Understanding the Narrative Significance of LOST's Flash-Sideways Reality

With LOST's controversial finale almost one year in the rearview, I thought I'd take a moment to address one of the more lingering and biting criticisms of the show's final, shocking twist.

In LOST's final season, viewers are privy to a reality (the flash-sideways reality) in which the Island is submerged beneath the Pacific and Oceanic Flight 815 never crashes. We are, of course, meant to assume that this is a parallel reality that was created by our heroes after detonating Jughead in the year 1977, changing the course of history and preventing their plane from crashing on the Island.

Of course, this is not at all the case. Though various hints are dropped throughout Season 6, it's not clear until the series finale's final moments that this is not a tangential reality at all, but a parallel/post-death reality that our heroes temporarily inhabit following their earthly demise.

Wait, what?

There were plenty of reactions to this final revelation (both good and bad), but none was more ubiquitous than the protestation that, ultimately, the flash-sideways reality simply didn't matter (or, as some would argue, wasn't even "real"). At best it was a swan song that served as little more than a backdoor epilogue to a fine series. At worst it was a pointless trifle with a contrived twist that did little more than waste precious screen time that could've been better spent elsewhere.

I don't entirely agree.

The truth of the matter is that while the flash-sideways reality is an afterlife of sorts, the things that happen there have a direct, measurable, and significant impact on the living reality of our heroes. Conversely, activities in the living reality have a direct, precipitous effect on the end game of the flash-sideways story.

Allow me to explain.

The pivotal episode in this discussion is "Happily Ever After," in which Desmond's consciousness is blasted into this parallel/post-death reality.

As we later learn, Charles Widmore knows that to kill the Man in Black, one must first remove the stone from the Heart of the Island. The only snag is that the area around the stone swells with deadly levels of electromagnetism. Widmore is, however, aware that Desmond survived the implosion of the Swan.

WIDMORE: That man is the only person I'm aware of, in the world, who has survived a catastrophic electromagnetic event, I need to know that he can do it again, or we all die.

Of course, this little experiment to test Des's mettle has a side effect: blasting Des's consciousness into the flash-sideways reality.

Let's start by taking note of this: If it's possible for a living, breathing Desmond to have his consciousness blasted into the flash-sideways (afterlife) reality, then the flash-sideways reality must be in some part "real."  That is it must have some metaphysical basis.  Otherwise, how could electromagnetic exposure create a mental bridge between the two realities?

Moving on: Much like in "Flashes Before Your Eyes," Des does not at first realize that he's not where (or when) he's supposed to be. He merely goes about carrying out the life activities of sideways-Des, a personal assistant to and close associate of sideways-Charles Widmore. His assignment is to locate missing bassist sideways-Charlie Pace, who is supposed to perform at the Widmores' party.

In an early episode ("LA X"), sideways-Charlie suffers a near death experience and in so doing catches a glimpse of the Island reality. He becomes convinced that his present reality is not entirely what it seems, and thus becomes deeply uninterested in meeting his obligations (like playing the Widmores' party).

Sideways-Des, naturally, suspects that sideways-Charlie is crazy. That is, of course, until this happens:

Sideways-Des begins to remember bits and pieces of another life, though it's not until the episode's end that he figures out exactly what these memories mean.

His flashes yield a key clue: Penny.  If he can find out who Penny is, perhaps he can discover the meaning behind the mysterious flashes.

As he continues his search, he stumbles across sideways-Daniel Faraday (nka Daniel Widmore). Sideways-Daniel has also become aware of the ontological peculiarities of their present situation, and he too is searching for answers. The following conversation ensues:

Sideways-Daniel theorizes, much like the viewers, that the flash-sideways reality is a result of having successfully causing a catalclysmic event in the past that altered the original timeline (in this case, setting of Jughead). While this theory ultimately turns out to be wrong, it ends up playing a significant role in LOST's endgame. More on that in just a second.

Serendipitously, sideway-Des learns from sideways-Daniel both the identity of the mysterious "Penny" as well as where he can find her:

Sideways-Des eventually makes contact with sideways-Penny in the same stadium in which, during his natural life, he originally met Jack.  The physical contact between them has two distinct effects:

1. It sends Island-Des hurdling back to his proper reality and time.
2. It causes sideways-Des to pass out, and then awaken with a full memory of his previous life, the nature of the flash-sideways universe, and what he needs to do next.

The timing of this event is particularly important in establishing the narrative connection between the living world and the flash-sideways reality.

First, Island-Des awakes in his own reality, but without the full understanding of the flash-sideways reality he just experienced.  Without the "aha!" moment experienced by sideways-Des, Island-Des is left to interpret what he just experienced with the last best theory presented to him: namely Daniel's theory that the flash-sideways reality exists as a result of detonating Jughead.

As a result, Island-Des begins to passively accept his role as a pawn in the Widmore/MiB conflict.  He takes major risks under the assumption that there is another, better reality they will all experience should MiB's plan come to fruition.  This is why he so willingly removes the stone that stabilizes the Island.

Second, sideways-Des awakens to the realization of exactly what the flash-sideways reality is, and starts taking actions that will ultimately help his friends reconcile the conflicts of their natural lives and move on to "what's next."

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So what we see in "Happily Ever After" is that the flash-sideways reality is NOT simply a backdoor epilogue that has no direct impact on the main plot as we know it.  On the contrary, both realities have a reciprocal effect on one another that helps bring to fruition the end game of each storyline.

On the one hand, Widmore accidentally blasting Des into the flash-sideways reality made him more amenable to the idea of removing the stone at the Heart of the Island, an action that (ironically) was necessary to save the Island and bring about the death of the Man in Black.

On the other hand, having Island-Des riding shotgun in his head no doubt helped make sideways-Des more amenable to sideways-Charlie's demonstrations.  And upon solving the mystery behind the flash-sideways reality, sideways-Des takes it upon himself to help his friends move on to "what's next."

There are many reasons that people found the ending of LOST dissatisfying, but if you're one of those who was frustrated by an apparent lack of narrative connectivity between the main Island storyline and the flash-sideways storyline, I encourage you to take a second look at "Happily Ever After" and the implications of Des's experience.  You may find that the two stories are more intertwined than it first appears.