Season 5 of 'Lost' begins tonight...

...and that officially makes this the best week of the new year so far. Tune in to ABC at 7 p.m. (CST) for an hour-long clip show to refresh your memory of events. Then stick around for the first two new episodes: "Because You Left" at 8 p.m., followed by "The Lie" at 9. Word is that "Because You Left," in particular, will leave fans gasping. Here on Losties Island, of course, we'll blog about the show ASAP afterward.

So many questions to be answered, although most of them probably won't be resolved conclusively until the series ends in its sixth season. Among the mysteries bugging me:

Is Claire dead or just MIA? Miles seemed more than usually interested in her fate. That's never a good sign, having a ghostbuster interested in you.

What's Charlotte's connection to the Island? Was she a Dharma Initiative child who escaped the purge but grew up elsewhere? Is that why Ben tried to kill her -- because she knows things he doesn't want anyone else to know about the bad old days?

Are we going to become reacquainted with Annie, Ben's childhood sweetheart, and learn what became of her?

What will we learn about that four-toed statue? (Spoiler warning: On EW.com, the Ausiello Files reveals that showrunner Carlton Cuse says the statue helps to illustrate the Island's long, rich history. Could it really be so simple? Nah...)

How do Ben Linus and Charles Widmore know each other? Obviously, they go way back. Why is Widmore so assertive about the Island belonging to him?

Do Desmond Hume and Frank Lapidus also have to return to the Island, along with Ben and the Oceanic Six?

Why does the ageless Richard Alpert remain so extraordinarily well-preserved? Is he perhaps a centuries-old survivor of the Black Rock?

Are Bernard and Rose destined to become "Adam and Eve"?

Will we finally meet Dr. Pierre Chang, aka Edgar Halliwax/Mark Wicklund/Marvin Candle? And was he, like the other Dharmaites, really doomed to die in the Purge?

Does Daniel Faraday get involved with trying to change the Island's fate, or its timeline? Will we meet Desmond's enigmatic Ms. Hawking again?

Will Penny evade Ben's stated goal of killing her as revenge for the death of his adopted daughter, Alex, at the hands of Charles Widmore's mercenary?

Will we learn more about the late Libby? About Danielle Rousseau?

Is Locke really dead? Or will he, like Christian Shephard, appear to be alive again once his body is back on the Island? Was Christian also connected to the Island before his death?

Is Jin really dead? What exactly does Sun have planned for Charles Widmore?

How will Sawyer and Juliet cope with the presumed deaths of Kate and Jack? Will they turn to each other for comfort?

When will we ever find out the real scoop about the mysterious Jacob and his watchdog, Smokey?

And finally: Why does everybody on this show have so dang many daddy issues?