‘Lost’ in the moment

THE debate over the meaning, worth and legacy of “Lost” has raged since the show debuted. Three seasons in, we’re still getting flashbacked personal bios while the secret of the island seems to be a fertility issue. Meanwhile, with only three episodes left in the season, many viewers are tapping their feet and making little snorting sounds: We want answers! And after three years, they’d better be good! Infused with myth and meaning!

But as “Lost” made clear from the moment that polar bear showed up, this was a show unlike any other, and so viewers must reexamine their expectations. “Lost” is all about surrender. You cannot fight the mighty ocean.

And it’s not too late. The wonder of a show with no apparent linear thinking is that you can skip a whole season and jump right back in. Sure, you missed the entire life and death of Nikki and Paulo, but it doesn’t matter. No one even mentions them. What matters is what’s happening now, before your very eyes. Desmond was a monk, which explains why he says “brother,” and a multilingual woman has fallen from the sky. Sun’s baby is Jin’s, which means Sun probably will die but see how happy she is. Locke and Jack, Jack and Sawyer, Sawyer and Kate, Kate and Juliet -- the archetypal struggles of power and love are accounted for, Hurley is still funny, Ben is still creepy, Walt is still missing. These are your landmarks. The things you thought you knew, the details about the past you once believed mattered, let them go. Worry too much about what once was or will be and you will miss the essence of life as it passes.

This is the great lesson of “Lost” -- live the moment, brother. Fight it and you will drown. (ABC, Wed., 10 p.m.)

-- Mary McNamara