"LA X"

It's hard to believe that it's finally here...the final season of LOST. When the announcement was made a few years ago, it seemed like a long way off but here we are.

STOP READING NOW TO AVOID SPOILERS!!!!!

I caved a few days ago and watched the first four minutes of "LA X" that ABC posted on their website. I was glad to see that it was indeed the first four minutes of the show and not some random four minutes in the episode. My initial reaction was "Wow! Jack's plan actually worked and there's Rose!" However, the flying camera shot down into the ocean to reveal the four-toed statue's foot underwater was a definite WTF moment. Then I was thoroughly confused when we came back from the commercial to see Kate in a tree and Dharma jumpsuited Jack and Sawyer around the 2007 remnants of the Swan station. So I guess we will eschew traditional flashbacks/flashforwards and will instead be seeing the parallel LOST-iverse of what might have been...I'm not sure how I feel about that yet but there were some very poignant scenes in the parallel reality especially the meeting of Jack and Locke at the baggage claim office. I liked that very much.

Back on the Island it was very excruciating having to watch Sawyer hold out hope that Juliet had survived only to have her die in his arms. I did thoroughly enjoy and appreciate his kick to Jack's head when he realized that they were still on the Island and not back in LA. And then there's Fake Locke and Ben. If there was any doubt that this new Locke is the Man In Black, that is certainly all gone. We got confirmation that the ash really does contain the Man In Black/Smoke Monster but it's not fool proof!

And what about Desmond on Oceanic 815!?! My first thought was that it was because we've been told that the rules don't apply to Desmond. However, producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have gone on record saying that in this parallel reality, there are things that are different from what we'd expect because of the ripple effect caused by history changing from 1977 onward, chief among them the Island being submerged but also minor differences like Desmond being on Oceanic 815 while Shannon is absent.

Once we got past all that there was the little matter of Sayid being on the verge of death. Thanks to Jacob's advice to Hurley, there was a way to theoretically save Sayid but it would involve the Temple. Last time someone got saved at the Temple, he was "changed." I'm pretty sure that whatever happened to Sayid to save him changed him into something very different. One idea that Roxi relayed to me was that he could be the new corporeal form of Jacob. That would certainly be an interesting turn of events. By the way, I'm glad we finally got to see what was inside the guitar case even if I don't completely understand it.

And what about the angry Asian guy and his band of Others. I'm thinking that these were the sailors/pirates/conscripts from the Black Rock kept eternally young like our friend Richard Alpert. It was nice seeing stewardess Cindy and the two kids from Oceanic 815 with the Others at the Temple. Of course most of us loyal LOST followers have suspected as much since the end of Season 3. In any event, the Others are very scared of the Man In Black and rightly so I'd say. This final battle of dark versus light will most certainly being hanging over our heads all season long.

What about Ben? What a bitter little man. He was all ready to send Richard Alpert into Jacob's chamber just because he felt betrayed by Fake Locke. I wonder if we've seen the last of a good and virtuous Locke on the Island. I hope not but I'm not sure how we'll get to see him in any other form at this point. Either way, Terry O'Quinn is a great actor and he can sure play a bad dude as was evidenced tonight. I'll be okay with Fake Locke from here on out but I was really hoping that there might be some way that the good old Locke from Season 1 might get some closure and redemption before all was said and done.

Well that's about what I have for now...I know I forgot plenty but feel free to chime in with corrections, omissions and/or your thoughts. Let the theorizing begin!