Preview: Meet Kevin Johnson. Then Run For Your Life.

First of all, much of this article will deal with actor Herald Perrineau, who for the first two seasons was known as Michael Dawson. He now goes by the name Kevin Johnson. Same song, different verse. In order to avoid cumbersome nomenclature like “The artist formerly known as Michael Dawson” we will refer to Herald Perrineau’s character with the apt portmanteau “Kevichael.” Creative? No. New hit buzzword for summer? Probably.

The Preview
We’ll begin this week with a breakdown of the made-for-DVR preview:
Sayid confronts Ben’s spy on the freighter, and Ben urges daughter Alex to flee Locke’s camp in order to survive an impending attack.

Sayid confronts Ben’s spy on the freighter…
Last week’s tension-filled meeting between Sayid, Desmond and Kevichael left some ambiguity to the issue of how aware Kevichael is with his situation. It was tough to discern whether he was trying to send Sayid the “don’t blow my cover, I promise I’ll explain” look or the genuine “Do I know you from somewhere” look?

That all kind of depends on what angle of the Kevin Johnson story you believe. Is Michael Dawson a willing, knowing participant in this sham, or is he unaware of what has happened, perhaps due to an unfortunate time travel incident. I covered this last week a little, so I won’t rehash it here. But if you haven’t read it, click here to do so. And for the record, I've come around to believing that Kevichael knows exactly what he's doing. And it isn't gonna be pretty.

The word that strikes me about this preview phrase is “confronts.” Sayid is on a mission for answers. And after last week’s gabfest with El Capitan, Sayid may smell blood in the water. I think if Kevichael is the least bit hesitant to tell Sayid the Kevin Johnson story, Mr. Jarrah may revert to some torturous tactics (or at least threaten to).

Also interesting – and here’s where flash-forwards begin to pay dividends to us aimless prognosticators – is that we know Sayid ends up working for Ben, albeit because Ben apparently used someone important to Sayid (Nadia?) to tap into his killer instinct. So tonight we will see Sayid “confront” Kevichael about his connections with Ben. While you watch Sayid enter “confrontation mode,” keep it in your mind that he ends up working for the same person as the man he’s confronting. That Ben Linus. He could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves.

…and Ben urges daughter Alex to flee Locke’s camp in order to survive an impending attack.
Sweet! Does anyone else find it strange that they’ve never explained how Ben came to be Alex’s “father.” Did everyone just forget that Alex is Rousseau’s daughter, and that sheer physics and logic alone would present Ben and Rousseau from conceiving a baby? Ben’s introduction of Alex to Rousseau last season was pretty anticlimactic – almost obligatory: “Alex, this is your mother.” I mean, my sister just adopted a Chinese baby, and I’m pretty sure there was more fanfare than that when she picked her up in China this week (by the way, proud uncle pictures of that later).

And yet, Ben’s paternal instinct seems unflappable. Not even the glaring truth that he is not her real father seems to deter him from offering advice to Alex and trying/promising to protect her. He even went all Papa on the First Date with Karl a few weeks ago (funniest moment of the season, by the way).

We know that Ben feels like an attack is imminent. He’s spent most of Season 4 trying to convince Team Locke of that, if only to buy himself a ticket out of the dungeon. Now that he’s acquired that freedom, he’s probably intent on saving only his own life and that of his “daughter.” Though the fact that he’s free but still expending energy on saving himself and his daughter makes me think he might be telling the truth after all. Listen to me. I just said I might believe Benjamin Linus. What’s next, me buying a Sheryl Crow CD? (answer: never in a million years, for she is a no-talent ass clown).

So that’s what the powers-that-be have decided we should pay attention to tonight. But let’s diverge from that beaten path and look at what else we know.


The Killing Fields
Last week’s post-episode melodramatic preview included one of ABC’s favorite teaser devices: the death guarantee! Oh yes. Substituting for Desmond as the Island’s Grim Reaper, the network beat around nary a bush in warning us about an upcoming death. Time to do what I do best: predict LOST outcomes based on sketchy details and clues.

I was doing a little thinking about previous deaths, especially those that occur early in seasons. In Seasons 2 and 3, LOST followed two separate but simultaneous storylines to open the season. In Season 2, we learned at once about the tail section survivors and the familiar beach-dwelling survivors. In Season 3, we had to keep track of Jack, Kate and Sawyer in the Hyrda station while also trying to figure out what happened to the hatch, why Locke was deaf and why Desmond was naked. Eventually, LOST stages a convergence of these storylines. And that's when things get dicey.

Remember in Season 2 when the tail section folk met the beach folk? That one ended with Ana Lucia (mercifully) killing Shannon. And in Season 3? As Kate and Sawyer were attempting to escape and reunite with the other survivors, Danny Pickett (the big bad Other out for revenge after Sun killed his wife) was capped by Juliet. See what I'm getting at here? Early in the season, LOST weaves two separate storylines together and somebody ends up dead.

What's that mean for tonight? Well, there are three ways (that I can see) that simultaneous plots can converge. One could be a meeting of Team Locke and Team Jack. Another would be Team Locke and the freighter folk. Or it could be the reunion of Team Jack and the freighter folk. Between whom that convergence occurs will dictate who's gong to die, I think. That said, here are the odds, as I see ‘em…

Jin (25:1). Look, it's gonna take a lot to kill Jin. Trust me, I've tried taking down Korean assassins before and it is tricky. I know last week's episode left many feeling that Jin actually dies. But I don't think he does. And if he does, I don't think it's tonight.

Desmond (20:1). While Desmond is in a very good position to die (single tear), I still think he's a little too important to kill off right now. His time traveling abilities are going to be too paramount to this show to kill him off yet. Plus, if I'm made to watch a scene where Penny finds out that Desmond is dead, I might lose it.

Alex (15:1). Eh. I'm only including Sally Slingshot because she's listed in the preview. If she dies, I don't think I'll care too much. Though it would deny us the Titanic-esque love scenes of Alex and Karl. Oh, wait.

Kevichael (12:1). So soon? That would be wrong. We just met Kevin Johnson!

Claire (5:1). A likely innocent bystander if Team Locke and the freighter folk get into a fracas. As Maggie will tell you, with Charlie gone Claire is slightly more expendable to the show. Plus, it might help explain how baby Aaron becomes Kate's.

Juliet (3:1). Poor Dr. Burke. Never could catch a break. With nowhere to go, nobody to run to (except Jack, who we know leaves her on the Island). The Others don't need her, the LOSTies don't trust her and the freighter folk probably have no interest in saving her. And that, my friends, is why I think Juliet is (throat slashing motion).


Checking In
I'm assuming that tonight's episode is a Kevichael-centric offering. I'm also assuming it's going to blow a few minds. So to ground ourselves, let's just look at where we stand with each group on the show.

On The Beach
Everything is pretty much in a holding pattern for Team Jack. Much of their time has been spent deciding whether or not to trust Charlotte and Faraday. And now that the two weird scientists have supposedly prevented the release of toxic gas (insert fart joke here), they might have gained a little respect from the likes of Kate, Jack and Juliet. Other than that, not much to report. Except that Daniel Faraday is just awesome. Oh, and pay attention to Juliet tonight. Seriously, she's gotta be the one.

On The Freighter
Sayid and Desmond know about Michael. Captain Gault does not. The rest of the crew seems anxious to get to this Island, despite knowing that Minkowski and Regina were killed (presumably) by that same temptation. There are a lot of competing interests at work here. Sooner or later, they're going to have to make their move to the Island. Oh, and remember Frank Lapidus' midnight run last week? Where was he going? Why? What kind of "errand" do you run in a helicopter in the middle of the night?

In Othersville
This is where things are getting interesting. Locke is misguided. Ben is free. Sawyer is surly. Hurley is chubby. Claire is a doting mother. Miles is tied up. And everyone else is getting done some much needed laundry.

However these multiple, simultaneous storylines merge, I think it's going to originate from the folks in Othersville. They are so intricately connected to everything else going on, what with their freighter prisoner and their long-standing ties to those on the beach. The impetus tonight will likely come from Locke, who has been without a plan for so long (what, like 5 episodes!?!) that I fear he's about to do something rash. And with Ben there to push his buttons, that becomes all the more likely.

Off the Island
I'm not sure if tonight will flash us forward, back, up, down, around or betwixt. Mmmmmm, Twix®. I think we'll see a Kevichael-centric episode. And that could go either forward or backward. I'd put Kevichael in my "Top 5 Most Likely To Have Been in the Coffin at the End of Season 3" list. So if we shot forward and saw that Ben had gotten him off the Island, but not as one of the Oceanic Six, that could be interesting. But I'd bet if it's a Kevichael-centric episode, we'll flash back (in time?) to see how in the hell he went from "Bon Voyage" to "Hey guys, I'm Kevin Johnson and I'd like to swab the poop deck. Did I mention I have a psychic son who may or may not be experiencing accelerated puberty?"

If it's not a Kevichael episode, it might be a Ben episode. Hold on, let me check a calendar. Nope, not Christmas. Not my birthday either. Nevermind, this probably won't be a Ben episode.

In Closing
That'll do it kids. My apologies if this post has been a little disjointed, for I am running on about 3 hours of sleep a night thanks to a little puppy who really hates sleep (and I think me). Allow me to leave you with a haiku.

The guillotine falls
But who's head is gonna roll?
Probably a blonde.

And finally, on an unrelated but adorable sidenote, I wanted to send a congrats to two of my very favorite Dharma Blog readers: my sister Alissa and her husband, Jason. I hold these two in remarkably high regard, and I'm very proud of them and excited to meet the little Chinese girl they just adopted. She is Leila Grace, my Chinese niece. Or as I like to call her, the Chiniece. You can read more about their journey on their blog. Congrats kids, I love you very much.


Namaste.
Uncle Chuck.