WHATNESDAY

[cleolinda]

Okay, what?

Someone explain to me what just happened. I mean, yes, I get it, Jack died. Was it just Jack? Was it everyone? What about his kid? Was Sideways World real? Was it all in his head? Was everyone happy and reunited in his head or was everyone happy and reunited in Sideways World or was everyone happy and reunited in heaven? What about Desmond back on the island after they fished him out of the glowcave? What about Ben and Hurley? WHAT ABOUT BEN AND HURLEY HELPING DESMOND GET HOME? Did the Ajira plane get back to wherever? Does none of this matter because it was or was not real? That last shot after the title card--did everyone die in the original crash? I don't? What? WHAT?

ETA: Yes, I know it was purgatory, MATTHEW FOX, WHO SPENT SIX YEARS SHOUTING AT PEOPLE THAT IT WAS NOT PURGATORY, I just don't understand how much of it was purgatory--was it all purgatory in Sideways World? Was Jack's Kid just totally imaginary? Was it not purgatory at all? Are we going to split hairs, MATTHEW FOX, and claim that it is not literally purgatory, it's just something where They Were Really Dead All Along WHICH IS WHAT WE ALL MEANT BY "PURGATORY"? I JUST WHAT I DON'T KNOW.

I actually really liked it. I'm just not sure what happened.

Oddly, it reminded me a little of the ending of Places in the Heart. Or that last shot of V for Vendetta.

However! There will apparently be three alternate endings on Kimmel in about twenty minutes? MAYBE ONE OF THEM WILL BE A NON-PURGATORY ENDING.

ETA: Okay, the clearest consensus I am getting--in case passersby are getting confused--is that everything on the island was real, and Sideways World was everyone getting ready to move on after they had died, in this weird kind of all-times-collapsed-together thing where people who had died and were dying and would eventually die all came together at the same time to move on. And lo, Christian Shephard (NO REALLY) led them all into the light. Or something.

ETA: Oh! Sideways World was Titanic Heaven! Now you're speaking a language I can understand.

Comments

[incogra.livejournal.com]

I'm assuming Sideways World was purgatory. What Jack's Dad was saying about "now" makes me think that Kate, Sawyer, Claire etc. got of the island, lived their lives, and died in other ways (Same with Ben, Hurley, and Desmond) and, time working differently in the afterlife and all, they could meet up whenevs. Why did Aaron had to be born again? Who knows.

The title card shot, though? Ugh, if that means EVERYTHING was purgatory, color me pissed.

[redcurrantbasil.livejournal.com]

I agree with you. I think the island and everything that happened to the Crash survivors was real.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

I choose to interpret the title card as a farewell to the set and locale and a last poignant lingering look over the original crash site. No matter what is said in press or in print or in any medium, no matter what the original intention, I will hold fast in this.

[incogra.livejournal.com]

ME TOO.

[juliekaye.livejournal.com]

This is what I thought as well.

[dorei.livejournal.com]

Because the birth of Aaron would be what would awaken Kate and Claire, and apparently Charlie.

There's that mythology out there that when we die, we may not always be aware -- and this goes across several religious constructs (did you notice that it didn't have to be christianity-based? I liked that part. All nice and ecumenical) and in order to realize we are dead, we have to be awakened. So giving birth again, with the help of Kate, helped them both to remember. And kissing Claire sealed the deal for Charlie.

It's interesting ... Michael wasn't there, nor was Walt. I don't know if this is because Michael had already moved on, or had been voted off the island or what.

[incogra.livejournal.com]

Oh, I get what his birth did for the other characters--but for AARON'S sake, why did he have to be born again. Did he die too? Is that not the same Aaron? Etc.

[ilm.livejournal.com]

"in order to realize we are dead, we have to be awakened"

Thanks for that explanation! I had been wondering why, if the alternate universe was purgatory, people didn't realize they were dead. This clears it up somewhat.

[tattooedsiren.livejournal.com]

I watched a DLed version and there was no title shot card. I'm confused - care to explain???

[incogra.livejournal.com]

They showed a couple silent shots of the original wreckage, and it wasn't clear if it was meant to imply that no one survived the original crash, or it it was just a nod to the premise of the show.