I agree about the flash forwards and having an ending on the end is really helping the series move
About Shepheard, if you looked closely when Hurley went to the cabin, Christian was there. That last bit shocked me a lot, however, the whole Alpert not ageing thing is really interesting. However, I do kind of miss seeing the others, I am still not sure who the enemy is, but I like Ben too much to see him as the main villain. However, there are still so many misteries left to discover, I am not going to get bored of this show any time soon