I caught it, but it was the first time I've ever seen the show so I can't compare to previous seasons. I was confused for the most part, but had an experienced viewer watching with me to help catch me up. I did sense that it's the type of show to stretch things out and my friend that I was watching it with complained about the same thing. Don't forget, you can check it out online... http://dynamic.abc.go.com/stream...

I've tried getting into it several times but always felt...um...lost. There was just WAY to many repeats. Lost is an episodic type of show and trying to watch new episodes sandwiched between endless repeats, just sucked.

I admit, I wasn't dazzled too much by the first episode. I already had a chip on my shoulder when I realized that the "2 hour season premier" was actually a 1 hour recap + a 1 hour season premier. But it did set up a lot of future story plots, which is encouraging.

1.) Only 6 of the Losties get off the island?
2.) Future Jack wants to keep Future Hurley quiet about a secret. What is it?
3.) Who is the black guy that visits Hurley? Is he real or imaginary?
4.) What were Locke and Jacob having a pow-wow about up at the cabin?
5.) The Losties are dividing up into factions lead by Jack and Locke respectively.

Like I said, there were no real WOW moments, but if you're still watching after 4 season, you should be accustomed to the cyclical nature of the show and just enjoy the ride.

Four excellent questions! I'll try to accommodate with some uneducated, half-arsed guesses.

1) They say it's six now, but they can always change their minds later.

2) There's some ugly aspect to how they left -- probably having to do with the other several dozen survivors who did NOT make it off.

3) Generic creepy dude. He's with the Dharma Initiative, or what's left of it.

4) Whether lavender or lilac scent makes for a better body cream. No, wait ... the secret recipe of Coca-Cola?

I'll stop now.