Lost: The End of an Era

Today is a sad, sad day.  This evening we bid adieu to Lost, the pop culture phenomenon that has dominated our thoughts and TV screens for the past 6 years.  It is not often when a television show can touch a generation of TV watchers the way Lost has.  To be invested in this show for the past 6 years has had it's ups and downs.  There have been rough patches along the way when I said to myself "Why am I still watching this show?"  But, I am glad I have stuck it out.  I remember watching the Pilot episode way back in 2004, when it originally aired.  I was instantly and irreversibly hooked.  Since then, I have NEVER missed a single episode!  Ten Emmy Awards and a Golden Glode later, here we are, at the "The End."  Two-and-a-half hours somehow doesn't seem like enough to end such an incredible ride.  I am torn over tonight's episode.  I am dying to find out how the writers and producers are going to conclude this groundbreaking show.  But, at the same time, it will be hard to finally part ways with something that has been a part of my life for so long.  I will miss the characters and their back/forward/sideways stories.  I will miss the island and it's mysterious and supernatural characteristics.  But above all, I think I am just going to miss the thrill of anticipating the next week's episode, speculating and theorizing what will happen next, discovering the mythological and theological themes beneath the surface, and being surprised at every turn by unpredictable twists and shocking revelations.

Tonight's grand finale of Lost will be a huge milestone in pop culture and television history.  Possibly among the biggest finales of all time.  Right up there with the final episodes of M*A*S*H, Cheers, Seinfeld and Friends.  And in honor of this incredible ride coming to an end, I would like to hear your favorite moments from Lost.  What was your favorite gasp-inducing twist?  What was your favorite nickname from Sawyer?  Whose love story did you enjoy the most?  Who did you shed tears for when they unexpectedly died?

One of my favorite moments from Lost was the revelation of the flash-forward at the end of season three.  It was groundbreaking and completely unexpected.  I literally gasped and screamed when I figured out that we were now seeing into the future, not the past.  As for love stories, my hat goes off to Sawyer and Juliet.  I loved them together.  They were so different, but so perfect for each other. Which also brings me to Juliet's death.  Probably the most heart-wrenching scene of the entire series.  I cried when she was at the bottom of the hole, banging that darn nuke with the rock, and then a brilliant flash to white.  What an amazing way to end season 5.  But I don't think anything can top the spectacle that was the pilot episode.  The crash scene on the beach is absolutely stunning.  That single episode was enough to get millions of people, including myself, hooked for 6 years of incredible television.

Tonight will be rough.  It will be interesting.  It will be full of answers and twists.  But most of all, it will mark the end of an era.  The era of "the island."  The era of The Dharma Initiative.  The era of Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Hurley, Desmond, Juliet, Sayid, Ben, Jin and Sun, Charlie and Richard.  The era of LOST.