It's not that complicated of a show...

So basically this post is for all the haters out there, who think the show Lost is too confusing and doesn't make no sense. And to them I say, ph, don't be a hater. I'll basically explain what's going on in the show.

Basically, there is an island in the south pacific which is some physical manifestation of spirituality. It's kind of an eastern/western religious presence, in that anyone on the island is some part of the entity, and on a certain level can physically alter it. However, the island does have some consciousness that it is leading the castaways on a distinct path of redemption. The island's will manifests in two ways: the smoke monster, which acts as judge, jury, and executioner (think the spirit of the Lord coming down on the night of passover), to test the resolve of some, and to eliminate those who refuse to be redeemed (Eko); and the second is the manifested entities out of some magic box that led the castaways along. For instance, jack's father appears and leads him to water, or the cat out of Sayid's past that reminds him of a time when grace was extended. Exactly what the island is, how a spiritual manifestation appeared, well, that's at the end of the show.

The "others", or "hostels", may at some point been true followers of the island, but since then have fallen into false prophesy under the control of a cult leader. They emphasize the justice requirements of the island, without the possibility of redemption. They run an active recruiting process around the world looking for those "pure" enough for their religion, and at times look for scientists and such to preserve their way of life. However, this last little bit, turning to science, has left them out of favor with the island and further down their cultish path.

Then finally, sometime in the sixties, a man by the name of valenzetti determined a mathematical equation that could predict the end of the world. In that equation were six constants, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42. The dharma initiative was founded to somehow change any one of these constants through scientific research, and thus save the world. They established as their research location the island, but that didn't work out so well for a number of reasons. One, you can't go poking around something as powerful as the island without horrible results (the button pushing to save the world), and two, the others killed them all.

I guess there's a few lingering questions, but it's not that complicated...