All right, I’ve been getting my share of crap for ragging on Lost the past few weeks. (Click here and here for those posts if you missed them.) But the thing is, I really love Lost, and I happen to feel that it is a strong contender to be the greatest TV show ever, depending on how the last three seasons play out. And even though I’ve had my complaints about this season of Lost, I also feel that the most recent eight episodes have had some very strong moments as well as their less-than-stellar parts. And so I have complied my favorite moment from each episode of Lost’s Fourth Season so far. I avoided using the “big twists” as my moments (with one exception), just because those would have been too easy. And it goes without saying that there are spoilers within, so if you haven’t watched the episodes, you might want to skip this post.

1. Christian Shephard in Jacob’s cabin - The Beginning of the End As Hurley was running through the jungle, he stumbled upon the shack that the alleged Island mastermind lives in, and when he peeked through the window, he caught a glimpse of Jack’s Daddy Dearest. The fact that it was such a quick, dark shot may have been annoying to some viewers, but for anyone with DVR/TiVo who doesn’t mind (and is used to) rewatching Lost’s truly WTF moments, this was pure gold. What does it mean? Is Christian alive? Who was in there with him? Why could Hurley see him? This one ultra-fast shot led to plenty of water-cooler speculation, and that is what Lost is all about.

2. “What is the monster?” - Confirmed Dead Locke was willing to look the other way after Ben shot him, but he just about lost it after he shot Charlotte. Locke was ready to take him out until Ben played the old, “I have answers you need” card. Except Locke is pretty sick of being promised answers and not getting any, so he asked a question that he (and us viewers) have been wondering about for a long time: “What is the monster? The black smoke, the monster, what is it?” Sure, we didn’t get an answer, but the fact that Locke asked a question that the fans have been curious about for three full seasons was a nice acknowledgement that the Losties are trying to figure out what the hell is going on around them, same as we are.

3. The time-difference rocket - The Economist Fans have long speculated that there existed a time difference between the Island and the world outside it. If nothing else, it would explain how Walt will have aged faster than the rest of the people still on the Island. But the reveal that the rocket only experienced a 31 minute differential on its voyage from the freighter was pretty surprising. Shouldn’t it be more than that? Does it depend on the bearing that the rocket was on, similar to how Faraday tells Lapidus to stay on the same bearing on his return to the ship? Again, this moment led to lots of speculation and theorizing, and it was nice to get a little more information about how time works on the Island.

4. Sawyer tells off Kate - Eggtown Watching the Jack/Kate/Sawyer love triangle over the years, it has become apparent that Kate has strong feelings for both men. And although all three acknowledge the situation, it seems as though Sawyer has the most realistic understanding of what’s going on: Kate is attracted to him and is more than willing to use him for companionship and sex, but she loves Jack. When things are going good with Jack, she’d rather be with him, but when she encounters some resistance from him, she turns to Sawyer. And damn it, even con men have hearts too, you know? Though it earned him a slap across the face, it was nice to hear Sawyer call it exactly as he sees it, and let Kate know that she treats him like a consolation prize.

5. “You can’t change the future.” - The Constant For nerds, nothing can be more fascinating than time-travel. The sheer concept of messing around with time is one that has been explored in various movies and TV shows, each with its own set of rules. Fans have been speculating the rules that Lost will use, and there are still plenty of question marks surrounding the issue, but Faraday’s claim to Desmond that the future is set is a fascinating revelation, and one that perfectly removes the contradictory paradoxes present in most time-travel stories. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse said as much in an EW interview that was published before the show aired, but hearing the concept of fate and destiny and pre-determined futures explained succinctly in the show (again - see “Flashes Before Your Eyes”) comforted me now that the show has introduced flash-forwards into the narrative. Any way you slice it, it’s reassuring to know that there won’t be an episode down the road that will “undo” all of the flash-forwards we’ve seen up to that point.

6. The return of the whispers - The Other Woman I like the whispers. I find them to be intriguing, creepy, and full of potential about what they truly mean. They were present when Hurley stumbled upon Jacob’s cabin, but that was such a big moment that I hardly even noticed them. In this episode, we got some quality whispers, and I dug them. Are they a sign of the Others? Or maybe just a sign that the Others are about to do a magical appearing/disappearing act? Why? If you want to freak yourself out, check out the Lostpedia whisper transcripts. They don’t give you any clues about what the whispers mean, but it makes them even more freaky and bizarre.

7. Jin doesn’t make it - Ji Yeon A cliché choice from this episode to be sure, but damn, I did NOT see that one coming. And I’m suspicious of people who claim they did, given that this was the first episode to ever feature both a flash-forward and a flash-back. Either way, it was a great twist. I for one thought it was made clear that Jin dies, and he is not simply stuck on the Island, although I could of course be wrong. The way that Jin explains that he has changed, that he truly loves Sun, and that he will always be there for her and the baby no matter what - BEFORE knowing if the kid is even his - makes me think that the only way Sun would get off the Island without Jin by her side would be for him to have met an unfortunate end.

8. The Island’s far reaching powers - Meet Kevin Johnson I really loved this episode, but for me the greatest revelation was that the Island can control all kinds of stuff really, really far away. Even in a show that has already included many elements of fate, this really blew my mind. How can the Island make a fatal car crash only near-fatal? Or jam a gun? Sure, it explains why Jack couldn’t kill himself in the Season Three finale, but more intriguing are all the questions it poses: What does the Island need Michael and Jack to do? Is the Island responsible for the Losties getting to the Island in the first place? Are the Island’s motives the same as Ben’s? And if the Island needs Michael and Jack to return, why did It let them leave in the first place?

Next week, I’ll try to come up with a couple of crazy theories on what’s going on to tide you over before the show returns on April 24th!