LOST RETURNS!!!

There is something magnificent about the moment a fantasy epic begins it's final chapter. That instant where you get ready to take one last ride with beloved characters before saying goodbye. Like when the lights went down for Revenge of the Sith, or cracking the binding on The Deathly Hallows, Tuesday night was one of those moments - a warmed apple turnover topped with ice cream, a new bottle of Syrah, the company of my wife, and a 50-inch plasma TV on which was displayed season six premiere of LOST.

I know many who gave up on Lost in season two when they introduced the Others, or season three when we learned they got off the island, or season five when all the timeline hopping started. My conviction remains that those people are missing out big time, because LOST isn't about an island, or a plane crash, or time travel, or anything of the kind. What it's about is far more important - it's about whether hope itself is justified, and whether faith will someday be vindicated. It's about whether our choices matter, and in just what respect. Whether regardless of we do or how we act, everything is fated to end exactly the same way, or whether as Jacob says, it only ends once, and anything and everything up until then is just progress.

Governments and religions, even those which claim universal inclusion and participation, are invariably corrupted by the allure of power and the curse of vanity. Art, on the other hand (and storytelling in particular) merely invites us, at our own pace, to reflect together on what we have in common, what makes us special, and what's going to aid us in our pursuit of the good life. And with all my heart, I believe that it is far better for men and women to reflect on such things, even at a subconscious level, than to not. So when seven to ten million people every week choose to share such an experience, like every Tuesday at 8 PM this spring, it gives me hope, when it seems so much else in this world only serves to divide us. Imagination, inspiration, a shared vicarious triumph over our personal and cultural demons - these opportunities are few and far between, and they should be savored. I'm loving this - the premiere was fantastic, and I can't wait for next week.