By Eric Ditzian
Haven't watched the "Lost" season finale? Turn back now because everything that comes next is chock-full of spoilers ...
Yesterday, I claimed that I don't have much to complain about when it comes to "Lost." But after last night's two-hour season finale, I've got more than a few quibbles. For the first hour and 55 minutes, I was hooked. We learned who Jacob is and the various, nefarious ways in which he's been manipulating the Losties for decades. We got a satisfying glimpse into the chillaxing oceanside retirement of long-MIA lovebirds Rose and Bernard. And there were countless obscure tidbits — the reappearance of Charlie's Drive Shaft ring, the reenactment of Jack's terrifying first solo surgery that he told Kate about in the pilot episode — to reward hardcore viewers.
And then those final five minutes. Newly whiney Ben gets to go off on a monologue about being underappreciated? We're wasting valuable time here, Linus! Juliet detonates the nuke and the last thing we see is a white screen? Game-changer, sure. Cheap cliffhanger, you bet! The ending was reminiscent of the final moments of season one, when we got a long, tantalizing, ultimately frustrating peak into the Hatch without actually seeing or learning anything. Last season's finale, in which we saw that it was indeed John Locke in the coffin, or season three's finale, in which we learned that some Losties actually got off the Island (albeit temporarily) — now those were some kickass closers. That post-bomb, bright white screen will be seared into my memory until 2010, when the sixth and final season will commence. I'll have quit complaining by then and started desperately counting the days until the episodes start streaming across the airwaves. Because, really, "Lost" is still, and by far, the best show on TV.
Here's what other folks at MTV News had to say after last night's finale:
