I Am DB

Aaaaaand, we’re back! Good to have you all here. In anticipation of the show’s return, I thought I’d revisit some of my burning questions so far, focusing on those that I think might be answered this season. As for the questions that are likely more pertinent to future seasons…I’ve already started a message to send you all next January. Hey, I like to plan ahead. But for now…

When last we visited our island and its surrounding waters, we were left with two cliffhangers:

1) Sayid brought Michael to Captain Gault, exposing him as the ship’s traitor.

2) Rousseau and Karl were killed by unseen snipers, leaving Alex alone and shouting that she’s Ben’s daughter.

I’ve tried harder than usual to avoid spoilers and clues about this next batch of episodes. But here’s what I’ve heard we can expect, without giving away any details:

• The season finale is said to include a “shocking kiss.”

• One of the episodes will include what the producers describe as an “elaborately staged” death.

• We’ll find out who’s in the coffin.

• Claire is going to factor significantly into what’s coming up. (Maybe the writers will give her three seconds to acknowledge the death of her boyfriend. Idiots…)

• J.J. Abrams favorite Greg Grunberg, who played the pilot of Oceanic 815 in one episode of season one (or two episodes, if you’ve watched that season’s deleted scenes) will supposedly make an appearance again in the season finale. Perhaps we’ll see him interact with Frank, who claims that he was supposed to be flying the plane that day?

That’s what we know is in store. Now what else can we reasonably expect? Well, I’m guessing we’ll see flashbacks/flash-forwards for Jack, Locke, Ben, Claire and…I’m not sure who else. Sawyer hasn’t had an episode this season yet, but he hasn’t been crucial to the latest plotlines. On the other hand, from what I’ve heard, the strike-shortened season has meant that flashbacks for Faraday, Miles, Charlotte and Frank will have to wait until next year, so maybe Sawyer will get his day after all. That aside, here are some of my lingering questions for the remainder of the season. Some of these will definitely be answered; others…only the Black Smoke knows for sure.

• Where has Frank been with the helicopter? Is he involved in the takedown of Rousseau and Karl? And is Rousseau really dead?

• Under what circumstances will Hurley leave Locke’s camp and become one of the Oceanic Six?

• If the world-at-large believes that all passengers of 815 have been accounted for, how will the Oceanic Six be explained?

• What happens to Jin?

• What causes Jack’s post-island downward spiral into suicidal tendencies?

• Since Claire and Aaron apparently don’t leave the island together, will Desmond’s flash to the contrary – which prompted Charlie’s heroic sacrifice – be explained?

• Will we learn more about Matthew Abbadon?

• What is the relationship between Ben and Charles Widmore?

• Does Walt have a role to play in this season’s remaining events?

• Will we see Jacob’s cabin again, and if so…where? In their respective cabin encounters, both Locke and Hurley saw an eye in extreme close-up. Will we find out whose eye that is? And will Jack’s father be seen again in the cabin?

• What do the people on the freighter know about Penny and what she may be up to independently of her father? Will we learn about the status of her own rescue boat?

• Will we find out anything more about Charlotte (full name: Charlotte Staples Lewis)? I’m pretty sure her flashback is not happening this season, but the producers have said that her name’s similarity to Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis is “an important clue to the places we’re going at the end of the season.” Anyone for some Turkish Delight?

• What will come of Ben’s monetary arrangement with Miles?

As I said, I have plenty of other questions…but I don’t think the answers will be revealed this season. One piece of good news is that we’re now getting six new hours instead of just five. The season finale will be a three-parter: hour one on May 15; hours two and three on May 29. There will be no new episode on May 22. So in the end, the season will be 14 hours long – two less than expected before the writer’s strike.

Tonight’s episode (at 10:00, remember): The Shape of Things to Come.

Drink up.