I love that they are jumping forward now. It takes the show in completely new direction as we are all now left waiting to see what happens to so dramatically change these people. The questions is no longer "Will they ever be rescued?" Now, it's much deeper. Now, we have to wonder why only 6 made it off, what happened to the Others, why does Jack want to get back so badly, etc.

Watching the rerun of last season's finale as well as that Pop-Up episode (which was done quite well) really helped bring things into focus for the premiere. Compared to the enormous morass of crap being pandered as "entertainment" these days, LOST truly is an, erm...island. This is what good television should be and I finally have something to watch again!