Vision As the cultish TV phenomenon enters its fi nal season, experts weigh in on what it

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Lost Horizons

How will ABC’s byzantine brain-scrambler wrap things up?

Hemispheres asked the experts. BY MATT THOMPSON // ILLUSTRATION BY SONIA ROY

AFTER FIVE INCREASINGLY convoluted seasons of time travel, Egyptian mythology and sweaty jungle hikes, ABC’s Lost is fi nally set to resolve its tangled web this winter. But despite hours of Zapruderesque freeze-framing, our total understanding of the knotty narrative amounts to the following: Kate Austen is played by Evangeline Lilly. Fortunately, we were able to ask Entertainment Weekly’s resident Lost expert, Jeff Jensen, and popular Lost blogger “Doctor Arzt” to lay odds on a few of the most likely scenarios.

THEORY 1: THE GARDEN OF EDEN The Idea: When Jack and Kate discover a pair of skeletons on the island and christen them “Adam and Eve,” they may be on to something. Maybe the island is actually the biblical Garden of Eden, with the diabolical Smoke Monster representing the angel meant to keep us mortals out. Perhaps this is why the Godlike Jacob has a nice biblical name? Expert Opinion: Doctor Arzt is “totally behind this possibility, in a purely agnostic kind of way.” Jensen is skeptical, saying bluntly, “I’m not a believer.” The Odds: 108–1

THEORY 2: PANDORA’S BOX The Idea: Maybe those bumbling dogooders in the Dharma Initiative, the shadowy organization that built the island’s bunkers, accidentally released a slew of spirits when attempting to tap a pocket of electromagnetic energy. The Others—another shadowy group—have either been battling said ghosts or doing their ghostly bidding ever since. Expert Opinion: “Not implausible, but I wish this theory explained the Others’ connection to the seemingly supernatural Jacob,” Jensen muses. The Odds: 23–1

THEORY 3: THE BIG GAME The Idea: At the start of the Season 5 fi nale, the Others’ big boss, Jacob, shares a beach with another mysterious immortal. Though it’s assumed that the two are archnemeses, what if the entire confl ict of the series is merely a grand social experiment conducted by bored gods? Expert Opinion: Doctor Arzt is intrigued but unconvinced. “There was defi nitely a certain friendliness about their conversation,” he says. The Odds: 15–1

THEORY 4: THE BLANK SLATE The Idea: All of that time-traveling may have been for naught. When Juliet set off the nuclear device at the bottom of the mine shaft, she may have created a totally new future, one in which the entire story never unfolds! Perhaps the fi nal season will consist of the characters going about their normal lives as time attempts to course-correct to their old reality. Expert Opinion: “I love this idea,” Doctor Arzt gushes. “Lost fans would be completely disarmed.” Jensen echoes the sentiment but adds a caveat: “Many fans are worried that the ‘reboot’ theory negates fi ve years’ worth of drama.” The Odds: 4–1

Contributing writer MATT THOMPSON knows the real answer...he’s just not telling.