Jack had a quote that I thought summed up Lost-fandom very well:

“They’re willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.  But eventually, they’re going to need some answers.”

Last night, we got answers…and we got them in spades.  But at the same time, we we didn’t get as many answers as one would originally think.  More on that later, though.

My initial reaction at the end of last night was that it had lived up to the hype.  Questions had been answered, the mystery had been deepened, and the show was finally heading back on the right track.  Let’s hit on some of the big stuff.

I’m in the Skate camp – I’ve been pushing for Jack and Kate to end up together since day one.  Then Sawyer came in at the beginning of this season and messed all of that up.  But, last night, when Sawyer saw that Kate was back…his expression…aw, man, don’t cry now…crap…

Island power – It’s apparent now that the island does indeed have some kind of healing/medical power of some kind.  It comes at a cost, though, as every pregnant woman on the island has not survived, with the notable exception of Claire.  With Sun’s pregnancy looming, this could present some strains between her and Juliet.

Who is Jacob? – Despite all of the tough-guy posturing on Ben’s part, just the mention of the elusive Jacob is enough for him to drop his voice in reverence.  Does Jacob have some sort of supernatural power to heal, as he appeared to do with Juliet’s sister, Rachel, off the island?  More on my feelings about that later, as well.

Deception – As I was laying in bed last night, trying to get my mind to calm down, I took a step back and thought about what we really learned.  Originally, I thought that the big question we’ve had since Season One (why did the Others take Claire?) had finally been answered.  But we still don’t really know.  Juliet says that it was done by Ethan on his own to protect the baby, but we know that Claire was actually injected with an isotope to make her sick.  Is it possible that she was injected with both the vaccine and the isotope?  That story is still not cleared up completely.

This next part is more of a prediction, really.  In the kitchen scene (which was one of the best performances I’ve seen on the show), Ben tells Juliet that her sister’s cancer has returned, and she will be dead before her baby is born, but this mysterious Jacob can still heal her.  Then, three years later in the Flame station, they have live footage of Rachel playing with her baby, Julian, in the park.  Hooray, Jacob and Ben are the heroes, right!  WRONG!  Ben’s a dirty stinkin’ liar, and this is no different.  Rachel’s cancer never came back, and whatever power Jacob supposedly has, it is isolated to the island.  But that’s just my feeling. 

[EDIT: It's come to my attention that my thoughts weren't completely clear on this last part.  I wasn't saying that Ben was lying about the fact that Rachel was healed, I was saying that he was lying about the fact that she even got sick again.  Think about it this way, Ben wants Juliet to have faith in this Jacob guy, so he tells her, falsely, that Rachel's cancer has returned, but, hey, Jacob can heal her.  Then, three years later, she is 'miraculously' healed and playing with her child.  Does that make more sense?]

Wow, this went on way too long.  I do think this was easily one of the greatest episodes of Lost yet (how long before that starts to ring hollow?), and the season is gearing up to end as one of the best yet.  The final moments with the gas mask and “See you in a week” creates such a sense of imminent doom that turns the suspense up to an 11.  I’m excited about Lost again, finally.