LOST's Oceanic 6: They're back. Now what?

The Oceanic 6 — and several friends, both new and old, but no Aaron — finally made it back to the island. One of them even got a resurrection out of the deal. So what now?

Lost’s showrunners have indicated that Season 5 is going to unfold in three segments, with the first volume comprised of episodes one through seven. Last week’s episode was number seven, so let’s take a look at where things currently stand for every major character, and I’ll offer some thoughts on where they could be headed in the weeks to come.

Jack Shephard
After all that determination and work to get back to the island, he succeeded. What’s the doc’s game plan now? I think Jack has three objectives on the island. First and foremost, he knows and believes that he is meant to be there, and leaving was a mistake. So he’s there to find his destiny, to find the role that the island needs him to play. Secondly, I think some part of him secretly hopes to find his father. Think about the timeline: after getting back home, Jack gives his father a funeral, then sees his father for a brief moment at his office, runs into Locke who claims his father is alive and well on the island, and begins his downward spiral into drugs and alcohol. It all comes back to Dad for Jack, and let’s face it — it always did. Third, he’s got to be interested in finding Claire. As far as he knows, Claire could still be alive, somewhere on the island. And he now knows that she’s his sister.

Kate Austen
It looks like Kate came along for the ride back to the island because she has nowhere else to go. (She’s in violation of the court order restricting her from leaving California, but who cares? It’s not like the U.S. authorities are going to find her now.) The key to everything with Kate is Aaron. Whatever happened to him, it’s led her to believe that she has nothing left in the outside world to stay for. Is there more to it than that? A popular theory floating around is that she’s pregnant, and therefore served as Claire’s proxy on Ajira 316. But this theory has a big, gaping hole in it: why would she knowingly return to the island if she’s pregnant, since pregnant women (and their babies) don’t survive there? The only way around this is that she doesn’t yet know she’s pregnant, which would mean that when she and Jack did the deed the night before the Ajira flight was when she conceived.

Hugo “Hurley” Reyes
The most altruistic character on the show, Hurley seemed to wage an internal war with himself over returning or not returning the entire time he was off the island. I think he finally gave in because like Jack, the island wanted him back and deep down he always knew it. What tipped the scales for him? I have no idea. But the smart money says it was likely a conversation with a dead friend. And I doubt he’s done using that particular talent, especially considering how many dead are buried on the island.

Sayid Jarrah

This is a tough one. The only reason I can think of that an arrested Sayid would be escorted by a Federal agent onto a plane headed for Guam… is for some kind of extradition. Which would mean that Sayid would have to be wanted in Guam for a crime or crimes he committed there. But after all the killing he did for Ben, he would probably be a wanted man in a whole lot of places, so singling out such a small locale like Guam seems odd. One thing’s for sure: now that he’s back where he belongs, he has the most to atone for of anyone.

Sun Kwon
A no-brainer. Sun is there to find her man. Once that’s done, Sun and Jin’s endgame seems clear: get off the island again and back to their daughter, Ji Yeon. And live as a family happily ever after.

John Locke
I sincerely hope we’re now going to see a John Locke who’s strong, secure, and devoid of doubt. Everything he told the O6 was true, and it led all of them to return. That has to give him a pretty nice confidence boost. And hey, the island brought him back to life. That should tell him pretty much everything he needs to know. So no more playing the pawn between Ben and Widmore; it’s time for Locke to come into his own and seize his destiny. Whatever that entails. Oh, and laying a little smackdown on his murderer wouldn’t be the worst thing. Which leads us to…

Benjamin Linus
Whatever he’s planning to do back on the island, you can bet it’ll be self-serving, because that’s his modus operandi. His war against Charles Widmore is going to come to a head sooner or later, and he’s probably looking to stack the deck in his favor before that time comes. On top of that, he probably still hopes to supplant Locke as Jacob’s golden boy, but with Locke back among the living, that won’t be so easy. Still, Ben always has a plan, so we’d best not underestimate him.

Frank Lapidus
It can’t be coincidence that he wound up as the pilot of Ajira 316. Locke would say that the island orchestrated his return, just like the others. And he brought that plane down nice and smooth. So what’s the island got in store for him this go-round? He could help some non-essential Ajira passengers attempt an escape. Or maybe he could enlist the help of Miles or Hurley to track down the ghost of his old buddy Seth Norris, aka the pilot of Oceanic 815.

Okay, that’s everyone that returned. But what about the folks who never left? What’s up with them?

James “Sawyer” Ford
He always said he never really wanted to leave the island anyway, so it looks like he’s going to get his wish. Lately he’s been in a leadership mode, looking after the remaining survivors and doing what he can to help Locke stabilize the island’s movements through time, so that no one (else) has to die. If the island has been stabilized, then chief on his agenda will be figuring out what time period they’ve stopped in, and trying to keep his people alive. And he could still be working on a little somethin’-somethin’ with Juliet. But that’s only until his inevitable reunion with Freckles.

Jin Kwon
Without Sun, Jin’s purpose among the survivors is vague. He made a huge sacrifice in letting Sun believe he was dead so she wouldn’t return to the island. But that’s moot now. She’s back, and it’s only a matter of time before they’re reunited. In the meantime, he’ll probably have his buddy Sawyer’s back. But he’s got to be pretty curious about what he saw go down at the Temple with the monster.

Juliet Burke
She always wanted desperately to get off the island, so she could see her sister and nephew. Will she accept that her destiny lies on the island, now that the O6 — who always wanted off the island, too — have returned with news that only bad things come to those who defy the island? Or will she continue to try and escape? She knows how to do it, since Locke and Ben both showed the way. So what’s holding her back? My guess: the time period they’ve landed in. It probably offers no way for her to return to her old life.

Daniel Faraday
He wants to change the past to save Charlotte’s life. That’s his agenda, pure and simple, and we know he’s going to travel back to the days of the Dharma Initiative at some point, which should facilitate that goal. I also still wonder about his relationship with his mother, Eloise Hawking. There are so many questions about the two of them… She’s British, he’s not. Daniel studies temporal phenomena while his mother has demonstrated an ability to see through time to both the past and the future. Plus, there’s her mysterious past as Ellie the Other, and his lifelong ambition to find the island — two things that have to share some kind of connection. And who’s Dan’s father, anyway?

Miles Straume
If he is indeed Pierre Chang’s son, as we all believe he is, then only two things matter regarding Miles: Are his parents dead, and did they die on the island? If even just one of them died on the island, then what will Miles learn when he stumbles over their graves and converses with them? Plus, we know virtually nothing about his past, and there’s still the mystery of why he hoped to swindle $3.2 million out of Ben.

Charlotte Lewis
R.I.P. Over and out. Until Daniel runs into her as a little girl, that is.

Rose & Bernard
Last seen fleeing the flaming arrows of the Others after time-hopping to 1954. Their current status is unknown, but I can’t imagine we’ve seen the last of them.

Claire Littleton
Still no sign of Aaron’s mommy, aka Jack’s little sis, aka Dead Charlie’s reason for living. She’s not expected to be seen again until next season, but don’t be surprised if the producers sneak in a cameo of her before then — like in the Season 5 finale.

Danielle Rousseau
Still dead, though we finally found out the whole story about how she ended up alone on the island. Barring any more time travel, it looks like that’s a wrap.

Last but certainly not least, is our one remaining off-islander…

Desmond Hume
The island isn’t finished with him, and that probably has something to do with his “miraculously unique” status as one who can violate the laws of time travel, and alter the past. Did Ben succeed in killing Penny? If so, look for Desmond to suddenly have a whole new purpose and a very good reason to go back to the island (assuming he’s not already there): he alone could use the island’s time-hopping abilities to go back in time and save Penny.

And lest we forget, there are other new players on the board now as well. Namely, Caesar and Ilana. Ilana seems friendly enough, but Caesar looks awfully shady. (Which in Lost terms, probably means that Ilana is a backstabber and Caesar is a paragon of virtue.) Plus there’s part-time but ever-important characters like Richard Alpert, Christian Shephard, Eloise Hawking, and Charles Widmore, who we should be seeing lots more of.

Images: CTV.ca. Edits by Robin Parrish.