If only the plot were this simple: A commercial jet crashes on a tropical island, and the survivors are thrown into a mysterious adventure that includes polar bears, smoke monsters and "The Hatch." If you've spent any time watching "Lost" over the past six years, you know life on the island is never that simple. To bring you up to speed, we've boiled down the entire show into five important plot points. Spoiler alert!

1 The survivors are not alone. (Duh.) A group called the Others has inhabited the island for decades and is led by the series' chief villain, Ben. In flashbacks to the mid-1970s, we see how the Others fought and killed members of the Dharma Initiative, an Illuminati-like research group that was conducting experiments on the island.

2 After their own battle with the Others, six of the survivors escape the island (Ben follows them). While their friends stay marooned, the lives of the lucky six are told in "flashforwards" (as opposed to the series' traditional flashbacks). The six don't stay put for long -- they head back to the island to save their friends.

3 The island can move -- sort of. One of the island's many metaphysical powers is time travel. Last season, the marooned survivors found themselves transported to the 1970s and into the clutches of those kooky Dharma scientists. When the six return to save their friends, they too are beamed to the '70s. Ben also returns.

4 The Others' supreme leader is not Ben. The island's true puppet master is a godlike man named Jacob, whom Ben killed in last season's finale. Meanwhile, in the 1970s, the reunited survivors discover a hydrogen bomb left by the U.S. Army decades ago. They detonate the bomb in hopes that the explosion will reset the time line.

5 One more thing: Amid all this time-traveling craziness, there's a four-way love story(!). It would take five more points just to explain the convoluted hanky-panky involving Jack, Kate, Juliet and Sawyer (not to mention the trials and tribulation of Jin and Sun). You'll have to figure this one out on your own.

TOM HORGEN