After eight long months off the air, “Lost” is finally back… well, for eight weeks anyways. With the writer’s strike rearing its ugly head midway through production, it looks like fans will have to endure yet another lengthy wait for the remainder of season four. Still, it’s nice to have one of my favorite shows back in rotation. Sure, I probably complain more than anyone when it comes to the chronic inconsistencies of J.J. Abrams’ island drama, but when it comes down to it, there’s no denying that “Lost” has continued to captivate me, through good times and bad.

For the time being, it appears the flash-forward is the new flashback, and this is probably the best news of the season. There weren’t many memorable flashbacks last year, so the integration of this new parallel storytelling device is tantalizing at the very least. I don’t expect the flashbacks to be completely discontinued (then again, maybe they will be), but I wouldn’t expect one to crop up for quite some time.

Speaking of which, tonight’s episode opened with yet another flash-forward – this time starring Hurley. As Jack goes about his daily morning routine (i.e. drinking a glass of OJ spiked with a little vodka), he turns on the local news station to see Hurley in a high-speed pursuit with the police. After crashing into a convenience store and being arrested (all while shouting “Don’t you know who I am? I’m one of the Oceanic Six!”), it’s more or less confirmed that Hurley has gone a bit insane. When the detective in charge of the arrest mentions that he knew Ana Lucia, Hurley denies ever meeting her, and instead pleads for a transfer to the nut house. It’s there that he’s visited by Matthew Abaddon (Lance Reddick, from HBO’s “The Wire”), a man Hurley doesn’t seem to know, but who seems to know everything about him. In fact, when he asks Hurley if “they’re still alive,” the dude totally freaks out.

Not much is known about Reddick’s character, but a recent interview indicated that he was a man of power, which can only mean one thing: Dharma. As for the question itself, Abaddon definitely has to be referring to the survivors who didn’t make it off the island. This means that they’re either still alive, or all dead. I’m going to bank on the former, though, since Hurley’s future visit with Jack (sans beard and depression) seemed to indicate a need to return to the island to right their wrongs. What exactly they did is still unknown, but it’s clearly going to be the focal point of the remainder of the series.

Back in the present, the survivors are preparing for the arrival of the “rescue boat” when a recently stabbed Naomi sneaks away into the jungle. Somehow, Locke has disappeared as well – despite the fact that he was standing a mere 10 feet away from Jack moments before. More concerned with Naomi’s disappearance, Jack and Co. go into the woods looking for her. Kate manages to get separated from the group, however, and Naomi ambushes her from the trees. Again, how someone on the brink of death was able to climb up a tree is beyond me, but I digress. Naomi ends up trusting that Kate meant her no harm, and she puts in another call to her friends, who still haven’t been able to lock on to their location.

Meanwhile, the beach group (which consists of Hurley, Desmond, Sayid, Sawyer and Bernard) heads back to warn Jack about Penny’s message, but when Hurley somehow gets lost in the shuffle (discovering Jacob’s abandoned house along the way), Locke is there to lead the way. The two groups finally converge in the middle of the woods, and after the news of Charlie’s death is announced, Locke makes a speech about his plans to head to the Others’ barracks for refuge. Jack is against the idea, but after attempting to kill Locke with an unloaded gun (“You’re not going to shoot me Jack, any more than I was going to…” *click*), most of the red shirts (along with Hurley, Claire and Sawyer) join Locke in what seems to be the safer strategy of the two. This divide between Jack and Locke is probably one of my least favorite ongoing subplots, but it’s a necessary conflict for the story to progress.

The arrival of yet another pilot (Jeremy Davies) caps the end of the episode, and while it probably left most people wanting more, well, I have a pretty good feeling that next week will more than make up for the lack of action. “Lost” is back, and for once, I couldn’t be more excited by the possibilities that it brings.