My friends’  Facebook updates suggest that not everyone loved this week’s season finale of Lost, but I sure did! I’d call that some excellent television, y’all, and if Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet) and Michael Emerson (Ben) don’t win Emmys, then I will go to Helen Hunt’s house, steal two of her 449 award statues, swaddle them in bubble wrap, stick them in FedEx envelopes, toss in two handfuls of Hershey’s Hugs, and mail them to “Liz and Mike c/o Bad Robot.”

Don’t worry… I’ll leave a few Hugs for Helen Hunt as well.

After the jump, I’ll discuss one reason the finale inspired me to pilfer Emmys. If you haven’t yet watched, do not keep reading.

So here’s what I loved: Juliet died with agency. She had a “good death.”

(I realize she may not be dead forever, but at this moment, let’s assume she is.)

One of my longest-standing frustrations with Lost has been the passivity of the deaths. With the exceptions of Charlie—who consciously chose to drown so that he could help his friends—and maybe Mr. Eko–who seemed at peace when Smokey destroyed him—all of the characters who have croaked have left this world as utter victims. Shannon got shot in the gut. Faraday got shot in the back. Boone got crushed by a plane.  Dr. Atzt got blown up by ancient dynamite. You get the picture.

Some passive deaths are valuable, of course. On a show like Lost, it’s good to remember that control is an illusion and that chaos often holds sway.

But when character after character dies without agency, the show implies they’re filler… that they’re just distractions from the truly important people who are still breathing.

I mean, how else would you describe Libby, right? She hung around for twenty-two episodes, gave Desmond a boat, and got shot. Hurley may talk about seeing her ghost, but so far, she seems like a waste of time.

And again, I can accept that some characters are dispensable, but I don’t want to visit a world full of throwaways. That’s nihilistic, not entertaining.

At the end of the season finale, I thought my beloved Juliet was going to be the latest helpless victim. When she fell down that well, I was pissed. She deserved better than that.

But my ire was misplaced. In the last scene of the season, Juliet comes gasping back to life at the bottom of the well (or pit, or hole, or DriveSHAFT), drags her broken body to the bomb, and detonates it. What a powerful way to go!

So now, Juliet will be directly responsible for whatever happens at the beginning of next season. Even if she dies for good, she will have died in the service of a larger action. Her death will cause change. She will have real power. And a character as cool as hers deserves all that.

For more of my thoughts on Lost, including the surprising awesomeness of Kate, go here.