"Lost," and endings

by Dan Phillips

NOTE: in case you've not finished off "Lost," I'm going to make the post spoiler-free. But stay away from the meta if you want to avoid spoilers; I'm not going to require that anyone stay  away from spoilers.


UPDATE: you can see a few spoilery unanswered Lost questions at my site.

My dear wife and I have been longtime "Lost" fans. We started a year or two in, caught up, stayed hooked.

I have really enjoyed the writing, the acting, the scenery. One of the most remarkable aspects of "Lost" is how the writers would pose questions, then actually answer them satisfactorily — but raise still more questions, at the same time. It wasn't a frustrating experience, as if one were simply compiling and endless list of conundrums. Sentences did end, with satisfying periods and exclamation points. But none was the final sentence. That was supposed to come last Sunday night.

I grew to respect the writers a lot. Again and again, an apparently random event or character in one episode would be caught up and featured front and center, weeks, months, or even years later. One had the feel of a very deliberate, purposeful venture being unfolded.

So we stayed up (far too) late watching Sunday's grand finale — and came away puzzled and disappointed.

Obviously, many found the ending perfectly clear and delightful. That's great. I guess I must be dim, because I don't see it yet. I was disappointed. We'll probably watch it again, give it another go, see if we can make better sense of it. But for now... the last episode was the first "Lost" episode that ever really let me down.

I've grown accustomed, though, to human writers setting up conundrums they can't solve fully or satisfactorily, so I tempered my expectations... to some degree.  Whether Stephen King, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Tad Williams, Joss Whedon, Stephen Donaldson, or on and on, I think humans create better dilemmas than they do solutions. In at least some cases, the authors themselves did now know how their stories were going to end when they started them rolling. Sometimes that shows.

But whether carefully planned, or made up on the wing, I can't offhand recall any really ambitious saga whose dénouement left me fully satisfied.

With one exception, of course. That would be actual history itself.

Take prophecy seriously and one sees a very complex weave from start to finish. Take the Bible seriously, and you realize that the Author of  both history and prophecy knew the whole from the very start. Human writers may make it up as they go along, but God is the one who declares "the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose'" (Isaiah 46:10).

I am thinking of this now particularly with reference to the "problem" of evil. In history, the villains are monstrous, powerful, dreadful. They fill us with loathing, with horror, with disgust.

Yet we read that God "laughs" at them (Psalm 2:4). Why? Nothing about it looks funny to us, down here on the battlefield.

But God can laugh "at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming" (Psalm 37:13). That is, He knows exactly how the story will turn out. He never sees a wrong, without at the same instant seeing its rectification. He knows that every crime, every sin, will be fully judged and punished. Every wrong will be righted, every injustice made right. He will see to it personally. He knew the last lines when He began penning the first.

And I can know it too, to some measure. How? Because I've read the end of the story. And it is completely satisfying, beyond the ability of any human author ever to dream.

No longer will there be anything accursed,

but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, 

and his servants will worship him. 

They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 

And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, 

for the Lord God will be their light, 

and they will reign forever and ever.

(Revelation 22:3-5)

He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." 

Amen. 

Come, Lord Jesus!

(Revelation 22:20)

---