Daryl Tay.net

We’re less than 24 hours from the finale so I really need to get this post out, there are just a few things I wanna talk about pre-finale so that I can look back on them post-finale and see how they matched up. I’m going to start with a quick character run down:

Jack
I was surprised when Jack took over the role of being the Island’s protector this “early” in the season (ie, any time before the finale). Added on with the answer that Jacob gives to him when Jack asks how long he has to do the job “for as long as you can” – I wouldn’t put it past the LOST writers to set Jack up for the ultimate sacrifice and “for as long as you can” being translated to roughly one day. The fact that Jack X keeps getting these mysterious neck wounds could be a sign to his end as well. Will there be a happy ending for Jack? Best case scenario, he’s stuck on the Island as the new Jacob. Worst case scenario, he’s dead. Doesn’t sound like a win.

Kate
Which brings us to Kate. As noted in “What They Died For“, Jacob says even though Kate’s name is struck off in the cave, it’s just a line of chalk and she can still take up the job of being the next Jacob if she wants to. Disturbingly, this sets us up for Kate as the “secret weapon” which quite a few blogs have been suggesting since early on this season. This would tie in nicely with the fact that Jack was actually supposed to die in the first script for the pilot episode, and Kate was supposed to be the hero of the story. That would be really unpleasant for me. Let’s not forget there’s the little matter of Claire still wanting to get even that we need to think about. Best case scenario, Kate gets killed by Claire at the behest of the Man In Black, worst case scenario she gets off the Island to live happily ever after with Sawyer and raise Aaron.

Locke
Here’s the fantasy ending. Locke’s name is crossed out but it’s just a line of chalk. It was “always supposed to be him” just like it was always supposed to be Jacob. Jack sacrifices himself to purge Smokey from Locke’s body, Locke “wakes up” and takes over Jack as the Island’s protector as he was always meant to. But let’s have no illusions about this, even that would be too far fetched for this show.

Desmond
I wonder if Henry Ian Cusick is paid regardless of whether he appears in episodes or not. In which case he should be really happy cos he’s had a light acting load since Charlie died. In any case, Desmond is now the fail-safe and given his relative amount of inaction this season, I have no doubts he’s going to be called into play in the finale. If Jack indeed dies, Desmond is going to work as the failsafe to at least buy them time before someone else can take up the mantle. I’m crossing my fingers that Desmond gets a happy ending with Penny, because Sun and Jin have already met their demise and it would be sad if there is no happy couple ending on the show.

Hurley
Hurley is safe no matter what. I would be very, very, very surprised if he dies or even gets injured in any way. Happy ending somehow for him.

Sawyer
Sawyer’s gone through his “redemption” arc already – jumping off the chopper in Season Four, becoming an item with Juliet in Season Five, but he’s going back to despondent mode after indirectly killing Sayid, Sun, Jin and Frank. Sets him up for a death, perhaps saving Kate. Off all our characters, Sawyer has been the most redeemed and it would be fitting if he goes out as a hero.

Miles
Well he obviously ran off into the jungle so he could appear in the finale. Are his ghost powers going to be of any use against the Man In Black? No idea but since he’s the only Freighter Folk to survive, we just might see him with a big contribution in the finale.

Ben
Last week was a curveball I didn’t see coming and I would like to think Ben has an agenda. Unfortunately, I don’t think that agenda is going to keep Ben safe for very long . He’s gotten his redemption this season, he’s gotten his revenge against Charles Widmore, I think his last act will be to sacrifice himself as well.

Richard
Darlton have said that Richard is not dead and will be back in the finale, so his existence is going to be a certainty. Now that the mantle of Island Protector is passed on to Jack, is Richard still ageless and immortal? Will he continue serving the next protector or will he finally die? Jury’s out on this one, I have no idea. I think the potential of Richard certainly has not been lived up to since he appeared on the show and hopefully the finale can change that, if a little bit.

Man In Black
It’s obvious Smokey isn’t going to have a happy ending. Somehow Team Jacob is going to stop him (perhaps with heavy casualties) and he’s not going to be able to leave the Island. Will the Smoke Monster continue to exist in some form even after he’s stopped? Will there even be someone/something for the next Island Protector to protect it from? We pretty much know his fate isn’t going to be a good one, it’s just what exactly it’s going to be that’s interesting.

Flash Sideways
The big thing that needs to be resolved is of course the Flash Sideways and what (if any) connection there is going to be to the regular Lost universe. The convergence spot seems to be the concert that all of them are going to, but I wonder how Locke is going to be there (if he needs to be at all). After all the last we saw him, he was agreeing to surgery with Jack and even with a miracle, I’m not sure he can get up and about walking that fast to attend some concert. Also, perhaps it’s significant that Sun and Jin seem to be stuck in the hospital, since their counterparts are dead, they may not have much use in the Flash Sideways anymore. Desmond and Hurley clearly are the key to things happening and at this point no one knows what’s going to happen but the writers need to convince us that the Flash Sideways weren’t a waste of time this whole season.

The End
For the longest time many LOST fans have thought the series would end much like the Dark Tower series (without giving too much away, things start from the beginning with minor differences). Given that the LOST video game, Via Domus, pretty much ended that way, I still think this is a possibility. But with Jack the new Island Protector, I wonder if it’ll (re)start with him. In any case, there are two kinds of LOST audiences – those who want answers and those who are along for the ride with our characters. I don’t think the former are going to be happy with the finale. Shows like The Sopranos and Battlestar Galactica have left their fans with very polarising finales and I think that’s what happens when you have people passionate about a show. You can’t please them all with the ending, but you make the ending that makes sense for the characters.

Just about half a day to go.