First of all I should say SPOILER ALERT. I personally don’t think that anything that happens at Comic-Con is a spoiler but some people do. So you’ve been warned.
Secondly, you should probably check out these videos from Comic-Con:
The Panel
The Videos
Now on to the analysis:
Last year I stubbornly refused to accept that in Season 5 the Island inhabitants would go back in time. I thought time-travel was too complex and that the writers would shy away from it. I was thoroughly wrong, and in the end it was a good thing. This year I don’t want to make that same mistake again. All signs are pointing to a timeline reset. This year I’m not going to ignore the evidence.
Moving on.
The Facts
- We’re getting a Richard flashback. And it’s going to be very involved.
- Not another time travel season. And it doesn’t look like there will be regular flashbacks or flashforwards either.
- We might find out who is organizing the Dharma Drops (I couldn’t care less at this point).
- Jacob has never appeared in any other form. Very interesting.
- Charlie is appearing in Season 6
- Boone is appearing in Season 6
- Juliet is appearing in Season 6
- Claire is appearing in Season 6
- Daniel is appearing in Season 6
I think everyone does need to take a step back and calm down though. Even though they confirmed that Charlie, Juliet and Boone are coming back we have to remember that all of these actors now have starring roles in other shows. Remember last time something like this happened? That’s right, Matthew Abaddon came back, but was soon after unceremoniously dismissed. So while we may get Juliet and Charlie back (I’m still surprised that anyone cared about Boone) they aren’t going to be starring in Lost, we might just get them for an episode or two. If I were you I’d hope that the episode comes at the end of the season.
The Banner
They showed the Season 6 teaser banner, which I find very interesting. This is a photo of it (when I do get an official version I’ll be quick to make it into the new banner for the site.
From The-ODI.
There is a lot of speculation about who is in this picture. Here’s who I see: Daniel, Boone, Miles, Michael, Ana-Lucia, Charlotte, Shannon, Desmond, Eko, Kate, Jack, Sawyer, “Locke”, Ben, Sayid, Libby, Sun, Jin, Claire (possibly holding Aaron), Hurley, Juliet, Charlie, Frank, Richard, Bernard, and Rose. There’s an extremely high chance that all of these characters will be seen in Season 6.
You know who I don’t see in this banner? WAAAAAAAAAAAAALT! Why the *%&$ isn’t Walt in this photo? (Also Penny’s not on it, but that’s understandable. She’s an off-Island character.) There’s a very slight chance that the person I identify as Frank is actually Charlie and Charlie is actually Walt, but when you look at Charlie’s pants then it gives him away. And I really doubt that Frank is Walt, because he’s very tall and very white. I’m quite unhappy about this development.
Other people that were missing, but less alarming, Rousseau, Alex and Naomi. But I don’t think anyone is going to make a big deal about any of these characters. Also Aaron and Ji Yeon, but they’re never included.
The most noticeable thing about this banner is Locke’s position. He’s at the very centre of things and he’s turned around. To me this is an obvious clue that he is still “Locke”, in other words possessed by Esau. This is completely foreseeable development. Obviously everything that happened in the finale happened for a reason. “Locke” wasn’t going to revert back to Locke just because certain fans desire it more than is healthy.
Here’s something that’ll get your ire up. When I first saw this poster you know who I looked for first? Nikki and Paulo. They really should be on there, they were Oceanic Survivors and regular cast members. Heh heh heh. Honestly though, I would like to see a Nikki and Paulo cameo.
A Theory: A Second Chance
This poster, the commercials, and the obvious resurrection of almost every dead character leads me to believe that Daniel’s plan was a success (I refuse to call it Jack’s plan). They did reset their timeline, everyone now has a second chance at life. But I think that perhaps the past wasn’t fully erased. They have a second chance but they are still fully aware of their time on the Island. This could allow many characters to have happy endings, and it would also mean that the last five years weren’t wasted. And it would mean that many needless deaths would be undone.
That’s my theory, Juliet successfully Changed the timeline, but she didn’t erase the past, she just gave everyone, including herself a second chance.
I’m having a hard time imagining how the season will be structured. If I’m right then all the Oceanic survivors will get safely in LA, but they will have experienced years of their lives that suddenly will seem like a dream. Some of them will have experienced death. I doubt the show will open with that. I also doubt that the show will feature another “we have to go back” storyline. So I don’t know how it will work. But I have a feeling I’ll be able to expand this theory over the next 6 months.
Another Theory: Self-Correction
I’ve had this theory since Daniel first came up with his hair-brained idea (I hate that expression). If there’s one thing we learned from Ms. Hawking it’s that you can’t change the past… right? Wrong! She showed Desmond that he could change the past all he wants but the past subsequent timeline will correct itself. So while Juliet may have successfully altered the timeline for much of what we know, that doesn’t mean everything has changed. “Time has a way of course correcting”. If you picture time as a straight line then all Juliet managed to do was make the line go off course a little, pretty soon it’s going to meet back up with that same old course.
This could lead to a very fun season, at least for me. I think it would be great to watch all the characters who have died already, die again. And then watching Jack and Kate and all those other characters helplessly get pushed down the same course that they’ve already followed. This would be like the first four season in fast-forward. But this is highly unlikely. We’ll see, probably by the time January comes around I’ll find away to reconcile these two theories and combine them.
Note: After all of the analysis I think what I’m most concerned about are the relatively new characters. What’s going to happen to the Freighter Folk? Miles, Daniel, Charlotte and Frank have to fit in somewhere, but I can’t imagine where. Juliet and Ben are relatively safe. But then there’s Ilana. I love Ilana, but I can’t imagine how they’ll manage to fit her in with all these old characters coming back. This is the age-old problem I have with Lost, there’s a huge favoritism towards the original cast. The writers continually add new characters, better characters but then they kill them or sideline them in favor of the old stalwarts. I don’t like most of the old characters.
– izi
Not Confused Just Lost 
I think the “Libby” in that banner is actually Penny.
I’ve heard people saying that, but I think it’s Libby because it looks like she’s wearing this outfit: http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage-729-8.html
Sorry I couldn’t find a better picture for that.
yes , a mulligan combined with course correction works for me since WHH is still preserved IMHO
whoa. After a quick trip to Urban Dictionary I almost figured out what you meant. But I don’t know WHH, and I’m sort of guessing that IMHO is a varient of IMO.
I’m not good with all this texting short hand stuff.
– izi
I’m guessing that WHH is “Whatever Happened, Happened”.
IMHO is In My Humble Opinion
Ooooooh. Thanks, guy.
In that case, I agree with the statement.
I’m a firm believer in “Whatever Happened, Happened”, but just because the universe course corrects doesn’t mean that everything always happens the same way. Charlie was fated to be hit by lightning and die, but the universe had to course correct three seperate times (drowning, arrow in the neck, drowning) until he finally died. Charlie’s situation is also an example of how powerful free will is, as well as it’s repercussions, regardless of destiny. Even though Desmond failed to save him, trying to alter Charlie’s destiny had a significant impact on the world. After all, it took a musician to figure out what the code was in the Looking Glass station, and without that, the call for help via the satellite phone would have never worked.
My guess is that Season 6 will begin with what appears to be an alternate timeline (Oceanic 815 landing in LA, unsuspecting characters leading their new lives, etc.), but as the season goes on, the course correction happening in the timeline will become more apparent as more clues are presented to us. Despite 815 failing to crash, somehow our characters will find themselves back upon the island dealing with the things they tried to escape from. In short, S6’s theme might not be “We got to go back”, but rather “you can’t escape your destiny”. Unfortunately, it would be a monumental task to pull this off without making the previous five seasons appear completely irrelevant. 😦
As for the mysteries that I would like answered in Season 6, the origin/nature of Ms. Hawking’s precognition would be fairly high on the list. While we learned in Season 5 that she sent her son back in time to die, how did she know that the man with the red shoes was going to die? That episode (S3, “Flashes Before Your Eyes”) clearly showed her with the same precognitive powers that Desmond possessed. So I want to learn how she obtained these powers, and (if the clues from the season finale are right) I want to know why she has recently lost those powers. I could be wrong, but I think there is a lot more going on with her character than just sending her son back in time to his death. Given her position among the Others, I think those answers will have a significant impact on the story.
I hope that everyone keeps their memories or at least regains them eventually. The writers must feel the same way as us, they don’t want five years of writing and character development to be discarded either.
I think Ms. Hawking is one of those characters that is used to pick up the slack. She’s the all knowing mystic. It would be nice to know how she knows everything, but I doubt they’ll show us that.
This is the age-old problem I have with Lost, there’s a huge favoritism towards the original cast. The writers continually add new characters, better characters but then they kill them or sideline them in favor of the old stalwarts. I don’t like most of the old characters.
Exactly! I honestly don’t get how people are still moaning about Charlie dying. He wasn’t even that great of a character, he annoyed me half of the time.
I like the newer characters much better than the “core” characters myself. I’d take an episode about Rouseau, Juliet, Ben and/or Richard over one about Kate, Jack, Charlie, Sayid etc. any day.
That said, I’m very anxious about this “reset” theory. I am a firm believer in “Whatever happened, happened”. I would prefer it if they just ended up in 2007 with Sun and Ben and Ilana&co. But I guess it will probably be something like you’re theorizing. Which I could live with, I guess.
Yeah, virtual high-five!
I’m too am confused about the Charlie fanbase. He was just annoying, and none of his stories had to do with any of the main stories.
I love Jin! He’s so underrated. Just sayin’
It’s definitely LIbby… sorry to dissapoint.
And – I like the old characters. After watching the show for 5 years, I have nostalgia for them (not for damn nicki and paolo)… I felt like new characters only took away from the main point… But, that is sometimes a good thing… as evidenced by Juliet and Miles, etc. I just hope no new characters work in… I want to know what’s happening to “My” characters, not some strangers…
and I for one, want some closure with libby/charlie/claire.. even if it’s no fun.
I think the writers got better and better at creating new characters as time went on. The first characters were all very one sided, they’ve spent 5 seasons expanding on them. But you can only do so much with those characters, after all this time they aren’t hiding anything anymore. I admit they were fun in the beginning when we knew next to nothing about them. But now none of those characters: Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke; have any hidden corners. Whereas the characters they’ve introduced later: Juliet, Ben, Daniel, Miles, Ilana; They still have secrets. They still have exciting reveals.
How much more closure can we have for Charlie?