LOST & My Predictions

One of my favorite TV shows has just ended and it didn't turn out the way I predicted. Here is my prediction from April 2008.


Jack and Kate with the help of Ben and Sayid will break into Faraday's Oxford lab and take 3 super-humans who can see dead people, travel through time and dodge bullets back to the island for VENGEANCE. There they will use all of the ancient Dharma fortresses to defeat the monster and the evil corporate Mr. Widmore. John Locke will die in the process while using all his powers granted by the Island. Ben will be killed by his own greed and fall into a pit of Lava like Gollum.

In the aftermath, scientists will go to the island and discover the cure for cancer, the ability to render all atomic bombs useless, and how to time travel back to previous days in a person's life. But the most stunning result will be the key to picking lottery numbers. Once this happens, people will win the lotto so much that it will be closed. As the real source of public school funding, the educational system will collapse, the rising generation will become cannibals; and consequently, not solve global warming and the earth will be flooded by icebergs. Then Kevin Costner's vision of Water World will become a reality. I don't remember how that movie ended (because I shut it off) so you'll have to tell me how it ends.

OK. The only things I was close on were Captain Obvious items - Jack defeating the monster, Locke dying and water world...

I'll start by saying I'm glad the show is over. I felt it running out of gas at the end of Season 3; but time travel kept it interesting for 2 more years and the longest ending ever (all of the alternate realities in 6) kept it very enjoyable.

My biggest disappointment? The Island. It was such a source of mystery and imagination and only turned out to be a plot device. They didn't really want to explain why or what it was, the emphasis was on the people. In the Super Bowl-esque 2 hour pre-game show, the producers said the title LOST referred more to the characters than the Island. From that perspective, the arc of the show makes sense and I'm glad I caught that or I might have been sorely disappointed.

Ultimately, this is a story about how people find redemption. I used to think the point of the show was to demonstrate that everyone has a skeleton in the closet and we all deserve to go to hell on an island infested with a smoke monster. But in classic Judeo-Christian fashion, the characters ultimately find a form of grace or salvation. The way in which they pull each other to the "next place" was beautiful and set me close to tears a few times.

What did I love most about the show? It was like a six year long movie with a great score - the music really made the show. It never felt like a TV show to me. My parents had the Thorn Birds, I have LOST. I feel sad for those who haven't seen it yet, because now there are too many spoilers out there. The joy of this show for me was discovery and the journey. Which brings me to an idea about origin stories, but that will have to wait for another day.

I've added a theme from the show that feels appropriate for an ending to my playlist if you care to hear the music once again.