At the time, a lot of people complained that the finale didn’t make it clear what the stakes were. Was Smokey endangering the world? Now, I thought they spelled that out pretty well. There were threats and portents, and we heard that “If the light goes out here, it goes out everywhere”. But I’m not even sure that mattered. I don’t think it mattered to Jack and Hurley whether they were saving the world or making sure a handful of their friends made it to safety. Jack stepped up as an undisputed hero, and the stakes didn’t matter. It’s like the way the original Doom Patrol died to save a fishing village of 14 residents. Jack gave up his life because it was the right thing to do. And whether he saved the world or just got Kate back to the mainland, it was important enough for him to give up everything.
