I really wondered about that in the back of my head as well. Even if the boat hit at the right point in the statue at a weak spot how could the boat end up in the middle of the island some where intact? It hits the statue with such velocity that it knocks it down but the boat is not broken apart on impact? And none of that dynamite exploded? That's some island magic there, I tell ya!

Any lamer than the island somehow keeping Michael or Richard from dying until it wanted/allowed them (at least Michael) to die?

I thought the dynamite was so volatile because it was old and had been sweating in the jungle for so long.

If the statue were made out of several pieces, a boat hitting it like that could dislodge it. besides, did the boat actually knock it over, or just go by the head? The storm could have finished the job after the black rock crashed.

Wasn't Smokey referred to as Cerebus on the blast door map back in season 2? Either hinting to a third entity, or that Smokey can break into three parts?

I think it was the giant wave that brought the statue down. I don't think there are to many things that can take hit from a wave that big. A bigger issue is there were way to many trees still standing.

The shore certainly didn't look like a tsunami had just hit it the day before.

And I forgot about Michael not being allowed to die. Is that because Jacob touched him?

when phrases on LOST are used like:

"The island won't let you"

"The island is not through with you yet"

"Jacob wanted it done... The island chooses who the island chooses" (btw, it always seemed to me like Richard was lying when he said this)

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when those things are said are they using Jacob/island interchangeably? or as 2 seperate entities?

i think it's the latter, because i been thinking all these things like people appearing as ghosts and whatnot are created by the island and not MIB. I still think that Smokey was seperate from that conjuring of Isabella or Christian, or whoever

it's the best the writers can do... let's go with it

we saw a bad storm, a whole statue ("el diablo guarding the island"), and got a pseudo-confirmation from MIB that the statue was broken when they crashed and brought the ship inland.

we just have to assume a monster wave from the storm had enough force and velocity that it propelled a shabby slave ship ..took out an ancient statue and carried the ship miles inland.

or it was just the sheer gravitational force and snowglobeocity of the island that sucked it in

surely Jacob didn't have anything to do with that part of it.

either way we have to just go with it

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and Michael was greeted by Christian on the freighter... so i don't know if Jacob had anything to do with it, but that's just my theory

That would be absolutely retarded. F'n stupid. Especially considering the guys were yelling, amazed, that they saw land, when they should have obviously saw it in the clear weather.

Yes, that would also be incredibly stupid. I don't know why they didn't just have the ship ride the wave up and over, with the wave breaking the statue (as it obviously would) and the ship landing in the middle of the island. I also don't understand why Jacob would bring people there and then act like he didn't know why Richard was there...? Why, also, did he bring everyone to the island and then let smokey kill them all? That also makes no sense! What does that prove? I have enjoyed most episodes this season, but this one made little to no sense and really didn't answer much, in my opinion.

1.) It's a REALLY old statue. The wave and ship could have, and officially did, break it.

2.) Richard was to the island the same thing the 815 redshirts were. Jacob didn't really know and probably didn't care about either. Richard just happened to be the only known surviver of the Black Rock and Jacob gave him a job for making him realize a hole in his logic. (That the MiB will and does interfere, killing people, while Jacob does nothing.)

That statue is kind of a weird... thing. Something of that size would almost need to have been constructed out of separate pieces, but the way it looks appears (with the ankhs in the hands being a good example) would seem to make it impossible to put together that way.

If it was of a solid piece, I don't know how the hell anyone would move it onto the beach. Maybe it was carved out of a cliff or something. Were that the case, then the only thing that could probably destroy it would be an earthquake. Likely, with that active volcano on the island. A sizable wave might be able to destabilize a "stacked" statue, though.

If a wood ship hit, then the ship would shatter into splinters and most likely leave the statue unharmed. The Black Rock doesn't look very big, so I'd say that the ship never touched the statue and the statue was brought down by the wave/tsunami that washed the ship inland.

"Cerberus" was, I believe, the name that the DHARMA folks gave the monster.

As to the storm and why the Black Rock didn't see the island, the island is very difficult to locate, so just because the Black Rock was visible to people on the island, the island wouldn't necessarily be visible to on the ship. Time and space do some weird things around the island, so the ship could have been circling the island until nightfall and the storm came up without anyone on the ship even knowing it.

It would have been easier for Cuse and Lindelof to explain the conversation and ship from S5 as an event that took place years before the Black Rock appeared.

And as far as "well, what was that ship then?" Who cares? Does every detail on this show have to be analyzed and explained?

Yes.

yeah for someone so 'wise' he missed that simple logic

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i think MIB was proved wrong though because you got Hurley who is an actual "good guy" non-corruptable, doesn't kill or destroy anything

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those old structures like ancient pyramids and shit are engineering masterpeices. they are suppose to be stronger than modern day

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as far as the storm, during the run of LOST we do see sudden storms and daylight turning into darkness real quick

Yeah, but we don't see: AAaaaaaaaaack! Instant Tidal Wave!!!

I think it was natural to assume during the S5 finale that it was The Black Rock we were seeing. However after the big storm during Ab Aeterno I now believe it was just another random ship Jacob may or may not have brought to the island.

If it was The Black Rock in the S5 finale and it was some magical Jacob storm he whipped up or just another ship seems fairly inconsequential unless it somehow plays a larger role in the final episodes. We now know how The Black Rock arrived.

As far as I'm concerned it could go either way, and both options make sense. And a viewer it seems we can make up our own mind about it, until told otherwise by the writers.

The Cost of 'Lost'? ABC Asks $900,000 for Finale
Slot in Last Episode Priced Just Under That of Oscar Berth and at 400% Markup to 30-Second Spot Sold in Upfront

By Brian Steinberg

Published: March 29, 2010

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- So much for "Keep it simple, stupid." ABC's "Lost" may have shed millions of viewers as the show grew increasingly complex, but the remaining fans are so intense that marketers are spending big to appear in the program's on-air farewell. The cost of a 30-second ad in the final episode of the series is coming in around a whopping $900,000, according to media buyers.

Buyers suggest ABC has been seeking between $850,000 and $950,000 for an ad berth. ABC executives declined to comment.

During last year's upfront, a 30-second spot for "Lost" was selling for an average of $213,563, according to Advertising Age's annual survey of ad costs in prime-time broadcast shows. At $900,000 a spot, ABC is clearing a markup north of 400% from advertisers who didn't reserve their time in the show last year.

The series finale of "Lost" is slated to air as part of a three-hour block on Sunday, May 23. The 8 p.m. hour of the evening will be devoted to a recap of the mysterious show and the last episode will run from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The hefty cost -- the price is just $400,000 to $600,000 less than the cost of a 30-second spot in this year's Oscars broadcast -- further illustrates the interest advertisers have in so-called event programming. With audiences increasingly watching TV programs at times of their own choosing and through nontraditional methods such as DVR playback, assembling a large crowd has become a much tougher task.

And yet, many advertisers need to reach millions of people to make their cash registers ring. With ratings for such "must-watch" events as ABC's Oscars broadcast and CBS's recent Super Bowl telecast continuing to bring in larger-than-usual audiences, marketers seem willing to pay a higher-than-normal sum to advertise, given today's fractured media landscape.

"There are many advertisers willing to pay a reasonable premium for inventory in programs that generate such a highly passionate and rabid fan base," said Kris Magel, exec VP-director, national broadcast at Interpublic Group of Cos.' Initiative, who could not comment on ad prices in the "Lost" finale. "There is definitely value in that."

"Lost" is unusual in its success. The six-season drama centers on a group of people seemingly marooned on an island, only to find themselves caught in the middle of a battle between forces they don't quite understand. Such complexity is often not welcomed by audiences who seek programs they can watch one week but skip the next, and any number of "Lost" knockoffs -- "The Nine," "Vanished," "Kidnapped" -- have fallen by the wayside in recent seasons. ABC also once had high hopes for this season's "Flash Forward," in which FBI agents try to solve a mysterious event, but ratings for the program have steadily declined.

Yet those viewers who hang on for the ride these programs offer are particularly devoted, and advertisers often hope to win over crowds with an unusual amount of interest in a particular show. Last week, "Lost" snared nearly 8.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen, second only to Fox's airing of "American Idol" on Tuesday evening.

The show "is different, and people talk about it, and it's not just some sitcom coming to an end," said Ira Berger, director-network broadcasting at independent agency Richards Group, who said he has no client in the program. "It's very much an event."

At $900,000, a spot on the last episode of "Lost" would cost more than any of the 10 most-expensive programs on TV for advertisers, according to Ad Age's survey of prices paid in last year's upfront. The costliest program for the 2009-2010 TV season was NBC's "Sunday Night Football," where a 30-second spot cost an average of $339,700.

Advertisers and TV fans are also waiting to see if Fox's "24" will be renewed for another season. The show's possible cancellation has been the subject of much discussion, though Fox has made no public pronouncement on the spy drama's fate. A 30-second spot in "24" was going for between $200,000 and $280,000 during upfront negotiations, according to media buyers.

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=143012

<hr>

Still far less than the Seinfeld finale.

I can't believe this didn't garner a single response. A friend of mine pitched me this theory over the weekend. I enjoy seeing everyone's theories, and a lot of them sound fun and or possible, but I can't stop thinking about this one.

"Adam & Eve" in the caves could really be Adam & Eve.

Even if no one buys it, I think it's a damn fun theory.

The Constant* didn't either, and I'd still say it's a better episode than this one. Definitely the best episode of this season though.

*Desmond was in the first episode of season 2, but didn't return until the finale and a bigger role in season 3+ and Farraday wasn't around until season 4.

Have they explained the food droppings?

Like in Season 1 or 2, we saw a plane dropping some packages with food. I think they were from Dharma.

They may, I just can't remember.

duh!

Google to the rescue!

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Periodic_resupply_drop

I guess they won't explain this.

No, but they did explain the boar droppings.

I wonder if they will explain the dropping ratings...

The food drops continued because Desmond was still pushing the button. When Locke stopped pushing it (exposing the island to the world), (I'm guessing) the drops will then stop because it was assumed to whomever was monitoring the island (Penny, etc...) that there were no more DHARMA employees to feed or supply since Desmond was the only one left - at the Swan station.

Nope. And I haven't heard that it will be explained. On the other hand, will definitely be explained.