Still, I have questions heading into tonight's season-five finale -- lots and lots of questions to which I demand answers. Who's Jacob? What's going on with those freaky-deaky whispers? Can you alter the past? Will Evangeline Lilly ever date me?

I'm not alone when it comes to such frenzied queries. Many staffers at MTV News are hardcore junkies of the show, and they shared their "Lost"-ian hopes and dreams heading into this evening's action.

Splash Page Editor Rick Marshall: While there's a part of me that really wants to know where Richard Alpert gets all that eyeliner, the comic book geek in me is focused entirely on the mysteries of the Smoke Monster. Now that there's been some explanation of where the polar bears came from and both the Dharma Initiative and the Others, the last remaining mysteries that seem to have supernatural roots are the natures of Jacob and the Smoke Monster. And with so much explained away by science and backstory the last few seasons (I'm lumping time travel in with the "science-based" explanations for island mysteries), the last vestige of the really, truly scary atmosphere of that tremendous first season is the Smoke Monster. Part of me wants to know the truth tonight, but there's another part of me that wants that mystery to wait until the final episode of "Lost" -- saving the best of the island's mysteries for last.

Rock Editor James Montgomery: To be honest, I'm kind of hoping they put all this time-hopping to rest (and from everything I've read so far, it sounds like they will). It's not as if I didn't enjoy watching portions of the show's past overlap with its present -- re-seeing Claire giving birth to Aaron in the jungle, or Locke leading Richard Alpert to the plane, etc. etc. etc. -- and I like how we've found out the backstory on Widmore and Faraday and Miles, it's just that ... well, the time-tripping is sort of the straw that broke the camel's back. Things are too confusing (even by "Lost" standards), and it seems like, rather than answering a whole bunch of questions, the writers are only introducing more.

But probably my biggest problem is that the whole time-travel element has shifted the focus away from -- IMHO -- the most compelling piece of "Lost": the island itself. What originally drew me in was the Smoke Monster, the polar bear, the hatches, the hieroglyphics. What is this place? Why are all these things here? We've had almost none of that this season (though, I have a suspicion we might get to the bottom of the four-toed statue on tonight's finale). So, basically, I want a return to the "Lost" of old -- less sci-fi/electromagnetic/record-skipping mumbo jumbo, more mystery ... more polar bears! Oh, and the writers can totally kill off Kate if they want to. Or Hurley. I hate them both.

Senior Copy Editor Sabrina Rojas Weiss: I'm gonna come out with it -- I'm totally a "Lost" 'shipper', as in, all the time travel and ghosty stuff is cool, but deep down, I'm really more invested in what's happening with the characters' relationships. How girly, right? So, my burning questions for the season finale: How's Sawyer going to handle the catfight that's about to go down between Kate and Juliet? Will Sun and Jin ever have a chance to get back to the same decade? If Sayid and Jack can indeed change history, does that mean none of these people ever meet? And will we get to see Sayid swim and/or take his shirt off a few more times over the course of the upcoming two-hour episode?

Production Assistant Adam Murphy: Obviously everyone wants to figure out the whole Jacob/Richard Alpert connection (yawn ... ) but honestly, I don't expect much. Would it be too much to ask for Jack to get cornered by the Black Smoke and a herd of polar bears to die a grizzly death? Personally, I look forward to Kate breaking the deafening awkward silence on the submarine to tell Juliet, "Remember that time Sawyer and I boned when we were in your weird psychological torture prison at the beginning of season three? That was awesome."

"Detox" Production Assistant Joel Hanek: You know what I would love to see? I hope they finally reveal they are mutants -- as in "X-Men" mutants. The parallels are uncanny! (Uncanny, wah-wah.)

Sawyer is Wolverine: Not only is he also scruffy and sports an interesting hair choice, he has also assumed the identity of his parents' assassin. As far as his group dynamic goes -- he's the outsider who always seems to stifle himself by having to backtrack to do the right thing. Plus the nicknames ("Bub", etc.). If Sawyer is Wolverine, then Jack is Scott Summers (aka Cyclops). The normally cool and collected leader has a short fuse for the rebel with claws and can't stand choosing impulse over logic. It's the same thing with Jack and Sawyer, the two protagonists can't get along. Not to mention the tension between the two is always there because of the girl (Wolverine/Cyclops and Jean Grey; Sawyer/Jack and Kate).