So, for those of you who watch Lost or used to watch it and gave up because most of this season sucked but have now heard that last night’s season finale (written by the show’s producers) was one of the best episodes of any TV show this season, here’s your chance to discuss it. And if anyone says they guessed who Jack phoned and showed up in the final scene or when this show’s ‘flashbacks’ took place, they’re a liar.

One comment I read somewhere this morning explained why this episode was so great compared to the rest of the season: this one was constantly, forcefully moving. There was expectation, either rewarded or not. There was a goal, not just pieces being moved on a chessboard. People fought and won or lost, some died (alright, Patchy is probably still alive — maybe he’s a zombie which is why he can’t seem to stay dead) who either needed killing or whose time was up, and just plain interesting things happened. Or in the case of Jack’s ‘flashback,’ although some of the flashbacks this season seemed forced, at best, his was interesting despite highlighting his whiny, self-pitying side because something felt odd (beyond the beard as fake looking as Tom’s) about it as we watched. It wasn’t until that WTF ending that we find out why. Or did we?

Here’s a question for you: Was that really Jack’s future or was it a dream (ie, he didn’t get off the island)? Getting off and moving a few years down the road with the characters makes sense for next season since the crash happened in 2004 and this allows the storytelling to move up to today or a few years from now. But seeing as how little is what it seems…

If you haven’t found it before, the most in-depth deconstruction of the episodes, characters and more can be found at Lostpedia.