Lost: Final Season

The beginning.

Hello those of you who are still with me. It's been a while, and as it turns out, I was still recovering from the shock of last season's finale (mostly). It is still months until the sixth and final season of Lost begins, and how are we to kill our time? By obsessing over what the premiere will bring, of course!

Some things we know about Lost: everything, no matter how insignificant it may seem, means something in the long run. The great revelation of 'what is going on here?' will be a complex and mind-bending one. And also, happy endings are for suckers. So even though this season will bring closure, we will also be confused, shocked and probably depressed as not everyone will get a happy ending.

The future is a mystery, but what do we know? Here is a look at what each major character will have to go through to finish their storyline, and the likelihood (on a scale of 1-10) of their death...

Jack-- From day one, Jack has been the hero. But in season 5 he rebelled: he lay back and let everything happen as it was going to. But that can't last forever and in fact, it was Jack's leadership that brought everyone to the Incident in the finale. Jack is a man who needs responsibility and chaos to thrive and now that the big battle is  coming (more on that later) Jack is going to have to assume some responsibility. But really, whether or not Jack becomes a leader again is irrelevant compared to his other major arc: his daddy issues. The strained relationship with his dad is Jack's weakness, and it is the one thing he must triumph over in order to find true peace.

Jack's story will be nearly complete once he and his father have an epic showdown and we will finally see if Jack has the backbone to rise above him.

Death Odds: 5. Honestly, this one could go either way--the entire show started with Jack waking on the island, and maybe the best way would be to end it with a wiser Jack finding his place on that island...but on the other hand, the entire show started with Jack...maybe the best way to close it all off is with his death.

Kate--Her moral and emotional journey has been greater than most others: Kate was a murderer with no remorse, a fugitive. She came to the island, and she slowly began to redeem herself, and once she was off the island, she found responsibility as Aaron's adoptive mother. But thought she's grown some, Kate's journey is still not complete. She is still restless and seems to have something holding her back from settling into a normal life. Kate's place is on the island; it is a place where she can atone for her sins and find a purpose. In the final season, Kate too will assume a leader role as things escalate to one final battle between good and evil. But she's also got to find Claire like she promised. Finding Claire and reuniting her and Aaron is the final act Kate feels she needs to fully redeem herself and move on. And while she's helping to save the world and reuniting mother and child, she's also got a big decision to make: Sawyer, or Jack?

Death Odds: 2. Kate seems to have a place on the island in the grand scheme of things. In the end, I'm betting on Kate living on and protecting the island (sort of an all-knowing Richard figure) and finding peace there. Killing off Kate would be purely for shock-value, and it's extremely unlikely.

Sawyer: Sawyer has come a long way since first crashing on the island. He redeemed himself and even got revenge for his dead parents. He found love twice, and became the wise and calming leader that Jack could never be. But in the season finale, Sawyer's love, Juliet, was killed in the Incident. This will probably set the poor guy back a bit, even if he does have Kate's arms to fall into. Sawyer is the type to feel guilt over Juliet's death, and maybe even regress into the gruff loner we knew way back when. But in the end, Sawyer will find his place again beside Jack and Kate, fighting until the very end.

Death Odds: 4. It's possible. We have seen others redeem themselves only to be plucked out of existence. And Sawyer has more than completed his main theme of revenge vs. redemption. But it seems like Sawyer has earned more than an abrupt and shocking death, and I think we will see him in the aftermath alive and well.

Ben-- For the longest time, Ben was the main villain. He knew everything that was happening and that was going to happen. But we now know that deep down, he is confused, feels abandoned, and there is plenty that he doesn't know. I mean, he hadn't even met Jacob like he had claimed to all along. In the battle between good and evil, which side does Ben fall on? On the one hand, he was a servant to Jacob (the God figure), but he also killed him in a fit of rage and confusion. When it comes time to fight, what side will Ben turn to? I think he'll do his best to go with the good guys; he is only human, he isn't totally heartless, and was capable of loving at least one person: his daughter, Alex. Though Ben has always been morally gray, in the final season, he will have to choose which side of the backgammon board he's on. I have faith that he will find the right path after all.

Death Odds: 7. But really, whichever side he picks, Ben has been the greatest villain that we've gotten to know, and villains die. Even if he redeems himself by helping our castaways, Ben isn't safe. There is a chance Ben could take over his old post of leader of the island dwellers, but I think it is very likely that Ben's days are numbered.

Jin and Sun-- This one is based on a theory: let's say that instead of stopping the Incident and sending the 815ers back to LAX like planned, Juliet's bomb merely places Sawyer and Co back in their correct time frame. Jin and Sun would be reunited and finally be happy together. But maybe not right away--there are always obstacles. Like the whole 'Sun, how could you leave our baby girl all alone?!?' thing. But when it comes to the finale, Sun and Jin deserve to finally be together. But what also needs to be answered is why Sun is the only Oceanic 6 who was not transported back to the 1970's.

Death Odds: 2. Okay, like I said, there are very few truly happy endings on this show. But Sun and Jin will likely be the exception. They will likely find their places off the island with their little girl, Ji Yeon.

Desmond: Speaking of happy endings...Desmond and Penny reunited, got married, had a cute little boy, Charlie. Desmond got shot, but survived. So is Desmond's story finished? It could easily be. We've gotten closure on their relationship: all is well, and they lived happily ever after. There is a small chance that he could make an appearance or two, since after all, Faraday's mother did say "the island isn't done" with him. But then again, at the hospital, she also admitted that she didn't know what was coming.

Death Odds: Depends on if he's involved, and if so, how much. I'm not betting on Desmond's death.

Claire-- She wandered off into the jungle and ended up in the cabin, smiling secretly with her father. That's all we know. Claire's part in the final season will simply be figuring what the heck happened to her. Is she dead? Is she being manipulated by the Smoke Monster who is impersonating her father? Is she possessed? Okay, probably not that. But nonetheless, Claire's story is one of the one's I am most excited about. And I want answers, dammit! 

Either way, hopefully once we find out what happened to Claire, her story will be complete when she is reunited in the land of the living with her son Aaron, (or in a more far-fetched theory) in the afterlife with her beau Charlie.

Sayid-- For the most part, Sayid came full circle when he left the island as one of the Oceanic 6. He married Nadia, and also lost her. He killed for Ben in a dark turn of events, and then tried to redeem himself by working in a Habitat For Humanity-esque program. But now that he's back on the island, he's been captured by the Dharma Initiative, tried to murder Ben's young self, and then was shot while trying to prevent the Incident. Things aren't going so well for Sayid these days.

Since Sayid was severely wounded, what happens after the white light is important to his chances of survival. Depending on where they end up and what kinds of medical supplies they have there, Sayid is in a sink or swim situation. If he does make it out okay, he will resume his role as badass soldier to take on evil, and sooner or later, he's gonna have to face the fact that he made Ben into who he is.

Death Odds: 8. Sorry Sayid. But either that gunshot wound is going to do it, and you'll be the first causality of the new year, or you'll die a soldier's death in the midst of all the action.

Locke-- John Locke is dead. But what about the guy inside his body? We know that it is the man dressed in dark colors; the one who promised Jacob that one day he'd find a loophole and kill him. But is that man really the shape-shifting Smoke Monster? Has he been impersonating Christian all along? And will he linger in Locke's body? This dude is the true villain; one that makes Ben look like nothing more than a bully. In the end, this is the Evil that the show has been hinting at from day one, and it's time to fight.

Hurley--Ah Hurley. It's time you found happiness. Your Libby was taken from you too soon; those numbers haunt you no matter what decade you're in; and the fat jokes never cease. In the final season, Hurley needs strength in order to survive the tough times ahead.

Death Odds: 1. You think of a good reason to kill Hurley. Go on, I dare you.

Miles-- The resident psychic will come in handy while supernatural forces are threatening mankind. He got to know his father in the finale, and hopefully that provided some sort of closure for him. Now he's got to step up and help out using the best weapon at his disposal: his abilities.

Death Odds: 7. It makes a certain sense to have the one who can connect with the afterlife end up dead, doesn't it? Plus, Miles seems laid back enough to not care if he's going to die if that's what happens to be in the cards for him.

Juliet-- Yes, it looked like she died down in the future site of the hatch. And yes, Elizabeth Mitchell is indeed going to appear on ABC's new show V in the fall. But it doesn't mean we haven't seen the last of her. After all, it was her storyline that taught us about the whole 'women can't have babies on the island' thing. And her death will leave Sawyer broken hearted. There is still potential need for Juliet to wrap up her storyline in the final year. So her death odds? Hard to say. Is she dead? Or is there even the slightest chance that she too was transported to wherever the rest of the 70's-trapped castaways will end up?

Jacob-- He was killed by Ben, but his presence will still linger as the people he hand picked fight the battle of good vs evil. Will we see Jacob ever again?

So stay tuned as more theories are formed; characters are cast and rumors fly. The final season is drawing closer and closer. The countdown to obscurity begins. Cheers.