Ok, so I’m really late this evening because of late bedtimes for the kiddies, a last-minute decision to watch the recap – Past, Present & Future – and then slog sit in rapt attention for the season premiere, The Beginning Of The End.

Here are the thoughts, Losties!

• The Oceanic Six

By my count we know for certain 3 of the 6: Hurley, Jack and Kate. Charlie’s Ghost isn’t a member (he’s like the fifth Beatle, er, lone Driveshafter) but I’m willing to bet that “he/him” that Kate mentions and the unnamed, deceased guy are 4 and 5.

Anyone have anything more insightful than conjecture or speculation. Pet theories include Locke or Sawyer in the coffin and Locke or Sawyer as “he/him”.

I want to say one of them is Juliet, but I’m not so certain. Something about her character still has me apprehensive. Plus, if there is the spark of something romantic (maybe not a lot since Jack and Kate get off the island together) wouldn’t that have come up already in the flash forwards?

I kinda want Rose & Bernard to get rescued, especially given their stance tonight in the ongoing Jack/Locke feud, but that would mean that either Bernard dies (and Rose doesn’t attend the funeral) or Bernard and Kate are somehow together. Neither one jives for me and I don’t even want to think about Rose & Bernard getting split up.

So, yeah, only guesses. Make your case, I suppose.

• Matthew Abbadon

If you played Find815.com, and I know all you loyal viewers did, you’ll remember “Abbadon” as a Season 4 clue to one of the chapters, I believe it was the first.

I’m going to track down ALL the Season 4 clue words in the morning to see if they correspond to events in this or future episodes. I’m guessing the words and the accompanying pictures were real show clues and not just game clues.

Per WikiPedia, here’s some Abbadon knowledge:

• it comes to mean “place of destruction”, or the realm of the dead
• can mean an underworld abode of lost souls, or hell
• means “the destroyer.”
• known as the lord of pestilence
• may be one of the lesser demons of hell, or even a dark angel

So I’m guessing he’s no Oceanic Airlines attorney, but I also don’t think he’s necessarily an agent of Dharma/Hanso/Widmore/Maxwell (I’m just calling this whole cabal DHWM from now on). I think he’s somehow a manifestation of the forces at work either on the island or in opposition to it.

I think he relates strongly to my next point.

• Astral Projection

Charlie’s Ghost appears on the mainland.
Christian Shephard’s Ghost appears on the island.
I’m betting Jacob is also a ghost, somehow trapped in some kind of flux or limbo between the island and the rest of the world.

This one’s a total lark, but I truly believe that the answers here are spiritual in nature. Locke knows it. Heck, he himself was saved by Walt’s ghost, though I’m not so certain Walt is dead, maybe he can just commune with the island like Yemi, Eko’s brother (though he was a ghost).

Sure there’s some cool science and technology, but at the core we’re taking about craziness of Biblical proportions, so if it’s not religion per se then it’s definitely spirituality/afterlife in some incarnation (pardon the pun).

I think Matthew Abbadon is part of that (a ghost?), though I’m not sure how just yet.

And I’m not sure why Jacob isn’t corporeal (incorporeal?) all of the time like the other ghosts or apparitions or visions or whatever you’d call them.

I’m even willing to make one more bold/wild hare statement: Hurley’s friend Dave – despite being an imaginary friend back in his earlier stint in the asylum, may have been alive at some point. He might have been the astral projected “Dharma recruiter” we’ve all theorized about before.

It’s just crazy enough to be true. Or total hokum.

Leave a comment.

• Why is Hurley off the island?

Choosing Locke pretty much swung the favor of 40-odd folks to seek shelter from Not Penny’s Boat (NPB). Until we have a designation for the “other” Others, I’m using NPBs.

But Hurley ends up off the island. And he simultaneously apologizes to Jack for picking Locke (therefore implying that Jack was right) and also stating he thinks “it” wants them to come back (refuting Jack).

Which is it? Was Jack right to want off the island or wrong to leave? Can Hurley have it both ways? Can we?

I’m thinking, as I’m sure most of you are as well, that there will be a heavy price to pay for the death of Naomi. Why there are only six that come back to the mainland is a burning question in my mind.

I’m also extremely curious about this gag order/tacit agreement all of the Oceanic Six have that they won’t tell anyone what’s going on or what’s happened.

It’s unclear to me that they’ve even told the world (in flash forward time) how or why they came to be rescued. I’m sure that story will be a major part of the narrative this season.

So this point and the first are linked. Who are the six? Why are they off the island? Do they all eventually want to go back (feel compelled/drawn)? Do they ever get back? What happened to those that aren’t back? Are there folks on the island still alive? Who or why can’t they talk?

Wow! That’s a TON of questions. Always a good sign for any Lost episode, especially a season premiere.

• The Others, Ben Linus & Rousseau

I have the strong suspicion that we’ll see some additional “cleansing” take place on the island. Whether it’ll be like Ben’s subversion of Dharma of some new kind of warfare, I can guarantee John Locke does not go gentle into that goodnight.

Why would Rousseau choose to hide, unless she’s just like Sawyer, a survivor? What will happen to Sun’s baby? Will there be more experimentation?

All I know if that we spent so many episodes dealing with the Others, it’d be a shame to see them lose their moxie now.

Bonus points if you thought Lost got an early look at the iPhone for last year’s season finale. Looking at the interface in this episode I immediately wanted to march down to the nearest AT&T store and get mine.

I’m tired, it’s late and I missed a ton.

I promise to do better next week if you promise to keep me honest (especially co-workers past, present & future) by leaving a comment.

Go to sleep or find that whole “golden ticket” nonsense at flyoceanair.com/find815.com

Until next Thursday …

UPDATE: If you didn’t watch Past, Present & Future, do yourself a favor and check it out. Hopefully it’ll be on ABC.com.

Also Powells.com blog has a Lost feature (regularly, I’m told) and the latest edition has some good info to get you in the right frame if you’re the type that will re-watch The Beginning Of The End (like I might)

UPDATE II: Who else was in Jacob’s house and why did/could it teleport, Dr. Who-style?

UPDATE III: Clue words from each of the chapters of Find815.com’s clue hunts:

Chapter 1 Clue Hunt, Season 4 Clue Word(s): Matthew OR Abbadon
Chapter 2 Clue Hunt, Season 4 Clue Word: 423 Cheyne Walk OR Daniel Faraday
Chapter 3 Clue Hunt, Season 4 Clue Word: 36-15-28
Chapter 4 Clue Hunt, Season 4 Clue Word: Frank Lapidus (Rumored to be Jeff Fahey and somehow related to Rick Lapidus, someone mentioned in Nikki’s Expose script), Also, per Lostpedia – (The name is an anagram for “Farads link up.” The Farad is a unit of electrical capacitance, named after physicist Michael Faraday [see above].)
Chapter 5 Clue Hunt, Season 4 Clue Word: Southfields

UPDATE IV: LOTS of news regarding Ghosts and hidden messages:

The official Lost video podcast refers to Hurley’s hallucinatory Charlie episode (the underwater one in the police station) as a “ghost”. Also, Charlie’s hand-written message? They Need You.

Speculation about Jacob turns to visual evidence that it’s actually Christian Shepherd. Jacob IS Christian Shepherd! Christian Shepherd IS Jacob! Or at least it’s looking that way.

Support for a ghostly/altered states/astral projection theory? Or more corroboration for the whole Dharma recruiter theory?

Lastly, Wired says Hurley saw Locke’s eye in Jacob’s cabin. I think it’s Desmond’s eye, though I have no explanation.

Going home tonight to wear out the pause button on the TiVo HD tonight. And if you’re not watching Lost in HD either at home or online, you’re missing the boat.

If you have the means, I highly recommend picking up HD.