The End (Lost)

"The End?"
Lost episodes
A man wearing a black shirt and jeans and a dog lie on the ground of a bamboo forest.
Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) in the bamboo forest with Vincent by his side. This scene mirrors the first scene of the series.
Episode nos.Season 6
Episodes 17 and 18
Directed byJack Bender
Written byDamon Lindelof
Carlton Cuse
Production code617 & 618
Original air dateMay 23, 2010 (2010-05-23)
Running time104 minutes[1]
Guest appearances
  • Dylan Minnette as David Shephard
  • Neil Hopkins as Liam Pace
  • John Pyper-Ferguson as Bocklin
  • Alan Seabock as Sub captain
  • Paul Mitri as Roadie
  • Eric Nemoto as Oceanic rep
  • Christina Souza as Jean
    • Additionally numerous returning actors are credited to the Main Cast.
Episode chronology
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"What They Died For" 		Next →
"The New Man in Charge"
Lost season 6
List of episodes

"The End?" is the two-part series finale of the American serial drama television series Lost, serving as the 17th and 18th episode of the sixth season, and the 120th and 121st episodes of the series overall. It aired on ABC in the United States on May 23, 2010. In the episode, the Man in Black (Terry O'Quinn) executes his plan to destroy the island as Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) tries to stop him once and for all. Meanwhile, the true nature of this season's "flash-sideways" narrative device is revealed.

The series finale was written by co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse, and directed by executive producer Jack Bender. Unlike the previous season finales, which were two hours long with advertisements, the series finale was expanded by half an hour, running two and a half hours starting at 9 pm ET, with a retrospective of the past six seasons running for two hours, starting at 7 pm.

"The End" was watched by 13.5 million viewers, but received a polarized response from both critics and fans of the show alike. Reviewers from the Chicago Tribune and IGN called it the best episode of the season and praised its emotion and character. Reviews from the Los Angeles Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer criticized the finale for answering so few of the series' questions. Metacritic gave "The End" a weighted average score of 74 out of 100 based on 31 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews", while The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph reported mixed and "lukewarm" reviews. Retrospective reviews have been equally polarized.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

  1. ^ "Lost - Netflix". Netflix. Retrieved November 24, 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hayner was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Indiewire was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference D'Addario was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Walker was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Hear Us Out: Lost Was Always Heading to That Finale, and It Was Great".
  7. ^ "The Lost finale was the decade's most underrated ending". December 17, 2019.
  8. ^ "Here's what actually happened in the misunderstood Lost finale". Independent.co.uk. May 25, 2020. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022.
  9. ^ "TV's 30 Best Series Finales of All Time". June 19, 2024.