June 4th, 2010

Among the many questions raised during the series was whether the survivors really were alive or not. When the series began, we were led to believe that this small band of diverse characters were survivors of the horrific crash. As I wrote last week, traumatic events tend to challenge our sense of invulnerability. Despite the fact that we all will die, the majority of humans hold out hope of living forever, being immortal. This belief is only challenged when we lose someone or something we hold dear.

Jack, a surgeon who confronts life and death every day, emerges as the natural leader in the group. He quickly observes that if search and rescue missions haven’t located them yet, they had better focus on surviving in their temporary “home.” He rallies his band to choose life. John, a passenger who alighted the plane in a wheelchair, inexplicably finds himself walking freely on the island. How can this be?

I thought these two men, Jack young, John older, represented two alternate views of reality, opposites in how they perceived their fate. In the recaps during the last episode, we were reminded that John had termed Jack the ‘man of science,’ and himself, the ‘man of faith.’ Trust in what you see vs. trust in what you don’t see. Life vs. death.

This theme runs through the entire six years – were they really alive in this strange tropical space? The world we live in now would not pair polar bears with a tropical island in the southern hemisphere. And, black smoky clouds that fly through the air?

As I watched the story of the survivors unfold, the line between being alive and being dead grew increasingly blurry – until the final episode, when, at least for me, their deaths became unquestionably clear.

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