'Lost': Another look at the sideways world
It's the following day, and I woke up thinking, "I'll never recap another episode of 'Lost' again." I knew that going into last night, but it didn't actually hit me as I was writing it, nor after I posted it, nor as I went to bed. But this morning, it hit me hard, and I felt a little bit like Jack watching Ajira 316 fly overhead as Vincent laid down beside him. Aaaaand I need another tissue. Be right back.
OK, back again. That was a little embarrassing. I will say that writing that recap was actually one of the easiest things I've ever done here on the site. That's not me trying to brag here, it's just that when I say down, I knew exactly what I would write, and just wrote that. I saw everything wrong with it, and basically didn't care, because what they got right they got SO right that I myself let go of the things that I had been holding onto going into the finae. I don't think two and a half hours of emotional television wipes away the plotholes, inconsistencies, and lingering questions that remain as the show ends. But I do think those two and a half hours put those latter three things into proper perspective.
Over the course of the final season, I've posted weekly "Course Corrections," in which I tried to explain/reconsider/augment elements of my recap upon further reflection. I didn't do one last week, and I'm not going to do one this week. As we have come to the end (and really, "What They Died For" was Part 1 of a 3.5 hour finale), there's less that needs dissection and a lot more that needs reflection. Considering that I reacted to the emotional impact of the finale versus its plot machinations, it's fair to say I missed most of everything in my recap. But personally, I've moved on from talking about "theories" and entered the arena of "interpretations."
If there's one thing from my recap I would like to flesh out, it's my thought that Hurley created that Sideways World as a gift to his friends. If people picked up on anything in my recap and called foul, it was this interpretation. Which is what it is: A interpretation, not THE answer. Part of the reason I don't want to do "Course Corrections" so late in the game is that it engenders arguments for arguments' sake. And those arguments are what's going to sustain "Lost"-Cons for the next thirty years, but aren't entirely what I am looking to spark in the final days of this blog.
That being said, let me try and flesh out what I meant. This isn't meant to be THE definitive version of what went down, because the beauty of the finale lies in its open interpretation. Just as the church in the sideways world features iconography from many of the world's major religions, one can approach the last sequence of the show from a multitude of perspectives. I fashion myself a spiritual, if not overtly religious, person, but what I saw wasn't the power of faith in a higher being, but in fellow human beings. And no one caused more happiness for his fellow human being than Hugo.
"But," cried the masses, "Christian Shephard told Jack explicitly that they all collectively created that place to find each other!" True, but I think Hurley was the catalyst that turned desire into opportunity. He created something that Immanuel Kant called "The Kingdom of Ends," a place created by rational people that make decisions based on "universality." "Universality" stems from something called the "categorical imperative," formulated as such: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law."
What the Lostaways did, and perhaps by extension we all do in our everyday lives, is create conditions for a potential, and singular, Kingdom of Ends for ourselves. This Kingdom need not be in this lifetime, although it could be under the proper conditions. But since those conditions are just about impossible to create in the real world, these Lostaways subconsciously created the potentiality without realizing it, in their time together on the Island, through their friendship with each other and the unspoken desire that things could have happened under better circumstances. What they didn't realize, and I think Hurley later did, was that those terrible times on Craphole Island were in fact the perfect circumstances for them to start, but not end, their journey.
So let's go back to the lines that, to me, spoke of Hurley's role in crystallizing the unconscious desire of the Lostaways in what we've called the sideways world. After they think Jack has died in the cave, Hurley and Ben have this exchange.
Ben: He did his job, Hugo.Hurley then takes the unbearable burden of Island Protector and, rather than hoarding it, immediately redistributes it. He gives part of the responsibility directly over to Ben, in the same way that he redistributed food on the Island or his lottery winnings off of it. Rather than getting Desmond home as his first act of taking care of people, he gives Ben a measure of respect and honest and involvement that was lacking throughout his entire life. Hurley's categorical imperative was not to keep Ben isolated for his past but embrace him for what lay ahead. It's a fantastic payoff of one of my favorite "Lost" scenes of all time: the two of them sharing a candy bar outside of the cabin. Everyone loves Hurley. Even Ben.
Hurley: It's my job now. What the hell am I supposed to do?
Ben: I think you do what do you best. Take care of people. You can start by helping Desmond get home.
Hurley: How? People can't leave the Island.
Ben: That's how Jacob ran things. Maybe there's another way. A better way.
The word "home" above strikes me as particularly important, since that describes as well as anything where everyone in the church goes once consumed by the white light. Whether or not these people (and by extension, anyone) can go to that final destination without the middle ground of a sideways world is irrelevant to me. The fact that it exists is a gorgeous thing, a place for these people to have closure in a way that they could not have had otherwise. Some of you might hate the mundane explanation for "It worked" as talking about a vending machine as opposed to an entire timeline. But it's those seemingly mundane moments that make up the best parts of a life. I met my wife at a house party in Manhattan in 2003. Party wasn't that great. Doesn't matter. That's where I met my wife, while trying in vain to open a bottle of wine. That corkscrew didn't work. But we worked, and we worked starting from that benign moment.
As far as Hurley being unaware for so long in his own creation: honestly, this doesn't bother me in terms of my interpretation. If the sideways world was about giving people a chance to reconnect with themselves and each other in a way that needed to feel earned to matter, then I like the idea of Hurley giving himself that journey as well. If they all arrived in that space inside the church hugging each other...well, we'd cry BS, wouldn't we? Not only would there be no context for that scene, but it wouldn't have been earned, and it wouldn't have been in keeping with the themes of the show that life is hard but good deeds (those categorical imperatives) pay off in the end. If letting go was easy, it wouldn't be meaningful.
I'm sure I'll have more to say about this over the coming days, but I am anxious to hear more of your thoughts on the ultimate meaning of the sideways world. So leave them below!
Photo credit: ABC
Ok Ryan, I can 100% see where you are going with the Hurley connection to the sideways world. The only problem with it is that it would have to happen AFTER he was given power and the show made it seem like it was happening before Hurley had the power. This is easily explained with the time/space aspects of the show, so the fact that Hurley did not get the power until afterwards is acceptable. I also agree that although Hurley did seem to know what was going on at first in the sideways world, once he was enlightened, he knew EXACTLY what to do. It was like he knew as much - or maybe even more than Desmond. This is only one small part of the show, there are still many more theories to explore. One thing that is driving me crazy is that everyone seems to think that setting off the bomb had nothing to do with the sideways world. I do not beleive that the writers would put that much effort into that bomb if it was meaningless. Everyone also seems to forget that Juliette said that "it worked" before she died. Isn't that a big clue?
I have to say i didn't like the end of Lost because I thought they were saying that they were dead all along, which made no sense whatsoever. It was the final scene of the wreckage that made me think that all this had played out in the minds of dead people amongst the mess. or something. Thankfully i was wrong about that. I'm good with the ending. i need to go back and watch it again with that expectation.
I can get on board with the idea that Hurley created the opportunity for the sideways world. It makes more sense than all of them just sort of creating it together. It was weird to see them all so smiley and happy, so unlike all the other episodes, so maybe that was setting me up for a weird ending. But Hurley being responsible for making them all so happy? Love that.
I think Darlton chose specifically to be ambiguous and non specific about this timeline and the science and magic precisely for reasons you state. This show will be debated and discussed by it's rabid fans for eternity. The best love letter the fans could have received is one where fans can write their own interpretive ending as you have done.
I do not think Hurley created the sideways timeline because if he had, sideways Desmond would not have needed to be the catalyst to make Hurley remember Libby and his prior life and face his death. I don't even think island Desmond knew what the sideways world was. He was just able to view it and interpret it incorrectly as a parallel real world. His last comments to Jack seem to indicate as such.
I think the sidweays timeline was every character's own personal post death homage to their group's solidarity. None of them wanted to move on until they were all ready to move on together. They each needed to live the rest of their lives and die whether it be by youthful sacrifice or by old age natural causes. Jack was one of the earliest to die but the last two face it since he was still in the end foremost a man of science.
An earlier commenter likened this to the end of Titanic and I think that most closely describes this moment.
How great that we can debate this for years. I can;t let go even if Jack and Locke can..:)
I like your interpretation of the sideways world. To clarify though, it's your interpretation that the sideways world, in our linear way of interpreting time, occurred after Jack's death on the island? I assume this because that is when the power passed to Hurley and that is when he and Ben formulated the plan to create that existence to give his loved ones closure. Correct me if I'm wrong there.
Personally I think this might not have been the most satisfying end (as part of me is in the camp of wanting to know more about who put the island together, where did the ruins come from, etc) but I think I am the most OK after having experienced it. Usually there is a sense of loss after the completion of a series that you are emotionally vested in. Much like the characters I think this ending left me with a feeling on contentment. If the characters were ready to move on then why shouldn't I as a member of the audience?
I think by this point we can say that everybody has their theory and that's that.
If all you're gonna do is just shrug and go "doesn't bother me" about the inconsistencies in it, then there's really nothing more to say about it than "K," and nothing more to argue back than shrugging back and going "no, it's not."
So Sideways being Hurley's gift to the others.... *shrug* No. It's not.
I'd like to address this quote in the recap though: "Neither the pro-epilogue camp nor the pro-Island timeline had it exactly right, even though both camps had valid perspectives to bring to the table and pieces of the puzzle in hand. What "Lost" brought instead was a third perspective, one that nobody really saw and one that I bet made a core section of its audience completely and utterly insane with anger."
Wow, dude. You are FULL of it. Just FULL of it. That ending fit perfectly into the Epilogue theory and you know it. Hell, that ending WAS, by DEFINITION, the Epilogue theory. That you would be so small as to write the above quote just astounds and disappoints me all at once.
To be fair though, I DID upen the ending immediately think to myself "Wow, I wonder what contorsions Ryan's going to go through to keep from admitting that the Epiloguers were right all along..." In that one sense You don't disappoint in the least ;)
@Enry who said:
"That ending fit perfectly into the Epilogue theory and you know it. Hell, that ending WAS, by DEFINITION, the Epilogue theory"
Ummm No, It's not
@Enry
Relax, what Ryan wrote was correct. Yes, the Sideways world DID technically exist AFTER the island timeline (from the perspective of the characters). But no one theorized that this was a sort of afterlife where they all died. Hence Ryan saying no one got it "exactly right", which is true.
I gotta say, I know the Epilogue folks were REALLY intense on being right about this, but I find your reaction to Ryan simply pointing out that no one saw this exact ending coming pretty ridiculous.
There are no points for being "right" about the ending of LOST -- you can stop trying so hard now. LET GO :)
My interpretation of the wreckage at the end was a subsequent plane crash of people brought to the island by Hurley, after taking over.
The exchange at the church between Ben and Hurley clearly indicated that they existed on the island together and did what has always been done in the past (in their own way, of course).
That's a theory I thought of, anyway.
One think about the sidways world that confuses me is that when Desmond "woke up" in the sideways world, it was because Charlie forced the car into the water. I got the sense that Charlie was aware of the island existence and was "waking up" Desmond.
Did I miss something there?
Consider me heartbroken.
What? You think I mean about Lost? Oh no.
Get this, people: Several million people in Ohio did not get to see the Lost finale. I was one of them. The local ABC affiliate took a dump just before airtime. I had to wait until 2 am, when I could download and burn it to a disc. I was up until 5 am, and now I am a giant piece of jello.
I mean, could the irony and the insanity be any more thick here?
So, now I have loads and loads of reading to do. Ryan, your recap was solid, my friend, but, as others have said, the single solitary nit I would pick would be Hurley creating the Sideway World solo
But who really cares? That's just plot, and what we learned last night was that plot was never even 1% of this story. Hurley created it, or they all created it, or Vincent created it---doesn't really matter at all, does it?
Sure, abandoning plot is sure convenient for you when you are one of the most convoluted stories ever told, but I also think it is fair. I fell in love with a story about people, rather than a story about storytelling, and that was really what this whole tale ended up being about: people.
In fact, it was about me and you as much as it was about Hurley and Jack. And I appreciate that more than I can really express right now. (Although I have started expressing myself over at my blog, which now contains a sleep-deprived, cigarette and nicotine fueled Recap, Part One of Infinity, all of which I will spare you here).
So, Hurley or not Hurley, Ryan, that's not even the question. Don't know, and don't care. One day I will want to examine and extrapolate all the Dharma/Across The Sea/Glowy Cave of Light details of it all, but right now the devil is in those Dharma-details. Right now they are ultimately irrelevant to the story.
I mean, think of this: they left us with a finale that removed conversation from the picture. Who could have ever called that? There is nothing to debate or discuss, really, aside from whether it worked for you or not. Hatches and cabins and ghosts, oh my---I cannot really bring myself to care about them anymore.
Eventually, yeah, I'll get back into the theory business. But for now I am in the business of emotional convalescence. I wish I could have begun doing so with all of you last night, but WEWS decided that was not meant to be.
And who am I to argue with a TV station?
I like your idea of Hurley giving the sideways timeline to his friends, but I disagree with you. I think that the sideways timeline was Jack's creation only. The relationship between the Island timeline and the sideways timeline is similar (to me, of course) to the movie "All That Jazz." Bob Fosse had more conversations with "Death" (Jessica Lange) as he got more and more sick. As he was dying, his friends and family, in an alternate reality/dream-like setting, had an other-worldly farewell party for him. Once he kissed Ms. Lange, he died. Jack had a similar world waiting for him when he died.
Jack thought that he was alone in the world. He wanted to do everything on the island himself. As the series went on, he learned how to allow others to help. He surrendered. As he got closer to his death, an alternate world began to take shape where all of the people he loved could be with him when he died. Because the end of the show was Jack-centered, we saw his "heaven." If it had been Hurley-centered, we would have seen Hurley's. And as Jack got closer and closer to his moment of death, the sideways timeline connections got stronger, moved faster, and everyone was together in that exact moment his life ended. Jack literally died alone, but seeing his friends fly off to safety made him smile. He didn't feel alone in the end, and then he moved into a place where everyone was together. (Excuse me while I break for a tissue.)
I don't think that everyone died at the same time. I think Jack died, and the Final Four plus Ben, Richard, etc. lived on. How they lived on, I don't know. And don't need to know. Jack's story and the Island's story ended and that is satisfying to me.
I hope my point of view makes sense to you, even if you don't agree with it. I simply wanted to off my alternative theory to yours.