You're right I apologize.
He's a complete waste of sperm.
No matter how you look at it, this ending is exactly the ending we've come to expect.
It answers some things and presents more questions.
What it doesn't do is give a clear direction for the next season. Which has never happened before. But that's a positive thing.
If Darlton didn't know what they were doing, I'd be worried. But clearly that isn't the case. They didn't just fade to white and use the time off to figure out what the hell to do. They have an idea and a purpose. In the past we've had hints about that purpose.
Here anything can happen.
The game has completely changed. As indicated by the white ending with black lettering.
Alright, Greg, let's put things in perspective starting with Season 1.
You remember, that back then EVERYONE was watching LOST (#1 rated show, most viewers). Nobody had any idea what was going on and things were still unravelling as the show was progressing. So, our big payoff at the end of the season was the Losties being left at the hatch [with the door blown off] looking down. This made everyone excited because it left us with the question "what's in the hatch, I want to know!". Well, we would find it within THREE MONTHS. We were set up to find out exactly what we wanted to know.
Ignoring the fact that the finale was suspenseful and action packed (with a LOT of revelations to boot), every other finale left us wanting more (with 4's being the weakest of the first four because there wasn't much they could do with it because of the end to 3).
The first 4 finales all followed the same suspenseful, action-packed, stories while having a great ending.
Season 5, however, did not. Knowing that Season 6 is the last season, why is it a good point to not have us know or craving a SINGLE THING because of the way they ended it? How is it a good thing that "anything" could happen when you only have 17 episodes left (NOT TO MENTION that you have to wait EIGHT TO NINE MONTHS for anything to be revealed thanks to them cutting episodes off of S4-5 to make a S6)?
How about that Darlton claiming that by the time the first episode of Season 6 airs, the majority of the viewers will be able to correctly guess the ending?
I realize that LOST has drifted a long ways away from S1-2 (since they were still unsure of the story) but they should be concrete in what they are doing. You mentioned that you like the character moments more than the story. Well (when it comes to LOST), that is where we are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
Throughout the whole finale I was waiting for mentions or clues to what the "fail-safe" of the swan was (when Desmond blew it up, nothing seemed to change. Why not just use it right away then), why Radzinsky killed himself (any specific reason besides stress), why Radzinsky made the blast map door, what Dharma significance was outside of the island, if the swan was the last station, etc.
Instead of that stuff…we got the love-square shit that everyone just eats up. I also didn't buy the flashbacks for a few reasons.
1: Locke. If Jacob was so meaningful to Locke's story, how come we got more with him and Abbadon (who told him to go on a walkabout)? Oh, that's right, they killed him so they thought we forgot about him.
2: Juliet. Her flashback was pointless. If they wanted us to know she had no contact with Jacob...JUST DON'T SHOW A FLASHBACK!
3: Sayid. I thought his was funny, but I don't see why they took out the Widmore plot line because it seemed pretty apparent (and wasteful) to have a bunch of scenes where people WERE trying to kill Sayid if the wreck was truly an accident caused by Jacob.
I know they didn't want people speculating, but it would have been a lot better to me if they actually casted a Jacob around S3 and had him randomly dispersed throughout people's flashbacks but not in a very prominent way.
Perhaps they are getting more predictable or whatnot, but everyone called the Tawaret/Sobek and Jacob/Esau stuff last season.
Now as to why the box thing surprised me was that I was thinking that Jacob was the body in the box (of course, once it was revealed to be Locke then I knew what happened so that reveal surprised me).
As I see this season end, however, it's leaving me with a sour taste. I can see the whole show ending the exact same way the series of unfortunate events book ends (not going to spoil it here except one line. LITERALLY, the author states "Some questions are best left unanswered."...pretty much EVERY question ever made in the whole book!).
Ok, you like that the end ended on a flash. I do not. So, I must ask of you two situations.
1: Would you have liked it if the end of S2 was Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, and Kate tied up on the others dock while Desmond puts the key in the hatch. It ends right when it blows up. Nothing else.
2: One Piece 513. ends and Oda doesn't continue the story for 8 more months.
By pulling that kind of end, there is no speculation. Nothing for me to be shocked about. Nothing for me to try to figure out. It just ended. No suspense until the ending, none after.
That isn't to say (alright, you know if someone's watched it this far they are in it for the long run) I won't watch it anymore. I own 1-2 on DVD and 3-4 on Blu-ray. In fact, S2 just came out on Blu-ray and I'll get that to.
But, I've got to say this doesn't look so well for an ending that I will like (Matthew Fox and Darlton claim that the characters have a concrete ending and fans will be satisfied. "Not like Sopranos"...even though this ending was).
PS: They didn't have a purpose until near the end of S3. Somehow I liked the show more back then.