It is taking every ounce of willpower I have not to visit Google and type in one very popular, seasonal four-letter word. (No, not L-O-V-E but rather L-O-S-T.) I am refraining. Tuesday night’s LOST episode surely sparked a frenzy on internet message boards around the world. I would like to be one of those smart viewers who, without electronic assistance, mentally siphons through the complicated yet highly entertaining content to reach the best (or slightly correct…or not entirely wrong) explanation of the episode. So I am refraining. However, what if the unsupported answers I come up with to my many, many questions are completely wrong? The more I think, the more LOST I get (I couldn’t help myself. You understand.) But I am still refraining, damn it!

This is what LOST does to me. It turns me into a frustrated viewer and potential Googler. I rarely understand LOST episodes. Six seasons of not understanding immediately (or at all) can do quite a number on a gal! A brief commercial break does not provide enough time to figure everything out. Even sleeping on the show’s content does not do the trick for me. I am used to it by now but almost relieved that this is the last season of saying, “What the heck is happening?!?” On the other hand, the frustration draws me (and millions of other viewers) to the show because it has the “stumping factor.” It makes me think, really think. There are very few in demand TV shows that have this kind of effect on their respective audiences (ahem, Jersey Shore). For this reason, I will be sad to see the series end.

Speaking of endings, remember the children’s gamebook series Choose Your Own Adventure? Essentially, after the introduction, the reader makes a choice as to what the next action will be and as the plot unfolds, more decisions need to be made, allowing for countless (well, 40) possible endings. By applying the basic concept behind the CYOA series to LOST episodes, I find that my frustration is minimized, opening up more of a flow to my thinking. A flow that may prompt the best (or slightly correct…or not entirely wrong) explanation for Tuesday night’s episode as well as solid predictions for the outcome of the series. Let’s take a look at this flow of thought (spoiler alert):

A very brief introduction to Tuesday night’s episode: There are two alternate realities/timelines occurring simultaneously; one I will call the “airport timeline” (wherein the Oceanic flight never crashed) and the other the “island timeline.” In the airport timeline, Locke said to Jack, “Nothing is irreversible” when the two meet in the baggage claim office because of lost “luggage” (I use quotes because it is, in fact, Jack’s father’s dead body that the airline is having trouble locating).

1. About Jack’s father’s dead body, Locke told an exasperated Jack, “He’s somewhere.” Where is Jack’s father’s dead body?
a. If what Locke said means that the body is somewhere in the airport or on a different plane, scroll down to Series Prediction Number 1.
b. If what Locke said means that the body is on the island, scroll down to Series Prediction Number 2.

2. Locke’s dead body was used as a vessel for the Black Smoke Monster (BSM), the force of evil on the island, to persuade Ben to kill Jacob. Is Jack’s father’s dead body going to serve as a host for the recently deceased Jacob?
a. If Jack’s father’s dead body is the host for the recently deceased Jacob, scroll down to Series Prediction Number 3.
b. If Jack’s father’s dead body is not the host for the recently deceased Jacob, scroll down to Series Prediction Number 4.

3. When Juliet dies in Sawyer’s arms, she mumbles something about getting a cup of coffee with Sawyer. It does not make very much sense to him since, to be blunt, she is dying. “It worked” is the message that Miles (who has psychic powers and is able to “hear” Juliet’s dead body speak) relays to Sawyer. “It worked” refers to Juliet being successful in detonation of the bomb. Successful detonation of the bomb is what would keep the Oceanic flight from never crashing on the island, thus sinking the island. At the beginning of the episode in the airport timeline, we witness the plane flying over a sunken island. If relationships are destroyed in one reality/alternate timeline, will they come into existence and/or be maintained in the other reality/alternate timeline?
a. If relationships can be destroyed in one reality/alternate timeline and remain destroyed in the other reality/alternate timeline, scroll down to Series Prediction Number 5.
b. If relationships can be destroyed in one reality/alternate timeline but be created in the other reality/alternate timeline, scroll down to Series Prediction Number 6.
c. If relationships can be destroyed in one reality/alternate timeline but be maintained AND created in the other reality/alternate timeline, scroll down to Series Prediction Number 7.

Series Predictions:
1. This is going to be one disappointing and boring final season.
2. Jack and his father’s relationship will be mended. The issues Jack could not work out with his father in the airport timeline, will be resolved in the island timeline.
3. Jack’s father will be the force of good on the island. He will defeat the BSM and the island timeline will be a peaceful one.
4. This is going to be one disappointing and boring final season.
5. This is going to be one disappointing and boring final season.
6. Sawyer and Juliet will be together in the airport timeline.
7. Every single character will still be alive and together in some timeline. Pretty great ending, huh?

Extra questions that I am still pondering:
“Bad Locke” (a.k.a. the BSM) said that he “wants to go home.” Where is his home? The temple?
What happened to the temple’s spring water? (It was such a gross color). Gross color or not, it still brought Sayid back to life. Why did it heal Sayid but did not heal the nameless Asian man’s hand?
What is this powder that seems to ward off the BSM?
Why did Jack have a cut on his neck when he used the airplane bathroom?

I am sure that all of these things are significant because LOST is an extremely tight show; no action occurs without good reason…I just had an epiphany! This was only the first of many episodes, therefore, why am I in such a rush to figure out everything on my own anyway? I have plenty of future episodes to exercise quality independent thought. There is no harm in Googling just this one time, right?

But if I am right about the show’s ending, please be sure to let the message boards know that the magic happened here first, without their aid.