LOST finale: Eastern vs Western mindset

Disclaimer: This post will not be about the details of the show but more about why i think people mostly disliked it in the end. You do not need to know a single character or plot line to read on.

Even if you can't stand the show LOST you could not avoid hearing about how it ended. I am one that enjoyed the show (however i did have some moments of almost letting go) and in fact enjoyed the finale as well. From what i heard around the water-cooler and read in other places i am in the very small minority.

Reasons that i heard routinely for viewer's dislike of the ending was that too many loose ends were never tied up. Too many plot lines and "issues" were never solved. The writers took the easy way out to the end. And the list could go on...but mainly the dislike coming from loyal fanatics of the show for 6 years was that it left too many questions unanswered or that the few answers given were cop-outs (taking the easy way to resolve the end).

This line of thinking and cause of frustration is a Western mindset. Give me the facts dang it! Answer all the questions! Make the plot lines make sense! Wrap this thing up in a nice tight package so i can rest easy!

The show was difficult to follow. It was so called "intelligent" TV. It made you think and ask questions. And that was a major reason that i liked it. This show impacted our culture in ways that few television shows have ever done. It caused viewers to actually pay attention in commercials, scour the internet for clues, and dig through pages & pages of blogs, chat rooms, & devoted websites to research other fans theories and ideas about what was actually happening on the show.

All of this commotion, promotion & marketing of the show played right into the hands of the Western mindset. Raise questions -- then find answers. We were taught from the very beginning of our time in school to use the scientific method to find answers to our questions. And this show pushed viewers to do just the same (again, like no other show before it).

This "bait" was dangled in front of the viewer's noses for almost 6 full years. And it worked. The "bait" created a buzz so big that no less than 2 other shows in a similar genre were launched while LOST was still being aired. The "bait" was so effective that for a few seasons a rerun of the previous episode was aired an hour before the new episode in a "pop-up video" kind of way.

The problem is that in the end (the finale -- which lasted 2.5 hours with an additional 2 hour recap on before it -- again think of any other show that had this type of air-time devoted to it) the bait was yanked away. Many questions were left unanswered. Many plot lines were not even revisited. The scientific method proved useless on solving the show.

How dare the writers do this?! After all those hours spent wringing hands, searching for clues, computing data, and theorizing for answers. This is all we get? Western mindset defeated...by an Eastern solution.

We don't have to have all the answers/solutions. In fact, what if we answer questions by raising more questions. What if the end is more about the bigger story...the bigger narrative being played out? What if the show was really all about the characters and their development? What if the purpose and meaning of the show was to demonstrate the cause & effect relationship of each person's decisions and how it impacted their life?

I LOVED the ending of the LOST. There is no way that the writers could answer all the questions and close all the gaps that were brought up in the last 6 years. And i believe the writers never had any intention of doing so from the beginning. The purpose of LOST was about character development & the story of the people.

We can learn a lot from this ending. Let go of the scientific method from time to time. Embrace character development. Embrace the bigger story at play. Embrace your story and where you are in it. Engage in how the decision you make will impact your life and the life of those around you.

In the end LOST was not lost. In fact the characters were found. If by no one else, they at least discovered themselves. And to me that is the most important part of the show.