Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

My wife and I (but mostly her) had our first child, a daughter, in late August. She has kindly agreed not to cry from 9 p.m. till 10 p.m. on Wednesday nights. I strongly suspect this is more because of Sawyer than because of Daddy's request.
I apologize in advance for the length of this... but so much happened.
I have begun this review EXACTLY where I left off from my LOST Season 1 review. Please go read that first, Dude... The numbers are BAD!
If you choose not to and find this plot synopsis confusing... don't blame me.

PLOT SYNOPSIS
…meanwhile, using dynamite from “The Black Rock”, John, Jack, Kate and Hurley blow the hatch door open and look down inside…
…and find an underground bunker with 1 inhabitant, Desmond Hume, a man who was on a sailing trip around the world and crashed on the Island 3 years ago.

The bunker plays center stage for Year 2. In fact, since the majority of Season 2's points of tension are either caused by the hatch or happen in it, you can argue that it is the show's central character.
It’s stocked with a collection of brand new objects (washer and dryer) and ones from the 1980’s (record player and all the computer equipment) as well as a pantry of generic food items that range from Chocolate Bars and Macaroni and Cheese to Peanut Butter and Ranch Dressing.
A training video tells Locke and the others that the bunker (named The Swan- #3 of 6) was created in the early 80’s by a group known as “The Hanso Foundation”. It was once part of an ongoing scientific experiment dealing with electro magnetism, sociology, zoology and psychology called “The Dharma Initiative”.
Locke also learns that he must enter a code in to the computer every 108 minutes (the code is 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 & 42 which equals 108) or “the world will end”. Then Desmond runs off.

On the other side of the Island, Jin, Sawyer and Michael swim ashore and meet a small group of individuals who they believe are “Others” but end up also being survivors from a different part of the plane. From this group we get 3 new main characters and 1 minor.
The Main are: Mr. Eko, a Nigerian Drug Lord turned Priest, Ana Lucia Cortez, a former cop with severe trust issues who doesn't play well with others and Libby (last name?) a psychologist and former mental patient.
These people have been cowering in a second hatch because an “Other” infiltrated their camp early on, posed as a survivor, and due to his efforts only 5 people remain from an original count of twenty three survivors. The rest have all been kidnapped or killed.

In the first half of season two we become aware that “The Others” aren't as disheveled and disorganized as we have been led to believe. They had a fully stocked Medical Station (another hatch) complete with an operating room and a decorated nursery, they have a full supply of medicine and have been wearing filthy costumes and in one case a fake beard when showing themselves to the survivors.
They have a particular interest in children and what they refer to as “Good People”.

The second group of survivors make their way across the island and join up with the first group. Once they are back together Michael steals a gun from the hatch and goes off to find his son.

The latter half of season two centers largely around another main character that Sayid finds in a trap Rousseau had set. He claims his name is Henry Gale and that he crashed on the Island a few months back while flying around the world in a hot air balloon. Rousseau claims he is "an Other".
Sayid takes him back to the hatch and he, Locke, Ana Lucia and Eko use various methods to interrogate him.

John Locke and Eko find yet another hatch (The Pearl) and watch a different training video that claims everything that has gone on inside “The Swan” has been an experiment.

Michael stumbles out of the forest and claims that he has been in the “Other's” camp. They are a rag tag bunch of people who could easily be over powered. He releases Henry Gail for a reason that we are unsure of and convinces Sawyer, Hurley, Jack and Kate to follow him to the “Other's” camp to get Walt back. Before they leave, a sailboat comes toward the island and in it is a drunken, deranged Desmond Hume. He has sailed west for weeks and has somehow ended up back at the island.

Michael, Jack, Sawyer, Hurley and Kate leave to go to the Other's camp and Locke decides that the time has come to stop pressing the button and see what happens.
Sayid, not trusting Michael, takes Desmond's sailboat and he, Jin and Sun go to meet Jack at a predetermined spot.
Jack doesn't arrive. Their group is ambushed and taken prisoner. It was a trap that Michael had orchestrated. The price for Michael's soul? Walt and freedom. Michael is given a boat and co-ordinates which will help him “find rescue”.

Locke and Desmond shut the hatch down and let the timer run out. Eko and Charlie are frantically trying to get in. A huge surge of magnetic power begins to shake the hatch to pieces and it becomes evident that it was not an experiment and the world might just end.
Desmond crawls under the hatch, inserts a key in to a fail safe switch and turns it.

The “Others” release Hurley telling him to inform the other survivors what has happened. Just as they are about to put bags over the heads of Sawyer, Jack and Kate the sky lights up. An explosion has come from the hatch.

End of season two.

OPINION
Many people thought that season 2 was weaker than season 1. I strongly disagree.
It gave us more of everything and lost none of it's depth or edge.
There was more death and more despair. There was more intrigue and more character development. There was more suspense and more futility. There was more background story and more mystery.
Sayid came to grips with who and what he was (a torturer) despite his dislike for it. John Locke reverted back to his pre-island life and went from “The Great White Hunter” to a desk riding button pusher.
The writing had the same ease that made season 1 great, as did the acting. The three new characters meshed effortlessly in with the old cast and it felt like they belonged there from the start. In Eko, they introduced possibly one of the strongest 3 characters the show has.
People may not have liked all of them, but you weren't supposed to.

This show has started obsessions in people on a variety of levels. It has had dozens of pod casts, has easily 6 web sites devoted to it and has had an alternate reality on line game called “The Lost Experience”.
My obsession is the music. The little known background music that has been played and referenced over the course of two years has opened up a world of tunes to me. Ben Harper and The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Joe Purdy, Damien Rice and Slim Smith would all be unknown if not for the show.

The format of the box set is similar to last year. It has the same plastic slip case and the same flip out, party favor style of disk book.
The format of the special features is slightly different than last year. I both like it and dislike it. Each of the 3 sections (or phases) is introduced by the gentleman on the LOST training videos, which I think is more stylish than a plain "Here they are" format like last year, however you can't skip the introductions which is a bit annoying. I don't want to watch them 5 or 6 times when I go back and forth from phase to phase.
There are more deleted scenes, bloopers and flashbacks than last year (always a fan favorite), an in depth exploration of “The Swan”, an On Location featurette and a full episode “creation to completion” segment.
Potentially the coolest special feature is the "Connections" section. A character appears on a TV screen with several cables sticking out of it. Pick a cable and it will show you the connection to another character (and so on and so on). There are also a few vague connections that may be revealed in season three.
...and half a dozen Easter Eggs if you have the time and patience.
I wanted more special features than what they offered (season one seemed to have more) but it didn't bother me enough to detract from my enjoyment or make me take away a star.

So long as this show continues on it's current path, I will be a religious fan and will wander the earth, discarding all my worldly possessions to bring the news of LOST to the masses.
Eko would be proud.

See ya when Season 3 comes out. "It's gonna be a bumpy ride".

Check out www.lostpedia.com

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12