Lost Explained: No, they weren't dead the whole time.

This guy watched so much Lost he started looking like Jack.

Even the camera gets confused

I spent my entire time watching with memories of people saying “they’re dead the whole time,” “so many unresolved plotlines,” “the ending sucked.” Boy were they wrong. Just finished it now. What an incredible show.

Just like what Jack's father said: "Everyone dies sometime kiddo, some of them before you, some long after you. There is no "Now" here.

Christian explained it perfectly, they all died at separate times but that was like a meeting place for them, and it was definitely real

I just finished watching the series last night. This explanation is spot on! Everything that happened on the island... happened. Our protagonists took part in one of the most monumental events in human history… the struggle to keep the darkness at bay. The entire alternate storyline that took place (during the Final Season) following the safe landing of Oceanic Flight 815, was in actuality a shared purgatory; A waiting room where our characters continued to evolve until they were ready to shed the fears and weakness that anchored them to the human plane. By the end of the season, our core characters are ready to move on to the afterlife. But not all. For instance, when we meet Ana Lucia, she is a dirty cop, accepting a bribe. Hurley states that she "is not ready." Meaning she is still mired down in human weakness. Her time is yet to come. But, due to the strong human bonds (and loving relationships) that our core group formed during this struggle, they needed to wait for each other, and reunite so they could move on as a group. We see the gathering at the church from the perspective of Jack, most likely because he was their leader and sacrificed his life for the group. But purgatory is a reality that exists “out of time.” For instance, Hurley and Linus could have been the island's protectors for a thousand years after Jack died. The group that escaped the island probably went on to live full lives. We will never know their stories. But in the end, they all met at the church as a group, on a timeless plane, to make the final journey into the light.

I live in Hawaii and ran Lost location tours for over 5 years. You have no idea how many times I explained this very point to people who misunderstood the ending. Literally HUNDREDS of times! The thing that always gets me is Christian Shephard explains the whole show to Jack in about 5 minutes before Jack joins everyone else in the church. Still the best show/story of all time!

poor boone had to wait forever to meet them all in the afterlife

I'll pretend to understand this. Gonna watch it agaim when im sober

The show starts with a close up of Jack’s eyes open to see a plane crash and it ends with Jack seeing a plane take off before he closes them. Genius.

When Jack’s eyes closed one and the “Lost” title came up on the screen, I bawled my eyes out. lost is such a beautiful story. It dawned upon me that Lost isn’t just some thriller action/adventure tv show about people trying to survive on a deserted island. Lost is about how each of those people are “Lost” in their own lives as well. They tied it together so well in the end. This show is one of the prime examples of “its about the journey, not the destination.” And I’m tearing up. I grew to love Jack, Desmond, Rose and Bernard, and even Ben Linus. Each character had a story and you sympathize for each even knowing all that they’ve done. Definitely the top 5 tv shows Ive watched.

You should travel back in time and fix the auto focus.

great explanation... but that auto focus is killing my eyes!

so basically they all had to wait until the last of them all died in their own year and all finally met again at the church to move on to the afterlife

Since we're in lockdown I decided to watch it all again. I now feel part of the timeline.

I love that Hurley lives for 300 years :’)

Excuse me while I send this to just about everybody I know.

If only more people would understand this. So many people disliked the ending bc they didn’t understand it and thought that they had all been dead the whole time. Personally I think the ending was brilliant

I knew that they weren’t dead the whole time but I didn’t know how the flash sideways fit on the timeline so now seeing that it literally doesn’t go anywhere on the timeline makes infinitely more sense and the story now fits in my head perfectly. Cheers, and see you in another life brother

Even the comments section of a lost video makes my brain hurt.