And it’s over. Lost, a show that I would unreservedly describe as one of the greatest to ever grace our screens, has finished. The final episode aired a couple of Sundays back and left long term fans in tears and those who had only caught the first half of season one, but tuned in to see how it all ended, utterly baffled. As the show’s final hours played out mythology questions were answered and character arcs completed, but the writers still threw enough curve balls at us to ensure that the series’ true meaning will be debated for years to come.
One of the philosophical debates running through the heart of the show has always been the battle between science and faith. It was put centre stage in the season two premiere Man of Science, Man of Faith in which the conflict between Jack, the man of science, and Locke, the man of faith, came to a head. This conflict perfectly mirrored the competing theories about the nature of Lost itself: would the island’s seemingly magical properties be explained by pseudo-science or mysticism? In short, was Lost a sci-fi or fantasy show? And if you thought that science and religion could inspire heated debates, you’ve never seen sci-fi and fantasy fans go at it on a message board. Now that the series has finished, can we finally declare a winner?
