Lost Is Back, And We're All Rescued

• Jan 30, 2008 10:12 PM ET
• by Matt Roush

For lots more on Lost , read our fresh Q&A with Naveen Andrews and our character profile of Jack, check out Jon Hein's look at the Season 4 hype, use our Strike Survival Guide to get up to speed, and flip through our assorted photo galleries.

Rescued from our winter of strike blahs and blues, that is. No spoilers in this preview of the long-awaited new season, just an expression of relief, glee and thanks to ABC for delivering us from the doldrums of repeats, premature hiatuses and cheesy reality shows.

Lost has always been among TV's most gorgeously produced, exotic flights of fancy and wonder, and that hasn't changed. As the fourth season begins (I've seen the first two of eight completed episodes, and am ravenous for more), Lost has everything a discerning fan could want.

There's conflict galore, as the castaways clash over whether to embrace the idea of rescue or to resist these interlopers from the offshore freighter. Suspense for sure, much of it conveyed in the enigmatic gaze of the manipulative Benjamin Linus, who doesn't miss a beat as he plays one side off the other. Humor? Of course, so long as Sawyer is around, calling various characters "Colonel Kurtz" and "Yoda" as he pledges ultimate fealty only to his own survival. And if it's emotion you want? Plenty of that, as the reality of Charlie's death sets in among the grieving survivors, not to mention the implications of his dying warning that (as more than one character puts it) "the people on the boat aren't who they say they are."

Who exactly are they and what do they want? That becomes a little more clear in next week's episode. But for now, sit back, strap in for the action-packed ride and enjoy. Unlike last season's momentum-stalling fall "pod" that spent too much time in the company of the Others, neglecting many of our core favorites for too long, these episodes integrate new faces with old as the mysterious story churns ever forward. You're left wanting more of everything and of everyone, which this time around feels incredibly satisfying.

And what of Lost's manipulation of time? Many of us are still reeling from last season's blockbuster cliff-hanger revelation that the show was now capable of jumping ahead in time, to a future when Jack and Kate (among, it's presumed, others) got off the island but are still haunted by the circumstances. I can't really address this, being bound by a laundry list of "do not reveal" advisories on ABC's screeners.

Suffice it to say that wherever Lost takes you - backwards, forwards, sideways - there's almost always a thrilling shock or a jarring surprise awaiting you.