As usual, late to the party. I only recently got started watching this series and have been ripping through it, all three seasons over about two months in short marathons… I think the week’s wait between episodes is gonna kill me 
I almost never purposely watch TV, though there are lots of shows we’ll catch if they happen to be on. This is the first time I’ve ever gotten engaged in a currently running show! I found out about Six Feet Under a couple weeks after the end, and was able to Netflix them or pick them all up on DVD; we only just recently got around to the Sopranos. I do love that they are running them online because if I’d missed one airing I’d have had to stop watching and wait for the DVDs to come out. I may actually do that, wait a couple weeks then watch several episodes at once, hmm…
God, too much geekery to yip-yap about… I am actually pretty convinced that the flash-forwards were something like Desmond’s flashes. They’re “potential” history, what would happen if the rescue goes as planned–some of the people on the island would be taken off, most killed in whatever nefarious plot the alleged rescuers have in mind for the island. The few that are brought back live terrible, tortured lives in the knowledge that their bad decisions destroyed the rest. Since we know, from Desmond’s flashes, the future can be changed if they make different decisions, we’ll find out that Ben and John are right, and Jack will bring his people to the barracks. The Others and our heroes will become allied against the new assault, eventually Ben will be disposed, and in the end the ones who want to go back do and the rest, the ones who had nothing to go back for, will remain to protect the island.
I love the quality of the ensemble; these folks are playing the hell out of those characters. Even most of the minor characters rock their cameos. I cried like a little girl when Charlie died, and cheered out loud when Hurley makes his totally Hurley radio call: “yeah, they’re all cool… I rescued them and stuff.” I deeply appreciated Charlie/Desmond dialogue for the extensive opportunities to listen to a Brit and a Scot talking, be still my beating heart! 
I love the mystery, even when it’s totally contrived, like a ten-second re-cap of of events would bring everyone up to speed, and then they all could make good decisions based on known facts. It’s okay, I’m still eating it up, even the very artificial drama.