The Ultimate LOST

Finally, after months of antici-say it!-pation, tonight was the season finale of LOST. Season 3 may have come in with a bit of a whimper, but it sure went out with a bang!

*Spoiler alert for all you people who don't know me well yet*

What can I say? Damn fine television. Thank you, Damon and Carlton and J.J. I don't know what I would do without this delicious obsession. Maybe read more books? Or hang out with friends on Wednesday nights? Ah, but I can do that any other time. (And between now and February, when season 4 premieres.) For now, it's been a helluva lot of fun spending the last 16 Wednesday nights on the Island.

So, now that we are three years in to this adventure, this supernatural action-packed mind-boggle of a show, what do we know about the big picture? I do believe that we now know that the crazy plan of marching to the radio tower and flipping the switch in the Looking Glass in order to establish the phone signal worked - and the call did get through to Naomi's boat. And we can infer that somehow that call to the boat led to the 815ers' rescue, and that they left the Island. Or at least some of them did. Or do. (Chronologies are a challenge with this show.)

But at what cost? Because this time... while we thought we were watching flashbacks, we were actually watching flash-forwards - seeing Jack's life after they left the Island. And it was not so pretty. He's attempting suicide, he's an addict, he's out of control. And, at the last moment, we learn that he's still in touch with Kate, and he's trying to convince her they need to go back to the Island. Yowza! When the writers promised us a game-changing season finale, that could've been just talk... but I think they delivered!

What went wrong with this little rescue? It's too soon to tell... but we know now that Naomi was not hired by Penny Widmore. I think we're going to learn that Penny is the ultimate good guy in all of this, and she may be the only outsider we can trust. So when Penny says that's not her boat, I believe her. Naomi was lying about something, so if it's her people that picked up our castaways, then I'm guessing something nefarious happens.

Jack showed himself willing to make sacrifices in order to pursue his agenda of getting off the island - even if they weren't necessary. (Think Kate will ever tell Sayid, Jin, and Bernard that he was willing to let them die to save a phone?) So what does Jack end up doing between now and his future self that turns him into such a wreck? I think there will be more sacrifices and poor judgment to come, and it'll be even more heart-wrenching to watch because we will all know that Future Jack regrets every minute of it.

And, Kate ends up with somebody, somebody who seems to not want her hanging out with Jack back in the real world. Is that our Sawyer? And who in the heck died in the future to set off Jack's latest tear? Could it be Locke? Although I can't imagine him leaving the Island. Maybe Juliet? They never did say a gender....

This was an extremely satisfying finale. We had action, suspense, edge-of-your-seat moments, real emotion, and some shocking twists that have really set up a very different agenda for the remaining 3 seasons. They are all focused on getting off the Island... but what if Ben's right? What if it really is better for all of them if they stay? What is the Island's secret???

Hurley was awesome, Sayid and Sawyer are both still safe (be still my beating heart that loves twisted tough guys), and Charlie had perhaps the most graceful and touching exit I've seen in a long time. With his last breath, he imparted the important information that may just give them all a chance. With all her resources, can Penny now race to try and find them before whatever bad happens with Naomi's crew? Not likely, but you never know with Island funky-time.

Could this be leading to a Desmond-Jack showdown? If Locke's love for Team Island wasn't enough to defeat Jack, could the star-crossed love of Des and Penny end up saving the day? That's my bet, and I would be really happy if that ended up being what the rest of the series is about.

Just no more flash-forwards of Jack with that beard!


------------------------------------------------------------------

For fun - mine if not yours - I like to keep track of the things I yell out loud to my tv screen during LOST finales. So, I leave you with my various exclamations of the night:

Noticing the cast list..... WALT!!!!

Don't kill Tom! He's Mr. Friendly! Oh, good, he's okay.

After perhaps my new favorite scene of all time, when Rose tells Jack "If you say 'Live Together, Die Alone' I will punch you in the face." Rose, you kick ass! Jack sucks!

Bernard, you sweet stupid dentist! You just gave them all up! But I probably would have too...

Uh oh, trouble on Love Rhombus lane....

Hurley! Don't put yourself in danger! Oh no, 2 weeks in a row when Hurley's been rejected because of his size. Makes me want to cry. He better not be one of the ones to die tonight.

I know that eyeball... LOCKE!!!! Wait, is he paralyzed again? Don't shoot yourself! Wait... WALT!!!!

Shut up, Jack. (I probably said that at least 3 times.)

Who's in the coffin? Is it his Dad? No, that was in Australia, this is LA. Who else do we even know from Jack's life?

Ah, Greta and Bonnie, we hardly knew ye. Patchy, will you stay dead this time?

Wow, Addict Jack had a really bad beard.

Ben is so crazy evil!

Holy sh$t! Are they dead??? Holy sh$t!

Aw! - in the moment when CFL and Alex shared their first mother-daughter moment, tying up Ben.

In rapid succession:

Yay! Yay! Yay! They're alive!

Uh oh, but now Sawyer's in danger!

HURLEY! IN THE VAN!

Sayid, you're such a badass.

Oh, man! - After Sawyer got his revenge on Tom. Too bad, I had started to like the guy. Does this mean the softer side of Sawyer is now gone, after his epic "sins of the father" moment?

Seems like Jack has always been pretty good at screwing up his life. Why is he the leader again?

Ohhh, seems Charlie and Des are the only ones left in danger.

"Good vibrations" - really? Do you trust that code?

An incoming transmission? What? PENNY!!!!

Who's Naomi??? Not Penny's Boat!

Oh, Charlie. So sad, but you've had 2 really good episodes. And you really are trying to save everyone.

So, Alex was born on the Island.

Naomi's evil! Ben may be right!

LOCKE! Score one for Team Island! Ah, the long-awaited Jack and Locke showdown.

Who's on the other end of that phone??? (This one I actually said twice, for 2 back-to-back scenes.)

Who's Jack meeting? Is that... NO! KATE?!?!? Holy crap, is this in the FUTURE? They got off the Island!!!

Holy freakin' game-changing!!!!!

Damn. February is a LONG LONG way away!

------------------------------------------------

In the meantime, you can catch me and my LOST universe friends still chatting away about this episode and the whole series over at this blog and its message boards. Yeah, we're obsessed. But we're cool with it. :-)