Finally! After the world’s longest hiatus, LOST is back. The final season promos have been almost entirely composed of scenes from previous episodes. There was ONE shot of a familiar character in a brand new scenario, but that disappeared quickly, so I don’t think we’re supposed to have seen it. It changes that particular character’s group on the island and adds credence to some popular theories about the less explained characters. Today, we got something old and something new. Click here only if you want to see it, but be warned that I am going to talk about it now. If you don’t want to know, stop reading.

Did you watch the last part twice to check the background? Did you read the first few comments? Notice the authenticity of the source? So, my initial reaction was that it’s a tease. A dream or imaginary scenario of what Jack thought was going to happen. This was immediately followed by a disbelief that the show has any time left to waste on dream realities, the history of Jack’s tattoos or Nikki and Paulo. Besides, Jack smugly enjoying his triumph is also the end of Rose’s happily ever after.

My guess for now is going to be that what we saw the very first episode of LOST, was not the very first time that has happened. We just jumped in to watch the latest round of an ongoing game. A game with characters that learn and react differently each time. The latest round may have some of the characters on a plane, but they are still on the board and very much in play. Maybe this season will be the one that finally resolves the game. Maybe I am completely wrong. The show’s creators have promised that at the end of this episode, we will have all the clues needed to understand the big picture and see the finish line. I take that to mean that I will spend Tuesday night formulating a new theory instead of sleeping.

Tuesday night, I won’t be able to start watching until the children are all tucked in bed. That means I’ll be an hour behind everyone else. In anticipation of your live blogging/tweeting/facebooking, I’ll have to power down the computer until I’ve seen the entire LA X. When I return to the computer, I expect several declarations that people have “figured it all out” as well as a lot of confused and frustrated viewers. I plan to be completely entertained and amused for the last section of the LOST roller coaster. Well, unless the show echoes a pessimistic, apocalyptic Cloverfield ending. If that happens, you’ll be watching a video of me burning the series DVDs that we own. I don’t think that’s the direction it’s going. I expect LOST to end with a very open-to-interpretation finale that will keep everyone talking and wondering.