'Live together, die alone'

The initial draw of 'Lost' for me was that it was 98% filmed on location in Hawaii. With the exception of 4 scenes the entire 6 year series was shot primarily on the North Shore of Oahu and in different locales of Honolulu. Thailand, Beirut, Australia, LA, hey, brother, they were all cleverly disguised island locations. 'Lost' did not have the brilliance of a cable production; the series fell below the prominence of 'The Wire,' Six Feet Under,' 'Deadwood,' and even 'BSG,' into a niche however, that was elevated, void of the medical, the jurisprudence, or the CSI populated worlds; 'Lost' was thinking man/woman's 'Lord of the Flies,' vs smoke monster vs ram dass. There was the light and there was the dark. The international cast was immense; each one of them with a compelling story intertwining past, present, future, and even an ambitious visionary 'sideways.' 'Lost' was that piece of mythical tapestry in the Odyssey. The weekly unravelling challenged sensibility. The series was not an easy mid-season, or mid-year pickup. If you inadvertently turned on, tuned in, you probably had to drop out. Story lines arced and collided. This may have been Jack's story. But it was every one's journey. The island's venue served as the backdrop for subcultures, crumbling civilities, and emotional discovery. In the end, the questions far outnumbered the answers. The writers, Lindelof and Cuse respected the characters, and presented closure for many of them in a zig-zag, back and forth story line. The last offering may have been purgatory or death, but in this final emotional film vignette, along with Jack we discover that memories facilitate letting go; that the most important time of his life was spent with this unlikely collection of people: his band, their tribe, a posse. In a quasi philosophical (and why not, the series had characters named Hume, Locke, and Rousseau) context, one accepts death in a place created with loved ones, and then moves onto the next resolution. White light filling the screen. Jack's eye closes. Nice. Perhaps, more philosophical than religious. The opening and closing shot of the final episode, the white sculpted Christ figure, arms akimbo...the church parking lot: my old high school. Past karma. I had the shives, or what kamaiana's call 'chicken skin' running down my arms.