Besides being a little freaked to find the guy who played an abusive ex-husband on Dexter now playing the mysterious figure who runs Lost's island, Jacob, I had a few thoughts about Wednesday's appropriately mind-bending, two-hour Season Five finale, "The Incident."

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

--Somehow, dark-shirted Titus Welliver -- who popped up in the episode's opening moments as a politely murderous foil to Jacob -- morphed into John Locke to manipulate Ben into killing Jacob.

--Vowing to find a "loophole" allowing him to kill Jacob, Welliver's character must somehow be prevented from killing Jacob himself. Thus the manipulation of Ben, until now the show's best manipulator. Ironies abound.

--Jacob (Mark Pellegrino, left), who spent most of the episode visiting our Losties at various stages in their lives, seemed to engineer the events leading to final scene -- down to saving Locke's life at a key point, despite likely knowing this might lead to his own death. And the whole final scene turns on one man's free will; his choice to do well or ill.

--Which makes me think Jacob is Jesus Christ (or Lost's equivalent), while Titus' unnamed shape-shifter is a manipulative Devil. Blame seven years of religious school education for the free will angle on all matters spiritual.

--Because Ben killed Jacob while following a vision brought by the smoke monster -- I'm sure I've lost all but the most hardy Lost fans already -- stands to reason this Devil figure is also the monster.

--I'm sure it's just me, but every time Matthew Fox's damaged hero Jack or Evangeline Lily's bad girl Kate hits the screen, I'm ready to fall asleep, hit fast forward or take a potty break.

--Because there's a Season Six coming, we know Jack's eventually successful plan to set off a nuclear bomb in the past to stop the plane crash that first stranded our Losties on the island must not have had the desired effect. If not, what's Season Six going to be about?   

--One mind-bending time travel question: Was Jacob in his present when he visited the Losties in their past lives (he saw Kate, for example, as a child and rescued Locke after he fell from a building)? Or were we seeing flashbacks to things he'd done, far in advance, to draw them to the island? And is there any difference?

--Why did Jacob select these particular people, especially the aforementioned, super-annoying Kate and Jack?

--Will Lost boil down to an eternal struggle between two supernatural beings over the true nature of man?

--How will any finale -- even the season-long wind-down planned for next year -- explain all this mess?

--How can we wait until 2010 for more?

Read some interesting takes by my pals and fellow Lost nerds at the Chicago Tribune, Time magazine and the Newark Star Ledger.

Here's a look at that compelling final scene, in which Locke's true nature is revealed and Ben takes on Jacob. *