While I do think there are a lot of unanswered questions, expecting every question to be answered or full explanations to everything was not really the point of the show.  Do the "numbers" really have to mean something other than a reoccuring phenomenon of the island and the people drawn to it?  Not really.  Did the bird really say Hurley's name?  Well, we know Hurley ultimately had a deep connection with the island, so maybe, maybe not.

My point is leaving a little mystery isn't always a bad thing.  And whether you were drawn to the show because of the sci-fi aspect or the religious metaphors, everyone stayed hooked because of the characters and I for one am quite happy they focused on this for the finale.

Whether you loved the finale or hated it, it definitely got people talking and rationalizing the show and its mysteries.  And whether or not LOST is your favorite show of all time, many would agree that we will probably never see its equal in our lifetimes.  It just hits so high on too many levels (story, mythology, dialogue, characters, setting, etc) for any show to every fully match, imo.

yes and no, I mean, I can kinda understand what they were trying to do with the flash sideways in that respect, but it seems like you didnt need to do it though, the flashbacks and flashforwards in previous serious were done alot better imo, they gave you development without feeling like it was confused or pointless.

the shows main strength is definitely the characthers, but like I said, they could have maintained that without needing to do the flash sideways thing at all, I mean, the island ending sorta makes sense because it doesnt answer questions but it shows them reaching a turning point, but that the story could still be going on, we just dont get to see it (if you get my meaning), theyve done similar stuff in other sci-fi shows im sure, that ending I had no real issues with, I actually think its a good way to end it.

I've never actually watched a Lost episode. Is the series any good? It's about some castaways on a tropical island, no?

Its the best series EVER imo. You should start watching it....its awesome and its not just about "castaways on a tropical island".

And on topic...it was a really emotional moment for me when the show ended almost exactly in reverse of the opening moments in season 1. 

That montages from previous seasons = nostalgia overload made me realize how far the characters have come since the crash.

My problem with the ending is it was a complete cop-out. For one of the most creative shows I've seen, the ending was predictable within the first half of season 6. Seasons 1-5 were amazing, and no matter how poorly they could have done the ending, it wouldn't make the previous seasons awful. 

I do wish they answered a few more questions a little more concretely. To me, a series ending is supposed to answer the big questions. 

And why didn't the smoke monster have an actual name? Even if it was more of a title like "The Great Darkness" or something (someone could have translated it from some hieroglyphics in the temple).

The one thing I did like was all the references to scenes in the previous seasons. A lot of simple cinematography stuff, but it was very very well done. 

And why are people saying "flash sideways"? Season 6 was a flash forward season.

Edit: All in all, I'm just disappointed. Every other season just blew me away and exceeded my expectations, but this season just fell far short to me.

I guess because, for most of the season, you are made to believe that they are flashing sideways to some alternate timeline in which they never crashed on the island.

And they did have a name for the smoke monster: Locke! And occasionally, Not Locke.

it's an exceptional series, I highly reccomend it if you like Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Drama type tv shows, it also (as has been mentioned) has excellent characther development and a clever story(s).

it's about MUCH more than just people being on an Island, believe me...

Haha we talked about this before, that wasn't his name =P Though, in the sense that a name is just what people call you, it could be, but I want to know what it is really called. They could have come up with anything, I wonder why they didn't.

Perhaps for the same reason that, even though they had six years to plan for it, they couldn't come up with a good ending.