Lost Pages 16

Lost is back with a bang, as well as the flash forwards scenes. Are we seeing the characters having flashes of the future or are we seeing multiple timelines woven together?

I'm leaning toward flashes of the future, and here's my reasoning:

If it is an alternate timeline, then Hurley was seeing ghosts (Charlie). If it's a flash forward, it's all happening in the characters mind and they could be projecting the dead character into the scene, as you would in a dream. It could be that Jack and Hurley are having “Desmond like” premonitions of what will happen if they continue on their current paths, and as with Desmond, deviating from those paths will change the outcome of the vision.

Anyways, we need more information before we put that one to bed. It appears that whatever they are, tonight's flash forward was set in an earlier time than the Jack and Kate scenes from last years closer. Not too much earlier though, as Jack's breakfast screwdriver looked like the beginning of his downward spiral. He also talks about growing a beard and he doesn't seem to be obsessed with returning to the island yet, although Hurley sure has the bug.

All kinds of Easter eggs in this one also. The writing on Charlie’s hand (They Need You), and the cabin scene in particular. There was definitely someone rocking in Jacobs’s chair, although I’ve taken stills out and they are inconclusive due to lighting. I’ve seen some screen caps that show Christian Sheppard in the chair. I've enhanced mine and you can just make out that the person or thing is wearing a suit, but that's it. There was also someone else in the room that pops up in the window and scares the crap out of Hurley. I have a couple of stills of the left half of their face, but they're just ambiguous enough to be almost anyone. Check 'em out on the season 4 screen cap page and you be the judge.

There's a million other little things I haven't touched on yet, like who are the rest of the Oceanic 6 and who sent the creepazoid Mr. Abaddon, but we'll get to them all throughout the week.

All in all it was a great start to the season.

The Beginning Of The End - The Oceanic 6

Okay, figuring out the remaining three of the Oceanic 6 is going to be difficult without a few more clues. From what we know now, Jack and Kate were on the beach awaiting rescue and Hurley had left with Locke for the barracks with the intention of hiding from the rescuers, so the Oceanic 6 can’t be divided along the Jack/Locke line. To further emphasize this point, Hurley tells Jack that he’s sorry he went with Locke and not him.

So, the 3 that we already know come from both camps. That means something happens that changes things and we can no longer assume we know who would stay and who would go. We know Sun wants to have her baby off of the island, and we heard Rose tell Bernard that she was ready to leave, but we also know that Hurley felt strongly about not letting Charlie’s sacrifice be in vain and didn’t want to be rescued. At least not by these particular rescuers, and yet he was.

The central questions that I came away with were:

How did Hurley become one of the six?

Why only six, there had to be more Losties that wanted off the island.

Why are Jack, Kate and Hurley hiding the fact that there were other survivors of flight 815?

Why do Jack and Hurley become overwhelmed with guilt and obsessed with going back?

Perhaps the six weren’t rescued but were caught and removed from the island. Or maybe Ben was right when he said the freighter people would kill everyone on the island and the Oceanic 6 were rescued by Penny during the attack. She did get through to Charlie, and she could be homing in on them also.

It’s possible that she would only be able to remove a single chopper load. That would be one reason for there only being 6 and for the 6 to be remorseful about leaving. If this was the case, then I would suspect that Desmond is one of the 6. Although he’s not on the passenger list, it would be easy enough to say he was someone else. As a matter of fact, that’s probably why Kate remains a free woman back in LA. She could have taken on the identity of another passenger also. Someone's gone to a lot of trouble to keep them quiet, so anything's possible.

And that's just it, anything is possible...

The Beginning Of The End - The Cabin

If that was indeed Christian Shepard in the rocking chair, it’s entirely possible that Jacob uses the dead as a vehicle to communicate with the living. We’re pretty sure that Shepard was as dead as a door nail and sealed in a casket when the plane crashed, and yet this is at least the second time we’ve seen him. As a matter of fact, we’ve seen lots of dead people show back up. Some we think have been miraculously cured, like Locke and Patchy.

What if Locke really is dead, and the person we’re seeing, whose sole mission seems to be to thwart the escape of the Losties, is really Jacob, or a puppet of Jacobs.

Some of the characters, both living and dead, are being used to influence the direction our heroes take. Used by who though? Jacob in some cases (Ben for example), but Desmond and Charlie, thats another story. They seem to be being guided to do the right thing. Ms. Hawking and the Order of Ouroboros, perhaps?

Locke is torn. I think that in the beginning he was a good man who was right in thinking that they were on the island for some higher purpose. Ben recognized this and worked hard to pull him off track and use him. When he had the final confrontation with his father he was definitely under the spell of Ben and Jacob. The Walt vision and the spontaneous healing? The jury is still out.

The charming Mr. Abaddon is probably also a manifestion of Jacob. It seemed that Hurley got a visit from both sides, first Abbaddon, then Charlie, and he is reminded that whatever battle they are in the middle of is not done. He still has work to do and I think he will be central to this season.