The Oceanic Six

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“The Oceanic Six” (O6) are said to be the six Losties that actually make it off the island and become semi-famous celebrities. In the commercials for Season 4, there is a clear number “6” that appears. An article in Entertainment Weekly two weeks ago confirmed two of the Oceanic Six: Jack and Kate. Return with me to a familiar scene…
[At Jack's apartment, maps scatter the table. The whole place is a mess, and Jack sits on the floor drinking alcohol, flicking his flip-phone. He dials a number, and puts it to his ear]

VOICE: Hello.

JACK: Hello? It's me. Whoa whoa, wait, don't, don't hang up, please. I know what you said, I just. I just need to see ya, please? Yeah, yeah out at the airport. You know where. Thank you.

[Jack drives to the airport and parks up. Another car approaches. Jack steps out and the car stops. Out of the darkness appears Kate Austen.]

KATE: Hey.

JACK: Hey.

KATE: Saw you on the news. Still pulling people out of burning wreckage, huh?

JACK: Old habits.

KATE: You look terrible.

JACK: [Laughs] Thanks.

KATE: Why did you call me, Jack?

[Jack hands her his newspaper clipping]

JACK: I was hoping that you'd heard. That maybe you'd go to the funeral.

KATE: Why would I go to the funeral?

JACK: I've been flying a lot.

KATE: What?

JACK: Yeah that golden pass that they gave us. I, I've been using it. Every Friday night I, I fly from LA to Tokyo or, Singapore, Sydney. [Laughs] And then I, I get off and I, have a drink, and then I fly home.

KATE: Why?

JACK: Because I wanted to crash, Kate. I don't care about anybody else on board. Every little bump we hit or turbulence, I mean I, I actually close my eyes and I pray that I can get back.

[Kate looks near tears, as does Jack]

KATE: This is not gonna change.

JACK: No, I'm sick of lying. We made a mistake.

KATE: I have to go. He's gonna be wondering where I am...

[Jack grabs her]

JACK: We were not supposed to leave.

KATE: Yes, we were.

[She releases herself]

KATE: Goodbye, Jack.

[She heads for her car]

JACK: We have to go back, Kate.

[She gets in her car and drives away]

JACK: We have to go baaaaaaack!!

[A plane takes off over Jack's head]

Any questions? (Gosh, I love re-living that scene. Absolutely amazing.)

But who are the other four members of O6? Well, nothing has been confirmed yet. I am going to take some time today to go through each character and evaluate “is (s)he or isn’t (s)he?” I’d love to hear your take on who these six people might be. A few items I want to point out:

* Because the group has been called the Oceanic Six, I have decided to only consider original cast members who were actually on Flight 815, rather than new characters (like Juliet, Ben, Alex, Danielle, Richard, Desmond, etc.). While I believe that some of these non-815’ers will get off the island, I don’t believe they will be part of the O6 club.

* I believe it is highly doubtful that we will see these six Losties actually leave the island during the Season 4 premiere. We’ve got a mess on our hands already with Minkowski and Co. on S.S. Not Penny’s Boat. Unless they pull an Others on our Losties (i.e. tasers and burlap-bags-over-the-head), I think the O6 will stay on the island for a good portion of Season 4. This does not mean, however, that we won’t see flash-forwards throughout the season and find out who gets off.

* I paired together a few characters, just because I don’t think there is any way that they would separate (i.e. one would stay, one would go). You’ll see the pairings below…if you disagree, let me know. I just don’t see the producers, for example, rescuing Aaron and not Claire…unless Claire dies? How cruel would that be!

So who are the other four members of the O6?

Sawyer
Maybe?
1. If Kate ends up being pregnant from the cage scene, would they really leave the baby’s daddy on crazy island?
2. Clementine, his daughter, might be part of his motivation to get off the island.
3. He has wanted to get off the island from the beginning – remember, he was a passenger on Michael’s raft back in season 1.
4. In the Season 3 finale when Kate said “He’s gonna be wondering where I am”, was she talking about Sawyer?

Probably not.
1. Sawyer tends to do things his own way – and when it comes to Minkowski and Co., that independent streak might spell doom for our dear Sawyer this season. (Have you seen the Season 4 commercial where he responds to Kate’s question [What are you doing, Sawyer?]: “Same thing I’ve always done…survivin’.”)
2. Separating the Sawyer-Kate-Jack love triangle would be an awesome story line.

Claire and Aaron
Maybe?
1. Charlie agreed to swim to the underwater hatch because Desmond’s vision showed that if Charlie flipped the switch, everyone would be rescued…including Claire and Aaron. If this doesn’t end up happening, did Charlie die for nothing?
2. If people are going to get rescued, who in their right mind would leave a mom and her newborn baby on the island and say “Sit tight!! We’ll be right back!”
3. Once Jack finds out that he and Claire have the same father, you can bet he will be fighting for his step-sister and nephew.

Probably not.
1. Claire is the first woman to survive childbirth on this island in a very long time. Ben needs her to figure out what on earth is going on here. Do you think he’ll let her just leave?
2. Another Ben-related reason: she has that implant that the Others put in her that can be activated. Will Ben use this implant as a threat to keep her on the island?

Rose and Bernard
Maybe?
1. Bernard wants to get himself and his wife off this island.
2. Of all the 815-er’s, it would seem to me that they might want to rescue those needing the most help first. Rose is (arguably) still stricken with cancer (Bernard doesn’t believe she has been completely cured). So, would the rescuers leave them behind?

Probably not.
1. HUGE reason: Rose believes that she has been cured by the island and does not want to leave.

Jin and Sun
Maybe?
1. Sun is pregnant. Pregnant women die in childbirth on the island. There is a pretty good chance that Jin and Sun would do anything to leave the island to save Sun’s life.
2. Although Aaron appears to be doing pretty well as far as "babies born stranded on an island", I doubt that Sun wants to raise her child on the island.
3. In the commercial preview for Season 4, Sun says “I can’t believe I am going to have my baby in a hospital.” While this might be a cruel trick that the producers are playing (“Mua ha ha ha. Sun will die!” –J.J. Abrams), I tend to believe it is a clue.

Probably not.
1. Jin got on Michael’s raft without Sun because he wanted to help them all get rescued. Who’s to say he won’t do that again?
2. Jin is also a gentleman (and a hitman, but that is for another post). If there is only one seat left on the rescue helicopter, maybe he’d give that to someone else and tell Sun that he will just swim to shore. (Side note: I think he is in good enough shape to complete that journey.)

Hurley
Maybe?
1. Hurley believes that the island is cursed by the numbers. He is scared of the numbers. He’s ready to get off the island.
2. If our 815-ers have to pay money to get rescued, Hurley has a couple bucks to spare.
3. Hurley lost his best friend, Charlie, and his girlfriend, Libby. There is a lot of sadness on this island and he might be ready to move on.

Probably not.
1. On the same vein as #3, is Hurley really ready to leave Charlie and Libby behind? Is he ready to move on?

Sayid
Maybe?
1. His goal in life right now is to find Nadia. As strange as the island is, I don’t think Nadia is on the island…so, Sayid is ready to get outta there and find her.
2. Except for those couple times when he tortured people, Sayid is generally strategically correct. (If I was on the island, I would tend to follow Sayid's lead.) I find it hard to believe that he wouldn’t be part of the rescue.

Probably not.
1. Like Jin, I could see Sayid letting other people get rescued knowing that he is in a better shape to survive and can find another way off the island.

Locke
Maybe?
I believe that John Locke will live the rest of his life on the island.

Probably not.
I believe that John Locke will live the rest of his life on the island.

Walt and Michael
Maybe?
1. If Walt’s return to the show means he is back on the island in realtime (not in flash-forwards or flashbacks or “visions”), then that means that he and Michael somehow found their way back to the island. If this indeed happened, then you can bet Michael is pretty upset and wants to leave again.
2. Walt is “special”. Don’t you think special people can figure out how to leave this island.

Probably not.
1. If they actually have returned, I bet Ben thinks it is because Walt belongs on the island. The proverbial leash that Ben had on Walt might return. And I doubt Michael is going to leave Walt.

Another huge factor to consider
I believe that the person in the coffin in the season 3 finale was on Oceanic 815. If this is indeed the case, you could argue that she/he is one of the O6. Remember, Jack is the only person who went to the funeral. When he was asked if he is friend or family, he replies “neither”. Is that because he must keep it a secret that he knows this person? The newspaper clipping states the man’s name is James Latham. Is this an alias of one of the survivors? Maybe none of the survivors are allowed to contact one another, and that’s why it seemed like Jack and Kate they meet in secret in the Season 3 finale. Or maybe I’m crazy?

Okay…so this is all interesting, Maggie. But who are the Oceanic Six?
My prediction:
1. Jack
2. Kate
3. Jin
4. Sun
5. Sayid
6. Hurley


Let the discussion begin. Who do you think are the Oceanic Six? Leave a comment and share your thoughts. 16 days until the premiere!

Namaste,
Maggie

4 Snarky Comments:

Charlie said...

Great post! I can't wait to find out who it really is.

But for some reason, I think Michael and Walt get off the Island. Of course, there's still the issue of explaining Walt's surge through puberty in only 90 days (Island time).

And for some reason, I don't think Jin and Sun leave. Actually, I think they could kill them off. I would also say Claire's a candidate for the axe, but with Aaron just born and Jack destined to discover their connection, I think they keep Claire. But Jin and Sun? On the important:expendable ratio, they score the highest.

Great work, Maggie! Only 16 days!

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Charlie said...

Whoa! A canned comment from a Portuguese spammer?! I think we know what's going on here. It's the man from the arctic listening station at the end of Season 2! I checked his site, and it's all about electromagnetic anomalies! Ok, not really, it's some internet scam site.

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Anonymous said...

I have a hard time thinking that any of the people that stayed behind to blow up the Others/shoot them/run them over with a minibus, would be able to make it to the pick up point in time. If, in fact the pick up point is near the radio tower. They would probably see the helicopter first and sense the danger. It was at least a days hike to the tower, and even though some of the guys and gal down there are in shape, I think that they would get there just in time to see some of their loved ones and friends being taken away. Sun without Jin, Rose without Bernard, how tragic would that be? All the more reason to find a way off the island too.