If the very first scene of Episode One in Season 4 opens with a close-up of Jack’s eye, followed by the reveal that he experiences flash forwards like Desmond, I might cry a little. I want that holy-sh*t reveal of the future to be real.

Will the next season feature all Flash Forwards instead of Flashbacks?

Is it possible that Desmond’s original flash showed him Penny’s face on that monitor in the Looking Glass station, and that he got Charlie to sacrifice himself by lying about Claire & Aaron’s rescue? He might have seen/known that he needed a musician to crack the code to contact Penny.

Isn’t it a tad convenient that at the very moment Charlie makes contact with the outside world, Penny just happens to be at her monitor?

Why is it that Mikhail keeps dying, only to live? Is he one of the original Hostiles, an immortal Lost Boy like Richard Alpert? Or do the same island healing powers that work on Locke also work on Mikhail? If so, was Mikhail cured from a pre-existing condition (like Locke, Rose and Jin)?

In the future, Jack refers to his father in the present on several occasions. Was his death in Sydney a fake? After identifying him at the morgue, Jack never actually saw his body in the coffin that was loaded onto Flight 815. That same coffin was found empty on the island after the crash. And in Jack’s flashback in Season 1 (aptly titled ‘The White Rabbit,’ another Alice in Wonderland reference), he ‘saw’ his father on the island. Then again, Future Jack was blasted out of his mind on drugs and alcohol when he referred to his father both times.

Or, does Christian Shepherd being alive in the future indicate that the Losties (or at least those who were rescued) were given a second chance or do-over? Or did their flashbacks even happen?

At the end of the episode, Jack told Kate that they have to stop lying. Did they lie about how they were rescued or the details about their time on the island? OR…were they the only two who survived and were rescued? Was Ben right – did Naomi’s team kill the remaining Losties when they found them? If so, how did Jack and Kate escape? Also, Jack might be a train wreck in the future and wracked with guilt because Ben warned him, and he allowed Naomi to signal her crew anyway, which led to the death of almost everyone. OR…were the rest of the Losties left behind, while Jack and Kate moved on with their lives after their rescue/escape? Is that why Jack is so obsessed with returning? Remember, Sayid told him he’d give his life to be rescued, that under no circumstances should Jack come back to rescue him.

When Jack gets in touch with Kate on the phone and asks to meet, she knew the location. Obviously they’ve reunited since their rescue.

If Naomi wasn’t sent by Penny Widmore, something tells me she was sent by Dharma. They must have finally figured out that all is not right on Dharma Island, that they’re making food drops for the devil (Ben). They then sent a team to kill those who they believe killed the Dharma folks (not realizing that the people on the island are actually the survivors of Flight 815).  

I also have a feeling that Daddy Widmore either funds Dharma or has something to do with Naomi. He hates Desmond, is the reason that he went on the race around the world, and probably paid to have him marooned as part of the Dharma experiment. That could be why Naomi had Desmond’s photo; to identify the man that Bad Dad wants dead.

Was Walt yet ANOTHER manifestation of the Black Smoke Monster?

So…your Communications Officer doesn’t go with you to the radio tower, and your other two choices to accompany you on your dangerous mission are the only two married men? How is that logical?

The Others said that Juliet marked 3 tents that housed potential child-bearing women. Besides Kate and Sun, who else was marked? Was it Claire, because she had her baby and lived?

In the future, is Kate’s past a non-issue? Was her criminal record expunged, given the traumatic circumstances of what she’d gone through?

Ever since James Ford (Island Sawyer) killed the real Sawyer, he has been surlier than ever. He also dropped all nicknames; Kate, Hugo, etc. Is it because he no longer goes by the nickname Sawyer? He was cruel to Hurley, but redeemed himself by killing Tom for kidnapping Walt.

Did Ben steal Alex from Rousseau when she was an infant? I doubt that Ben is Alex’s real father; Rousseau lived after giving birth, which means that Alex was conceived before her team crashed on the island. Just like Claire.

I love that Hurley used Ben’s dad’s van to kill one of the Others.

Charlie had already found out that Naomi wasn’t associated with Penny when Mikhail appeared with the grenade. Why didn’t he just leave and lock the flood inside rather than just die in it? Was he truly following Desmond’s flash/premonition?

So the Looking Glass code was programmed by a musician. Too convenient. Are we to believe that he programmed it in some past or future version of himself? Is the Looking Glass station a time traveling portal?

What exactly is Richard’s role? He didn’t travel with Ben and also didn’t go to the beach to grab the women.

Will it come back to haunt Bernard that he was the big mouth who spilled the beans about the Losties’ location and plans?

Why did Jack’s ex-wife say that it would have been ‘inappropriate’ for her to give him a ride home from the hospital? In the future, is she involved with someone that Jack knows, or another Flight 815 survivor (if they did in fact get rescued)?

Did we ever find out who Jack’s ex-wife was having an affair with?

I did love the juxtaposition in the end, with Jack in the Locke role, claiming that leaving the island is a mistake, and Kate in the Jack role, claiming that it wasn’t.

Whether or not Jack and Kate were the only ones who were rescued, did Jack ever find out that Claire was his half-sister?

What’s in Canada? That’s were the two women in the Looking Glass were supposedly on assignment.

Did Locke survive the gunshot wound because the island heals him, or because he was shot where his kidney should be (but isn’t because he gave it to his father)?

How did Locke know where Ben and Jack were? Did he walk back to the Others’ camp and did Richard tell him?

After Locke told Jack that he wasn’t supposed to make contact with the outside world, he walked away. Now this is the same Locke who blew up The Flame communications station and the submarine, so he probably went to blow up the radio tower.

Jack said that Oceanic gave him a Golden Pass. Why didn’t Kate get one too?

WHO WAS IN THE COFFIN?

Jack said they were neither family nor friend.

1. Locke or Ben.  Both men were not very popular on and off the island, so it would make sense that no one attended their funeral. Jack could have been that distraught about either of them because they represented faith in the island, which he so strongly objected to while marooned there but so desperately wants to return to.

2. Michael. He was the first off the island, but would have been a social piranha because people would know that his freedom came at the expense of two lives (Ana Lucia & Libby). But why wouldn’t Walt attend his funeral? It would explain why Kate would not attend his funeral; if Michael was the only other person who escaped from the island and was a murderer, she certainly wouldn’t want to be reminded of it.  

3. Juliet. She really doesn’t qualify as either friend or family to Jack, and there certainly is no love lost between her and Kate. If Jack truly fell for her on the island, even though he declared his love for Kate, could that be why it drove him to near suicide?

DID YOU NOTICE…

The name of the funeral parlor where Jack visited the mystery coffin was called Hoffs/Drawlar, which is an anagram for Flash Forward.

Jack’s apartment was covered in maps. Obviously he’s obsessed with finding the location of the island. He told Kate that he takes weekly flights, hoping to crash. Probably because even though they escaped it, that’s the only way to get back to the island.

Ben told Richard to go the temple. Is there one still standing, or is he referring to their old camping spot where Locke’s dad was tied up to the old temple column?

The doctor who was questioning Jack was named Dr. Hamill. The Lost producers are huge Star Wars fans, and Luke Skywalker was played by Mark Hamill. POP CULTURE ASIDE: Dr. Hamill is played by James Lesure, who starred with Naomi (Marsha Thomason) in Las Vegas.

I’m no cartographer, but the map that Ben was marking up featured a shape that looked far more like the Black Smoke Monster than a mountain range.

The voice of the pilot in Jack’s first Flash Forward is that of Lost co-creator and producer Damon Lindelof. I know. Only a giant nerd like me would recognize it from the official Lost podcasts.

REPEAT THEME

Yet another car crash. See this entry for more details.

CRAZY THEORIES OF THE WEEK

1. Could the woman and child who crashed on the bridge when they saw Jack be Rachel (Juliet’s sister) and her son?? Perhaps that is why Jack felt so strongly about operating on her; I’m sure that Juliet told him all about her sister. If it was her, then Rachel really did beat her cancer, just as Ben said she did.

2. Jack and Kate were actually in the PAST, and not the future. Perhaps the island was indeed a time warp of some kind, and now they have to live with themselves knowing what they’ve done on the island. Or they are given the opportunity to change things. And the people they love may not have to die as a result of their actions.

3. Did Kate have a son? If so, could that be who she was referring to when she told Jack that she had to get home to ‘him?’ And if so, is he Sawyer’s son? This would also indicate that she lived even though she conceived a child on the island.

LINGERING, MADDENING, UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

What the F does any of this have to do with a four-toed statue?

Where the F is Sheriff Isabel?

Who/what controls the Black Smoke Monster?

Was that substance outside of Jacob’s cabin either ash or gunpowder? Does it have something to do with his apparent captivity?

What on earth did Ben tell Kate during their mysterious breakfast on the beach at the beginning of this season?

Where are Flight Attendant Cindy and the Tail Section kids, if not with Ben’s crew or the Losties?

—————————————————————

For the record, I much prefer Dirty Island Kate to Future Glam Shot Kate.

I am far from through with the Season Finale. These are only my initial observations and theories.

Post your theories in a comment below! And thank you for reading, all season long.

What the?! Seriously?

Get yourself an espresso, this is going to be a long one…

I know that people are going to freak out about the supernatural element and complain about Jacob, but I’d like to remind everyone that we’ve been religiously following a show featuring an unknown, murderous smoke being…so this isn’t as out there as it might seem.

Let’s get this out of the way. There have been numerous Wizard of Oz references on Lost, none more obvious than the title of this episode, ‘The Man Behind the Curtain.’

And now we have several nods to Alice in Wonderland.
 
1. Look at the outfit that Ben’s mom was wearing in the jungle; a blue dress and headband (much like both the Dorothy and Alice characters).

2. The wooden doll that Annie made for Ben is also wearing a similar blue dress.

[SIDENOTE: I realize that I switched the episode numbers; 3.20 should be on the left, and 3.04 should be on the right. But I'm entirely too lazy to open PhotoShop, so I'm just acknowledging the error instead.]

3. Remember that in Season One, Locke told Jack to follow the white rabbit (his dead father)….Ben was following his dead mother. Carrying a white rabbit. The same rabbit, mind you, that Ben used to show Sawyer the effects of a rapid heart beat.
 
BEN

Ben and Locke both have mothers named Emily. I immediately jumped to the conclusion that Ben and Locke were brothers…but then I remembered that we met Locke’s mom in a Season 1 flashback and saw Ben’s mom die last night.  Entirely different actresses and women. Doh! Still, it’s an interesting coincidence.

Why couldn’t Ben hear what Jacob said to Locke?  

We were led to believe that Ben was a leader, that he was self-righteous about who was ‘good’ and who was ‘bad.’ And now we know that he is a psychopath who organized the genocide of an entire village with no remorse. That is one dark corner to turn. The man eradicated his own people.

So now we know that Ben wasn’t born on the island. That is why he healed quickly from the spinal surgery, and not because of his proximity to Locke. But why didn’t the island heal his tumor in the first place?

Ben’s mom died giving birth to him…but they weren’t on the island. They were in Oregon. So…

Is Ben the reason that women on the island die during childbirth? Did he bring in a new team who injected them with something that actually killed the mothers rather than saved them? Does he want other kids to feel how he did, responsible for the death of their mothers? It might sound crazy, but we did just learn how evil he really is.

So Ben killed his dad and challenged Locke to do the same. Was he testing him to see if he too was capable of killing his own people for the sake of the island?

Does Ben know that Locke didn’t actually kill his dad, that he had Sawyer do it?

Both of Ben’s parents died on his birthday; his mom on the day he was born, and his dad when he killed him as part of The Purge.

Was Ben really surprised to a) see that Mikhail was alive, b) hear about Naomi’s arrival via parachute and c) find out that his tape recorder had gone missing?

JACOB

Someone (with a LOT more time on their hands) captured a brief screen shot of the infamous Jacob. So he IS real…and his profile kind of resembles John Locke with hair. Or John Malkovich.

Jacob said ‘help me’ to Locke. I don’t think he was asking, I think he was offering. Jacob knows all about Locke’s bond with the island and his healing powers, so he wants to join forces. Which, of course, would put Ben out to pasture. Thus, Ben shot Locke.

Did Jacob ever make that list? Knowing what we know now, I believe that Ben created it based on his knowledge and research about the survivors of Flight 815.

Is Jacob the Black Smoke Monster? He can be invisible when he wants to, which would make him an easy shape shifter. He and Ben are both trying to rid the island of those they deem unworthy, and the Black Smoke Monster has certainly done its part.

What the hell was in Jacob’s Unabomber shack? What was the red substance in the jars? What’s with the painting of the dog?

RICHARD

Besides Richard, are there any other former Hostiles among Ben’s current group of Others?

What’s the deal with Richard? He hasn’t aged much. Is the island a fountain of youth too?  This has shades of the Lost Boys from Peter Pan…

Why isn’t Richard the leader of the current Others? Was he actually born on the island? Was he the leader of the Hostiles? Why are they still in hiding? Did any or all of them convert to Dharma along with Richard? Is he waiting for the right moment to supersede Ben’s waning power?

Did Richard take Ben in because he found out he was special, that he could see his deceased mother on the island? Sounds just like Ben, who took Locke under his wing once he discovered that the island healed and spoke to Locke.

LOCKE

Did Ben shoot Locke with the gun that Alex gave to Locke, or did he have his own?

Will Locke survive the gunshot wound because the island heals him?

If Ben truly wanted to kill Locke, he would have shot him in the head. Is he just testing the island to see if it will heal Locke?

ROUSSEAU

What happened to little Annie? Did evil Ben kill her too? Is/was she Alex’s mom, or is Rousseau? Could Annie be Rousseau?

Rousseau talked about ‘the sickness’ in Season One. Could it have been the teargas?? Either she was an Other or her crew stumbled upon the island right as Ben was gassing the village.

QUESTIONS

Were women on the island able to give birth and live BEFORE the Purge?

Could teargas, even in mass quantities, really kill that many people over such a wide area in an open space like that? How was the gas dispersed to those outside of their homes? Most of the deceased were lying in positions which seem to indicate that it was very quick, with no time to think or struggle.

Why would Ben and/or the Hostiles leave the Dharma bodies lying in an open grave? You would think that the current Others might stumble upon it and start asking questions or figure it out.

Why did it seem like there was an earthquake when the Hostiles were attacking the Dharma village? What shook the ground? They were creating a fake volcano in the Dharma classroom. Are we to now believe that there is a dormant volcano on the island?

Was that ash (from the alleged island volcano) or gunpowder (from the dynamite in the Black Rock) surrounding Jacob’s cabin? Who put it there?

At the end of last season, Ben sent Michael and Walt away on a small boat with coordinates to be rescued. Could they be anywhere near the location where Naomi’s ship is supposedly stationed? Have they been rescued by her crew?

So, Ben and Richard oversaw the extinction of the Dharma folks on the island. And yet the Dharma supplies and food drops continue? Were the Dharma people back in the real world suspicious of this new leadership or even know about it?

Last season we saw Eko discover a few Dharma bodies in the polar bear cave. Were they killed separately from the mass gas? Did the Hostiles seek out and kill every single Dharma person except for Ben? Did they let the Dharma animals loose to help rid the island of their caretakers?

When the tape was played on the beach, why was there so little reaction from Sun (who found out that the Others were coming to kidnap her) and Kate (who found out she might be pregnant)?  

REPEAT THEMES

Add another to the growing list of those on the island with serious daddy issues: Ben.

Oh look, another dead relative made an appearance: Ben’s mom.

And Dr. Candle/Dr. Wickman and his one good arm were in yet another Orientation video.

THEORY NOT RELATED TO THIS EPISODE

Stay with me here…

Juliet was sleeping with Goodwin. Goodwin was dispatched to the Tail Section after the crash to infiltrate the survivors. Ana Lucia killed Goodwin when she discovered that he was an Other. Juliet found out that Ana Lucia killed her lover boy. When Michael was captured by the Others, Juliet made sure that one of the conditions of Walt’s return was that he had to kill Ana Lucia. Which would mean that Michael shot and killed Ana Lucia on purpose, and not just because she was guarding Ben in the hatch.

Phew. Not sure where or when that one came to me.

CRAZY THEORY OF THE WEEK

I know I always refer back to this scene, but it has remained a large mystery throughout this season…when Kate was handcuffed and forced to eat breakfast with Ben on the other island, she was told that the next two weeks were going to be very difficult. Ben and Juliet are now convinced that Kate is pregnant. So either they forced her to get vertical with an Other (that might explain the red wrists that resulted from her struggle in handcuffs), or they forced her to choose Sawyer or Jack during that time period, knowing full well that for men on the island, their ‘boys’ swim at five to ten times the normal rate. If this raid on the beach to take the remaining women was Ben’s plan the entire time, then he calculated the time it would take for Kate to get pregnant.

POP CULTURE ASIDES

Ben’s mother was played by his real life wife. Michael Emerson is married to Carrie Preston. Kind of creepy, even though the two never appeared in the same scene.  

Oh, and Ben’s dad and Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite are one in the same.

CELL PHONE

I got a new one…a serious upgrade from my sorry little flip-phone (which was so 2004). I am a smidge geeky, so 24/7 access to email and the Internet is kind of exciting. It’s the black Motorola Q (Verizon), and it’s my new baby.

I definitely need to add some ringtones, and I’m on a search for The Office theme. Do any of you know where I can find it?

HEROES vs. LOST