Typically, the second-to-last episode of every season of “Lost” has never really been the calm before the storm, but rather the storm before the storm, which makes tonight’s episode difficult to write about. It’s not that it wasn’t good, but that when compared to past seasons, it just wasn’t quite as spectacular. Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof have always done a great job with getting all of their ducks in a row before the big two-hour finale, but while they’ve done that here again, it was unusually mediocre.

I mean, sure, we now know that Faraday is officially dead, but couldn’t they have at least pretended to try and revive him? I find it hard to believe that a little kid that was shot twice by a trained soldier can be miraculously resurrected hours later, and yet Faraday dies within seconds of being shot once in the back. Perhaps it’s just my disappointment over his death, but for a show that has done a relatively good job with logic, that has got to be one of the most illogical things that has ever happened. Obviously, it had to happen or Eloise would have never agreed to help Jack blow up the island’s electromagnetic power source, but it sucks nonetheless.

Thankfully, the episode had some really cool moments as well, the best of which included the return of Sayid when he popped out of the bushes to save Jack and Kate from a mob of angry Others with guns. Sayid’s been gone in the wild for so many weeks that I nearly forgot he was even absent in the first place, but it’s nice to have him back. And if anyone was going to help Jack detonate Jughead, you can bet your ass it was going to be Sayid. Aside from Jack during the early years, Sayid has been the number one supporter of all things anti-island, so it isn’t at all surprising that he’d jump at the chance for a clean slate. Of course, the chance that it’s actually going to work is pretty doubtful because, well, there’s a whole another season left to go. (Then again, wouldn’t it be brilliant on the part of Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof to end the show a year earlier than expected?)

Okay, maybe not, but Sawyer clearly knows that his time is up on the island, and instead of sitting around to wait for the Others to commit Dharma genocide, he’s decided to play things smart by trading information on the Others’ location for his and Juliet’s ticket off the island. Judging by next week’s preview, that isn’t going to last long, and it’ll be curious to see how the other Losties take Sawyer’s selfish decision to save his own skin. At least, Hurley seemed to thing he had a backup plan anyway, but with Dr. Chang rushing to evacuate the island, that should really be the least of his worries. Get on the damn submarine Hugo, and while you’re at it, make sure to grab Jin and Miles too. Lord knows the last thing we need is for another fan favorite to kick the bucket.

I’d be remiss to end things here without any mention of Locke, but his story tonight was sadly little more than a teaser for the finale. There was a lot of talk about Jacob – heck, Locke even invited the rest of the Others to come meet him – but we still don’t know who exactly he is. Ben claims he never actually met him, but there’s no way he doesn’t exist, so what’s the big secret? Whatever it is, Richard is definitely starting to think twice about handing Locke the keys to the leadership. I don’t think he ever thought he was actually capable, but now, Locke plans to murder the one man that gives Richard and the rest of the Others a purpose on the island. In the words of Ben Linus: “Why do you think I tried to kill him?”