'Lost': Finding a happy medium
Well, I'm back online, "Lost" fans, after a moving ordeal that rivaled The Oceanic 6's attempts to get back to the Island. While no move is fun, ours had its own fair share of unique trials and tribulations. Don't worry, I won't bore you with the details. But as we've worked through the highs and lows of moving, it's given me a chance to crystallize a few thoughts that sprung out of last week's, um, "festive" discourse.
I'm not anxious to revisit the viler comments that were posted here, but I did want to address one in particular: namely, that I was rooting for Kate to die. Here's the quote in question from a post last week:
I understand the desire to have her follow through with a completely selfless act in reuniting mother and child. I'm all for that. But you seem to think that after she does so, she should just keel over dead. I don't quite buy your feminist credentials when you seem to want this woman to turn into a saint and then die.Well, I never knew I had any feminist credentials, but let's leave that issue aside for now and revisit what I actually said:
To repurpose Jack's famous phrase from Season 1: Kate is willing to die alone so that Claire and Aaron might live together. And that's a powerful arc for both Kate and "Lost" as a whole.By that, I meant that Kate, in my mind, would be willing to sacrifice her life if it meant that Claire and Aaron could reunite. She's valuing their lives over her own. To me, this makes Kate a hero. I don't WANT her to die. I won't ROOT for her selfless sacrifice. But as we approach the final season, I think it's helpful to separate out "happy endings" versus "resolutions" for the major characters of the show.
Because let's face it: Season 6 is going to bring the pain. Hard. As it should. Our nominal heroes do not fit the usual mold of pop culture: they are weak, frail, corruptible, susceptible to emotional manipulation, stubborn...the list keeps going. They are not ONLY these qualities, but all of them possess them in some fashion, to varying degrees, alongside their strength, compassion, and selflessness. Looking at these characters from a dispassionate position, you could argue that not all of these people DESERVE a happy ending. What these characters have instead is a chance at resolution, of righting the wrongs that have done in order to either die at peace or make someone else's life better than their own.
Which characters deserve happy endings versus a chance at resolution is, of course, a completely subjective decision. Furthermore, the very idea of a "happy ending" is further subject to personal perspective. Let's take Adam and Eve, for instance. All signs point to those skeletons being a male and female pair that we know. Say it's the remains of Rose and Bernard, who found happiness in the Dharma Era of the Island and died together. Since they were content with their lot, their deaths aren't tragic, but almost sort of sweet.
However, Adam and Eve contained two mysterious rocks, pocketed by Jack: one black, one white. Are these stones part of the Season 6 endgame? If so, Adam and Eve are perhaps still alive in some fashion, which means they have a part to play yet in the Island's ongoing story. Suppose two characters left in the story have to sacrifice themselves in order for one other person, two other people, an Island full of people, or the entire world to survive? Is that a happy ending? Probably not. A noble one? Possibly, based on the particular context.
In summary, it's not enough just to post a bunch of death pools as we head towards the finish line. It's all good, clean, morbid fun, but such pools usually miss the context in which certain characters are doomed to die. We're going to see our fair share of death in the final year, but these will not all be senseless, meaningless passings. Very often, they will be defining moments of a character's arc: moments of understanding, moments of sacrifice, moments of compassion.
Which characters do foresee having happy endings, which will reach resolution, and which will receive neither? Leave your thoughts below!
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Ryan - I love your recaps and blogs on Lost. Mostly a lurker (I've been here from the beginning of your blog) and rarely a commenter. Last week I read your blogs early on so I (thankfully) missed a lot of the 'festive discourse'. But generally I find the discussions quite thought provoking and enjoyable.
As to who ends up where, I predict resolution for Jack, Sayid, and Ben. Up in the air for Sawyer and Kate. Happy ending for Jin, Sun, and Hurley - who will realize his need to lose weight and open a chain of restaurants specializing in fresh yogurt and named Frogurts.
First, I don't think you have to explain or justify your comments about the show and its characters, one way or the other. It's your blog and you can feel however you want to feel. Second, I don't see how your comments could have ever been taken the way the opposer took them. Wow, talking about 'filling in between the lines.' LOL
Now for my 2 cents on Kate. I will find it impossibly hard to swallow (like trying to take-an-unhusked-coconut-without-water-hard-to-swallow) if they have Kate lay down her life to have Aaron reunited with Claire without first giving me something to base that total change in character on. I have yet to see anything that doesn't show me more than a childish, self-centered, manipulative and selfish Kate from S01-S05. For her to suddenly just flip-flop into Mother Teresa is not going to be acceptable to me and is going to really look forced for the story's sake. I hope they give us something to explain her sudden change in personality before they have her commit to doing it. If not, it's going to be a real downer for me and I will only be able to view it as the writers/D&C wanting to Canonize Kate into Sainthood for the glory of her fans. And that will simply S.U.C.K.
Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Juliet have already offered up their lives for the greater good by tossing jughead into the hole no? Hurley, Sayeed, Miles may also be considered to be in that same category. Can someone pull out the time travel handbook and see what the rule about losing all memory of ur transcending event means in the next segment of ur life? Is there some sort of positive Kharma that follows into reboot life?
Oh, and thanks for the very sexy pix of Mark Pellegrino! ;)
jbdean,
Does 3 years of motherhood really add up to a "sudden change in personality"?
I agree with Ryan that Kate's motives make perfect sense within the story, and are a great sign for the character.
I can't speculate on what will happen in S 6 - I'm just not that good at it. However, I do think Kate sacrificed her life already - her lovely, happy life w/ Aaron. I think that was huge, especially for her. Great post, as usual.
I already get sad sometimes just thinking of the number of potential deaths next year. I'm not sure that I want the pain to be brought. :(
oh Ryan i was counting on a few funny stories from your move!
and to Rick, who wrote:
"and Hurley - who will realize his need to lose weight and open a chain of restaurants specializing in fresh yogurt and named Frogurts."
damn, LOL dude!
Kate - 3 years of motherhood doesn't necessarily qualify as "sudden change in personality", but it definitely fits the bill in explaining Kate's motivations.
Her 'failed' mothering of Aaron, along with a 'little push' from Jacob, is all it takes to set her on her path. Once she fully realized that she could never 'do taco night', Aaron or no Aaron, it was a simple journey to resolve to re-unite Claire & Aaron. Family is powerful in the world of Lost, so she trusted his care to his real grandmother and set off for soul-crushing coitus and doomed airflight. The real question is how the explosion of the hydrogen bomb will affect the lives of our Lost family, and will Jacob be able to 'push' enough of an imprint into the 'gamepieces' to ensure that we do recieve the one true end. As he said, up until then, it's just progress. And why did that make the MiB want to kill him so bad?
We of faith in the Darlton know that the 'one true end' will come to pass next May, but I'm impatient as hell to start the final journey. Eight month gaps between seasons may be cause for litigation, eventually. Or at least much cursing and foaming about the mouth.
At least this show's worth it...
As for 'happiness vs. resolution', I am already forming full opinions on who can die and who can't. Not that Darlton listens to anyone but themselves (as well they should), but as an obsessive fan with 5 seasons invested, I have a lot of opinions that are very important to me, and very annoying to my wife. She watches the show with me every week, but if not for me, she would've ditched after "Kate, damn-it, Run!!!" In fact, my Mom did. And I am still trying to catch her up by the end of January.
In my group of 'O.K. to die in whatever way', I put Miles, Sayid, most of the returning guest stars from the past, and any assorted red-shirts. Into 'O.K. to die, but it needs to mean something' is Kate, Jack, Rose & Bernard, and Daniel if he returns alive 'somehow'.
As for 'He/She better die, and it better mean a lot', goes Richard, MiB, Ben and Locke if he returns like Daniel.
Finally, my 'My name is Lost FanBoy. You killed my favorite characters. Prepare to die.' list. Jin & Sun are tops, along with Hurley. In my house come finale night, massive tears will flow. Guaranteed. But if Jin & Sun are never reunited, or if they harm a hair on Hugo's curly head, I will go from sad to angry very quickly. Others need to live, but I feel strongest about these three. I think Walt has to live, too. And Vincent, although we already know about that one. I love Naveen Andrew's idea for the final scene: Rescue boats arriving to save the lostaways, and then the camera pans to Vincent, tail wagging, standing in front of a beach full of graves. I would hate it if they did it, but I laughed out loud when I first read it.