The show kicked off not with the usual grim disclaimer ("The people, the locations, and the drama... are real"), but instead with MTV VJ and professional salt lick, Damien, who promised us a very special guest after the finale. A very special guest?!?! Who would it be? Sherman Helmsley? Charlotte Rae? Dinah Manoff? And yes, I am plucking stars from NBC's 1988 Saturday night lineup. Actually, my MTV-sense was telling me that this special guest was probably Kristin or LC; so I reserved my excitement for the time being and decided to solely focus on the show -- not what wondrous pearls of wisdom these girls might have to share.

Nevertheless, the episode finally began for reals, and as usual, we were treated to a recap by Kristin. However, since this was the season finale, we got an extra-special, extra-recappy trip down memory lane. "I seriously had the best year of my life!" Kristin boasted as we then saw her exclaim, "Look at all the boys!" Something tells me Kristin will be saying that same phrase twenty years from now when she'll be hanging out at a dusty bar in Idaho, sucking on a cigarette, and coughing up some phlegm. Wow, that was a dreary image.

Anyway, our happy voyage through the past season continued as we relived the glorious Casey vs. Alex hygiene war, the stupendous Alex vs. Jessica bitchfest, and then of course, the bitter LC vs. Jason breakup. Eventually though, we returned to the present day (or actually, the taped present day -- so really August) as the usual gang of Kristin, Roz (or Alex H.), and Jessica sat at a restaurant with a lovely array of beverages in front of them. Talk, of course, centered on the future as Jessica pondered what the ten year reunion would be like.

"I can see Jason with the big ol' beer belly," she said, adding, "Seriously. I can see him. I'll be watching from across the street for the next twelve years. At least."