Spoiler Alert – You’re an Idiot

Interdimensional man of misery, Ben Linus

I normally am not a fan of television show message boards. After all, what exactly is there to discuss about the latest episode of most programs? "Hey, did you see how they thought they caught the murderer on Law and Order, but then it turned out there was a twist and they were wrong? Wasn't that cool?"

But I make an exception for Lost. After all, there's usually so much going on beneath the surface and little hidden Easter Eggs within scenes that I like to see if I "missed" anything on my initial viewing. This is where eagle-eyed viewers with plenty of time on their hands, an HDTV-TV and a quick handle DVR rewind/freeze frame can inform me of the "name of that book that so-and-so was reading" and I can be further impressed with the show's attention to detail.

However, the downside of reading these message boards are the vast number of "haters" – people with nothing better to do with their time than to write long negative commentary about a show they clearly despise, saying how horrible it is and proclaiming that they'll never watch it again.

And I'd even be fine with them if I thought they were doing it just to "push the buttons" of the overzealous fans of the show. It's the posts that display sheer stupidity that annoy me, such as this random example:

"…I don't get how this could be a good episode without 1 question answered. In fact, they haven't answered one question we didn't already know since the begining (sic) of this season. This show is on the way to one of the worst final seasons of a show…"

This person clearly watches every week and is upset because there was "not a single question answered" and can't understand why anyone actually liked the episode. Idiot!

Let's forget the fact that the acting of Michael Emerson is masterful to watch and worth the hour spent viewing the show, plot be damned… but let's address some answers that actually were given to the audience this week:

• Richard is confirmed to have arrived on the island aboard the Black Rock.
  
• He reveals he "can't die" as a result of being touched by Jacob… which of course, also gives "immunity" to several other main characters on the show.
  
• Both Locke and Ilana confirm that there needs to be a replacement for Jacob on the island and we learn officially that the number of "candidates" is down to six.
  
• And, most importantly, with the battle lines being drawn for "the final battle" – we learn that Ben ultimately chooses to be on the "good" side.

Were some of these things hinted at earlier in the series? Sure. But they've never been truly confirmed by the show. But I guess it's easy to miss revelations when you're not too bright. Like Richard going to the ship and saying "I haven't been here since I first came to the island." Now did he say, "I arrived on the island on this boat, The Black Rock, back in the 1800's"? No. But that doesn't mean he didn't answer that question.

Lost is not a show where they're going to beat you over the head with a big reveal… you have to do a little work for the reward, such as when Miles mentions in passing that two of the graves surrounding him contain Nikki and Paolo and $8 million in diamonds, a call-back to several seasons ago. Then, near the end of the episode, Miles is sitting on the beach holding a diamond. That's subtle… and hilarious!

But I guess since he didn't stand up, face the audience through the camera lens and announce, "Look at this sparkly diamond I just dug up from the grave marked Nikki. I'm rich!" it must not have happened, right?

Maybe some folks need to stick to watching "Two and a Half Men" where you know when to laugh because the editors pressed the Pavlovian button to tell you someone said something funny.

In other words, if you don't "get Lost"... get lost!

Remember us? No? Anyone?