LOST: The eternal struggle between Good and Evil

After watching the Season 5 finale of LOST, I realize that I have never been so excited as to where to show is going next. I am going to attempt to try and explain what the hell is going on in my own words. If you haven't seen the finale yet, do not read any further until you watch it. If you don't care either way, go elsewhere, because your LOST indifference appalls me. Just kidding, go watch from the beginning and let me know when you're caught up.

Here we go...

I've been watching LOST, solid, for the past 4 years. It is always an interesting show, with impeccable writing and storytelling. Add the lush jungle setting and the myriad armada of fascinating characters with deep backgrounds, and I find it the single greatest television show ever made.

A big part of the show over the course of its telling, since the very first episode, is the idea of black and white, Good and Evil if you will. For seasons we have been tempted with the sources of power behind the mysterious island. There is the enigmatic and omnipotent, but never seen Jacob. Also there's a powerful smoke being, i.e. monster, that somehow conjures the deceased and judges the living (who do you think that is? Hmmm).

Finally at the conclusion of Season 5 we know who the players are in this what seems like an eternal struggle for superiority. Well sort of...

I am seeing Jacob as God. And his enemy is the Devil, smoke monster/resurrected dead people (Locke, Eko's brother, etc.). The devil manipulates the living trying to destroy God. The battle field is the island. The pawns are the unfortunate (or fortunate however you look at it) people inhabiting the island. God does what he can, but as you'll find out in the episode, the devil finally gets his victory (or so we think). Using a "mortal" Ben as the final stab to Jacob.

When the show started, it was mysterious and it was a journey. Discovering who the people were on the plane took up the better part of the first two seasons. Who the other people are on the island took about a season and a half. Setting up the mythology of the island technically started in the first episode, however it hasn't really kicked off until the past season and a half.

The underlying mythology of the show is what has me so fascinated. The mysteries that the writers have woven into the fabric of the show, are incredibly intriguing, yet all together frustrating. I hate watching an episodic story unfold on week at a time. And now we'll have to wait another 9 months for another new episode.

Now that we know the players and the battlefield, it is going to be one hell of a ride next season. Will Evil/darkness triumph? Will our survivors be able to put a stop to the new baddie in ghost Locke? Only time will tell in the final Season next year.

These are my bets:

-the change that Jack thought he was going to do by detonating the bomb, will not occur. Faraday had it right, "you can't change the past."

-Not only did everybody survive the atomic explosion, i.e. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, etc. but they will be sent back into present time, to meet up/showdown with the now rampaging Locke. And sorry, but Juliet is dead. So sad.

-Sayid isn't dead, at least not yet. He'll either last a few episodes into season 6 and then die, or he'll heal and remain on the show. My bets on him dying shortly.

-Jacob is NOT dead. Remember the God/Devil Analogy? I wouldn't be surprised if the almighty Jacob pulls a Jesus on us. Also at the beginning of the show, the guy in the black shirt(smokey/bad Locke) or Jacob mentioned that the cycle will continue regardless.

-Rose and Bernard are our Adam and Eve in the caves from Season 1.

-Sawyer is going to go crazy on Jack and everybody who came back for screwing up his Dharma life, thus killing Juliet. He won't be getting with Kate. Sorry.

-oh and Alpert is from the crew of the Black Rock. Boom!

I love this show. The simultaneous double whammy of character and mythology is something you don't get to see too often in TV. I'm working through the complete X-Files, and while I think the shows are similar in terms of an over arching mythology, I find that LOST does it better. Firstly there is the enormous cast. LOST has at least 20 regulars.

Also LOST will have the benefit of knowing when it will end. X-files dragged on too long and meandered towards the end. I have no doubt that the questions we have about LOST will be mostly answered next year. And I can't wait to see it all, but with a bit of sadness: I don;t want it to end. I'm almost hoping that somehow years from now, somebody will decide to make a spin off or something. New characters but same mythology, probably a different time.

Nah. It's good as is. Let's just hope the final season won't disappoint.

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