The groundbreaking ABC series 15 years after Lost’s ending. The show's creators famously kept many of its secrets close to the chest, even from the cast themselves, leading to a unique experience for those bringing the beloved characters to life.

Over the years, the Lost finale has remained contentious, with some even arguing that miss coming up with theories for Lost.

9 Josh Holloway

Sawyer

Josh Holloway recalled an anxiety among the cast about getting the script. Throughout the production of the series as a whole, they were careful not to spoil their plans for the cast - this did not always work, but the showrunners were particularly tight-lipped about the ending. Holloway stated, “we didn’t see how they were going to end the show” (per Vulture).

Keeping the details from the cast to keep it contained as well as keep the performances authentic, was very important to the Lost showrunners, so much so that even theorizing was getting into spoiler territory. Josh Holloway suspected as early as season 1 that the island moves, “like the death star”, but he quit theorizing when that alone raised suspicions. By the last season, plot details were even more airtight, so Holloway was happy to joke with the writers about the fan reception.

Speaking about the divisive finale, Holloway told Vulture how pleased he was with his and Juliet’s ending. When filming, he recounted being worried the flashes of memory would come off cheesy, but that the end result was “awesome”. While he strongly approves of the finale, Holloway doesn’t have “any feelings” about a revival.

8 Matthew Fox

Jack Shepherd

Matthew Fox was reportedly pleased with the Lost finale and has consistently praised the show for its essential mystery at a time when you couldn’t just Google the answer (per Lost doesn’t follow modern TV trends.

Speaking about the finale specifically, Fox had a lot of praise for its openness to interpretation, “depending on people's spiritual beliefs” (per Previously on LOST). He always knew the show would end with Jack’s eye closing to bring it full circle to its opening at the very beginning, and the finale satisfied him that it was a redemptive moment for his character.

7 Michael Emerson

Benjamin Linus

Even the actor of Ben, who did such a great job playing the part of a character who always seemed to know more than he let on, knew as little as everybody else about the last Lost script. He called it a “high-security” script.

The script was printed on red paper to prevent reproduction. There was no way the showrunners could risk a copy getting out to the general public. This was a high-stakes finale - President Obama even rescheduled the State of the Union address so as not to get in the way of it (per NPR).

Speaking about the finale itself, Emerson said that he did not necessarily get it enough to explain it to anybody when he first saw it, but that it is best enjoyed on a rewatch - “I must have watched it again later. And then it began to fall into place for me, and I began to be able to describe what I thought it was or what it meant in a more effective way.” Even if you watched the finale when it aired and were disappointed like so many viewers, it may be worth revisiting.

6 Terry O’Quinn

John Locke

Terry O’Quinn told the New York Post that he always receives negative from viewers about the Lost finale. This must get pretty grating as a cast member, but O’Quinn “didn’t take it personally”. Quinn said of the more critical , “if you don’t get it, you’re just not paying attention or it’s just not your cup of tea”.

The John Locke actor defended the writers’ decisions in the finale, claiming that if viewers were paying enough attention, they would have liked the finale, too. He went on to say that, at the very least, it would be thought-provoking and inspire a viewer’s own theories.

5 Jorge Garcia

Hurley

Jorge Garcia concurs with several of the creators and cast comments that the common audience interpretation that the Lostees have been dead the whole time is wrong. Speaking to The Independent a decade after the finale, Garcia suggested that footage of the wreckage in the closing credits of the US airing contributed to this false impression.

He also gave an insight to Vulture about the secrecy in the final season of the show. He recalled that he even had to strap a lockable mailbox to a bench so that they could deliver scripts to him; otherwise, he had to be home to take them.

4 Yunjin Kim

Sun

Yunkin Kim told Vulture how the secretive final script worked, which was only giving the cast the bare essentials of their own scenes. Every scene not involving Sun was kept from Kim. She commented that this was not exclusive to the finale, and was how they treated the last few episodes to keep it well-contained.

Kim claims that the writers actually wanted viewers to be angry during the episode...

Having her own unique view on Lost’s ending, Kim claims that the writers actually wanted viewers to be angry during the episode (per DigitalSpy). She also described the end of her Lost journey as “bittersweet” - she said, “It's great that I survived six years of Lost, literally meaning my character has survived to the very end.”

3 Henry Ian Cusick

Desmond

Henry Ian Cusick, who undoubtedly played a pivotal role in the history of the island, does not think the ending is the most important part of the show. Speaking to Vulture, he said: “The show is not about the ending. The show is the entirety of the six seasons that you had, and trying to all the emotions that you had when you couldn’t wait to find out what was in the hatch.”

Lost is about the journey, not the destination...

His sentiments seem to be that Lost is about the journey, not the destination. In a way, the appeal is so much in its Mystery Box narrative, which has inspired countless Lost copycat shows, that no ending could possibly satisfy the majority of viewers. Cusick’s comments highlight that the thrilling aspect of Lost is waiting with baited breath for answers that would only ask more questions, which he went on to comment would be lost in today’s streaming service, binge-watch culture.

2 Evangeline Lilly

Kate

Like much of the cast, Evangeline Lilly has defended the controversial Lost finale. Eight years after the fact, she spoke about it at Dragon Con in 2018. She asked the roughly 50% of viewers at the convention who hated the finale to turn inward to find the real answer:

“For as many people that are in this room, there are many true, real endings… Because it’s just a reflection of who you are, and it’s the ultimate question being posed to you, not the ultimate answer being handed to you.”

- via AVClub

This statement challenges the idea that the writers of Lost botched the ending. Lilly suggests that the show was never meant to give all the answers, because it raises profound philosophical and theological questions that ultimately got people talking at the water cooler. That’s what makes Lost such an enduring success as a Mystery Box show. Her defense of its essential mystery is no surprise, as Lilly has reflected deeply on her spirituality herself - she has “long, meandering philosophical conversations with God all the time” (per InHabit).

1 Elizabeth Mitchell

Juliet

Juliet was unexpectedly brought back in season 6 after viewers thought her time was up in the season 5 finale. Elizabeth Mitchell’s comments to Oprah give further insight into the tight-lipped approach to Lost’s final season: “There's a complete blackout. They've asked us to say absolutely nothing [...] It’s good, I can say that.”

More recently, she opened up to Entertainment Tonight about her feelings about the finale, among other Lost topics. She was satisfied with the final episode, expressing that she was glad the whole story was told and wasn’t too drawn out - “It didn't go on longer than it should have. And it ended way quicker than I think most of us wished that it had, me included. It would have been lovely to continue to explore Juliet, but I think it had its own little bit of perfection with the way that it did.”

Mitchell’s comments highlight that there is always more to explore about Lost’s fascinating cast of characters, but six seasons were plenty for all the show’s mind-bending twists and turns. The bittersweetness of the finale will always be divisive, but her scenes with Sawyer in the finale were a welcome reprieve from her heartbreaking death in Lost season 6’s opener.

Source: Vulture, YouTube, CBR, NPR, New York Post, The Independent, DigitalSpy, AVClub, InHabit, Oprah, Entertainment Tonight