After thinking about this episode overnight, I have to say that I absolutely love the ending. I love throughout this episode that they really setup the ending. I love the references from the last few episodes that make sense, like Ana Lucia not being ready. I love Ben's redemption and how Hurley became the protector. I DO love the fact that all the questions of the island were left unanswered so it could be about the characters.
Here are a couple of small things that bugged me. Why was Richard and Frank not at the concert, but Faraday and Charlotte were there? Why did Richard, Miles and Frank not have a place in the church? It would have been nice to see a bit of closure to them since they were all troubled souls. You can say there were not core characters, but Libbie was in like 7 episodes and she was there. Shannon was there too, but what about Nadia? She was Sayid's true love, so it felt kind of forced to include there. That also goes back to Richard and his wife and how nice that reunion would have been.
First, I think people thinking of that purgatory as Jack's purgatory are possibly missing a point. That purgatory was everyone in that church's purgatory and they were meant to move on together.
One, Ben, chose not to go with them. Richard and Frank were simply not chosen to be in the group, which is fine with me. Frank THOUGHT he was supposed to be on the original Oceanic 815 but fate clearly chose him to not be. The island clearly didn't have a hold on him. He was merely there to get the few remainders off the island.
I imagine Richard's purgatory being with his wife only.
I think Michael is stuck on the island.
I get Faraday's and Charlotte's inclusion because their love story was strong.
I get Sayid being paired with Shannon instead of Nadia. We wanted Nadia to be Sayid's "true love" because that was who he pined for from beginning, but three times he had a chance with her and fate nixed it. It obviously wasn't meant to be.
I've always considered Libbie a core character because she more or less rescued Hurley, who became the hero of the show.
Don't know why Miles wasn't there, but neither can I remember a moment when he was self-sacrificial or anything but using other people to get what he needs. I can't think of a Miles redemption. He wasn't always a jackass, but that doesn't pass the mustard on this show.