'Lost' 10s: The 10 mysteries we most want solved
"Lost" has always been best known for its sense of mystery. But as the series finale approaches rapidly, we fans are beginning to realize that there's no way the show can tie up all of its loose ends. Some of these loose ends won't necessarily disappoint us if they're not tied up -- say what you will, but I'm not quavering in my boots to know exactly what happened to Sawyer's daughter -- but there are some we'd like to see tied up, nonetheless.
And so, here is the first of our five top 10 lists for the end of "Lost."
"The Top 10 Mysteries We'd Like to See Solved":
10) Just who was shooting at the time travelers last season? You may remember this scene from Season 5's "The Little Prince." The people left behind on the Island are taking an outrigger around the Island when they travel through time and suddenly pop up in front of ... another outrigger, whose passengers commence to open fire on the outrigger the show is following at the time. Who is on the other outrigger? We still don't know.
Likelihood this question will be answered: 85%. This came up in Season 5, not Seasons 1 or 2. It seems likely the producers planted it as a fun Easter egg for the diehard fans to see pay off.
How angry will we be if it's not answered (scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being angriest)? 2. It would be cool to see this end tied up, but it's not necessary to the enjoyment of the show.
Why do we want to see it answered? It'd be cool.
Worst possible answer: The other outrigger had an all-polar-bear crew.
9) What was up with the Others? This is less an ongoing mystery and more of a question of the show's consistency. In the first season, the Others seemed to be super-powered mystery men. In Season 2, they started out as silent jungle zombies, turned into hillbillies, then became crazy scientists. And in Season 3, they became suburbanites with a healthy mystical streak. Also, a whole bunch of them lived in a temple, apparently. The show has never really explained these inconsistencies in a satisfying way.
Likelihood this question will be answered: 10%. The show might address the connection between Jacob and the Temple Others, but it's unlikely it will try to explain why the Others played this elaborate masquerade on the castaways.
How angry will we be if it's not answered (scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being angriest)? 1. We'd like to see it answered, but we've resolved ourselves to it never being explained. More likely than not is that the show did this just because the writers wanted to keep the fans guessing, rather than any organic character reasons.
Why do we want to see it answered? Because it's one of the show's biggest inconsistencies, and it would be interesting to see what all involved would come up with.
Worst possible answer: The Others are a roving band of community-theater geeks.
8) How did Jacob choose the people who were going to come to the Island? Or was the Man in Black in on it too? It's possible the answer to this is really simple -- Jacob is psychic! -- but it seems more likely that there was some sort of criteria for who was going to be named a candidate. It'd be nice to know what those criteria were.
Likelihood this question will be answered: 60%. Tuesday night's episode seems likely to answer this question. If it's not answered then, the odds of it being answered drop dramatically.
How angry will we be if it's not answered (scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being angriest)? 4. It'd be nice to know how these people were chosen but that they were chosen at all is interesting in and of itself.
Why do we want to see it answered? We've gotten a lot of "what" and "who" answers this season but very few "how" and "why" answers. This is one of the biggest ones left.
Worst possible answer: Jacob and the Man in Black have an NBA draft-style Ping Pong-ball lottery.
7) What are the rules? We've heard the rules brought up a number of times -- most notably when Ben tells Widmore that Widmore has broken the rules when he kills Ben's daughter and when the Man in Black is told he has been breaking the rules this season -- but we have no idea what they are. We don't need a scene where Jack breaks out the "Lost" Island game box and puzzles out the complicated instructions on the inside cover of the box ("If you roll doubles, you get to move again and kill Shannon accidentally"), but it'd be nice to get some idea of the rubric.
Likelihood this question will be answered: 90%. We probably won't get to hear all of the rules, but it seems likely we'll hear at least one or two.
How angry will we be if it's not answered (scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being angriest)? 8. It may seem minor, but if we don't have any idea what's keeping Jacob and the Man in Black from doing whatever they want, then their actions seem even more inscrutable.
Why do we want to see it answered? It's needed to give two very important characters better motivations.
Worst possible answer: The rules for the Island are identical to the rules for Fireball Island.
6) How does the "sickness" work? So ... people die. And then they come back. And then the Man in Black can claim them? Until Desmond gives them a few well-placed words and they become free again? We think the show is trying to dramatize how the infected operate with Sayid this season, but here's one case where a little infodump couldn't hurt.
Likelihood this question will be answered: 50%. It could go either way, honestly. The show may think that having Sayid go through the "change" is enough for us to see what it's like. Or it may be keeping a bigger explanation up its sleeve.
How angry will we be if it's not answered (scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being angriest)? 5. If we learned this, it would better explain Sayid's actions this season, but it's probably not necessary for a great finale.
Why do we want to see it answered? Sayid's actions this season have seemed pretty random. Plus, the "infection" is one of the show's oldest mysteries.
Worst possible answer: The infected are mere puppets, dancing on the strings of Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.
5) So ... what's up with the flash-sideways storyline? It's the only question here that came up this season, but it's a big one. The answer to this one is going to redeem or condemn the whole concept of having flash-sideways stories for a lot of people.
Likelihood this question will be answered: 100%. The producers have promised this will be answered. Whether you like the answer is a different matter altogether.
How angry will we be if it's not answered (scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being angriest)? 10. I mean ... they said.
Why do we want to see it answered? The flash-sideways stories have had some pretty cool moments, but without a good explanation, they could just seem like character vignettes designed to draw out a relatively slim story to 18 episodes.
Worst possible answer: Desmond is dreaming all of this while hanging out in the well.
4) Why can't women on the Island deliver babies conceived there? It seems likely the answer to this one will have something to do with the Island's time-traveling properties, but we still don't have a concrete answer to something that figures heavily in the series' middle seasons.
Likelihood this question will be answered: 75%. Call us optimists, but the show made such a big deal of this so long that it might seem negligent not to answer it now.
How angry will we be if it's not answered (scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being angriest)? 6. It's probably not necessary to the endgame, but it was a pretty big deal there for a while.
Why do we want to see it answered? For a long time, it seemed like it might be central to the series' bigger mysteries. If it's just dodged with a "the Island travels through time!" answer, that would be unsatisfying.
Worst possible answer: The Island saw that movie "Babies" and just didn't want to bother with any more tots.
3) Who are Adam and Eve? The producers said the identity of the Adam and Eve skeletons, a storyline first introduced way back in Season 1, was a way for them to show off that they knew the ending of the show from the beginning. Whether this is the case (since it's pretty easy to explain away two ancient skeletons in a narrative with TIME TRAVEL), the show has long teased some sort of answer.
Likelihood this question will be answered: 100%. Again, the producers have promised we'll get an answer to this one.
How angry will we be if it's not answered (scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being angriest)? 10. We don't like it when TV producers don't keep their promises. Politicians? Another matter.
Why do we want to see it answered? At this point, everyone's theorized so many possible answers to this question that we're hoping against hope the show comes up with something completely off-the-wall, like the skeletons belonging to Mr. Eko and Eloise Hawking.
Worst possible answer: Jack and Kate. But you know it's going to be this. You don't want it to be, but you know it will be.
2.) What was up with Walt? In the early days of "Lost," a big, big deal was made out of the special powers of the seemingly psychic, seemingly telekinetic little boy named Walt, brought to the Island by a deadbeat dad and the forces of fate. The first season built these powers up more and more, until the Others kidnapped the boy to perform experiments on him. In practical terms, actor Malcolm David Kelley was growing too old for the role, and he was written out at the end of Season 2. But we've never gotten a good explanation of just what was up with Walt.
Likelihood this question will be answered: 25%. Though it seems safe to imagine the producers will provide an answer to this question in one form or another somewhere down the line.
How angry will we be if it's not answered (scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being angriest)? 1. We'd love an answer, but we've resigned ourselves to the fact that the plan for Walt had to be changed and eventually fell by the wayside.
Why do we want to see it answered? Because it's one of the single biggest mysteries from Season 1, and the series seems to have tried to shove it to the side since then. Plus, how could the producers not have known Kelley was going to get too old to play the part?
Worst possible answer: Walt was the kid from that "Twilight Zone" episode about wishing people out into the cornfield.
1) Who are Jacob and the Man in Black? Considering we don't even know the name of one of these characters, and considering that one of the final three episodes is turned over entirely to a flashback into their backstory, it seems likely that the producers want us to know more about these two and to be asking questions. Well, consider our interest piqued. We know a little about both -- Jacob is benevolent except when he's causing shipwrecks, while the Man in Black is the Smoke Monster -- but we know too little, ultimately, something that may have made this season's heavy focus on the two less satisfying for long-term fans than it might have been had we had the answers right up front.
Likelihood this question will be answered: 100%. Though, again, it's debatable just how much we're going to learn about the two.
How angry will we be if it's not answered (scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being angriest)? 9. It's enormously important to the show that the explanation for these two goes just right. At the same time, the series can't give so much information that they lose all mystery. It's a careful balancing act.
Why do we want to see it answered? Again with the "It makes or breaks the whole final season" thing. No pressure, producers!
Worst possible answer: Jacob and the Man in Black are Lindelof and Cuse.
Overrated mystery: What is the Island? Yeah, we should get more explanation of the how and why of the Island, but, honestly, if the only answer we get is the answer we got in "Ab Aeterno" -- the Island is a way to keep the Man in Black from devouring the world -- that would suffice. This is one of those things where too much explanation could be worse than too little.
Underrated mystery: Who is the mother of Jack's flash-sideways son? Now, admittedly, this is just being purposely set up as a mystery, the better to irritate us, but we just can't help but speculate. Who is it? Penny? Juliet? Sarah? Time traveling alt-future Shannon? The possibilities are endless!
--Todd VanDerWerff (follow me on Twitter at @tvoti)
Photos: Who's the Man in Black (Titus Welliver)? We'd like to know too. Below: Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) knows the rules. Do you? Credit: ABC
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i really want to know who jack's son's mother is.. i mean it's the only sideways story that doesn't seem to connect to actual island stories at all!
Posted by: craze0102 | May 11, 2010 at 11:30 AM
I don't think the show has spelled this out directly, but putting 2+2 together leads me to believe that Jughead/The Incident was the cause of the fertility problems on the island. Recall that just before The Incident, Amy gave birth to Ethan, the last known successful conception & birth on the island.
Posted by: AbPow | May 11, 2010 at 11:51 AM
Regarding the pregnancy issue, and why babies can't be born on the island, I think Darlton maybe sort of answered this as much as they are going to already? I read an interview at some point during this season where they stated that Ethan was the last baby born on the island (in 1977), and that "we've seen something happen after that" that precluded any more births. I read that as an oblique way of saying that "the incident," i.e. jughead's detonation, is what we are to take as the reason behind this particular mystery.
I'm not sure that's the most satisfying answer, and I wish I could find that interview, but my sense from reading that was that they seemed to think they had provided the answer to that question already, and wouldn't be addressing it any further.
Posted by: SoCalSun | May 11, 2010 at 11:56 AM
I wish you had provided this list to the producers before they started writing the final season. Sometimes I think they forgot about some of the mysteries that they spent so much time building up.
Posted by: Jon | May 11, 2010 at 12:11 PM
I think this is a really good list, not of every little minute mystery that is unresolved, but of the big things that were important in previous seasons that have been seemingly abandoned now. The Others, the sickness, the babies, and Walt are big things to me because they were written to be once upon a time.
I don't know, I'll personally be a 8 or 9 if Walt isn't ever addressed again. Not because I think it's germane anymore to where the series is heading, but he was such a big deal in season 1 and 2, and then, rather than push him to the side as you wrote, they did go out of their way to remind us of his existence in the season 3 and 4 finales. Plus, every time they bring back Michael it's just another reminder of what was up with Walt. To not even mention it now (and that's really all I want) would be just so sloppy.
Posted by: Charles R | May 11, 2010 at 12:52 PM
I'd actually like that raft to be filled with polar bears!
Worst-case scenario - this isn't Desmond's dream, but someone from St. Elsewhere's.
Who is Locke's "crazy mother"?
Is this story really Walt's? He grew up to be a comic book artist and writer, and this is in his imagination (or the memory of a plane crash when he was a child).
Posted by: Deborah SG | May 11, 2010 at 01:53 PM
The only mystery I really care about at this point is whoever's in the second outrigger. I don't really need to see a mystery resolved unless it's natural to the plot, and most of the others don't seem to present such an opportunity. I'm sure we'll have an answer to Adam and Eve, and it will probably be some version of "Hey, these random two people who existed on the island long ago who we never met died in this cave." How is that in any way satisfying? Sure, having it be Jack and Kate would be predictable, but at least it would matter, assuming the plot mechanics that get us there are interesting.
It's possible that the outrigger chase could also be shoe-horned in in an uninteresting way, but I have hope that it could be a cool twist if, say, Sawyer is the one hit by Juliet's shot. It seems like Lindelof and Cuse to have a scene in early season 5 that actually takes place in the series finale, so at this point, that's what I'm expecting.
Posted by: Mike | May 11, 2010 at 02:04 PM
Question 9 (What was up with the Others?) isn't likely to be answered in the way you suggest, since it seems obvious now that the writers were changing the nature of the Others as they went along in the first few seasons and it wasn't until they cast Michael Emerson that they really realized what they want the Others to be.
The question regarding the Others *I* want answered is how they came to be on the island, what their relationship to Jacob is and why is that the Others were able to call the Smoke Monster as a weapon to use against attackers (the mercenaries in season 4) and yet they seemingly knew that the Smoke Monster was their nemesis, MIB. Or at least the other Others in the temple knew this. Which brings up the question why some of the Others are living on the Dharma commune and some of them are all Lord of the Flies.
Which brings up Richard's relationship to the Others as well. Was he simply middle management for Jacob or did the Others only see him as an advisor? And what the hell does "banishment" actually mean, since both the folks we know have been banished have both subsequently returned to the island? Is banishment just being voted off the island until you come back for Lost All-Stars?
Oh yeah, AND WHAT ABOUT THE DONKEY WHEEL? How the hell does that thing work?
Come on, there's oodles of questions to answer. 10 doesn't even scratch the surface.
Posted by: joel | May 11, 2010 at 03:15 PM
How could Aaron not be mentioned on this list? You discuss what a big deal was made about Walt, but how about Aaron?! What is his purpose; why is he so important? He HAS to have a MAJOR role in how things wrap up or I will be very disappointed (10).
Posted by: normandy | May 11, 2010 at 10:16 PM
Wow they actually answered some of the questions tonight, including Qs 3 & 1 above, plus how the big wheel thingie came to be.
Of course it opens up more questions but at some point it becomes "turtles all the way down". As a premise, I think you have to accept there's always been a Source and someone's job to guard it.
I actually found the explanations tonight pretty satisfying, more so than Jacob & the MIB being simple representations of good and evil. In some ways, the MIB is easier to relate to as a person than "insane-mommy's boy" Jacob is. That woman guardian may think herself to be good and selfless in her duty, but she comes across as murderous and inhuman, something I think the writers purposely cultivated. And Jacob messed up in a BIG way, literally creating a monster. The MIB may be ruthless in his willingness to kill everyone to get off the island, but it's hard not to see things his way as well.
Posted by: Scott | May 11, 2010 at 10:38 PM
Thanks - you've confirmed my initial impression that this series was nothing but a string of red herrings and I'd be better off explaining the last episode of "The Prisoner" to my 83-year-old mother than trying to digest the make-it-up-as-we-go-along hooey dished out over......how many seasons? Hellllooooooo? Anyone remember "X Files" last couple of seasons? Happy about those?
Posted by: Quatermass | May 12, 2010 at 07:56 AM
This may not be that important overall, but I still wonder why Sun did not go back in time with the other Losties when the Ajira plane crashed, but stayed in the same time period as Ben, Lapidus, etc.
Posted by: Laura | May 12, 2010 at 06:08 PM
I want to know what the big deal was about Claire's baby being raised only by her.
This seemed like a big deal in season 1, and we haven't really received any explanation. Last we saw little Aaron, he seemed to be doing pretty well.
Posted by: JJ | May 13, 2010 at 02:55 PM