It’s hard to stop thinking about the season finale of Lost. In what was, my opinion, the best season ender so far, we wrapped up a ton of the plot points introduced throughout the show, especially this season, all while peeking ahead at new chapters for next season–like Charlotte finding “where she was born,â€? and the Oceanic 6 going back to the Island seemingly led by Ben, who is now without a plan, just “a few ideasâ€? about how to get back.

What follows isn’t much of a narrative but a collection of thoughts under neat little section headers. I’ve always wanted to do the section header thing!

“Ready, Willing, and Able to Tell You Everything�

So, John Locke is the new leader of the Others. To the critics of the show who say they make this all up as they go along: recall John’s “connection� to the island from as early as season one, to season two’s declaration from Henry Gale that “we came for you, John,� to season three’s Mr. Eko whispering in John’s ear: “You’re next,� just as the smoke monster stomps him into the ground. At that point we all thought the smoke monster was going to kill John next, but now in season four, we see what all that meant.

Still have no idea why Alpert appeared in John’s past, even before he was born, unless of course he was just curious and did actually time travel to the past to see their new leader born. But I don’t think that’s it. In one of the Lost podcasts, the producers said that the Others choose their leader the same way the Bhuddists choose the Dalai Lama, that is, they seek out the person who meets the condition to be their reincarnated spiritual leader. So I think it’s safe to say that, in whatever book they were following, all signs pointed to this kid being born named John Locke.

And since we know that the island has some sort of mystical properties that allow it to keep people alive (Michael and Jack are prime examples, people who had “work to do�), it might be logical to assume that the reason Richard Alpert hasn’t aged is because he still has lots of work to do so the island won’t let him die, not even of old age.

Beyond that, I haven’t a clue.

How to Move An Island

Since Jacob didn’t tell John how to move the island, Ben took it to mean that Jacob wanted him to do it. That scene of the island disappearing was surreal. I figured “moving the islandâ€? was a metaphor, like the “magic boxâ€? that brought Locke’s father to the island in season three. I figured they’d just do something like re-boot the electromagnetic anomaly that was under the Swan station so that people’s compasses malfunctioned and nobody knew where the island actually was… in effect, seemingly “moving itâ€? from the outside world. Turns out I was wrong! They actually physically moved it.

I also thought the producers, during the podcast, were using some sort of metaphor when they admitted that, in the writers room, they referred to the big event in this season’s finale as “the frozen donkey wheel.� Wrong again! The method of moving the island hinged on an actual frozen donkey wheel. Literally. Who knew?

But how was it done? Did Lost finally cross the line into implausibility? A friend of mine forwarded me this article from Popular Mechanics, which explains that yes, it is actually theoretically possible to “move� an island in that fashion. The article tell us:

So just how can Locke move the island—and where will he move it, for that matter? Michio Kaku, author of Physics of the Impossible, told us he thinks that [the producers] Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are using the island’s unique properties­—namely its electromagnet and the Casimir Effect hinted at in the Orchid Station orientation video—to open a transversible wormhole to different points in time and space.

The Casimir Effect and transversible wormholes are real, cutting-edge science, Kaku says.

“But how realistic is moving an entire island through time and space? According to Kaku, there are two ways it could be possible: Quantum teleportation, which would zap the island from one place to another; or through a wormhole, which could theoretically move the island to different points in either space or time. But “to move an island would require technology centuries more advanced than what we have now.�

So there you have it. Electromagnets, negatively charged exotic dark matter, super advanced technology, and the Casimir effect. And we thought we were just watching a show about a group of plane crash survivors.

What I’m curious about is why the deep, dark pocket of exotic dark matter that was presumably on the other side of the donkey wheel was so cold. At first, I took it at face value, because “negatively charged exotic dark matter� just sounds cold. But after reading some other episode synopsis’ I got to thinking: could the battery wired to the bomb on the boat have been some sort of clue?

Michael claimed that keeping the battery cold will stop the “chemical reaction� inside the battery. He paused a bit when he said “chemical reaction,� like we should be hung up on those words. So perhaps the cavern that Ben crashed into was being kept cold on purpose, and by turning the donkey wheel he heated it up, allowing whatever natural chemical reaction was supposed to take place to actually take place.

The question then becomes: who first started keeping it cold? It would have to be someone who knew the island was moving and wanted to stop it. Therefore, the island must have moved before.

Is that how the Black Rock ship got in the middle of the thing? Did it reappear right underneath it?

And if Dharma didn’t build the frozen donkey wheel, who did? If it really does take a sufficiently advanced technology to do what they did, maybe aliens are the answer after all? Or the ancient Egyptians? That would explain the hygroglyphs, and maybe the remnants of the four toed statue.

Where the Island Went

At this point, thanks in part to the article I mentioned, it could very well be anywhere, including another universe. It may have materialized on Mars, or in the Andromeda Galaxy. But I think the storytellers will keep it on our globe, just for practicality’s sake. I mean, having Jack, Ben, Kate, Hurley, Sayid and Sun blast off with Locke’s dead body in a space-ship to find the Island in season five might make some people turn off the show once and for all. So it’s a safe bet it’s still on Earth.

But where? I think something Ben said gave us a clue: the person who moves the island can never go back. When he said this initially I started thinking there must be a sci-fi sort of explanation for that, such as his body being physically charged with negative protons that would cause him to evaporate if he ever stepped foot near it again. But what if it’s much more simpler? The person can’t go back, because they don’t no where to look. Whoever moves the donkey wheel is thrown into another random wormhole thanks to being so close to the epicenter of the chemical reaction, and is separated from the island. As Ben said before, moving the island is a last resort, because it’s both dangerous and unpredictable, so… the island literally reappears in a random spot on the globe. The big risk is that it could re-materialize in the Arctic (with polar bears?), or even on another land mass.

It’s a good thing our globe is 70% water. They only have a 30% chance of re-appearing someplace with catastrophic results.

Don’t Forget About the Commercials

When my friends come over, they scoff at commercials. We had to wait until at least 9:45 to start so that we could fast forward through the commercials. Eventually I got impatient and started, preferring to take some short breaks than wait any longer. We ended up not having to sit through any commercials anyway, but I knew we were making a mistake! Near the end, there was this little easter egg:

So Octagon Global Recruiting is apparently accepting candidates on behalf of the Dharma Initiative. They’ll be in San Diego July 24 – 27, 2008. What a coincidence — so will the comic con!

Most Importantly… the Characters

I often get too caught up talking about the mysteries to really speak much about the characters. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think about them just as much. This episode has some really defining character moments.

• Jack, for example, refusing to believe in miracles even after one happened right in front of him. Some people don’t see the things they need to see the most because they refuse, or are just unable, to look in the right direction.

• Sun probably had the most heart-breaking scene… the break down in the helicopter as she watched her husband go up in flames. I’m not downplaying the fact that she lost her husband, but I couldn’t help but wonder about the scenes between her and Michael as well. Re-watch this “missing pieceâ€? that we saw before this season aired:

• Hurley, looking embarrassed when the pilot says they need to drop more weight from the helicopter. He was thinking everybody else was thinking it was his fault. But nobody looked at him, and his new best friend Sawyer even sacrificed himself.

• Sawyer. Oh, my. What a guy.

• Desmond/Penny. This was the sweetest part for me, and perhaps made the episode what it was. Their reunion represented the end of the very story line that got me wrapped up with Lost in the first place–from the moment I sat down with my mom, already a Lost fan, to watch the beginning of season two and asked her a multitude of questions, like, “So wait, there’s a man in a bunker pressing a button to save the world? Huh?? And he told Jack he’d see him in another life?â€? I went out and got season one on DVD the next day.

See You In Another Life

Ultimately, a very rewarding episode for Lost fans and one that was still able to pull in a new viewer or two. Still lots of questions left unanswered, but ultimately I think the whole creative team pulled it off perfectly this time around. Jack screaming “We have to go back!� last year kept me on the edge of my seat, not exactly how I wanted to spend nine months, but this time I’m content for them to take as much time as they need before giving us the next to last chapter.

Just the fact that Locke was cooking up eggs for Ben? Since he said they were the last of them, it’s really not much of an “egg town” anymore is it? I’d love to hear your ideas because I’m at a loss.

Locke

One thing is is pretty evident: Locke is confused and suddenly has no direction. Ben points out that he can’t find the cabin, can’t find Jacob and is now even turning to Ben for advice.

I loved Ben recognizing that this is the same situation they were in before, but it involves a different cell. At the time Ben manipulated Locke and he’s doing it once more.

Locke leaves after getting nothing from Ben and throws the tray he made for him at the wall. Hmm, maybe that’s Eggtown?

Kate

The woman who is torn, or pretends to be torn, between Jack and Sawyer, starts off the episode by asking Locke if she can talk to Miles. He denies the request of course, so she spots Hugo carrying breakfast to someone and tricks him into giving away where Miles is kept.

Best line of the night, again from Hugo:

“You just totally Scooby-Dooed me, didn’t you?“

There is no doubt I’ll be using that line again. Thanks Hurley.

Kate flashforward

We jump to Kate in the future and she’s about to go on trial for the numerous charges she has against her, like murder, extortion, arson, and others. The downside to it all is her mother is the star witness, whom we all know Kate confessed to that she killed her deadbeat dad.

Her lawyer suggests that a deal is the only solution to not getting slammed with a life sentence. Kate say no deal, so he offers a character strategy. Kate somehow knows what he’s about to say and vehemently objects.

“You’re not using my son!”

Who, what, where, when? Son? My head hurts!!!

On The Island

Kate and Claire are hanging clothes out on the line and Aaron starts fussing. Maybe it was his gigantic diaper, I’m not sure. Claire ask Kate to grab him, but that’s no good ’cause Kate isn’t great with kids.

Foreshadowing of course from the above development. Although for me, it wastn’t a huge leap to guess what this scene really meant and I knew it from the get-go. I wont spoil it now for those that haven’t watched it yet, but you’ll read it at the botto.

The BIG LIE!

Back in the future, Kate is in the courtroom and apparently things aren’t going well. So her lawyer leans over, asks her not to fire him for his next move and then calls Jack to the stand. Yikes.

This leads to a HUGE clue in the mysterious reasons surrounding the Oceanic 6 and what Jack and Hurley are all torn up about. When Jack is on the stand, he’s there to talk about how Kate is a hero. Only, it’s for something that never happened.

He says: “Only 8 survived, we crashed in the water and Kate saved my life by pulling me to shore. I’d be dead if it wasn’t for her.”

Of course, we all know Vincent woke up Jack who was on dry land, so who and WHY is this lie the one concocted? And who the heck are the other two that apparently didn’t survive long enough to get “rescued” and why did they make that part up?

Kate stops Jack halfway through what he’s saying and says it’s not important, it doesn’t matter here. That’s the last question her lawyer has for him anyways, but the opposing legal counsel has her own cross-examination.

She asks Jack if he still loves Kate. Ouch. But he answers no, not anymore.

Okay then…

$3.2 Million Dollars

Kate comes up with a plan. She found Miles earlier, asked him if he knows who she is, but he wont answer a question until he gets a face-to-face meeting with Ben for one minute.

Sawyer helps Kate pull a “Scooby Doo” on Locke, and she ends up getting Miles down to the basement with Ben. I had no idea what was going to happen, but I certainly didn’t expect this.

Miles asks Ben for $3.2 million in exchange for telling his team that Ben is dead. Charlotte saw Ben, but Miles can take care of that. He gives Ben one week. He knows who Ben is and this apparently isn’t a problem for him to obtain.

How does he have that money and is it just lying around or something?

Kate gets her answer from Miles too. Yes, he knows who she is and that she’s a fugitive. Going back may not be the best thing, but we all know she does anyways. Why?

Kate’s Mom

Kate’s very sick mom asks for a meeting to make a deal. She’ll not testify in exchange for seeing her grandson. Kate will have no part of it and asks her to leave.

But her mom is very close to death, having been told she only had 6 months to live four years ago, so she withdraws as a witness anyways and the prosecution’s case falls apart. Kate takes a deal with no jail time and 10 years probation.

Back on the Island

So Daniel apparently has some memory problems. He can’t remember three playing cards after they are turned upside down. But Charlotte points out he’s making progress, so is the island’s healing properties working on him?

Jack had been trying to use the satellite phone all day to call the freighter, since it had been a day since Sayid and company left on the helicopter. With no luck, he asks Charlotte and Miles, and they call some emergency line which is answered.

The woman on the other end says the helicopter never arrived. WOAH! Where is it? I think we find out next week.

And finally, Locke goes a bit nuts in punishing Miles. He gets a grenade with a handle that you keep pressed once the needle is pulled in order to stop it from exploding. Well, he shoves the thing in Miles’ mouth, pulls the trigger and makes sure Miles is biting down on the handle. He then walks out.

Brutal…Locke is really losing his mind.

The Baby

In the future, Kate leaves the courtroom out the back door and runs into Jack. He tells her that he didn’t mean what he said on the stand, and obviously still loves her.

But the baby…he wont come see the baby. You immediately think the baby is Jack’s and that he wont be a part of the kid’s life for some reason and Kate tells him that until he comes to see them BOTH, there wont be a “Kate and Jack.”

Yet I knew the whole time who it was…and Kate gets home (a nice home, thanks Oceanic for a nice settlement!) and walks upstairs.

She takes the baby in her arms and the kid says “Hi mommy….”

Cute. But…

“Hi…AARON.”

BOOM!

I knew it of course, I’ll bet most figured that out, but the big question is: WTF?

Why does Kate have Aaron and why doesn’t Jack want to see him? Is the baby somehow part of the guilt that starts building up in Jack? Does Claire die, or do they take the kid without her permission, so he can’t bear to look at him?

Is Aaron an Oceanic 6 member? I somehow doubt it…but how did they explain the baby was Kate’s?

What do you think?

So what is going on here? What are the theories on anything?