There are a gazillion unanswered questions going into the final season of "Lost" on ABC. I said three seasons ago I'd be happy if Lindelcuse explained 80 percent of it by the end of the series.
Still, let's focus on Season 6. (STOP HERE if you haven't followed the show and plan on doing it in the future.)
To countdown to the last season premiere ever (waah!) of "Lost" ... six story lines I think should be addressed by the series finale.
No. 4 How did the Others really save little Ben after Sayid shot him?
It looked kind of dicey for a minute after Sayid (Naveen Andrews) shot a 12-year old Ben in the back midway through Season 5.
Sayid had it rough. He'd lost his wife off the island, become an assassin, then a construction worker/social crusader in the Dominican Republic. Duped into returning to the island, he arrived and it was 30 years earlier.
Wanting to do something useful, because my boy Sayid is nothing if not useful, he set out to alter history. If Little Ben died, he'd never grow up to kill his dad and a bunch of Dharma folks, never torture the Losties or play psychological chicken with Locke (Terry O'Quinn).
Little Ben took the bullet but didn't die. I'm sure the why of it is a simple matter of the island's dope healing powers. Blah, blah, blah. I get it. Don't mess with the island. It gets it's way whether I want it to or not. Daniel Farraday (Jeremy Davies) told us as much.
But are there any ripples in the future at all? Anything to hope for? Like Ben growing a conscience and riding to someone's rescue out of nowhere? (Nah. Scratch that. I've said it before: If they turn that punk murderer into Snape, I'm storming the ABC castle.)
I respect the Iraqi MacGuyver for giving it a shot. (Puns are the lowest form of humor.) I love Sayid because he's willing to go THERE when others refuse. But I applaud the writers for also exploiting that moment to let the character evolve. For the first time in Mr. Jarrah's up-with-violence life, he cried during a kill.
Knowing what doesn't work, as the Losties do, why would anyone else try to "correct" the future or "erase' the past with such a measure? What makes anyone - cough, Foxy & Company- think they should attempt it again?
Season 6 begins Tuesday on ABC. Recap show at 8 p.m. Two-hour premiere at 9.
