Just because I absolutely loved the finale and thought it was a perfect ending to my favorite television show since I started becoming an enthusiast back in 2004, it doesn't mean I can't understand when others have differing or even opposite feelings towards it. Sawyer was my favorite character on the show, that doesn't mean I don't get why some people enjoy Sayid the most (who I can't stand). And just because I will now go on to explain why I think Lost benefited from one of its most widely hated aspects, that doesn't mean that I don't agree with those critiques in some way. Everyone watches and understands things differently. This is my point of view as a first and foremost Lost defender.
The biggest criticism I've been hearing and reading since the series ended on May 23rd is that the mythology of the show never added up. In a long Gchat with Jaydon this afternoon he talked about how he loved the show, but if the mythology was even 30% better it would have been in a league of its own. In my opinion, the mythology did exactly what it was supposed to do, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
The mythology of Lost, in my view, has been a vehicle to paint a portrait of these characters and the story they are in. The mystery that arose since the smoke monster was first heard in the Pilot, became a great backdrop to give the audience a great adventure of love, shootouts, revenge, etc. Within each season, and from season to season, new mysteries came about, making the audience ask question after question. While this was a clever way to keep the viewers on the edges of their respective seats, it was never what Lost was about.
Having said that, I still think the mythology all worked out in the end. Across the Sea, although it was questionable in its execution, helped me come up with my own explanation of the mythological aspects. When we were introduced to the Glowing Cave of Light that was the Heart of the Island, I gained a new perspective on the questions I had regarding mythology. Every question I had, in my opinion, I thought I could chalk it up to the Magic of the Island. I knew this was a fantasy show as soon as I saw the Smoke Monster, so I was fine with this magical aspect.
Why were the numbers important? Because the Island is crazy mystical. Why was Walt so special? Because this is a magical, mystical world. So on and so forth.
Why was there a problem with pregnant women on the Island? Because Jacob ruled the Island that way. Why did it change? Jacob changed his mind on that idea. He never really understood what was the right way to do things and came up with new 'rules' now and again as he protected this place.
Now was there a clever wrap up to any of these burning questions that viewers had? No, but you can easily come up with your own explanation for every single one of them. Now if they had summed up all the mythology in a more concrete answerable way, I argue that the journey could have easily been much, much worse.
The fact that they knew they were going to leave most things unanswered (and up to your imagination), in my case that Jacob and the magical Island were responsible for all of the plot dead ends, they could ignite the viewers' emotions any way they felt like. They came up with interesting story lines, exciting events and burning questions. These were some of the best aspects of Lost. Many of these great moments in the show might not have been attainable if there was a solid mythology involved and the creators knew they were going to have to answer every little thread at the end.
So the way I see it is that when Hugo takes over, the Island becomes a much less complicated place. Sure it is still magical, but because he's such a down to earth guy who loves people, things just make much more sense during his tenure. He helps people out. He doesn't bring people to the Island to kill each other. People can have babies and not die from it. That's just not the story we were watching (although I wouldn't mind seeing Lost 2: Hurley and Linus rule the Island). In our story, these characters were in a battle to survive on this crazy Island that kept on changing as they stayed longer and longer.
So when most current defenders explain it that Lost is a character piece first and the mythology came a distant second, I'll agree to a point. But then again I think the mythology ended up working out, depending on how you watch the show, and in the end it was a way to build great stories. It wasn't just about the characters. The the fantastic action that occurred over the past six seasons was allowed to occur because of the crazy mythological aspects the show introduced. If they didn't all weave together the way you liked the oh well, but for me it worked immensely well.
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