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David Mumpower: I had been having a bad relationship with Lost for a while. We started off hotter than a fiery plane crash, but by the middle of the second year, I grew shaky with my fidelity. We became an on again/off again thing even more than Bella and Jacob (I guess I should say Jack and Kate in this analogy). In the end, I got past all of the shortcomings had driven me so crazy in the past and learned to love the show for what it was: flawed but well intended. Most television shows dumb down their ideas to become more commercial. Lost went an entirely different way with it and while there were missteps along the way (why, Allison Janney, why?), the show found its way in the end.

Rather than focus on potentially unsatisfactory explanations about the show’s minutiae, the show went to its strength all along. It was very well cast from the beginning and later additions such as Desmond and Ben only magnified the level of assembled acting talent. Rightfully, the show returned to its roots by anchoring its final broadcast with Matthew Fox, just as had been in the case in the pilot. Through his eyes, everything was revealed as it should have been and I found the sense of closure highly satisfying.

Kim Hollis: I was also quite pleased with the finale (and most of the final seven or so episodes with the exception of the execrable Allison Janney thing). After some of the early episodes in this season, I was annoyed with the show. It felt like it was spinning its wheels and I was pretty damned bored with the whole thing (to wit, I stopped watching after a point and then finally decided to catch up about two weeks before the finale aired). I got some fantastic Desmond episodes, and I really like the role he played in the show's closure. And I do appreciate that they made it all about the characters after all. That really was where the show's strength could be found.

I do have this to say, though. The Sopranos left one big question behind it, and received substantial discussion for its ambiguity, but at least it only left the one question unanswered. Lost has hundreds of things that were left unresolved. I can certainly understand why people might have been frustrated with the finale even if I found it quite satisfactory.

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