LOST epilogue

August 6, 2010 11:34 AM

Jezebel has released the full official LOST epilogue from the Season 6 DVD bonus features.
posted by emilyd22222 (71 comments total)

How dare you make me click on a link to the execrable Jezebel, madam. HOW DARE YOU.
posted by elizardbits at 11:36 AM on August 6, 2010 [4 favorites]

1) Jezebel? What does it have to do with their usual content? Isn't this like Gizmodo doing a feature on fast food?
2) I'm sure it'll be taken down within the hour, followed shortly by this post.
posted by Plutor at 11:41 AM on August 6, 2010

3) I'm removing this thread from my recent activity page RIGHT NOW, you spoilers.
posted by Plutor at 11:42 AM on August 6, 2010

That's odd. I assume they must have gotten some kind of permission to show it. Which leads me to the question, if you held the rights to the LOST season 6 DVD and you wanted to get it online would you pick Jezebel as the place to host it? Which leads me back around to questioning how Jezebel got the rights to do this.

Hmmm. A little searching shows Huff Post has it also. Their link lists it as via io9. So the JezeHackerModo9 conglomerate got the rights somehow?
posted by Babblesort at 11:44 AM on August 6, 2010

Needs more Miles.
posted by brain_drain at 11:50 AM on August 6, 2010 [2 favorites]

When I posted, I did a search to find who posted it first, and only E! came up as having the full video at that point (others had clips). They did post on every episode in the last season or two, so it's not entirely out of character. You'd think if Gawker Media had access to it they would have put it on Gawker.com. The tweet and fb tags make me wonder if it was just Jessica Coen who found it.
posted by emilyd22222 at 11:51 AM on August 6, 2010

Given that stealing and/or repurposing content is a huge part of their business models, I guarantee you that neither Jezebel or the Huffington Post have any official rights to show this.
posted by dhammond at 11:54 AM on August 6, 2010 [2 favorites]

Have they found Walt yet?
posted by special-k at 11:58 AM on August 6, 2010 [3 favorites]

I want to watch a police procedural thriller, starring Sawyer and Miles, as a prequel to the flash-sideways. "They're a pair of L.A. cops. This guy's an ex-con man. That guy talks to the dead. They have no idea they're at the heart of global conspiracy that threatens the very nature of reality."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:59 AM on August 6, 2010 [7 favorites]

special k:WATCH THE VIDEO
posted by leotrotsky at 12:01 PM on August 6, 2010

I may have been a little too oblique in my attempt to tactfully say, "How in hell could Jezebel have the rights to this?"

Note that I don't think emilyd22222 did anything wrong and wouldn't particularly care even if Jezebel is outright stealing it. I've got no problem with this post at all. It just made me consider the interesting issues of fair use rights and how once one outlet decides to run with something others are free to piggyback.

Same kind of thing happens with ticklish news stories. Once one outlet decides that the scoop is worth the possible consequences every other outlet gets a free pass on covering the story too, albeit without the benefits (or hazards) of being the first.
posted by Babblesort at 12:04 PM on August 6, 2010

Have they found Walt yet?


Someone didn't watch it yet.

I want Ben's book of DVDs.
posted by nomisxid at 12:05 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

I want to watch a police procedural thriller, starring Sawyer and Miles, as a prequel to the flash-sideways. "They're a pair of L.A. cops. This guy's an ex-con man. That guy talks to the dead. They have no idea they're at the heart of global conspiracy that threatens the very nature of reality."

Let me know which horrible eldritch god requires what sort of grotesque sacrifices in order to make this happen AND I AM ON IT.
posted by elizardbits at 12:05 PM on August 6, 2010 [4 favorites]

This guy's an ex-con man. That guy talks to the dead.

Ah, MILES. Yes. Solaris dude. Me and the Mrs. are only (back) up to season 3, so I'd forgotten all about him. I was picturing Sawyer and Miles O'Brien, from Star Trek TNG and DS9. That didn't quite... work for me. Garak maybe. Yeah. Sawyer and Garak. And a beatiful red sports car, like that Hardcastle and McCormack show. And nobody ever hints that there's anything odd about Garak's appearance.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 12:06 PM on August 6, 2010 [3 favorites]

Sawyer and Miles would be awesome for a film version of the comic Chew. Sure, you would need to fit Sawyer with a fake belly, but it would work for me.
posted by Iosephus at 12:07 PM on August 6, 2010 [3 favorites]

Seriously, fuck the creators of Lost.

Hard to believe they could make a worse ending to the show... but they did.
posted by dobbs at 12:22 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

damn! many questions answered.

What's the over/under on spoilers for something like this? 48 hours? 1 week?
posted by Bonzai at 12:23 PM on August 6, 2010

dobbs, I thought it was less of an ending more like a tongue-in-cheek video to placate the LOST fans who are like "BUT- BUT - WHAT ABOUT THE HURLEY BIRD?! WE NEED MOAR ANWSERS."
posted by Solon and Thanks at 12:23 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

special k:WATCH THE VIDEO

Holy Fuck. I didn't expect Walt in the video. God damn.
posted by special-k at 12:24 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm still on season 2, and it's driving me crazy that I can't read any of the stuff online about it.
posted by roll truck roll at 12:24 PM on August 6, 2010

At least we've got the drops sorted, though why those guys are buying that they haven't upgraded past a teletype is a bigger question than the polar bears, really.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 12:37 PM on August 6, 2010

special-k: "special k:WATCH THE VIDEO

Holy Fuck. I didn't expect Walt in the video. God damn."

Oh I see no spoiler-free time at all.
posted by Bonzai at 12:40 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Yes. If the last couple episodes had been along these lines, I would have been a much, much happier LOST fan.
posted by aught at 12:43 PM on August 6, 2010 [3 favorites]

Oh I see no spoiler-free time at all.

Pro-tip: Do not read comments in a thread about a LOST video if you are worried about spoilers.
posted by special-k at 12:46 PM on August 6, 2010 [14 favorites]

Oh I see no spoiler-free time at all.

I think it's safe to talk about the video when that's the only link in the post.

I liked it. Though now I wish that they had skipped the sideways world entirely and just shown arbitrary flashforwards to life with Hurley in charge. He could have even used his new powers to make Sawyer & Miles cops.
posted by Gary at 12:52 PM on August 6, 2010

Oh I see no spoiler-free time at all.

The show is over. The only thing to spoil is the video at the link, which you are perfectly welcome to view before reading the thread.
posted by empath at 12:52 PM on August 6, 2010

I didn't. My mama didn't raise no fools, as soon as I saw the subject I tabbed over to youtube and watched it, THEN came back.

I worry about the next guy though. I always think a couple days of "non-spoilering" (if I may coin a word) is courteous.
posted by Bonzai at 12:53 PM on August 6, 2010

Answered!

Why where there still dharma food drops?
What was the Hurley bird?
Why polar bears?
What happened to Walt?

So what's left?
posted by Bonzai at 12:56 PM on August 6, 2010

OH!

also,

What's the deal with room 23?
posted by Bonzai at 12:58 PM on August 6, 2010

Jezebel? What does it have to do with their usual content? Isn't this like Gizmodo doing a feature on fast food?

One of the Jezebel bloggers did excellent recaps of the episodes last season. Anyway, why would it be surprising for Jezebel to have this? Lots of their readers were obsessed with Lost.
posted by lunasol at 12:59 PM on August 6, 2010

"They're a pair of L.A. cops. This guy's an ex-con man. That guy talks to the dead. They have no idea they're at the heart of global conspiracy that threatens the very nature of reality."

Pardon me?
posted by grubi at 12:59 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Curse my desire to eat food and take care of my offspring! While I was away from the internet doing those menial tasks I missed the video! Oh well. I'm sure someone will liberate it soon.
posted by hot_monster at 1:01 PM on August 6, 2010

It wasn't really that good.
posted by codacorolla at 1:03 PM on August 6, 2010

Why where there still dharma food drops?
What was the Hurley bird?
Why polar bears?
What happened to Walt?

Also:

Can anything be done to help the Whisperers?
Why did Dharma build Room 23?
Was it the island's EM properties that were interfering with pregnancies?
Were there Orientation videos for all the Dharma stations?
Did Dharma use VHS or Beta VCRs?
posted by aught at 1:13 PM on August 6, 2010

Why didn't Hurley get out of the van? Why was Ben carrying DVDs? Why was Walt in the crazy house? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
posted by blue_beetle at 1:14 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

That rave music they play during the LSD brainwashing sessions totally doesn't jibe with the early-80's "Betamax" era that the Dharma instructional videos are supposedly shot in.
And why was Shaquille O'Neal playing Connect 4?
posted by chococat at 1:17 PM on August 6, 2010

totally doesn't jibe with the early-80's "Betamax" era that the Dharma instructional videos are supposedly shot in.

I took it to be that it was originally filmed, then transferred to Betamax at some point in the early 80s, and then again transferred to DVD sometime in the early Aughties. The scratches, skips, and woozy sound all suggested film to me.
posted by grubi at 1:19 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

"They're a pair of L.A. cops. This guy's an ex-con man. That guy talks to the dead. They have no idea they're at the heart of global conspiracy that threatens the very nature of reality."

Pardon me?
posted by grubi at 12:59 PM on August 6

Great minds, grubi. Great. Minds.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:19 PM on August 6, 2010

Great minds, grubi. Great. Minds.

And us, too!
posted by grubi at 1:26 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Simultaneously exciting, cathartic, and completely worthless. In retrospect, exactly what I should have expected.
posted by Plutor at 1:30 PM on August 6, 2010 [3 favorites]

Wow, that was dreadful. I loved the show, even the finale, and this was just awful. I can't wait to hear how Jezebel has it. Given the Gawker empire's.. flexible approach to copyright, it seems surprising if it's a legit complete copy.
posted by Nelson at 1:30 PM on August 6, 2010

Kind of a letdown, actually. I mean, those fans who were obsessed with having answers will appreciate it, but it felt a little too didactic to me. But seriously, MetaFilter, I do not need to get sucked into another 50-million comment LOST thread. I have work to do!
posted by DiscourseMarker at 1:35 PM on August 6, 2010

Why didn't Hurley get out of the van?

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that it may have something to do with Hurley being a lazy stoner fatass.

Why was Ben carrying DVDs?

Because carrying around films and a film projector would have been too heavy.

Why was Walt in the crazy house?

The long string of horrific experiences he suffered drove him mad.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:41 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Why didn't Hurley get out of the van?

He's the new Jacob. He has to make up arbitrary rules and be mysterious for no good reason.
posted by Gary at 1:49 PM on August 6, 2010 [3 favorites]

And now it's only a clip, starting at the mental hospital. Glad I was quick to watch instead of, say, working.

I can't imagine being the Lost creators and having to please all the bitchy fans. It's a testament to what an engrossing show they made that people got so outraged at the end--and probably would have no matter what.
posted by Kafkaesque at 1:53 PM on August 6, 2010

Damn, Michael Emerson is still awesome.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 2:01 PM on August 6, 2010 [2 favorites]

My wife and I are watching our way through Lost on DVD. We watched it as it came out week after week, year after year, and we often felt anger, as many people did, at how slow the story moved and how few answers we were given.

But watching it on DVD, usually watching between 3 to 4 episodes over two nights, we've actually been surprised at how quickly answers were given. For example, the mystery set up in season 1, where the psychic told Claire that Aaron must be raised by her and no-one else, was answered in seson 2, where we discover the psychic was a fraud. The polar bears, another season 1 mystery, again answered in season 2, where a DHARMA orientation video shows that they were brought there by the Initiative for research. Indeed, in season 2, the cages that Sawyer and Kate where held captive in where the cages where the polar bears were kept, and the big room Jack was held captive in was no doubt the room where the DHARMA shark was kept before the purge and The Others took over.

The food drops, a season 2 mystery, was solved in season 3, when Locke plays with Mikhail's computer, beats the chess game and is able to chose an option of calling for a food drop. Earlier that season, a new DHARMA video explains food will be sent to them "in perpetuity", no doubt from funding from the Hanso Foundation.

And watching episodes in rapid succession has even answered a few questions I thought were left outstanding. For example, when we got to the episode "The Man From Tallahasse", i remembered that it was the "Magic Box" episode, where Ben tells Locke that there's a magic box on the island that anything he wishes for can appear. I turned t my wife and said that this was one of the mysteries they never answered. I was wrong. The very next episode Ben admits that the Magic Box is a metaphor, nothing else, and Locke's dad says he was kidnapped and brought to the Island, no doubt by The Others.

Of course other bigger mysteries, such as the Smoke Monster, Jacob and the nature of the Island, were of course not answered until much later on, as I recall, but that's probably only fair, given that they were big questions integral to the nature of the show's mythology. Answering these things by Season 3 would have left little else to tell for seasons 4, 5 and 6.

So my wife and I have come to a conclusion. It was the waiting between episodes, be it a week, a few weeks and in some cases, a whole year between seasons, that made it seem like the writers were not answering questions. Given the wait, you had probably sometimes forgotten the questions. And other answers were sometimes "blink and you'll miss it" situations. The fact is, watching the show on DVD, knowing the answers to how many things turn out by the end of the series, has actually made me realise that answers came a lot quicker than I ever thought they did.

In short, I forgive the writers of Lost. It's a great show and I'll stand by it to the die I die.
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:01 PM on August 6, 2010 [8 favorites]

Am i totally missing something? The link is a 2:33 video that has no DVD's, Hurleybirds, food drops or polar bears mentioned. What's going on?
posted by Phantomx at 2:03 PM on August 6, 2010

totally doesn't jibe with the early-80's "Betamax" era that the Dharma instructional videos are supposedly shot in.

I took it to be that it was originally filmed, then transferred to Betamax at some point in the early 80s, and then again transferred to DVD sometime in the early Aughties. The scratches, skips, and woozy sound all suggested film to me.


Yeah, I get that. But the whole Clockwork Orange-style brainwashing sessions with the crazy film montages and not-so-subliminal messaging have a soundtrack that is decidedly 90's ravey. It wasn't soundtrack music added in post to the Dharma videos, it was the music used as part of the brainwashing process. They should have made it more late 70's blip blop Moog-y instead of all The Orb or whatever.
posted by chococat at 2:05 PM on August 6, 2010

Am i totally missing something? The link is a 2:33 video that has no DVD's, Hurleybirds, food drops or polar bears mentioned. What's going on?

The entire epilogue was deliberately leaked by TPTB but only available online for a short time, so that those who missed it will hear wondrous tales from those who saw it about Hurley birds and food pallets and Walt, in an effort to boost sales of LOST DVD sets.

In other words: Be like Ben. Get all the answers on DVD.
posted by thescientificmethhead at 2:27 PM on August 6, 2010

For those of you who missed the window that the Jezebel video was online in the full version:

Synopsis of the epilogue with screenshots

A version of the full episode that appears to still be working (probably not for long though)
posted by emilyd22222 at 2:31 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

At least we've got the drops sorted, though why those guys are buying that they haven't upgraded past a teletype is a bigger question than the polar bears, really.

You've never had one of those jobs where one of the pieces of machinery or whatnot is only a few years younger than yourself, have you?
posted by Atreides at 2:32 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

It would've been funny if Ben wasn't able to screen the Dharma DVD because the warehouse player wasn't Blu-Ray compatible.
posted by thescientificmethhead at 2:37 PM on August 6, 2010

why'd they drive around in the dharma vw bus? I mean, how did they get it off the island.
posted by angrycat at 2:50 PM on August 6, 2010

Also, it looks like that spoiler synopsis that leaked a few weeks ago was as fake as it could possibly be. Someone heard "Walt" and "drops" and saw the publicity photo and wrote a few vague paragraphs to get fifteen microseconds of fame.
posted by Plutor at 2:56 PM on August 6, 2010

why'd they drive around in the dharma vw bus?

Because I requested that 2 years ago.
posted by Gary at 3:06 PM on August 6, 2010 [4 favorites]

I always enjoyed the self-referential nature of the show. This epilogue continues the playful jabs at inquiring viewers and their insatiable questions. Ben goes to tell the Dharma workers that they are out of a job. When the Dharma dudes demand answers Ben asks, "You guys have a DVD player?" and then says "So we watch it together, and then we all leave. Is that a deal?" Darlton is again saying to the fans, "There are your damned answers. Now let go and move on. And please turn off the lights and lock the door on your way out."
posted by thescientificmethhead at 3:13 PM on August 6, 2010 [4 favorites]

why'd they drive around in the dharma vw bus?

I was really, really, REALLY hoping that the bus would accelerate away and then ZOOP-BANG! streaks of fire on the pavement like in Back to the Future. Seems like a way Hurley would travel to and from the island.

But alas.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 3:32 PM on August 6, 2010 [3 favorites]

Grrr, I only got the shortened version.
That'll teach me to go outside on a beautiful day!
posted by NoraCharles at 4:37 PM on August 6, 2010

"cutting edge pharmaceuticals"
posted by mikelieman at 4:41 PM on August 6, 2010

ROU_Xenophobe, thank goodness I'm not the only one! I kept expecting them to levitate or something. "Roads? Where we're going... we don't need roads."
posted by olya at 5:00 PM on August 6, 2010 [2 favorites]

I watched the full thing but somehow missed the explanation of the Hurley bird. Can someone give a spoiler explanation?
posted by naju at 5:52 PM on August 6, 2010

Also, spoiler alert, but in the very last shot when they're driving away... they drive on the wrong side of the road. (LOST horns blare.... dun dun dun dun)
posted by naju at 6:01 PM on August 6, 2010

I watched the full thing but somehow missed the explanation of the Hurley bird. Can someone give a spoiler explanation?

DHARMA was doing genetic engineering to create hybrid birds - "hybirds". These hybirds were released onto the island to be studied. For some reason, the hybirds croak "HURLEY!"
posted by Servo5678 at 6:12 PM on August 6, 2010

Man, couldn't they have just pre-empted 12 minutes of Jimmy Kimmel and shown this during the finale? I still would have been a ball of rage, probably (you guys remember! Sorry about that . . . ) but maybe I wouldn't have felt so marginalized that I would never, ever bought another LOST DVD box set.

It would have been a good financial decision, is what I'm saying.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:26 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Hmmm. So this post says "full LOST epilogue" but the actual page at Jezebel says:

Here's a clip; full version available on the Season 6 and/or complete collection DVDs.


So, you know, the owners of the copyright probably want this clip doing the rounds so people buy the season 6 DVD for the "full LOST epilogue".
posted by crossoverman at 7:39 PM on August 6, 2010

If so, that doesn't seem so smart to me. Someone certainly made a decent quality rip of the video today and it'll be making the rounds for some time.
posted by naju at 7:42 PM on August 6, 2010

maybe I wouldn't have felt so marginalized that I would never, ever bought another LOST DVD box set

At this point the only way I'd buy one would be if every episode had frank and open commentary tracks, from an after-the-series perspective, about what they were doing and which things they had plans for and which plans went away and suchlike.

Also if each season came with a free velociraptor dressed in a sailor suit.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:46 PM on August 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh, it seems they swapped the full epilogue out for the teaser clip which I watched and assumed there had been some misunderstanding about the content. So the full epilogue IS out there already! Sorry for the confusion.
posted by crossoverman at 2:39 AM on August 7, 2010

Biggest unanswered question: The Numbers, WTF?
posted by waraw at 8:53 AM on August 7, 2010

Biggest unanswered question: The Numbers, WTF?

Not so. The DHARMA Inititative ARG that took place between Seasons 1 and 2 revealed that the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 were the values of the key variables for a mathematical formula called the Valenzetti Equation, which was devised to predict the likelihood that mankind would destroy itself by nuclear war or environmental collapse. The electromagnetic experiments in the Swan station were intended to influence a change in one of these six key variables, thus granting humanity extra time to sort things out for the better.

In Season 6 of the actual program, it was revealed that the numbers also corresponded to the final six candidates chosen to succeed Jacob as the island's protector. Given that the island seemed to exist as a way of bottling some sort of terrible world-destroying force, it would seem that these two explanations for the numbers are not contradictory.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:20 AM on August 7, 2010 [2 favorites]