TV episode review
US airdate 23 May 2010 (ABC)
UK airdate 28 May 2010 (Sky1)

Ned Hartley and Martin Eden discuss the latest Lost episode. WARNING: Contains possible spoilers!

Lost has finished! But when we look back on it all, will we remember it with a bang, a whimper, or a disappointing flashback...?

MARTIN: Well then, that’s it Ned. Six years of compelling TV... So did we waste our lives or did all our dreams come true? What did you think of the finale?

NED: Well... I loved the first two hours of the season finale. I thought that the emotional resolutions of all the characters were fantastic. I thought the resolution to the flash-sideways universe was pretty bad. “They were all dead” is a lazy and unimaginative way to end that storyline, but worst of all, it had nothing to do with the Island. It felt like the end to the season but not the series. Martin, your thoughts?

MARTIN: It was a nice finale... There were some really touching moments, and Lost is an expert at those. But ‘they are all dead’ is on a par of lameness with ‘it was all a dream’, really. And the writing is really frustrating! Why wasn’t Miles in the end scene? Wasn’t Nadia Sayid’s true love, not Shannon? The writers messed up, big time, I think.

NED: I guess that the way TV is made, they couldn’t get all the actors there for the final scene (where were Michael and Mr Eko?), but the problem was that it just wasn’t a satisfying resolution to such a complicated and involved show. I think the problem is that it was impossible to end the show with an answer that would have made everybody happy – if Damon and Carlton really did know the secrets to the universe, then they wouldn’t be writing a TV show, would they?

MARTIN: I think you need to work within your limits. If I was Damon and Carlton, and I was planning a cast reunion at the end of a TV show, I would know from the start that logistically it’s pretty impossible, so I wouldn’t do it. I’d do something else. Fail.

What irks me now – and I know I’ve harped on about this before – is all those unanswered questions! My irritation is intensified by the tagline on the adverts I’m seeing for the full series DVD release of Lost - ‘everything will be answered’. Yeah, right! I really, really don’t expect everything to be answered, but c’mon... Who did Juliet shoot when they were being pursued on those canoes? What the eff was going on in the cabin when Locke first met Jacob? So many questions. I feel like they wasted my time, if they had no intention of following up on these things. Curse them!

NED: Oh, don’t say “Fail”. That’s what awful people on message boards say. Was I satisfied with the finale? Not really. Do I feel that Lost was a “waste of my time”? Not at all! For the last six years I have been consistently shocked, thrilled, surprised and amazed by the most entertaining show I have ever seen on television. I have loved arguing about the show with my friends, and pouring over minutiae of different scenes on the internet. I couldn’t agree with you less about Damon and Carlton’s objectives – I love the fact that they created this inspired, ambitious and opaque show, and I’m really glad that I got to be part of it. I don’t agree with how they ended it, but I sure as hell enjoyed the ride. Martin, like Jack, you’ve just got to let go...

MARTIN: Like Locke and Jack, we must agree to disagree. For me, Lost has turned out to be style over substance. A well made load of rubbish. I feel like I can’t even watch it over again, because I know that a lot of the questions just go nowhere.

So to end this, I have just two more comments to make about the finale.
1. Isn’t Claire short?! Li’l Aaron was bigger than her!
2. Isn’t Kate pretty!

NED: Yes, and yes!

VERDICT
Martin: 7/10
Ned: 7/10