Lost: The Complete Fourth Season [Blu-ray]

Season four was a shorter 13 episodes instead of the usual 22 due to the 2008 writers' strike; nonetheless, the set comes with two discs of extras. One of the best features is "LOST in 8:15," which is a rapid-fire summation of the series thus far in eight minutes, 15 seconds. Narrated by a hilariously droll female, it includes lines such as "Jack meets Kate. Kate stitches up Jack. They bond." and "They see Jack play football with Mr. Friendly. Mr. Friendly throws like a girl." The featurette "The Right to Bear Arms" takes a fun look at the prop masters responsible for supplying the castaways with guns--and keeping track of who has one and who doesn't (best here is Sawyer's (Josh Holloway) assertion that characters often cock their guns just to look cool), and cast members Lilly, Garcia, Yunjin Kim, and Daniel Dae Kim provide a few of the commentaries.

The major Blu-ray extra is "The Course of the Future: The Definitive Interactive Fast-Forwards." After you solve a puzzle in which you have to arrange the 10 flash-forward segments in chronological order (don't worry, you get some help), you can watch all the segments (about 53 minutes total) in a variety of ways: chronological (that is, the order in which they happened, not in which they were aired during the season) with an introduction by executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof and cast members; chronological with an amusing intro by Cuse and Lindelof and with pop-up script excerpts that offer insight into the writers' intentions; or chronological following a specific character (Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, Sun, Aaron, Ben). The convenient "Season Play" feature helps you keep track of which episode on which disc you're watching. And with its lush Hawaiian scenery and uncompressed sound, Lost is simply the best-looking and -sounding Blu-ray TV show around. --Ellen A. Kim, with David Horiuchi