The mysteries of the island matter little to me after tonight. My husband said afterward that he still wants to know what the deal is with Smokey. I said I no longer give a rat's a** about Smokey.

Since the beginning I've been wrapped up equally in the human element and the mythology. I enjoyed the show on both levels. Now all I can think about is each character's fate.

Game-changer indeed. Anyone have a similar reaction?

i completely agree. i am much more interested in what happens to jack, kate, sawyer, and locke, when and if they leave the island, than mysteries like jacob, "the box", etc. the show has always been about whether these people get rescued or not, and i think that in a sense it is the island that is supposed to rescue them, from who they will become without it. the crash was the rescue (how ironic). jack was on his way to becoming his father before the crash (full of anger, etc.), and he evidently continued that path because of an untimely rescue from the island. hopefully locke can put a stop to that.

I have to say that while the mysteries are interesting, it's the people that I ultimately care about, especially after tonight's episode.

One thing that I was thinking, is if they Losties are going to keep in contact with each other after they are rescued. It seems like Kate has kind of given up on Jack, and if the person in the coffin was on flight 815 I wonder why nobody was at the funeral. Even if it was Locke or Michael who people might be upset at, I would still expect them to go. After you have such a crazy and traumatic experience like that I would imagine that you would grow really close to everyone, especially when you go back into the real world and nobody else would really understand what you went through. In that sense I would really hope that the Losties keep a close relationship with each other, even if they did have some issues with each other.

I care about both by turns. It is interesting to wonder about the mysteries of the island but it's really the people that drive Lost and make it the show that it is. But, just the people won't make Lost what it is... it's equal parts of mystery and interesting characters that make Lost what it is.

I completely agree. It's always been the characters and their personal journeys that have kept me so attached and devoted to the show, and I hope it stays that way! :smile:

After you have such a crazy and traumatic experience like that I would imagine that you would grow really close to everyone, especially when you go back into the real world and nobody else would really understand what you went through.

This is exactly why people wouldn't keep in contact with each other. People want to live out easy, normal lives. They don't want to be constantly reminded of bad experiences.

I personally really can't separate the people from the mysteries. To me the main themes of the show seem to weave the two together very well. I can't wait to see what happens.

I guess I'm the one who cares about the mystteries and the island lore than the characters. I thought the flashforward tonight was extremely depressing, and I realized that I don't really want to see the depressing reality of the characters post-island. Or at least not while we are in Season 3. In fact, I would have preferred that the series ended just as they were leaving the island and that it is was left up to bad fan fic and the audience's imagination to decide what happened from there. But that clearly isn't going to happen. :(

While I realize the show is all about the characters, and the characters are the only reason I watch after a suspect season 3, ignoring the mysteries would be dumb. That's what makes Lost the show it is...the show is filled with cryptic sentences, interrupted conversations, rising violins and slams to black. The mysteries are essentially what hooks the show. And the mysteries are what gives fuels to all these fansites, theories, and never ending hype.

I understand where some people are coming from but I don't really see why the season finale should change anything. The Smoke monster didn't go AWAY...he'll be back. Walt shows up outta nowhere mysteriously older...what is the purpose of Dharma...who are the real Hostiles....why do pregnant women die and sick people miracoulously healed. These are critical plot points of the show. The Others was all about mystery and this season was based on them....the show is literally based on it's mystery(and sometimes hype).

Without the mysteries the Losties are just a bunch of people stuck on an Island...the very fact that they are all connected is a mystery...

Without the mysteries the Losties are just a bunch of people stuck on an Island...the very fact that they are all connected is a mystery...Well said :biggrin:

Yes, the two things are totally integral to the show. Look at it this way--

If there were just mysteries with no characters, we would have no emotional involvement.

If there were just solid characters with no mysteries, you'd have a bunch of people standing around doing nothing by the end of season 1.

The mysteries of the island matter little to me after tonight. My husband said afterward that he still wants to know what the deal is with Smokey. I said I no longer give a rat's a** about Smokey.

Since the beginning I've been wrapped up equally in the human element and the mythology. I enjoyed the show on both levels. Now all I can think about is each character's fate.

Game-changer indeed. Anyone have a similar reaction?


My thought exactly.
After pointless human reactions throughout the season, now I feel touched by Jack's FF in this episode.
Damn poor guy.

I totally go with the characters on this one, what a great question this is! I mean absolutely we all want to find out what the place is and what dharma is and blah blah, but without the characters and without the bond that we've formed with them, watching over time we wouldn't care about the mysteries so much. I know how cheesy this all sounds!! It's the truth though!

If there were just mysteries with no characters, we would have no emotional involvement.
This is kind of where I am now. I cared mostly about the characters, a little bit about the mysteries, but after so many of the characters I enjoyed being killed off and others made less and less sympathetic, it's hard to be emotionally involved and the mythology isn't enough to hold my interest.

myyyyyyyysteries... the people are cool, but its the mysteries that make them cool... this is why locke is interesting and claire is plain oatmeal... blah...

I care more about the mysteries than the characters. I would watch soap operas if that was my only interest.

You could kill off my 3 favourite people and Id still watch.

The mysteries separate Lost from all the other shows.

I have to be in the mysteries camp on this one. The characters are great and well-written for the most part and if they were not then it wouldn't be a very good show, but if they are going to give us 3 more seasons of soap-opera-on-an-island then I will be very disappointed. That said, I must say that the finale made me like Jack a little more. He's becoming more of a real person to me, not just a cardboard cutout of an angst-ridden golden boy.