Is Jack thinking, 'This bomb is Da Bomb?'

Now that’s how you end a season!

The Lost writers have done it again, crafting an emotionally compelling finale that had it all – great reveals (Jacob is a stubbly-faced hot guy!); tender moments (Awww, Jack wants a do-over with Kate!) and a gripping ending (Juliet makes the hydrogen bomb go BOOM!) while also making fans curse the fact that we have to wait eight looooong months before we know if Jack’s back to the future plan worked and if history was changed.

Like in many X-Files episodes, questions were answered, but even more were raised. Yeah, I know this always frustrates some fans. But it’s part of the package with Lost. Deal with it.

The finale worked on so many levels. For starters, it was another game-changer that beautifully sets up the final season. It was also nice finally meeting Jacob, who didn’t look or sound anything like I thought he would. I’m not really sure how I thought Jacob would look or sound. But the way Ben kinda portrayed him and feared him, you halfway expected, oh, I dunno, a cross between Yoda and Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

Instead, Jacob turns out to be a soft-spoken, good-looking sort who we learn has appeared before Locke, Hurley, Kate, Sawyer, Jack, Sayid, Sun and Jin at pivotal points in their lives and with a kind word or some sage advice. Kinda like he was preparing them for their future on Freaky Island in some way.

One of the best moments in the finale is when Ben finally meets Jacob after doing his bidding for so long. Ben can’t understand why Locke is The Chosen One and why the man of destiny gets an audience with the all-powerful Jacob when he never could. As Ben says, he had to wait patiently while Locke “gets marched straight up as if he were Moses. What about me?” Not impressed, Jacob gives Ben his best blank stare, poker face look and simply says, “What about you?”

Ouch. You could almost see all the life drain from Ben’s face right before he stabs Jacob.

Here are a few more memorable moments…

The conversation on the beach: It’s the 19th century, two guys, sitting on a beach, watching a ship come in to shore. One’s in white (an angel?), the other’s in black (the devil?) Ah, The Puppermasters. They say good morning to each other and wonder how the ship found the island. “You have to ask them when they get here,” says Man No. 1. “I don’t have to ask,” Man No. 2 responds. “You led them here.”

They go on talking about destruction and corruption and progress. Man No. 2 mentions how desperately he wants to kill Man No. 1 and that he’ll eventually find a “loophole” to do it.

Pause.

“Always nice talking to you Jacob,” Man No. 2 says.

“Nice talking to you, too,” Jacob says.

Nice!

Talk about a great way to finally introduce us to a man/thing who has played a pivotal role on Freaky Island. I sure didn’t see that one coming. Which is why Lost is such a great show. Whenever you expect it to zig, it zags. And when you expect it to zag, it, well, goes back in time 30 years and confuses – and entertains – you even more.

Locke isn’t Locke: Ah-ha! That explains all of Locke’s recent actions, like wanting to kill Jacob and strutting around the beach like he’s some tough dictator. The real Locke is still dead as we saw when Ilana showed his pasty-faced body to Richard. Locke is actually Man No. 2, the guy on the beach who appears to have a pretty sinister agenda and who found his “loophole” in Locke’s body. Lost has stolen from so many movies and TV shows – The Twilight Zone, Planet of the Apes, Raiders of the Lost Ark, to name a few – you can now add Invasion of the Body Snatchers to that list.

The sappy Lifetime movie moments: Despite its dense mythology and jungle weirdness, Lost has always been about people. If we don’t emotionally invest in the characters, the other stuff doesn’t matter. The writers know how to tug at your heartstrings (Sawyer kissing Kate and jumping out the helicopter comes to mind), but I must say it got a little sappy last night after we learned Jack is going through desperate measures to erase the past ‘cause…he wants another shot with Kate! The reason was a little tough to swallow. And then there was Juliet mouthing such Lifetime-ish movie lines to Sawyer like, “If I never meet you, I never have to leave you.” C’mon writers, you’re better than that.

Bernard and Rose return: They have always been two of my favorite characters. What a treat seeing them last night, living in peace for three years like they’re in the Bahamas, or something. When they’re told Jack has a bomb, Rose shrugs, “Who cares?” You know the old saying? Misery loves company? Rose and Bernard aren’t having any of it. They found their happy place and they’re not gonna let anyone ruin it, dammit! Besides, who doesn’t want to live in a place near the ocean?

Sawyer and Jack duke it out: Poor Jack. You get the sense he’d always come in second to everything when it comes to Sawyer. Sitting in the jungle, Sawyer attempts to talk some sense into Jack and convince him to ditch the idea of blowing up the island so everyone can start from scratch. Sawyer tells Jack the story of when he was eight and how his father killed his mother and then himself after his dad lost everything he had to a con man. Living in the past, Sawyer could’ve stopped this tragic event from happening, but didn’t. Jack wants to know why. “What’s done is done,” Sawyer says, dryly. Not visibly moved, Jack says he want to go back for another shot at Kate. Sawyer reminds him, however, that if history is erased, she won’t even know him. Jack doesn’t care. Love makes you feel that way sometimes.

After realizing he won’t get Jack to change his mind, Sawyer decides to beat and choke the living crap out of him instead. Just as he’s about to kill Jack or put him in a long coma, here comes Juliet, saying Jack was right and that they should go back. Sawyer is like, WTF? What happened, Sawyer wants to know? “I changed my mind,” Juliet says. Women, after all, do have that constitutional right.

The final moments: If you weren’t sitting on the edge of your seat after Jack dropped the bomb down the hatch you may want to check your pulse to see if you’re still alive. As much as Jack wants to hit the rewind button for his life, even he’s not sure if he’s doing the right thing. It’s not until Kate, the one who got away, gives him a teary-eyed nod of the head to do it, that he does.

And when he does The Gap Band thing (You Dropped A Bomb On Me, baby!) …nothing happens. No explosion, no nothing. But then you hear humming as The Incident commences. Jack gets knocked in the head with a toolbox. Phil is harpooned. And Juliet is dragged down the hatch where Sawyer desperately tries to save her. But she falls. How she doesn’t die, only the writers know for sure. Juliet sees the bomb. Picks up a rock and hits it. Again and again. “Come on, you son of a b—h!” she screams. Then a flash. The screen goes white. Where did everyone go? Will they be strangers? Did they all make it? What language was Richard speaking? (Latin, I’m guessing.) What does “DS” stand for on the ring Sun found? What’s the name of Man No. 2 on the island? Does your head hurt?

To be continued…in eight months.