6 Lost Questions That Will Not Be Answered

Lost.  The greatest show ever is winding down.  After tonight’s episode there will 10 episodes left (the finale being a 2 hour extravaganza.)  For the most part, writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are wrapping up some of those pesky questions that have plagued the curiosity of the legion of loyal fans.  However, there are some questions that we believe will not be answered by the end of the show.  There’s just no time to address them.  So, since Idiot Ballroom has never had a Lost-centric post regarding our favorite show we thought we’d throw out 6 Lost Questions That Will Not Be Answered.

What happened to Ben the kid?

In the “flash-sideways” storyline Ben is Dr. Linus, living a mediocre existence as a high school teacher off the island.  He is unmarried and takes care of his ailing father.  It’s revealed they once lived on the island, but left at some certain point.  Would that certain point be the mass exodus of the Dharma Initiative just prior to the “Incident”?  If the “flash-sideways” is the alternate reality created by the detonation of the atom bomb (reinforced by the visual of the Island ruins submerged underwater from this season’s premier) then Linus and father escaped on the submarine.  That would be a sufficient explanation for your rookie Lost viewer, but the writers forgot to explain just one piece of the puzzle for us die-hard fans.  The last time we saw Ben as a child he had been critically shot by Sayid and was being taken into the temple by Richard Alpert to be saved.  Richard’s ominous warning was that Ben would never be the same again.  And that’s it.  We don’t see little Ben again.  The Island blows up and then we catch Dr. Linus in his alternate reality.  What happened in the interim?  How did being saved change him?  I would like to think that Cuse and Lindelof thought of this and would address it somehow, but I suspect we will never know.

What’s the deal with Libby?

Will we ever find out what the deal was with Libby?  Hurley’s love interest was abruptly killed before anything could happen between the two.  But they were connected even prior to the Island.  Both were residents of the Santa Rosa Mental facility pre-Island, but not knowing this fact.  And from that flashback of Libby it was pretty apparent she had some issues.  Not only was she connected to Hurley, but she also gave Desmond the boat that would bring him to the Island under very vague circumstances of her late husband.  So, what’s the deal with that?  What’s the real story about Libby?

Who are Adam and Eve? 

Sure, Hurley mused that the two bodies found in the cave could have been those of the “losties” from the past as they were skipping through time, but the answer was never truly given.  The moment seemed like the writers were saying to loyal fans, “Yeah, we know.  But that’s all we’re giving you on that.”


Updated May 11.  Well, it seems like we got the full scoop on this one.  We thought with Hurley's exchange in the "Lighthouse" episode this one was surely getting swept under the rug.  Kudos, to Lindelof and Cuse on answering this one with an obvious, predetermined reason.  

What happened to Officer Eddie Colburn? 

Who, you ask?  He was the undercover police officer who infiltrated a hippy commune because of Locke’s naivety in the episode 3 “Further Instructions” from season 3.  After Locke discovers that he’s been played, he takes Eddie out into the woods to “clean up his mess”.  As he stares the officer down the barrel of a rifle, Eddie tells him that he doesn’t have the gumption to do it and then walks away.  That’s the last we see him.  That’s also the last we hear about this commune Locke found refuge on after being played by his father.  We don’t find out if there are any consequences for Locke having abetted in a pot distribution ring.  Perhaps, his inability to shoot Eddie was a foreshadow of the physical paralysis that he would soon be stricken with and that ultimately was just one of the consequences.  Or maybe the writers just didn’t think anyone would ask what happened.

Where’s Annie?

You can ask it again.  Who?  She was the little girl who befriended young Ben when he and his father arrived on the Island, having been recruited by the Dharma Initiative.  She seemed to be a pivotal person in his childhood.  After Ben's father forgot his birthday, she gave him to wooden dolls that he kept  throughout his life.  It was the only time we ever saw her, but she had a deep impact on Ben.  So, what happened to her?

What is the Island? 

I guess that really is the elephant in the room, right?  And most viewers are waiting for that question to be asked.  Is it Atlantis?  Is it the “snow globe”?  Is it just another Bermuda Triangle?  I suspect the answer will never be given.  This Island is the Island.  Where unexplainable events take place.  It’s a mysterious place where some people want to protect it and others want to exploit and some want to escape it.  And that’s about it.  For the most part those that appreciate the show, deep down, don’t want the answer.  Confirming what the Island is with an absolute diminishes the mystery we’ve all come to enjoy.  Let’s hope that we never find out what it is.