Season three has been a tumultuous time for Lost. I've stuck with the show the whole time, and hey, most people did. If you're reading this, I bet you did too. But I also bet you've heard plenty of griping and complaining about how the show wasn't what it used to be. And as much as hearing that drives me crazy, you know what? There are plenty of legitimate reasons. The messed up schedule and time slot change, for one. But creatively, too - in really quite a large gamble, the show has shortchanged some of its classic characters in favor of a bunch of untested new ones. Not only that, but we've had to deal with many episodes that focused on only two or three regulars and left the rest unseen.

And then there's the big one I always point out, the inherent structural problem in shows like this: as much as people say they want answers, they really don't. What drew people to Lost in the first place were the mysteries of the characters and the sense of wonder about the island. In other words, anything could happen. But when stuff actually starts to happen, the possibilities grow more narrow, and the sense of wonder is inherently diminished.

All this is a big lead-up to say that Lost is on the rebound. The breaking news story about the show's scheduled endpoint will do a lot to silence the relentless naysayers that say the writers don't know what they're doing. But more to the point, the episodes have been excellent for the past few weeks. We're past the occasionally-meandering mid-season stretch and can now vaguely see the finish line in the distance.

This episode, called "The Brig," was further proof that Lost has some of the best writers working on television. It oozed with high tension, crackling dialogue, and a heck of a cool mood. It's the kind of episode one senses the writers had planned for a long time, and relished the chance to finally write.

And you know what? There were no major revelations or colossal events relating to the island. The one big revelation was one that many fans have guessed for a while. It was a good, old-fashioned character-driven episode. But instead of character development, this was all about the payoff.

The long and the short of it: Locke's dad is the original Sawyer. The man responsible for the deaths of the parents of one James Ford. And Mr. Ford, locked with this man inside a 100+ degree room on a dynamite-laden ancient slave ship in the middle of a jungle, fulfilled his lifelong personal destiny and killed him. It felt like some kind of deep-south revenge legend. It felt almost mythical.

In other words, really cool.

Sorry for all the hyperbole, but I don't feel it's unwarranted. The plot was handled perfectly with an overload of cool moments. The nickname Sawyer? Actually derived from Tom Sawyer, adding to the southern-fried literary feel. (The conversation between the two Sawyers was also a case study in character sympathy: the writers made sure to make Locke's dad a complete jackass so we wouldn't be upset with Sawyer for killing him.) The almost humorous exchange between Locke and an errand-running Rousseau? Undoubtedly a plant for the season finale. And how cool was Locke's dad/Anthony Cooper/Tom Sawyer's own theory that he was in Hell? Sure, I think he's wrong, but it added to the mythic quality of the story, and just look at it from his point of view: he's in a massive car accident, blacks out in the ambulance, and the next thing he knows, he's tied up in an invasively hot environment where he meets his confirmed-dead son. Brilliant.

I'm being way too wordy tonight so I'm going to shift over to the subplot before I talk this thing to death. Here we have loads of island intrigue with generous helpings of secrets and subtle power struggles. Faith in Jack has been lost by an ever-growing number of original crash survivors, and smartly, Sayid is brought in to call the shots. We find out for with a reasonable amount of certainty that Naomi is not one of the others, and that potential rescue is waiting some 130 clicks away. (Did I get that right? Not like I know what a click is anyway.) Of course, then Kate ruins it: still playing the jealous needy chick, she goes and blabs to Jack in her steadfast refusal to assume he's been compromised in any way. As annoyed I was at her by this, it wasn't a problem of plausibility. They set up her motivation well. In a story as complex as Lost's, they're still able to achieve flawless cause-and-effect. It's something at which shows like the currently-trendier Heroes consistently falter.

So. My big personal question is, how does this episode effect Sawyer's fate? His character arc has been quite solidly wrapped up; does that mean the island will claim him as another victim soon? I certainly hope not. They could go plenty of good directions with him - newfound guilt and penance over being a murderer, combined with an emerging role as an island leader - and besides, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot, ratings-wise. Popularity shouldn't dictate the fate of major characters, but...well, yeah, it should.

The other burning questions: what did Jack mean when he asked Juliet "should we tell her?" Will Locke find his way back to the Others? (By the way, I have renewed faith in him - apparently the death of his father really did clear his mind, as he seemed level-headed about his developing integration among the Others. Plus, nice move giving Sawyer the Juliet-damning tape.) And what, exactly, is Rousseau planning on doing with that dynamite?