Lost is My Favorite Show of All-Time

This post is for all the "Lost" fans out there. If you're not interested, just pass it right by. If you are, make sure you've watched the finale, because this shouldn't be the way you find out about the twists and turns of the season finale.

I still remember the first time I ever watched "Lost". I was in college, and my friend had seen previews for this show about a plane crashing on an island. I had a crush on said friend, so I went over to her house to watch the show with her. I thought it was a very good show, I loved the flashback element, and the drama, and even the weird sounds from the jungle. It was the fourth episode though that hooked me, entitled "Walkabout". This was the episode where we learned Locke used to be in a wheelchair. That moment set up how great this show could be.

My friend graduated and moved away after season one, and I still watched season two as best as I could, but didn't catch every episode. I'd read a recap if I missed it, but I was like many who abandoned the show in that second season, although not entirely. I decided to give it another full-out effort in the third season, when I discovered how great DVR was. Now, there was no way I would ever miss an episode, and by the time the season three season finale brought us one of the biggest game-changing moments in television history, I had already purchased and pre-ordered the first three seasons on DVD.

This year, however, the show has not only gone to that next level for me, but taken off and ran away with the title of "My Favorite Show. Ever." This was a title that has been reserved for 24 for six years. Even though 24 had to take the year off due to the writer's strike, I still think if both were new, and I had to pick, I'd go with Lost over 24. I didn't come into Lost expecting a sci-fi type show, I'm not sure anyone did when it first started. But even though circumstances have become increasingly more science fiction as the show developed, my love for it has grown right with it. The drama, the mystery, and the excitement are something I've never seen on any other show. And while there have been hiccups along the way, the writing and storytelling have been a work of genius, only to be matched by the acting.

The show delivered again Thursday night, with part two of the season four finale "There's No Place Like Home". I'm not sure how the best way to write a recap for this episode is, so I'm just going to write thoughts as they come to my head. I guess we'll start with the first scene of the episode, which picked up at the exact moment the season three finale left off. Brilliant. We learned that Jeremy Bentham was in the casket, but we wouldn't learn who exactly he was until the show's final scene. What we did learn was that he's been in contact with members of the Oceanic Six, telling them they need to go back. We also learned he paid a visit to Walt, who, as Hurley would put it, "is getting big, dude."

Before we talk about why they need to go back, let's talk about how they got off in the first place. The Oceanic Six started the episode apart, and the thrill of the episode was watching how they all made it on that helicopter. Jack and Sawyer started by meeting up with Locke and Hurley at the Orchid Station. Jack and Locke had one of their best Jack/Locke talks of the series. Locke is right, Jack knows he crashed on that Island for the reason, only Jack won't allow himself to admit it. Three years later, he wishes he would have, but for now, Jack is hellbent on getting off that thing. Ben meets up with the group, and Locke stays with him.

The group then meets up with Kate and Sayid, who have taken care of Keamy's team along with help from Richard and the "new" Others. I'm still not sure what the Others been up to the last couple of weeks (Island time), but I'm sure we'll find that out eventually. They head onto the chopper, piloted by Frank, and off to the freighter they go.

However, it appears one of the bullets has left a hole in the fuel tank, and the chopper needs to lose weight (felt bad for Hurley when Frank said he'd like to lose a few hundred extra pounds). Sawyer decided to take one for the team, and he jumped back into the ocean, after whispering something to Kate (most likely about his daughter).

They get to the freighter, but there is another problem. Desmond, Jin, and Michael are trying to figure out how to stop the C4 from detonating. It will do so only if Keamy's heart stops, as he set up a remote bomb. Well, Keamy was also in the process of dying, as Ben stabbed him to death in the Orchid. So here comes the explosion.

The helicopter leaves the freighter in the nick of time, with Frank, Desmond, Hurley, Jack, Sun, Aaron, and Sayid. No luck for Jin, who just missed the chopper leave. Sun begs Frank to land, but they can't and Jin bites the dust. Also dying in the blast is Michael, who's work appears to be done. At least that's what he's told by Christian Shephard, who either is Jacob, is working for Jacob, or has taken over for Jacob. I never would have guessed Jack's (dead) dad would have played such a role in the series, but then again, it looks more and more likely that Jack is the one destined to be on that Island.

Speaking of the Island, Ben is working on moving it. To do so, he has to fill the Orchid portal with metallic objects. I'll call it the portal because I don't remember the name, although it was used to move Bunny Number 15, as seen in the Dharma video. I thought just the metallic objects set in there alone would move the Island, but rather that is what has to be done in order for the wall behind it to break. Beyond that wall is cold, dark, shaft which includes a "Frozen Donkey Wheel". You may remember, last year the producers code name for the title was "Snake in the Mailbox" as the flashforward delivered us something we didn't expect. This year it was "Frozen Donkey Wheel", and there literally was, a frozen donkey wheel. Ben got the strength to move the wheel, which moved the Island, and some how transported him to Tunisia (as hinted at in "The Shape of Things to Come", earlier this season).

Tunisia is also important because that's where we first met Charlotte, who found a Dharma polar bear there some time ago. Does that mean that the Island was previously moved by a Dharma polar bear? I don't know how to explain that one, but it would appear the Island has moved before. Whether through space or time, that is something that will be addressed in season five or six, but we do know that Widmore was looking for it, and having a tough time doing so. Also, Miles hinted at the fact that Charlotte had been on that Island before, who / what / where / when / why / and how is another question the finale poised to us.

So Ben turns the donkey wheel, and the Island vanishes into the water in a sinkhole like fashion. What does this mean for Locke, the new leader of the others? How about for Juliet and Sawyer, sharing a bottle of rum? And what about Faraday, who was on a raft at that time? Presumably, season five will be about two things: What happened on the Island after it moved, and how the Oceanic Six are going to get back. A few questions emerge when thinking about the next season. Sawyer and Juliet (among others such as Rose and Bernard) saw the freighter explode, so they have to assume everyone is dead, right? Can they be mad at Jack and the gang when they do come back, for not coming back sooner? What the hell are they going to do on that Island for three years? Does Sawyer become the Losties new leader, and fight against Locke? Or do they team up?

As for the Oceanic Six, they did find rescue, in the form of Penny's boat. A great reunion for Penny and Desmond, as they show's central love story has a happy conclusion, for now anyway (as Ben is looking to kill Penny, in revenge for Alex). Because of Locke's words, Jack says they have to make up a story, and Penny's boat takes them to an island belonging to Indonesia, where the whole cover-up of the Oceanic Six begins.

In future time, Sayid takes Hurley out of the mental ward to "keep him safe", although we have no idea where that may be (Checkmate, Mr. Eko!). Kate has a dream in which Claire warns to never take Aaron back to the Island, and Jack goes to visit Jeremy Bentham's coffin once again. While he's there, Ben shows up and tells Jack all Six of them need to go back (I think all six of them. I don't know if this means Walt needs to go back, or Desmond, or Frank. Also, how does nobody question Walt for being on Flight 815? Did he lie about that, or change his identity? Or is it because he's so freakishly big now?). Jack says it will be hard, as he's lost contact with the other five, including Sun, who may or may not blame Jack for the death of Jin (unless that's what they want us to think...). Ben says he has a few ideas how to get them all together, but to do so they also need to bring back Jeremy Bentham, the man in the coffin. Otherwise known as.... John Locke.

Trippy.

That blew my mind. Some people say they knew it would be him, and that's fine. But doesn't it still blow your mind? How did Locke get off the Island, and why did he get off in the first place? Did Locke move the Island, again? Or is that not really Locke, but a different version of him, similiar to the hijinks that go along with the Orchid Station and Bunny Number 15 (If you've never seen this video shown at Comic-Con last year prior to season four, now would be a good time to watch it)



See how there are two number 15's? Could there, for all intensive purposes, now be two John Lockes?

You gotta love the writers, for not only answering a bunch of questions, but at the same time posing a million more new ones. I've already rewatched the finale twice because I can't get enough, and for much of this posting I've been listening to the Lost soundtrack of season one. A little extreme perhaps, but these are the kinds of things do you when you wonder if you'll be able to wait until January for your favorite show to come back.

And I'm not talking about 24.