Continuity mistake: Some passenger seats from the wreckage, that are seen in various shots on the island here and in other episodes, are not the same seats shown in the interior shots of the plane. There are three distinct colors/styles of passenger seating in the interior shots, blue stripe in economy, grey stripe in business class, and also greyish leather in first class, which didn't end up on the beach anyway. (00:16:25)
Continuity mistake: When Jack joins Rose on the beach, he places a blue blanket round her shoulders. In the following shots while they sit together, until Rose and Jack stand up, the blanket moves around quite a bit, jumping on and off Rose's shoulders depending on camera angle.
Continuity mistake: When Hurley is showing Charlie how to fish with a spear while standing in the water, the wet area on Hurley's tee shirt drastically changes between shots, such as going from being soaked up to his collar, but in the next shot dry till his waist.
Chosen answer: None of the main characters died in the plane crash. Many died on the island after the crash (Jack, Charlie, Sun, Jin, Daniel, Juliet, others), some lived on the island for an apparently long time after the crash (Hurley, Ben, Bernard, Rose) but some lived lives off the island after the crash (Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Miles, Aplert, and Lapidus). Remember that Christian tells Jack that "time has no meaning here," (in Purgatory). When everyone meets at the church, they are at the end of their lives however long that may have been and will now "move on" together. They look like they did on the island because that is the way they best remember each other.
Guy
That has to be the clearest explanation of the ending I've ever read.
Ssiscool ★