Lost: The grand plans

May 6, 10:50 PMLost ExaminerMolly Lemick

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Kate has changed since coming back to the island. Will her lack of energy doom her and her fellow castaways?

 Follow the leader. Locke and Jack both found their places as leaders this week, and what is still unclear is whether or not their efforts will be worth it, or if they will fail and result in disappointment and mass deaths.

Jack finally found what he believes is his purpose for being on the island. And what's more-- he's found others to follow him and back him up. His plan: to use the Jughead bomb, and save he and his fellow 815ers from months of misery on Twilight Zone Island. But what will he actually do in order to accomplish his goals? From the look on his face, he doesn't know yet. Blowing it up is the most likely solution, although how does he expect to save himself from the blast, and in turn see the glorious altered future of burying his dad and moving on?

But then there's this thought: Jack will use the Jughead in order to prevent the plane from crashing...but that crash is the only reason that Jack was on the island to change the future in the first place. This is the complex thought process that has turned off some whiny viewers (seriously, even the characters have begun to get gray hairs, have you noticed?). So this crazy, complicated logic also leads me to believe that Jack's leader role has a greater purpose than just preventing his own plane crash. I think Jack's actions will influence much more in the future than just 815, and hopefully next season will let that pan out before explaining what the heck has been going on over the entire six years.

So as Jack, Sayid, Richard and Eloise think What Would Faraday Do?, Kate ran away from a mission and ended up busting in on Sawyer and Juliet's sweet submarine love professing. Earlier in the season, I was convinced that Kate hadn't changed at all--in fact, I thought that she had completely done away with the calm, settled characteristics she gained while being a mommy. She appeared to be right back where she started. But now I can see the change in Kate. She was unwilling to go on a mission through the jungle toward an uncertain fate. That used to be her favorite hobby. So what has changed about Kate? Maybe she really is still a settled mother at heart. Maybe she's lost her nerve. Maybe she just doesn't trust Jack enough to follow him anymore. Maybe it's all of the above. She also could see the good in her last three years-- she fell in love twice, had Aaron for a while, she made friends, and maybe most importantly, she got off for murder. Changing the future would undo the good things that happened to Kate, and that's something she doesn't want to see happen. Though, that good road she doesn't want to change hasn't led her any place good, has it? Unless she can break up Juliet and Sawyer, and then she'd really be happy wallowing in her crappy nature.

So based on what we know now, do you think Jack succeeds? 2008 Richard told Sun that he watched Jack and Co die. So is that a premonition of what is soon to come, or is that just what is true in that current reality? Jack still could change the future and the outcome that Richard described.

Meanwhile, also in 2008, Locke went mad with power, and led his new people off into the jungle...to kill Jacob? Really? Did the island tell you to do that, Locke, or do you just want to be the One and Only Leader? Coming back from the dead gave Locke a confidence he hadn't possessed before. It was a popular topic: was Locke really strong enough to be a leader? Now I guess he is. But right now, it's looking more like he's strong enough to be a dictator. He has been receiving messages from the island, and we know that it's his destiny. But look where destiny got Charles Widmore and Ben Linus. Banished and demoted to Vice President? That might not bode well for Locke.

Unless of course the island really HAS been sending him signals and telling him what to do--and the island is really the one who wants Jacob dead and gone. Locke is someone who respects the island, and I'd find it hard to believe that he was completely arrogant and selfish. Every move Locke makes seems to be for the sake of the island (sounded for a minute there like I was talking about Ben), and as it turns out, Jacob's influence over past leaders (who apparently never physically saw him) got the island attacked, invaded and in a general state of constant danger. So maybe Jacob is meant to go away

That is, if Richard can't stop Locke. We know that Ben has promised the Island (and Smokey) to go along with Locke's every plan, so it's going to have to be Richard who stops John from making a mistake. Poor Richard; in one episode; two different time periods, he was following someone else's directions while not truly trusting their logic. But still he goes along with it. Maybe because he's bound to the island, or maybe Jacob tells him to do so. Richard has been present through so much, why isn't he the one calling the shots? Why does he merely teach those destined to rule, when he knows more than they ever could? Locke has skipped the training that other leaders have received over the years, he's planning on undermining a great force of the island, and along with all of that, he is bringing an audience. Richard better watch out. If Locke succeeds in killing the Big Boss, a disgruntled former Adviser won't be safe either.

What will next week's finale bring? We will know if the two leaders will be successful in their quests. I'm putting my money on Jack doing what he needs to do, and not dying in front of Richard. I feel like Jack is safe until he has a showdown with his father, and Kate...well as much as I'd like her to go away and find her own man (one who isn't, you know, in an actually loving relationship) and her own destiny. She's been very cynical about Jack's missions lately-- it's sort of like Jack has become Locke, and Kate has become Jack--woman of science. It's time for Kate's spiritual awakening. I could almost see Sayid going away-- there is little for him to seek redemption for (he was beginning to atone for the killing before returning to the island, and I don't think he'll be sorry about shooting Ben any time soon). But I'd say our characters are safe...for now.

Until next week (when I will be doing a 3 part theory/summary), Cheers!