But a bad ending ruins the entire series, especially for a show like LOST.
It's a good thing I don't feel this way or I'd think Battlestar Galactica was the worst series of all time. Now THAT was a bad ending.
But really, all, it just upsets me because I really liked the ending, and in topics like this people don't seem to realize that alternate opinions are valid and just belittle anybody who has them because THIS IS THE WAY IT IS, black and white, end of story. It's perfectly possible to love the ending of LOST, which I do. It's also perfectly valid to hate on it, I suppose, although I really don't understand the reasons why.
Here's the thing, though. It's the whole "statement of fact" thing that bothers me. In my opinion, a series where you loved five seasons and hated one is still a highly recommendable series (though I suppose I can feel your pain in that I don't necessarily recommend BSG to anybody, but I had other problems with that series than just the ending - and I still do recommend it from time to time). People act like the ending was objectively bad, which is just incorrect. It gave some of us exactly what we wanted from the series. I didn't care about the outrigger, I didn't care who was there before Jacob and Barry, and I certainly didn't care what the light did (yes, I thought the episode Across the Sea was horrendous, but in the two episodes afterwards I felt the concepts from it at least worked fine simply as plot devices). I cared about what happened to the characters, and I got a particularly moving answer to that question.
Now when I recommend LOST to people who haven't seen it I recommend it to them with this caveat: if you go in expecting a tightly-written, plot-driven series, expect to be sorely disappointed. Because I won't say it's "ALL ABOUT" the characters, but there's a difference between a character-driven show and a plot-driven show. In a character-driven show, it's about what's happening TO the characters, and in a plot-driven show, it's what's happening AROUND them that counts. I consider LOST a character-driven show, and thus, I was happy with the results, and particularly loved the sixth season. I loved the AU and the answer to what it was, and there were a couple of parts that were a BIT boring and roundabout (especially concerning the Temple), but that can be said about literally every season of the show.
Season 1 meandered a ton during its second half, especially after Ethan was killed
Season 2 had nine episodes of walking across the Island and Hatch aftermath.
Season 3 (my favorite season) had the Hydra Island arc and SiaSL, the worst episode of the series.
Season 4 had about half its episodes suck.
Season 5 had some of the most roundabout "because it has to happen that way" plotting I've seen since the last season of BSG.
So I guess what I don't understand is why it's so different. This is a flawed, but in many ways beautiful show we're talking about here, and though I wouldn't call it one of my favorites of all time (certainly not on the level of, say, Babylon 5 or The Sopranos), it was a ride I'll never forget, and one that I'll be sure to revisit in the future.
Sorry for the huge wall, but I guess I wanted to show that I wasn't just talking out of my ass here.
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Recorded B8 Mafia record: 13/24