The final episode of Lost is still highly debated today. What the hell happened in the end? Well after a response in an interview IGN-Lost Defended , the fans became more enraged at the responses. I don't care what the writers and producers say in explanation of their ending. I think we all should form our own opinion. They went for a complicated ending over the traditional tacky ending and they ended up with a more complex ending.
One thing we have to remember is the writer's strike seriously chopped the original run of this show. It was supposed to be seven, maybe eight seasons and the original story was butchered to be able to fit the new time frame. This was, and probably still is the most expensive show ever made and that was a factor in this as well.
Now for what I feel explains the ending the best way. SPOILERS ALERT****************
First of all, this is one of the greatest shows ever made. When you watch it, you must watch from beginning to the end. The episode recaps should be skipped in my opinion as it may confuse you. You have a large cast of characters and season 1 spends half it's time revealing 1 persons past per episode. So you may be working through season 3 and the last episode focused on Charlie while the next episode's recap shows stuff you saw in season 1 that had nothing to do with the last episode. The recaps confuse people, they confused me before I watched the series.
The show has a heavy time travel element and not in the traditional sense. Season 1 we see a plane crash with all these characters. In This season we call the segments of the characters pasts as "flashbacks". In season six we see a "flash sideways" element. This is a segment that shows what would have happened if the plane took off and landed where it was supposed to. Yes it sounds confusing but when you watch it, it makes sense.
Now I always thought the island was a purgatory type place for these people who have died. That is not the case. The ending shows all the characters, even the ones that have died throughout the show, meeting in a church. What could this mean? Shannon died in Season 2, Boon in season 1, Jack died in the very last episode yet they are all meeting up here?
I feel the best way to explain this is that these people shared an almost, supernatural connection. Their lives have crossed paths long before the island incident. They were deeply connected by fate and some died on the island, some get back home, live their lives and have children, grand children, and great grand children. When they died they were in a form of purgatory, which I feel describes the church. They all meet up at the church and when they are all ready, they "move on" together.
Maybe my opinion of the ending makes no sense. Maybe you agree? I love this show, and if you have not yet watched, you are missing out. 8$ a month for netflix and you can watch it right now, the series is streaming on there!