Things are moving fast and furious as “Lost” approaches the start of Season 6. The panel at the Television Critics Association press tour only fueled the speculative fire for the show’s final season. Make sure to read Zap2it’s live reaction from the event here.

Go ahead, I’ll wait.

No, it’s fine, I have a snack here.

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With Season 6 just around the corner, we’re starting a new series here at Zap2it. My colleague Rick Porter has graciously agreed to step in on a weekly basis and debate a singular topic with me over email. I, in turn, will post our back-and-forth emails in one singular blog entry for general perusal. Once the season starts, we’ll be looking at burning topics in the previous episode, but for now, we’re breaking out topics that we’ve informally been discussing during our weekly mani/pedi/karaoke outings. Let The Great “Lost” debates begin!

Ryan McGee: So Rick, thanks for stepping up to go toe-to-toe on a regular basis as “Lost” kicks off its sixth and final season. I’ve been reading your work here on Zap2it for a while, and though we’ve never met, I’m not ashamed to say I have a picture of you in my locker. But mostly, I’m excited for the chance to get an additional voice here on the blog. Because if we can’t blog together, we’re going to die alone. So what’s on your mind as the season approaches?

Rick Porter: My pleasure, Ryan — and it’s good to know that the “R + R 4-eva!” doodles in my reporter’s notebook haven’t been for naught.

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OK, “Lost” fans, today’s topic is one I never thought I’d have to address. Seems to me this puppy was put to bed three years ago, but as season 6 approaches, so does this topic. Damn zombie puppy topic.

The topic? The future of “Lost” after season 6. No, really. Despite all the hoopla about landing an end date to the show during season 3, and how that decision directly impacted the storytelling ever since, ABC/Dinsey suddenly seems insistent that the show will go on, not unlikel Celine Dion’s cold, black heart. Quoting from this Variety article on the matter:

“We’ve been talking about this for a couple of years now,” says ABC marketing exec VP Mike Benson. “We want to keep it alive but make sure we maintain the integrity of the franchise. We’re not about milking this thing for all that it is right now; it’s important to see this live for years to come.”

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As a person who deems himself eminently quotable, I enjoyed putting together a gallery of The Top 25 “Lost” Quotes. OK, maybe I’m not as quotable as luminaries such as Ben Linus, James Ford, and Hugo Reyes, but can they make as many unintentional typos as me? HA! I THOUGHT NOT!

A few quickies about the gallery before getting to the link:

I thought that trying to rank them from 25 – 1 seemed a bit silly. Of all the Top 25 galleries we’ve putting together in anticipation of Season 6, this seemed the most subjective. In addition, while there are a host of characters on the show, that number dwarfs in comparison to the sheer amount of dialogue produced on the show.

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A host of “Lost” fans are going all Dan Brown on a recent promotional photo for season 6. You’ve probably seen it by now: It’s the cast of the show arranged in the manner of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, “The Last Supper.” But since it debuted in Us Weekly, I honestly didn’t pay it much analytical heed. Next thing you know, I’d have to be posting entries like, “Lostaways: They’re Just Like Us!”

But now the promotional still has showed up on ABC’s press site, so we can assume that the network either created the image and sold it to Us Weekly like so many Jonas Brothers wedding photos or recognized the buzz surrounding it and put it at the forefront of its own marketing campaign. Personally, the behind-the-scenes machinations don’t interest me much. I want to know if there’s something in here we can glean heading into Season 6.

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Let’s be honest: when drawing up a list of All-Time Great “Lost” episodes, few fans would put “Fire+Water” on their lists. Not every show can be consistently made of win, and by most accounts, “Fire+Water” is made of more maudlin stuff. But the “Light vs. Dark” series might just give this episode a little bit of redemption. After all, the series is all about looking back at older episodes of “Lost” and seeing if Jacob or The Man in Black might have had a hand in previously inscrutable moments in the show’s history.

So let’s take a gander back at Charlie’s dream in this less-than-stellar episode. Might have either of the show’s Island Titans had a hand when the Driveshaft bass player dreamed a little dream?

The Episode: “Fire+Water“

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Over the past five seasons of “Lost,” more than a few seismic events have happened that changed either the course or the very nature of how we as an audience view the show. Finding the hatch. Turning the fail safe key. “Not Penny’s boat.” Flaming Frogurt. The list goes on and on.

But we’re not going to deal with those big moments in today’s edition of “Six in Six.” We’re going to look at the little things that might just become a huge deal in the show’s final episodes.

Each episode of “Lost” is overstuffed with items, actions, and events that either don’t garner attention on first viewing or quickly fade out of the forefront of our memory when analyzing the show as a whole. Some items, such as the on-screen shout-outs to major and minor works of literature, send fans scrambling to Al Gore’s interwebs in order to glean insight to the show. But the following six things aren’t getting enough attention, in my opinion, in terms of looking at the shape of things to come in Season 6.

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Let the debate begin, “Lost” fans! Thanks to your input, I’ve compiled the 25 greatest characters in the show’s history. Now, lists like this are naturally subjective, so there’s no way to make everyone happy. But hopefully I’ve minimized the number of people that will storm my house wielding pitchforks and Hot Pockets.

Now, before getting to the list proper, a few honorable mentions:

Matthew Abaddon: Fascinating when introduced, but never fully paid off narratively. He might re-enter the picture should he make an appearance or three in Season 6, but for now, his untimely death in “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” still leaves a bad taste in this blogger’s mouth.

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You did such a good job with naming your favorite “Lost” characters of all time yesterday that I’ve chosen to given you another assignment. After all, this is how things go down in the business world: once you’ve proven yourself capable of one thing, you’re given four more to do. So why should this blog be any different? What, you thought this site was a respite from reality? In the immortal words of Martin Heidegger: HELL to the no!

Next up: the 25 All-Time Greatest “Lost” Quotes! These are the lines that thrill the soul, that tickle the funny bone, that make you scratch your head and wonder if “Lost” could possibly be more cryptic. They stick in your head, become part of your everyday discourse, and ensure either blank stares or wide-eyed joy if you drop them around the proverbial water cooler. And I want to know your favorites.

Two things before you drop some knowledge in the comments section:

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I knew that I would get a response for these Top 25 “Lost” lists this week. But you all have gone above and beyond the call of duty in telling me your favorite characters and quotes from the show so far. I’ve compiled your replies for those and will be posting the final results in January. But we can’t stop now; we’ve got perhaps the grand-daddy of all these lists: the Top 25 “Lost” Moments.

Now, a “moment” can mean many things. Perhaps it’s as simple as a look between two people. Perhaps it’s a short scene between two people. Perhaps it’s the moment in which a huge chunk of mythology clicks into place. I’m not going to try and put a lot of parameters on this one, as it gets to the heart of what makes the show click for you. Who am I to put a boundary on your enjoyment?

When all is said and done, we will have a list that fans can point to whenever they need a quick reminder of all the small and large moments that have combined to help make “Lost” the show it is. These moments aren’t simply the cliffhangers or the game-changers (though obviously both will end up on the list in some fashion), but also the small, singular moments that favor character over spectacle. Here are a few not-so-obvious choices that potentially could make the list:

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It’s that time of year, “Lost” fans. No, I don’t mean the time to start getting unnaturally excited because new episodes of your favorite show are barely a month away. Though by all means, start annoying coworkers, neighbors, and loved ones as you patiently explain why detonating a hydrogen bomb over a pocket of unusual, time-manipulating matter seemed like a good idea at the time. No, what I’m talking about is that time of year that binds every last one of us: it’s New Year’s resolutions time.

No, normally I’m not one to make resolutions such as this. I’m the guy that patiently waits for the sudden crowds in the gym come January to peter out by Valentine’s Day. Making resolutions isn’t inherently a bad thing, but when it comes to make one around the end of a year, I find they tend not to stick. You’re more likely to quit smoking due to a heart attack versus seeing Pink perform in Times Square just before the ball drops.

But since this is the last year of “Lost,” I’m changing my tune a bit. Moreover, these aren’t necessarily resolutions for myself, but my status as a “Lost” fan and blogger. Because, after all, I’m the former before I’m the latter. Sometimes that secondary status interferes with the primary one, but I haven’t written about the show four times a week for the past two plus years as simply a mechanical, professional exercise. And I’ve come up with a few resolutions to make my status as both as fun and productive as possible in the home stretch of the show.
And so, my resolutions are thus:

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