Lost: That's what I'm talkin' about!

It occurred to me halfway through last night's spectacular season finale that the reason Lost has gotten so good again is that the story returned to its "omg wtf creepy!" season 1 roots. Actually, I would include most of Season 2 in that as well, since we were introduced to new people and Dharma and, of course, Henry/Ben, whose "Got any milk" line still gives me the shivers. The first half of Season 3 was so lame because hello, it was all familiar. We knew these people. We knew the island had issues. We didn't freakin' care about Jack's freakin' tattoos. We just wanted to know what the hell was going on, and those answers kept getting delayed. It's hard to watch TV the way you would read a book, but I am now very appreciative of the narrative structure of the show. What I can glean of it, anyway. We're not going to be able to see it until the show is really done. And I am OK with that. I am fully committed to the relationship I have with this show. That's how satisfying the finale was for me.

In particular:

-- The flash forward. It had to be that and not a flashback this time, and my mind knew that as soon as it couldn't place that (horrible) beard on any past timeline, but I couldn't accept it emotionally, since it would have meant such a departure from the show's normal plan of attack. So I didn't really cotton to the flashforward until Jack's in his place surrounded by maps. Holy crap, dude. Does that mean S4 will focus on the futures of everyone who gets off the island?

-- So who died in the future? Sawyer? Or is Sawyer the guy Kate needed to get back to? (That seems awfully tidy, though) Locke? Juliet? Ben? Notice (and I went back to check) that at no time is the gender of the person who died revealed. Nicely done, that.

-- Hurley saving the day in the van and the subsequent "Come in, Others!" on the walkie talkie.

-- I like how dark Sawyer's gotten since he killed Cooper. It's chilling, but it makes sense. I was sorry to see him kill Tom, though. M. C. Gainey, you will be missed.

-- The Ben smackdown.

-- The Alex/Rousseau reunion.

-- Charlie. Oh, Charlie. Loved that the code came from "Good Vibrations," because it made me think of the electromagnetic forces at work on the island. Loved that we got a glimpse of Penny telling Charlie that Naomi doesn't work for her and that's not her boat. Love that Charlie gets that message to Desmond.

-- So if Naomi's not with Penny, then who's this Minkowski dude on the freighter? Was Ben actually telling the truth about something?

-- Waaaaaaaaaalllllllt! I love that I recognized Locke's *eyeball*, dudes.

-- Me to Patchy: Why won't you die?!

-- Season 4 needs to have at least one flashback: for Richard. I need to know the backstory of the so-called "natives" of this island.

-- I thought the whole concept of Oceanic handing out Golden Passes to everyone who survived the 815 crash was *hysterical*.

So no new Lost until February 2008, which is cruel. But it does make me look forward to getting S3 on DVD and having a marathon viewing session.

Comments

[Carrie]

Dude. DUDE. This finale blew my mind. The only thing I am sad about is Charlie. Why why why? I know he thought he HAD to die, but couldn't he have put on a diving suit? Sigh.

And I loved that Hurley finally got his moment, and it was so awesome, especially since poor Jack though that they were all dead. And hello, Sayid, killing a man with his ankles.

And Jack telling Kate he loves her.

So many good moments. I can't believe it's gone until February!

[Lauren]

omg, I couldn't believe how good it was. I'm still in shock at how much that episode made me fall in love with the show again.

I hope in future flash-forwards, we'll see Claire happy because it would suck for Charlie to die just to have Claire be as screwed up as Future Jack.

[M.]

I loved the finale, too...
I'd be surprised if everything was flash-forwards from this point. I think we'll probably see a mix of flash-forwards and flashbacks because there are still details from the past to cover - like did young Ben's girlfriend Annie die in the attack on the Dharma people? And what happened to Michael and Walt after they left the island and how did Walt get back (if that's really Walt and not some kind of vision)?

If you pause the episode and look at the newspaper clipping they headline refers to the mystery person as a man. But who knows if the man is a character we've even met yet.

My crackpot theory about the rest of the show is this: the Future Jack we've seen will only come true if they get off the island now. We know from Desmond's episode about halfway through this season that it's somehow possible to go back and relive moments in time. Desmond chose not to change the past, believing in fate instead. Jack, however, is a guy who's always trying to fix things. So maybe he'll keep going back and changing the outcomes of things on the island? Maybe he'll go back to the moment where Locke tells him to put down the phone and actually listen?