Season Finales: Lost

Is this the season of disappointing finales or something?

Falling somewhere between the solid but unsurprising finish for Desperate Housewives and the dramatically subpar last hour of 24, Lost took two hours to deliver what turned out to be pretty average stuff.

Don't get me wrong, it was a solid episode (average on this show is still pretty damn good) but did we really need an extra hour just to have prolonged flashbacks of Hurley running through an airport or Charlie wrestling with a junkie/one night stand in a hotel room?

Yeah the annoying science teacher blew himself up (thankfully eliminating the possibility he could become a regular), Claire's baby was kidnapped and then found, Walt was kidnapped in a more menacing fashion, Charlie found some drugs, Locke/Jack/Kate/Hurley were attacked, Jin/Michael/Sawyer are lost at sea without a boat and the hatch was finally opened. But other than what happened to Walt none of it did very much to raise the stakes.

We found out a little more about how everyone got on the plane, but not a single question was answered or mystery solved, not even a tiny one (unless you count the name of Claire's baby).

When you're Everybody Loves Raymond it makes sense to end a season (or the entire series) with just another episode. When you're Lost, different rules apply.

But setting aside the fact that expectations are higher for a season finale, the episode still had enough of what makes Lost so good on a weekly basis. Action, twists, tantalizing clues to a larger mystery and a killer ensemble cast.

The finale was at its strongest whenever Jack and Locke shared the screen, Matthew Fox and Terry O'Quinn pretty much rule this show, but the entire cast was put to good use. Jin, Sun, Sayid, Shannon, Michael and Hurley each had especially strong moments, but it was nice to see everyone have something.

And at this point the show has viewers hooked, no matter what does, or doesn't, happen.

Finale Grade: A-
Season Grade: A