Let me preface this post by saying that I am at peace with how the producers finished the story of LOST. I spent a good amount of time after watching the final scene last night sitting on my sofa in disbelief, paging back through the series in my mind, trying to determine whether or not the final 15 minutes did the past 6 years justice. It took me until this morning to come to this decision, but I'm okay with the ending. And really, the producers warned us that the scientific stuff didn't matter--the people did. That being said, this is a random, stream-of-consciousness mode of processing what is probably one of the greatest pieces of television in history. What follows are incomplete, probably incoherent reactions to last night's finale, and I invoke the right to change these thoughts at any time. And so it is!
"Him destroying the island. You destroying him. It doesn't matter. You're gonna lower me into that light, and I'm gonna go somewhere else. A place where we can be with the ones we love and not have to ever think about this damn island again." -Desmond
I don't know whether to sigh in relief, grieve the end, or whether to even let myself keep thinking about it. Because if I think too much, it gets too blurry and I lose my grip on any sense I've been able to make in the first place. It was never about the island. 114 episodes building up to what you think will be the great reveal---the meaning of the island---and it's not about the island at all."There are no shortcuts. No do-overs. What happened, happened. Trust me. I know. All of this matters." -Jack
And yet, the island mattered to these characters, so it must matter to us. It had to be Jack. It had to be Hurley. It had to be Desmond. It had to be Locke. It couldn't have been anyone else. All of these men were flawed, but they were special. They needed each other to find their faith. They needed the island. So the island must matter.
"No one can tell you why you're here, Kate. Certainly not me."- Desmond
There are people in my life that have forever changed the course in which it has flowed. There have been experiences I've had to let go of in order to reach a better, lighter place. No one could tell me what it was I had to let go of. No one could change the past. I had to remember that past, even though I tried so hard to forget, and I had to walk a path that led me to a point where I was able to let go. And so it was for Jack, Hurley, Sun, Jin, Sawyer, Kate, John, Desmond, Sayid, and Claire.
"No Matter what world I live in, I end up being chased by the past "- random IMDB quote
It takes courage to let go. And it takes the help of the people you love the most, and who love you unconditionally, in spite of your flaws. But once you let go, you're free. And you can continue on to a better life with the people who've shared your journey.
"We've been waiting for you."- John Locke (to Jack)
The evolution of these characters has been beautifully told.
The producers have always maintained that the ending would resolve the characters' unfinished story lines, and anything else would be afterthought. 
How satisfying were the "realization" scenes of the characters? Claire finally getting Aaron back in her arms, Sawyer clinging to Juliet in disbelief, Jin looking at his child on the sonogram, Jack crying in his father's 
arms, John looking at his wiggling toes in awe... this was storytelling at its greatest. There was nothing tacky or cliche about the conclusions of these men and women's stories... it was just right. In the end it doesn't matter who first came to the island, or why pregnant women died, or what Brother's name was. What matters is that this story was about a group of men and women who were flawed, and searching for something they couldn't find on their own. This series was a story of redemption, love, friendship, and most importantly, faith. So it all matters.
Afterthoughts...
-The church scene was reminiscent of the finale of Titanic, when Jack meets Rose on the staircase. Just sayin'.
-Benjamin Linus'character ends exactly as it should have. Incomplete. Ben wasn't ready yet, he had only just found his soul and it is going to take time to search through and come to terms with everything he's done. Ben is still flawed.-I wish there'd been more of a resolution to Eloise Hawking's role. She seemed to know through the entire series that our characters were dead and in limbo. How?
-The "smoke monster" wasn't really bound to the island by Jacob's rules after all, was he? He could've left at any time. He, unlike the rest of the characters, wasn't so important after all.
-I don't like that Sayid needed Shannon to become enlightened. I much prefered the Nadya/unrequited love plot.
-It was unneccessary to have Boone and Shannon in the finale at all. Just sayin.
-Did Widmore understand?
-I absolutely loved Jack's running jump attack on Locke on the cliff. Definitely a sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat scene. -I wanted to give Ben a big hug when Locke forgave him, and Hurley tells him that he was a great #2.
-I'm really glad that Kate loved Jack.
-Was the wreckage shown in the final shot of the show the original Oceanic 815 plane, the Ajira plane, or another plane altogether? Was it the setting of the "heaven" the characters walked into from the church?
-If Terry O'Quinn, Michael Emerson and Matthew Fox don't get Emmy's for their performances this year, it will be a damn shame.
-I'm really going to miss this show.
