Do you remember as a kid how much fun jigsaw puzzles were at first, and then some asshole decided to give you the deluxe monster puzzle with ten thousand pieces? Not that you couldn't manage, but "why bother".

I discovered Lost when a friend lent me the box sets for seasons 1 and 2. I was hooked - the show was like crack at first. Then I spent seasons 3 and 4 chasing the dragon, like most people, and unfortunately they didn't quite measure up, or perhaps the novelty had just worn off. The first few seasons had only a few simple parallel plots that always managed to come back around and intersect one another in some interesting way and leave you wanting more.

Season 5 just began after a long break and writer's strike troubles, making viewers rack their brains trying to remember what even happened last season, and whether they still care. The new season started off with a double episode involving seemingly 25 different parallel plots, and every 30 seconds there's someone with their back to the camera doing the "look at my back - you can't see me and I'm mysterious" thing, and when they turn around to reveal themselves like some daytime soap gimmick, it's supposed to be a big deal.

Sadly, like a codependent girlfriend - which pretty much describes anyone still watching - since I already have so much time invested, I will stick around until the end good or bad and in the hopes it gets better, and that all the random puzzle pieces actually amount to something.

Anyone else still watching? What do you think of the new season so far?