Wha the episode provides is a good look at not only the future that JJ Abrams and company are creating (after all, they’re booked for the rest of this season as well as 2 more on top of that) – a war between Benjamin and Charles Whidmore. For some reason they cannot kill each other (or won’t for some strange reason), but towards the end of the episode Ben makes a chilling statement to Charles that Penny, Desmond’s love and Charles’ child, will be the target of Ben’s revenge for the death of his own (not-entirely his) daughter.

Now that we’re starting to integrate the flash-forwards a little better – I’m starting to get that classic “answers-are-giving-me-questions” thing that Lost is so good at creating. First and foremost (and perhaps the key to this entire thing) is who does Jack visit in the funeral home at the end of Season 3? I was swearing up and down that it’s Benjamin, but now that’s not so clear. It can’t be his father ’cause dad’s already dead. It must be someone that has some sort of knowledge of where the island is, and pissed Kate off (pretty sure that still leaves Sawyer out of the picture). I’ve got friends that are saying it’s John Locke… Could be? He’s got no family, really no attatchments, but his death as an Oceanic survivor would be important enough for at least someone to show up. So… Who’s death makes enough news to get in to the LA Times, but is so unpopular that nobody attends the funeral?

As always, more questions, even with the answers. I hate to say it, but that outrageous “Dark-World” theory is starting to honestly sound more and more believable. Stay tuned.

So where were we when we left off? Michael is alive and on the boat as a spy for Ben. Ben is wanted by Penny’s father for who knows what reason. The island’s time-dilation can make people go mad. Oh, and Russo – who waited 16 years to be reunited with her daughter – is dead.

So far I’ve been really satisfied with the pace of this season – they’re finally giving us some answers and closing some loops that have been open for far too long. Compared to Season 3, this season is a definite winner.

• Desmond has been the only character to demonstrate precognitive powers as we experienced in the famous season 3 line, “Charlie, you’re gonna die.” While his powers may have been limited to visions of Charlie, it does demonstrate that somehow Desmond has powers beyond most of the other characters. Even Locke has been hard pressed to keep on the island’s good side.
• Desmond experienced that flashback episode where he was actually transported back in time – this is the episode where him and Penny get their picture taken together. At the time, I thought it was a stand-alone episode – something along the line of Hurley seeing his made up friend in slippers or Jack seeing his dead father. But the elderly woman that was with him in that episode demonstrated forecasting and precognative capabilities – could Desmond really have been traveling in time? I think, thanks to Farraday’s comments (the physicist now on the island), it’s clear to understand that there’s a power in Lost that has to do with the time traveling and time dilation capabilities of the consciousness.
• And of course, last night’s episode provided us with a really amazing look at the powers of the island, and the complexities of traveling to and from there. If I had to guess – something about Desmond’s trip to see Penny has to do with him getting sent to military prison… We’ll see if that one plays out.

My biggest point in the importance of Desmond to the Lost story has to do with his relationship to Penny – and Penny’s father. Mr. Whidmore was seen last night purchasing the ship’s log for the Black Rock – the TNT-toting vessel trapped in the middle of our island. The seller? Hanso. I’m just saying – I think Whidmore set up the trip around the world and knew Desmond would go through with it just to prove his worth to him – and Whidmore used Desmond to (a) get out of his daughter’s life and (b) discover if the island really did exist.

Desmond is the key to this whole thing people. I’d say comment away and let me have it, but thanks to the spam army, comments are disabled. Drop me a note at dave | at | evokemg -dot- com if you’ve got some thoughts on this, or post up a response on your own blog and I’ll dialogue with you there.

Check out some early preview photos here: Lost Season 4 Preview Photos [ warning: have popup blocker on ]

So here’s the clues the previews have provided so far:

1. Some will get off the island, some won’t. Interesting. Straw poll to see who gets off the earliest? I say Jack gets off next season – he’s too central to what’s going on. Claire might be allowed to leave. So far no signs of Charlie – could it be that he’s actually deceased? No preview photos of him. . . But Michael does appear to return.

2. The passengers of flight 815 aren’t the rescue freighters‘ “primary objective“. Well, we all know that the island itself is powerful, in both its post-2004 technology (floating nano-cloud security system anyone?). So the question becomes what is on the island that is most valuable? Something we’re already aware of that we haven’t connected the dots, or some new object of imporantance? Jacob obviously is a crucial character – could it be that his presence, the island’s powers, are all intertwined to a long lost episode of Alias?

3. Do we get 8 weeks or the 16 we’ve been patiently waiting for? As of this minute, we get 8. The Scifi Guy supports the Writer’s Strike, even if it means a few delays in some good Spring shows. The web is the next media profit center for the major production organizations, and I think it’s appropriate that the writers be compensated for their work in all distribution channels, not just the ones that have been agreed to so far.

… more to come as I find out more!

Here’s some screen grabs from the Lost Season 4 Trailers…

Note: Of course we all know that NOTHING JJ Abrams does is “leaked” – rather it was “let out”.

So what is this film about? Well, it’s your typical New York City monster disaster flick, but I’m sure with a twist. So far there’s a pretty decent list of what it’s not:

• It’s not a Voltron movie. However, there is a Voltron movie in development, tentatively slated to release in 2010. Considering the huge success of Transformers as a proving ground for whether or not we’re ready for big robot blockbuster movies, I’ll bet Voltron’s stock just moved up these last couple months.
• It’s not a pure-play Godzilla movie.
• It’s not going to be named Monstrous.
• It’s probably not a movie about Cthulu, a mythical tentacle creature. However, this last rumor has been around the longest, and as far as I can tell from searching, there’s no official denial that this is our main baddy.

So, there you have it. A long list of speculation.

JJ Abrams, always playing games with his audience, continues to keep this one well in the dark, as well as the next season of Lost. What are we, the innocent audience member to do?

Hang tight.