It's often said that you never realize what you had until it's gone. For most things in life, this statement holds true. Maybe it's a girlfriend, a great night shared with friends, or your favorite athlete. Life has a way of taking things from us before we are ready - and/or willing - to let them go.
Very rarely is the end-date set in advance. But when it does, it allows us to experience the ride as it was fully intended. We get to enjoy the final dance, the final hour, or the final game, and truly appreciate it for what it is ... the final go-around.
Andre Agassi did this two years ago, and now LOST is doing the same. In both instances, I couldn't be happier and sadder at the same time.
It's a mixed bag of emotions because something you have loved for so long will be over soon, but enjoying the last match - or season - creates memories never forgotten. And that always brings a tremendous smile to my face.
So here we are. One day from LOST: The Final Season. In order to prepare for this monumental occasion, I elicited the help of my favorite LOST fans and asked them six questions. What follows is their answers/theories/etc.
Enjoy.
Question #1: What are your expectations for season six?
Luke: I expect it to be the greatest season of all. I expect the unexpected. I expect Tuesdays to be the best day of the week for the next four months. I expect death from multiple characters who have been with us from the beginning. I expect Season Six to be told from the Island's point-of-view. I expect to experience a full-range of emotions, culminating in a finale I will never forget.
Kris Frank: I have no expectations for this upcoming season, but I don't suspect that this will be the craziest season yet (tons of plot twist) and I am not expecting everything to get answered. I agree with Kris that we won't get everything answered, and actually don't want the answers spoon-fed to me either. LOST is great because of the debate and discussion that happens after each episode.
Kylene Solomon: I would like all the loose ends to be tied up in this season. I would like to know why everyone with father issues, and whose pasts have crossed before, ended up together on that plane. I've held on to the notion for a long time, that the plane crash was no accident. Those people were supposed to crash there, despite the popular belief that Desmond caused it.
Ryan Polito: I expect chaos. Touche.
Matt Barnes: What do I expect? I expect to be confused after every episode. By the end of the series, I expect about 75% of all the mysteries to be explained leaving 25% to be argued about for years. I also expect that the only prominent Black person in the show will be Rose, which is sad since the premiere is in Black History Month. What about the black smoke monster?? Could be the MOST important character in this whole crazy show.
Question #2: Where do you think the show will begin on Feb. 2?
Luke: I've thought about this moment more than any human being probably should. I've had crazy dreams that involved Jerry Seinfeld having all the answers. It's probably not healthy. The most epic dream I had involved Aaron being all grown up, talking to Sun's grown-up daughter and Desmond's grown-up kid Charlie. The scene ended with Aaron saying, "Well, I guess we need to go back."
In all honesty, three things can happen. One, we pick up right were Season Five left off, although I really doubt that takes place. Two, they show a glimpse of what the finale will look like (which should be a great war battle). Or three, they take us back to Season One.
Kris: 2) I have absolutely no idea where the show will start, but if I had to guess....maybe a scene from when they first landed on the island...no clue why I think that, but that's my guess.
Kylene: After the explosion, I think we'll find the explosion never happened and that Juliette prevented the plane crash in the future. With that, I feel that the creators will start out the season confusing the crap out of all of us. I think we'll be 20 minutes into the episode before we have any idea what's going on. Wouldn't doubt that at all. It appears that Kylene is in the camp that Jack and Juliet changed the future. I'm in the camp that whatever happened, happened. This whole thing is a crazy time-loop that has been happening for a long, long time.
Ryan: I have a feeling they are going to do an alternate timeline thing to start Season 6. Like maybe the bomb changed everything and a whole bunch of stuff is going to be different. Maybe the plane wont even crash.. Crazy !! The alternate time-line theory just might be what the producers were talking about when they said they would tell their story differently than they have in the past.
Sara Normand: It seems obvious that things would start off with the explosion, Sawyer’s reaction to Juliette’s death. But I don’t think it’s going to begin there. It’ll be at some point way before the crash or some point way in the future. Seems like Sara and I are sharing the same thought process on this one.
Barnes: No doubt, it begins in the future, to confuse us all. That or a flashback involving Jacob. Or maybe even with Desmond, who has really been missed by yours truly. No way they begin with the bomb or Jacob in flames. That'd actually be a disappointment. Agreed. Also sad to hear that Desmond is not a series regular this season. So either he dies early, or doesn't come into play until late in the season.
Question #3: In order, what are the three biggest mysteries you HAVE to have answered by seasons' end?
Luke: 1) Who is good and who is evil? 2) Who is Adam and Eve from Season One? 3) What are the whispers?
Kris: 3) Who/what is Jacob, the smoke monster, what is the real story with Libby & her connection with the island (I heard she is coming back). Surprised to see Kris mention Libby. I hope we are too late in the game to care about what role she played. My best guess is that she served as a "Matthew Abbadon" type, making sure people were where they needed to be.
Kylene: I need to know about: Jacob, Claire and how those people all wound up together on the same plane. Same as Libby, I really don't need to know about Claire. Unless she gets back with Charlie somehow. That's be cool.
Ryan: I want the rivalries to heat up (Jacob-Smokey... Ben-Widmore... Locke-Jack) and find out more about the mysterious past of Richard Alpert. Richard Alpert would have been #4 on my list.
Sara: Who is Kate going to end up with? Why is Christian Shepherd so important? Will there be a movie made eventually? I have firm answers (I think) to the latter two questions, but I have no idea (and actually don't care) who Kate ends up with. But I know I'm in the minority on that.
Barnes: I gotta know who/what this smoke monster is, what the damn numbers mean if anything, and the anti-aging from Jacob/Alpert/Christian. Those are just three of the many though. We've gone so far without getting any information on the numbers that I have given up caring about them.
Question #4: In a perfect world, how does the series end?
Luke: I want the ending to involve the battle between good and evil. I want it to be something that was right there in front of us the entire time, but we never saw. I want my very first thought to be the one Locke had after watching the Orientation video, "We're going to have to watch that again." Only it will be the ENTIRE series, not just the last episode.
Kris: 4) It ends with everyone staying on the island. Jack and (the main girl, cant think of her name) and Sawyer with the blond girl (but she might be dead)....and penny with Desmond. As long as the characters' ending are complete and without any loop-holes, I'll be satisfied.
Kylene: I would like the series to end as if the plane crash never happened. I would like to see how their lives would have continued if that plane landed in L.A. And, I would like there to be some sort of twist - like even though they weren't on the same plane together, they all end up together, someway, somehow. Very cool theory, and never even considered that as an option.
Barnes: In a perfect world, everyone ends up on the island. Claire is somehow reunited with Aaron as well as Jin and Sun. Jack gets killed (really not a fan) and Kate and Sawyer have more sex, but this time no bars. Hurley loses some lbs, Lapidus gets as much press coverage as Sully for landing that plane, and Sayid gets his own spin-off. If this happened, I die a happy man.
Question #5: Every LOST fan has some sort of prediction on what's going on. Do you have any over-arching theories on Jacob, Smokey, Locke, The Incident, the Island, etc. that you would like to share?
Luke: Well, after Season Five, it appears obvious to me that the Smoke Monster can re-incarnate dead bodies. Which is probably why everyone ends up being buried on the island. It appears that Jacob and the Smoke Monster disagree on destiny. Jacob believes in free-will (having a choice), while the Smoke Monster thinks things always end the same (pre-determined, whatever happened happened.
It is my opinion that everything is in a big time-loop, John Locke has been to the island before (which is why he knows when it's going to rain), and believes that Jacob has it wrong. I don't think Locke is actually dead though.
Kylene: My theory is that Jacob is future Jack. Whoa.
Ryan: I think Smokey has the ability to turn himself into dead people, which is why he needed Locke to leave the island and die. He took the form of Christian Shepard and told Locke he needed to move the island, knowing time skipping would start and knowing Locke would leave the island. Then when Locke returned dead in the casket Smokey took his body over (which is why there is another/ the real John Locke in the crate).
And is also why Richard kept saying "there is something different about you John."
Another example would be when Ben goes to get judged by the Smoke Monster, Locke goes with him then disappears after Ben falls down the hole. Smokey then shows Ben his daughter, and Alex tells Ben he must listen to everything John Locke says. So now Smokey(Locke) has the ability to manipulate Ben into going to see Jacob with him and eventually gets Ben to kill Jacob.
Locke was never special, he was just a pawn in Smokey/Jacob feud the whole time.
Locke was never suppose to lead the Others, which is why he failed Richard's test when he was 10 yrs old. Yeah, that sounds about right. But, I'm still expecting a huge twist in this theory. Like Locke and Sun are already in an alternate time-line. Something.
Barnes: I don't think Jacob is dead. He and Christian Shepherd are connected somehow I feel. Other than that, I really have no idea what's going on and instead of trying to figure it out, I'll just let them tell me. That's why I don't go to school anymore. I actually think Christian has been under the influence of Smokey. But, the thing no one is talking about is that Christian's body was never found. We've seen Locke's body on the island. What does this mean?
Question #6: Lastly, a two-parter. One, what has been your favorite Season thus far ... and why? Two, what has been your favorite individual episode thus far ... and why?
Luke: My favorite season has been Season One, no question. In order, Season One, Season Four, Season Two, Season Five, and Season Three. Although the two best finales have been Season Five and Season Three.
My favorite episode is The Constant from Season Four. Just brilliant. My others are Walkabout from Season One and the Season Three finale, Through the Looking Glass.
Kris: I think my favorite season was season two with the hatch because things were crazy but yet, almost realistic still...now its still entertaining but its totally insane. If I had to pick a favorite episode it is either the season 3 finale when you first discover jack and kate are off the island and they will now begin to show flash-forwards instead of flashbacks or the one with penny and desmond where desmond calls her up. Both were great episodes. I agree with Kris, that Season One and Two were still realistic, and the recent time-travels have almost de-railed that feeling.
Kylene: My favorite season was season 4 when the flash-forwards started. I especially enjoyed the episode where Sun's baby was born and how the creators introduced us to the first flash-forward and we thought the whole time that Jin was going to meet Sun having her baby, and in actuality, he was having the flash-back and was really "dead" in the future. Loved that episode and I hope the series as a whole takes that approach. Showing us one thing, but revealing one big thing that makes us watch it all over again.
Ryan: Favorite season was by far Season 5, every scene was intense and made you think. I love following time travel and the writing in those episodes were brilliant. My favorite episode was probably the Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham, so many twists and turns that I could not handle it. As for me, Season Five jumped around too much for my liking. Season One introduces us to everything, and the flash-backs all helped develop the characters we see today.
Sara: Favorite season = season 3. All of my favorite characters were still alive and I feel like this was LOST at its peak. I could still understand and pick up on things myself before it got out of control.
Favorite episode = Season 3 finale, even though Charlie died. “NOT PENNY’S BOAT” is still one of the most eerie images. I seriously cried forever. But any episode featuring Kate making out with Jack is my next favorite. Season 3 was awful. The first half of that series were thrown in there because the producers and writers didn't know when the show was going to end.
Barnes: I'll say Season 3 was the favorite, though seasons 4 and 2 were strong as well. Season 5 was by far the worst for me. The time travel was too much, though I understand they needed to do it to further story-lines and fill in some holes in some stories.
Any Locke flashback episode was great. The Season 5 finale was also really, really good. Actually, every finale has been impressive. Another Season 3. I'm shocked. The finale, and the two episodes leading into it were great, but besides that, it was not that good.
Big thanks to my panel (Kylene, Kris, Barnes, Polito, and Sara) for taking some time and talking LOST to me. Much appreciated.
Season Six starts tomorrow. It ends soon thereafter. Giddy up.
Until next time, "read it, roll it, hole it."
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