Thang Nguyen 555

13.5 million tuned in, with mixed emotions as LOST comes to the end.

Every generation has its water cooler’s moment: Star Trek, Star Wars, and now LOST.

It’s not just a plane-crash survivor story. It’s about lives flash forward and back, and about doubt (not dumb down).

Most of all, it’s about new beginning (especially Lock, who could not only walk, but also find his destiny).

For six years, we played along with show creators and befriended with the characters (they have become more than guests in our living room):

Sawyer who catches up on his reading, and Hugo, with his light-hearted game of golf (while  at it, one might as well makes the best of the situation).

LOST actually has been our story, collectively.

We have made the best of the situation during the Financial Crash, reorganized ourselves, identified the culprit, and renegotiated our terms (more regulation).

Issues that were big in the 60’s (Beer Summit, for instance) are no longer pressing, not when the oil slick is invading the Gulf Coast.

Yes, Kate still has to deal with her past life (showing up in court), but now she belongs to a larger group: the Oceanic Six who are invited back to the Island.

For our soon-to-become LOST DECADE, we are to manage our expectations as the Europeans now are (unlike GE who managed to pay zero tax last year, since most of its earnings were overseas, which I venture to say, probably India and other BRIC countries).

Enough distractions lately, from Miss America to Dancing with the Stars, Deal or No Deal to Lost.

Maybe the World Cup will top LOST which drew 13.5  million in for a trip back to the Island. It reminds me of Wake Island, where I spent two months awaiting processing to the US. I don’t think I will ever have a chance to return there.

But I for once knew what it’s like to be LOST, to be in limbo. Neither the past nor the future. And while there, our famous singer, normally would charge you for admission, sang for free in the evening, just to soothe our exile souls. Sort of like a golf game or table tennis in LOST.

And children were born there on Wake Island. People got engaged, married. Life on the Island just like life on Mainland goes on. Too bad the series has to end .

But to 13+ million of us, it’s all too real to stop talking about it the next morning. That’s what water coolers are for. That’s media at their best: offer a platform for shared experience and shared humanity.