LOST finale: my thoughts (spoilers)

WARNING: SPOILERS, BIG TIME!!! You have been warned. Stop reading here if you don't want to know.
Not kidding.
Seriously, not kidding.
Okay, you must really want to know. :-)

Well, I laughed, I cried, and, ultimately, I am glad I watched LOST, despite breaking up with it twice in the course of its run out of sheer frustration. I watched the finale when it initially aired, but felt it needed a second viewing before I could comment on it. When I first watched the episode, I was disappointed that more of the big questions of the Island were not answered. Upon a second viewing, however, I feel that it was okay that they didn't do that. I would have liked to have known what the Island really was and how all the mythical stuff tied together, but I understand that was not the point. What was important was the personal journey that each one of those characters undertook following their arrival on the Island. Clearly that was the case because these people became SO connected that they came together in the afterlife, or at least in a world between life and moving on (which is what I understood the Sideways world to be. What happened on the Island really happened, and after each of the individuals died, whenever that may have been, they came to the Sideways world. I interpreted that to mean that Desmond was having near death experiences when Widmore and Co. did that magnetic test on him.)

I couldn't believe that in the end, I was loving Jack... and Kate... although the second time through I found her kind of annoying again. Jack being Jack had to wait until the very last minute to figure stuff out and accept it, but when he did, he was able to let go, both on the Island and in the Sideways world. Ultimately, the show is Jack's story, and I was glad that in the end I was cheering for him.

My absolute favorite character on LOST is Hurley. I just love that he cares about people and is kind. That being said, my favorite part of the whole finale was when Ben told Hurley that he should "do what (he) did best, help people." (And then the look on Ben's face when Hurley came out of the church to see what was delaying him: "Hello, Hugo.") This favorite moment was followed closely by the reunion of Sawyer and Juliet (take that, Juliet haters!) and by Sun and Jin remembering their past.

Only one thing I didn't love: Shannon and Sayid felt forced to me, but I ultimately liked it because it brought Shannon and Boone back. The look on Hurley's face when he first saw Charlie just stopped my heart, and I loved it when Charlie finally realized who Claire was.

Was anyone else excited to see Bernard and Rose again? I was so glad that they were okay. They really had their priorities straight, and I always liked that a lot about them. We didn't see them after the attack of the Latin speakers, and I was hoping that they had gotten away.

In as much as the show was about Jack, it also was very much about Ben. Ben's redemption at the end was so amazing to me. Michael Emerson should be on EVERY channel; he is such a talented actor. I particularly liked that Ben wasn't ready to move on with the rest of the group. Even though he had come to terms with what he did to Locke, he still needed to make amends to Alex and Danielle. He was clearly making progress with that, but still needed more time. I bet his time with Hugo on the Island helped him become a better person. The potential was there: he just needed to feel good about himself, and Hurley definitely made people feel good about themselves.

I bet the story of Hurley and Ben running the Island would be an excellent spin off series; somehow, I don't see it happening, which is too bad. It would have been awesome, dude.