I'm Really Into LOST

I have to say, last year Lost had me baffled. The story didn't seem to be going anywhere, it seemed to ramble, and made no sense in a lot of ways. I was just about ready to give up on my favorite show. I did not hold out much hope for this season's episodes, and was especially concerned given that the show wasn't coming back until January.

Well, January rolled around, and new shows began. All I have to say is WOW! It has been soooo good this year, particularly the new flash forwards, as opposed to the previous flashbacks. I love that we're learning who got off the island (the so-called "Oceanic Six") and how their lives have not been great since leaving. That whole aspect of it sort of reminds me of "Tess of the d'Urbervilles," the novel by Thomas Hardy I had to read in AP English in high school. Very fatalistic, depressing, yet still compelling. We also know that evil Benjamin Linus gets off the island too. Very interesting. And even better, we FINALLY learned what happened to Michael and Walt since they left like, 2 seasons ago!! I thought that whole story had been given up for dead. And I loved the episodes with Sayid and Desmond on the freighter, and Desmond's frantic call to Penny to tell her that he still loves her. Desmond has quickly become my favorite of the male castaways. He's hot, driven to prove himself to Penny's evil father, and has a sexy ol' Scottish accent. I heart Henry Ian Cusick! (I feel completely not guilty for saying this because Brian loves Evangaline Lilly, who plays Kate.)

Speaking of Penny's evil father, we have learned this season that he's the one trying to take control of the island and kill everybody. Interesting. This poses several questions to me--how did he find out about the island? Was he involved with the Darma Project, or did he know about the other people that were living on the island (the group of people that Ben ended up leading)? He doesn't know the island's location, so how could he know of it's existence? Also, how the hell did he fake the plane crash at the bottom of the ocean? We know the bodies came from a graveyard that he had dug up, but logistically, how is it possible to plant a fake plane and dead bodies at the bottom of the ocean without anybody knowing? Also, in last night's episode, in the flash forward, he tells Ben that Ben will never find Penny, that's she's too well hidden (Ben wants to kill Penny in retaliation for the death of Alex). I just hold out hope that Desmond is with her!! (Desmond would not be one of the Oceanic Six, because he was not on the plane.)

Furthermore, how the HELL did Ben get off the island in the flash forward? He tells Sayid that he took Desmond's boat to Fiji and flew to Iraq, but we know that's crap because he simply materialized in the desert in the middle of Tunisia and had a fake passport. (Presumably one of the ones he kept in his storage room in his house.) Remember, Locke's scumball father materialized on the island in the same manner. What's up with that? I need to know more than "the island has unique electromagnetic properties," as they've made clear in the past. Lastly, it does appear that Ben knows what the smoke monster is and can control it, at least somewhat. Hopefully, we'll learn more about that in the near future! I can't wait to see more!