'Lost' Theories - Leading Into Tonight's Episode 5

A new "Lost" is on tonight, so Patrick and I have some new theories - and one thing that is stumping us. Naturally.

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Spoiler Warning: While we know nothing about season five’s fourth episode, the rest of this post will gleefully spoil events from previously aired shows.

1. Sawyer Will Try To Change The Future: Daniel Faraday acts like he has all the answers, but like anything in "Lost," there are things in motion he’s not aware of. Faraday laid out what we've so far assumed is a rule of time travel in "Lost:" you can’t change the future. Clearly, he thinks Desmond Hume is an exception to this rule, but Faraday’s reluctance to provide real answers to those around them will eventually prompt someone, likely a lovestruck Sawyer, to reach out and try to change the future. The question is: can he?

2. The Oceanic Six Will Be Island-Bound Tonight: There is a point to all this off-island stuff, right? As strong as the current season has been, the off-island parts of the show have done little more than bring our group of Oceanic 6 survivors back together, more or less unchanged by their years spent off the island. Jack still acts like Jack. Kate's Kate. Sayid's a little more cold-blooded, but not by much. Sure, Ben's on board now, but this group of survivors seems otherwise unchanged. What was the point of all the plot machinations? To allow the story to really advance with Sawyer/Locke/etc on the island? Whatever the case, the guess here is that the Oceanic Six reunion tour is island-bound by the end of tonight.

3. Locke Will Lose Everything: In the last episode, "Jarhead," we're given the reason Richard Alpert visited a young John Locke. Benjamin Linus was not happy with giving control of Island leadership over to Locke, and while at the time he told Locke he was sorry, what if he knew, ultimately, he could change what happened? Did Locke become the leader of the Others because he was always meant to, or did he truly, accidentally land on the Island and find a new home? Either way, if the past can be messed with, if there’s a way to "course correct" events in a way that would remove Locke from power, someone will try to make it happen.

4.  The people in a canoes are .... no clue: Why were there canoes on the island during one of the time-jumps last episode? Who did they belong to? Maybe there's a connection to Ajira Airways, which was featured in a pre-season viral campaign? We wish we had a good theory. We're stumped in a four-toed-statue kind of way.

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‘Lost’ Theories — Leading Into Tonight’s Episode 4
‘Lost’ Theories — Leading Into Tonight’s Episode 3
Nine ‘Lost’ Questions We Need Answered