So, about the 'Lost' ending — Josh Holloway finally weighs in with a controversial take
Sawyer actor Josh Holloway has weighed in on Lost’s divisive finale — with a left-field take that pointedly departs from the show’s established lore.
Well, here we are again, talking about Lost — the show that made everyone suspicious of polar bears, hieroglyphs, and smoke of any variety. More than a decade and a half after that famously divisive finale, Josh Holloway, better known as Sawyer (yes, that one), has finally thrown his hat in the ring about what he thinks really happened at the end of all that island chaos. Strap in, especially if you’re one of those people still running a think-piece forum about alternate endings.
They were in purgatory. I'm sorry. To me, I like that. For me, that feels like they're in purgatory. They learn what they need to learn. That makes logical sense to me. Carlton and Damon would kill me right now.
That’s Holloway’s take, delivered in full at the Fan Expo Boston — a convention apparently gearing up for record-breaking crowds in 2026 (you won’t find me queuing for hours, thanks). For context: this all stems from the perennial argument about whether the Lost gang were dead the whole time. Holloway reckons they were, essentially, in purgatory on the island, regardless of what the official line was.
Sawyer v Showrunners
Now, if you remember, showrunners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof have always pushed back on the ‘the island was purgatory’ theme. The last season tried its best to complicate things by introducing those flash-sideways bits — supposedly representing the afterlife, not a state the survivors were always in. Holloway, being entirely on-brand, doesn’t bother with the party line. For him, the characters’ struggles on the island feel like a kind of suffering and learning experience — the classic purgatory stuff. According to Sawyer, it’s all about earning your way out and, eventually, reunion. Even if Carlton and Damon would ‘kill’ him for saying it out loud.
The ending itself has always split fans: for some, the afterlife angle felt poignant, a sort of hard-won peace; for others, it was all a bit of a narrative cop-out with too many loose ends and unanswered questions. Holloway’s read just adds a new wrinkle. If anything, it proves Lost is one of those rare shows where the arguments are almost as good as the episodes.
The 2026 Fan Expo Boston is on track to hit its highest attendance ever.
Lost’s legacy, if we’re being honest, is as much about the years of speculation and re-interpretation as it is about any one explanation. You’ll find discussions like this cropping up anytime old cast members resurface at a convention (or, in Holloway’s case, after stints on shows like Colony and Yellowstone). And it won’t be ending anytime soon.