Lost's Ending and Five Key Themes, Explained 

Lost ultimately succeeded in creating a memorable cast of characters that really resonated with the audience.

When jack said to Desmond," meet you in another life brother" it was so heart touching

Lost was the true beginning of Peak TV. It paved the way for so many shows after it.

Lost will always be one of my favourite shows ever, mostly because of the fun discussing each episode and the theories

Desmond is by far my favorite character, he was just so different but his love story was epic. Sawyer was hilarious, loved every minute he was on screen. Sayids nature and instinct made him extremely intriguing ( he snapped someone’s neck with his legs 😭) he was just fascinating. Richard deserved more screen time, his one episode that showed his whole life story was absolutely brilliant. His performance in that episode alone deserves an award. He went from being a mystery to fully understanding his life and character in one episode. Magnificent!

"You'll Understand Soon Enough That There Are Consequences To Being Chosen." Ben Linus

I think Lost was ahead of its time. If it had come out in the last 5 years, it would've been amazing. It would've been shorter and not bound to syndicated TV where episode count is more important than episode quality. The complex themes would've worked better and its weird fantasy element would've been more accepted in today's current age of TV.

I remember when I first started watching the show a few years ago I was worried about being disappointed by the ending because of what everyone had said about it. When I got to the ending I absolutely loved it, because it's about the character's journeys not about the mysteries. The mysteries may make it a fun show but the characters are what hooks people in. There aren't that many shows that have the stunning character arcs that Lost has.

1. They weren’t dead the whole time 2. The flash-sideway was the bridge between their death and heaven. They had to amend/deal with their regrets/struggles. Jack had to be a father so that he could experience what his father went through and finally forgive him. Sayid helped Nadia’s husband because he blamed himself for her death in real life. Ben helped Alex with her Yale application because he blamed himself for her death. After they dealt their complexes, finally they arrived at the church 3. Even though they died in different times, they all met at the heaven as if they just died. There was no waiting in heaven. When Kate said to Jack at the concert, “I missed you so much”..she meant that she lived a lonely life after his death. 4. The bomb didn’t work. Ben wasn’t on that plane. Still he was a part of the flash sideways. So the “plane didn’t crash because the bomb go off” theory isn’t correct. 5. Richard’s curse was over. He wasn’t immortal. His hair turned grey. 6. Ben couldn’t let go off the guilt/regret of Alex’s death. That’s why he didn’t enter the church. Also there’s a chance Ben tried to betray Hurley after he replaced Jack. When Hurley said, “Ben, you were a great number 2”, I felt like Hugo was trying to forgive Ben for something 7. Dr chang was the host of the Dharma initiative videos. He was the also host of the charity concert. Maybe he found redemption too 8. Jacob’s death was little undercooked. The only way someone could kill him if the person stabbed him before he could speak. But before dying, Jacob had a full conversation with Ben. 9. Eloise had very good knowledge about the island because she took Faraday’s book after killing him 10. The show depicts that be careful what you wish for. Your blessing might become a curse. Jacob and MIB couldn’t kill each other. Richard couldn’t die. Blessing became curse 11. The funniest thing was that a lot of people thought the LA part in season 6 was real just because Juliet said “it worked”. When sawyer unplugged the vending machine, she said the same thing Lol 12. Aaron died too 13. All of them had one thing in common..they got fucked up by their parents..just like Jacob and MIB did

Lost will always have a special place in my heart. For me it was less about the destination, but the journey the characters and their relationships took the audience on, but IMO the ending was also really good.

I named my son Desmond after this show! I found the ending satisfying and I feel like people who “don’t get it” never got the show in the first place 🤷🏼‍♀️

This ending is so beautiful. Easily enough to make anyone cry who’s watched the whole series. You just have all these people who’ve been through so much together. The good the bad and everything in between. Some of them dying horrible deaths. And. I thought it was so beautiful that when one person regained their memories they immediately started trying to help the rest remember too. And then the closure you get at the end watching jack walk into the church and all you see is just smiles everywhere. Everyone is happy. No more pain. And they’re all together ready to move on

LOST was so ahead of its time. One of the best TV shows of all time that was a role model to how TV should be done! I just finished rewatching it for the 3rd time and I’m still always on my toes!

One of the first shows to have Koreans cast as peer characters. Groundbreaking.

YES exactly. i always see people saying the ending was terrible, but i loved it. then again i think it depends on what you were most focused on when it comes to the show. mysteries and all were cool and i was always looking forward to finding out new things even if there were some... holes in the plot, but the characters and their relationships were so soooo good that's what actually kept me watching. so an ending focused on how important their bond was? best one for me

Lost resonated with soo many people around the globe because it portrayed the real world and the real diversity no matter how different we are we all are connected in this world...

FINALLY A VIDEO THAT VINDICATES THE IMPORTANCE OF LOST'S ENDING

Wait so this was the show that made people meme the whole "the real treasure was friendship" thing ?

Lost is basically mythology encapsulated into modern story themes, it covers just about every human life issue there is, the depth of its themes are incredible. I've watched the show about 10 times now and still catch new themes, it never gets old for me.

I always say that LOST is like life. You ask yourself lots of questions about the mysteries you encounter in one and the other. Sometimes you get the answers. Sometimes it's up to you to find them. Sometimes you make up your own answers. And sometimes you can't find the answers. Eventually, you can hope to find them all in the afterlife. LOST is the perfect series for me, with the perfect ending.

What did The Man in Black do to even become bad? His "mother" killed his real mom, and then killed his original people. If anything, Jacob and that women were the evil side the whole time. WHAT A TWIST!

I honestly believe that if Lost was made today by a streaming service it would be considered a masterpiece. Part of the issue with the show is that there were so many episodes per season and the network wanted more seasons than what the creators wanted to do. Had they had five 10-episode seasons that you could binge watch it would've been received a lot better. The other thing I'll say is, if you binge watch it it's a much better experience than when it was on TV. You're less likely to get bogged down in the little mysteries that are ultimately not that relevant to the overarching plot. The real mystery is the characters.

After all these years I still can't get over the fact they left many theories, phenomena, events unexplained while constantly reminding its viewers "everything happened for a reason". Apart from that, the show WAS outstanding for its time. I will never forget the first time I watched season 2 opening with the hatch and Desmond and the song🎶 Still gives me chills

All you have to know is: Damon Lindelof is one of the biggest Twin Peaks fans around, and he's admitted that his work is deeply influenced by TP. So, it's no big surprise Lost wasn't going to give us all the answers we wanted. He was very successful in maintaining the show on air for such a long time, while poor David Lynch and Mark Frost were cancelled after one season and a half, only to triumphantly return 25 years later and... not give us any answers! I love Lost, loved the ending, cried like a baby. It's still one of my favourite American TV shows.

I just completed watching all the seasons during pandemic. At first, I thought the show was about aliens or ghosts in the island. Half way through the season 2, and I thought some super natural thingy would happen. Not such thing happened. 🙄 I waited and waited for an answer to all the confusing questions. Finally, I realize that the show is all about humans and our stupidity. From character development to cinematography, everything is 10/10. Even Kate's black horse came back to tell a story. 👍 I wonder when will Arya Stark's white horse come back.💀

THANK YOU for giving this show's ending the redemption and admiration it deserves. As someone for whom LOST was appointment-TV, and also someone who went all-in when it came to fan-theorizing, by the end I knew it wasn't about the minutiae. I watched the finale with a friend and told him before it began that the only thing that would disappoint me was if there wasn't a cathartic scene between Jack and Christian. He thought I had inside info when that scene actually happened. I had simply been paying attention to the show's themes.

I hated that Richard didn’t get an ending. His tale was so compelling.

I was lost before I saw this take on Lost. The irony is not lost on me.

This show was a wild mega roller coaster ride. The weirder it got, the more I was in. My approach to this show was Brechtian - I was merely experiencing it as "wow, you really went there" episode by episode. But, ultimately, I'm sure i wouldn't have stayed interested unless the characters & their individual stories kept me interested.

But this show was definitely amazing but got caught up in its own plot in a pretentious manner that led it to make up stuff without explanation to often. But the major themes and plot philosophy are really interesting. Especially on a rewatch

I always loved the ending. I understood perfectly why people might not like it- but never understood how so many people were confused by it....

I thought Lost was perfect from beginning to end! I had no idea people didn’t like the ending for a long time after!

I don't understand why people don't understand the ending. Pretty straight forward, I don't know...

I watch all 6 seasons at least once a year. That’s how much I love this show.

Could you do a video on how mental illness is portrayed and vilified (especially in the horror genre)? Many movies and TV show’s portrayals are dangerous because of their inaccuracies. Many projects also don’t seem to have any consultants to help get the portrayal right, not to mention the fact that the actors/actresses cast do not have any experience with and/or are not diagnosed with the disorder themselves (ex: Sia’s new movie is a bout a girl with autism but the actress playing her does not have autism). Also I would love a video on the fiery red head trope. Red heads (such as Anne Shirley, Pepper Potts, Mystique, Sansa Stark (Kind of) Black Widow, Merida, Jessie from Toy Story, Jean Grey) are more likely to be characterized as passionate hotheads than blondes or brunettes. I love all of your videos! They are wonderfully made and bring up great points! Thanks!

Great Video. I think this is literally the first Video I ever saw with a positive take on Lost. I watched the show again during Lockdown Nr. 1 here in Europe and to me the show was much better then I remembered. Its the character studies that make this show great imo, the mysteries while interesting are only a window dressing to move the plot forward. And it also strengthened my opinion that you absolutely do not have to answer every mystery in a story. Sometimes being left in the dark is much better then the explanation.

I remember watching this show as the new episodes came out, starting with the pilot. I was SO into it. But then it kept getting more and more confusing and philosophical and my young brain got tired. Once they decided to go back to the island, I was DONE. Now that I’m old, I think I might understand and appreciate it more. Off to do a rewatch, thanks The Take!

Best show ever, beautifully sad and epic ending. Very well written and very well acted

I still think it was a great ending. This show allowed us to have so many engaging discussions.

I would really love to see a John Locke character analysis.

I always get nervous when I see a Lost video, but 1 minute in I can already tell this is going to be an interesting, thoughtful and insightful video (as they all are) and I'm so pleased and excited to watch it in full

this is probably one of the best explanations of Lost I've ever watched even after all these years. It has always and will always be one of my favorite shows.

So no one ever noticed the name of the show? Lost as in lost souls. It was all about hope and faith. Good and evil. Everything that makes us human and imperfect. Because we aren't inherently one thing or the other, were both. There cannot be any darkness without light. People just choose which one they want to be.

For me, this is undoubtedly the most comprehensive video detailing Lost. It makes the narrative of the show, and extended lore, relatively digestible and without alienating potential audience members, who may have been dissuaded from Lost's inaccurate reputation. You've reminded me how much I deeply cared about the characters, the fun of the mysteries (especially the ARG elements) and the beauty of Giacchino's music. I think I'm going to have to dive in again.

No show has ever gotten me as connected to the characters.

The more I rewatch LOST, the more I appreciate this show, and especially, the finale. The show holds up so well!

This is actually one of the best Lost ending explanations I’ve ever seen. Thank you!

In the past, Lost had the most controversial ending. This was before Game of Thrones xD

Just binge watched the entire show these past 2 weeks. First time seeing the show ever. 2021 and this show still goes hard.

I found the ending to be perfect. Too many viewers wanted the HOW's to be answered but lost track of the WHY things were happening as they were. The whole show was about light vs darkness, destiny vs fate, redemption for past mistakes and that we truly need each other to fulfil our purpose. These were all overlooked alot of times by most viewers. Any fan of Loat should watch The Leftovers, another fantastic series 👌👏

This video has changed my perspective on Lost. I should give it a rewatch

I'm one of those who was completely submerged in this world. It was nice to revisit it through this video.

I clicked so fast as soo as I saw the thumbnail. It wasn't perfect but Lost is still one of my favorite shows to this day. I love hearing people talk about it be it negative or positive bc there's just so much to discuss.

I loved lost sooo much as a kid. Thanks for the interesting video!

Lost rescued and accompanied me through a time when I experienced serious trauma where I had essentially died and needed to renew myself. I had previously had a girlfriend named Penny so Desmond's story resonated with me. It was a spiritual experience and believed that Penny was my Penny so I called her often. I'll always look back at the Lost series as memorable and I'll also always respect the life long restraining order Penny put out against me.

My favourite show of all time. It’s truly unbelievable the amount of people out there that refuse to give this show a chance, because they’ve heard completely out of context, false, and unreliable summaries about the plot and the ending. Usually, their information comes from people that either haven’t even watched the show at all or people that tried watching it, misunderstood it, gave up and then probably skipped the to the final episode to get the answers and then when they were obviously and predictably let down, began ranting about how it’s ‘the worst show ever’. Lost has to be the show that has suffered the most from extremely misinformed word of mouth.

I tried rewatching Lost during quarantine and it doesn't hold up as well as I hoped, but it will always have a special place in my heart for being the first serialized drama that I watched as a kid.

“The most important part of your life was the time [you watched the show about] these people on that island. That’s why you are all here.”

That was one of the best breakdowns of the show.

I love Lost. I never understood why people were upset with the ending. I thought it was a great ending to a character driven show. The ending shot with the empty plane was just reflecting back on how everyone got to the island.

Thank you The Take. Got my subscription. This is one of the most articulate, comprehensive breakdowns of one of the greatest shows of all time!

8:20 - "Among the survivors, he's the first to suspect that there might be something deeper going on." - I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that he can miraculously walk again the second they touched the island. Just a thought.

i hope you guys do Lost character studies - i'd be so interested to see what you have to say!

Yess thank you for this! I've been trying to explain this for years! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Unpopular opinion: LOST is the best show of the 2000s and I still remember the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42.

FINALLY, THE TAKE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SINCE YOU CREATED THIS CHANNEL

Lots of odd moments but Desmond and Penny's episode The Constant might be the single best episode of television I've ever seen.

I just finished watching the series, I have seen many videos trying to explain the ending and I must say that this is the best of all. What an amazing series.

I've been wondering if you'd make videos about lost.. So glad you did! I hope you'll make more. It'd be so interesting to watch your take on characters like Jack, Locke, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid etc Lost had so many interesting characters that really resonated with the audience and such a diverse cast, especially for its time.

This is truly the most amazing recap video I've ever seen! Such incredible work, so well made and bloody honest. LOST is and always wee be one of my top 3 shows of all time! Thank you for this amazing work which is not only worth watching but also pays 100% respect to this crafted masterpeace of a show

I love this show so much. I know many were disappointed with how mysteries were answered. But, I've always loved the characters & their development first and foremost, more than the plot/mystery. Three of my favorite stories: LOST, Dark (netflix), and Attack on Titan have so much in common.

I really disliked Kate and her storyline. The way she played with both Sawyer and Jack was disgusting.!

Before watching this video, I just wanna say when I first watched LOST while it was still on TV, I didn't get it. My husband and I thought it was such a let down. Then we bought all the DVDs and rewatched it. When it ended, we were in tears. We got it and it hurt. This show is THE MOST BRILLIANT SHOW OF ALL TIME!

One of the best shows ever made ! I watched the whole series as it aired. Just rewatch it for the first time since it’s original time on TV with my daughter and she love it ! I loved it even more the second time around all these years later. This is what TV is missing ! A truly beautiful story.

Lost was the Game of Thrones of its day. Compelling characters, great setup, VERY disappointing resolution. And no amount of 'you just didn't get it' post-mortem dissection is going to put enough lipstick on this pig to make the time I spent with this show feel worthwhile. The Good Place shows that you can actually do this sort of thing in a very entertaining and cohesive way with a resolution that feels like a product of the show we watched. Lost was presented as a puzzle to be solved, then acted like it's audience was 'missing the point' by wanting those puzzles to be solved. You can't have it both ways. If you want to explore all of these existential philosophical themes, that's great. Do that. But don't cloak it in intrigue and then act like the audience is stupid for being interested in the intrigue. So no, I will NOT be rewatching Lost. Or Game of Thrones. You have to stick the landing. Lost just crashed and burned.

Hands down, this is the best, most concise analysis of Lost out there. And I've seen them all! Amazing work.

If there's one major thing that helps me make more sense of LOST and accept it more is that the show is very much like an unofficial Stephen King adaptation. When you go back to the behind the scenes the writers cite King's "The Stand" as a major influence on LOST. That story was about a group of characters from all different walks of life that get bound together by fate after society collapses. The narrative begins at first very grounded in science with humanity killed off by superflu. But then the story also shows that it's very bound by the supernatural when two major characters representing good and evil - Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg - emerge leading two factions. A lot of fans were annoyed at LOST having too many genres within. You'd be rich for every dime you'd get for every fan that says LOST should've been about the plane wreck only and no mystery. But the mystery and supernatural and science fiction elements at play made a simple story into a very intriguing one. It had its grounded interpersonal drama, factions trying to survive, trying to make sense of the oddities all around them, and it had good vs. evil, ghosts, time travel, scifi energy, mother fucking polar bears. It's all weird and it's all entertaining.

“Sometimes good command decisions are compromised by bad emotional responses”. One of my favorite lines from the show. Lost is my favorite series along with Twin Peaks thanks for the great video 🙂

My problem with the show has always been that it was originally only suppose to be 3 seasons long and you can really feel the areas that they padded out the run time. I think a more concise telling of the story would have been more impactful.

What annoys me is how so many people hated the ending because they thought they were dead the whole time. Even though the show is clear as day they weren't. Jacks dad states that clearly.

I loved the show and the ending. Would pay thousands for the chance to watch it all over again for the first time.

The mysteries are only compelling, when they are mysteries. Answers to the mystery box are rarely satisfying. What is satisfying, is good character development/arcs, and we got these with Lost.

Honestly the people that were angry about the Lost finale had no idea what was coming to them with the finale of Game of Thrones

5 minutes in I realize I clearly watched this show before I had fully developed the ability to have abstract thought because I remember NONE of this. Guess I gotta go back and re-watch before I watch this!

I’ve never watched Lost but I still love your takes on everything! 💕

"You are everybody"!!! Charlie singing it to the other characters was priceless

A special story in my heart, Lost stands on it's own as far as excellence 💚🌹💚

Probably one of the best tributes and reviews of this beautiful show.

Okay perfect, now that you've done Lost you can totally do the ending of The Leftovers! 😁

The whole premise of the show is to walk out of it, saying you understand when really no one understands. For me, my understanding is, their lives were determined by their experiences(both faith and science), people(living and dead) and choices(right and wrong) they made, and what the island was for, was to just help them see that for themselves. But that’s what makes the show beautiful every one’s understanding is different that was the creator’s aim, to take your own perspective on everything and show how regardless of everyone’s understanding they can all work together. Live together or die alone.

One of the BEST LOST videos I have watched!!!!!

Thank you so much for making this video! I have such vivid memories of waiting for each episode with anticipation and then being completely immersed while watching it. The pilot episode alone is something that etched itself permanently in my mind - particularly the sound of the airplane engines. Lost is easily one of my favorites. I’ve not rewatched it since it’s initial run, but am going to make time now to do so and I can’t wait! 😁

I haven't even seen Lost, still enjoying the analysis though

This show actually saved my life ❤ I wish everyone would watch it. Moving on and letting go is very hard, this show is special, and Michael Giacchinos work is just beautiful.

But what happened to Frank, Miles and Richard? I didnt see them at the church in the end. So many unanswered questions. How and why were Jacob and the Man in Black different and destined from birth to have this battle? How did their adopted mother/kidnapper bestow power into them both? And how did she prevent them from harming each other even though they DID harm each other as kids? That doesnt make sense. In the end The Man in Black bled, showing that he was human again and could be hurt by his opposite but when him and Jacob were kids, Jacob punched him in the face and made him bleed? The amount of unanswered questions about the show are ridiculous. So many plot holes and inconsistantcies.

Such a timely essay, guys, as always, amazing,as always, something new to learn, as always - impeccably made. THANK YOU!!!! PLEASE PLEASE KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!!

Where Lost failed (however marginally) was that they needed to get the audience to the place where they had let go of solving the mysteries. IMHO, the characters got there but left the audience behind. I enjoyed the ending but I felt that I'd been cheated out of something I had been promised.

Lost is one of the best shows ever made all 92 hours of it!!!

It having been so long since I watched its like woah this show is still brilliant, even with how wild it got at times. I was so invested in these characters.

So... I was JUST talking with my roomate about how I didn't like the last season and it broke my heart. LOST is the FIRST and ONLY show that I watched from begining to end, on LIVE TV!! (No catching up online because I missed an episode or something :P No binging. Just the excruciating one week waiting between episodes) And now...Now ya'll make me want to watch it all over again XD