The odds on who is the next candidate ...

What are the odds on who will replace Jacob?

Doc Jensen at Entertainment Weekly made this lists of odds before the tragic deaths of Jin and Sun and the heroic death of Sayid. But it's still interesting to see what he thought about their possibilities as The Candidate, as well as our remaining Losties.

The entire article has more info. But here are the odds, as Doc Jensen sees them:

JACK
You got the sense from “Lighthouse” that Jacob really, really needs Jack to get over his bad self and dial into his Island destiny. The safe money is that said destiny is to spend eternity eating fish, spying on damned souls with magic mirrors, and plotting intricate redemption narratives for Island visitors.
ODDS: 3-1

BEN
It’s a fake-out! Jacob’s master plan all along has been to groom Ben as The Island’s new supreme being—but first, he’s had to break Ben of his pride and purge him of his sin, not to mention protect him from the Man In Black’s assassination plot. Bringing the castaways to The Island accomplishes both tasks. The most flattering theory of bad guy Ben is that knowingly or unknowingly he’s been producing challenges of character designed to prepare the castaways for their final conflict with Smokey. Actually, the total opposite is true. Jacob brought the castaways to The Island to test Ben’s character, intended to shape him into the kind of man worthy of Jacob’s loom-of-fate stool. Also, by deceiving Smokey into thinking Jack et. al. were his candidates, Jacob has been shielding Ben from Smokey — and co-opting Smokey into his plan to refine Ben’s soul.
ODDS: 5-1

SAWYER
Next to Ben, he’s the best yarn-spinner on The Island. He’s a precise judge of character. He’s also extremely well-read; judging from his library, he has a great grasp on universal themes like redemption and damnation, faith and reason. He also has great motivation to stay on The Island, as he killed a guy in Australia and should surely go to jail if he ever got back the civilization. Then again, maybe that sin makes him unqualified for Island divinity.
ODDS: 7-1

SUN
It’s about time The Island was ruled by a woman, don’t you think? She’s got a great name for a god. Also, Sun’s got the will and stamina for long-term redemption projects, as demonstrated by her unflagging search for Jin, who per my guestimations will be allowed to remain on The Island as her consort. They’ll get to bring Ji-Yeon over to The Island, too. I also think they can make the most of Island life. He fishes! She gardens! They know how to keep warm during cold evenings on the beach! Happily ever after on The Island will be like one long honeymoon for them.
ODDS: 9-1

HURLEY
Maybe the guy least interested in the job — which makes him the most dramatically interesting candidate for the job and therefore makes him an irresistible choice. Even though my Sun theory allows for Jin to stay, I suspect that the Jacob job is probably a solo act, and I think being alone would crush Hurley’s soul. The again, he’s got plenty of dead people for company. And really, who wouldn’t want to spend the rest of time hanging out with Ghost Michael?
ODDS: 12-1

SAYID
Zombie.
ODDS: 23-1

Lost fans, bloggers divide on 'Sundown'

It's been a while since we've seen Lost fans so sharply disagreeing about an episode as they've been doing this week, over the Sayid-centric "Sundown."

Some critics, bloggers and commenters clearly loved the episode's bad-ass action sequences and its dark, ominous depiction of Sayid turning to the Dark Side of the Force. Some didn't like this one so much -- although not the way they hated, let's say, "Stranger in a Strange Land," aka The One About Jack's Tattoos, guest-starring the simply awful Bai Ling. Nor was the ep reviled as much as "Exposé," aka The One With Nikki and Paulo.

Here's a roundup of "Sundown" recaps, with a range of views that are pro, con, and somewhere in between:

EW.com's Doc Jensen

WashPost's Lost Central

Zap2Lost and Zap2Lost Course Corrections

Slate's TV Club

ChiTrib's The Watcher

The AV Club

NYT's Lost Watch

Lost...and Gone Forever

What did you think of 'Sundown?'

What did you think?

Post your thoughts in comments.

Go!

LOST: episode 6-06, 'Sundown'

Tonight's Lost episode, "Sundown," is summarized by ABC: "Sayid is faced with a difficult decision, and Claire sends a warning to the temple inhabitants." Which seems to indicate it will be Sayid-centric. Which mean Episode 6 breaks the S6 pattern of mirroring Season 1, and it won't be a Sun/Jin-centric episode, as expected. Which, considering the title is "Sundown," is kind of a big tease.

We can probably expect to see more of the Temple and its inhabitants, along with whichever Losties are still there. But with Kate, James, Jack, Hugo, and Jin gone, that just leaves Miles and Sayid. Sun, Frank, Ilana and Ben were heading to the Temple, the last we saw of them.

If the episode does focus on Sayid, what will his Sideways World be like? We know he got to LA with every intention of finding Nadia, his long-lost love. Does he find her? Will his alt-life be better, overall, than his Jacob/Island-affected life has been? (It could hardly be worse.)

We'll see. Come back when the show ends and we'll talk about it here, in the comments.

Prepping for tonight's episode

What do you need to know before you watch the fourth episode?

Here's help from Doc Jensen for tonight's Locke-centric episode.

I can't help but wonder if Locke's backstory will remain the same. Will he be born premature to a teenage mother? Will his father throw him out a window? Will he be the man of faith off the island?

If the bomb going off can make Sayid Iranian (if he really is) instead of Iraqi ... Shannon not get on the plane ... Jin and Sun not married ... and get rid of Hurley's bad luck ... What will it change for Locke?

The article is spoiler free.

But here's a peak at tonight's episode. It's less than a minute.

Lost 6.03: A sneak peak

The Losties finally start demanding answers.

It's a very short clip. Nothing is really spoiled except for the fact that you see Sayid and Jack saying they want answers.

SPOILERS: The 12 Days of Lost-Mas

(This will be updated to add the new spoilers for each day)

At E!Online, Watch with Kristin is celebrating the 12 Days of Lost-Mas.

She gives the following teases about the upcoming season:


Day 11: Six of these things are true:

1. Juliet survives the bomb.
2. Juliet does not survive the bomb.
3. Kate and Sawyer flirt.
4. Kate and Sawyer kiss.
5. Juliet and Sawyer kiss.
6. Jack and Sayid touch lips.
7. There is a scene with Sawyer in the season premiere that will make you cry buckets—assuming you aren't a robot—and (possibly?) make you Skaters happy.

Day 10: Three Losties will be apprehended by the authorities. Separately.

Day 9: These words will be uttered in the first six hours of the show:

1. "Am I alive?"
2. "It turned out she did not want out."
3. "I wanted you to be able to go home."
4. "I was killed by an *** ******."
5. "I was supposed to die."

(The first one is not a female, and is the same person as #5.)

Day 8: Miles, who hears dead people, will carry a message from a dead character. Who could it be?
Day 7: One of the following things is true regarding Ilana and her Ajira posse:

1. They were sent by Charles Widmore to kill Ben.
2. They were sent by the Man in Black (Jacob's nemesis) to find the island's time travel mechanism and destroy it.
3. They were sent to protect Jacob.
4. They were sent to revive John Locke.
5. Ilana is future Sayid in drag.

Day 6: The following statements are both true:

1. One Lostie we've known for a long time (a dark, handsome someone) will die within the first four hours in the first shocking death of the year.
2. Another Lostie we've known and loved since day one of season one will come thisclose to dying—at his own hands—but the good doctor will save him.

Who will die? Who will nearly take his own life?

Day 5: If season six is about Oceanic 815, will we see Desmond again since he wasn't on the plane?

1. According to sources, we will see Desmond again...
2. ...fairly early on in the season.
3. His first appearance will be with one of the Losties, and the scene/encounter is very surprising.
4. You guys are going to love it! (Honestly)

Day 4: Who is the new Big Bad?
He:

• Killed **h*.
• Killed ***o*.
• Is *** **o** *****e*.
• Wants to "g* ****."

Day 3: One of the following is true:

• Sayid dies.
• Sayid kills Jack.

Remember, when we last saw these Losties they were in 1977. Sayid had been shot and Jack was near the site of the bomb that supposedly went kablooey and reset time.

Day 2: One of these is true, the other is false:

• We find out John Locke is related to C*****s *id**re and J*** ***ph*** in a way you would never ever expect—yes, "related" as in by blood!

• Terry O'Quinn does something bat-poop insane involving a character we have known since the very first episode of Lost's first season, then says: "I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

Day One: Which of the following is true?

• Shannon's absence from the beginning of the new season will be explained by a significant change to Shannon and Boone's backstory.

• Sawyer will smooch someone who is either Kate or Juliet and it will happen within the first four hours of the new season.

And oh, what the hey, here's a bonus for today's Lost-mas offering only. I will go ahead and tell you that:

Both of the above are actually true. Merry Lost-Mas, everyone!

More from 'Mysteries of the Universe'

It's Sept. 8, meaning it's time for installment 3 of ABC.com's Mysteries of the Universe, the '70s-style mock-TV-doc purporting to investigate the cult-like Dharma Initiative.

In this video clip, we hear of a church in Los Angeles that has received "upward of $1.5 million from a private organization." We are told the land under the church is owned by an array of shell companies, responsible for numerous invoices and purchase orders for a vast, mysterious shopping list. (What church would ever need submarine fuel, ammunition, pneumatic tubing or zookeeper supplies, not to mention "psychotropic drugs and other pharmacological supplies"?)

There is an ominous reference to "brainwashing." And, in passing, we also hear of a chemist named Oldham who was interviewed for a job at Dharma. Hmm... wasn't that the name of the guy who fed a truth serum, on an LSD-type sugar cube, to the "captured Hostile" Sayid?

More season finale tidbits

Courtesy of Michael Ausellio at Entertainment Weekly, we get a little info about the season finale.

Not major spoilers. But something interesting.

Question: Do you have any snippet to share with us about Lost's season finale? --Megan
Ausiello: We will come to learn that the dude who may or may not be playing Jacob bore witness to pivotal events in the pre-island lives of Locke, Sayid, and Sawyer. Speaking of Lost, I wanna say a few words about Evangeline Lilly's performance in tonight's episode: Wow. (Okay, one word.)

Question: Will we ever find out what happened to Rose and Bernard on Lost? --Lucas
Ausiello: I'm hearing we will.

Preview: Ben's shot and only Jack can save him?

Here's a sneak peak of Wednesday's episode, Whatever Happened, Happened.

Check out the three videos to see what happens after Sayid shot Ben.

Juliet says Ben "needs a real surgeon."

Will Jack save the day? Does he want to?

And, count on Hurley for the hilarious Back the Future reference that we've all been making for weeks.

TV Guide: Getting Lost

Check out this TV Guide video that quickly recaps "He's Our You" but also boasts short interviews with Little Ben, Juliet and Horace ... or at least the actors who play them.

Also more speculation on why Sun crashed instead of flashing with Jack, Kate, Sayid and Hurley.

Recapping 'He's Our You'

Here's what Doc Jensen had to say.

We are mysteries unto ourselves. Are killers born or made? Are we born evil or do we become evil? Are we products of nature or nurture? ''He's Our You,'' the tenth episode of Lost's rapidly dwindling fifth season, was a brain-melting thriller filled with deep, dark thoughts, with none bigger than this: Has Sayid changed Lost history by popping a cap in Young Ben in the Dharma Initiative past?

And Watch With Kristin.

And The Washington Post. And the chat.

What did you think of 'He's Our You?'

So, is Ben dead? If so, is the Ben of 2007 dead, too?

I really was shocked that Sayid just grabbed Jin's gun and shot him.

He could have gone with the idea of saving Ben from himself. But has Ben already gone too far since he's been wanting to join The Others for four years.

Ben is a manipultive little shit. It's shown really well when he shows up to tell Sayid that Widmore's people killed Locke.

When are we going to find out why Ben had the crap beat out of him? Did he go after Penny?

What did you love? What did you hate in this epsiode?

What's your vote for line of the night? How about (not sure on the exact wording): "A 12-year-old Benjamin Linus just fed me a chicken salad sandwich...how do you think I feel?"

There's a lot of debate about whether if you could go back in time and kill Hitler, would you? If you could go back in time and kill Ben, would you?

Is it wrong? Is it right? Is it the right thing to do for the greater good but still wrong?

Bring on the gray Lost, bring on the gray.

Doc Jensen: 3 Theories, 1 Mystery

As usual, Doc Jensen provides an thoughtful appetizer before tonight's episode. Lost of speculation but NO spoilers. Also, check out this week's video edition of Totally Lost.

While it doesn't deal as directly with "He's Our You" as much as his other previews delve into the week's episode, he has some interesting theories. It's a Sayid-centric episode.

You'll definitely want to check out his reasoning for why he believes the island almost has everyone where it wants them to be. And, a reader/viewer theorizes that they've been sent back in time to prevent Ben from becoming evil. Hmmm? Thoughts? There are some interesting A Wrinkle in Time connections here.

And, was Claire in last week's episode? In the HD version of the show, you could see someone in the building with Sun, Frank and Christian. Perhaps, a woman with blond hair? Here's a screen grab. What do you think?

Given all the other freaky-creepy elements that were part of that sequence — Smokey's rattle, the Whispers, Ghost Christian — we must wonder if Phantom Girl was an Easter Egg intended to be discovered by Lost obsessives blessed with keen eyesight and very expensive television sets. What do I think? I think one of these following scenarios will be proven to be true if and when the truth is ever revealed:
A. It's Ghost Claire.
B. It's Ghost Charlotte.
C. It was a member of the Lost production crew that got in the shot by mistake.

'He's Our You' sneak peaks

The title for Wednesday's could mean so many things. "He's Our You."

But this is a reference to the Dharma guy who does for them what Sayid did for the Losties. Namely, torture.

In one of three sneak peaks, we see Sayid being taken to the other him.

In the second we see, Sawyer telling Sayid he can "confess" and live among the Dharma folks or be alone. What do you think he chooses?

In the third, we see young Ben before he was crazy and evil. Or was it before he was crazy and evil?

Tell me, what do you think will happen to Sayid?

Recapping 5.06: "316"

Check out Doc Jensen's episode recap, which is called Keeping the Faith. The literary references keep coming. He probably has one of the most in-depth analysis of the show out there.

They're back. Back where they belong. Back where we want them to be. Nearly 21 months after Jack first bellowed ''We have to go back!'', the Oceanic 6 (minus Aaron, and don't ask why, or else Kate won't kiss you) finally undertook the perilous journey back to the place they never should have left — back to The Island, back to their ''mythic estate,'' to borrow a phrase from James Joyce's Ulysses, which last night's episode had the audacity to namedrop. For now, we only know of three who successfully fell to Earth — all the way to The Island's Dharma Initiative past, no less. There's Jack, blinking awake as he did in Lost's very first episode, this time looking not hopelessly lost, but gloriously born again. There's Kate, whose motivations for making the return trip were deliberately kept from us (all the better for a future flashback episode, my dears).

And here's what E! Online's Watch With Kristin had to say: (At the bottom of the page after you click the link, there are a few spoilers. Don't read anything after the notable quotes section, if you prefer to view Lost with virgin eyes.)

• Easter Eggs: (Attention, English professors: Next time you're trying to explain "intertextuality" to your students, just bring up Lost, and they'll get it right quick...)


• Ben was reading James Joyce's Ulysses, which is, of course, a psychedelic Irish novel that had a few Easter Eggs of its own and was based on the ancient myth of Odysseus, a lost sailor who is kept from his love, Penelope, by a series of wildly unbelievable but nonetheless thrilling adventures.


• Commenter Jules tipped us off to a C.S. Lewis nod: "Did anyone notice The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe reference with the Lamppost Station? They came out of the wardrobe at the lamppost, and it was where they knew they could get back to their world."


• Christian Shephard's white shoes/black shoes situation continues the show's flirtation with those constrasting colors.

And The Washington Post has this analysis. (They have a chat at 2 p.m. Central Time. Will post when it ends.)

Lost is casting a new Sayid?!?!?!?

From Michael Ausellio at Entertainment Weekly:

Oh, don't get your knickers in a knot! Naveen Andrews isn't leaving Lost. However, if my hunch is correct, in this season's 10th episode -- a Sayid-centric outing that starts shooting later this week -- a new actor will be playing his part.

"Whatchutalkinbout', Willis?" you say?

Follow along now: A casting call has gone out for the roles of a father and his 12- and 8-year-old sons, all of whom, I'm told, will have to be fluent in Arabic. So wouldn't a logical assumption be that the hotheaded dad is Sayid's pop and the older boy, a sensitive type who's painfully aware that he lets down his formidable paterfamilias, is the future assassin himself?

That's what I thought, too! The hour promises to be a real crusher, with Dad teaching his elder son the kind of lesson in manhood that I suspect inflicts lifelong emotional scars.

Are you ready for Sayid's untold story to be told? Or are you afraid that it will be so intense, it'll qualify as must-wince TV? Comment away below!

POLL RESULTS: If you were a writer on Lost, which of the Oceanic Six would you kill off?

Some of you just aren't as mean spirited as I thought.

No one wanted to kill off Hurley, Jack or Sayid.

And 42 percent of you wouldn't kill anyone.

That leaves 14 percent who wanted Baby Aaron to bite the dust. Another 14 percent of you voted for Sun's death.

Kate got the most votes with 28 percent of the vote.

Use the comments section to explain your choice, even if you didn't cast a vote.

POLL: If you were a writer on Lost, which of the Oceanic Six would you kill off?

You know you'd want to.

Who would it be?

Aaron, Hurley, Kate, Jack, Sayid, Sun?

Answer to the right in our newest poll. Then tell us how you'd do it and why in the comments section.

SPOILER: Learn Why the Oceanic Six Must Reunite

UPDATE: Watch with Kristin issued a correction: "A very good source tells me that the information I received about off-Island Dharma stations is not quite right: There is one and only one off-Island Dharma stations—the show hasn't filmed any of those scenes yet—and that station may or may not be the key to returning to the Island. Argh! My sincere apologies. Reuniting the O6 with the Left Behinders is going to be harder than I thought."

From Watch With Kristin at E! Online:

"In particular, I can now tell you why it is that the Oceanic Six must all reunite in order to get back to the Island.

Want to know why Kate (with baby Aaron), Jack, Sayid, Hurley and Sun are going to have to put their differences aside and go "all for one, and one for all" this year?

Well, remember what Michael Emerson recently said about Ben's statement that if any of them are to return to the Island, everyone who escaped has to go back too? He said, "I think [that dictate is] a scientific condition of the mechanism by which the Island operates. I don't think it's an esoteric or spiritual issue, I think it's science."

He wasn't just talking pretty. What I'm hearing is that the reason Jack, Kate, Sayid, Sun and Hurley need to reunite is because the Oceanic Six need to fan out to a group of Dharma stations.
Even more intriguing? According to my source, these stations are not on the Island, but in other locations, and these off-Island stations are believed to be the ticket to getting back to the Island.
(Remember, the Island moved in the finale. The Island may have gone to another place...or it may have hopped into another time.)

So how does this all work? And where in the world are these stations? We'll have to tune into what is looking like an exciting fifth season in order to see."

Thoughts?