I gotta say – I loved it.

I know that most of the fans are split. The folks that liked the science fiction, time travel aspect of the show were disappointed that many of the specific scientific answeres were completely disreagarded in the finale. I get that. I do.

But then again – I’m almost glad there was no rational explanation for why the Island is the way it is: a strange, out-of-time place with electromagnetic pockets and sparkly light filled caverns. I’m willing to move forward knowing now that it is just a strange place, that it isn’t purgatory or heaven or an alternate universe. That question was answered for me in the most simple way possible, and I’m willing to accept it.

While the Island turned out to be real, the “sideways” universe turned out to be a way station, a meeting place, a waiting room for the characters before moving on to… whatever. Heaven, the Light, Nirvana, reincarnation, etc. Everyone found their constant before moving on, and allowed us to see the most incredibly heart-warming scenes of recognition and reunion. Especially knowing that some of these characters may have been separated for so long – Sayid and Shannon, Charlie and Claire, Juliet and Sawyer -  made it that much more affecting.

Make no mistake – some of these characters survived and went on to live a long life. I’m particularly talking about the folks that made it to the plane – Claire, Kate, Sawyer, Miles, Richard and Lapidus. I suspect that they went on to live long, happy lives off of the Island, and their reunions with their constants who had died on the Island (Charlie, Jack, Juliet, etc.) would have been a long time coming. As Kate told a not-yet-enlighted Jack, “I have missed you so much,” implying that she had lived for a long time after leaving the island.

To wrap up: The plane crash was real, the Island was real, the “Sideways” world was Heaven’s waiting room, and Hurley is the new Jacob.

Was it the most original ending? No. Was it a little corny in the idea that they all lived happily ever after in heaven? Sure.

Do I care? Not a bit.

I’m sure there’s more to be said, but I won’t say anything that hasn’t already been said in all of the other review and recaps out there. But I had to say my two cents, since I enjoyed this show so much.

Thanks, Lost. It’s been fun. And I think I’ll be watching the show from the beginning, just because.

Plus, if you explained everything that they have left to explain in the final 2 and a half hours? They’d be doing nothing BUT explaining.

Linda at NPR’s Monkey See blog says this so much more eloquently than I possibly could in one single line:

There comes a point where you are asking for the midichlorians, is what I’m saying.

All I can say is – EXACTLY.

I am geared up for the finale, though. I’m excited to have Ben as master manipulator back. I’m excited to see what Desmond as fail safe will be, in both timelines I have a theory about the Man in Black’s name (I suspect “Jonas”).

But mostly, I’m excited to go back and watch this show from the beginning once it ends. But I’m the person who watched Sixth Sense and Fight Club knowing the twist.

For those who haven’t watched it, I’m hoping my title was enough to serve as a spoiler alert.

Oh, Desmond. You are my hero. Seriously, Desmond and Penny have had the most romantic storyline on the show, and their chemistry is amazing when they’re actually on screen at the same time. My favorite episode had to be when they finally found each other at the end of season… 4? 5? I have no idea when it was, but I loved it. This show rarely offers resolutions, so seeing the two of them find each other was fantabulous. Last night, when they found each other in the alterna-timeline, I was so happy.

All I could think at the end of the episode, when Desmond asked for the manifest, saying he had something to show the other passengers was… isn’t that what Charlie said before dumping the car in the harbor? Is Desmond going to send all of the passengers to the brink of death so they can see the Island-verse?

That’s my theory, anyway. It probably won’t be right but I’m sticking with it.

This season in particular is so much fun, because it’s like two completely different shows in the same hour. Half of the show takes place on the island, the other takes place in some sort of sideways universe, where we see what might have happened to the characters if they hadn’t landed on the island. I love the juxtaposition, and it makes for some intriguing insights.

SO MUCH FUN.

Since it’s the last season, they’re starting to wrap up and answer some long-standing questions, but I have a feeling they aren’t going to answer one that has been bugging me for a long time. Remember way back in Season… 2? Maybe? They found a Dharma station, where the occupants were supposed to watch via hidden camera what was happening in other stations, then write down their observations in notebooks, then sending them along one of those bank tubes to…someone? And how they just ended up going NOWHERE and you saw a big pile of notebooks in the woods? What was the deal with that? I don’t think they answered it, and if they didn’t, I doubt they ever will.

Anyway. Lost. Love it. Nuff said.

Last season, we got backlogged, and didn’t finish the season for WEEKS after the actual season end. Which isn’t such a big deal, but it got really, really difficult to avoid spoilers (especially for me, since I tend to be online a lot). Let’s face it, part of the fun of watching the new episodes is going online afterward and reading the theories about everything from the number of stripes on someone’s hat to the symbolic significance of polar bears in Egyptian lore.

OK, I made that last one up.

Or did I?