LOST Denoument

The LOST series finale was acceptable. This wasn't television entertainment of the highest magnitude, but then, it rarely was.

LOST came very close to being something special, but could never overcome one fundamental flaw which was again ferociously exposed during the series finale:

Jack Shephard was a lousy protagonist. The character was too boring, too unlikable, too flat, and too poorly-acted to carry the show. LOST never should have been greenlit with Jack/Matthew Fox as the lead, but once the show found success, there was no turning back. Jack is the obvious scapegoat, but in truth, the Season One cast paled in comparison to the actors/characters that became part of LOST as it advanced. The characters and actors added to the show after the first season were more formidable than their predecessors.

Imagine, for a moment, LOST without Jack, with someone like Daniel Faraday/Jeremy Davies as the lead. Imagine the show with Ana Lucia/Michelle Rodriguez, Sawyer/Josh Holloway, Juliet/Elizabeth Mitchell, Sayid/Naveen Andrews, and Locke/Terry O'Quinn at its core from beginning to end.

In the end - the beginning, middle, and truly, the end - the initial creative and casting mistakes kept the show from realizing its dizzying potential. From its inception, LOST was doomed to remain in purgatory.