Monday 24 May 2010

Lost, The End

Spoiler Alert: Do not read below if you have not seen the last episode of Lost and you do not want to know what happens.









'So that is what it all meant!' is what I had imagined myself thinking at 7.30am this morning after watching the finale and last ever episode of the most confusing yet brilliantly intriguing show on television, Lost. But whilst I was (in my early morning state) still confused, I thoroughly enjoyed the 2-and-a-half-hour ending that packed in drama, romance, reconciliation, death and at least some answers.

The running theme throughout the episode, as with the majority of the last season, was the flash-sideways. Were they real? And if so what were the lives on the island all about? Well it turns out that the flash-sideways in what seemed like a parallel universe were actually an afterlife, purgatory where all the characters began bumping into each other again and remembering their time on the island (which gave the viewers nice flashback montages of the six series and the characters' time on the island).

Whilst their adventures on the island were real and did all happen, a still dead but now talking Dr Christian Shephard (clever name clue there!) told his son Jack in the afterlife that everyone on the island had died, whether it be before or after Jack himself. With no sense of time or as Jack's dad put it: "there is no now, here" in this afterlife, old friends and lovers were reunited. Most of the characters conveniently gathered at the church, corralled by messenger-in-the-afterlife Desmond and eventually moved on together as a bright light engulfed the church.

It was a satisfying end in what turned out to be a character-driven finale as Jack and Kate, Sawyer and Juliet, Charlie and Claire etc reunited after remembering their time on the island together. Whilst extremely sweet, the emotional reunions soon bogged down an episode that at points lost sight of what I thought Lost had all been about.

In the end it turns out Lost was all about the characters and the journeys they take rather than the island itself. But this left many questions and mysteries unanswered. Why was there a polar bear running around? Where did the island originate from? Apart from being the heart of the island what exactly was that light that Jacob and then Jack had to protect? Maybe these questions were answered and amongst the mazy narrative and time travelling I have missed them? Or maybe, befitting of the show's name, some answers will just stay a mystery?

Back on the island Jack, now Jacob's successor to protect the Island, battled the smoke monster (Flocke) who wanted to destroy the island whilst Jack tried to protect it. After Desmond shut down the mysterious light source labelled as the heart of the island it seemed that Flocke had got his wish. But in a final twist his plan didn't work and a dramatic clifftop battle ensued between Jack and Flocke. With a knife to Jack's throat and a stab wound to his stomach it looked like Jack was a goner until love interest Kate saved the day by shooting Flocke before Jack killed him once and for all.

With the island still close to destruction despite Flocke's demise Jack decided to return to the heart of the island and restore the light source. In a romantic but all too late declaration Jack and Kate admitted their love for each other and finally put an end to the love triangle between the pair and Sawyer that had been ongoing throughout the show. Parting ways Kate and Sawyer headed for the miraculously fixed plane and their escape route off the island along with Claire, Miles, Richard and Frank.

Meanwhile in a painfully sad scene Jack passed on the role of protecting the island to a terrified Hurley (who we are led to believe from a scene in the afterlife did live on to look after the island with his number 2 Ben) before restoring the light source and the heart of the island.

The episode was littered with beautifully crafted scenes, from the stormy showdown between Jack and Flocke on the cliff-top to Jack lying helpless of the jungle floor as the plane carrying his friends away from the island passes overhead. All of the actors carrying this captivating story forward were superb in their roles.

In a poignant moment that marked the end Jack's eyes closed as he lay dying on the island, just as they had opened in the first ever episode.

Picture from Side Reel

Tuesday 11 May 2010

EastEnders triumphs at Soap Awards

EastEnders triumphed at the British Soap Awards at the weekend, winning ten awards including both Best Actor and Actress and the coveted Best Soap.

The departing Lacey Turner, who plays Stacey Branning took home the Best Actress and Best Dramatic Performance prizes whilst Scott Maslen (Jack Branning) claimed Best Actor and Sexist Male.

The BBC1 soap was also victorious in the Best Single Episode category for the 25th anniversary live episode, Best Storyline for Who Killed Archie?, Villain of the Year for Larry Lamb (Archie Mitchell), Best Exit for Charlie Clements' (Bradley Branning) and Marc Elliot (Syed Masood) won Best Newcomer.

EastEnders have had a hugely successful year and these awards recognised great acting and storylines including Syed's struggle with his sexuality, Archie Mitchell's dramatic Christmas Day murder and the show's first ever live episode, which saw Stacey admit to killing off Archie shortly after husband Bradley had plummeted to his death.

In the other categories Coronation Street picked up three awards; Sexist Female for Michelle Keegan (Tina McIntyre), Best Comedy Performance for Craig Gazey (Graeme Proctor) and the Lifetime Achievement award for long-standing cast member Betty Driver (Betty Williams).

Hollyoaks claimed the Spectacular Scene of the Year award for Sarah Barnes's (Loui Batley) terrifying fatal skydive whilst Doctors won Best Dramatic Performance from a Young Actor or Actress for Sapphire Cox's portrayal of Ami Metcalf and Best On-Screen Partnership, which went to Jan Pearsons and Chris Walker (Karen and Rob Hollins).

Emmerdale would have been hugely disappointed to go home with only one award, the Special Achievement award for writer Bill Lyons. Emmerdale were nominated in every category but missed out on awards including Best Actor for Danny Miller (Aaron Livesy) and Best Storyline for Aaron's struggle with this sexuality. Despite an impressive year for EastEnders, the writing and acting from all involved on Aaron's storyline was deserving of award recognition.

The British Soap Awards will be shown on ITV1 on 19th May 2010.

For a full list of winners click here.

Picture from Digital Spy