So he can be with his true love, Penny. They have a collective purpose together...perhaps for the same reason they all had to be on Ajira. For some reason they all work together as a whole. Maybe Desmond can't have what he wants unless he helps everybody else get what they need.

before he sliced jacob, ben's statement acknowleged that he got the lists thru richard

and it's not much reason for widmore to make up a story and then die...that would be silly writing in the next to last episode

So I guess the big Question mark on the blast door map must be were the Cave Light is.

In a way. I think that's part of the lies of the lives they are leading in the sideways flashes, though. They certainly made another point to show Jack's scar he got when the bomb went off. They are driving the point in front of us that even though the sideways stuff is in the "past" the characters bear the scars of something that happened in the "future."

Again, in regards to the separate realities question: Look how JJ Abrams ended Felicity.

It's an insult to our intelligence. And I can't help but think that if more us loudly complained, rather than accepting things these past two or three seasons while continually believing and accepting that the writers and producers had it all figured out, it may have turned out better. Count me as one of those guilty. Disappointing.

Only after an episode long of a trial and flash back scenes as past characters testify against him. Final scene: Desmond in jail complaining about Jack's button.

You'll have to put that in spoilers for me, as I missed it.

oh shit

they're all headed to chang's museum for the wrap party...

thats how the show ends

That.

Also, I don't see how rewatching this series from the beginning can be anything other than a monumental chore given what we know now.

great episode tonight. I have a hard time accepting richard is dead... next to desmond and hurley he's arguably the most popular character on the show.

pre-emptive "can't wait!" for the finale.

To those of you thinking the two timelines will merge in a literal sense (as opposed to a mental state merging as we saw with past Desmond and future Desmond in the Contant) I am curious to know how that would be a satisfactory ending? It would amount to the sideways stuff meaning nothing at all and the Losties would be stuck on the island with memories of their time in alt-2004 where they were free of Jacob's influence and living somewhat happy lives, or at least as happy as somebody can be in the real world without the island and Jacob's influence.

As long as we see Flight Time and Big Easy on Sunday I'll be happy.

could the "concert" = Jimmy Kimmel Live?

Fwiw, I don't think this happens. Does anybody?

Personally, I try not to think too much about it, but if I had to formulate a thought it would be that they are separate impactful realities. Guess we'll see soon enough.

now that jack has his mystical powers, maybe he can learn to dry his body off before he puts on a shirt

The American Idol finale.

I'm fairly new to this show (just in the last 9-10 months) and this show just keeps getting better and better as far as I'm concerned. No chore about it.

Thanks.

Though I hope this isn't the case.

Here's another theory: what if David is MIB? Think about it for a minute...we never got his name maybe because we would get the reveal later on: DAVID. Genetically he will be Jack's and Juliet's kid and MIB inhabits him some how. It's out of left field...the idea isn't really concrete and thought out yet. He just wants to leave...he's not that evil. Off the wall...but I wanted to put it out there. It makes more sense to me than Aaron being MIB. Obviously there are those of you who think MIB will be a kid off island...so why not David?

I personally think it would be a great ending...I am not sure why so many seem opposed to it. It beats the hell out of them stuck on the island remembering the sideways flashes and not being able to do a damn thing about it. Now that would suck.

How do you want it to end?

I thought it through being two separate realities. Aside from the fact that Cuse and Lindlehof seem to make a point to let us know it's different from what we think of alternate realities, it just doesn't work with the way the show's rules have been so far, and that's "What happens happens" but we see the rules can be changed in episodes like the Constant. Past Desmond getting Penny to call future Desmond changed the what happens happens paradigm without creating two different realities.

The creators of the show like to screw with our minds...I just don't think in the last hours of this series they are going to pull a two realities type thing on us where it's like a Star Trek Mirror Universe or something. They are answering questions (sort of!)...not setting us up for more mysteries. They established the rules for the game already...why the change now?

Man that ticks me off when he does that...

I can't wait to get the complete series set in my hands and watch this all over again.

I can't wait for the complete series because I hear it will have a bonus disc that will have an apology from the writers for telling us they knew what they were doing from the beginning.