the "lost" season four finale: miracles, endings and beginnings

The Oceanic Six make their way to safety, but in true family systems fashion, what looks like a solution is actually a problem. The end of season four was very satisfying, even if it did raise more questions than were answered. Such as:

1. How can John Locke and Jeremy Bentham be the same person?
2. What does it mean that Christian Shepherd appears to everyone just prior to death?
3. Ben wants the Oceanic Six to return to the island, and yet Claire urges Kate not to go back, or, to be more precise, not to take Aaron back?
4. Are Desmond and Penny together? Is it too good to be true?
5. To what location has the island moved?
6. Why does John Locke plead with Jack to lie about the island?

The series is set to continue its exploration of the relationship (and power struggle) between Jack Shepard, the rational, somewhat controlling leader of the survivors and John Locke (or is he Jeremy Bentham), the philosopher/explorer/mystic/wounded healer. The others are along for reasons having to do with romance and adventure (Kate), humor (Hurley), espionage (Sayid) and honor (Sun).

As an aside, in my denomination "Lost" would get very high marks for multicultural representation. Think of the survivors of the Oceanic Six: three males, two females, an Asian, a Middle-Easterner, and one under 30. But, as my younger daughter reminds me, it was a Transatlantic Flight.

In the meantime, the show will go on, at least until 2010. As Ed Friedman, of blessed memory, once said, "what looks like an ending is actually a beginning".