This is The End

(Editor's Note: A retrospective about LOST will be coming soon. For now, try to gnaw on the unrefined meat of Dave's immediate reflections. For all non-LOST fans, don't worry, Dave will be writing about other shows soon. For non-Dave fans, there are other blogs to read and plenty of porn on the internet.)

I am satisfied with the finale of LOST, and the show as a whole. In terms of the finale specifically, it was an amazing ride that kept me captivated and provided a resolution true to the style of LOST. That may not mean we were given the most complete set of answers, but as i have accepted, that's not the way LOST does things.
In the midst of Christian Shepard explaining the sideways world to Jack my mind was working a mile a minute as I tried to process what he was saying. On it's face, it felt very similar to a scene in the seventh Harry Potter book. Harry's mystical talk and walk with dead Dumbledore offered the same sort of crossing over/limbo scene that the sideways world represented. In Harry's case the brief respite was just a momentary stop back on his previous path, whereas in the case of LOST it was a chance for the castaways to grow/move on/let go. (I'll try to parse this out more in the future.)
RIght now I'm dealing with the revelation that the voices people hear on the island are people trapped in the sideways world. THose people are unable to move on (or something), in much the same way the castaways hold onto the sideways reality until they're ready to move on.
Like i said, though, more mythology talk to come.
For now, let's deal with the episode itself, which was very funny. The show was packed with jokes, but also expressed a level of self-awareness that allowed itself to crack a ton of jokes. My favorite involved Man in Locke's (MiL) realization that Jack was chosen as a successor for Jacob. Fans expected this move, and when MiL refers to it as the predictable choice I burst out laughing.
The finale did a great job with making the sideways world count. It may have tugged a little too hard on our heart strings and tasted a little too sweet from all the sappiness, but it was a good payoff. We were reminded of friendships (Hugo and Sayid, Hugo and Charlie, Hugo and his hummer), love (Juliet and James) and the dynamic of the Man of Faith versus (together with) the Man of Science. I think the best measure of the effectiveness of the sideways stories were their ability to keep me whimpering throughout the episode.
Finally, the events on the island were rolled out very nicely in a fashion grounded in 6 years of tromping around the island with no idea what's going on. I loved the fight scenes, the twists, the sight of Vincent, Rose, Bernard, guns, cliff diving, and Lapidus calling Richard, "Ricky."
Maybe some people feel unfulfilled by the whole experience in the wake of this finale. They think the show never offered an adequate return on their investment. I'll accept that some people can feel this way, but only in terms of them wishing a certain character lived or hoping a plot point unfolded some other way (More Widmore or Kate succumbing to the bullet wound infection.)
What I won't accept, nay, what I won't stand for, is people who argue it was all meaningless and they wasted their time. (Editors' Note: Will someone please tell this moron to calm down!?!? It's a tv show! It's as real as those stupid sideway stories!)
My only gripe for now is the lack of Penny and Desmond canoodling in the finale.
But like i said, hopefully I'll have more about the finale and the series tomorrow after I rewatch the show and take notes.
And oh yeah, GLK, this is for you, the island wasn't purgatory! The castaways basically created their own version of purgatory.
Anybody else have immediate reactions? Did it leave a bad taste in your mouth like a rotten Apollo Bar or was it delicious like fish you catch with Jin???