More questions as `Lost' begins its last season

Hopeful, breathless, even fretful over what may lie ahead or be forever unexplained, "Lost" fans have welcomed back the ABC mystical thriller for its sixth season — the beginning of its long-coming, too-close-for-comfort finale.

The end is coming May 23, according to "Lost" co-creators Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, who made it official Tuesday during their guest appearances on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

The first two of the final 18 "Lost" hours had aired earlier in the evening — and won a warm reception from the audience.

This season premiere attracted 12.1 million viewers, against first-place CBS dramas "NCIS: Los Angeles" (with 16.4 million) and "The Good Wife" (12.7 million), according to the Nielsen Co. In the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic, "Lost" beat its nearest competitor, NBC's "Biggest Loser," by 51 percent.

But did the "Lost" opener succeed in addressing the pair of island mysteries gnawing at viewers since last May?

What was the upshot of the kookie nuclear explosion Jack (Matthew Fox) masterminded to rewrite history and render the series' whole story line moot? And what's the scoop with the dead John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) coexisting with his very-much-alive John Locke look-alike?

(Warning: possible pesky spoilers ahead.)

Well, Jack is seen back on Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, and despite several moments of troubling turbulence, soon enough all seems well.

"Looks like we made it," Jack says to a fellow passenger as the flight smooths out.