I’m not great with change. If I could drive the Accord for the rest of my life I’d be satisfied with that. I know how it handles. I know it well. But cars get old, and car parts get old. Moving forward, I will try not to state the obvious like that last sentence. That sentence came across like a patronizing mechanic, which I’m not. And to make amends, all I can say is that at least I won’t feed you some bull explanation and overcharge you (#AmIRight?). Where was I? Oh right, my Honda Accord is awesome, but I am ready to put some miles on a new ride.

And so we find our twenty-something hero gathering Consumer Reports and browsing car lots, seeking a sub-compact and yearning for breath-taking mileage. Does he demand American muscle? Not really. Does he insist on something chicks will dig? Well, only if chicks dig affordability, reliability and safe-handling during difficult weather.

Car dealers, behold! I’ve done my homework! I have a budget! Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, and Subaru, you are on my list! I’m ready for test drives! I am prepared to hear your greatest pitch!

Sadly, the world of dealerships is not as eager to see me in a new car. In fact, they’re kind of indifferent. Possibly even callous. It’s been terribly humbling. Sure, the few times I shopped around with my father went well. We were a shrewd business team…we knew our numbers, we asked the right questions, we were probably damn close to having our own series on the History Channel or A&E. Every car guy we met wanted to be “our” car guy.

Well, I learned the hard way, we were not a shrewd business team. In fact, my father was the shrewd, well-read business team that salesmen sought business from. I just sort of existed, which continues to be the case as I stumble through this world, ignored by the sales staff time and again. They do not see a buyer. They saw my father as a buyer. With me, they see a kid in a hoodie, or on occasion a kid who dressed business casual and is trying too hard to get noticed, who does not look at all smart enough to be a self-made internet kajillionaire looking for a fully-loaded ride, ready to pull out all the stops. No, he is browsing for ultra-practicality. Will he spring for the spoiler? Can he be sold on leather interior? No. They can already tell that pin-striping will be a hard sell. I am unworthy of their time. No commission will be had here.

Which is why countless man hours on my part have been wasted. I’ve waited around dealerships, sporting my best “I’m very interested in this car” look. I’ve been sent into the lot to look at the particular car where a salesmen will supposedly meet me, only so I could eventually walk back inside and remind them I exist. I’ve gone so far as to shamelessly jingle change in my pocket. I’ve been passed off from the obviously better salesmen to supposed “best salesmen,” who are obviously newbies. But hell, generally I’m just ecstatic to be acknowledged, because there’s only so long I can admire a car’s looks and read the brochure information.

That said, car salesmen everywhere, I implore you to judge me not by the hoodie I wear and my frugal, middle-class looks, but on the potential I have to be a  well-read customer, possibly prepared to buy the sub-compact vehicle you have to offer. Join my journey. Join my struggle. Guide me in my decision.

First, I’m beginning to question whether the flash-sideways are in fact caused by the smoke monster (we currently know him in the form of John Locke (Terry O’Quinn)). Granted, this would discount my previous theory on the cause of the flash-sideways. Evidence of this mainly occurs in episode 6, focusing on Sayid (Naveen Andrews). Sayid meets Locke in the woods, where Locke tells him he could have anything he wanted, even the one thing Sayid claims is gone forever (Nadia). In the flash-sideways, Nadia is alive, but the hangup is that she is married to her brother…he doesn’t have her. Similarly, Ben’s (Michael Emerson) flash-sideways shows him as a lowly History teacher, but he is a great mentor for his student Alex (or his daughter from the island). When given the chance to blackmail the principal but the principal in turn threatens to keep Alex from getting into the college of her choice, Ben puts what Alex wants before his own aspirations. In Sawyer’s (Josh Holloway) flash-sideways, he carries all the same baggage, but rather than become a con-man, he’s a cop.

The flash-sideways may be part of a deal the smoke monster offers some of the characters, but him causing them simply hasn’t happened yet. He seems to need people to get off the island, and maybe this is part of a deal he forges with them, but unfortunately, what everyone wants comes with strings attached. Sayid wants Nadia to be alive, but he doesn’t have her. Ben wants a second chance with his daughter, but it means he is unimportant. Sawyer is a cop (similar to his role as Head of Security for Dharma, which seemed to be the happiest time of his life), but he’s still tortured by his past. Now it’s more than likely that this theory is completely wrong, so I digress.

But hey, the flash-sideways haven’t been the only interesting part of the show. It was a big shocker to see that Sayid has indeed succumbed to the darkness. Same goes for Claire (Emilie de Ravin), she’s pretty psycho, and both are currently aligned with Locke, who claims he just wants to leave the island. Being that he attacked the Temple, killing all those refusing to go with him, we can safely assume that he’s probably got more sinister plans. Consummate rogues, Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer, are also with Locke at the moment, albeit not necessarily on his side. Basically, they want a way off the island.

Meanwhile, Jack (Matthew Fox) and Hurley (Jorge Garcia) crossed paths with Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell), who has gone a bit haywire since Jacob (Mark Pellegrino) died and has pretty much been running around the jungle like a madman. After convincing him not to kill himself, they returned to the beach where it all started, meeting up with Ben, Miles (Ken Leung), Ilana (Zuleikha Robinson), Sun (Yunjin Kim), and Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey), which is great. When groups of characters condense, it generally means the story is ready to really take off for the rest of the season. Oh and it is, because as Jacob mentioned, someone is trying to get to the island, and as most might have predicted, that someone is most definitely Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) with a black-clad crew and submarine in tow. Bad plans? Good plans? Too soon to tell. Hell, we don’t even know if this guy is a good guy yet.

And now, something we’ve really been waiting for. Hey, it’ll be great if we see some serious action this week, but it’ll be good enough just learning about Richard…’cause, uh, I don’t know if anyone noticed this before, but the dude doesn’t freaking age! And we finally learn just what the hell is up with that this week, so it’s definitely bound to be a good one. The final season just keeps getting better and better, and we keep getting closer and closer to all those damn answers.

PS: Two questions.

Can we see Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) return to the fold?

Can Detective James Ford have his own spin-off? We’ll take an hour-long drama or maybe a sitcom. Either one.

For the most part, most of the Villains looked to Boston Rob for leadership, and he stepped up willingly to take the role. Actually, it was pretty impressive seeing how useful he was both at camp and in challenges, so villainous behavior aside, he’s one of the more worthy players in the game. Because of him, the Villains have maintained unity and acted pretty much just the way one might expect the Heroes to have acted. Granted, Russell has been overplaying his hand and walking a thin line…he’s been trying too damn hard to win using a conniving strategy. So far though, the Villains have been on a winning streak and that hasn’t been necessary, so all Russell is doing is putting a big ass target on his back.

As for the Heroes, alliances were formed early, causing a stretch of awful decisions. James managed to put a target on Stephanie, probably one of the strongest female players ever in this game, blaming the immunity challenge loss on her. They didn’t turn things around until they received a clue to the hidden immunity idol…and Tom found it. Tom and Colby found themselves on the outs early on for no real reason at all, but Tom taking possession of the idol gave him a chance to prove himself to the tribe (even though Tom is that older guy, he is the man and my favorite this season). This really shook things up, in that Tom suddenly had something to barter with and offered to use the idol for the tribe once they reached the merge, so long as he was safe. Not only did he ensure his safety, he convinced JT to vote against Cirie, played the idol because not everyone held to their word, and gave their weakest physical player (but in all fairness, a strong social competitor) the boot. Cirie went packing and there was hope for a new order in the Heroes tribe. A brand new day.

Somehow nothing changed though. The Heroes did not pull out a win in the immunity challenge and once again were faced with tribal council. And despite the fact that James’ leg was in a splint due to an injury in the reward challenge, the tribe was convinced that voting Tom out was the right move. James even defended it, pointing out that Tom only further confused everybody during puzzle challenges, and therefore was the weakest link. James’ damn leg is in a splint! For all intents and purposes, he’s useless. Sure, maybe he’ll be okay, but Tom is not a maybe…he’s actually perfectly fit for challenges at the moment. The Heroes have been screwing each other and themselves from the get go, and at this point, they deserve to get picked off.

So far, Heroes vs. Villains has been a great season to watch, but at times, painful. This ain’t amateur hour, and yet, some of these castaways are playing as if they’ve learned nothing.  The Heroes refuse to learn from their mistakes, whereas the Villains are holding it together because they haven’t done exactly what everyone has expected them to do…turn on each other. It’d be great to see the Heroes get their #%$@ together, but after the questionable decisions they’ve made, it’s tough to say whether they actually deserve any redemption. So far, the Villains are completely out-mastering the Heroes, and they will definitely be standing a lot longer than the Heroes.

Thanks to our friends at MrMet.net for verbalizing this theory, and putting some things in perspective. We could argue that, as Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) says, “It worked,” because the hydrogen bomb may have actually saved the island by helping neutralize the electromagnetic energy beneath the Swan station. We could reasonably say that this was the incident Dr. Chang (Francois Chau) referred to in the Swan station video, causing them to need to press the button every 108 minutes. What may have caused the island to sink was drilling too deep into the wall containing the electromagnetic energy. Had Jack and the rest of the losties sat back in 1977 and done nothing, this would have happened, thereby releasing that energy, sinking the island, and the flight never crashing on the island because there was no island to crash on. Therefore, detonating the hydrogen bomb may be just what saved the island. But as of now these are all just theories. Good theories though.

What we have yet to understand from the flash-sideways is how the island sinking changed certain events. Hurley (Jorge Garcia) only has good luck, Shannon (Maggie Grace), Michael (Harold Perrineau), and Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) are not on the plane, and Jack’s father’s coffin is never loaded on the plane [nor Locke's (Terry O'Quinn) suitcase of knives]. How did these things change simply because the island sank? Answers will hopefully come.

Now, as for what we did learn. Thanks to a major showdown in Jacob’s statue, it’s been confirmed that the man in black, now in the form of Locke, is indeed the black smoke monster, and that Ilana (Zuleikha Robinson) and her crew have come to the island as Jacob’s bodyguards. Also, the man in black, who I suppose it’s okay to just call Locke at this point, reveals that all he wants is to return home…the temple perhaps? Meanwhile, Hurley, after a conversation with a dead Jacob, leads a group of the losties on a mission to the temple to save Sayid (Naveen Andrews). Yeah, we’ve been hearing about this place for quite some time, and we finally see it. Suddenly, the gang finds themselves in a place reminiscent of feudal Japan. And when this group of Others learns that Jacob is dead, all hell breaks loose and they suddenly go into full defense mode…defense against the smoke monster.

Focusing on Sayid, after a strange ritual that kills him, he mysteriously returns back to life. Dogen (Hiroyuki Sanada), the leader at the temple, attempts to get Jack to give Sayid a pill, which Jack learns is poisonous. Dogen explains his motives, stating that Sayid appears to have been claimed by some kind of darkness, which also happened to Rousseau‘s (Mira Furlan) expedition, and, apparently, Claire (Emilie de Ravin). But maybe not.

Sawyer (Josh Holloway), angry after Juliet’s death, runs off into the jungle away from the temple, but Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) along with a couple of Others go after him to bring him back. Kate and Jin escape the others but then split off, coming across traps akin to the one’s Rousseau once left in the jungle. While Kate meets up with Sawyer at the barracks, Jin is again attacked by the Others but saved when they are shot…by Claire, who looks far more capable than when we last saw her and appears to be much like Rousseau.

The premiere was great, and while the third episode felt a bit like filler, at this point we really just need to trust the writers, and justify it as potential setup for greater things to come. After all, we did learn some things at the end, that being that Claire is alive, and I might even argue that she has not been taken by the darkness as Dogen claims. I’m betting Sayid is somehow safe as well, but hey, this is Lost, so who can really tell?

This really gave Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies) a great chance to shine in the season. Early on, Faraday stepped up, understanding the predicament and attempting to resolve it. He played a significant role not only in helping his friends survive the time shifts (for the most part…), but ultimately became the driving force for the finale’s events. Yup, it was he who showed up with the grand scheme of changing the past, despite his previous theory that whatever happened happened.

Granted, Faraday wasn’t the only character who stepped up this season. With some of the key leaders getting off the island, namely Jack, Kate, and Sayid (Naveen Andrews), those remaining looked to Sawyer…and he certainly stepped up.  Sure, Faraday put some logic to the time shifts, but Sawyer got his people safely into the Dharma Initiative. Sure, they were stuck in 1974, but what else were they supposed to do while they waited as Locke ventured off to track down those who left and bring them back (via the same way Ben moved and consequently left the island)? And in that time, sans Jack and Kate, Sawyer and Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) managed to shack up, thereby turning what was once two love triangles into a sort of rectangle.

Yeah, the Oceanic Six returned, and most of them made their way back to 1977, meeting up with Sawyer and company, with the exception of Sun (Yunjin Kim). Apparently, the easy part was getting back to the island…the hard part was figuring out what the hell they were supposed to do once there? They certainly shook things up and made some waves in Dharmaville, as Sayid managed to shoot a young Ben, who with the mysterious help of the Others, miraculously survived (And hey, didn’t Jack pull a bullet out of Ben in surgery back in season 3?).

The time shifts, and the time spent in 1970s Dharmaville was no doubt helpful in fleshing out the mythology of the show, filling in bits of history. We managed to learn, more or less, what happened to Rousseau’s expedition, as well as see young versions of Widmore and Eloise on the island, apparently once members of the Others, which is crucial to the story.

Mind you, there was a present day story going on with members of Ajira Flight 316, the flight the losties took to return to the island, seeing as how Ben, Sun, Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey), and an apparently returned from the dead Locke were not sent to the past with the others. Instead, they were caught up with another group of survivors lead by Iliana, a woman who seems to lead a group of Jacob’s devout followers. No doubt they had complete intentions of landing on this island. Furthermore, as things come to a head, Ben, Sun, and Locke meet up with Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell) and the rest of the Others, Locke reclaiming his mantle as their leader.

Where season 6 picks up is pretty much undefined at this point. We have no clue if the losties pulled it off and changed their destiny by destroying the Swan Station or if this is exactly how things always will and always have played out. Guess we’ll find out soon enough. But the even bigger shock this season was that flashbacks revealed that each one of the main characters had at one time met and interacted with Jacob in some way. More importantly, Jacob had actually made physical contact with them, solidifying the point that there is most definitely a reason for why they have been brought to this island. And so here comes the season we’ve all been waiting for…

Not only does this season see a major divide in the principle cast, Jack (Matthew Fox) leading those who want to be rescued, and Locke (Terry O’Quinn) leading those who believe the freighter is there to harm them, and go into hiding back at the Others’ barracks. A chopper from the freighter arrives on the island introducing new characters to the fold that include mentally unstable physicist Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies),  hot-headed paranormal medium Miles Straume (Ken Leung), mysterious archaeologist Charlotte Lewis (Rebecca Mader), and conspiracy-theorist pilot Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey).

As the season’s events unfold, it is slowly revealed that Jack, Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Sayid (Naveen Andrews), Hurley (Jorge Garcia), Sun (Yunjin Kim), and Claire‘s son Aaron make it home, dubbed the Oceanic Six. But the flash-forwards reveal that getting off the island is not the end of the story, and ultimately the characters realize that they need to go back to the island to save everyone they left behind. More importantly, it is revealed that the Oceanic Six have been living a lie since returning home, and this is all to protect those still on the island.

Throughout the short season, details are revealed about the freighter, mostly revolving around the fact that it belongs to Charles Widmore (Alan Dale), a character who has generally been linked to Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) in flashbacks, but apparently Widmore has some sort of history with the island, making him far more integral to the overall story. Furthermore, season 4 hones in on a rivalry between Widmore and Benjamin Linus (Michael Emerson). Widmore has sent the freighter not only to find the island, but capture Ben, and a group of mercenaries led by Martin Keamy (Kevin Durand) are on board to exterminate everyone on the island.

Certainly one of the most interesting things about the season, was the return of Michael (Harold Perrineau). After having betrayed his friends and left the island at the end of season 2, Michael has infiltrated the freighter as a spy for Ben and the Others, sabotaging the freighter to save his friends and possibly redeem himself. The unfortunate thing about this story, is that it never quite comes to a head. There is no major confrontation between him and Jack, or anyone else that he handed to the Others for that matter. Sure, there was plenty in the season to satisfy, but Michael’s return was useful, but anti-climactic.

A major part of the story that is introduced is time-travel. Faraday (who easily becomes one this show’s best characters) points out that time is different on the island somehow. One major element of this is when the freighter’s doctor washes ashore…dead. But when they radio the freighter, they learn that the doctor is alive and well, and it’s not until two episodes later in which he is killed. It’s still not clear how this works, but it sets up a great deal of what occurs in season 5.

Also, going along with time-travel is Desmond and the episode The Constant, that explores Desmond becoming unstuck in time due to electromagnetic radiation, further explaining season 3′s story in which he has visions of the future. Not only is this a great standout episode, but much of what we learn in this episode plays a larger role in the beginning of season 5.

The finale really brought everything together, proving the season to be overall tightly knit and crafted, and leaving off in a great place for season 5 to pick up. It was great to concurrently see the events of the Oceanic Six escaping the island, while the flash-forwards showed them gearing up to start getting back together and find a way back to the island. And while Sawyer (Josh Holloway) spent a lot of time doing very little this season, he had one epic moment when he kissed Kate and jumped from the chopper so his friends would have a better chance of reaching rescue. You gotta love that guy, and his lacking role in season 4 is more than made up for in season 5.

Altogether, season 4 does a great job kicking the show in a new direction, and whereas previous seasons, while nonetheless great, were not always clear on where this story was heading, this season had a plan. It was short, due to the writers’ strike, but ultimately it really stepped things up in terms of the over-arcing story, and breathed new life into an already great series.

Meanwhile, back at the beach the rest of the survivors start living in a post-hatch world, since destroying it in season 2′s finale. Having turned the key that destroyed the hatch and releasing an electromagnetic energy, Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) plays a pivotal role throughout the season having visions of the future. In particular, these visions have to do with Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) dying, and while he consistently manages to save Charlie’s life, they both are forced to face the fact that no matter what they do, Charlie will die. This storyline is crucial to themes that come later on in seasons 4 and 5 about fate and destiny.

It’s also important to note that Nikki (Kiele Sanchez) and Paulo (Rodrigo Santoro) were introduced and subsequently killed off by mid-season, and are considered one of the worst decisions the writers ever made. They were introduced as a means of acknowledging that there were at least 30 or so other survivors in the background, and sort of flesh out what those other survivors have been up to all this time, while also bringing new faces into the fold, but something about them just didn’t quite fit. Most blamed the backlash due to the treatment of their introduction to the show as being too sudden, but I think it was more so that they simply were not given enough to do and therefore their presence as part of the cast seemed pointless.

There were certainly some standout episodes. Early in the season, an Eko-centric (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje)episode focused on him confessing his sins, repenting for the things he had done, and essentially being judged by the smoke monster, something Ben would later do in season 5. Ultimately, he refuses to apologize for the things he had done, and he becomes the first main character to fall victim to the smoke monster. Desmond also had a standout episode focusing on his visions and a sense of reliving his life, marking the first time flashbacks were used so tightly wound in the on-island events. In what might have been the best episode of the season, and probably one of the best ever, Hurley (Jorge Garcia) finds an Volkswagen bus and fixes it up with Charlie, Sawyer, and Jin (Daniel Dae Kim). Lastly, the second to last episode focused on Charlie as he finally gave in to fate and chose to sacrifice himself in an attempt to help everyone get rescued. It was tough to see Charlie go, but the episode couldn’t have been handled any better.

Locke (Terry O’Quinn) has a turbulent season, joining the Others and emerging as their apparent leader. Furthermore, he faces down an old demon, his conniving and manipulative father, who he learns may be connected to Sawyer in a very interesting twist. Sawyer too, goes through profound changes this season. He becomes far more of a leader with Jack, Kate, Locke, and Sayid (Naveen Andrews) elsewhere on the island, a quality that grows later in season 4 and then clearly resonates in season 5.

Season 3 really comes to a head when a woman parachutes on the island claiming to be part of a rescue team, and rescue seems imminent, but Ben and Locke both claim that the rescue freighter is not who they claim to be. Oh yeah, and the revelation that all the flashbacks to a drugged out and bearded Jack are actually off-island flashforwards, doesn’t hinder the finale from being pretty damn awesome.

New characters are introduced when Michael (Harold Perrineau), Sawyer (Josh Holloway), and Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) wash ashore on the Tailies’ beach and trek across the island to reunite with the rest of the Oceanic 815 survivors. These new characters include Ana Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez), Libby (Cynthia Watros), and Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). Unfortunately, these new introductions to the cast instigated the abrupt death of Shannon (Maggie Grace), when Ana Lucia mistakenly shoots her in the jungle. Bummer.

I can’t say I really liked Shannon, but in a lot of ways I felt she good have been really great had she stuck around. With so many characters having  long back stories, it would have been interesting to see a younger character on the show significantly grow and change in the context of the events, and the spoiled leggy blonde growing into a tougher and more useful character would have been a good opportunity for that.

Personal thoughts aside, Shannon’s death triggered a great deal of season 2 events. Ana Lucia spent much of the season as an outcast dealing with the blood on her hands.  And as for Sayid (Naveen Andrews), he grew into a darker character as he became hell bent on getting revenge against the Others. Meanwhile, Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) grapples with his addiction again becoming an outcast in his own respect, and Michael sacrifices everything to get Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) back…becoming a traitor.

Yup, the Henry Gale arc in which Jack (Matthew Fox) and Locke (Terry O’Quinn) hold a man hostage in the hatch who is potentially an Other (Michael Emerson). They question him, torture him, and for episodes on end the story makes us waiver back and forth believing he is just another survivor who landed on the island by some misfortune, or an Other. This was no doubt one of Lost‘s most intense storylines, and it culminated in Michael returning from a trip across the island in search of Walt, only to come back and let Henry Gale free, killing Ana Lucia and Libby in the process. The revelation that this man is in fact an Other is crucial to the season from both a story and character viewpoint, in that the real crux of the season is driven home when Sayid is talking to Charlie on the beach just after torturing Henry, and his desperation and thirst for revenge against the Others is made abundantly clear.

The divide between Jack and Locke grows as they push a button in the hatch that supposedly saves the world every 108 minutes. Locke is certain that they are supposed to do this, and there’s a greater purpose for it, but as he learns more about the island his faith falters, and the mysterious and easily one of the most unique and  complex characters from the show, Mr. Eko, steps in to press the button.

The button aside, Mr. Eko really brings something to the show. He becomes the man of faith when Locke’s faith seems to falter. Furthermore, his flashbacks are really interesting because he’s not at all what he claims to be. He’s a Nigerian warlord, but he is a prime example of these characters getting new life on the island as he lets on that he is actually a priest. Oh yeah, and it’s through him that we get our first full glimpse at the as-yet-unseen monster, which is a black column of smoke that he stares down fearlessly.

The season comes to a head when Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), the man who they had found in the hatch at the beginning of season, returns, and Locke enlists him to help stop Eko from pressing the button and ultimately destroy the hatch. Meanwhile, Michael leads Jack, Kate (Evangeline Lilly), and Sawyer into a trap set by the Others, so he can finally get Walt back and leave the island.

This finale was one hell of a cliffhanger as a lot of fates really hung in the balance. It wasn’t quite clear just what happened when the hatch was destroyed, and more importantly it was uncertain what the Others specifically needed Jack, Kate, and Sawyer for. The real upshot of it was that it looked like season 3 would finally give us some insight as to who the Others are and what they’re doing on the island.

It’s in season 1 where Jack (Matthew Fox) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) first form their rivalry [mostly revolving around Kate (Evangeline Lilly)] yet also become reluctant allies. Similarly, Jack and Locke (Terry O’Quinn) emerge as leaders with distinctly different opinions on their survival. As for the other characters, they all deal with their respective problems and pasts, while also dealing with their new circumstances of survival. Kate is a fugitive trying to hide her past, Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) is a has-been rock star trying to kick a heroine addiction, Michael (Harold Perrineau) is coping with his new found responsibilities as a father, Sun (Yunjin Kim) and Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) deal with their own marital problems as well as a language barrier, and the list of characters goes on. More than that, it’s interesting to see characters like Jin, who spent his life escaping his past where he grew up in a poor fishing village, but here, that experience is the most useful thing he could have had.

On a final note, something has to be said about the first death of a major character. Yup, when poor Boone (Ian Somerhalder) bit the dust, it was clear that the writers had done their job, because dammit, this arrogant kid’s death struck a major chord. It was necessary though. It helped fuel the divide between Jack and Locke, and actually give Boone’s spoiled sister, Shannon (Maggie Grace), something to do besides tan on the beach.

As for the finale…well, nobody knows how to do a season finale quite like J.J. Abrams and company.  Michael, Sawyer, and Jin set sail for rescue while Jack, Kate, and Locke finally set out to blow the hatch with the looming threat of the so-called Others supposedly making their way to camp. Sure enough, the Others never arrived on the beach, but they did manage to head-off Michael’s boat where they took his son Walt (Malcolm David Kelley), and left the boat in ruins. As if that wasn’t enough of a cliffhanger, we were left with a shot of Jack and Locke peaking into a shaft beneath the hatch that lead to God knows what. Damn that, now onto season 2.