Lost: Season Five [Blu-Ray]

With bated breath, Losties anticipate the show's February 2010 return, when the endgame of mainstream TV's most ambitious undertaking finally finishes its six-year journey. As a result, it's difficult not to view this season five box set with an itching, burning need for answers. That aside, this season certainly picks up the necessary narrative speed required, as it provides both answers (the Oceanic 6 return to the island) and, as always, more questions (the nature of fate vs. destiny turns out the be the show's primary one). And having mastered the narrative challenges of flashbacks and flash-forwards, Lost's brain trust leap into the deep end: time travel. Looking back, it retains remarkable cohesion through this most tricky minefield; it works because the island's mythology has become richly detailed over four previous seasons, so meeting Rousseau, for example, as a young woman first arriving on the island, or a young Charles Widmore or Daniel Faraday's mom rewards the obsessive viewing that this show has fostered. On a five-disc Blu-Ray (and also DVD) set, the show smartly lets you temper your level of engagement ― interested fans can enjoy relatively straightforward extras, such as following actor Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert) on a near-24-hour final shooting day, or checking out on-location mini-features that highlight the epic scope of this production. But it presents a rabbit hole as deep as you want to delve down as well, with a just-launched, interactive "Lost University" feature, as well as more in-depth looks at the influences and mysteries the show illuminates. It looks terrific, the storytelling is at an all-time high and for once, the show's look, cast and writers are up to the task of its ambitions, leaving other serialized, sci-fi-oriented shows in its dust. Yet that nagging feeling remains ― that you're being given last year's delights when all you can think about is what's to come. But buying it now will just save time and investment for the inevitable Lost re-watching, which is sure to be all the more rewarding when the story is finally complete. Plus: deleted scenes, bloopers, commentaries, more.