After eight months, Lost roared back to life with a satisfying premiere that provided more mysteries for rampant speculation at your local watercooler. Since it is one of the few non-reality shows on television right now, it deserves all the attention it may get.

 “The Beginning of the End” is an appropriate title for this episode, if not the entire promising new season. No more convoluted episodes about Jack’s tattoo or an irrelevant flashback to characters we’ve only seen in the background. It seems as though now that an end date is set, the writers have found a pace that rests well with the audience.

One tradition I love about Lost season premieres are the cryptic opening scenes, providing clues about who and what the episode concerns. With the flash-forward reveal in the last finale, a new question is added to that list--when is this taking place? The Hurley-centric episode is a nice change from the usual Jack flashbacks because Hurley is the true heart of this show. When he dives into the ocean with a cannonball, we’re laughing along with him. After telling Claire about Charlie's death, we wanted a hug, too.

In the flash-forward, Hurley, after a car chase that would have made O.J. Simpson blush, mentions that he is one of the “Oceanic Six.”  Who is a part of this group? So far, we know that Jack, Kate, and Hurley are definitely alive in the future; does this mean that only three more are among the living? Charlie, acting as Hurley's conscience, keeps telling him to go back for them, and the creepy Oceanic Airlines representative asks if “they” were alive, so I’m guessing there are more survivors out there. My theory is that eventually the island narrative will catch up to the future one, and the plot will progress from the Oceanic Six going back to the island.

On the island itself, a feverish chain of events unravels in a quicker speed than all of season two combined. Following wounded Naomi's descent into the jungle, I have to admire whatever kind of sketchy rescuer boot camp her superiors must be running. Can they teach me to be that tough? In another example of resourcefulness, Kate steals the walkie talkie and pursues Naomi's trail. Sometimes critics accuse Lost of having no truly strong female characters, but even they have to admit that these ladies are hardcore.

On a more testosterone-fueled front, civil war has been brewing between the castways since the first season, coming to a violent crescendo when Jack attempts to shoot Locke. When that doesn't go as planned, the survivors split into two tribes, those who wish to be rescued at any cost and those who doubt the validity of their supposed saviors. Since Hurley, Jack, and Kate are all alive in the future, that means one specific group wasn’t rescued. When, and more importantly, how does this come to happen?

The usual cliffhanger arrives when Jeremy Davies, from the rescue plane, lands on the island via parachute. How very Lord of the Flies of him! Jack's lack of an answer to "Are you Jack?" wasn't the cliffhanger, of course. The element that hooked me for the rest of season is seeing what these people are up to. If the Others are scared of them, these newcomers probably aren't friendly.

Someone who has never watched Lost may be a little intimidated by the sheer madness of this show. Luckily for that person, there’s no better time to tune in to this magnetic program than now. Doesn't everyone enjoy a good mystery, especially when Lost involves several hundred?

A solid 9 out of 10.