They cheated by presenting the character as dead in the episode, and then taking it back two episodes later. It's a common trope in fiction, to go for an emotional death and then go "ha ha jk", but The Leftovers seemed better than that.

Again, no motive at all for her to lie.

Why would she wake up naked our world's parking lot if she had gone through with it?

Wow. How did you watch all three seasons and still expect explanations? I just don't get it.

Okay, that's a better explanation than suicide was never on her mind. I still wish she wasn't in the finale. It was a cheap bait and switch.

If you believe Kevin's land was imaginary, he didn't know about Laurie's scuba adventure, so he wouldn't have put her there.

Yes, that was Kevin killing the other world so he'd no longer be putting a bag over his head and trying to get back there.

The people who think Nora is lying: Motive? No, but seriously. She just wants to fuck with Kevin? She's that terrible a person? Why would anyone want to think she's lying?

It doesn't matter if they "earned" it or not. They portrayed it onscreen and then did a ridiculous take-back.

That's poor speculation on your part. Every single thing they did indicated she killed herself. They cheated. It was unnecessary.

I agree. They wanted us to believe she committed suicide. It's downright ridiculous that she apparently just felt like scuba diving right before a big storm. Her showing up alive is the only misstep in this finale.

Why would anyone know the inventor crossed over, other than Nora?

There's absolutely no motive for her to lie at all, and nothing in Carrie Coon's performance suggested anything but total honesty. It's quite possible no one knows about this inventor other than Nora. Or more likely, Perrotta and Lindelof didn't fully think through the implications of this machine.

We don't really know if Kevin's world exists or not, but if it does, it's filled with the dead, not the departed.

They said in no uncertain terms multiple times that very little or even nothing would be explained. I think you may be the only viewer who came to this finale expecting explanations.

Yes. Definitely something other than minor details from previous, better times. I mean my God, you opened with "the Pasha storyline being resolved". That was your opening salvo!
Also, the Jennings aren't going back to Russia, and no one ever thought they were as that would end the show.

Agreed. Whenever I hear "Bill Cosby" these days, I pretty much never think of his 90's show.

Can I say I actually don't really get the joke The Onion was driving at, here?

Huh?

I'd be very surprised if we ever saw Martha again.