WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS (do they still count as spoilers after this long?)

‘Lost? Yeah, I’ve seen that. The finale is the worst, they were dead the whole time.’ Forget Clinton’s relations, forget alleged weapons of mass destruction, and certainly forget any promise ever made not to invade Czechoslovakia; those words are the greatest lie of our times.

The year was 2004: Friends was still on air, Means Girls was in cinemas and most significantly, TV was considered neither a respectable medium nor fetch. However in September 2004, Oceanic Flight 815 crashed and Lost went on to establish its role as one of the pioneers of TV’s Golden Age. It showcased a combination of the intricate characterisation of Breaking Bad, the unrelenting plot within Game of Thrones and an ability to build huts out of plane debris and suitcases that would rival only Amazing Spaces: Shed of the Year. Then why did the finale push Lost into being considered the black sheep of TV greats? The reason is simple. In May 2010, Jack Shephard closed his eyes to a very different environment to one he had opened them to; one with expectations of television.

Lost was recently voted the fifth highest show that people have lied about watching. Therefore, at this point, it should be made clear that despite what you will have heard, they were not ‘dead all along’. If you need reminding, or have no intention of watching, the blandly titled ‘The End’ saw Dr. Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) meet his fellow flight 815 survivors again in purgatory (disguised as a, conveniently multi-faith, Church) where they had waited for him in order to move on together. To many viewers’ relief everything on the island (in the previous six seasons) still had been real. Its final shot has the camera pan to Jack’s contented grin as he is immersed in ethereal light. It was bold, to say the least. 

TV now has an element of respectability. Re-watching The Wire is now the TV equivalent of suggesting 2001: A Space Odyssey is ‘my preferred film of choice’ as viewing Hannibal (NBC) is to shedding a single tear at a floating plastic bag. Lost was at its best when it was confidently preposterous. The most widely respected episode of Lost, 'The Constant’ is in substance a Scottish amnesiac, jumping through time to find his soulmate in order to prevent his consciousness imploding. Yet when highly specific answers failed to surface in the outlandish and speculative finale, outrage followed.

The jury continues to convict Lost in an era where superheroes skip one-liners for brooding monologues, and everyone pretends to know exactly what anyone is talking about between the murder bits in House of Cards. Television has improved in quality, gravity and popularity and consequentially the self-importance of the audience means viewers feel as if they are owed answers. Lost gave very few: why were the numbers bad? Why could Walt magically summon birds if he couldn’t do his homework? Why were the cast repeatedly given those wigs in flashbacks? Judging the Lost finale based on answers alone gravely misinterprets the show itself. Lost doesn’t owe you anything.

‘The End’ was an audacious swan song about what Lost had preached since the first season, you either ‘live together, or die alone’. It was an ode to how the characters’ time together was the most important of their lives. The philosopher John Locke once wrote ‘We are like chameleons, we take our hue and the colour of our moral character, from those who are around us.’ The significance wasn’t how they got to the church but that that they arrived there together. To explain it in terms of its own philosophy, Lost’s finale cannot be viewed from the perspective of a ‘man of science.’  To paraphrase the other (balder) John Locke, it requires a 'leap of faith'.

The Lost finale is great because it is exactly what should have been expected. ‘The End’ is the most faithful rendition of what Lost was at its essence; a group of strangers marooned on an island. It should be remembered as one of the greatest ever TV finales, because it was the greatest possible Lost could have hoped for.