Lost: Predictions

Thursday is TV night in the White household (established April, 2008).

We really have only two shows we watch. The Office, which has replaced Arrested Development as our favorite comedy.

But the show we have to watch weekly is Lost. I don't know why we were slow to catch on. Maybe it seemed like a Castaway rip-off. Beautiful people crash on a desert island and try to survive. Guh. Doesn't sound like much.

It's more Twin Peaks or X-Files than Castaway. There are elements of sci-fi (time travel, smoke monsters, the dead coming back), action, adventure, drama, plus it's told in serial fashion. You really can't miss a week. It's not like the X-Files when Cigarette Smoking Man would show up a few times a season. With Lost, there have only been a few throwaway episodes. On the flip side, that means storylines stretch out forever. But I can live with that.

Really, I think it's setting a new standard for postmodern storytelling. The story is by no means linear. Not only do the writers use flashbacks, but flashforwards, showing us snippets of what will happen. Heck, we even know who gets off the island. The fact that millions still tune in to find out how and why tels you something. They can give that away and still leave you wanting more.

Plus they have characters named Locke and Rousseau. This season they even introduced a character named after C.S. Lewis. How could I not like that?

Did I mention the biblical allusions, including a scene that came straight out of the old testament history of the temple? Not to mention a drug lord turned priest who carries a "Jesus stick".

Anyway, if you're still reading, here are my predictions for the season finale. And if you don't watch, this stuff won't make any sense.

But here goes. Here are the questions this episode has to answer.

1. How will they move the island?

I've heard speculation that it's a move in time or a physical move. A physical move seems unlikely. I also think there could be another purple sky episode, where the Island goes haywire and somehow the electromagnetism hides the island from the outside world. But I'm going with a move in time.

2. Is Claire dead?

Well, she's walking around talking to her dead father, so I'm going with yes. She's dead. Don't know when for sure she died, but I'm saying she is.

3. Will Jin, Michael, and Desmond die?

We know by way of a flashforward that there's a grave for Jin in South Korea. Even if he dies now, I think Michael and Desmond won't. The island won't let Michael and Desmond has unfinished business. He's not done.

4. Will we meet Jacob?

I think they might string us on a little more on this, but they have to give us more than they've given. I think Jacob appears and talks, but I don't think we really will learn his identity and story here. That comes next year. That's my prediction.

5. Who's in the coffin?

I say it's gotta be someone who we previously thought wouldn't be dying -- i.e. someone the island wouldn't let die. That could narrow it down to Ben and Michael, maybe Locke, or I'll got out on a limb and say Richard Alpert. Ben and Michael are too obvious. Just for the sake of making a guess, I'm going to say Locke.

6. Crackpot theory

Locke sacrifices himself in the Orchid station to move the island and save everyone, but since it moves the island in time, he's brought back. So his body ends up in the coffin, but he's basically cloned in time and stays on the island.

So I'm probably dead wrong on all this, but we'll see tomorrow night!