Top 5 Flashbacks (or Forwards) We've Never Seen

Hello You All Everybody,
Good news. After a 6-month trial separation (at the request of friends, family members and multiple therapists) from my LOST DVD's, my love affair has been rekindled. Just less than two weeks ago, I set out about rewatching the series, starting at Season 2, Episode 20: Two for the Road (the one where Michael went homicidal on everyone's asses). It's one of my favorite episodes and a turning point in the show, so it seemed as good a place to start as any. And it was. Over the past two weeks, I've poured myself back into the show, reaching the end of Season 3 already and bracing myself for an intensive rewatching of Season 4. If that doesn't sound impressive, keep in mind that I have a full-time job and, like, six girlfriends.

Ok, well I have a full-time job.

As I watch, I find myself more and more frustrated by the absence of some key storylines. Desmond often refers to his visions of the future as the front of a box of a jigsaw puzzle, with moments in time being the pieces he must put together to finish the puzzle. With that in mind, here are 5 puzzle pieces I'd desperately like to find:

5. Charlotte

Yes, we saw some of her backstory in the episode that chronicled her, Faraday, Miles and Frank's respective paths to the Kahana mission. But as Entertainment Weekly's LOST guru (and Dharma Blog Authors' Hero) Jeff Jensen often reminds us, it is not-so-subtly alluded to that this journey for Charlotte is a return trip to the Island. In the Season 4 finale, we see this exchange:

MILES: It's just weird. You know, after all that time you spent trying to get back here.

CHARLOTTE: What do you mean, get back here?

Jensen also compares Charlotte's first Island scene (where she dangles above the water, then drops in and splashes around joyfully) to the scene in Prince Caspian, where the children return to Narnia in a similar fashion. And it would make sense, then, that Charlotte is in no hurry to leave the Island, that she wants to stay and learn more about her birthplace.

What I'm curious about is, what does Charlotte need to find out about? What has happened in her life that's led her on a quest back to the Island, and what is so important to find out that she doesn't want to leave? We've seen her archaeological background, and maybe it has something to do with that. But I, for one, think she's got a more important story to tell. I think it's why she was chosen for the mission in the first place. And I hope that, sometime soon, we'll get to find out exactly what her connection is with the Island.

4. Cindy
Despite her seeminly innocuous role as a flight attendant, the flashes of on-Island Cindy that we see (especially in Season 3) lead me to believe that she - and others like her - are hiding something. Remember, she was a Tailie, and was kidnapped in Season 2's tumultuous scene where Ana Lucia mercifully killed Shannon. Since the kidnapping, we've seen about a grand total of 30 seconds of Cindy. But in that brief time, she seems at peace, alligned with the others and accepting of her place.

Part of me thinks she was brainwashed and indoctrnated among Ben's people. Another part of me believes she's been on Ben's side the whole time, acting as a "plant" onboard Oceanic 815 with the mission of guiding the crashed souls to the promised land. Either way, I'd like to know. And I think when (or if) we learn about Cindy, we'll learn a lot about why the Others kidnap people, what they do to them and what their overall purpose is.


3. Rousseau
What we know about Rousseau is what she's told our survivors: a Cliff's Notes version of a 16-year saga that certainly must omit some key details. What kind of "science expedition" was she on? How did she lose Alex? What really happened to her husband? She said everyone got "sick" with that mysterious phantom illness, but is that a cover for something? We do know that, since landing on the Island, she's become a mercenary recluse who eschews typical societal norms such as, well, bras (this has always bothered me. Come on, Frenchie!).

I'd really like to see how she got onto the Island on a simple boat (considering Charles Widmore himself seems to have trouble doing it) and how her first 90 days there compare and contrast with those of our Oceanic 815 survivors. The good news: rumors point to a Rousseau-centric episode this season! The bad news: possible recurrence of Alex and her ridiculous slingshot.

2. Libby

Libby is often the Achille's Heel of LOST theorists. Her presence in Hurley's story (in the mental institution) is one of those intentinoal vagueries that drives people nuts. Did she know Hurley? Was she working with Widmore (or Ben?) to get Hurley to the Island, perhaps by intertwining his fate with that of the numbers?

Don't forget, she also gave Desmond that boat. Add that to the ammunition of those - like Maggie - who think that Libby was indeed working for Charles Widmore to get certain people to the Island. The LOST powers-that-be have always been pretty non-commital about the possibility of a Libby-centric episode, and now that she's dead that probability has sunk even lower. I think our best hope is a cameo appearance by Libby in someone else's story. Hopefully this time, we'll get some more answers.

1. Richard Alpert
If you know me, you know I love me some Richard Alpert. The ageless wonder keeps us guessing with his ever-changing alliances, smooth talking and seemingly limitless knowledge. As far as we know, he possesses the most Island knowledge (except maybe Ben) and he has been on the Island since...ummm...forever?

To understand Alpert is to understand the Island. And the more I watch this show, the more I believe that this show is about, simply, the Island: what it is, what it does, what it means for humanity. Richard knows - at least more than most - the answers to those questions. And now that he's not tied up on the latest Jimmy Smits project (seriously? Jimmy Smits? Did Richard Alpert lose a bet?), the door's wide open for a Richard-centric story. And we can only hope that, in the event of such a story, the presence of creepy-ass-Ethan Rom is minimal at best.

Honorable Mention: Walt

Walt: Age 19 (projected physical appearance)

Come on. Tell us how he does the thing where he appears to people in different places and times. And why he he went through puberty faster than Hurley through a case of Mallomars.



Side note: Jacob is obviously the A-Number-One character I'd like to know more about, but considering he may just be Ben's imaginary friend, I omitted him from this list.

So whose stories would you like to see? What do you think we'd learn? How many times do you think I've watched the Season 3 finale, Through the Looking Glass? Answer to the latter: 7ish. Including right now. Speaking of which, the scenes where Bonnie and Greta are being all good-looking and awesome in the Looking Glass station are on, so I must go.

Namaste.
Charlie