(SPOILER ALERT)

In September of 2004, several well-done promos starring Dominic Monaghan and a few other actors I didn’t know convinced me to turn on ABC for the premier of Lost. Six years later, the first show that I ever watched the whole way through, from start to bitter end, has said farewell with a highly anticipated finale. With two hours of time in which to wrap up an epic television series, Lost set out to be emotionally and narratively satisfying in its last episode. It would be safe to say the sheer emotional impact of seeing unforgettable characters like Jack and Kate and Sawyer and Locke for the very last time had a strong impact on me in itself. After so many hours of the show, and so many storylines and amazing acting performances, the nostalgia was powerful and it was saddening to see them go, especially since it seems likely that not all of them will stay in the limelight. As such, the finale already had a natural pull that was hard to shake. Beyond this, the creators attempted to end a show that many felt would be all but impossible to end right.

The results were mixed. On the one hand, the feeling was there. Certainly, we had all been waiting for Kate and Jack to finally profess their love for each other, and after years of separation, it was good to see that they got to be together in the alternate, post-first-life plane. That they and everyone else were finally united was a touching ending.

But Lost is a science fiction/mystery thriller. And while the ending was thrilling, the sci-fi and mystery of the early seasons were scrubbed for an ending that allowed the creators to dodge criticism of their substance because of its shift in focus. By saying “it isn’t about having all the answers, it’s about the characters,” the creators attempted to redirect a lot of the focus–but for those of us who have been there from the very beginning, I don’t think this was enough. We deserved more. We deserved more narrative closure and we deserved less of what was, regardless of its emotional power and warm fuzziness, something of a “cop-out” ending, a bait-and-switch of afterlife theories. If all of the characters got to go to this wonderful new existence anyway, what was the point of saving them? Why not just all die in the island reality to end up in paradise LA? In other words, the finale might have provided some emotional satisfaction, but it was lacking the narrative satisfaction that we were promised.

Still, the exchange of tearful “I love yous” on the cliff was the grand culmination of a six season love story, and I guess they got to be happy in the end, which many of us were rooting for. And the creators did bring back several of the characters that they had wantonly slain in the earlier seasons. The sadness of the island reality was ultimately overwritten by the happiness in the last scenes of the “next step” in their lives.

One of the best parts about the finale was its self-awareness. Hurley’s crack-up line about everyone dying and Kate’s disbelief at the indiscretion of Christian Shephard were emblematic of a show with an almost post-modern wryness about itself. That was commendable.

While the people in the Church may be very content to move on, they have each other to spend time with for a while. I don’t, and as such, I am rather upset at being given no choice but to move on without the characters I love so much. Lost may not have given us a fully developed send-off, but it certainly deserves all of the nostalgia and emotional loss that come with a final episode. The Pilot was one of the finest I have seen, and the first season was the best first season of any show I’ve ever watched. What came after had its ups and downs, but the character development side of things continued to strengthen alongside the action as the seasons went on, which was a welcome surprise in a world of droll, over-dramatized medical and detective shows.

Lost left me with a feeling of unshakable sadness–it was a wonderful show that I really wish I could have spent more time with. I also wish that it provided me with a more complete ending, and a better attempt at closure. But I’ll say this. After six years of waiting for Jack and Kate’s final, sappy love scene, I was pleased to see Lost end with all of my favorite characters together in a happy place, to leave us with a lasting memory of the happiness it brought to us. Yes, it brought hours of consternation and frustration too, but the final sendoff provided enough to leave me with memories fonder than otherwise. There will never be another show like Lost, and it will really be missed.