I’ll be honest: Given how “Lost” has given us the best season since the first, I was prepared to be a wee bit disappointed in last night’s finale. How on earth could it live up to the hype, the speculation, the fans’ mountain-high expectations?

And I’m thrilled to be able to say that the last two hours of Season 4 totally, freakin’ rocked!!! (Whew!)

It was a pure representation of everything that makes “Lost” one of the best shows on TV: intricate storytelling (Ben moved the island!), complicated character development (formerly selfish Sawyer makes a huge sacrifice), heartfelt emotion (Sun’s screams for Jin) and nail-biting suspense (the money shot of who was in the coffin).

I mean, what other show could tell viewers who the Oceanic 6 are up front, and still keep everyone wondering about their fates?

Other series would kept the identities of the Sixers secret until the last minutes of the finale. We KNEW who was getting off the island (well, for the most part), so we were more riveted by the how and why they got off instead.

The finale delivered, too, by answering loads of questions—while offering up lots more, of course. And for once in my “Lost” life, my theories were actually correct on two counts! (More or less, anyway…) We found out which couple shared what the producers called a “spectacular” kiss and got the explanation for the “frozen donkey wheel.”

(Crack. That was me patting myself on the back, sorry!)

Anyway, let’s dive into the boiling-over pot of questions that the finale covered, shall we?

And check back with me later today for another “Lost”clue that was cleverly dropped last night—except it wasn’t hidden in the last two hours, it was in the 8 p.m. replay of the May 15 episode!

WHAT WE LEARNED

• Who’s in the coffin?

OMG. It was totally Locke. Or should we say, Jeremy Bentham? The real-life 19th-century philosopher—who believed strongly in the idea of the ends justify the means (I’ll let you analyze that one for yourself)—was greatly influenced by, you guessed it, John Locke.

Anyway, it seems that Locke visited the O6ers after they left the island (plus, Taller Non-Ghost Walt!), telling them that they had to go back. His death was supposedly suicide, but Sayid is skeptical.

But the bigger questions are: How did Locke die? How did the island “let” him die? If Ben broke the time machine to move the island, how was Locke getting on and off? And why do they have to bring him back—as per Ben’s instructions to Jack? AHHH!! Eight months until Season 5!

• What’s the frozen donkey wheel?

Turns out the secret scene that the producers referred to was an actual frozen donkey wheel buried deep beneath the Orchid station. Ben turned it to move the island to safety, but the consequence was that he was effectively banished to the real world. When we saw him mid-way through the season in the Sahara desert in a Dharma parka, he’d just woken up after that incident—but it was months later in time, October 2005.

• Who had that “spectacular” kiss?

Well, there were kind of two. Sure, that farewell smooch Sawyer gave Kate was hot, but the real passion was in the reunion of Desmond and Penny.

Didn’t you get chills when that guy on the rescue boat (named the “Searcher,” aww!) said “Miss Widmore?” BTW, that dude was Henrik, one of the guys seen at Penny’s listening station back in Season 2.

Love, love, love that these two are back together, and I’m guessing they’ll be up against Ben (who’s vowed to kill Penny) in the future. Jack was right to tell Desmond to keep his rescue a secret, saying, “Don’t let them find you.”

• Why isn’t Sawyer one of the Oceanic 6?

He was supposed to be No. 7! But darn that pesky bullet hole in the fuel tank!

Yup, our sweet Southern boy sacrificed himself for the love of Kate (and friendship of the rest) by jumping out of the helicopter to lighten the load. But not before he whispered a secret in Kate’s ear, which angers Jack later when Kate won’t tell him what it is.

We know Sawyer survived though: Hey, those writers ain’t dumb, they knew Sawyer-lovers would riot if there was even a hint that he’d died. He managed to swim back to the island, where he met Juliet swigging some Dharma rum on the beach—and watching the exploded freighter sink into the sea.

Should we expect a Juliet-Sawyer hookup down the road? After all, Sawyer probably thinks Kate and the others are dead, since that’s where the chopper was headed.

• Is Jin dead?

The last we saw of the Jin-ster (how funny, and ultimately, sad was him saying “Boom” to Desmond and Michael?) was waving frantically to the helicopter from the deck of the freighter. Sun’s screams to go back for him are still haunting me.

I suppose he has a better shot at survival than Michael, who was right next to the explosives and got the “go ahead and die” call from Christian Shephard. But it doesn’t look good for Jin, either.

And who exactly does Sun blame for Jin’s death, besides her father? At first I thought it was Jack, who tells her they can’t go back for him. But maybe Charles Widmore, since he sent Keamy and the freighter in the first place?

Her confrontation with Widmore was ambiguous. Is she really trying to help him, as he thinks? I thought no way, but then again, could she be trying to align herself with Widmore against Ben? He was the one who detonated the explosives by killing Keamy, not caring who he killed on the boat.

• Why does the Oceanic 6 have to lie?

It seems a little weak to me, but Jack sort of explained it at the very end. They can’t tell the world about what happened on the real island, because Widmore would go back and try to kill the rest of the survivors. They’re lying to protect their friends. So they enlist Penny in helping with their cover story.

Yet, doesn’t Widmore know they’re lying? That’s what doesn’t make sense to me. And why exactly does Kate have to pose as Aaron’s biological mother? And why did there have to be three others from the crash, who survived, then died?

(More on that later today, a replay of last night’s Part I of the finale included a reedited version of the O6 press conference, where Jack revealed the identities of those three people and other info!)

• What’s up with the Freighter Four?

We were first introduced to Frank, Charlotte, Daniel and Miles at the top of the season, but the strike prevented the show from going much into their back stories. We’ll see more on them next season.

In the meantime, we know that Miles and Charlotte are still on the island (and Charlotte was apparently born there!), Daniel is presumably stranded in the ocean somewhere now that the island’s moved and the freighter’s exploded. Frank is on Penny’s boat, destination unknown.

Well, Lost-philes, that’s a wrap of the recap.

Of course, I’ll be report other tidbits as they begin to trickle in. You know they will, as folks more addicted than I start picking apart every scene!

(And again, I do have more info coming in later today on that re-edited Oceanic press conference scene…)

But for the most part, we’re going to be in near radio silence until next year. SOB! I can’t believe we’ve got to wait eight months for more “Lost” goodness.

But good things come to those who wait, right? Here’s hoping….

Enjoy your “Lost” break, everyone. See you back here soon.

(Photos courtesy of ABC)