LOST: A Study in Faith, Science and Destiny
Ten years ago today the critically acclaimed, commercially successful, and one of the most talked about and debated television shows of all-time came to an end.
Once upon a time there was an island, a plane crash and forty-eight survivors. When the series first premiered on September 22nd, 2004, LOST was about an unlikely group castaways (or Losties, as fans would say) working together to survive the elements — at the surface: storms and natural wildlife, and further in unexpected threats like polar bears and the island’s original inhabitants known as “the others” — all while attempting make sense of the many unexplainable properties of the island: one castaway no longer felt the effects of cancer and others discovered their purpose in life, and from a supernatural angle, the elusive smoke monster: a consciously aware, living entity made entirely of black smoke. Despite the island’s energy and physical existence acting as a positive force for a some, it came as a negative force for others. Some theorized they were brought to the island as a way to be condemned for past sins, but others who may have been battling personal or family trauma, or participated in criminal acts prior to the crash, found redemption as the island became a fresh new start.
Based on the early character-oriented storylines in season one, little did we know how far inward, backward, forward and sideways a twisty, time-jumping rabbit hole LOST would travel through in seasons to come. At once a Lord of the Flies tale of survival — with two central characters Jack and Ralph as something of a loose inspiration for the John Locke and Jack Shephard dichotomy, as heads of the factions built amongst the castaways— but would eventually descend into a more surprising sinister territory ala The Most Dangerous Game and The Island of Doctor Moreau, from a philosophical theme point-of-view.
LOST would span decades, even centuries, detailing the origins of the island’s central mysteries, diving into atomic energy, quantum mechanics, with a large-scale research team’s venture into harnessing the island’s natural wonder by allowing scientists from around the world a central place to research electromagnetism, meteorology, zoology, and psychology. All the experimentations would occur under one umbrella known as the Dharma Initiative, created by University of Michigan’s Gerald and Karen DeGroot in the 1970s, funded entirely by the Hanso Foundation’s founder Alvar Hanso. That name alone reaches further back in the series’ dense mythology, with Captain Mangus Hanso setting sail on the Black Rock from the Canary Islands in 1867, finding its ultimate fate when it became caught in a surprise tsunami and ship wrecked on the most unusual island — an island that seemed to appear out of thin air.
LOST was spectacular entertainment, showcasing strong storytelling and characters we wanted to return to on a weekly basis, but on a deeper level, it helped guide me through personal philosophical inquiries that I had trouble articulating: understanding my own spirituality, faith, and fate versus freewill — are our actions predetermined by an ultimate power, or do we move about untethered, in complete chaos or careless harmony? Is life full of strange coincidences, or is every connection and move we make carefully calculated?
In one intimate scene during season two, John Locke recounts the unbelievable series of events that brought he and the beloved Mr. Eko — drug smuggler turned priest — together at a very particular moment in time. Mr. Eko, a firm believer that everything happens for reason, simply states to Locke, “Don’t mistake coincidence for fate.”
LOST is too rich of a series to detail its many themes — including but not limited to science vs faith, destiny vs chance, capitalism vs socialism vs tribal economics — interconnected storylines, deep mythology, and characters in one short essay, but to say it was profound for millions would be an understatement. The show was impactful to the point of not only inspiring the online LOST University but many colleges around the world created LOST inspired courses; with deep focus on faith, science and destiny.
For me, it became something of a love, but something that others could easily disregard as a useless obsession. I can’t tell you how many toys I’ve collected over the years, in 2008 we named our kittens Charlie and Hugo, and in 2012 my wife Jenn and I received the ultimate wedding present from a close friend of the family and a mentor in the world of filmmaking: a personalized signed poster from J.J. Abrams.
It was through LOST that I built a strong bond with my brother, and began dating my wife during the show’s second season; I recall the first episode we watched together was “Lockdown” — Locke is trapped in the hatch and the truth of Henry Gale from Wayzata, Minnesota is revealed. I hold the belief to this day that for billions of years my wife and I were intertwined, dancing stardust in the vastness of space before a time mankind can recall, and a little over fourteen years ago we found each other in this lifetime. As extraordinary of a belief as it is, I don’t recall when I first felt it to be true. Does everything happen for a reason?
In every season since the beginning, LOST traveled deeper inward, becoming entangled in itself and its many mysteries in a way that may have felt impossible to pull out from, and for the casual viewer became nothing but overly absurd and puzzling, but in the sixth and final season — while still introducing characters and threads — it returned to what mattered most: the people we initially fell in love with. Jack, Locke, Sawyer, Kate, Hurley, Claire, Charlie, Sayid, Sun, Jin, Juliet, Desmond, and the villain we love to hate or hate to love: Benjamin Linus, who to this day ranks as one of the greatest television villains of all time. For the committed viewer, LOST was a deeply rewarding experience.
By the series finale on May 23rd, 2010, LOST created something of a fractured division on varying levels amongst its most loyal fans — “one side light, one side dark” perhaps — viewed as an underwhelming cop-out to those most concerned with the many unanswered questions, focused solely on an ultimate hat trick, but to most — including myself — it was not only an emotionally satisfying and beautifully heartfelt conclusion to a series and group of people we cared about and became so invested in for six years, it provided a poignant lesson to carry through life, and somewhere between here and there, until the end of time.
At the end of our own lives, whether or not we discover if anything happened for a reason or if we were able to accomplish all the goals we originally intended before getting pulled off into a new direction by life’s many surprises, the thing we must all value the most is the time we spent with the people around us. You need them, and they need you.
+++
“Three days before you came down here, before we met, I heard a banging on the hatch doors, shouting. But it was you John, wasn’t it? You say there isn’t any purpose, there’s no such thing as fate. But you saved my life, brother, so that I could save yours.”
Desmond Hume — Season 2 Episode 24, “Live Together, Die Alone”
