Lost TV series into Finale

Since 2004, the J.J. Abrams series has broken just about every narrative rule for commercial television.

At times, it’s been a jungle adventure, a thriller, a conspiracy story, a sci-fi mind-bender and sometimes, surprisingly, a lush romance. It has played with notions of time and character in flashbacks, flash-forwards and flash-sideways and demanded that viewers keep up with the pace. No spoon-feeding here.

Not since the end of HBO’s “The Sopranos” has a series finale been so eagerly anticipated.

If producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse explain everything in the two-and-a-half hour series finale “The End” (Sunday at 9 p.m. on WCVB, Ch. 5), they risk breaking the spell that has entranced millions over six seasons.

(A two-hour retrospective “Lost: The Final Journey” airs Sunday at 7 p.m. The cast and crew reunite on a special “Jimmy Kimmel” at 12:05 a.m. and present three alternate endings.)

Too much exposition could lead to silliness, as it did in Tuesday’s episode when viewers learned why Kate’s (Evangeline Lilly) name had been scratched off as a candidate to replace Jacob (Mark Pellegrino).

Who knew there was a mommy track on the island?

As expected, Jack (Matthew Fox), the man of science who had long argued for free will, accepted his destiny as the island’s protector.

“This is why I’m here. This is what I’m supposed to do,” he said.

Much hinges on Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), who in the flash-sideways universe is trying to reunite the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 - at a concert? - and could be key to thwarting Locke Monster (Terry O’Quinn) in the island reality.

It’s been an uneven season.

For every “Ab Aeterno,” which delved into the history of Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell), or the heartbreaking “The Candidate,” which ended in the deaths of three original castaways, there’s been a jarring narrative hiccup, such as “Across the Sea,” the lame story of Woman (Allison Janney, get thee off TV) and her two sons, Jacob and Unnamed Kid who Grows up to be Locke Monster. The numerous flash-sideways sequences have been at best diverting and at worst yawn-inducing and need an especially strong payoff Sunday to justify viewer investment.

There will never be another show like “Lost” on commercial television. It came at a time when then fourth-place network ABC was desperate for anything that might attract eyeballs and was willing to give Abrams almost full creative freedom. (The producers now agree that the network’s one demand - that Jack survive the pilot - proved to be a canny call.)

For those who want to write for TV, “Lost” will remain the holy grail. For those holding the books, it will the unholy bane because “Lost” will never make a single penny after Sunday night. The narrative-rich, serialized stories have no life in syndication. In contrast, “Law & Order” will cycle in reruns for at least the next 20 years and make millions. That’s not a judgment on quality, it’s a fact about viewer habits.

Full Story