“Lost” Season 4: Questions From The Audience

The first segment of “Lost” Season 4 started off slowly (as usual), but it has sizzled down the stretch (also as usual). With the first eight episodes of the season completed, the series will go on a brief hiatus until my birthday, April 24. Here’s a quick look at the key characters and just a few of the many urgent questions I would ask them if Evangeline Lilly ever lifts my restraining order …

Hurley
What We Know About Hurley: He won the lottery once. He's been diagnosed with at least one mental disorder. His "lucky streak" can be and has been a curse. He’s one of the Oceanic Six. And he likey cake.
Questions I’d Ask Hurley: Why did you join Locke’s camp initially? Why were you allowed to see Jacob? What made you change your mind and leave the island? On a related note, how did you become part of the Oceanic Six? Are you crazy now? What happened with all your money? Are you going to incorporate Libby into any of your visions, like Michael? What is your relationship with Sun and her child off the island? What is the extent of the mind games taking place between you and Jack in the "real world"? What is your life like now? It's an old question, but has yet to be answered: how did you manage to continue to gain weight even while stranded on a deserted island? What did you take or learn from your visions of Charlie, so soon after his death? Have you ever considered living in the van down by the river? Did you eat the polar bear? In all these visions, will you ever eventually envision Jenny Craig?

Jack
What We Know About Jack: He’s obsessed with returning to the island, his leader complex hampers him and he falls for girls he can’t quite have.
Questions I’d Ask Jack: Why the beard? Did you just gradually crack when you got off the island, or was it something that hit you all at once? Can you ever go back to practicing medicine? If you can't become a reliable doctor again, what will you do with the rest of your life? What happened between you and Kate once you were “rescued”? What transpired back in the real world that could possibly lead you to contemplate suicide by jumping off a bridge? What is the “mistake” you are referring to and how can returning to the island fix it? Have you considered Oxycontin?

Kate
What We Know About Kate: She’s morally ambiguous, she loves Jack, she’s entranced by Sawyer and her post-rescue story is the key to Season 4.
Questions I’d Ask Kate: How did you end up with Claire’s child, Aaron? What made you decide to leave the island? Why did you really journey to join Locke's camp? What is the deal or deals you may have made to protect your identity and erase your past when returning to the real world? Since you have met Jack at the airport several times in the real world, something must be drawing you back to him and/or the island; what is it? How come your fortunes in the real world seem to be the exact opposite of Jack's? Were you really so upset at Jack on the island that you slept with Sawyer? What is your gut telling you about the "Helicopter People"? How did you leave things with Sawyer and what occurred between you and Jack once you returned to “real life”? You know I love you, right?

Ben
What We Know About Ben: He tells two lies for every truth, he knows more about the island than anyone in the show, he has sources everywhere and he takes a punch like freaking Joe Louis.
Questions I’d Ask Ben: Do you know who shot Karl, Danielle and Alex? Do you know if Karl (prolly), Danielle or Alex are dead? What has employing Michael as a spy revealed? What really happened between you and Charles Widmore? Do you truly know who or what Jacob is or represents? What does Jacob's cabin the woods mean to you? Are you legitimately concerned that your tumor will return if you are captured by the Helicopter People? What is it about the island that you are protecting so fiercely and intensely? What is the true nature of your relationship with Rousseau, your daughter and Juliet? How many repeated beatings can you withstand before you just give up?

Locke
What We Know About Locke: His self-doubt makes him a loser masquerading as a leader, he’s terrified of being in a wheelchair again, and he’ll never get out of the cycle of being Ben’s puppet and pawn.
Questions I’d Ask Locke: What is the hold that Ben has over you? Does being reponsible for a few different deaths on the island affect your decision-making at all? How completely has your fascination with being the leader/savior impacted your common sense? How come you can’t find Jacob or the cabin anymore? Do you ever hear Jacob's voice anymore? Will you ever see a vision of Walt again? Is there anyone on the island that you trust? How much does returning to a life confined to a wheelchair play a role in your actions? Do you ever hold yourself accountable for the mistakes that you have made? Why did you seek out company by creating your own camp when you have been perfectly happy being a loner in the past? How did you learn to throw a bowie knife perfectly 50 yards like that?

Sun and Jin
What We Know About Sun And Jin: They have navigated a rocky relationship, seemingly came out of it OK, and then mysteriously (seemingly) broke up, before or after Sin's alleged death. Jin has learned English quickly, but they were both oddly absent from most of the first segment of Season 4.
Questions I’d Ask Sun and Jin: What happened between you two once you got off the island? Can Sun’s infidelity really be forgotten that quickly? Who is Jin marrying now? Will the baby be healthy and free of the island’s effects? Is Jin back to being an assassin? Is Sun involved with anyone at all? Why is Sun led to believe that Jin is dead? Where is his grave located? Is it possible he is the mysterious inhabitant of the coffin from Season 3? Where were you for the first 80% of Season 4?

Sawyer
What We Know About Sawyer: He feels he has nothing to go back to in the real world, he cares more for Kate then he lets on, he is more of a follower than he would like to admit and he is living proof that enduring a plane crash is a small price to pay for sleeping with Kate.
Questions I’d Ask Sawyer: Do you really want to stay on the island and be Locke’s bitch? What happened to your inclination to stir things up? What do you perceive within the island that makes you think it is the better alternative to a do-over in “real life”? How did you leave things with Kate? How do you maintain a Don Johnson-like five o’clock shadow on an island?

Juliet
What We Know About Juliet: She’s still an enigma, she has been playing Jack, she knows a lot more than she lets on, she knows how to hide behind a smile and she is a master manipulator.
Questions I’d Ask Juliet: How often would you say you tell the truth? How much do you know about Charles Widmore and/or his landing crew? Do you know where the psychiatrist is? What do you know about the fate of pregnancies on the island that you have yet to reveal? How much dirt do you have on Ben and how do you truly feel about him, what he has done and what he may be planning? How big a role does guilt play in your life and actions? What are your true feelings with regards to Jack? Is there any more you can do to help or protect Claire's child, Aaron, or Sun's pregancy? How much do you know about Jack's feelings for Kate and Kate's interactions with Sawyer? To what lengths will you go to get off the island and back to your sister? What was it like to make out with Angelina Jolie in “Gia” – speak very slowly, please?

Sayid
What We Know About Sayid: He seems to the most suspicious of the “rescue” team, he has an innate ability to find the truth, he’s still a relatively unknown commodity in this collection of characters and he’s the island’s Arabian McGyver.
Questions I’d Ask Sayid: How would you characterize what you’ve learned on Widmore’s boat? What was behind your decision to take a ride back to the boat on the helicopter? What are your thoughts on the strange events that took place during that fateful trip to the boat? Why did you sell out Michael (besides the obvious reasons)? How much do you trust the captain of the ship and/or Charles Widmore? How would you assess Desmond and the myriad mental issues he appears to be having? What is your motivation in getting off the island? What is the most pressing of your many unresolved conflicts on the island? Could you describe your decision to pair a wife-beater with the Soul Glo jerry curl?

Desmond
What We Know About Desmond: He deals with visions of the future and lost memories of the past, his relationship with Penny provides the only impetus for an active and legitimate search for the survivors, he has an underrated knowledge of the island and Dharma, and I suspect he knows more about both Ben and Charles Widmore than he’s disclosing.
Questions I’d Ask Desmond: Why is it that every time you seem to be slipping back into minor-character mode, you emerge again with a pivotal role? What is it about you that makes you so key to the development of the plot? How did Charlie’s death and what transpired in the Hydra affect you? What happened to your visions? Why does Charles Widmore hate you so intensely? What is it that makes you not want to give up and close the door on Penelope? What’s the deal with your occasional amnesia? Are you getting tired of Sayid’s smoldering stares and constant sweating?

Michael
What We Know About Michael: He literally sailed off into the sunset with Walt, he was then reintroduced a couple of years later, he’s borderline suicidal, he’s still controlled by Ben, and unlike the other survivors, he is driven and haunted by unresolved relationships in the real world.
Questions I’d Ask Michael: How far do your motivations lie in being Ben’s puppet? What happened between you and Walt? What truly happened to make you want to kill yourself? How often do you have visions of Libby? Have you ever envisioned AnaLucia? How much does the guilt of killing both haunt you? How do you feel about Tom being incredibly light in his loafers—did you see that one coming? Do you miss Vincent? What can you do and/or how can you restore the breach of faith between you and Sayid and Desmond? Are you really a good guy or a bad guy? How do you feel about your son morphing into Greg Oden seemingly overnight?

Claire and Aaron
What We Know About Claire and Aaron: Claire is still dealing with Charlie’s death, we still seemingly know very little about her as compared to other characters, Aaron’s birth was an exceedingly rare, successful one on the island, and we are led to believe that this pair is eventually split apart.
Questions I’d Ask Claire and Aaron: What could have possibly happened to cause you to lose Aaron to Kate? How much do you truly miss Charlie? What do you make of Desmond's vision of you and Aaron being rescued by a helicopter, and Charlie's sacrifice in an effort to ensure that vision came true? Have you suffered any effects from raising Aaron on the island? How come you are not one of the Oceanic Six? If you didn't elect to stay on the island and you're not in the real world with Aaron, what became of you? Are you still taking any medications or serums, and what have they done for you? Why have you chosen to stay in Locke’s camp? Do you truly trust Locke, or is your thankfulness for his charity finally waning? Why have you not emerged as a more important/forceful character? Are you concerned that most of the hot chicks eventually get killed off this show?

Helicopter People
What We Know About The Helicopter People: They all have tangential connections to the supernatural and the island, and they are all good at making meaningfully mysterious faces. Beyond that, very little.
Questions I’d Ask The Helicopter People: What are your true relationships with Charles Widmore and how much do you believe/trust in him? What are your individual motivations for joining the crew of the Kahana? What is up with Miles’s ghostbuster routine? Is Charlotte good or bad? Why does Daniel seem so odd/crazy—and why does he look like Elliott from “E.T.”? What are your individual beefs with Ben? Why does there seem to be no real sense of urgency to find Ben or get off the island? How concerned are you about the adventure following Naomi’s murder? How essential are you as characters within the overriding plot of the series?

Charles Widmore
What we Know About Charles Widmore: He’s rich, he’s vicious, he stops at nothing to get what he wants, he’s the most important character that has hardly been on the show, he’s muy pissed at Desmond, and he’s determined to control Penelope and keep her away from Desmond and the island.
Questions I’d Ask Charles Widmore: Why would you to all this trouble to find Oceanic 815? How much money are you willing to spend? How much of this endeavor is as a result of your hatred of Desmond, and from what does that hatred truly stem? Where are you now? How much of the strange goings on with Minkowski and other happenings do you really know about? Where is Penelope? What is the nature of your relationship/conflict with Ben?