LOST Season 5: Episode 16: The Incident Parts 1 & 2

I don't think there's been a season finale this intriguing and riveting since the season 1 finale. You know what, I take that back. All of the season finales have been excellent but this one takes the cake. This two hour episode was WELL worth the wait and a great way to end the season. First of all, it was Jacob-centric! I found it to be:

Mindblowing
The first few minutes with Jacob and his perceived nemesis on the beach, the final seconds when Juliet detonates the hydrogen bomb, finally hearing "What lies in the shadow of the statue," getting a little more information about Richard...the list goes on.

Heartbreaking
When Juliet got pulled into the Swan Station hatch by the electromagnetic force.
When young Sawyer wrote his "Dear Mr. Sawyer" letter on the church steps.

Sensational
We finally learned "What lies in the shadow of the statue" and who Jacob really is.
The answer was some ancient Egyptian, cryptic phrase. Who knows what the answer really means? I'll have to check with the ABC.com message board because those people really do their research! Through some crazy twist, Jacob faces defeat by the guy in black pictured above via a "loophole." Man this episode will probably make more sense when we see the premiere of Season 6, which will not happen until 2010. BUMMER!

Revealing
OK so we finally found out what happened to Rose and Bernard and where they've been. BUT, what about the other people who stayed behind? What about them, huh? It was also clear that Richard and Jacob know each other. Who knew that Jacob really lived under the foot of the statue? So why then was he in the cabin? And what is the ash around the cabin? We also found out that Locke is really dead! I guess dead really is dead! (Episode 12 title)


Season 6 will be the final season. It will all come together and everything will make sense. Perhaps Daniel/Jack's plan to detonate the hydrogen bomb will change history and flight 815 will never crash in 2004. However, whatever happened, happened, right? Well, the tag line for Season 6 is "Destiny Found" so this is definitely intriguing as to what that means for the Losties. And they have to tie up all the Egyptian connections, especially with Richard Alpert and now Jacob, who we saw at one point go and touch everyone who wound up on the island.
Here's to an amazing final season in 2010! Can't wait!