Category Five: 5 Questions Posed By The "LOST" Finale

I think it goes without saying based on the title, but here's a warning: THERE BE SPOILERS!





#5: Are Jin & Claire really dead?

Both of these questions were actually posed in earlier episodes, but since they went unanswered in the finale, we still want answers. It seems odd to me that they'd reveal two deaths in the "present." Sure, it creates the mystery of what happened to him (I know I was clenching my fists hoping Jin wouldn't be stubborn and stay in the room with Michael.), but it's a gimmick that can't work over and over. Locke's definitely dead, and we want to know why. Jin's situation is still up in the air.

Considering that we never actually saw him die, I think there's a good chance that he's still alive. After all, Sun must be up to something if she's offering to help Mr. Widmore. (The obvious reason would be that she discovered it was Ben's actions that caused the explosion that killed Jin, but "LOST" has never been one for the obvious.)

Claire very well could be dead, but if she is, they handled it in a very strange way. She wanders off (or is lead off) into the jungle and dies somewhere? It's unfair to not at least show something that could imply her death. (At least we saw Dr. Shepard's dead body off the island before he started hanging out in Jacob's pad.)

After Kate's dream I was inclined to believe that Claire was 100% absolutely dead until I remembered that Walt has appeared to people and is still very much alive. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but he's the only live person that's appeared to people like that.)

I'd say the odds are high that only one of them is dead, and my money's on Claire.

#4: Who's where?

Of course, if Jin ISN'T dead, then where the hell is he? And what happened to Faraday and the people in the motorboat with him? Did the island somehow take everyone in the surrounding water with it when it moved, but leave the helicopter?

It's possible that the helicopter was just "out of range," but the boat that blew up was further away. So if Jin (and anyone else on the boat) didn't die in the explosion, he either got transported or drowned, because there was certainly no sign of life later.

If the island DID take Faraday and the boat with them, then it seems like a bad safety device. If people are approaching, and you need to escape, it doesn't really help if you bring them along with you.

#3: How exactly is lying protecting anyone?

I've been wondering this for awhile now, and the finale did little to answer this question. By lying about what happened, the Oceanic Six are preventing the media and...well, the entire world, basically...from investigating and trying to find this crazy island.

But the real threat is Mr. Widmore and his people, and he already KNOWS they are lying. While I believe they'd lie to prevent an investigation, I don't see how it's protecting them from him. Couldn't he just kidnap and torture them until someone starts talking? (Not that they could really tell him that much, since the island disappeared and all.)

Perhaps the survivors quickly realize this plan isn't working. After all, it's implied that Nadia was killed simply because of her connection to Sayid. But while they're being watched, no one seems to be doing anything about it.

Sure, they could just be waiting to follow them back to the island, but hasn't Mr. Widmore ever considered practicality.

#2: How/why did Locke leave the island?

Given what we saw in the finale, this might seem obvious. He moved the island, perhaps as a necessity to save it from all the "bad things" that happened after Jack and the others left. But that might be too easy.

Obviously this was the biggest cliffhanger of the finale. We want to know what lead to Locke's departure from the island and eventual death. Do other people attack it? Do the Others revolt against him?

I fail to see how the story of Jack and the rest of the six heading back in the present can rival the "backstory" of what went down on the island without them. But the writers have surprised me time and time again, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

#1: Did Ben know he was merely a placeholder?

The "Cabin Fever" episode gave us a lot of insight into Locke's story. Ageless Richard visited him when he was a mere boy, but he wasn't ready. This is very similar to young Ben finding Ageless Long-haired Richard in the forest and being told the time wasn't right. Given that Ben and Locke seem to be around the same age, I'm still not sure which of the two encounters came first.

Considering Ben's huge resentment against Locke (testing him, shooting him, leaving him for dead, etc.), it seems that he discovered that it was John's fate to take his place as leader of the Others. And though he seemed perfectly composed when he shot Locke near the end of last season, we know for a fact that he loses his cool from time to time. So maybe he just got jealous.

I think it wasn't until the island healed John, and he did everything he could to prevent the freighter people from finding them that Ben finally accepted that he had to hand over the reins.

There's a chance they'll go into more detail about this, but there's also a chance they won't address it any more. I'm not necessarily saying that I NEED any more details. I just think it was the most interesting revelation of the episode and adds a lot to the mythology of both characters, especially Ben.