Season 5 Expectations & Predictions

Before the premiere of every successive Lost season, we, the viewers, whether openly or subconsciously, each have our own mental list of questions which we expect the show to finally answer throughout said season. In past seasons, we generally emerge from the finale, roughly 6 months or so later, disappointed but just wanting the answers even more.

Luckily, at this point in the show, with only two seasons of Lost left for Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to work with, I don't think it would be possible to not answer, or at least shed significantly more light on, certain Lost mysteries and unanswered questions, many of which have been with us us from the beginning.

First I will list several Lost mysteries/stories that are slated to be covered, as stated by Lindelof and Cuse, issues that were meant to be covered in Season 4 but were not as a result of the damned 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, thus leaving us in the dark for longer than even the co-producers had intended.

I will then provide a list of certain unanswered questions and mysteries of the show that I believe will be answered or at least explored to a much deeper level in Season 5, specific things. I'll try to stay away from intentionally ambiguous predictions. I don't want to cop out...

Finally, I will make a list of unanswered questions and mysteries of the show that I do not expect to have answered in Season 5, but rather expect to be covered in full detail later, in Season 6, the final season.

Once Season 5 is concluded, I will review my predictions in this blog from roughly five months earlier and assess my accuracy, my wins and losses.

Here goes:

Unanswered Questions and Mysteries that WILL BE Answered and/or Further Explored

• The reason why Libby was in the mental institution (the same one Hurley was in).
  
• Why Ms. Hawking was pictured in a photo with Brother Campbell, Desmond's superior at the monastery.
• How/Why Ben was caught in Rousseau's trap (Season 2), where he was subsequently handed over to the plane crash survivors.
• The story behind the four-toed statue seen by Jin, Sun, and Sayid (Season 2 finale).
• What really happened between Ben and hot-air-balloon-crash-survivor Henry Gale.
• The occurrence of time travel and what it means in the Lost universe.

Unanswered Questions and Mysteries that I Expect WILL BE Answered and/or Further Explored

• We know that Rousseau and her team's crash and subsequent attempt(s) at survival on the island are supposed to be covered in a flashback of some sort eventually. I expect this to happen this coming season, perhaps in the episode entitled "The Little Prince," scheduled to air on February 4th, 2009.
• The "Sickness" Rousseau and others on the island have referenced and even warned about in the past.
  
• The true purpose of the Dharma Initiative (granted, much has been revealed concerning this issue through mediums other than the actual show itself, things such as the Valenzetti Equation; however, the co-producers have stated that they don't expect viewers to have to watch external sources of Lost-related media in order to fully understand the plot).
• The ranks and inner workings of leadership on the island (i.e. Locke took Ben's position. What will that exactly mean for him? The Others are now "his people," but does that include Richard Alpert or is there some sort of checks & balances at play?).
• The ash/soot encircling Jacob's cabin. Is its function to control or restrain Jacob in some way?
• Walt's powers. Also, his relationship with and importance to the Island.
• Horace Goodspeed's significance and seeming agelessness, similar to Richard's apparent situation.
• Charlotte Lewis's history and its obvious connection to the island.
• The true identity of who planted the fake plane wreckage in the ocean.
• Significantly more information as to Matthew Abaddon's true identity and his motive(s).
• The supply drop (Season 2).
• Faraday's Journal. Lindelof and Cuse have already stated that it is of great importance to the story. Has Faraday himself time traveled? Some of the notes in his journal seem to be from the future...?
  

Unanswered Questions and Mysteries that I Expect WILL NOT BE Answered and/or Further Explored

• The full story behind the Black Rock.
• The importance behind the raising of Claire's son Aaron.
• Adam & Eve - two rotting bodies found in the caves initially discovered by Jack in Season 1.
• The truth behind the existence and identity of the Black Smoke, the Monster.
• The "runway" that Sawyer and Kate were helping build in Season 3 during their imprisonment on the Others' Alcatraz island.
• The problem of pregnancy-related deaths on the Island.
• The fate of Annie, Ben's childhood Dharma friend. Could she be the one who Harper says Juliet looks "just like"?
• The true nature of the rivalry existing between Widmore and Ben. This seems like it is a key element of the show and therefore I do not think will be wholly revealed until the show's sixth and final season.
• The "Lists." It seems like Others have made lists for Ben, such as Ethan and Goodwin, but apparently Jacob also makes a his own list, a final or master list of sorts that seems to trump all other ones, a list of the "good" people...?
  

Granted, there are many more mysteries of Lost, but these are many of the key questions that I feel are most important and pertinent in the minds of the show's viewers...or at least in mine.

I guess we'll see how I did in five months. ;)