What LOST Season Four's Premiere Might Look Like
With the total lack of news (or in Damon Lindelof's words and abundance of "Radio Silence") LOST fans can do little but speculate at this point. We know that LOST's show runners got the team together for a brain storming session and laid out the contours of the next forty eight episodes, we know that flash forwards will now be used in addition to flash backs, but we know little more than that. What's a LOST fan to do? Speculate, of course!
One thing that is surely to change is the rate at which threads are dealt with. In season two we spent a solid five episodes catching up on the various groups of characters in the wake of the hatch opening. Season three saw the infamous 'mini-pod,' a six episode resolution to the kidnapping that capped season two. We still don't know what happened to those poor souls in the arctic.
In those days, though, the series had plenty of time to deal with things. Eight more episodes to be precise. Now the series will have sixteen episodes to tell each of the final three pieces of the LOST story, fifteen if you consider the finale is usually a two hour episode. So loose threads will need to be tied together quickly. Let's take an inventory of what we have.
First on everybody's minds are the flash backs/flash forwards. We shouldn't worry too much about that concept. We're guaranteed fifteen pieces to that puzzle. The reason why Jack (Matthew Fox) was so desperate to get back to the island is probably NOT going to be a thread that we will see picked up immediately.
Right now, the people in the most precarious position are the folks on the beach. With 'help' on the way, the first people who will encounter the as-yet unknown Minkowski and company will be Sawyer (Josh Holloway), Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), Bernard, and Hurley (Jorge Garcia). Luckily they are in radio contact, something tells me they aren't going to have good news.
The next guy with an issue is Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick). He's deep below the sea at the moment, but luckily has plenty of scuba gear. What makes his position interesting is that he will have a unique point of view when he surfaces. He knows the people who are coming knew about him, but are not assigned by Penelope Widmore. The question is what - if anything - can he do about it?
Jack and company have Ben hostage, but will his knowledge of the approaching strangers force the group to work with Ben for their mutual survival; and where was John Locke (Terry O'quinn) heading? Has he fallen out of favor with Jack for good, or will he yet redeem himself.
Perhaps the most intriguing bit of info for some was the mention of The Others' destination, The Temple. Is the temple a remnant of the original people of the island? Why were The Other's heading there to begin with?
Altogether, it looks like the LOST crew has a lot to deal with in the first couple of episodes of LOST season four; but if the pace of LOST season threes second half is any indication, it looks like us fans are in for a hell of a ride.
