I am – Hercules!!

First, the flashback batting order for the next six Wednesdays:
3.1 Jack Shepherd
3.2 Sun & Jin Kwon
3.3 John Locke
3.4 James Ford
3.5 Mr. Eko
3.6 Kate Austen

So.

Desmond and John and Jack and Michael and Hurley and Eko really were preventing the world’s destruction with the apparatus in Swan Station!

So why the six numbers? Why not automate the world-saving process? Why not just a big red Staples Easy-Button instead of typing in six easy-to-get-wrong numbers?

Is the explanation that whoever created the Dharma Initiative was insane?

815 crashed just because it was in the wrong place when Desmond didn’t type the numbers quickly enough. This disappoints me. I’d hoped there was more to it.

It’s also kinda disappointing that Desmond meeting Jack in that empty stadium so long ago was just a coincidence. Will it also turn out to be just a coincidence that Hurley and Libby were locked up together? Are the recurrences of 4 8 15 16 23 42 throughout the “Lost” universe also just coincidences? Are all these threads I thought were leading to some big fascinating conspiracy really perhaps leading nowhere at all?

Will we learn in season three’s first six episodes why The Others insisted Michael specifically bring Hurley to serve as their messenger? Will we learn why they know Sawyer’s real name? Will we learn why Jack, Kate and Sawyer were worth exchanging for Walt?

Will we learn why fake facial hair was necessary?

Will it turn out that The Others know even less about Dharma Island than Jack, Kate and Sawyer?

Will we learn what happened to that awesome world-destroying force that the now-broken Swan Station was holding back?

Will we learn why Kate believed a tiny toy airplane in a safety deposit box was worth risking her life for? Will it turn out she’s just insane as well?

All questions I, for one, am keen to see answered! They are why I watch!

(A question I’m much less keen to see answered? “How did Jack get his tattoo?” Another I can probably stand to see forever unanswered is “How did Locke get in that wheelchair?” Will it turn out that Libby or Boone or Kelvin or Kate’s cousin ran him over? Ho hum, your honor!!)

SPOILER FOR “BATTLESTAR GALACTICA” AND “LOST” FANS ALIKE: Compare and contrast, if you will, our reintroductions to Kara and Kate in episodes 3.1 of both series!!

J.J. Abrams co-wrote tonight’s script with fellow “Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof. It’s the first “Lost” episode Abrams has written since the series’ spectacular five-star pilot.

“I just finished watching the most anticipated 43 minutes of the TV season (aka Wednesday's Lost premiere) and I'm virtually speechless,” writes TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello . “From the fraktastic opening sequence to the chilling final moments, the four-star episode (penned by Damon Lindelof and J.J. Abrams) had me teetering on the edge of my swivel chair the entire time. It easily ranks as one of the best Lost eps — possibly the best — since the pilot.”

Take up valuable bandwidth with your predictions and reactions.

Herc rips open the the new “Lost” season-set here!

Herctacular Series-Box Deals!!

Andromeda
$269.37 All Six Seasons Purchased Separately
$127.49 The Complete Series

Friends
$291.54 All Ten Seasons Purchased Separately
$194.87 The Complete Series>

Homicide: Life on the Street
$505.94 All Seven Seasons Purchased Separately
$209.99 The Complete Series

M*A*S*H
$335.67 All Eleven Seasons Purchased Separately
$139.99 The Complete Series (includes the Robert Altman Movie!!)

Six Feet Under
$382.27 All Five Seasons Purchased Separately
$195.99: The Complete Series

The Twilight Zone
$453.95 All Five Seasons Purchased Separately
$224.99 The Complete Series

The West Wing
$296.91 All Seven Seasons Purchased Separately
$209.99 The Complete Series