Remembering the End of LOST With LOST: The Last Episodes

One year ago today, the epic television series LOST came to an end. In recognition of that event, I thought it would be a fitting time for me to review the final soundtrack. LOST: The Last Episodes is a second double-disc soundtrack of music from the show's final season. This album sneaked in under the radar of many fans; even though I assumed it was coming, I didn't find out it had been released until a couple weeks after the fact. For reasons that mystify me, the album only had a limited run of 5000 copies; considering that the finale's music is the culmination of almost everything leading up to it, I would think that this could potentially be the most popular soundtrack of the seven.

LOST: The Last Episodes features music from the final four episodes of the series. Disc one encompasses The Candidate, Across the Sea and What They Died For, while the second disc contains 24 tracks all drawn from The End, the series finale. The liner notes booklet includes multiple photographs from these episodes, along with a list of what tracks go with what episode and a list of musicians in the Hollywood Studio Symphony, grouped by instrument: violin, viola, cello, string bass, trombone, bass trombone, harp, piano and percussion. As orchestrally rich as Michael Giacchino's LOST scores are, it always surprises me a little to see that there is actually relatively little variety in terms of instruments used.

My favorite part of the liner booklet is the commentary by Giacchino and by showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. The composer's thoughts are short and sweet, thanking the fans and everyone involved in the show for giving him such a moving creative endeavor. “I will miss LOST for years to come,” Giacchino says. Darlton are more long-winded, talking about the series of endings they experienced as the finale drew near and saying how the most intense one was listening to the symphony record the music for The End. They discuss how everyone in the studio felt the enormity of that session and how they themselves had to duck out because they didn't want to risk the microphones picking up on them bawling like babies. What Giacchino accomplished with LOST is truly extraordinary. “We strove for an ending of our series that was spiritually uplifting,” write Darlton, “and at the end we were the ones who were uplifted by the power and emotion of Michael's music. It was, for us, perfect.”

While the second disc is the true star of this collection, the first is outstanding as well. The Candidate furnishes the first five tracks. The shortest is the perilous, trombone-heavy Cage Crashers, which is immediately followed by the slightly longer and hesitantly lovely Shephard's Why, the first of the Sideways tracks, which are almost unfailingly tranquil. Sub-Primed begins on a softly melodic note as Jack and Claire share a tender moment, but the tone soon turns treacherous as the scene dissolves into a shootout. Eerie chimes and some creepy violin shrieks add to the sense of peril.

S. S. Lost-Tanic is another track that is largely action-packed and dangerous-sounding, as just a glimpse at the title might suggest. However, there is also a deeply emotional element to it as well as it signals a tragic but touching conclusion to one story arc. Life and Death is my favorite of all the LOST themes, so any track that incorporates it automatically earns my favor. Following that is the gently elegiac Flew the Coop, which accompanies a painful Sideways conversation between John and Jack.

The music from Across the Sea is set apart from the rest of Giacchino's themes; as with Ab Aeterno, the music is nearly as self-contained as the episode, though hints of it do carry over elsewhere, particularly where enigmatic Island leader Jacob is concerned. This episode reaches into antiquity to reveal the origins of the centuries-old feud between Jacob and his nemesis. Though we never get a precise date for this tale, most estimates put it at about two thousand years in the past. Hence, the music has an ancient, mythical quality to it that hints at Roman influence.

The track Across the Sea is mystical, then quietly ominous, particularly toward the end, which carries the sense of being in close proximity to danger. Don't Look At the Light is startling as well, but it gives way to a lovely variation on the Across the Sea theme that captures the wonder of what the accompanying scene reveals. A Brother's Quarrel is weighted down with sadness as a fundamental conflict begins to take root in the fertile ground of fraternity. A tragic track.

Make Like a Tree, the longest of the Across the Sea tracks, explores the family dynamics among the trio at the heart of this episode. A sense of danger intermingles with affection as two complex relationships reach a critical moment. Mother of a Plan, my favorite track from this episode, carries on the mythical quality as it underscores a scene that will have profound echoes in the final two episodes. However, it's the scene that follows that impacts me most as it depicts the aftermath of a horrific attack and the mingled sorrow and rage that accompany its discovery.

Mother of Sorrow is oppressive and mournful, the backdrop to the chain reaction of violence sparked by the incident depicted in the previous track. This gives way to Love Is Stronger Than Death, which remains sorrowful but also has a thread of beauty to it. Piano, otherwise neglected in this episode, ties the antiquity of Jacob's tale in with the grander story of the modern-day castaways.

From Across the Sea's seven tracks, we move on to the eight tracks in What They Died For, which are mostly reflective and peaceful. This begins with Cereal Experience, which finds Jack in gentle conversation first with Claire, then with Kate, which ends on a note of alarm as they resolve to destroy their powerful enemy. This sense of danger continues with The Four Amigos as Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley plot how to attack their daunting task, but Walk and Talk and Aah! is more reflective, with hints of mystery as the castaways' camaraderie yields to an appearance of the enigmatic Jacob.

Hide and Snitch is brimming with peril as the primary remaining antagonist comes into contact with a contingent of survivors. The trombone especially adds to the brooding feel of the track. A Better Ben has a beautiful beginning in the Sideways before returning to the Island, where Ben has one more devious trick up his sleeve.

What They Died For has an epic feel to it that hearkens back to Across the Sea but more prominently features the main theme of the series. This mingling of Jacob's story with theirs provides one of my favorite pieces of music on the first disc. The echoes of Across the Sea continue with Jack's Cup Runneth Over, which parallels the moment captured in Mother of a Plan. Get Out of Jail Free Card concludes this disc with a mix of the enigmatic and the fun. There's a strong sense of amusement and adventure in this track, which is a cheerful note to end on.

Really, though, we're just getting warmed up, since The End still lies ahead. Disc two begins with Parallelocam, a delicate, slowly swelling track that echoes the season six premiere as we see what each major character is up to in the Sideways and on the Island. Leaver-age has a contemplative feel to it, with the strings emphasizing the mysterious nature of Desmond's quest and Jack's new brand of leadership.

The quietude continues with The Stick With Me Speech, which is enigmatic and sprinkled with the plucking of a harp. Hurley's themes are among my favorites, and here we taste both his affection and his humor before diving into the adventurous walking music. Ultrasonic Flash celebrates Jin and Sun's love with a purely romantic track that mixes their theme with the stirring arrival music that will come up many times throughout the finale.

Fly By Dire is the first truly startling-sounding track, but even that doesn't last long, moving quickly from a sense of foreboding into one of excitement. Next up comes the track with the title that prompted a big grin from me when I first saw it: Down the Hobbit Hole. Referencing Alice in Wonderland and Lord of the Rings in one fell swoop? Nice. I predicted that there would be a moment in the finale comparable to the J. R. R. Tolkien's Mount Doom climax, so it was gratifying to see something with such striking visual similarities. This is an action track, but it's more suspense and emotion than pure action, and several themes are expertly interwoven.

Dysfunctional Setup is another emotional track, this one reuniting two halves of a romantic pairing that few viewers were very invested in. Still, the affecting, strings-heavy music makes the couple seem more legitimate than it otherwise would. Mystery and danger abound in the adventurous-sounding The Well of Holes, while Pulling Out All the Stops explores similar territory before ending on a dire note amidst a sea of shrieking violins and trombones. Similarly, Blood From a Locke is super-short and panicky.

Claire is the focus of Our Lady of Perpetual Labor, sharing her big Sideways moment with Kate and Charlie. The piano and strings blend gorgeously here as we witness three awakenings within the span of a four-and-a-half-minute-long track. The gentleness of the harp on the arrival theme feels especially fitting for Claire. It ends on a rather dire note, though, just as If a Tree Falls begins on one, with jungle-flavored percussion adding to the sense that time is running short. That sense of pervasive peril continues with Locke v. Jack, which eventually slows down to feel less alarming and more heroic.

Can't Keep Locke Down is another Sideways revelation scene, and as such it is richly melodic and orchestrally dense. Locke's name is incorporated into the title of a dozen tracks over the course of seven albums; this is the last, and it's easy to imagine his smile while listening to it. The Long Kiss Goodbye is centered mostly on Island activity, particularly a long-awaited smooch between Jack and Kate, though the midsection also incorporates Sawyer's theme as he encounters Sun and Jin in the Sideways. Some action here, but primarily emotion, with a particularly affecting conclusion.

Half as long and more consistently moving is We Can Go Dutch, the scene that gives us the pay-off from Juliet's cryptic conversation with Sawyer in the season premiere. Kate Flashes Jack is shorter still but comparably heart-tugging up until the ominous final seconds. Violins and harp complement one another well in the gentle Hurley's Coronation, one of my favorite tracks. The peculiar percussion toward the end adds to a sense of wonder without feeling creepy.

The Hole Shebang, one of the longest tracks, was included in the first season six soundtrack as a bonus. This accompanies the final climax of the Island's storyline, combining intense action and soaring emotion. The simply titled Aloha encompasses several endings and beginnings at once, conveying a sense of absolute euphoria. The longest track on this album or any other LOST soundtrack is Closure, which combines several prominent themes, including those of Ben, John, Hurley and Jack, as these characters find closure on the Island and off. A magnificent piece of music, with Hurley's section particularly touching me.

Jumping Jack's Flash, by contrast, is one of the shortest, but it is no less richly melodic or emotionally satisfying. It's only a minute long, but it's incredibly cathartic as he is the last character to have this type of experience, not to mention the central character in the series. Even more gorgeous than the preceding track. Finally, Moving On takes us out of the series. This, too, was included in the first season six soundtrack, which was a nice bonus because this track, above any other, seems to magnum opus of the entire LOST saga. While I wouldn't have minded a slightly higher concentration of Life and Death, I love the blending that occurs here, with the most powerfully emotive motifs intermingling. Giacchino really had to knock this one out of the park, and I think he did. Incidentally, if you look online, you can find an alternate version of this track. As best as I can tell, it's the same until the four-minute mark, at which point the ukelele kicks in. It only plays for about a minute, giving a playful flavor to the middle of the track that seems indicative of Hurley. It makes for an intriguing alternative, but the slightly more solemn main version definitely feels like the right choice for the actual episode.

After Moving On, the “bonus track” Parting Words (Drive Shaft), the full version of the song that Drive Shaft and Daniel play together at the concert in the Sideways, feels a bit jarring. After all, it's an electric guitar-heavy rock anthem augmented by classical piano, and while those last four tracks might easily lure one into sleep, this one will yank you right back out again. Still, it's neat to be able to hear the song properly and match it up with other parts of the score, and the rather raucous nature of the song makes it seem as though it's entertainment at a party in celebration of the series.

A written review is a poor medium in which to express the sheer brilliance of the work done by Giacchino and the Hollywood Studio Symphony. A picture is worth a thousand words, and so is an exquisite musical phrase. Have a listen to this album if you get the chance. Many people were not pleased with the way LOST ended, but everyone I've talked to seems to agree that Giacchino's score is superb. This final soundtrack is the most peaceful one of the lot, with tenderly touching tracks dominating the second disc. I've never known a television show whose score is as integral to its story as LOST's is; it helped set the cinematic tone from the opening moments of the series, and the show would not have been so dramatic or cathartic without it. One year ago today, LOST ended, but something tells me that Giacchino will be enhancing television and cinema alike for a long time to come.