O'BSERVATIONS: THE "LOST" FINALE

With last year's finale, I think the one line that most resonated with viewers was spoken by "Tom Friendly" near the end of the two hours:

"The thing is... we're gonna have to take the boy."

This year, I think the honor goes to Sayid Jarrah:

"I don't know what is more disquieting, the fact that the statue is missing or that it has four toes,"
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I'm hoping the statue relic proves to be Sayid's "hatch" (in other words, an obsession like Locke had). This would provide a meaty storyline for Naveen Andrews and whomever else is drawn into the mystery of what the four-toed statue represents.
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And what does it represent? The producers once said that the final answer would not involve aliens, but they've been known to lie to us before.

Perhaps it's a question of semantics. Maybe the statue has no connection to aliens from outer space... what about a race of ancients alien to the modern concept of intelligent life on Earth?

Something out of Faerie perhaps?

Could it be a tribute to the demi-gods who once visited this world from another dimension?

Could it be that the Island is some kind of Atlantis?

"Gulliver's Travels" has been incorporated into Toobworld, thanks to the mini-series in the late 1990s. So we know the lands visited by Lemuel Gulliver are now part of this TV world. (And as an off-shoot beneficiary from that, post-dated, we now have a splainin for 'Mr. Ed'!)

On one of those islands, Gulliver encountered the Brobdignagians, a race of giants. Could this statue have been left behind as a memorial to them? (They still exist on Earth Prime Time, but not as a united tribe. Mostly they live in the Rocky Mountains and enjoy cold beers. Every so often, one of them takes a nap across the landscape, inconveniencing the passersby.)

Whatever the statue represents, I think it's the aspect of the story I'm most jazzed about. I just hope they don't let me down with the splainins.
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I'm told that weird-looking bird, the only one seen on the Island since they crashed there, also appeared in the finale for the first season. I'll have to retrieve my copy of the boxed set from my brother and finally watch it all again.

This show gives you so much information, sometimes it's hard to retain it all.
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There's been a lot of chatter about Charlie's demeanor when he returned to the Lostaways' camp. I'm thinking that it can be attributed to more than the disorientation from both explosions and the resulting "meltdown" when the button wasn't pushed.

I'm thinking that he should not have injected himself with that serum. Something bad will come of that next season, I'm sure.
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I think on his trip back to the other survivors, Hurley may encounter that bird again. It would certainly make for an interesting episode for him, considering his tenuous grasp on reality.

And I think his best bet is to head for that signal smoke sent up by Sayid. That way he can reconnect with the Iraqi and with Sun & Jin. It's probably almost necessary, otherwise they might still stay out there looking for Jack, Kate, and Sawyer.

And then he gets a boat ride home.
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At first I didn't like the idea of those three being taken captive by the Others, because I thought the rest of their group would suffer story-wise, being left behind.

But now I see that it might have been necessary to protect their chances at juicy roles on the show. Without getting overshadowed by Sawyer, Jack and Kate week after week, we might be able to see a new dynamic rise from the survivors.

Who will emerge as the new leader with Jack missing? Locke or Eko (if they survived)? Sayid? Might Danielle Rousseau make her presence more noticeable this season?
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I think Eko and Locke have survived the cataclysm of the hatch. Not too sure about Desmond, but I'd like to think so. By turning the key, I think he cancelled out the electromagnetic program altogether, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was killed off in the attempt.

At the same time, I think he has served his purpose to the script gods and so the Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos of Toobworld have more than likely given his particular thread the final snip.
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But thanks to his short-lived return, at least we should be getting Sonya Walger as Penelope Widmore, at least on a recurring basis. I first saw her in "The Librarian: Quest For The Spear", and then in her recurring role on 'CSI: NY'. She's an interesting actress to watch, and I think Penelope will play an integral role to the development of the story.
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There was a flurry of speculation that Matthew Fox was playing one of those two Portuguese (Brazilian?) researchers in the Antarctic working for Penelope Widmore.

But on closer inspection of that scene with repeated viewings, I tend to doubt it. Eye color, nose shape, vocal quality all point to him being a different actor.

Still, people are fixated on this idea of "bad twins" and "genetic mirrors", so who knows? Personally, I'm using that genetic mirror theory to splain something else that happened in the finale.....
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I think we have more or less seen the end of Michael on the show. Maybe now and again in a flashback for somebody else, as we're promised with Libby, but otherwise, his storyline is wrapped up and he's out the door without having to die for it like Boone, Shannon, Ana Lucia, and Libby.

But what about Walt?

I can't believe the "Others" would give him up that easily. They claimed they got what they wanted from him - what could that be? Genetic material? But why wait until any clones, let's say, came to fruition, when you can exploit the original. If he has the powers that many of us suspect, he's an Anthony Fremont that can still be controlled.

So here's my idea - the Walt that left with Michael is not the original Walt. He's a doppelganger, a changeling, a bad twin. (Dun dun DUNH!)

The real one is still back at the Others' camp, where Jack and Kate and Sawyer will find him being held in "the room".
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How were they able to come up with a changeling so quickly? There's always that Faerie angle I mentioned earlier. But considering that this is a production in which JJ Abrams still has some input, and that a connection has already been established between 'Lost' and his other show 'Alias', I think we can look to yet another crossover for the splainin.

That splainin comes in the 'Alias' episode "Double Agent": "Helix is a new gene therapy that can reshape a patient's face and body. The only way to determine an actual identity is through an ocular scan — this flaw was purposely built into the procedure." (from Wikipedia)

Perhaps the Others used Helix, acquired through Widmore Labs, to turn some other child (or small adult - Malcolm David Kelley was growing like a weed!) into the perfect double for Walt. And since Michael didn't really know all that much about his own son, perhaps he would never notice until it was too late - i.e., he was outside the radius of the Island's influence and can't find his way back.
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But here's another scenario that might play out which would keep Walt in the show, but lose Michael:

Keeping to that heading supplied by Fake Henry, the boat would head out to sea as the Island curved away. Somewhere out there is some kind of radius, invisible wall, that prevents the island from being seen by the outside world. Things can drift into that area, but they can't get back out - except at the one place where the boat would be heading.

Just before they reach that chink in the "wall", Walt demands that they go back so that he can get Vincent. But Michael refuses. He knows what will happen if they return - he'll be killed for murdering Ana Lucia and Libby. Better to keep going and escape to the outside world.

Walt's powers forced a bird he was interested in to come to him, only to smash into a glass door. He may have summoned the polar bear (although I think it was already on the Island). He probably caused it to stop raining at one point. And he seems able to teleport at least an image of himself.

What if he wanted Vincent so badly that his powers caused himself to be teleported back to the Island? But once there, he couldn't rejoin his father, no matter how powerful his mind was, because Michael was just passing through that one opening in the shield? The boat goes through before he has a chance to notice Walt was gone - not unusual considering their past relationship - and turning around, he can't find his way back in.

So that would strand Walt back on the Island to be included in future stories, but without having Michael around.
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As for his growth spurt in what should have been only two months, that could be attributed to the kinds of experiments performed on him by the Others, or through the use of his own powers. Making a "Big"-like wish to be of a size where he could better protect himself against their imprisonment and "tests".

With some similar explanation, it wouldn't be a problem then to have the young actor stick around without the audience complaining about his size difference; the way they complained that Hurley wasn't losing weight.

(You notice that they don't often complain that the women still have shaved legs and non-hairy armpits, right? Sheesh.)
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Why did the Others take Kate, Jack, and Sawyer? Just to prove to the other Survivors that they can take anybody. And to throw them into a leadership vacuum and keep them docile through fear. But procreation could be a factor as well. Maybe that EMP all these years has rendered them sterile.
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Like I said, I hope this means meatier storylines for the other Survivors left behind. I hope Locke and Eko did survive and that Locke rediscovers his faith with Eko's help.

With the EMP now gone forever most likely, will that mean a reversion to the Island's healing powers? We've seen three major examples of it via Locke, Jin, and Rose (the first ever example? The fast way Jack healed from his back injury which Kate had sewn up.)

With Jin, it doesn't matter much. If he had been cured of his own sterility by the Island, it already did its job: Sun was pregnant. But it could have terrible consequences for Rose and Locke. Locke might not be able to walk now, but Rose could end up dying from the cancer.

We'll just have to wait and see if there was a connection between the button and their healths.
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So the storylines I think we should see next season:

Obviously life among the Others for Jack, Kate, and Sawyer (and maybe Walt).
Any possible effects on Charlie in re: to that vaccine.
The mystery of the four-toed statue.
Hurley's bird.
Sun's pregnancy - is Jin the father? Was she raped by Charlie when he kidnapped her?
The health of Rose
More about Alex Rousseau and a possible reconciliation with her birth mother.
And maybe even more about Penny Widmore and the outside world.
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A casting call has gone out for the following three types:

woman, 30s, with leadership qualities
woman, early 20s
Latino male in his 20s, mysterious nature

When they were casting the role of Charlie, the producers orginally had an older, more washed-up figure in mind; maybe somebody along the lines of Bill Nighy's character in "Love, Actually". But upon seeing Dominic Monaghan's audition, they re-thought the role.

The same could happen with these three. That's why I like the idea of Alex Kingston, formerly of 'ER', as the take-charge woman. She's older than what they're looking for, but she has a great look that would fit right in with the diversity of 'Lost'.

Speaking of which, where are the Native Americans? We've got Africans, African Americans, Asians, we had a Latina......

(The reason I ask is that I'm currently watching 'Coyote Waits' on DVD with Adam Beach and Wes Studi among others. Some of the actresses would fit right in to this Island mix as that woman in her 30s, Jill Scott Momaday and Alex Rice.)

As for the woman in her 20s, I'd suggest Rachel Nichols, who was in 'The Inside' last summer and then in the final season of 'Alias'

And how about David Lago for the mysterious young Latino? He won a Daytime Emmy for playing Raul Guttierrez on 'The Young & The Restless'.... he should be available.

So that's about it - and isn't that enough? LOL

Here's to a summer of rehashing theories and the sweet agony of the show's return in the fall......

BCnU!
Tele-Toby