Few shows achieve what Lost has been able to achieve. Not only does the show do gangbusters in ratings and have a freakishly devoted set of die-hard fans, but also has proven to be one of the best shows that has ever graced American Television. Hi, I’m Andrew, and I’m a Lostaholic.

My addiction to the show has only developed in the last year. I resisted because I was sure the show was all hype, a product of a lot of people wanting something to be awesome AND good at the same time. But it’s not hype at all. This show delivers week in and week out, and nothing proves that more than Tuesday nights Premiere Event on ABC. I’m glad I waited until the first four seasons were available on DVD, because otherwise I don’t think I could’ve handled the anticipation between episodes, because this show finds a way to wow you during every episode.

Going into the final season, I wasn’t expecting all questions to be answered right of the bat. It’s not in this show’s nature to placate to the instant gratification crowd. And the debut episode does exactly what Lost does best. It entertains, but it also requires you to accept that not everything will be neatly wrapped up by episode’s end. In fact, on Lost, we are often left with more questions than an individual episode can answer at a time. No, this show is snowballing into what will surely be one of the most epic final seasons in TV history. This first episode (actually two hours worth) throws a lot of new information for the audience to digest.

Now, if you’re reading an article on the First Episode, I’m assuming that you’re completely aware that there might be some spoilers in here. So, this is your one and only warning. If you haven’t watched it and have any desire to be surprised, hit back on your browser and come read this after you’ve watched it.

Now that that formality is out of the way, let’s dive in. First, we see the foot statue sitting safely on the ocean floor, and who the Hell knows what this means. That statue has lead to more questions than answers. Then the audience gets to see Oceanic Flight 815 land safely in L.A. Now, this could be multiple things. This could mean that Season 5’s final episode  with Jack and Co. detonating a bomb at the Swan Station actually worked, the island never happened to them. We are shown these characters we know, but they seem a little different. Jack and Locke even have a great interaction where Jack gives Locke his card and assures Locke that “nothing is permanent”.

Of course, coupled with this, we have the typical non-linear Lost storyline. We are also watching the survivors back on the island AFTER the detonation of their bomb at the Swan Station, and in their minds nothing has changed. They are still on the island, Juliet is dead, and Sayid has been shot. They aren’t safe and cozy in the U.S. Of course, Sawyer is pissed, and Hurley meets Jacob and Jacob tells him how to save Sayid. We are taken to a temple, something we haven’t seen before. We find out what was in the guitar case Jacob gave Hurley, and we are told Sayid is dead.

Of course, elsewhere we see a dead John Locke, a live John Locke, and Ben Linus, and the infamous Smoke Monster. Locke seems to have embodied the form of the Smoke Monster, and I’m sure this is going to be explained even more in depth in subsequent episodes.

To end, we watch Jack turn on the people at the temple, then a now very alive Sayid stands up and asks “what happened?”

Trust me, Sayid. We’re wondering the exact same thing.

This final season is destined to be epic, and I’m already ready to just sit down and watch the entire thing in one sitting. Only with Lost, patience is a virtue, and the payoff is almost always worth it.