LOST in Their Eyes

In the same way we eagerly anticipate the identity of the Olympic torch lighter every four years, the weeks preceding a LOST season premier elicit rampant speculation as to whose eye will greet us in the first scene. The eye traditionally serves as a launch pad to an explosive first scene, and we have no reason to believe the opening moments of Season 4 will be any different. But whose eye will it be?


Learning From The Past
Let’s recap which eyes have greeted us before.

We’re introduced to our hero, bewildered in the jungle. What a compelling opening to the series. Many have theorized that you can see the smoke monster flying away from Jack in the reflection of his eye. I’ll leave that one up to the imagination.

So that’s the “other life” he swore he’d see Jack in! Desmond awakes to another morning in the hatch, only we don’t know it’s the hatch until an explosion rattles the room and Desmond steps behind the periscope to see the Losties peering down the great rabbit hole.

Oh, a suburban mother in a nicely appointed suburban home. And she struggles with things like burnt muffins and heated book club arguments, just like me! Wait, her suburban bungalow is located on an island of mystery? And there’s that creepy guy who Rousseau captured last season, wearing a button down shirt! What the hell?


In each of these scenes there are a few common threads. Think of them as criteria with which to determine whose eye will get the honor for each season.

• The eye is always used to introduce us to new characters. We didn’t know Jack, Desmond or Juliet when we saw their eyes.
• The eye has always introduced us to a setting that we assume/know existed, but hadn’t yet seen and didn’t know the scope of. The Island itself, the inside of the hatch and the Others’ camp.
• We move from the eye to a much larger scene, where we are introduced to a new perspective on reality. What starts as a very tight camera shot becomes an expansive, mind-blowing setting.
• Most importantly, the eye introduces us to the theme of the season. Season 1 was all about the survivors landing on the Island and trying to survive; hence Jack. Season 2 was about the hatch and the ensuing conflicts therein; hence Desmond. Season 3 was about the Others; hence Juliet.

Side note: the last two seasons featured Desmond and Juliet waking up to a jaunty little ditty. Desmond favored Mama Cass’s “Make Your Own Kind of Music,” while Juliet opted for Petula Clark’s “Downtown.” Luckily for us, Desmond didn’t choke on a ham sandwich. While the songs had some lyrical significance, I wouldn’t use them in my criteria.

Thus, our criteria is as follows:

• New character
• New setting
• New perspective
• Sets the tone for the season’s theme

With that, let’s look at the candidates for Season 4 Eye Person.


The Favorite
I have a good feeling of who it will be based on my aforementioned and self-generated criteria. If you don’t want to know, don’t read the rest of the post. But come on, you totally wanna know.

Meet Mr. Minkowski.

Who?

Remember when Jack phoned the freighter from Naomi’s little performance-enhanced iPhone? The man on the other end of the phone said, “This is Minkowski.” Think about it:

• We don’t know Minkowski yet, really.
• We haven’t seen the freighter yet, but we know it exists. We also don’t know what its purpose is.
• It’s plausible that we start on Minkowski but pan out to see his whole crew and their ship, and one of them makes some comment like, “We’re here,” or “Let’s do this shit,” or “Okay, dude. I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna ask Kate out. I know, she’s stranded on an island, probably smelly. I don’t care. She’s hot, I’m going for it.”
• Finally, and most telling, the previews for Season 4 seem to indicate that this season’s theme/focus will be on the members of the freighter and their purpose on the Island.

It all adds up to Minkowski. He’s the most logical choice. Which is why it’s probably not him.

Just an FYI - LOST has signed a cadre of new actor for Season 4. Fisher Stevens is the one who will play Minkowski. And guess what! He was in Short Circuit! Could Johnny 5 make it to the Island? Just imagine Ben saying, "Bring me the robot from Tallahassee."




The Contenders
If it’s not Minkowski, who could it be?

Jacob
If it’s Jacob, I’m gonna need a change of shorts. After the mere fleeting glance we caught of his visage in “The Man Behind the Curtain,” it would be a gift from the LOST Gods to see more of Ben’s boss. Maybe we see him wake up and throw his favorite tune on the old victrola. (I’m thinking Paul Simon’s “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.” Then we meet Julio. He is Jacob’s assistant. And he speaks only through dance.)

He is someone we kind of don’t know, in a place we haven’t totally seen. Perhaps we see him making plans to combat the rescue mission, summoning Ben (however he does that) or preparing an omelet. And think about this: on the cusp of Seasons 2 and 3, when we knew that the inside of the hatch and Others’ compound probably existed, we hadn’t seen much of them. While we maybe thought it would take several episodes to see those settings in all their glory, the LOST Gods delivered the full scope of them in the first few minutes. I’d say Jacob’s cabin is one of the more mysterious structures on the Island, so it’s not totally irrational to think it could be him. And it would be quite unexpected.

But come on. Jacob? They don’t owe us that yet, despite the 8-month layoff.

Charlie
Pace, that is. Not me. Thought that would be sweet. If I’m in the premiere, I promise I don’t know it yet. That could work, though. Claire will need comfort, and what better person to offer it to her than a familiarly-named friend? Oh, scratch that. I can’t move in on Charlie Pace’s girlfriend. Yet. Plus, I ain't no baby's daddy. Kind of like this guy:


Ha ha ha, I love that. Okay, back to the possibility of Charlie as The Eye of Season 4.

Part of me thinks there’s more to discover in The Looking Glass station. So much happened down there, and we haven’t even seen what’s behind the door from which Bonnie and Greta entered the main chamber. Maybe we see Charlie’s eye in his final living moment, then pan to Desmond looking through the window in the door as Charlie dies. Then we follow Desmond as he explores the depths of The Looking Glass. It’s a long shot, but it would be great.

Someone We Don’t Know Yet
Probably the best contender. Honestly. The Minkowski thing makes way too much sense. Either that or I’m way too into this show. But that couldn’t possibly be the case.

So who then? Maybe another Other. Perhaps we open at The Temple, with The Others trying to find out what happened to their cohorts, and why Richard Alpert keeps hanging out with Jimmy Smits. Speaking of which, my friend Eric informed me today that The Temple may in fact be Jimmy Smits himself. And that’s where Richard Alpert went. I just thought that was really funny.

I wouldn’t rule out the Alternate Other’s Eye idea. It does fit the criteria nicely. I would love to learn more about the other Others (namely the crash survivors-turned-Others, led by Cindy the flight attendant). Introducing characters from that group would be very interesting and in line with the narrative. What would be really interesting is the reveal of The Temple. Why did they go there? What’s in there? What is it? Where is it? And is there something (or someone) there that could impact Season 4?

Hopefully we’ll get the answers to all those questions. Though, because I think Season 4 will shift focus away from the Others (somewhat), I wouldn’t bet on the opening scene featuring one of them. But a guy can dream.



In 23 (the Numbers!) days, I’ll either be right or wrong. If I’m right, I will triumphantly march through the halls of my workplace the next morning and do my "told ya so" dance. If I am wrong, I will triumphantly blame in on someone else.


Namaste.
.charlie