LOST. A cake and a finale review.

I had been wanting to have a LOST finale watch party for almost as long as I have wanted to see Rose and Bernard for one last time. Last night both those wishes were granted.

Just a few dedicated fans over for dinner and dessert last night - we started at 6pm with general discussions of how we thought it would all end, sharing our hopes that we would be left with a satisfying conclusion, and praying that we wouldn't be left with a disappointing finale ala The Sopranos or Seinfeld.

Had I had more time, I would have converted the house into a Dharma station complete with a pantry stocked with Dharma food, equipped our guests with Dharma jump suits, hidden "the numbers" in anything and everything, and somehow would have gotten a 50 ft three-toed statue placed in our front yard.

Instead, all I had time for was a tribute to the Dharma Initiative and the black-and-white/good-and-evil show theme via a Dharma cake and black and white dessert table.

Dinner was assemble-your-own-burritos, and we did manage to create our own smoke monster while searing the carne asada on the grill pan.

We ate during the two hour pre-show recap, and enjoyed it immensely. No inside answers, no profound moments of truth. But we laughed with Michael Emerson when he talked about Ben being the most beat-up character in television history, and laughed even harder when Ben was once again punched in the face during the finale. The pre-show revealed the joy and admiration the actors had for their characters and for the show, bringing our worlds together as we waited in anticipation for the final chapter.

I couldn't have been more satisfied with the end. Already having guessed weeks ago that the show would end with Jack's eye closing, and having guessed two weeks into the show starting that this was all some kind of purgatory-like limbo - the ending couldn't have been more surprising, and yet satisfyingly simple at the same time. 

For someone who had wasted one too many hours on Lostpedia, called the Oceanic 1-800 number, and spent too long trying to find something more within the Hanso Corporation website - the season finale that really answered none of the questions I had been so obsessed with for so long, was profound enough to make me forget about those other details and appreciate the show for what it really was all about. Much like the realization Jack came to know in the final meeting with his father. None of that mattered, and yet it did.

The finale succinctly tied together the viewpoints of faith vs science, good vs evil; but in a way that was peaceful, satisfying, and I think respectful of all spiritual beliefs. Notice the symbology in the stained glass of the room where Jack met his father? The show quietly respected the idea that life and death is what you make of it, without pushing one religious viewpoint of the afterlife down our throats.

The joyful reunions of the true loves, facilitated by the man with, in my opinion, the greatest love story on the show - Desmond - were immensely happy and appropriate reunions that brought a tear to my eye each time. (As a side note, when Penny and Desmond were reunited back in whatever season that was - I hadn't cried that much at a tv show since Dr. Green's final episode on ER. I LOVE Desmond and Penny!)

What I have loved about the show and what I continue to love about the show is that while I am ultimately satisfied, and happy, with the ending and how I have interpreted that ending, I can still enjoy conversations exploring the different interpretations of the storyline. 

This show, in its final moments of bringing the characters together in one place managed to do the same with the audience. It has brought viewers together as one - just as it did in the very first episode - the episode that captivated audiences across the globe and started a following of this wonderful journey. Those followers were shepherded through a unique television experience that ultimately ended with a calm and tranquil ending that I think audiences will agree, was unexpected and yet expected, but satisfying and enjoyable at the same time.

Back at the finale party, the cake was just as big of a hit as the show. Martha's one bowl chocolate cupcake recipe made into one layer of an eight inch square pan, topped with a layer of Martha's white cake recipe, covered in swiss meringue buttercream and homemade fondant. Extra cake batter was made into mini cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes were topped with white buttercream, and the white cupcakes were topped with black buttercream. Yogurt covered raisins and chocolate covered cranberries in bowls on the dessert table was another tribute to the symbolism in the show. 

As I posted on facebook after last night's finale: 

Thank you, LOST writers...it was worth the wait.