S6 E17 "The End" Part 1

"You're not John Locke. You disrespect his memory by wearing his face but you're nothing like him. Turns out he was right about most everything. I just wish I could've told him that while he was still alive." -Jack

Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!........Wow!
I am just so speechless. That was such an amazing ending. There was so much closure, so many happy moments.... speechless.

I loved the opening montage where it showed side-by-side clips of the characters in each world. Richard lives! Frank lives! And every time one of the Sideways characters had that moment of "Island Memories" I teared up. Every time.

It's going to be difficult, but I'm only going to analyze the first half of this episode so I can get some sleep tonight. I will try my hardest to post about the other half within the next 24 hours. Plus I'll be posting pictures of some of my party activities and decorations.

Connect The Dots
We started with Desmond and Kate at the church. This was the same church with the Lamp Post station in the basement. The same church Eloise Hawking told the group how to get back to the island.

When James headed off to the well he said to Kate "I'd ask you along but that'd take all the fun out of me telling you you can't come" Then she replied "I guess I'll just have to resist the urge to follow you anyway." They were referencing the many times Kate begged to go on missions into the jungle and the boys (usually Jack and James) would tell her she couldn't come. Most of the time, she would wait a few minutes then follow anyway. Most notably this happened in Season 2 when Jack, James, and John went to meet the Others and when Kate followed, she was captured by the Others. ("The Hunting Party")

Hurley asked Sayid if it was familiar to him when they were outside the hotel and Hurley had a tranquillizer gun. He was referring to the time when Sayid had rescued him from Santa Rosa and tried to take him to a "safe house." They were ambushed and Sayid was shot by a tranquillizer.

Kate told Jack "Nothing is irreversible." That is what Jack told John Locke in the airport. ("LAX")

James called Miles "Enos." He used that nickname in "LaFeur." It is a reference to a cop on The Dukes of Hazzard.

Sun had her island flash from the time when Juliet gave her an ultrasound on the island. ("D.O.C.")

UnLocke and Jack spoke of the time they discovered Desmond down in the hatch (aka The Swan Station) and argued about pushing the button. ("Orientation") But the best part was the screen shot where they were looking down the waterfall and the camera dropped down farther away. It reflected this shot down the hatch from Season 1's finale. ("Exodus")When Kate and Claire first sat at the table they recognized each other. This was not from their island memories but because Kate had carjacked Claire's cab after flight 815 then they spent the whole day together.

Details and Easter Eggs
James said "Well doc, why don't you come down off the mountain top and tell us what the burning bush had to say for itself." This was a Biblical reference to Exodus 3. Moses came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Then God spoke to him through a burning bush. God gave Moses instructions for how to lead His people, the Israelites, out of captivity and into The Promise Land.

Hurley said "I've got a bad feeling about this." This was a Star Wars reference. Han Solo said it when they approached the Death Star

In the Sideways World Charlie had "FATE" written on his hand again. Just like he did in the Pilot episode.

I was so glad to see Vincent, Rose, and Bernard one last time. We have wondered if they continued to live in their little love shack after the island flashed from the 70's to present day. I guess we can assume they lived the rest of their lives there. How sweet!

When The Final Four headed off for the bamboo forest, they played the "Walking" music they've always played whenever a group head out on an important hike.

When The Final Four ran into UnLocke, Ben, and Desmond it looked like the same clearing where Ben intercepted the group heading for the radio tower in the Season 3 finale. ("Through The Looking Glass")

In the Sideways World, Juliet's last name was "Carlson." I guess we can assume this was her maiden name in the original story line. We knew her as Juliet Burke because she had been married to Edmund Burke.

Kate thanked Sideways Charlie when he showed up with the blankets. But it wasn't for the blanket, it was for sacrificing his life for them.

It took me a few minutes and a discussion with my friends to track how UnLocke got a hold of Desmond's sailboat. James and crew took it to Hydra island. (That was when Jack jumped off.) Then that group left Hydra by sub. So we can assume that UnLocke used it to get back to the other island when he realized they didn't all die on the sub.

Irony
James made a reference to the book of Exodus. The Season 1 finale was entitled "Exodus."

Jacob and the Man In Black had rules they abide by. Hurley became the island protector then told Sayid in the Sideways World "There are rules."

Questions
Now that we know that how the Sideway World fits in with the island, how did Island Desmond know about it before he went down the hole? Did he have some sort of vision of the afterlife? Was he a ghost?

One more comment: I have heard the commercials during tonight's finale went for $900,000 for 30 seconds. I have to say that for Target that was money well spent. Their commercials were great!

Ok folks, That's all I can do tonight. Check back 24 hours from now.

Namaste!