Dear Damon and Carlton

You've lost me again (forgive the pun).

You had me after season 3's finale, I was hooked. You had me through the beginning of season 4, I had my questions but I was still on board. You began to lose me for a couple episodes in the middle there but I held on through the penultimate episode of the season. And there I was, ready to love you again as I went into tonight's 2 hour season 4 finale. and for the first time in Lost season finale history, you let me down.

I'm not saying that the episode was devoid of excellence. Desmond's reunion with Penny and his goodbyes to the castaways were lovely. He's one of my favourites (if not my favourite) castaway and I'll be very sad to see him sail off into the sunset and away from the show. But he's happy and he's alive and that's good enough for me. The callback to his early scene with Jack ("see you in another life brother") was wonderful. And Jin's death, though expected, still earned an emotional response (mostly a credit to the genius of Yun Jin Kim).

But that was it.

Sawyer jumping out of the helicopter was nice. But the second he got on the helicopter in the first place I predicted he'd whisper to Kate, kiss her, then jump. There are enough shows that don't surprise me, I don't need to add the usually enlightened Lost to that list.

As for the rest, I don't care: I don't care that Michael's dead. I don't care that Walt looks like he's 35. I don't care that the boat blew up. I don't care that Ben moved the island. I don't care that Ben can't return to the island. I don't care that he says the rest of them have to. I don't care that Kate wants nothing to do with Jack. I don't care that Hurley thinks he's playing chess with Mr. Eko. I don't care that corporate Sun is contacting Mr. Whidmore. I don't care that Sayid is shooting random people. I don't care that Jack is a junkie. I don't even care that it was Locke in the coffin or that he was using a different name. I simply don't care.

All Lost has become is plot. It is brilliantly constructed, nerds will be dissecting it for decades, go down in history alongside Star Wars kind of plot but it is still nothing but plot. And until you give me something other than strictly plot, I will continue not to care. I will continue to watch. But I will never care again, not like I did when Jin spoke his first words of English or when Charlie sacrificed himself to save Claire or when Jack first began to fall in love with Kate.

Give me something to care about and maybe I can learn to love you and your show again.