First off one explanation of Desmond's knowledge of sideways is that he really saw a flash forward (not unlike how he saw Charlies death) which showed him the sideways reality.
Of course sideways is a misnomer. It really is not sideways but a flash forward, a flash way forward to after everyone's death.
msdstc said:
You guys are missing the point... I completely get that, but why would they as people exist there, until they are dead? Is that just a reality for their souls, and when they die they move on from there? Seems a bit farfetched to me.
They come there (there being sideways/purgatory/whatever you want to call it) to resolve issues that they weren't able to resolve in their lives and possibly atone for their sins. Ben wasn't ready to let go because he still had to fix things with Alex. Jack was ready to let go because he was able to become the father that he never had.
Also I know people love open ended things to discuss, and I get that, but it also can be used as a device to wrap things up without disappointing people by not living up to hype. The problem with this, is that you can insert anything between Point A and Point B and say that it was always planned that way. There's no way it was meant to end this way, maybe in a basic outline, but I just don't see with all the things they started, that it was supposed to go this direction. There are too many plotholes.
I guess you have to define your definition of plot hole first. If you're saying contradictions, I don't really believe that happened, at least not in any major way. Were there gaps in the story telling? In terms of filling out the mythology, definitely. In terms of filling out the main story of the characters, a little although a lot of the character gaps were usually due to casting issues or characters getting too tall issues.
The Island was really a MacGuffin, we only got to know of it what the main characters found out about it to advance the plot. That being said there were hints to answers. They weren't overtly mentioned, but for those who wanted to search for answers, they could get it via the ARG, via books, via names of characters, and via the pseudo-science of Eloise and Daniel. Yeah, they aren't concrete answers. But do you really want that? Across the Sea is what results with concrete answers in play. Lost was always a "smart" show (which is a rarity on cable) that challenged viewers and thats how they ended it.
- 1 why was Walt special? What were his "powers" and why even introduce them in the first place? If it's "open ended" or it "doesn't matter" then why waste our time? It was useless, they started the arc of both him and Michael, but failed to finish his.
The simple answer is they didn't realize the actor would have grown so dramatically and so quickly when they started the series, and they also didn't have a set end date to the show. As far as I know, after the show was pitched, JJ and Lindelof got together and wrote the pilot and had the show's arc in mind, but they didn't know whether the show would be a 1 season mini-series or what. They dragged their feet in season 2 because they knew the show was going to go on for many seasons. They didn't have a specific end date though so they probably wanted to save Walt stuff for a later season. And thats when Walt's voice started to drop and started to grow tall. They had to get him off the Island by the end of the season so unfortunately they couldn't explore it.
- 2 involving Walt again, how was he showing up on the island? He would show up soaking wet, everybody knows that, he also shows up to John (taller walt) look I get he was getting older, but this aspect of the show is littered with plot holes.
He had special abilities. Again, unfortunately they weren't able to explore it as much as they originally planned.
- 3 what the hell was the cabin? And why was Jacob asking for John's help? This is absolutely irrelevant to the show.
It was MiB in the cabin (which is affirmed by Claire and Smokey as Christian Shephard hanging out in the Cabin at various points). It was the start of his long con in getting the other candidates off the Island (a plot which also involved Ben hiring Michael to blow up the freighter), and getting Locke to be killed so he could put himself in the position of being Locke and getting someone on the Island to kill Jacob.
- 4 why were the others stealing children? Once again, jump on me if you want for asking too much explanation and telling me it's "irellevant" but they started a huge sideplot about kidnapping children (Aaron, Walt, the two kids in the beginning) and claiming they were giving them "the better life"
That's just a few to start.
It was part Ben's obsession, partly because the Others were probably adopting them because they couldn't have children, and partly because they couldn't have children in the main group because they'd grow up fast (too bad they didn't anticipate that with Walt).
In the end a lot of these questions aren't really relevant to the end result. As a religious person I could start asking who is God, who is the Devil, what existed before God, why did God let the Devil exist, what existed before God, etc. However, the point of religion isn't to explore that stuff either. Whats important is how you lived your life. You may encounter things you don't understand but you can go on living without fully understanding them too.
Sorry for this big run-on post if it doesn't make sense. I'm writing it while my brother is trying to have a conversation with me and while I'm watching the Habs and Flyers game.
After that episode, which shall not be named, I was afraid I was gonna have to throw my DVDs in the dumpster but I think it safe to say that I was wrong in the end ^_^ It's a damn shame I'm so far behind in these threads, as everyone has already been said when I catch up 
