Down the Rabbit Hole: Lost Recapped

A few weeks back, during the poorly written Kate/Jack episode, a shirtless Jack tripped over a Millennium Falcon toy. Hardy-har-har. It was an almost too cutesy wink to all of us giant nerds who sit and watch this show every week with bated breath. Yes, we get it. You guys, like Liz Lemon, love Star Wars. We all do. (Original Trilogy only, natch.)

But after watching the first hour of the three hour finale, I'm kinda sorta convinced that maybe having a Millennium Falcon toy just hanging out in Kate's house was a stroke of genius; a reference to how Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse plan on finishing this season. Because last night's episode created an entirely new Star Wars reference: this is the Jedi ending.

Say what you will about Return of the Jedi, the last act of that movie is awesome. Seriously. You've got Han and Leia trying to deactivate some McGuffin. You've got Luke, Vadar and the Emperor fighting it out on the Death Star. You've got Lando and a bunch of extras flying around in a massive air battle. And all of it is so deftly edited together, it makes for one of the more thrilling sequences in all three movies.

That's what LOST is setting up for the finale.

No longer are they content with wrapping things up in the Empire Strikes Back fashion. As I've said, that ending seems great, but by the time your show recovers from it in the following season, five episodes have flown by and the natives get restless.

This new and improved ending is a phenomenal stroke of genius. I mean, how great was this episode? First of all, it flew by. Flew. The editing, the pacing, everything was so tight, it felt like it could snap at any moment. There were no wasted moments. And even though there was a lot of tin-eared dialogue (Jack, upon hearing that Hurley is with Ben: "Sonofabitch!"), the plotting of the episode felt top-notch. Plus, LOST created cliffhangers where they should have no right to be.

We already know the fates of Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun and Ben (to a point.) We know they aren't going to die (yet.) But with all that said, how tense was the final montage, complete with a new score piece from Michael Giacchino? Ben getting knocked out? Sun on a boat full of C-4? With Aaron? Sayid and Kate with Crazy-Unaging Richard Alpert and the remaining Others? Jack doing his best Roy Hobbs-my-stitches-are-opening impression with Sawyer? Hurley eating 15-year-old Saltines? It was all there and all awesome.

This was the beginning of the end of Season Four. I cannot wait to see what's next.

Six lingering things, in honor of The Oceanic Six:

1.) This episode was a cornucopia of Season One callbacks. Jack's mom? Really? I haven't seen her in an episode since literally the first disc of the first season DVD. Nadia and Sayid reuniting? Terrific moment and a terrific shot. How sad was that, knowing that Nadia totally gets murdered by Charles Widmore's henchman, causing Sayid to become the Bourne Identity? I have a feeling this season is going to be a great re-watch on DVD. Remember when that Sayid episode aired, and the ending, with Ben being his "M," felt kinda stupid? And Sayid was all weepy and crying? Well, now going back, after seeing him reunite with Nadia and seem to be so happy, and then seeing her murdered, well, it's no wonder he's a shell of a man, murdering businessmen on golf courses.

2.) Jack totally *did* know that Claire was his half-sister and that Aaron was his nephew when he verbally smacked down Kate a few weeks ago ("You're not even related to him!") Again, the scene between Claire's mom and Jack was really badly written. The dialogue was awful. But I didn't care at all. I just couldn't wait for her to spit out "Claire." Added bonus: Claire's mom commenting on what a beautiful baby Kate had.

3.) Ben moment of the week: The look he shot at Locke right before he said "how many times do I have to tell you, I always have a plan?" I am really not a star-f$&#er, but if I saw Michael Emerson walking down the street, I would tackle him.

4.) Michael is still on this show? Really? I loved the looks on Sun and Jin's faces when they saw him. Cold-blooded. But if there has been one major misfire this season, it's been Michael. They totally aborted the suspense out of his return, then once he showed up, he's done nothing but mop things up and cry about how sorry he is. Waa-waaaaaaaa. He better do something good in the finale. Maybe figure out what the hell all that C-4 is doing on the boat. Or, better yet, who is broadcasting a signal off the freighter. The plot, as they say, thickens.

5.) Another great touch: Hurley's dad fixing the Camaro, that he abandoned with him all those years earlier. Not only was that a nice moment, it also tied a bow on the season premiere, when Hurley was zipping through LA in that very car, running away from Ghost Charlie.

6.) The Orchid? An elevator? Locke saying in the tease for the finale, "just wait until you see what I'm going to do?" That bald bastard is going to move the Island, isn't he? Sign. Me. Up.