Lost Discussion Group: Any Others Questions?

A bit of housekeeping: I'll probably wind down LDG, like last year, by the end of the summer--maybe even a bit sooner because (unlike last year) the season 4 finale didn't set up any game-changer that made for a season's worth of speculation. Hopefully, ComicCon—which my L.A. colleague Rebecca Winters Keegan will be reporting from for time.com—will offer a little more to chew on, as it did last year when Cuse-Lindelof unveiled the Orchid video that ended up being pretty significant in last year's finale.

[Incidentally, if anyone's been following any extracurricular online Lost activities this summer, feel free to share, but I'm not going down that rabbit hole.]

In the meantime, I have a couple lingering questions about what was in last season, or, in this case, what wasn't in it. Namely, the Others. With Ben captured and most of his former followers in hiding, season 4 was the least Other-centric to date (besides Richard Alpert's appearances in flashbacks). But with season 5 promising to show how things went sideways with Locke on the Island, it would seem we'll be seeing more of them next time out.

But the apparent role of the Others seems to shift from season to season. At first, they seemed to be part of a common conspiracy with Dharma. Then it evolved that they had actually wiped out Dharma, at least on the Island. (Side note: does Dharma still exist somewhere, and if so, in what form and what the hell are they doing?) Now, with the rise of Widmore as a baddie—facing both Ben and a Sun-led Oceanic 6, who may or may not have an alliance of convenience with each other—where does this leave the Others? Are they still the bad guys? The good guys? The enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend guys? Did Locke lead them or did they end up leading Locke?

Indeed, as we go into the last two seasons, there are enough parties in the conflict—Widmore, the Oceanic 6, Ben, whatever's left of Dharma, Locke/the Others/the remaining castaways—to make, if not a Buddhist octagon, at least a pentagon. Where do Richard and his pals fit in now?