S6E17 I'LL TAKE THE COMBO PLATTER

After 200 posts during the last season of the show (which I never thought I would do), it came down to a little bit of this and a little bit of that theory as a partial Big Picture to LOST.

I change, tweaked, stumbled through, debated, defended, and questioned myself (like other viewers) who tried to connect the dots to figure It all Out. And in the End, we will never truly figure the whole thing out. Too many aspects of the show are left open to interpretation, speculation, head scratching or double meaning.

In the side game of trying to figure out where TPTB were heading with their story lines, I came close in guessing a few of the final elements. A summary of my personal chronology of theories of LOST finds elements of each rolled into one combination lock conclusion to the show:

1. PURGATORY

While watching the pilot, my first reaction was that the plane broke a part at altitude: there would be no survivors. So the show had to be about purgatory, with most of the characters
unaware of their plight, thinking that they had survived the crash. The themes of good-evil, character tests and personal redemption are strong plot lines.

When I re-watched the pilot episode, I also vividly recalled the one glaring element that called into question whether this was "real:" it was that huge turbine engine, still functioning at full bore, with no attached fuel (it was totally separated from the wing). It should not function. It should have blown up on impact.

The End: Christian confirms to Jack that the sideways world was an after life creation of his friends so they could keep their memories of each other when it was time to "move on." Many are calling the sideways world "purgatory" but we really did not see any mental anguish, punishment, penance or forgiveness in the characters. But everyone accepts that the characters in the sideways world were DEAD and the sideways story arc "not real."

2. INTERACTIVE DREAM

If purgatory was dismissed, what would be the other possible explanation for the characters sensing they crashed on a tropical island? The concept of powerful electromagnetic energy, and clues from what the passengers had on the plane (Hurley's polar bear comic book and Walt's game) lead me to theorize that tired passengers fall asleep during the long flight, and the turbulence and EM caused the sleepers to connect brain wave activity into a form of a
networked interactive game.

The End: The vague explanation of the sideways world is like an interactive, make-believe place where the characters would "hang out" until it was Time to Move On. It does not explain why bad things happened to people; but in the end nothing truly bad comes from it. Sun's bullet wound never meant anything; Locke's paralysis was never real; it was merely a holding area until the prior character's mind re-connected with its alternative self. In essence, the same mechanics could hold true for the island world. It had action, the feel of reality, bullets, sweat, blood, seeming consequences to actions, in an emotional roller coast among "new" friends. Just as the sideways world is the waiting room to heaven, why could not the island been the penance, realization, enlightenment in order to gain admission into the sideways room?

3. DUPLICATES IN ALT DIMENSION

Another prospect of the mysterious EM powers: the plane travels through a high energy electromagnetic field and like an office copy machine, scans everyone to create copies in an alternative universe. Since the duplicates retain all their memories and personality traits, they believe themselves to be their original selves. The show is about duplicates or twins in a different realm, but may or may not have a continual connection with their original selves (causing mental issues).

The End: The EM on the island was a byproduct of the Life Force (it is life, death, and rebirth), but it is clear that in the story construction, the characters did have "duplicates" on the island and in the sideways world (for which there was no past, present or future, just "now" - - - even though we saw an actual lineal time reference during this season). The concept of splitting souls or new bodies in the after life is a center piece of ancient Egyptian religious beliefs. So on one level, the concept of character duplication was true.

4. ALIEN EXPERIMENT

Under the file folder that nothing is ever really new, was the prospect that the passengers were taken off the doomed plane and transported to an island (ship) for aliens to run experiments on humans ( i.e. Star Trek episode The Cage.) The various stations or hatches were mere experiments or puzzles constructed to see how humans could adapt, solve problems or crack under the pressure.

The End: No alien being references in the finale. In fact, a great number of fans were disappointed with the non-scientific explanation of the end. However, if the characters were dead before 815 crashed on the island, the island itself was a test, an experiment to make the characters confront their personal issues, work through them, literally "battle their own demons" to "see the light."

5. MENTAL INSTITUTION

The first cast member hired by TPTB was Hurley. It seems like an odd choice, but he always appears to be around the center of action. Hurley believes that he has been cursed by the Numbers, that he has imaginary friends, and that he can interact with dead people. Coupled with the factors that most of the cast has criminal behavior, daddy issues, alcohol, drug and psychotic problems, the fact that the island is a free form Mental Institution, a Santa Rosa
Club Med for the criminally insane, could explain a lot of the story line. Many believe that it would be a disappointing finale if this was merely one large Hurley mental meltdown.

The End: There was no reference to the characters being institutionalized and hooked up to machines. The end was not a theater Room 23 mind wash event. And it was not just the delusions of one person's fantasy running wild.

6. EGYPTIAN PORTAL

If the Egyptians were an advanced technological society, they would have used any and all technology to get closer to their gods, or to guarantee their Pharaohs place in the heavens.

The End: The island was clearly a means to the End for the characters, especially Jack. It was a place that the characters needed in order come to terms before "awakening" in the heaven's ante room with friends. The unknown element is how was the connection made from the island mind to the heavenly soul.

7. NEXUS BUFFER THEORY

This was most complex, mixed theory: that the island is the dimensional space between heaven and hell. The island Others were demons who could not reproduce or create life in hell. Ben's manic desire for women to have children on the island by capturing Juliet was his solution to create his own army of demons, who along with Sata, would attempt to recapture Heaven for themselves. Angels have been summoned to stop the War before it begins, and the souls of the 815ers have been caught in the middle of this pending epic struggle.

The End: It was clearly explained that the island was a "cork" that held evil at bay, so in one respect the concept of "buffer" between worlds was true. However, the foreshadowed "War" that Widmore pondered never got to the epic struggle and battles that I had envisioned. Not even close. The non-violent struggle between two supernatural beings, Jacob and MIB, was anti-climatic when viewed in the context of the final minutes of the show, where the characters finally wound up.