just finished a rewatch

I began on September 22, the 20th anniversary of the show, and timed it to finish tonight, the 15th anniversary of the Season 6 premiere. I like dates like that, and arguably this show did as well.

This isn't going to be a great big cumulative post, you can see I've posted a bit more during that timeline anyway. So this is more about thoughts as I wrapped up.

Lest anyone complain, of course spoilers. And I'll probably reiterate some things I've said in other posts.

To me, this show holds up. It's in my top 5 favorite shows. Though I wouldn't say it's one of my top 5 favorite finales. Though, I don't dislike the finale like some do. I like it a lot more than I don't. I think people who tend to be unhappy with things often place too much importance on their own theories being right, and are too unhappy about being wrong to see past that. Like it or not, it's the writers' story to tell us. And they had three years to craft a finale, so they definitely got to tell it how they wanted. Just enjoy the story. My theories weren't all right either and I'm fine with it. I can get behind being upset about genuine plot holes. Which there are some in the series, sure, but not really looking to get into that here. Or people are upset that not everything was spoon-fed to them. But the "mystery box" is basically JJA's big thing. We know enough to fill in the blanks as we wish, and those debates are fun.

Also, my outlook, as per what Christian says to Jack in the final scenes, is that everything we saw on the Island was real, they all survived the crash as shown, etc. The bomb at the end of Season 5 did the job halfway as predicted, it blew them back to the present-day, but kept them on-Island, and the Flash-sideways is purgatory, and them moving on is going to heaven.

characters that are missing from the Flash-sideways and my thoughts on why.

Walt: He's the new Man in Charge on the Island, to live a super-long life. (Though Hurley being dead shows there was likely another threat he later sacrificed himself for, but explains the need for him to stay in spite of the death of the Man in Black). Vincent has also been granted long life, as goodest boy, to be with Walt.

Michael, Eko, Paolo, and Nikki are all trapped souls on the Island. Maybe they are still there, or already moved on, maybe elsewhere?

Lapidus was a lone wolf and didn't need the others to move on.

Alpert had already moved on by finding his wife.

Also sort of expected to see Cassidy and her daughter in the Flash-sideways (on initial watch, not rewatch, I remembered she doesn't, just remembered thinking I'd have liked to see her). Also could've seen Hurley's dad too. But their placements might've been awkward. Same goes for Margo and Helen at the chapel. And I'd have been more in favor of Shannon with Boone (they weren't related), and Sayid with Nadia. And why couldn't Daniel and Charlotte remember? And Rousseau? Ana Lucia? And why was Eloise still so villainous?

But a lot of those I realize were either behind the scenes issues with actors re: scheduling, salary, etc. Or just not having enough time to service characters that weren't needed at that point.

I'm also always so curious to the story that Lapidus, Alpert, Straume, Kate, Sawyer, and Claire concocted. Because as only 2 were even on Ajira, they can't really even be called the Ajira 6. Sure, the forces that were after the Island have been largely wiped out, but if they're honest, more would certainly look for it, which they wouldn't want.

Makes sense Jack took the job, it's the ultimate thing for him to fix. Also kind of funny how since he's the last we see to get his flashback, that's sort of highlighting how stubborn and thickheaded he could be.