Before we watch tonight......

I'd like to make a prediction.

As you know, I work VERY hard to remain spoiler free. This week has been very difficult as practically everyone wants to reveal what's going to happen in What They Died For and the finale. While I respect some people feel the need to know what is going to happen (thus be prepared for any shocks or surprises), I am the polar opposite. Since LOST is less six days away from the big ending, many sites aren't hiding the spoilers any longer. It's a no holds barred situation out there and I've found my LOST surfing seriously curtailed in an attempt to stay "out of the loop"

This does not mean that I don't sit and think about what's about to happen. In fact, I spend more time than I should trying to figure out what we will see next. So, in the spirit of looking like a total brainless twit, I am going to predict what happens tonight.

Are you ready?

Oh! Before I get to my prediction, look what arrived at my house today in preparation for Sunday!

You can see how sad I am becoming.

Okay, tonight someone is going to have some explaining to do and I think that Jacob will appear to Hurley and spill all about why the candidates were chosen and what is going to need to be done to stop Smocke. Jack was right, by the way. the only way Smocke can leave the island is if all the candidates are dead. Then, and only then, will Smocke have the ability to depart.

Speaking of Smocke, I think he's going to be going on a rampage in the next little while and I think he's going to start with Widmore. Chuckie boy, I think, will be a sacrifice the island demands.

Where are Ben, Richard and Miles? Yeah, I think they have great big bulls eyes on their backs too. I'm just wondering, since Jacob made Richard immortal, can he die? What about Miles? I fear he will not make it out of Ben's basement.

Ahhh, Ben. How I love thee, let me count the ways....

Er, can someone help me out here?

Just joking. I love Ben and all the machinations (for SJ) he gets up to. Since season two I have been anticipating his next move. But, most of all, do you know what I love about Ben?

His sense of self preservation. He's changed sides as many times as Jacob and MIB have played Senet throughout their youth. Keep an eye on Ben, because I think he'll be hopping the fence to the other side again before this is all over.

I made a great big pan of fudge for tonight (sigh) and have my truck load of Kleenex ready.

Let me know if I forgot anything.

The Thread of Jacob

You like it? I did it myself. It takes a very long time when you're making the thread, but, uh... I suppose that's the point, isn't it?

Making the thread; (verb) to pass continuously through the whole course of (something); pervade. As in, Jacob created a thread that brought the survivors together. As in, Jacob is using long loose stitches to hold his fabric together. In sewing we call it basting. Often, when a seamstress is creating gathers in a garment, she will baste the fabric then pull the threads to draw the extra material into folds.

I see each of Jacob's touches as one stitch in the basting process that creates a common thread that runs through our Losties. In season six, we will see how the thread is pulled to gather them all into one place.

It took years for Jacob to touch each of our survivors lives. Kate and Sawyer when they were quite young. Jack, John, Sun and Jin when they were adults. Six visits were prior to the crash. Which tells me that Jacob had hand picked them for the island very early in his quest to set into motion his plan to counter AJ's loophole.

Hurley and Sayid were visited after they were rescued from the island. I'm not sure of the significance of this yet, but I do know that both were reluctant to lie about their ordeal and neither really wanted to return to the island. That is, until Jacob visited Hurley in the taxi the day before Ajira 316 and, I'm assuming here, he had Illana convince Sayid that he was going to Guam.

Each of our survivors at some point of in their lives have felt the touch of a being older than most countries. They have a common thread that runs through them and it guides and protects them. It will help them to remember the people they were, who they have become and what they've learned along the way.

We can assume, for now, that Jacob touched Ben when he was young and nearly dead from the gun shot wound inflicted by Sayid. This could be significant to the success of Jacob's plan. I've stated that I believe that Ben was the loophole AJ had been looking for.

A single thread is unremarkable when standing alone, weak and easily broken. But when skillfully woven together, all the threads become one and exponentially grow in strength, difficult to break. This will be important in the coming season as I believe each of our Losties will need to come together and unite their different strengths. Kind of gives new meaning to "If we can't live together, then we'll die alone" doesn't it?

In season one this was meant as a way to get the survivors to work together, find something they were good at and do it for the good of everyone. In season six, it could mean exactly the same thing. Jack, Kate, Hurley, Saywer, Sun, Jin and possibly Sayid will need to figure out what their strengths are and how they can combine them to win the fight of their lives for the good of everyone.

I believe the thread Jacob has created will pull his people together, much the same way a thread is used to create gathers in a garment, for without the thread, the garment falls apart.

I know this thought does not bode well for our Ghost Whisperer and our fertility doctor, but I am hopeful that Jacob visited them at some point in their lives. As I've said before, I just can't believe that Miles' story could be over. There is so much more we need to learn about this man. The same can be said for Juliet, for I can't bring myself to accept her fall down the shaft and the brilliant white light ending.

What do you think? Could Jacob's touch be some sort of invisible cord that will draw the Losites to where they need to be?

What will happen when they arrive at their destination? How will they arrive in 2007? And for that matter, will they go directly to 2007 or will they flash through time in much the same way as some did in the beginning of season 5?

With every thought I have I come up with at least ten questions. I'm going to have to start carrying a clipboard around with me to record them!

The Variable

Variable (adj) apt or able to vary or change.

I just wanted to make sure we have a clear definition of the word.

Charles Widmore is Daniel's father. Who didn't see that one coming? But is he really his biological father? Is Eloise his biological mother, for that matter. How do two people have a child and then systematically raise that child for one purpose only? We're talking about a human being not a pet rock!

From every flashback we see, we get one important message. Daniel, it would seem, was conceived in order to return to the island and die at his mother's hands. By adhering to the idiom that one can't change one's destiny, Eloise Hawking has directed every stage of her son's life in one direction. Eloise Hawking has some major redemption of her own to fulfill. It's like she conceived Daniel for the sole purpose of directing his life to the point where she shoots him in 1977, believing that fate is set and there is nothing they can do to stop it. They denied him the small pleasures of life, pushing him toward a destiny they believed he had no chance of avoiding.

I'm wondeirng if she left the island because she shot her own son.

For Daniel's part, he just wanted to make her proud. Everything he did in his life was in hopes that his mother would love him and be proud of him.

Daniel: "Will...will it make you proud of me?"

Eloise: "Yes, Daniel. It will."

Wow. I have never thought so ill of a woman as I do of Eloise Hawking at this point in the show, but then, I see the pain in her eyes during the confrontation outside the Marina Medical Center at the end of the episode.

Charles:"Unfortunately, Eloise, my relationship with Penelope is one of the things I had to sacrifice."

Eloise: "Sacrifice? Don't you talk to me about sacrifice, Charles. I had to send my son back to the Island knowing full well that..."

Widmore: "He was my son, too, Eloise...."

Slap!

What's important here is what Eloise said. "I had to send my son back to the Island knowing full well that...."

Charles and Eloise know exactly what is going to happen to their son.

The winds of change are coming to Dharmaville. The jig is up and the interlopers know that it is time to flee. What with Kate stealing away with young Ben to the Hostiles, Sawyer helping her, Daniel on a whole new level of crazy. Something had to give and Stu Radzinsky is angry and aggressively paranoid and has been itching for a fight for too long. He finds is in the motor pool and gets a shot by a physicist for his trouble. His next fight is at LaFleur's place, only this time he wins.

Jack, Kate and Daniel head for the jungle to seek the others, while Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Jin and Hurley get ready to depart for the beach. Sawyer and Juliet are arrested and Phil is apparently freed from the closet. We have no clue what happens to Miles, Jin and Hurley.

Daniel leaves Kate and Jack in the jungle and walks into the Hostile's camp demanding to see Ellie, who shoots him. The following exchange says it all.

Richard: "Why did you do that?"

Ellie: "He had a gun on you."

Richard: "He wasn't gonna shoot me, Eloise."

Daniel: "Eloise. You knew. You always knew. You knew this was gonna happen. You sent me here anyway."

Eloise:" Who are you?"

Daniel:"I...I'm your son."

Charles and Eloise raised their son, nurtured his gift, just so they could send him back to the island to be shot by his mother. Either they are so dedicated to the island and their fate that they were able to coldly allow Daniel's promising life to come to this.

WHAT I'm WONDERING

1. Radzinsky annoys the H E L L out of me! That man is such a cheat and a crook that his every action is suspect. He's always been annoying, but what exactly is in his job description?Too bad Daniel only shot him in the hand.


2. Juliet was sure quick to give Kate the code to the sonic fence when she heard Sawyer call her Freckles. Getting rid of the competition?


3. Speaking of Juliet, she knows way more than we think. She's up to something and it has little to do with saving her own butt. Her operating on two people was accepted way to easily. When Sawyer asked if she still had his back, she asked it back. What is she hiding?


4. Jack is finally realizing what his purpose is. He has to lead his people back to 2007 and Locke, then he needs to deal with his father issues.


5. Kate, too, is returning to her purpose and realizes she needs to get to 2007 and find Claire.


6. Richard hasn't changed his shirt is a few days. He has that same purple shirt on. Doesn't anyone in the camp know how to do laundry? And how did he know that Daniel wasn't going to shoot him?


7. Is Charles Widmore really Daniel's father, and if so, what kind of a man would purposely send his own child to his death for the sake of protecting a bloody island? I don't think the Island wanted it that way.

QUOTES OF NOTE

Sawyer - Phil, Jack. Jack, Phil. *closes closet*

Daniel - Think about it. A Chinese man named Miles, the same name as your son, shows up with me from the future.....

Daniel - Why would you tell me that?

Charles - Because come tomorrow, you won't remember I did.

Sawyer - Your mother is an Other?

Sawyer - Welcome to the meeting, Twitchy. Good to see you again. Pound cake's in the kitchen. Help yourself to the punch.

Jack - You need a gun to talk to your mother, Dan?

Daniel - You don't know my mother.

And my all-time new favourite!

Jack: I'm kinda getting used to insane.

SPECULATION

Here is what I think. I think Jack doubted that they were supposed to land in 1977 and has been waiting for confirmation, which he got from Daniel. Now he will emerge to lead his people to rescue Sawyer and Juliet and then find their way back to 2007. During their fight, the incident will occur anyway, but certain "events" of the future will never happen as a result of their actions in 1977. At least I hope so.

Think about it. If Oceanic 815 had never crashes, Sawyer will never grow into the loving man he is with Juliet. Juliet will be trapped, the object of two men's desires. Kate will go to jail and will never have learned how important a mother's love truly is. Hurley will forever believe the numbers are cursed and would probably lose half his fortune in the credit crunch of 2008/2009, as well, he probably would never reconcile with his father. Rose would die from her cancer and Bernard would be completely devastated. Claire would have given up her baby for adoption and never would have known the joy of true love only having a child can bring.

Of course, all those people who died in and after the crash wouldn't have died. Ana Lucia, Libby, Mr. Eko, Dr. Artz. Ethan. Charlie would still be whacked out on heroin and Miles would still be scamming bereaved parents. Emma and Zack would still be shunted between parents. Boone and Shannon would still be playing their petty games and Paolo and Nikki would again be looking for ways to cheat each other out of the diamonds. Desmond would probably still be pushing a button every 108 minutes instead of finally connecting with Penny and having baby Charlie.

There's benefits and disadvantages to everything that happens in the world. Cause and effect. Action and reaction. The human condition that allows us to think, make our choices and exercise free will. Daniel was right. People are the variables! We will always be unpredictable. Wavering. Fluctuating. Mercurial.

Photo from Dark UFO