Return to Lost Island

Lost Spoilers Follow....Beware

Last night's Lost was another winner, harkening back to the show's pilot as the Oceanic Five (that's right, five) returned to the island, fulfilling Jack's season 3 finale prophecy of "We have to go baaaaaaack!" Yet regardless of how awesome it was as everyone gathered aboard and waited for turbulence to hit, I couldn't enjoy any of it. That's because the entire second half of the episode, all I could think was, "WHAT DID BEN DO TO PENNY WIDMORE?!?!"

When Ben casually told Jack about a "loose end," I started fearing for Desmond's love. That fear only got stronger when Ben, bloody and broken armed, called Jack from a payphone by Desmond's marina. His haggard appearance means there's hope Desmond was able to keep the bug-eyed Other away from his family. And Ms. Hawking's words suggest Desmond has to survive. But since I don't see Ben getting on that plane without having kept his "promise" to Charles Widmore, I fear the worst for Penny, and Little Charlie too. As next week is just about Locke, I don't see an answer coming soon.

There were plenty of other unanswered questions about how the crew spent their last day in the real world. The biggest is what happened to Aaron, a topic Kate promises never to discuss. What can happen to a 3-year-old in like the 12 hours Kate was gone? Did he die in some horrible accident, or did someone else steal him away? Hurley and Sayid were even more surprising to see at the airport, and their motivations were even more hidden. Hurley seemed to get a call from someone, but who? Sayid seems to be there less on his own volition, hauled in by some kind of cop. Does that make him Kate's proxy? Lastly, the "coincidence" of Frank Lapidus piloting Flight 316 seemed to be the final straw to break Jack's doubt. How great was Frank's expression as he saw everyone? Let's hope he gets a better fate than 815's pilot.

Six episodes into the season, we finally learned where the new characters are coming from. There were the Tailies, the Others, the Freighter Folk, and now the 316ers. The only two we need to know are Caesar and Ilana. Caesar only appeared briefly, offering Jack his condolences over Locke's death. The look between them that followed went above "this is a new important character" to "this guy is sketchy." All we know about Ilana is she's got a badge, she's got something on Sayid, and she looks like a cross between Kate and Ana-Lucia. That's enough for me to say she and Sayid are hooking up by season's end.

The episode began, as the series did, with a close-up of Jack's eye as he wakes up in the jungle. If his race for Hurley's cry of help didn't lead to as cool a sight as the burning fuselage, it was still a nice allusion. The only 316 survivors we know of so far are Jack, Kate, and Hurley, with everyone else MIA. Since Jin's in a Dharma jacket, we can assume a fair amount of time has passed on the island since Locke left, but we don't know how much. So who survived the non-crash? What are all the other left-behinders up to? And is there any hope for Penny? Looks like we've got at least two weeks before we'll find out.