When last we saw a first-run edition of ABC's
Lost, nine months ago, Juliet was banging a nuclear device with a rock, hoping desperately to trigger an explosion that would, in theory, disrupt the existing time line and throw the island's inhabitants back to a time before its magnetic and mysterious forces drew them in.
The season ended with Juliet succeeding in sparking an explosion -- a blinding, brilliant flash of white (shown above.)
It was a brilliant flash in more ways than one...
Don't worry, Lost fans. I won't be revealing what happens in tonight's two-hour final-season premiere (9 p.m. ET). I can't, because ABC didn't show it to TV critics in advance. We were shown, via a special Internet press site, only the first five minutes... and I won't reveal any secrets about THAT, either.
What I can and will say, though, is that it's a goose-pimply perfect way to start this last lap of one of TV's most ambitious, intriguing and often confounding shows so far this century. A lot of people have dropped by the wayside over the years, and given up on this series or watched it sporadically or only on DVD -- but if you were there at the beginning, you will be rewarded by being there for the ending, beginning tonight.
I'll have more to say tomorrow, here and on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, once the sixth-season premiere has been televised. Meanwhile, all I'll insist is this: Broadcast TV isn't likely to give us many more shows like Lost, so you ought to be watching. I know I will be...
Meanwhile, CNN.com has posted a column I wrote for them about Lost. Read it HERE.