LOST, Season 5: The Incident - Review

Wow.  I was prepared to be let down by this season finale.  The previous episode "Follow The Leader" felt so underwhelming that I wasn't excited about this finale at all.  I'm glad I was wrong.

So many answers, yet so many questions.  That's what's great about "Lost."  And I'm not sure that ANY two hours in the previous seasons gave us as many answers as "The Incident" did.

Here's a rundown of big things that happened:

• Jacob is a real person that, evidently, can be killed.  Jacob, however, does have supernatural powers that he uses to lure to the Island.  Jacob also has an unnamed nemesis who, since at least the days of the Black Rock, has wanted to kill him.
  
• Jack causes the "incident."  I saw that coming.  I did not guess, however, that Juliet was going to become a casualty.  I'm not sure she really is dead.  I highly doubt the hydrogen bomb detonation killed ALL of the Losties, though.  EDIT:  Jack does NOT cause the "incident" since the magnetism was happening before the bomb had a chance to go off.
  
• The "shadow" people seem to be actually be on the side of the Others and it looks like "Alive Locke" and Ben will be the opposing faction working for Jacob's nemesis.  It's too bad that Locke really is dead.  Wouldn't it be funny if Richard actually brought the real Locke back to life?
  
• Rose and Bernard are alive!  That was great.
  
• Phil had a great death scene.  Best since the Frogurt death scene.
  
• Goodbye Dr. Chang's arm.
  

Here's my theories, and they're not very original because a lot of people are guessing these. 

The detonation of the hydrogen bomb takes our Losties 30 years into the future to be reunited with Sun, Locke,  and Ben.  I am hoping Juliet and Sayid survive, even though their injuries from 1977 show that they really should be dead.  It appears that "whatever happened, happened" and the "incident" happens anyway.

Now, we can concentrate on the war that's coming.  The war between Jacob's people and the guy who wanted him killed in the opening scene of "The Incident."  I don't know, though, how Charles Widmore figures into this.  I suppose he'd be on the side of Jacob. And somehow Desmond has to come back into this story.  I'm not sure how at this point, though.

Here's my final ranking of the episodes this season:

1. The Incident, Parts 1 & 2
   
2. Jughead
   
3. LaFleur
   
4. The Variable
   
5. Some Like It Hoth
   
6. 316
   
7. Follow The Leader
   
8. Dead Is Dead
   
9. Whatever Happened, Happened
   
10. He's Our You
    
11. Namaste
    
12. The Life and Death Of Jeremy Bentham
    
13. Because You Left
    
14. The Little Prince
    
15. This Place Is Death
    
16. The Lie
    

The next thing to look out for is Season 5 of "Lost" on DVD and Blu-Ray on December 8th.  I'm sure there will be more to talk about before then.  All in all, a great season!  One of my favorites!

Addendum:  I know a lot of fans have been upset by the ridiculous chain of events regarding Sawyer, Juliet, Kate, and Jack.  I was scratching my head every time Juliet made a complete 180-degree turn from her previous conviction.  And she had a lame flashback to show that she really doesn't believe that relationships work.  I'm sure we didn't have to deal with the para-love-o-gram (as coined by Ryan Ozawa and "The Transmission" podcast) to get to the final scene at the future Swan site.  However, after watching the episode for a second time I didn't let all of this hurt my enjoyment of the episode.  For me, the Jacob reveals were a perfect counter to all of that nonsense.  I did enjoy Sawyer and Jack beating the crap out of each other.  Even though they both wanted to do that since Season 1, they really do have a healthy respect for each other.  So, while I agree with most fans about the downsides of the episode it didn't ruin the finale for me.