The Beginning of the End

As 12 million of you already know, LOST's final season premiered yesterday. While producers kept up their end of the bargain and began offering loyal viewers the answers they so desperately wanted, more questions were introduced.

SPOILER ALERT
Answer 1: John Locke is the smoke monster. Since last May's season finale, fans had theorized that an entity had taken over his body. Now we know that entity is the thick black smoke that has captivated LOST' viewers since its 2004 debut. Terry O'Quinn's reaction? "I was like, 'I'm Smokey? Well, now that's freaky,'" says the actor. If only we had a name to Locke's new persona...

Question 1: Juliet's detonation of the bomb was deemed both a success and a failure. The premiere had two timelines, demonstrating alternate realities. One timeline had Oceanic 815 landing safely at LAX while the island was revealed to be submerged in the ocean. The other showed the unhappy characters still stranded on the island. This second timeline was shown in a new narrative dubbed "flash-sideways." Producer Damon Lindelof warns that the audience will have to be very patient to understand why we are being shown two stories and what their relationship is to each other. Another mystery? Drat.

Question 2: As a result of the bomb detonation, the lives of Oceanic 815's passengers have dramatically changed. This parallel universe depicts the characters as having nothing to live for and shows audiences that they needed to crash on the island. The island is what saved these lost souls...
- A still-alive Boone was on the plane without his sister Shannon
- Kate is still a fugitive and winds up sharing a cab with a still-pregnant Claire
- Jack still has a God complex
- Charlie tried to kill himself and was upset when Jack saved him
- Desmond never pushed buttons in the hatch, he was sitting next to Jack on the flight
- Hurley declared himself "the luckiest guy alive" rather than cursed
- Sun claimed to not speak any English
- Locke was still in a wheelchair

Jack seemed to have some subconscious recognition of the events of the past. He seemed on edge the entire flight and sensed a familiarity with many of his fellow castaways. The most touching part came when spinal-surgeon Jack passed along his business card to a wheelchair-bound Locke and uttered "nothing's irreversible." Where have we heard that one before...

Question 3: My biggest question focuses on the connection between the island and Egyptian culture. Fans may have noticed the abundance of Egyptian symbology throughout the seasons, but last night provided even further proof of a connection.
- The Temple that the castaways brought Sayid to was Egyptian in nature. The structure of the building was pyramid-like and the walls were strewn with hieroglyphics
- The object in Hurley's guitar case was of an Ankh. Symbolizing eternal life, this object must have something to do with Jacob's ability to transcend time and space
- The four-toed statue is the Egyptian god Horus. He was known as both the sky god and the warrior god
- The rug which Jacob had been working on contained Egyptian symbology

Grade: A
While the premiere was pretty amazing, it was underwhelming. Perhaps this A-Lister's expectations were too high, but here's to hoping that the finale is stronger than the premiere.