Lost in Lost – Who’s coming to the island?

In this past week’s episode of Lost, Jacob informed Hurley that someone was coming to the island, and it seemed pretty important. I mentioned a couple of thoughts and possibilities about who might be on their way to the island in my review of the episode, but since then I’ve been giving it some more thought. I think it’s the most interesting question that came out of “Lighthouse,” because I think the answer is going to have a large impact on the rest of the season. Of course, with the pace of a show like Lost, we may not even know who is on their way to join the end-game fun for many weeks to come.

At first, I didn’t think there were that many possibilities, but as I stewed on the question longer, I realized that there are a few real possibilities, and a few way-out ideas.

Here is the list that I came up with:

• Charles Widmore: I think this is the most obvious answer. There is clearly more to the Ben/Widmore story and conflict than we have seen so far. With this being the last season, and Ben being on the island, I figure the only way this story is going to see a resolution (and I think it’s too big for there to be no resolution) is if Charles comes back to the island.
• Desmond: He’s the only main character that we have come to know who is off the island at the moment. It’s not immediately clear what his motivation would be to go back to the island, though. He finally freed himself from that place and the last time we saw him he was living happily with Penny and their little boy. I think Desmond found his happy ending already.
• Walt: We haven’t seen much of Michael’s son since they both left the island at the end of season two. During the first couple seasons of the show, he certainly seemed like he was going to be a big part of the mythology. However, the Others let him go after extensively testing him, so I have to figure that even though he was “special,” he was not an eligible candidate. Perhaps there is more to the story than that, however, and he is on his way back to the island. Malcolm David Kelley is about the right age now for an older Walt, so there wouldn’t be a casting problem.
• Aaron: Aaron always seemed to be very important. The Others were after him, there were psychic predictions (however questionable) about his future, and his absence has clearly had devastating effects on Claire. It’s hard to come up with a scenario where the child orchestrates a return to the island. The only thing that I can imagine is if the broad hand of fate takes action and brings Aaron to the island somehow. Perhaps he’s on a flight back from LA to Australia with his grandmother when there’s a horrible accident….
• Ji Yeon: This seems as unlikely as Aaron’s return. I don’t really think that Jin and Sun’s daughter is making her way to the island. After all, she is still a baby. There was no great mystery or prophecy around her birth, either, and she always seemed like more of a plot device than a character to me. I’ve always thought it was a little odd that Sun so easily handed her off to return to the island.

Of course there is always the chance that someone completely unexpected is going to pop up on the island, someone we haven’t even been introduced to yet. We’ll just have to wait and see for the real answer.

As an aside, I talked last week about Kate’s absence from the wall in the cave and what sort of implications that might have. I may have spoken too soon. This week, “Austen” was clearly listed on the compass in the lighthouse (matched with number 51). She still doesn’t have one of Hurley’s “magic numbers,” but it looks like she may still have a big role to play as a candidate. Hopefully things will become clearer, maybe even as soon as tomorrow!

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Mar 01, 2010 @ 10:00 EST5EDT