Wow. I don't even know where to begin. First I've never written a teaser for a review before, but this episode clearly deserves one, and it'll probably be a while before my review for the final two parts goes live.
Although the season may have ended officially May 22nd, it didn't really end until the two part finale of the best season of "Lost" yet aired. "There's No Place Like Home Parts 2 & 3" had just about everything you could ask for. Some great action sequences (Sayid and Keamy's epic fight), long awaited answers (Locke is the man in the coffin after all), added bodies (RIP Keamy, Michael, Jin (?) and Locke (who may be pulling a Christian)), romance (Desmond & Penny at last!) and the mystery that "Lost" expertly pulls off. There were so many cheers, gasps and one major tearjerker. By the end I was exhausted in the best way possible. This is the early leader of my favorite episode for 2008 (Ball's in your court "Battlestar Galactica").
It'll probably be a while before the review goes online, since this episode demands several rewatchings and will likely be longer than any review previously, dethroning my review of last season's finale, the current title holder. But this has priority over my retro reviews I promise at least that.
For a TV season that was filled with several lows, mainly the writer's strike cutting down many shows' orders and benching several favorites ("24") or several favorites underperforming ("The Wire", "The Office" & "Heroes"), this season stood out even more. The shortened season, added to the knowledge of the show's end date, made the writing tighter with fewer "filler" moments. This episode is a perfect example of that: luckily there were commercials to catch my breath and scoot back from the edge of my seat.
If my initial judgment stands, this season will end with an average of 8.57, a tremendous achievement that few shows will likely touch. Put that in perspective, the other show I reviewed this season, "Heroes", ended its mediocre second season just above dead average at 7.09. Not to mention 3 episodes got the coveted "Perfect 10" score. This episode cemented this season as the best yet and one of the best seasons of television in recent memory.
Preliminary score: 10/10
