Lost star Matthew Fox, who played Jack Shephard across all six seasons of the hit ABC series, says fans still frustrated that the finale didn't give all the answers are "missing the point a little bit."
In conversation with The Independent, Fox is adamant that the show's two-part final chapter – fittingly titled 'The End' – would appeal on a deeper level than simply reeling off answers to some of the island's biggest mysteries and talking points.
“That was clearly [co-creator and showrunner] Damon Lindelof’s intention. He wanted it to be something that could be interpreted by every single person’s relationship with the show," Fox said. "The people that were frustrated by the fact they weren’t given the answers to why there was a polar bear on the island are missing the point a little bit." (It's worth noting, however, that Lost did answer why a polar bear was on the island seasons prior. The reason? Another of Dharma's hare-brained experiments).
Lost's final episode ties up both the group's time on the island in the present-day setting as Jack defeats the Man in Black, plus dealing with the 'flash forward' timeline, which is revealed to be a shared afterlife between the survivors.
While it was largely a satisfying and thematic conclusion to the beloved series, a portion of the audience felt short-changed by the lingering questions about the history of the island, as well as heading more in a low-key spiritual direction after seasons' worth of conspiracies. Even now, it's shorthand – perhaps fittingly – for a show that didn't quite stick the landing.
Not that that matters to Fox. After being given a play-by-play of his character's arc every season, he was quietly confident it would all pan out. 15 years later, he still feels that way, stating, "I trusted that it was all gonna work out and it was all gonna make sense.”
For more, check out our ranking of the best TV shows of all time. Then, with its arrival on Netflix, read why Lost is a harsh reminder of what's missing from today's TV shows.
