More Unresolved Mysteries and Questions for Season 5

We all know that LOST is the kind of show that poses several questions for every mystery that it answers. I did not find a relevant article that posed the pre-Season 4 questions, so I did not do a recap like I did for Season 3.

I found this article from Yahoo! Canada, which posed five major questions that may be answered at the end of Season 5.

1. What happened to the Island?
2. How does Locke become Jeremy Bentham?
3. What's going on with Widmore and Ben?
4. Who the heck is Jacob?
5. What happened to Claire, Jin, and Michael?

What happened to the Island?

In the season-4 finale, "Other" boss Ben (Michael Emerson) turned a frozen wheel and - poof! - made the island disappear, along with Sawyer (Josh Holloway), Locke (Terry O'Quinn), Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) and other "Lost"-aways; the Oceanic Six fled on a helicopter. Ben - landing in North Africa - aimed to protect the island from arch-nemesis Charles Widmore (Alan Dale), who seeks to control it. The show has been exploring the space-time continuum, and that theme will be heightened this season in the search for the island.

Based on filming reports, cast interviews, and hints, it is very probable that the Island moved both in time and in space. Where it went is still unclear even with spoilers, but it is possible that the Island moved to the DHARMA Initiative heydays. Team Darlton has mentioned that Season 5 is about the DHARMA Initiative, whose members were killed in The Purge. Any ideas on where the Island moved?


How does Locke become Jeremy Bentham?

The cliffhanger revealed that Locke was "Jeremy Bentham." Under that alias, he apparently died after visiting Jack and some others who left the island with troubling news: They need go back. While visiting Locke's casket, a cryptic Ben tells Jack they must rally his fellow crash survivors - and return with Locke's lifeless body. Lucky for Jack, Ben always has a secret plan. Emerson tells New York magazine his bug-eyed alter ego will "carry on what seems to be his calling or his life's work or his war, whatever it is - I'm not sure exactly what it is." But it includes orchestrating a survivors' reunion.

I have no idea! But speaking of Locke, EW's Doc Jeff Jensen has a theory that is plausible and makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't be surprised if his theory turned out to be correct.

What's going on with Widmore and Ben?

Widmore is the wealthy industrialist who staged the fake plane crash of Oceanic 815 and ordered a team of mercenaries on a mission to find the island and kill everyone on it. Widmore and Ben appear to have a deep-seeded rivalry, deepened further after Widmore's agents murdered Ben's daughter in cold blood. Off the island, Ben recruited Oceanic Six survivor Sayid (Naveen Andrews) as an assassin; he also dropped by Widmore's home in the wee hours, vowing to kill his daughter as revenge. Whatever game they're playing, it has rules - and Ben says Widmore has broken them. One possible rule: Widmore and Ben cannot kill each other. That would be a very Harry Potter/Voldemort-esque plot twist.

My theory is that Widmore is either a descendant of Magnus Hanso or one of the original Hostiles. Either way, he was forced to move the Island and is, therefore, banished from it. Of course, this theory is based on Widmore's declarations in the last scene of episode 4x09, "The Shape of Things to Come" ("I know who you are, boy. What you are. I know that everything you have you took from me," and "That island's mine, Benjamin. It always was. It will be again."). But I don't think Widmore would say those if they were baseless, would he?


Who the heck is Jacob?

We've never seen Jacob, though he seems to be the all-knowing island messiah. The shadowy character lives in a creaky cabin that moves around a lot, hates technology and has communicated to the Others through Ben. Last season, Ben brought Locke to the cabin; Locke could not see Jacob but heard him say, "Help me." After Widmore's men stormed the barracks, Ben and Locke visited Jacob again - this time, Jacob spoke to Locke through a representative, Jack's ghost-daddy Christian (John Terry), who said to move the island. Ben, sensing that he'd been replaced by Locke, did the deed and peaced out. As far as we can tell, Jacob has unknown powers, dead people for friends and a cabin fever that keeps him locked in. Online theories abound: Is Jacob an ancient supercomputer, a divine entity, a superhuman being? Expect the unexpected, and expect to see more of him this season.

All I know is that we would see Jacob's likeness in some way. We may probably see more of him in Season 5. It is actually hard to tell because we've seen very little of him. Right now, I don't subscribe to any theory regarding Jacob. Let's wait and see.


What happened to Claire, Jin, and Michael?

Claire (Emilie de Ravin), who we recently learned is Jack's half-sister, seemed to survive a house fire - but then things got weird. She walked off in the jungle with her (un)dead father Christian. The next time we see them, she's in the shack with Jacob, acting creepy. As for Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Michael (Harold Perrineau), they presumably died on the freighter when it exploded. In an earlier flash-forward, Jin's wife, Sun, was shown at his memorial in Korea. Some bloggers speculate he'll turn up in early episodes, dead or alive, this season. If he perished in the blast, maybe we'll see him cavorting with Jacob, Christian and other ghost people.

Michael is definitely dead. In Season 4, he told Sayid that he was on the freighter to die. Before the freighter exploded, our favourite Undead Daddy Christian Shephard told him, "You can go now," which presumably meant that the Island is letting him die (he has attempted to kill himself several times after he returned to Manhattan). However, being dead on LOST doesn't mean that the character will never be seen again, right?

Claire and Jin's fates, on the other hand, are not so definite. Claire may or may not have died when an RPG destroyed her house in the Barracks. Mistaking Sawyer for Charlie when she came to and ghostbuster Miles's behaviour toward her make it difficult for the audience to tell what really happened to her. It is also baffling that Claire left her son Aaron in the middle of the jungle and her demeanour in Jacob's cabin is not helping either. I think I'll have to wait and see.

Jin seemed to die when the freighter exploded. He may have jumped into the ocean just before the freighter blew up; he may not have. But as I mentioned before, I think Sun would have a stronger motivation to go back to the Island if Jin is indeed alive. I did see something on one of the Dharma Special Access videos that may validate my theory (i.e. that Jin is alive). Either way, he will appear on Season 5 - based on rumours and filming reports anyway. But I still maintain the belief that Jin is alive!

Well, there you go. Hopefully, at least one of these questions will be answered by the end of Season 5. After the season finale, I will go back and recap any answers that the show gave for these questions.

Incidentally, LOST blogger Jopinionated just posted an extensive list of theories and questions for each character. Check it out, y'all! Apparently, "extensive" is an understatement. Hehehe...

LOST Season 5 begins in two days! Remember, it starts with a recap show at 8/7 central on ABC. The season premiere, "Because You Left," begins at 9, followed by episode 5x02, "The Lie".

I can't wait!!!