protect the life force extinguish so many people who contained the life force?  It makes little sense. As MIB told Alpert, Jacob was "the devil." In certain respects, that is the truth. Jacob's island and Jacob's rules created hell for the people brought within its sphere. Whether this hell made the characters better people is debatable. Most never changed or were redeemed in the sense of valor, heroic actions or moral absolution.

Jacob is not mentioned in the sideways world. He is not seen. He is not referenced. He is not part of anyone's consciousness. He is a nullity.

Then we get to the unanswered question: was Jacob "real" in the first place?  A human being that lives for thousands of years is not a normal human. An entity that grants immortal life to Alpert, but cannot reincarnate his dead wife, but create her image is a cruel master.

It may be that CrazyMom was the psyche of a messed up individual or the personification of an evil soul reaper. Jacob could be that supernatural grim reaper.

But the series did not dwell upon the religious overtones of right, wrong or ultimate judgment. Jacob did not judge people, per se. He merely drafted them as candidates, players in this island game of chess with MIB, and let them find their own way to life or death. The idea of a guardian with no guidance is strange. One with ultimate power who refuses to use it to better mankind is not a hero.

Jacob's death did not seem to be a heroic gesture. It seemed like a slow suicide pact coming to bear. Jacob's death did not seem to change anything on the island. Flocke was still Flocke. The faux crisis of Widmore's attack was still present. The characters running through the jungle without a clue what to do continued on endlessly. It took five and three-quarter seasons to get four candidates around a campfire with Jacob's spirit to have one person, Jack, accept the guardian position. It seems like the worst goose chase or snipe hunt in history. And with Jack taking over for Jacob, how does that transform a smoke monster into a mortal being? Jacob's brother was already dead. Jacob himself was already dead. The people on the island had no real means to leave so the island would protect itself by sinking to the ocean floor.

Jacob as a character has little value in trying to figure out what was the big premise of Lost. In order to get to a quick wrap up, the Jacob-MIB conflict was thrown together as some focal resolution point. But even that conflict was erased by the meaning of the sideways after life. So what if the Lost characters were already dead? Did Jacob, in any way, help them on their after life journey?  One could only argue that Jacob brought together people on the island not for his benefit, but to allow a host of lonely people to "die together" in the after life. If that is the takeaway point of the series, it seems 99 percent of the stories were hollow and shallow.

CHARACTER OF ELOISE

If there was ever a title of the most mysterious woman on Lost, Eloise Hawking would probably take the crown. Even though she did not appear until Season 3, her presence and manipulations are fully interconnected in the character story arcs to conclude that she was an important pivot point to the entire series.

As I have indicated in previous posts (check the archive keyword under Eloise), Eloise Hawking has an unexplained puppet master role.

We know very little about her except she knows a lot about everyone.

We know she was a young woman on the island in the 1950s. During a time flash, she meets Daniel in a time skip. We know that in 1977 she was at odds with Charles Widmore over leadership of the Others. It would seem that the strong personalities of Eloise and Charles pushed Alpert's role into the background. It is during that time skip that she kills her own son, Daniel, in the episode, The Variable. As Daniel fell, he realized that he had been shot by Eloise, and whispered to her that she had "known it the whole time." Confused, she asked him who he was, and he revealed that he was her son, leaving her standing over him, shocked.

We can assume that as an Other, Eloise was fully informed about the Island's properties and the need for its protection. She also knew about its power. And it seems that she did not shy away from gaining power and control over other people. We must conclude that the 1977 time skip had a profound affect on Eloise and her relationship with her son. She forced him into advanced science including electromagnetism and theories of space time.

We know that Daniel Faraday was her son (by blood with Charles Widmore). We do not know why Daniel's surname is not Widmore (could it be Eloise's maiden name?) But we do know that Widmore was banished from the island because he had an off-island affair which led to the birth of Daniel's half sister, Penny Milton, who herself must have kept her mother's maiden name. It is an unusual convex of names: Faraday, a scientist renown for electromagnetic studies, and Milton, whose great work Paradise Lost about the story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways of God to men" is one of the main themes of the entire series.

In the sideways world (after life), Eloise is in complete control of her situation. She is married to a rich man (Widmore), and has a dolting musical son, Daniel. She has Widmore keeping Desmond occupied with global business meetings. In The End, Eloise met Desmond once again during the concert, aware that he had awakened several people to their former lives. She believed that if her son Daniel remembered his life, he would be able to finally move on, possibly departing from her. At Eloise's request, Desmond agreed not to awaken Daniel.

It is then have the full revelation that Eloise Hawking is the woman behind the LOST curtain.

She is the mastermind behind getting the 815ers “back” to the Island. She is the person who pushed her son, Daniel, into the complex physics of time travel. She convinced Widmore, her ex-husband, to fund the research and expedition back to the Island. She cajoled people to get back to the island to “save the world” or to complete their destiny. Was Jack’s destiny to replace her insane son’s plan to blow up the Swan station before the Incident (which, in theory would have killed Eloise before giving birth to him) in order to re-boot the time line of events where Daniel does not die by Eloise’s hand in 1977? It seems quite convoluted and complex.

Daniel’s Rube Goldberg trap explanation of how is is going to change the future by blowing up the past with members of the future at the event in the past fails to consider Ben’s terse statement “dead is dead” on the island. Daniel believes he can “fix things” and save Charlotte by stopping the Swan incident (massive EM release which would later be contained by the Hatch) by blowing up the pocket of energy with a hydrogen bomb. A bomb that would destroy the island and kill everyone on it - - - including himself, his mother and all the people who should have been on Flight 815. If the characters were truly “time traveling” in space time, they would only have one “life.”  If they are killed in 1977, would they be erased from the future itself? Or is this plan really the ultimate “course correction” of the paradox of time travelers meeting their parents and changing events that had already happened?

The real method to stop the release of energy that downed Flight 815 is found in the fact that Eloise pushed Desmond to the Island, “to save (her) world” meaning that she found a patsy in Desmond to push the button. If he had done his job, Flight 815 would have never crashed; the freighter would have never been launched to the Island; Daniel would have never been time shifted by the FDW, and she would have never killed him in 1977.

So which came first? Eloise’s plan or Daniel’s plan?

There was always a question of whether Eloise’s killing of her time traveling son, Daniel, on the Island in 1977, caused the Island to kill all pregnant women. It is also unclear as to the paternity of both Daniel and Penny. Was Penny a secondary dream to replace Daniel in Eloise’s own mental visions of her future? Was the imprisonment of Desmond on the Island the mental visions of Eloise to “save (her) world” i.e. Daniel from the fate of death at her own hands?

There is another aspect to consider: Lost in Reverse. Sideways is a purgatory wait station. The Island is the hell to test souls fears, sins through relationships, quests, tests, judgment or redemption. The flashbacks are not true memories, but the dream feedstock of the characters main fears and nightmares, because those mental conditions are repeated in Island events to see if the character can change, come to grip with those issues, in order to “move on.” Christian tells Jack that everything that has happened to him was “real.” But reality is a moving target concept. One can dream themselves into sweat filled horror which seems absolutely real. A psychopath can have “real illusions” and act them out in real life, like stabbing an individual who he thinks is a werewolf or zombie. The sideways world was “created” by Jack’s friends in order to wait for Jack’s death. How can you “interconnect” the minds, thoughts, memories and personality of a dozen people to create a whole new world. It sounds like a game platform. It sounds like an MMO. It sounds - - - like a crazy construct.  We know the sideways world is not real, but it had to be created by the memories or dreams of the characters, which differ from their flashback stories. An alternative dream world was created for Jack to return to the group who shared Island based adventures and breakthroughs like group therapy.

Or it could be a layered effect of interlocking Time. The ancient Mayans had three interlocking calendars to keep Time. One was a 9 month “human” cycle. One was the 12 month “harvest” cycle. One was the “cosmic” cycle. High priests could interlock all three calendars to predict future star events or predict the meaning of births.

Lost could represent a layered of “after time” calendars. A character may be “living” in several different “realities” which may or may not overlap. More likely, one parallel life feeds off the memories of an alternative past “after time” cycle. Take Eloise as the prime example of this theory:

Those layered clocks on human consciousness can overlap. It could explain Desmond’s mind flashes to future events. It could explain how Eloise knows the future, and knows how the after life gears of time work. It is why Eloise was so upset that Desmond was "awakening" other Island people in the sideways world. Eloise feared that Daniel would wake up - - - realize what his mother did to him in alternative time lines - - -  and leave her forever.

The critical points in the End can be summarized as follows:

At the Sideways benefit concert, Eloise Widmore joins Desmond, saying that she thought she made it clear that Desmond should stop what he's been doing. Desmond says she did, but that he ignored her. She asks, "And once they know, what then?" and Desmond answers, "Then, we're leaving." With concern she asks if they are going to take her son. Desmond assures her, "Not with me, no."

Jack arrives at the concert after it has ended. Kate is there and he says he is looking for his son. He recognizes Kate and asks where he remembers her from. She tells him that she stole his pen on Oceanic 815. Jack is confused, he says "and that's how I know you?" Kate says that is not how he knows her. She goes up to him and takes his face in her hands telling him how much she has missed him. Jack flashes, seeing images of himself and Kate on the Island, but still resists. She tells him that if he comes with her he will understand.

She takes him to the church, the place Jack was going to have his father’s funeral. This is the same church that the O6 got their instructions from Eloise on how to "return to the Island." It would appear that the church is a nexus point between the sideways and island realms.

When sideways Kate says they are waiting for him “once he is ready.” Jack asks, “ready for what?” Kate responds, “to leave.”

At the sideways reunion with his dead father, Jack comes to the realization that he is dead. Everyone is dead. Christian explains to Jack that they aren't leaving; they're moving on. Jack asks where to, and his father tells him, "Let's go find out."


Once these Island visitors, including Desmond, leave the sideways existence, Eloise's long plan to safeguard her son from "remembering" or "leaving her" comes to her happy ending. It would appear that Eloise would have her son for all eternity so long as he does not remember his non-sideways past. The one element that could have dislodged those hidden memories was Desmond, who is now engulfed in the white light from the church.

If one objectively looks at the dynamic of the End as the solution of Six Seasons of LOST mysteries, only one key plot point was revealed and resolved: Eloise's demands to Desmond to stop what he was doing so Daniel would not be taken away from her. This puts Eloise in the position of the one person who had a major controlling influence on all the other main characters. She was the one pulling all the strings. She was the one that was truly manipulating the characters to reach not their goals, but her one objective: to be with her son in the sideways after life.

Eloise Hawking is the only character that had "full knowledge" of the Island events and the Sideways world consequences. It is quite the simple but straight forward explanation lacking in the convoluted plot twists of the series that everything could truly be explained through the actions, manipulations and motivations of Eloise. The only issue truly resolved in the End was that Eloise did not "lose" her son, Daniel, to the 815ers who were "moving on" into the light at the conclusion of church meeting.

Now some may complain that the show was really all about Jack. But did Jack finally resolve his father issues in the End? No. Did other characters resolve their issues? Sayid and Nadia: the opposite happened. Locke, who was abused in the island world, left without anyone. Michael did not get over his issues with Walt, so he is apparently left with the guilt of an island ghost. The island events were themed by significant "daddy issue" subplots. But in the mirror realm of the sideways world, there is only one clear "mommy issue" plot: Eloise and Daniel.

The simple bridge between the Island and the Sideways world was a simple, personal, introspective "awakening." In the End, the only thing the 815ers did was realize that they were dead and accepting their deaths. Knowing that someone would attempt to "awaken" Daniel (most likely Desmond since Daniel considered him his metaphysical "constant"), Eloise attempted to keep that knowledge from all the characters in the Island realm.

As previously posted, the story premise has to be the Island and Sideways worlds are spiritual planes of existence. After death, one has a reincarnated new life. And in this new life, you may not realize that your human existence is gone because everything seems so "real." Using the concepts of the split between the ba and ka from ancient Egyptian mythology, Eloise could craft or control two separate spiritual planes to stop the characters' ba and ka from reuniting ("awakening") and moving on to a different plane of existence in the after life.

Eloise's role in both realms could be considered the puppet master, a gatekeeper of souls, the wizard behind the curtain, the high priestess of death. Only she knew knew the awakening rule. She confused the lost souls into believing that they were still alive. They were told that their survival depended upon running through a maze of dangerous missions. The Island was really a place that Eloise created to contain any person who could lead Daniel to his awakening in the Sideways realm. Eloise was motivated by the fear that she would lose her son forever.

Eloise was close to Brother Campbell. She used that relationship to get Desmond into a monastery so he could be locked away from Penny, a connection to Daniel. But that plan was ruined when Penny came to pick up wine at the same time Desmond was being kicked out for ill behavior. Eloise used Widmore to continually throw a wrench into Desmond's relationship with Penny. She used Libby to get Desmond the boat that he thought he could use to win a sailing race to "prove" to Widmore he was worthy of Penny.

After Sarah's surgery, and after promising her a "miracle," Jack takes a jog in a stadium. He notices Desmond who is jogging up the staircase next to him. Jack races to catch up to him but rolls his ankle and falls. Desmond comes to Jack's aid. After Desmond asks why Jack was "running like the devil was chasing him," he discusses Sarah's procedure and how he made a promise he couldn't keep. Desmond wonders out loud whether he actually did save her, but Jack tells him it would be a miracle. Desmond also leaves with the foreshadowing quip, "See you in another life."

Desmond takes Libby's boat, but then becomes shipwrecked on the Island. He is put to work pressing the Numbers in order "to save the world." Eloise tells him that his fate is to press the Numbers. But in reality, Eloise sole purpose is to imprison Desmond so he stays out of the life of Penny which could cause the sideways Desmond to awaken and take Daniel to the next level of the after life. That Desmond was told that his sole destiny is to stay in the Hatch "to save the world" (which really meant save Eloise's fantasy world) and forget any notion of being with Penny was the biggest con of the entire series.  For three years, Desmond accepts that role. It is only after he begins to be aware that he is "being conned" by Kelvin, that he fails in pressing the buttons. In that moment, he is aware that he can leave the island and return to Penny. But what stops him? The sudden arrival of new characters, the Others and the 815 survivors, who again, occupy Desmond with obstacles on leaving the Island (and returning to Penny).

It is an elaborate "con" that Eloise attempts to maintain; the only problem is that Desmond and the other characters retain their personalities and "free will" to make choices. The critical choice for Desmond was to use the fail safe key to "die." Even with that sacrifice in his mind, Desmond really did not want to "die," but get back to Penny. The island realm does not "kill" spirits such as Desmond. They continue to live until they accept their death in the real world.

The events then lead Desmond to Penny in the Island world. In order to stop the bridge from forming, Desmond is still "pursued" by Widmore in an alleged attempt to keep Desmond and Penny a part. But Eloise knows where Dez is. She allows him the fantasy of a life with Penny and his "son" in order for him to keep the illusion of living forefront in his mind. By doing so, she risks flashes of the other realm and concepts of death to overwhelm Desmond so that he could awaken and spoil the critical balance Eloise is trying to maintain in the Sideways world.

In the Sideways world, Eloise is queen of the land. She has a doting son, totally under her control. She has got the wealth, status and privilege of society. Charles Widmore is a corralled provider of all her needs, including keeping SW Desmond in check as Widmore's respected, trusted number two man (which is the mirror opposite of Island Desmond whose focus was trying to get the respect and trust of evil Widmore.) She has to keep Penny away from Desmond in the Sideways world. It is too dangerous if they have a relationship in both planes. That is why Widmore has Desmond putting out corporate fires all over the world. It is unintended consequences that lead to Desmond to be in LA at the same time Charlie meets Daniel for the benefit concert.

Look at the constant from both ends of the spectrum: the flashbacks (pre 815) and the sideways world - - - Eloise. In Desmond's back story, she was the one who told Desmond about "course correction" that people cannot change what will occur to them. She also told Desmond that he should not be with Penny. Fans knew that Eloise had special powers and knowledge beyond normal comprehension. In the sideways world, Eloise scolds Desmond not to contact Penny. Why? Because she knows that if Desmond is awakened to his past purgatory cycle with Penny, he would awaken the others, including her son, Daniel and Widmore, which could lead to Daniel leaving her. The whole Eloise story arc could be considered as an after life guardian over-protecting her son for her own selfish purposes (maybe penance for killing him on the island during a time flash.)

If you believe that the show was all about lost souls from the very beginning, LOST makes more sense and all of the blatant inconsistencies, dead end story lines, continuity errors, and open ended questions fade away. Dharma, Jacob, the Smoke Monster, time travel and all the other prop story lines were all mere fantasy tools and props from the characters own imaginations and narcissistic view of themselves of how they thought their lives would be if they were not "dead." In the after life, their collective memories were used to create situations, interact with strangers, overcome adversity and personal fears, with the goal of individual enlightenment.

Eloise's master plan was to stop Daniel from remembering his past. She did everything in her power to make sure that Daniel's after life was a narrow, non-scientific focus that centered around herself. And in the end, Eloise's plan worked: Daniel did not go away with the other Lost characters. So, Eloise was the only character who truly got all she wanted in the end.

CHARACTER OF BEN

If one needs to find a poster child for the illogic of Lost, Benjamin Linus would be a finalist. When Michael Emerson was hired to do a guest shot as an Other late in Season 2, it was supposed to be a one-two episode filler showing the brutality seeping into the 815ers (Ben as Henry Gale being tortured in the Hatch). It was part of a tie-in to Sayid's flashback story as a torturer. But Ben's bug-eyed evil and calm manipulation that burst upon the scene as a perfect villain.

Ben was born prematurely in a forest on December 19, 1964 to Roger and Emily Linus. Ben was another one of the premature or miracle babies ("special"). His mother died in child birth. His distraught father was found by Dharma leader Horace, which led to Ben coming to the island.

As a young child, Ben had a lonely childhood. He had both mother (who was not there for him) and father (who blamed him for his mother's death) issues. Even at Dharma, he would have had a semi-normal childhood. But for some unknown reason, Ben snapped - - - and turned into a mass murder control freak. By the time 815 crashed on September 22, 2004, Ben had purged the Dharma group, killed his father, and became the de facto leader of the Others. He had manipulated a doctor, Juliet, to come to the island to deal with pregnancy issues, but made her a prisoner. When she rebuffed his advances, he made her suffer. He put Juliet's lover, Goodwin, on a dangerous mission to infiltrate the tail section survivors. He did, and died as a result. Ben made a point of showing Juliet his corpse in order to belittle her - - - and make her life hopeless.

Ben's character was dripping with inherit evil. He was the omnibus threat to the main characters. He was the man who killed without hesitation. It was this sense of danger, and Emerson's fine acting, that led to Ben staying on in the series.

For being the man in charge of the island, Ben directed the Others on their missions. He sent Ethan and Alpert off the island to recruit new members. He did not people to speak to the man behind the curtain, Jacob. Ben was all about following "his" rules. He was a dictator. People feared his wrath. He manipulated other people to commit horrible acts of cruelty. He took devilish pride when his schemes worked out well.

If the island was a symbolic hell, then why was Ben allowed to rule it like a king? Was he really the henchman of the Devil himself (Jacob)? Was his sole purpose to punish the souls who crashed on the island? It would seem indiscriminate and confusing role because in the case of Juliet, she did nothing we are aware of to be so brutally punished by Ben.

As the seasons wore on, Ben's command over the island weakened as the 815ers proved to be a bothersome lot. They were not the timid sheep of Horace's Dharma group. They had evil sinners in their midst on par with Ben's warped personality (like Sayid). After Sayid tortured Ben in the Hatch, Ben thought he gave the perfect cover story on Henry Gale - - - which everyone believed when Sayid returned saying he found the balloon and the grave. His story confirmation would give him the trust with the survivors. But Sayid did not trust him, and opened the grave to find a man and not a woman. This plot arc would have probably ended with Sayid killing Ben to put in the morality of the survivors into dramatic question. But moral themes of the series faded away quickly after Season 2.

Because there were people now on the island who would not trust him, Ben got angry. Because there were people now on the island who would challenge him, Ben got vengeful. In some ways he became the human smoke monster. One of the long story arcs was the battle to control the island - - - Ben verus Locke. But in reality, the real battle to control the island was the Others against Widmore's return. But that was not the truth, since in the end, the battle for the island was the supernatural sibling feud of Jacob and his brother, in the form of Flocke. Ben's role was diminished in island history as apparent authority. Jacob apparently wielded sole power. Jacob manipulated Ben better than Ben manipulated the others. Ben's downfall was letting his emotions be manipulated by Flocke to kill Jacob.

Ben's "life" ended with Jacob's death. Ben became a follower. He became an outcast. He lacked a purpose. He was lost. It was Jacob's confident soldier, Ilana, that gave Ben a glimmer of hope. It was Hurley that gave Ben his last island job as his second in command. But these moves gave Ben no redemptive epiphany. He was never truly sorry for his actions. He only felt sorry that he lost control over "his" island kingdom.

The sideways world view of Ben is one of tortured logic. How can a mass murderer go to heaven and not be punished for his crimes?  Why does Ben get to "choose" to stay in the sideways fantasy in order to work things out with Rousseau and Alex?  It is not crazy to assume if Rousseau "awakes" to the real Ben that she would not strangle him for the hell he put her through on the island. Why should Ben be rewarded for all the evil deeds he did in the non-sideways stories? Why should he be in control of his own after life destiny? It makes no sense.

This is a constant problem with trying to find meaning and structure with the sideways story mechanics. The sideways world has no moral compass. It does not punish souls for bad behavior. Apparently, it rewards some over others. And there is no reason why Ben would wind up with Rousseau in any alternative universe.

Can a child who grows up to kill his father, mass murder his Dharma colleagues, and direct kidnappings, torture and executions, fit for a heavenly reward in the after life? From what we are shown, yes. Ben's only punishment was his "loss" of island power. His only sideways punishment was one beat down by Desmond (unless you consider being a high school teacher a form of punishment). So Ben's invite to the church, with its multi-religious undertone, is systemic with the story flaws of the final season. There is no justification to put Ben in the same moral standing as a Hurley or a Penny.

Ben was a great villain. He was a great foil to judge the other characters. He was a great facilitator for plot twists. But in the grand finale of things, he was a minor, insignificant player. So was he truly a main focal point in the evolution of the 815 characters journey to the after life, or was he merely a prop in a delusional mind? Ben's character is easy to identify but hard to categorize. He was loved as a evil manipulator, but hated as a meek inconsistency in the end.

CHARACTER OF DESMOND

One of the characters that had the greatest importance (the big build-up) for the series conclusion was our lost Scot, Desmond Hume. In the end, his role was merely a concierge. For many, this was a great disappointment.

Desmond first appeared on the radar in Season 2. In order to stretch out the character tree, TPTB needed to craft a more "epic" and sympathic love story. So Desmond and Penny romance was born.

Very little is known about Desmond's background. His time line during flash backs do not have the continuity to be considered full truths. Some of  Desmond's life seems to be disjointed concurrent events. We are led to believe that he was set designer for a theatre company, a banished military corporal, a failed monk, a failed copier salesman, and a lost sailor. In 1988, he broke off his engagement with a woman named Ruth because he feared a committed relationship. Afterward, at the monastary run by Eloise Hawking's friend, Brother Campbell, Desmond meets Widmore's daughter, Penny. He has a relationship with her that her father disapproves (which is probably why Penny liked Desmond). But Desmond runs away from Penny when things got too serious. Then, he flip flopped mentally to get her back by "proving" something to her father (by winning a solo trans Pacific boat race). It seems all far fetched and a lame excuse to avoid marriage.

It is the failure as a monk that "tags" Desmond into Eloise's scheme to get Desmond onto the Pacific Ocean to be trapped on the island pressing a stupid button forever. Eloise, as Widmore's spouse (as depicted in the sideways world), had to be working in concert with Widmore under some guise to "protect" and/or "reclaim" the island from Ben and the Others. Eloise told Desmond that he was destined to "save the world."  And that is the HUGE mystery item for the series - - - a noble goal, a epic struggle, a great solution. So we are left guessing what was attacking the world, and how Desmond was destined to save it.

Desmond is also the character that starts the flood gate of "inconsequential" meetings with the other main characters. This script entanglements in retrospect only gave the series catch phrases but not plot momentum. Desmond meets Libby in a coffee shop. In less than five minutes, she gives a stranger her husband's boat. Yes, that is crazy. Desmond then meets Jack running stadium stairs. Both men have burning woman problems. Desmond tells him that he will see Jack "in another life." Desmond then crash lands on the island. He meets Kelvin, who just happened to be part of the American forces in Iraq who converted Sayid. Desmond was tricked into pushing a computer button every 108 minutes. Three years later, Desmond confronts Kelvin about the station. In the fight, Desmond kills Kelvin and misses the deadline to push the button. He believes the release of the EM energy from the Swan station caused Flight 815 to crash on the island.  (Except, the counter supernatural explanation is that only Jacob can bring people to the island.)

When Locke finds the Hatch, Desmond finds his way to escape his prison. Locke and the survivors then take his place on pure faith that pushing the button was important. But when Locke decides that this is a farce and destroys the terminal, causing an incident, Desmond takes the fail safe key and the entire station "blows up then implodes" into a large crater. By any standard, the force of such a blast would kill a human being. But Desmond awakes naked in the jungle. (Some believe that this may not have been Mr. Hume but a recreation. Or he had cat lives like Patchy.)  Afterward, TPTB created another strange plot twist of Desmond having "flashes" in time - - - which he believed he could see into the future. Some of his illusions turned out to be true, but some like the vision of Claire on the rescue helicopter, were false.

So if Desmond's sole purpose in "saving" the world was to press the hatch button, then he failed. He set into motion the MIB escape plan.

But then we were told that after Desmond left the island, found Penny and had a child, that he returned to the island to save his friends. There was no rational basis for this 180 degree turn. Desmond vowed never to return to the island because he knew it was a prison. He had everything he wanted off the island: Penny and his son. So what if the world would end - - - it would end with his family. So it puts that whole family dynamic in dispute when Desmond agrees to return to the island, as some sort of "weaponized" human being to destroy MIB. When the tech gets fried by the EM coils, any normal human being would also be fried. But not Desmond. He passes the test with flying colors. But for what purpose?

The only thing Desmond does is lift the stone cork in the Light Cave. Apparently, there is some EM radiation present (as with the remains of other people), but human Jack later goes into that cave to save Desmond without dying or turning into a smoke monster. So from the story itself, Desmond was not a key player at all. His island role was really overblown and found to be insignificant since Desmond does not kill Flocke, but Kate does (or so we are led to believe.)

So we have the super-fried Scot returning to the island to accomplish . . . . ? Nothing. MIB was created by the disruption of the light cave source so another disruption would not cause any change in MIB's existence. Did Desmond gain Widmore's respect by being a EM conduit? No. Did Desmond actually save anyone on the island? No. Did Desmond ever reunite with Penny? We don't know, but probably not if one gives any credence to the sideways arc.

In the sideways world, Desmond is the mirror opposite of his former self. He is Widmore's friend and confident employee. He is successful. He is trusted. He is in control. Then he meets a crazy musician named Charlie, who tries to kill him. By attempting his murder, Desmond begins to have strange thoughts - - - back to Flight 815. He investigates the passenger list and he begins to "awaken" the characters about their death-existence in the sideways world.

Now, if Desmond's island relationships were the "most important people in his life" since that is why he was in the church at the end, well, that is hard to believe. The "best" part of Desmond's non-sideways life was escaping the island and living with Penny and his son. So, if Christian statement was true, then Desmond's off-island life with Penny is false. This cannot be reconciled. Even if Desmond "awoke" himself in the sideways arc, there was no need to awaken anyone else - - - all he had to do was re-connect with Penny (who barely had any contact with O6). It would have been Penny, Dez and his son Charlie in their own after life church. But that leads to a crushing theory that Desmond's life with Penny was a pure fantasy - - - there was no blissful reunion, no child, nothing. That the sideways fantasy was a mere post-death continuation of a life fantasy.

Desmond's role was sold to viewers as being a lynch pin solution to the island mysteries. But he may have been just another rat in Daniel's Oxford lab maze. After Desmond awoke in the sideways world, he was confronted by Eloise at the pre-concert garden. She warned Desmond not to go any further. She did not want him to "take away" her son. Desmond said he was not there for Daniel. In Eloise's theory, this entire magical island drama was a scam to keep her external fantasy relationship with Daniel. Which means that at some point, possibly in the sideways arc, Eloise sent Desmond to the island just to avoid any memories of Penny in the after life. It seems like a huge effort for Eloise to tear a part time and space to exile one man to a hidden island just to shelter her son from leaving her (after) life. But that seems what happens in the end: Eloise's relationship with her son remains the same. Her "world" is saved, but not by Desmond "saving" it but "leaving it."

The Lost saga could have been told without the Desmond-Penny-Widmore triangle. As a second season character who lasted to the end, Desmond really had no significance except for being a literal lightning rod for plot twists and run up to faux danger.

For all the troubles, personal pain, physical damage, did Desmond's journey through Lost change his character? Not really. He was still used as a pawn in either alternative dimension. He was at the mercy of stronger leaders. He always kept trying to prove his worth. He was easily manipulated. If his only focus was to live happily ever after with Penny, then in a small way he succeeded in the end. (As said in previous posts, we do not know whether the white light ending in the finale meant a trip to heaven, or a trip to final judgment.)

One would have thought that if Desmond has super hero powers he would have had a more heroic role in the island conflict. He would have been able to take down both Widmore and MIB. But he did neither. He was a footnote in the main characters journey to the sideways church.

THE DUST SETTLES

“ An old error is always more popular than a new truth. ”
— German Proverb 

Dust is the accumulation of eroded, ground, atomized, broken down and dispersed elements of dirt. As we have ground through the full rerun cycle of Lost, what has been settled?

Not much. Subjectivity of the subject matter is still a personal opinion.

What were the major themes from season to season?
First, it was all about the crash survival and rescue.
Second, it turned into survival against a smoke monster.
Third, it turned into a cat and mouse game of combat with the Others.
Fourth, it turned into the survivors re-living their secret pasts and distrusting each other.
Fifth, it centered around a mysterious overlord named Jacob.
Sixth, it concerned "saving the world" from the invasion by Widmore's men.
Lastly, it was a battle between Jacob and MIB over the guardianship of the island powers. 

Did the 815ers survive the crash? Two schools of thought on that one: yes and no.
Did the 815ers find rescue? It depends if one thinks figuratively or literally.
Did the 815ers survive the smoke monster? It depends on what you believe the smoke monster(s) represent.
Did the 815ers survive the game with the Others? It was kind of a bloody draw.
Did the 815ers learn to trust each other again? In the final island season, the answer was no - - - deep seeded personality conflicts remained as tension between characters.
Did the 815ers find out about who and what Jacob was/is? Besides the short candidate's campfire in the final episode, no one really knows what Jacob is/was or represents.
Did the 815ers "save the world?" There is no evidence that anything that happened on the island had any bearing in the real world.
Did the 815ers have any significant role in the battle between Jacob and MIB? Since both Jacob and MIB were immortal beings, their own demise was of their own choosing . . . the characters actions were manipulations by the island gods.