Five seasons in, ABC’s cult classic television show Lost remains a mystery. When Oceanic 815 crashed on the mysterious island in the very first episode, there was a sense that Lost would not be your conventional show. The fifth season upped the ante on weirdness as the finale ended with a flash of white light, hinting that a hydrogen bomb may have been detonated on the island.
Charlie, Shannon, Boone and Mr Eko May Return
Although Lost will not return to television screens until January 2010, there has already been fervent speculation about casting choices. Rumors abound that popular characters Charlie (Dominic Monaghan), Shannon (Maggie Grace), Boone (Ian Somerhalder) and Mr Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) will be returning to the show. If true, this would be significant as all four characters were killed off in the first three seasons. It would also lend credence to the view forwarded by the now deceased Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies) that setting off the hydrogen bomb Jughead would reset the timeline to a period before Oceanic 815 crashed and the survivors landed on the island.
But so mysterious are the ways in which Lost writers work that one cannot take anything for granted. Other characters, including Charlie, Ana-Lucia and Libby, have returned to the show for one-off episodes after they were killed off.
Did Juliet Set Off the Hydrogen Bomb and Die?
In the closing seconds of the Lost season five finale, named “The Incident”, Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell) appeared to have set off a hydrogen bomb, dying in the process. But we did not actually see that happen. In any case, on Lost a character can only be confirmed dead when his body is six feet under (and in the case of Nikki and Paolo not even then as they were buried alive). At the end of season four, all indications where that Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) had been killed in an explosion on a freighter but he turned up well and fine the following year.
Other than Juliet, the fate of all the characters currently stuck with the Dharma Initiative is also in question. After all, being in the immediate vicinity of a nuclear explosion is not the healthiest lifestyle choice. But they should be safe as Jack Shepherd, Sawyer and Kate, played respectively by Matthew Fox, Josh Holloway and Evangeline Lilly are among the most important actors on the show.
Slightly clearer, though no less bizarre, is the fate of John Locke (Terry O’Quinn). It appears that he indeed was killed but had his body possessed by the unnamed character seen conversing with Jacob at the start of the season five finale. That character has been nicknamed Esau by the online Lost community, a reference to the Biblical figure. Jacob himself appeared to have been killed by Ben Linus (Michael Emerson who was just nominated for an Emmy for the role) although we can be certain that he will have a major role to play in the events of season six.
Lost at Comic Con
The best hope of getting new information about the upcoming season of Lost will be at Comic Con this month, where the showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carton Cuse, collectively known as Darlton, will host a panel. In previous years, their panel has been a fount of news. The summer before season four they announced that the character Michael (Harold Perrineau), absent for the previous season, would be returning. Last year, they unveiled previously unseen Dharma Initiative videos as well as new cast members.
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