SPOILER ALERT!

I’ve been loving Lost this season, but I think last night’s episode may be my favorite so far. Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, and Faraday were given the night off, and we got a whole mess of how the Oceanic 6 – Jack in particular – made their way back to the Island. I didn’t care for the way the show started – with a short scene and then the “46 Hours Earlier” bit – it just wasn’t necessary. But overall the episode was amazing, answering a few questions while asking a ton more. I can’t wait to find out how Hurley got Charlie’s guitar, or how Sayid worked himself into custody on that flight, and who said what to Kate to get her to not only go back to the Island, but do so without Aaron. Dream-Claire did warn her to not bring him back, so maybe she was heeding that warning. I’ve been predicting for a while that Ben was going to kill Penny while Des had her in LA, and it looks like there was one hell of a bloody struggle there, although we’ll have to wait to see what exactly went down.

But the way the show worked in elements of fate and destiny, logic and belief – all for the umpteenth time, still felt fresh and relevant. We’re used to all kinds of coincidences occurring with these characters, and things happening because they “have to,” but Jack is still struggling with these concepts, even as he begins to slowly accept them. Lost has had me hooked for a while, but I sort of fell hooked anew after last night’s show.

OK, I’ll stop gushing. Some questions: Why didn’t the O6 have to bring Walt back to the Island – is it because he was “allowed” to leave? Did Flight 316 crash? Won’t people notice that the famous Oceanic Six disappeared form a second flight? How did the Ajira Air water bottles get onto the beach? When are Jack and company? It would appear the 70’s, based on the Dharma van. Have Jin and Farady and the rest of the group “joined” the Dharma group? They probably have it better than the Hostiles. That would explain how Farday was on the Island in the past. This question came from my buddy Mark, and I think it’s a great one – Did Christian die to bring the 815′er so the Island in the same way that Locke had to die to bring the O6 back? How old is Jack’s grandfather? Did he father Christian when he was 11?

But the biggest question of all – Why didn’t Jack or Kate pack some extra goodies with them? Like, you know that game where you say if you were going to be stranded on a deserted Island, you’d bring such-and-such? Why didn’t they bring some supplies along? Comfortable shoes, sunscreen, a couple of good books, maybe an iPod and one of those hand-cranked battery chargers? Some M&M’s, Peeps, I don’t know – something.

Also in pretty huge TV news is the fact that The Simpsons has gone hi-def and widescreen! (James wouldn’t understand.) I thought I’d hate having a new opening credit sequence, but it was really well-done, it kept the same spirit of the original, while taking out dated references (Bart skateboarding by Jacques and Bleeding Gums Murphy) and adding a ton of freeze-frame references put in for the die-hard nerds. Like me! For example, Maggie now is on the shopping belt with Krusty-O’s, Mr. Sparkle, and a bottle of Tomacco juice. The town motto on the Jebediah Springfield statue was a nice touch. And if you pause on the quick-pan across the townspeople, you’ll see Kodos and Kang and even Spiderpig! Little things like that make me happy.

In other news, Heores is totally boring now, and Wifey has officially given up on it. I may soon follow. Dollhouse was a bit disappointing, and though I like it when Fringe does the super-short commercial breaks – “Fringe will return in 4 seconds,” Dollhouse felt like it was just kind of dragging. But it was only the pilot, hopefully it will improve as it finds its footing. Flight of the Conchords reached a new high with “Too Many D*icks on the Dance Floor.” And Eastbound & Down made me laugh at a lot of inappropriate jokes, and I can appreciate that.