We've finally made it this far! Can you believe it? The final season of Lost is upon us! And now that the two hour season premiere has reared it's head, it's given us a better idea of where we are going to be going for the last 14 hours left of this show. Based on theories from other folks and ideas I had while watching the season premiere, here are what I think will be the big themes of where we are going this season. Needless to say, this has spoilers for the premiere, so if you haven't watched it, don't read this! Fair warning.

1.  Good vs. Evil: I think the season premiere made it pretty clear that we are going to be dealing with a classic struggle of good and evil. We have Jacob and Zombie Locke, two major forces that have been dueling against each other over the ages. What's not clear though is who is good and who is evil? Sure, Jacob was all in white and Zombie Locke showed up in black, but is that just a red herring? Perhaps Jacob is the sly evil guy here who has been manipulating the island in terrible ways. Maybe Smokey is actually a protective force of the island. Even beyond this major conflict, I think we'll see this tension between good and evil in the decisions the characters make in the parallel world and in the regular world. Which leads me to...


2. The Parallel World: A lot of people were expecting a reboot after last season's finale. But what most people weren't expecting was a reboot and a continuation of the current timeline. Darlton has made it very clear that this new timeline is not some "alternate" timeline. Both timelines are just as much a representation of reality as the other. They both exist. In concordance of Leibniz's theory of the best of all possible worlds, we are seeing a great high concept multiple realities storyline come to fruition. I love the fact that stuff like this is on TV today. But maybe it's the geek inside of me. The big question for the rest of this season will be how do these timelines converge?


3. Redemption: I need to give credit to Doc Jensen at EW for this theory, but I do think this is something that Lost has been building up towards. This season is going to be all about finding redemption for our characters. After all of the terrible things that they have been through in their lives, they are going to need to find closure. I don't think this means that all of them will find redemption, in fact, some may not at all. Even if they don't find it, this is something everyone will be seeking this season.


4. Free Will vs. Fate: The last biggest thing that I think we are going to see this season is if the characters are doing all of these actions on their own accord or if it is just all pre-calculated actions by Jacob and Zombie Locke. My bet is that since this is a good 'ol American show, we'll see the characters break out of their predetermined fate and make their own decisions. We all love a story where we get to take charge.

Those are some of my theories about where we are going this season. Do you have some ideas of your own? Leave 'em in the comments!

I don't believe it myself. I can't believe I would ever say something like that. But I've got to be honest, that's where I'm at right now.

It has nothing to do with my fear that the sixth and final season may not be any good. It's not because I think Lost isn't that good anymore (which isn't true, I still think it's great). It also doesn't have to do with the fact that I can't watch it live on Tuesday nights (darn you class!).

So what would make me say such an outlandish thing such as this? It actually has a lot to do with my rewatch of season five. I remember that while season five was on TV, I didn't think it was that great. In fact, there were some weeks that I felt frustrated because I thought the episodes were just not that good. It made me sad because it was the first full season of Lost that I was watching live on TV and not on DVD. Surely it couldn't have just started getting bad when I started watching it... could it?

But going back and watching season five on DVD has made me realized that Lost is a show that is not made for TV. The commercial breaks and week long breaks in-between each episode of Lost really hurts this show. While it hurts every other show on television as well, it really hits Lost hard. That's because each clip carries so much momentum that it is hard to get it back after a commercial break. When you watch an episode of Lost on DVD, you get a better feel for the arc and story better than with a bunch of breaks. In fact, now that I've watched season five on DVD again, I can honestly say I really like season five. It all has to do with not having the breaks in-between.

So perhaps for the final and last season, I should just wait and watch them in four or five episode increments. That way, I will get the pleasure of enjoying the story in the way that it should be enjoyed. But who are we kidding? We all know I won't be able to hold back from watching it. I guess I'll have to just watch it live on TV and then watch season six again when the DVD's come out. So much for willpower.

How about you? Have you had the same relationship with Lost? Are you excited for the final season?

There is now an official premiere date of the final season of Lost: Tuesday, February 2nd. Observant folks will notice that this is in fact Groundhog's Day. A funny jab by Damon and Carlton? I think so.

Let's consider the fact that the premiere episode is called "LA X," which I'm not sure the funny spacing is all about, but it looks our Losties are going to be in the LAX airport yet again. Combine the fact that the videos shown to audiences at Comic-Con include a commercial for Oceanic Airlines never having a plane crash, Hurley at a never asteroided Mr. Clucks, and Kate being on the run for something other than killing her father and we have one key theme for season 6: alternate realities/parallel universes.

Okay... don't get me wrong here. I do love me some Lost, but I'm getting some cold feet about season 6. Season 5 was less than stellar to me because I thought it focused to much on time travel rather than the characters. It got better as it went on, but still, there was too much attention payed to the time travel aspect. So after coming out of a very hard score sci-fi season like that, what could possibly be more esoteric and confusing. Oh right, parallel universes. There's nothing confusing about that.

Also consider the fact that this is the final season, which means there is a lot of wrapping up that needs to be done. How can a proper rap up occur in the process of cleaning up what is left of time travel and dealing with parallel universes? There is a major task set before the crew.

Not I say all of this like it worries me, which, in one way it does. But in another way, I'm actually very excited. If they can pull this off and do it well, then it will be one of the few critically acclaimed TV series to include all of these wacky Sci-Fi elements. Even though season 5 was all about time travel, it was still nominated for an Emmy. So I'm hoping with eager anticipation that season 6 will blow me away, only because I've invested so much into it already.

So how about you? Are you a Lost fan? What are your thoughts on season 6 to come?