Hooray! The five-week wait is over, & Lost  is found again tomorrow night. Jacob has even rewarded us for our patience with an extra hour this season because there are just too many reveals to fit into the planned five. I can’t wait for tomorrow night, so I thought I’d indulge in a little speculation as to where these final six hours might take us. Of course, since Lost is the least predictable show around, I’m bound to be wrong: if my present consciousness was somehow flung back in time to the day after the Season 1 finale, & I was to go online to a Lost message board & post that the hatch was a bunker left over from a secret society of hippies, with a lovelorn Scotsman living it, pressing a button every 108 minutes to stop the world from ending – well, of course everyone would think I was completely crazy. But not half as crazy as if I’d suggested that the hillbilly pirate who kidnapped Walt would one day be sitting in a penthouse in New York, recruiting Michael to do some undercover spying for the leader of the Others, who’s presently waging a war against the father of the girlfriend of the man living in the hatch…

But even though the chances of me being correct are slim to none at best, it’s still fun to speculate. If for no other reason than to laugh at myself later for being so wrong about everything.

The Oceanic Six
So, the question posed in the premiere of who the other 3 members are has been answered – thanks in part to the promos, which have actually been useful for once. It’s not who I would have guessed (my guess had Claire & Jin subbing in for Sayid & Aaron) and I must admit that I feel slightly gypped about Aaron being one of the six. We also know that three other characters (at least) are off the Island without being part of the Six: Ben, Michael, & Walt. What we don’t know, & what the producers have said we’ll find out by the end of this season, is how they get off the Island, & why everyone else has to (or chooses to) stay behind. Whatever happens, it has to be pretty awful, since we know it haunts the Losties back in the real world. Here are my top three theories as to how they’ll finally escape:
1.    The Freighter
Jack’s line in the premiere about how they’d be sitting on the rescue boat in 3 hours was pretty funny, since we all knew there was no way that was happening. Locke was right: the Freighter Folk were bad news from the start, and from the looks of the new trailer, only getting worse. As far as they’re concerned, there are no survivors of Oceanic 815, & it’s going to stay that way. BUT, Jack’s nothing if not determined: I don’t think he’ll stop at anything to get the survivors off the Island. What if he cuts a deal with the Freighties, the conditions of which are bad enough to haunt him back home. ON THE OTHER HAND, Hurley said he wished he’d sided with Jack instead of Locke. If Jack was really responsible for something bad happening, he wouldn’t have said that.
2.    Penny’s Actual Boat
Since Desmond spoke to Penny, she knows where he is -- &, thanks to Charlie, that there’s Oceanic 815 survivors with him. And Penny’s nothing if not determined (& rich): she’ll stop at nothing to get her boyfriend back. Maybe, in a nice circle back to last season’s finale, she sends an actual rescue boat & helicopters. BUT then why would everyone not be rescued? ON THE OTHER HAND dear old Dad could get wind of this, & send in reinforcements; the two sides clash, with the Six managing to escape with Penny while Widmore’s people hold everyone else captive on the Island to use as collateral so the Six don’t spill the beans about the magical Island.
3.    The Submarine
It’s somewhat crazy, but I’ve always kind of liked the theory that Locke only pretended to blow up the submarine. What if it’s discovered, but there’s obviously only room for a few people. Sun goes, because she’s dead if she doesn’t; Aaron, because he’s a baby (& needs to be protected from Widmore’s people) and Kate to look after him, assuming Claire’s died somehow; the other three…maybe win their spots in a lottery? And Ben because he’s the only one who knows how to work the sub? (Plus, he can talk his way into anything. BUT what’s stopping them from going back for everyone else? UNLESS everyone else is somehow being held hostage on the Island by Widmore, & that’s what’s haunting the Six, & why they have to go back, why they’ve lied about what happened.

Those Left Behind
So, of our main-credits cast, that leaves Locke, Jin, Sawyer, Claire, Desmond, Juliet, & possibly Michael unaccounted for. Plus the Freighter Four, who I’m going to guess stay to study the Island. Jin & Claire’s fates are up in the air; I’d guess that Claire dies this season – the tragic death of the innocent young mother would definitely weigh heavily on everyone’s conscience, plus I know she’s supposed to be getting a storyline now, but really, she hasn’t had anything much to do since Aaron was born. And I’ll put Jin down as sticking around for now (despite the DUI) since that would give Sun a real reason to join the inevitable quest back to the Island.

Michael…I have no clue what’s going to happen to him, since he’s managed to alienate himself from all possible groups. The only thing I can think of is that Ben manages to get him off the Island, again – since he is a man of his word – and so Michael’s eventual second trip back to the Island – this time with Walt – is his real redemption. Unless he’s in the coffin, an idea which I’m really warming too, but that seems a particularly grim end for a character who started out amongst our heroes. The most satisfying end to his story would be for him to die defending the Losties.

Rousseau, Alex, & Karl
I think it’s pretty much a given that Karl’s a goner, but I was really hoping that Rousseau might have pulled off a miraculous recovery…until I listened to Damon & Carlton’s latest podcast. They don’t give anything away of course, but reading between the lines it sounds like she does die – and her long-awaited backstory is worked into other characters’ flashbacks. Because that worked so well with Libby. (I hope I’m wrong, & Rousseau does pull through) And, judging from the promo, looks like I was wrong about Ben sending them into an ambush: looks like those freighter guys were behind it after all.

Less than 24 hours now ‘till I’m proved wrong!