Utterly Lost and confused

Note: If you've never watched Lost, you'll be...lost...in this post. Scroll on past - better content up tonight.

It's not as if Lost hasn't tried to confuse, unsettle and surprise us, but last night's season finale was pretty convoluted.

Let's start with the (very) few things I had guessed ahead of time and got right (or close to it):

The statue was indeed an Egyptian god, but not Anubis; from the snout it was immediately evident (I read a lot of Egyptology-related fiction, and some things stick) it was the crocodile god, Sobek, god of fertility and childbirth. Hmmm - broken statue, plus women on the island no longer able to carry a pregnancy to term? Someone ticked off Sobek.

Sawyer chose Juliet, and would have stayed with her forever. This was one of the sweetest moments of the night - the professional con man making a true commitment out of selflessness rather than for personal gain.

As for the rest...surprises, speculation, revelation:

It's unfair to introduce a new character in the finale. Not the incarnation of Jacob we finally saw, but the person talking to him in the first scene on the beach. My guess is that people are correct: Smokie is inhabiting dead bodies (this guy, Locke, Christian). Smokie wants to kill Jacob, but for some reason cannot (unless, as Jacob says, he can find a "loophole", which leads me to think Smokie (or whoever) is under a curse of some sort).

Nice nod to the fans to show what became of Vincent, Rose and Bernard. Loved Rose and Bernard's reaction to seeing the others - "All this time and you're still shooting people?".

Jacob in the scenes from the Losties' pre-Oceanic 815 lives - I didn't see him in the scene with young Juliet - did I miss something?

Is it just me, or have the last couple of weeks been exceptionally bloody and violent? It seems as if the level of on-screen mayhem has increased dramatically, and not always because it's needed for dramatic effect. Kate brushing away the blood on Jack's face was just...yuck. Unnecessary.

Stupid bomb. Talk about a let down - the expression on everyone's faces when it didn't detonate on impact - priceless. Juliet's reaction was absolutely understandable - if she hadn't started pounding on it, I would have tried.

If, as Richard said, only the leader can go see Jacob, and if, as speculated, "Locke" is really Smokie in a Locke incarnation, then ... Ben is still the leader of the Others? As much as I disliked superior, snide, lying Ben, he was a darn sight better than the current whining, sniveling, snarky Ben.

I'm willing to bet next season will start right back on flight 815.