This is a common misconception--many people didn't understand that they weren't dead on the Island the whole time. But like the above poster said, the alternate timeline was where they waited until they were ready to understand their deaths and move on (to heaven, or whatever term you are comfortable with), it was just that they needed each other before they could move on. For Jack it was Kate, but for Kate it was Claire and Aaron, etc, each of them interconnecting in the alt-verse like they had in real life--like Sayid and Shannon needing each other to realize what had happened.
The other purpose of the alt-verse was for the characters to try to build something that made sense and still correct their *mistakes* -- like Sawyer working as a cop, and Jack having a son because he was still trying to work out his daddy!issues. The alt-verse really helped me cope with my shipper feelings because I was always hardcore Kate/Sawyer, and even though I loved Juliet (she was my favorite character of the whole show), it was harder for me to accept that Kate and Sawyer didn't end up together--so the alt-verse helped me come to terms with the fact that Juliet and James were better together, but since Kate and Sawyer got off the Island, I chose to believe they lived their earthly lives together--and that's why when Kate meets Sawyer in the alt-verse, they still have a little something, just like in the alt-verse, Jack chose Juliet to be the mother of his child, because they were all interconnected, even if the one who would bring them to awareness was the other person. That's why I loved that Kate's awakening had nothing to do with either Sawyer or Jack, but was instead about Claire and Aaron, very powerful.
I too think the finale was so good, and I cry (WEEPING, REALLY) every time I watch it. There are a few moments that always pound me heavily, and one is James and Juliet's reunion, but the other is when Boone and Jack see each other in the church--it's just so powerful. And then of course every moment with Jack and his father. Ben and Locke, Ben and Hurley. Just, AUGH. Best show ever, really.
I do remember being devastated by Jin and Sun's so brief reunion, only for them to turn around and instantly die, but the stakes were just that high--it forced me, going into the finale to realize they were all going to die--and to have a philosophical moment, which I think was part of the larger story the writers were sharing--that we all die. At some point we will make that journey, and who will be waiting for us in our church when we get there? With LOST it was never about the answers people wanted, it was always about the questions they might ask, of themselves and of the universe. That's why, even now, 3+ years since it ended, I'm still so full of emotion about it.
Thanks for posting your thoughts so I could revisit it.
As for how it was received at the time--there were people who hated it, especially those who thought it was too *Christian* in its interpretation of death, but there were people who loved it, and were moved tremendously by it. All told, I am just grateful that Damon and Carlton got to tell the story they wanted to tell, because I found it beautiful, on every level.
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The other purpose of the alt-verse was for the characters to try to build something that made sense and still correct their *mistakes* -- like Sawyer working as a cop, and Jack having a son because he was still trying to work out his daddy!issues. The alt-verse really helped me cope with my shipper feelings because I was always hardcore Kate/Sawyer, and even though I loved Juliet (she was my favorite character of the whole show), it was harder for me to accept that Kate and Sawyer didn't end up together--so the alt-verse helped me come to terms with the fact that Juliet and James were better together, but since Kate and Sawyer got off the Island, I chose to believe they lived their earthly lives together--and that's why when Kate meets Sawyer in the alt-verse, they still have a little something, just like in the alt-verse, Jack chose Juliet to be the mother of his child, because they were all interconnected, even if the one who would bring them to awareness was the other person. That's why I loved that Kate's awakening had nothing to do with either Sawyer or Jack, but was instead about Claire and Aaron, very powerful.
I too think the finale was so good, and I cry (WEEPING, REALLY) every time I watch it. There are a few moments that always pound me heavily, and one is James and Juliet's reunion, but the other is when Boone and Jack see each other in the church--it's just so powerful. And then of course every moment with Jack and his father. Ben and Locke, Ben and Hurley. Just, AUGH. Best show ever, really.
I do remember being devastated by Jin and Sun's so brief reunion, only for them to turn around and instantly die, but the stakes were just that high--it forced me, going into the finale to realize they were all going to die--and to have a philosophical moment, which I think was part of the larger story the writers were sharing--that we all die. At some point we will make that journey, and who will be waiting for us in our church when we get there? With LOST it was never about the answers people wanted, it was always about the questions they might ask, of themselves and of the universe. That's why, even now, 3+ years since it ended, I'm still so full of emotion about it.
Thanks for posting your thoughts so I could revisit it.
As for how it was received at the time--there were people who hated it, especially those who thought it was too *Christian* in its interpretation of death, but there were people who loved it, and were moved tremendously by it. All told, I am just grateful that Damon and Carlton got to tell the story they wanted to tell, because I found it beautiful, on every level.