Why are we so Lost?

[Sydney]

Before ABC's Lost debuted, the question was out there: Is the show's mysterious island on Earth?

Yes, executive producer J.J. Abrams told TV critics last summer: "The fact that you would ask that question is one of the things that gets me excited."

The queries keep coming from absorbed fans, who turned the drama into a surprise hit. Lost started with a plane crash that deposited 48 survivors on a remote island (the series films in Hawaii). The show has intertwined their traumatic pasts with the isle's lush weirdness.

The two-hour season finale airs at 8 tonight on WFTV-Channel 9. Sentinel television critic Hal Boedeker explores why Lost has become the ultimate fantasy island.

Flashbacks: They give this adventure unusual emotional depth. The strongest castaway story so far belongs to Locke (Terry O'Quinn). The most confusing is the twisted past of Kate (Evangeline Lilly). If you want to catch up, ABC will rerun the series at 10 p.m. Wednesdays, starting next week. The DVD comes out in September.

The raft: It has been a source of friction and mystery, especially for Michael (Harold Perrineau) and son Walt (Malcolm David Kelley). But in a rousing scene last week, they and two others set off on the craft. Don't expect a long journey. ABC hints that the four are quartet is "surprised at sea by something they didn't expect."

The Frenchwoman: The wild-eyed Danielle (Mira Furlan) popped in last week to tell her story. Her ship went aground 16 years ago. Soon after, "the others" took her newborn. That was news to frighten new mother Claire (Emilie de Ravin). Danielle speaks in cryptic tones that would make her a natural for The Twilight Zone.

The mystery: In these tropics, you'll find a polar bear, a towering monster (unseen by viewers so far), a shipwreck, a crashed plane and apparitions of the dead. So where are we? Abrams has inferred that the island isn't purgatory. Is it home to a government conspiracy or an extraterrestrial intervention. Abrams isn't saying a lot. Why should he? He doesn't want to spoil the story.

The portal: This contraption looks like a vault that gives off an otherworldly glow. Is it a New Age septic tank? An alien spacecraft? A throwback to Pandora's box? It has bewitched Locke. We could learn more tonight when the castaways try to blow it open. Or it could be the big cliffhanger.

The puzzle: The castaways' lives fit together in enthralling and intricate ways. Sawyer (Josh Holloway) passed on a dead man's thoughts to Jack (Matthew Fox ). The same numbers keep cropping up. "Each one of us was brought here for a reason," a character says tonight. So what does it all mean? Maybe it's fate. It certainly is good television.

Numbers game

It began with Oceanic Flight 815. Then creator J.J. Abrams started piling on the 815 references, sending the nation's amateur numerologists scurrying.

For instance, Kate opens safe-deposit box 815. Hurley's winning lottery numbers are 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42, the same numbers found around on the island's mysterious metal hatch. On the day of the crash, Claire had an appointment at 8:15; the model number of a copier that Charlie attempted to demonstrate was C815; a young Kate buried a time capsule on Aug. 15 -- 8-15. The numbers are even incorporated into seemingly throwaway lines: footballs are found in aisle 8 (regulation) and aisle 15 (Nerf).

It's probably a stretch, but 8 + 1 + 5 = 14, the number of main characters on the show. Cherry on top: Entertainment Weekly's edition with the men of Lost on the cover was No. 815.

Father figures

If the crash survivors have anything else in common, could it be daddy issues?

Jack had to report his doctor father for operating under the influence, and later he thought he saw his deceased dad walking through the island's jungle.

Locke gave up an internal organ for his dad, who turned around and rejected him.

Claire's baby-daddy baby's daddy is out of the picture, but Charlie has stepped in.

Jin was ashamed of his father and later had a tearful reconciliation.

Walt and his dad, Michael, are getting to know each other, sometimes painfully.

Courtesy of http://www.orlandosentinel.com/