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So the finale has had some time to sink in. My initial feeling when it ended was that it was self-indulgent and not that great. However, now that I have had some distance, I feel that the ending was appropriate and rather good. The Sideways was not real, it was a construct made by the collective consciousness of everyone on the island that had meaningful relationships. It absolutely had different elements from different philosophies and religions (I think Matthew Fox described it perfectly on Kimmel's wrapup).

The Sideways was out-of-time, and existed on a line that converged many different time streams together. IT was telling at the end when Ben said he wasn't ready to go and still had stuff to work out. Hurley said he was a good #2, to which Ben replied "You were a great #1." This implies that Hurley and Ben where on the island for a long time afterward taking care of it and it's various inhabitants and castaways. If there is ever an opening for more stories, it's there.

All the castaways came together in the Sideways to complete their circle and I think the island helped with that. There is no doubt in my mind that the island has some sort of mystical energy that was harnessed by a civilization eons ago. The island is a cork that golds that energy at bay, preserving some kind of balance (which was always a core theme in the show). I will probably post some more about this later as I get to mull it over some more, but overall I am satisfied with the entire arc.

The ending gave me closure for the characters. I am sure that it isn't what some people wanted. I mean, it was sad, yes they are dead – but as Christian said, some died before and some died long after. I think it was pretty uplifting, Jack was able to finally "fix" the ultimate break, and he gave his life in doing it. He reconciled the scientist and man-of-faith and he was happy. The ending to me was a wrap for the story AND in a meta way, a wrap for the show. LOST was always a character study and I think the ending did justice to the character's journey. Do I want some more answers, sure, but I like the ambiguity. It's something to talk about and discuss which I think we're going to sorely miss now that it's gone.

I'm anxious to hear what you think….