I'm just barely sinking into Season 6 (only seen the premiere), but seeing how yesterday was the Season 4 finale for this thread, I thought I'd pop in with some thoughts on that season as a whole.
When I first found out that the remaining seasons were significantly shorter than the first three, I was a little more than worried. I mean, you've got a cast of ~16 characters and ~24 episodes any given season. That should have gave each character 1 or 2 focus episodes, yes, but with some characters getting 2 or 3 or even 4 a season, and others (Shannon, Libby) getting none, it makes the 14-episode Season 4 run look rather… tiny.
And then you get a couple episodes centered around the Oceanic Six... and at least one additional episode for each of them, and you've already exhausted half of your episodes on that storyline. Keep in mind you've just introduced FOUR new main characters to the story, and you've still got the likes of Ben, Juliet, Desmond, and Locke to focus on as well. As you can see, there just isn't any room for the necessary Sawyer or Claire episode.
But who cares? Season 4 was probably even better than season 1! It was the most exciting, most engaging set of episodes yet, and I can't even begin to explain what makes them all incredible. From the top, the flash-forwards are interesting enough, but the star of the season is the offshore freighter and the wedge it drives in the survivors', pitting Jack against Locke, Kate against Sawyer, and more.
The freighter did bring with it some of the better characters the series has had. I really enjoyed all five of the main freighterfolk (I want more Naomi!), with Faraday the most intriguing, but you've also got to give credit where it's due: that freighter, in all its good, brought with it the most vile creature on the planet: Keamy.
And it was brilliant. He was so instantly unlikeable and after "The Shape of Things to Come", I absolutely loathed him. I wanted nothing more than for him to die, at any cost, so I really felt Ben in the finale (despite the freighter having a ton of cool dudes on it). So as much as I wanted him to survive to keep the others alive, I do think my desire for him to just die already won out. Such a brilliant villain!
And all of the emotion. All of the payoff. I just lost all of my shit at the end of The Constant. It's still my favorite scene to date because HOLY FUCKING SHIT it just warms my heart and makes up for everything ever. And then they drop 4x08's ending on me, and finish it up with the glorious The Shape of Things to Come. I cried more for that character than some of the main cast because it was just such a pitiful, unnerving, wholly undeserved death. Sure, it was necessary, and I feel the show was better for it, but it just encited so many volatile emotions.
And then they gave us the finale. Unfortunately, we live in a world where not only "Through the Looking Glass" exists, but also "The Incident", so to call "There's No Place Like Home" the most amazing finale ever would be simply false. But it's still up there, and I enjoyed all of it. "You can go now, Michael" is probably going to be my favorite line in the entire series, and Sun's screams at the end were utterly bonechilling. Fantastic acting. It was so raw, I don't know why I'm not crying now. :cwy: Wait, I am.
Speaking of great acting, Sawyer's character development had me a little chilly at first, but I really warmed up to his relationship with Claire so much that I can't help but love the guy even more (and Season 5 cemented him as the best character ever too!). It was too good. All in all, any doubt I had about this being one of the, if not THE, best shows ever has been completely dispelled in a single, masterfully-paced season. I'm glad it was a shortened season, because it kept the show strong throughout, not to mention the fact that this was the first season with an end date hammered out from the getgo, and the fact that the flash forwards were still fresh and novel. I do want to mention that it did feel slightly rushed at times, but that is at no fault to the show, because of that infamous writer's strike killing three of the season's episodes.
SO, yeah, bravo! \o/