Das Ende (Lost)

Vorlage:Infobox television episode "The End" is the series finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the 17th and 18th episodes of season 6. It is also the 120th and 121st episodes overall. As the final episode, it was first aired in the eastern United States, and then aired simultaneously in the western United States, Canada, Ireland, Russia, Italy, Israel, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The episode centers on Jack Shephard, Kate Austen, Benjamin Linus, John Locke, James "Sawyer" Ford, Claire Littleton, Sayid Jarrah, Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, Miles Straume, Jin-Soo Kwon, Sun-Hwa Kwon and Desmond Hume.

The finale was written by co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse, and directed by executive producer Jack Bender. Unlike the previous season finales, which were two hours long with advertisements, the series finale was expanded by half an hour; running two and a half hours starting at 9pm Eastern Daylight Time, with a retrospective of the past six seasons running for two hours, starting at 7pm. The series finale garnered 13.5 million viewers.

The final conflict begins as the Man in Black (Terry O'Quinn) executes his plan to destroy the island and Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) tries to stop him once and for all. In the flash-sideways, the survivors experience visions from the main narrative, and the nature of the flash-sideways is revealed.

Plot

2007

Following the events of "What They Died For", Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), Kate Austen (Evangeline Lily) and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia) head to the heart of the island while James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway) goes to the well to help Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick). At the well, Sawyer is confronted by Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) and the Man in Black. After the Man in Black reveals his plan to destroy the island, Sawyer steals Ben's rifle and reunites with Jack's group. Jack then tells Sawyer that he plans to confront the Man in Black at the heart of island. At the same time, Desmond, having been rescued by Rose Henderson (L. Scott Caldwell) and Bernard Nadler (Sam Anderson) (who have also travelled through time in "LA X"), is confronted by the Man in Black. The Man in Black threatens to kill Rose and Bernard if Desmond does not come with him, and Desmond agrees to go with him, provided he leaves Rose and Bernard unharmed. Meanwhile, Miles Straume (Ken Leung) finds a now aging Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell) and they set out by boat to destroy the Ajira plane. Along the way, they rescue Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey) from the wreckage of the submarine and they decide to leave the island by using the plane.

On the way to the heart of the island, Jack's group encounters the Man in Black, Ben and Desmond. Jack tells the Man in Black that he is going to kill him, and together with Desmond, they travel to the heart of the island. Jack believes that Desmond can kill the Man in Black because he thinks Jacob brought him back not as bait but as a weapon. Desmond tells Jack that destroying the island and killing Locke doesn't matter because he is going down to the heart of the island and leaving for another place. Jack and the Man in Black lower Desmond down to the heart of the island and he reaches a chamber, leading to a glowing pool with an elongated stone at its center. Immune to the pool's electromagnetic energy, Desmond manages to remove the giant stone stopper in the center of the pool. However, the light goes out and the pool dries up, and as the Man in Black predicted, sets about the destruction of the island. As a result of Desmond's acts is an unforeseen side-effect of making the Man in Black mortal again. After a prolonged fight, Jack is able to kill the Man in Black after Kate shoots him. However, Jack is mortally wounded and in a heartfelt moment, he and Kate profess their love for one another. Nonetheless, Jack, realizing he must prevent the destruction of the island, decides to return to the pool. Jack tells Kate to find Claire Littleton (Emilie De Ravin) and to leave the island. She leaves with Sawyer while Hurley and Ben follow Jack back to the pool.

Kate and Sawyer travel to the site of the Ajira Airlines plane where Lapidus, Richard and Miles have been quickly trying to make it air-worthy. After convincing Claire to leave, Kate, Sawyer, Claire, Richard, Miles, and Frank board the plane, which successfully takes off. Jack leads Hurley and Ben back to the heart of the island, where Jack convinces an emotional Hurley to take over as the protector of the island. Jack goes down to the light and rescues a barely conscious Desmond from death. Jack manages to restore the light and is enveloped in the light that surrounds him. Hurley, in his role as the new protector of the island, decides to help Desmond get home and asks Ben to be his right-hand man. When Hurley laments that people can't leave the island, Ben suggests that Hurley should not have to follow Jacob's way of doing things. Jack reawakens outside by a river and walks toward the spot where he woke up for the first time on the island, following the crash of Oceanic 815. After Jack collapses to the ground, Vincent the dog approaches him and lies next to him. Jack gazes happily at the sky while watching the Ajira plane fly overhead away from the island. Jack slowly closes his eyes as he dies.

Flash-sideways

Desmond continues to gather the islanders who begin to recollect their time on the island. One by one, each member begins to recognize one another based upon close contact with a person or object that was important to them throughout their time on the island. Eventually most of them are drawn to the church that was to be the site of Jack's father's funeral. Locke regains the use of his legs after being successfully operated on by Jack. He then meets Ben outside the church where Locke forgives him for murdering him. Ben then meets Hurley, who says everyone is inside, motioning him to join them, but Ben elects to stay outside. As Hurley heads back inside, he says to Ben that he was a "...real good number two...", to which Ben replies back that Hurley was a "...great number one", referencing the time they spent on the island after Jack's death. Kate arrives with Jack and instructs him to enter through the back of the church, where he comes upon his father's coffin. The coffin acts as the catalyst for Jack's memories after earlier contact with Locke and Kate met with resistance on his part to believe his flashbacks. Jack opens the coffin lid and discovers the coffin to be empty. Christian Shephard (John Terry) appears behind him. Jack, seeing his dead father, asks him, "how are you here right now?" Jack slowly comes to realize that he has died. After an emotional embrace, Christian reassures him that the people Jack has met and the events leading up until now not only happened, but the time he spent with the people on the island was "the most important period" of his life. He explains to Jack that time has no meaning in this place and that they "made" this place to "find each other", independent of the time at which they died, so they could "move on to the next phase" together. Jack and Christian go out into the church to meet the others. After an emotional reunion, Christian opens the front doors, revealing another bright light that slowly envelops everyone inside the church.

Production

Damon Lindelof, producer, reported on his Twitter page that the finale completed shooting in Hawaii on April 24, 2010, exactly six years after filming was completed on the show's pilot. When interviewed about the finale, Carlton Cuse stated that it had a real, definite resolution instead of "'a snow globe, waking up in bed, it's all been a dream, cut to black' kind of ending," referencing the series finales of St. Elsewhere, Newhart, and The Sopranos, respectively.

The cast members have expressed satisfaction regarding the finale. Daniel Dae Kim stated "If you think about how many pieces the writers had to put together in order to make it fall into place, it’s mind-boggling, and they did such a great job... For me it was very satisfying. After I read it, I had to sit for five or 10 minutes, just reflecting and digesting, because it definitely makes an impact." Michael Emerson has commented on the finale as well: Vorlage:Quotation Nestor Carbonell described the finale as being "all about everyone’s resolutions." Also, Henry Ian Cusick has said "There are so many walks of life getting together to talk about the show and so many issues to be brought up and that's exactly what the ending will bring up. People will be talking about it for weeks afterwards and that's what the show has always done."

After the finale, a post-finale special of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, titled Jimmy Kimmel Live: Aloha to Lost, aired at 12:05 a.m., showing three alternate endings, which turned out to be finale spoofs from Survivor, The Sopranos, and Newhart Lindelof and Cuse have stated that they shot only one ending for the finale. All three were spoofs of other classic finales and were produced by Jimmy Kimmel Live! An ABC source reported that the DVD and Blu-ray release of season 6 will feature twenty minutes of additional scenes, some of which will have answers to questions, cut from the storyline due to running time.

All former series regulars who appear (Ian Somerhalder, Dominic Monaghan, Jeremy Davies, Maggie Grace, Cynthia Watros, Rebecca Mader and Elizabeth Mitchell) are restored in the main cast in this episode. Also, guest stars L. Scott Caldwell, Sam Anderson, Fionnula Flanagan, John Terry, Sonya Walger and François Chau are upgraded to the main cast in these final episodes. Despite being credited, series regular Zuleikha Robinson does not appear. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje turned down an offer to return due to salary disagreements.

Instead of being displayed along with ABC promotional material (which in most cases would consist of a preview of the next Lost episode), the finale's closing credits are shown alongside various shots of the Oceanic 815 plane wreckage. However, this footage was not added by the producers of the show and is not considered a part of the actual episode. ABC independently decided to add the footage as a soft, nostalgic transition between the final scene and upcoming local news broadcast.

Reception

Ratings and viewership

In its original American broadcast, "The End" was viewed by 13.5 million households with a 5.8 rating/15% share in the 18-49 demographic, coming first in every timeslot and boosting ABC to the highest rated network on Sunday. The best rated half-hour (the last one) was viewed by 15.31 million viewers and earned a 6.4 rating/19% share in the 18-49 demographic. At least 20.5 million viewers watched at least six minutes of the episode according to ABC. After its first broadcast, the series finale became the 55th highest viewed series finale in the United States. Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello called the ratings "Solid, not spectacular". According to Ausiello, even though it was the show's highest rated episode in two years, it was still "far from a record-breaking performance". The viewership of the finale when compared to finales of shows past may be somewhat biased however as time-shifted devices such as Tivos, DVRs or even internet downloads are not included in the ratings. It is suggested that there was high viewership among these devices, Lost being the most Time-shifted show of 2010 and breaking the record for the most downloads of an episode ever on Bittorent networks. In the UK, 584,000 viewers tuned in to see the episode on Sky 1 during 5am broadcast. A later broadcast the following night was viewed by approximately 2.5 million. The series finale was the sixteenth highest-watched program in Canada, with 1.49 million viewers, which is down from the episode What They Died For, with 1.87 million viewers peaking at number nine.

Critical reaction

According to the web site Metacritic, "The End" received "generally favorable reviews" with a Metascore – a weighted average based on the impressions of 31 critical reviews – of 74 out of 100. IGN reviewer Chris Carbot gave the finale a 10/10, tying it with "Pilot, Part 1", "Through the Looking Glass", "The Constant" and "There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3" as the best reviewed episode of Lost. He described it as "one of the most enthralling, entertaining and satisfying conclusions I could have hoped for." Carbot also noted that the discussions about the episode may never end, saying "Lost may be gone, but it will hardly be forgotten." Eric Deggans of St. Petersburg Times also gave the finale a perfect score, stating "Sunday’s show was an emotional, funny, expertly measured reminder of what Lost has really centered on since its first moments on the prime time TV landscape: faith, hope, romance and the power of redemption through belief in the best of what moves mankind." Robert Bianco of USA Today rated the episode perfect as well, deeming the finale "can stand with the best any series has produced." Maureen Ryan of Chicago Tribune highly praised the finale, stating "The first two hours were exciting and emotionally engaging, especially when the island castaways in the Sideways world began remembering their 'real' lives. … But the last half hour or so took the finale to another level. … The emotional part of the finale worked so well that I don’t care much about the analytical/structural stuff." Although she criticized the supernatural plot device of the episode, calling it "wobbly at best" and "vaguely unsatisfying". James Poniewozik of Time also praised "The End", calling it "full of heart and commitment." Todd VanDerWerff of Los Angeles Times felt that the episode "provides character payoffs we’ve been waiting for. … The important thing … is not answers. It’s resolution. And 'Lost' provided that in spades." Entertainment Weekly writer Jeff "Doc" Jenson wrote an extensive two-part review of the "The End". In it, he praised the final moments of the show, saying the encounter between Jack and Christian Shephard "spoke to and for any parent and child, young or old, who hopes for an afterlife where they can see their family again, especially their parents, and especially if they parted company with too much unsaid, too much unresolved. I know that some people found the Jack/Christian moment to be mawkish and sentimental. Not me. I thought — and felt — that the moment was painfully honest. It was direct and knowing about the very real and very frightening prospect of eternal separation and loss. I felt and could relate to the pain and the anguish and the yearning of both the father and the son."

However, not all critics were wholly satisfied. Alan Sepinwall of Star Ledger was less enthusiastic of the finale, stating "I’m still wrestling with my feelings about 'The End'… I thought most of it worked like gangbusters. … But as someone who did spend at least part of the last six years dwelling on the questions that were unanswered – be they little things like the outrigger shootout or why The Others left Dharma in charge of the Swan station after the purge, or bigger ones like Walt – I can’t say I found 'The End' wholly satisfying, either as closure for this season or the series. … There are narrative dead ends in every season of 'Lost,' but it felt like season six had more than usual." Mike Hale of The New York Times gave "The End" a mixed review, as the episode showed that the series was "shaky on the big picture — on organizing the welter of mythic-religious-philosophical material it insisted on incorporating into its plot — but highly skilled at the small one, the moment to moment business of telling an exciting story." Matthew Gilbert of Boston Globe gave the episode a mixed review as well, citing "The mixed episode offered an abundance of emotional resolution and vague metaphor, some of which was compelling (Sawyer and Juliet’s reunion, Jack and Desmond’s farewell) and some of which was quite hokey (the cork?! the light? Locke becoming human again?)." David Zurawik of Baltimore Sun gave the episode a highly negative review, writing "If this is supposed to be such a smart and wise show, unlike anything else on network TV (blah, blah, blah), why such a wimpy, phony, quasi-religious, white-light, huggy-bear ending. … Once Jack stepped into the church it looked like he was walking into a Hollywood wrap party without food or music — just a bunch of actors grinning idiotically for 10 minutes and hugging one another."

International reaction

The series finale generated interest from observers outside the United States. The BBC's Entertainment reporter Kev Geoghegan said "Honestly, the show ended the only way it could have possibly ended. It was emotionally satisfying while some of the questions were answered and yet others will remain a mystery. All in all, the show was wrapped up rather nicely with a positive affirming kind of message." Geoghegan, however, criticized the lack of redemption for the Man In Black, calling him "a man who saw the limitations of his life on island and saw his destiny elsewhere" and saying that "killing him resulted in a loss of balance on the island" (balance as well as good and evil being recurring motifs throughout the entire series).

Shane Hegarty in The Irish Times said the finale episode was "about resolution rather than revelation" but admitted that the final scene in the alternative timeline was "somewhat of a letdown", while comparing it to the recent similar ending of Ashes to Ashes and contrasting it with the last ever episode of The Sopranos - "That show [The Sopranos] was not about mystery, but its final scene was so inscrutable that fans are still squinting in an effort to figure it out. Lost ’s finale, though, was not too obtuse."

Michael Deacon in The Daily Telegraph expressed his relief that the show "didn't culminate in the revelation that the plot had all just been a terrible dream" and said he was "beatifically surprised" at the "great" ending. The same newspaper reported that reviewers from the United States (apart from the reviewer with the Chicago Tribune) were "left cold" and "disappointed" by the result.

Some reviewers were, however, left puzzled as to the meaning of Lost. Tim Teeman in The Times referred to "a global scratching of heads" in his review but concluded "The questions are ceaseless: it may be healthier, as one online fan put it, 'to just accept it and move on'". Steve Busfield and Richard Vine offered a slightly more prosaic explanation for the remaining mysteries when they wrote in The Guardian "if you were after answers about the other mysteries of Lost, you may not have found them ... The aptly named Lost will continue to baffle, infuriate and delight fans for an eternity. Or at least until the box set.". suggesting that the true intentions for the ending of Lost was not to fascinate and puzzle, but simply to drive sales of Lost merchandise.

Broadcasts

The episode was initially broadcast on ABC in the eastern United States and CTV in eastern Canada, then simultaneously in the western United States, Western Canada, Fox in Italy and Portugal, Fox and Cuatro in Spain, DiziMax in Turkey and Sky1 in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, HOT 3 in Israel at 9pm Pacific Time on May 23, 2010. Due to the time difference, its initial Spain simulcast airing was at 6am (5am in the UK) BST. In Ireland, RTÉ Two decided to air it on Monday, May 24 at 9pm rather than its usual Thursday night slot in the interest of fans who did not want the ending to be spoiled.