So it finally arrived, the first episode of the new season of Lost! Its only been a few minutes since the episode actually ended and I’m already excited for next week. Of course, there are lots of questions that won’t be answered until sometime during the season. I can only hope that the writer strike doesn’t leave us after 8 episodes with too many questions. Please, please come up with an agreement so that Lost fans don’t have to wait until next year!!

When the episode starts we see Hurley in a high-speed chase being pursued by the police. Hurley finally stops his Camaro, gets out of his car, holds up his hands and tells the police that he is one of the oceanic six (more on this later). While at the police station Ana Lucia’s old partner asks Hurley what he was running away from earlier in the day. Hurley had been at a convenient store before the chase and saw something that freaked him out. Hurley didn’t reveal to the police officer what he saw. The police officer went out for a donut (hello, stereotype). While waiting for the officer to return Hurley looks into the one way mirror and has a vision of Charlie in what appears to be his last minutes in the Looking Glass Station, right before he dies. The glass breaks and water comes crashing into Hurley. Hurley is freaked out and screams for the police officer to come back. When he does the officer asks Hurley if he needs to be psychiatrically hospitalized. Hurley is thrilled, hugs him and agrees to hospitalization.

Hurley eventually makes it back to the Santa Rosa hospital (by the way did you notice when he was outside he was drawing an igloo and Eskimo? Was his picture significant? Why were there mountains behind the hospital? It looked like the island to me.). A little while later Charlie arrives. Charlie admits to Hurley that he is dead but that he has something to tell Hurley. Hurley doesn’t want to hear it closes his eyes and counts to five. When he opens his eyes Charlie is gone again. What message did Charlie want to give to Hurley? Later Hurley is playing basketball and Jack comes to visit. Jack looks great. He is clean-shaven and tells Hurley that he is back to work. He leaves out the fact that he was drinking very strong screwdrivers (orange juice and vodka) the day that Hurley was arrested. Jack tells Hurley that he wanted to check in on him. Hurley thinks Jack is trying to make sure he keeps his mouth shut (What does Jack want Hurley to keep quiet about?). Jack decides to leave and Hurley apologizes for going with Locke before they left the island. Jack accepts his apology and then leaves.

On island we are taken right back to where we left off when last season’s episode ended. Naomi doesn’t die right away even though Locke throws a knife through her back. The losties think Naomi is dead but somehow she sneaks away while no one is paying attention (no one but Ben). Jack connects with someone on Naomi’s ship and is told that rescue is on its way. Everyone is excited except for Ben who tells Jack he has one last chance to save everyone on the island. Jack decides to take everyone back to the beach so that rescue is easier. Before he does, he decides to find Naomi. Kate believes that Naomi is trying to trick them and has left two trails of blood to follow, Jack doesn’t think so and follows the wrong trail of blood. Smart Kate steals the telephone from Jack when they hug and proceeds down the correct path of blood. Eventually Kate finds Naomi. Naomi is in bad shape and is on the verge of death. Naomi fixes the frequency so that her fellow shipmates can find the island and tells her friends that she had an accident upon arrival at the island. She does not tell her friends that Locke caused her death. Naomi then dies and Kate returns with the phone back to Jack and the other losties. Jack speaks with someone on Naomi’s boat again and they assure Jack that rescue is on its way.

While this is happening Desmond returns to the beach to find Hurley, Bernard, Sawyer and Jin. He tells them the news that Charlie has drowned while trying to save everyone on the island. Desmond also tells of the note Charlie wrote on his hand before his early demise (I’ll miss you Charlie and so will Claire and Aaron). The note, “Not Penny’s Boat”, makes everyone question who is on their way to save them. They decide to trek back to the tower where Jack and the rest of the losties are to tell them the news. Hurley gets lost along the way and ends up at Jacob’s house. He looks in and see’s Jacob’s rocking chair rocking. An eye (Locke’s, I believe) then pops up and stares him directly in the eye. Hurley freaks, thinks he is hallucinating closes his eye and tries to wish the vision away. When he opens his eyes Locke is there. Hurley tells Locke about the note Charlie wrote on his hand and Locke convinces Hurley that they are all in danger. Hurley and Locke find their way to where Jack and the other losties are waiting for rescue. Jack and Locke plead their cases. Some people fearing what these new people might do go with Locke to the barracks. The rest stay with Jack and Kate.

Before the episode ends Jack and Kate are talking. It is raining heavily and Kate believes the thunder is getting louder. Jack hears something different and looks into the sky. There is a helicopter and a man parachutes to the ground. The man takes off his hat and asks, “are you Jack?”

Questions and Comments:
- Why doesn’t Hurley admit to the police officer that he knows Ana Lucia?

- Who is coming to the island?

- Where is Penny? Will her crew finally find the island?

- Who did Hurley see in Jacobs cabin? Was it just Locke like I suspect or someone else?

- The Oceanic 6: so far we know three but who else gets off the island?

1. Jack
2. Kate
3. Hurley
4. ?
5. ?
6. ?

If only these six people get off the island are the rest still on island? Have they been killed as Ben stated they would be (during the final episode of last season Ben said that everyone on the island would die)?

PS. I did not wait up to see the special announcement from Oceanic Airlines on the new show Eli Stone. Did anyone catch it and was it important?

Update on Friday, February 1, 2008 at 08:08PM by Scott (CEO)

I just got this info from reader Lostly15.

 When Hurley looked into Jacob's cabin, the face in the window might have been Locke's, but it now appears it could have been Christian Shephard (Jack's dead? dad) sitting in the chair.  Here is a screen capture.

Looks Like him to me!

further proof is that John Terryis in the credits on imdb.com. He is the actor who plays Jack's dad. See here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0994348.)