Welcome to Alterna-Lost

For the number of times it's been said on the show, tonight it became true: it's the beginning of the end. Lost began its 6th and final season with a two-hour premiere both exciting and baffling, filled with tons of mythology, great character moments, and, yes, more questions, despite a promise to end them in ABC's promo. What's with the multiple timelines? Who are the people in the temple? Why after two hours do we still not know the name of the Man in Black/Fake Locke/Smoke Monster? Let's get to it.

Following the season-ending white-out, this season begins with Jack back on Oceanic 815, reliving a scene from the pilot with Cindy the flight attendant. But not everything's the same. The turbulence that originally sent the plane down passes. Desmond pops up next to Jack (though was he really there?). Shannon is definitely MIA, and there's no sign of Michael, Walt, Ana-Lucia, Eko, Libby, or Nikki&Paolo (though that doesn't mean they weren't there). Oh, and the island is now under water.

While it seems like without the island their flight would end in a normal and boring fashion, plenty of people find nasty surprises at LAX. Kate of course is still in the custody of the Marshall. Charlie was trying to hide his drugs at the time of the plane's crash, and without it he is indeed caught (though not before nearly killing himself trying to swallow the bag). Less expected - Christian's coffin didn't make it to LA (so maybe he's still connected to the island somehow?) and Jin gets in trouble for the money he brought over to start a new life with Sun.

I had a feeling the nuke would lead to us seeing the flight land as normal, and was concerned it would cause a retread of season 5 in which everyone had to be found and brought back to the island, just killing time before the real plot could begin. Thankfully, that's not the case. Instead, we get to play the "what if?" game, and enjoy all the interactions between these now-strangers. Especially enjoyable was Boone telling Locke he'd stick with him if the plane ever went down (guess some things never change). But if this parallel world is to last all season, and it seems like it will, it will need to tie in to the real story on the island or it will just feel like a distraction with so few hours remaining.

Heading back to the beginning, we get to watch Juliet hit the bomb for a second time, making us all wonder why the previously clips are repeating. But this time the white-out led not to flight 815 but to Kate's eye, as she wakes up by the site of what was once the Hatch (before Desmond blew it up). At first I wondered if she and Jack landed in different universes, but no, the gang is all there, even Juliet. Some suspense was definitely lost knowing Juliet wouldn't likely be surviving the episode. And her "I have something really really important to tell you" before dying is the kind of frustrating tease Lost is infamous for. Thankfully Miles is onhand to go all Pushing Daisies on her grave. So how does Juliet know about the alternate timeline? Seems like the strongest evidence that the two will indeed merge somehow.

The other ghostly encounter here is Jacob's visit to Hurley, instructing him to bring Sayid to the Temple, that much-discussed but never-seen place that clearly plays a central role in the mythology. And once we saw it, the world of Lost got even more confusing. There's a whole other group of people on the island, run by an Asian guy who knows English but doesn't like its taste on his mouth, so he has a hippie translate for him. Ben had told the Others we know to go to the Temple when he moved the island (if I'm remembering that right), which could explain Cindy and the kids' presence there, but beyond that we don't know if they are the same Others. We just know they're on Team Jacob.

And they have mystical healing water that may be somewhat on the fritz. After noting its different color, they still drown Sayid in it. But the water must do its job, cause rise from the dead he does in the final moments, as they begin fortifying themselves against the Man in Locke. These new Others seem like a big new addition for the final season when so much is already in play, but since they're more likely to have the answers than anyone outside of the island's two deities, I'm sure they have their role. And last bit on this group - just as becoming LaFleur made Sawyer a different and more interesting character last season, Juliet's death seems to be bringing him into a darker side that should be fun to see play out this year.

Finally, third subplot is same universe, other side of the island with Ben, the Man in Locke, and the Ajira-ites. One of the episode's biggest answers comes when we find out the Man in Black is the Smoke Monster. I've figured the Smoke Monster for a shapeshifter ever since Eko was visited by the ghost of his brother immediately before his death-by-monster. However, I can't imagine the ghost of Jacob is also a manifestation of his archrival, so clearly the Monster does not make up all the ghosts on the island. In fact, it seems more likely that the ghosts are Team Jacob, as Christian was willing to speak on Jacob's behalf. This also doesn't explain how the Temple seemed to be the Smoke Monster's home when it attacked the French team, but now clearly the Temple dwellers want nothing to do with him. Maybe they switched sides?

In the same scene, we learn that the Ajira-ites seem to have an even shorter shelf-life than the Tailies did. The Tailies at least got a full season, but Caesar was gunned down by Ben the second he landed on the island, and the other guy whose name we must have known at some point gets stabbed by Smokey this week. That just leaves Ilana, who had very little to do despite being upped to regular status. We still don't know what lies in the shadow of the statue (unless the answer is Jacob), but we do know that this crew came to protect him. Seems like Jacob could do better.

Another reveal came when the Locke Monster confirmed what many of us suspected from last year's finale - that Richard Alpert did indeed arrive on the Black Rock (unless Alpert was in chains for some other reason). More interesting than the confirmation though was that Lockester said that was the last time he saw him. Makes you wonder all the more about what happened that day after Jacob and the Man in Black's fateful talk, and how Jacob made Alpert ageless.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now. From these two hours, it's clear the writers plan to keep going strong until the final frame, finding new and inventive ways to surprise and confuse us. As after Lost's best hours, I don't understand everything I just saw, but I can't wait to see more. So do you think the premiere was worth the wait? What did you think of the alternate reality - fun, intriguing, or time-wasting? What answers do you want to get before the series ends (I still think we're owed an explanation of why Walt is special)? Let me know in the comments, and keep on watching.

And if you want more on the Lost premiere, click here for an interview with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.