Happy Lost Day! What's the Plan?

Right now, Jack is acting to change the future by stopping the Incident from happening. This will be the action that causes the Incident to happen, flinging Our Heroes back through time to The Now, where they will arrive to find Locke leading the Others in a battle against the Shadow of the Statue clan for control of the Island. And then Desmond's going to show up and turn into Neo.
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Ok, just kidding about that last sentence.

Let me preface this by reminding you that I was one of the biggest detractors of Season 4. While still good television, I thought that the majority of Season 4 was wheel-spinning filler, and a definite downgrade from the crackerjack second half of Season 3. Much of the problem was that we knew the ending; even when we had the should-be-thrilling Sayid/Keamy fight, our knowledge that Sayid would escape unscathed defanged the scene.
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So my review of Season 5 - what is the point of the series at this point?
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There isn't one.
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Season 5, in my mind, has been even more of a failure than Season 4.
We've spent how many episodes in the DI-era, and learned nothing (aside from motivations on a couple characters - but no changes to their _goals_).
The O6 bits that started out the year were equally as uneventful (barring some shocking revelation about Hurley's about-face) prior to their getting on Ajira316.
And the Island07 bits are barely any better - Locke is resurrected as we all supposed, and there is a war brewing (but few of us really thought the end game would actually be between the few surviving 815ers and The Others, with all the other players watching from the sidelines). Oh, and Smokey predates Dharma (which given that they built a sonic fence to keep him out, is not shocking either).
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So, in summary, the point of the series is to... wait for Season 6. Until we find out which way The Incident goes - same future or not - all the show is really doing is creating loops and closing them*. Which may be fine for entertainment's sake, but as far as the larger narrative goes, is irrelevant.
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*Which, again, is the real problem of time travel stories: Either the actions in the past are fixed (WHH)- and there is no free will (or reason to care), or the future can be changed- and everything we've seen no longer happened and is irrelevant (and thus no reason to care). The sooner Lost gets through its time travel phase, the better.

I pretty much agree -- the "purpose" that new-Jack has been waiting for is to complete Farraday's attempt to rewrite the future, only to cause it. (Which is exactly what he did with Ben, might I add).
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And again, I agree -- as far as the series as a whole goes, I think next season is going to be about the war that Widmore warned Locke about... against the Shadow of the Statue people (we need an abbreviation for them. I submit "SotS"). And once the picture becomes clear, I expect that Widmore may not be the "bad guy" after all.
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Which leads me to something that's been percolating in my head since the time-loop theory (probably) got confirmed last week: It's another way to think about destiny vs. free-will, I suppose, but I think the (or "a") fundamental/philosophical question on this show is the cyclical vs. linear nature of time. (OK, I admit, it's not a so much a segue as it's-something-I've-been-thinking-about-so-I-just-dropped-it-in)

Well first, I really, really, really want Faraday not to be dead. You cant have such a great character missing for almost the entire season, then bring him back in one episode only to kill him in that same episode. Not cool. Not cool. As for the Jack-centric episode hopefully he isn't the loser he has been the past few episodes. It looks like, as to what was alluded to in the preview last week, is that he is going to attempt to do what Faraday was planning and try to prevent the whole thing. I personally think that he is either going to fail or the plan is going to result something entirely different. Possibly, that the act will cause the incident rather than prevent it. All I can say is that Faraday said he was wrong, that his mother was wrong, but Christian stated they were suppose to come back, and as far as we, the viewer, is concerned Christian/Island is never wrong.

Desmond as neo. Nice. I do think do to the fact that Desmond will do something unknown to Eloise since his presence in LA was a surprise to her and lead her to believe that Daniel did something that she thought impossible. All the more reason I think Faraday shouldn't die. Just when he is being saner, a la healed by the Island, and taking charge. Even though I am sure the producers will bring him back in flash back/forwards if he is dead it's just not the same as the character still striving towards his goal/purpose. He could be alive and then see that he was wrong again about using the H-bomb and then attempts to stop Jack. Jack: “You said this would work” Faraday “I was wrong” Jack “WHH? You say you were wrong. Constants and Variables? You said you were wrong and now this? Make up your mid Faraday.” Then in Jack-style Jack does it anyway. One could hope anyway. I am sorry for my rant on wanting Faraday to be alive. Only having such great characters as Charlotte and Faraday and then kill them in such a short time…leaves me frustrated.

@tom shaw: I agree with your assessment to a degree, that while good television, season 4 and a good portion of 5 have not added much to the overall mythology or character development. But last weeks episode was a much needed, and in my estimate belated, Faraday-centric episode. Is it me or does it seem that with the last season approaching that the producers are crunching in every thing, like, "oh wait we need a miles centric and a faraday centric episode I almost forgot."?
I agree that Jack is only going to cause the incident or it won't work at all. Next season, better be the better of the post-Island, latter 3, Seasons. The SotS is the real enemy in my summation and Widmore, like Ben, is on the right side he just was using different means towards the same goal. The lesser of 3 evils? Anyone?
And I also concur that the whole theory, Jack will succeed and the show will have never happened, is not an option.
I really think that Eloise was a fatalist and believed that she had no "free will" to let Faraday live. And seeing Desmond be altered by Faraday, scared her because he was "changing the rules" I do agree that the whole time-travel business has gotten out of hand and perhaps more a nuisance than an interesting catalyst for the season.

@Tom - Thinking from a pure endgame perspective, yes, seasons 4 and 5 haven't really advanced us very far. They've confirmed theories, explained science, and filled out backstories, but what actually happened by the end of seasons 3-5? "We have to go back!" "This is f^#@^% up!" "Ok, we're back."
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But the thing that makes Lost a great series isn't the fact that it's building towards endgame in an amazing way. Lost is great because of the stories and the characters, and we've learned a LOT about the characters and what makes them who they are. It's really a continuation of a basic theme of season one: all these characters are still living through their own stories. Yes, they're part of a whole, but there are unique stories to so many of them.
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Re: Destiny/free will - Just because WHH doesn't mean the characters don't have free will. They don't (necessarily) know what they're going to do, so they have to do something. Whatever they do has already happened, and the path they chose is the only path they would ever choose. But they don't (usually) know that, so the actions they take are still free to them. I forget which poster made the comment, but someone brought up Calvinism last week. This is the exact same thing.
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@lostepic - It's interesting that you bring up Hawking as a fatalist, believing she had no free will to let Daniel live. Perhaps we'll see more of her (like whatever caused the rift between her and Widmore) in a situation where she does try to change the past/future and fails miserably. Or maybe that's the lesson she picks up from Our Heroes when they try to stop the Incident.

@Tom Shaw and others (as opposed to Others): I have a couple thoughts on the "what's the point" questions on time travel:
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1) I'm not so sure that there isn't a dramatic middle ground between "what happens, happens" and "shooting Hitler (a.k.a. change the past, change the future)," and that it is precisely this middle ground that we are being propelled towards. As we saw with Desmond's premonitions of Charlie's death, what happens DOESN'T always happen, or at least in the WAY it happens. Sure, Charlie was always going to die ON the island, but that didn't stop Desmond from preventing his death by lightning strike or drowning or slipping on a rock catching a seagull (all of which would have been FUTILE deaths), and instead allowing Charlie to die a NOBLE death "saving" the islanders (or, so far, just the Oceanic 6).
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So just as faith v. science has a middle ground argument (science explains how things happen, but faith gives us the larger purpose/meaning behind it all, and thus neither is truly in conflict, although they can be if you hold too dogmatically to either), so too does fate/destiny v. free will. WHAT happens DOES happen (Charlie dies) but FREE WILL allows us to choose lives of purpose v. lives of inactivity, lives of good v. lives of evil (dying through lighting strike v. dying drowning to save everyone).
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So can Faraday stop "the Incident", or prevent his mother from killing him? No...but he can be doing it while relying on friends (Jack and Kate), after explaining things to them, and be doing it out of love/hope/friendship (to save Charlotte and everyone else).
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Can Ben be stopped from being evil/Other? No. But now, rather than his abusive father, Ben is turned to join the Others through "the Temple" and Sayid's bullet and Jack's decision to not save him, meaning that later on the island in the bizarro 2004, Ben will turn to the TEMPLE to heal him rather than playing mindgames to get Jack to perform surgery (mindgames, mind you, that lead to the death of Ana Lucia and Libby at the hands of Michael, and arguably to the death of Shannon by Ana Lucia due to Ben's spying on the folks that crashed causing her to be untrustful/willing to shoot at whatever came out of the woods).
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2) I said it last week, I'll say it again this week -- DESMOND IS THE HERO. Faraday reached out to Desmond to get him to visit Ms. Hawking, Faraday's mother. That only happens because Desmond is an "exception" to the "what happens, happens" model. Ms. Hawking was SHOCKED to see Desmond at the Lamppost, and admits at the hospital to Penny that "for the first time, I don't know what happens next." She CANNOT know because Desmond, alone amongst all characters has the power to change the past, and, here's the kicker, he ALREADY has!
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Desmond changed (through saving Charlie) HOW the Oceanic 6 got off the island (Charlie sacrificed as opposed to someone else; those 6 then got off as opposed to all of them or others). He beat up Ben at the marina, meaning that Ben did not kill Penny/Charlie Hume, and that Ben was injured on the plane (making him impervious to the time warp that affected Jack/Kate/Hurley/Sayid?)....
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In other words, we're seeing the course correction of time due to Desmond changing fate/destiny (or, more accurately, changing HOW things transpire, but not the end fated effect), but THANKS TO DESMOND these characters can choose more noble (or more evil) motives/actions along the way....while what happens will happen (eventually), they have the free will to change their OWN motivations/actions, and can be judged (as it were) on their own conduct.

Or to sum up that long post -- death and taxes. They are both certain (what happens, happens), but we DO have a lot of control over them/what leads to them: whether we live our lives fully/generously prior to our inevitable death, and what deductions we make on our taxes. Certain things in the past/present always happened (the Incident, Faraday being shot by his mom, Charlie dying), but not what leads to them (Faraday's warning to Dr. Candle, Faraday leaving his journal with Jack prior to being shot by Hawking, Charlie dying saving them as opposed to being hit by lightning).
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And Desmond has the power to help change the HOW of things, as opposed to WHAT happens....

@Chaddog ...Desmond Also changed WHO got off the island. He originally envisioned Claire on the copter, but most likely the changing of the events led to someone else like Kate getting on the copter. Maybe in the end, things are set the way they should have been and Claire does get on the copter with Aaron instead of Kate or whoever...

@chaddogg: I am think along the same lines as you are in paragragh 1) however we have yet to actually see it, as we did with Desmonds visions concerning Charlie and his death ending up meaning something, which wasnt Desmonds intent when he was preventing it. Charlies death just ended up meaning something without Desmonds intention to mean something. One could theorize that the visions were known to happen, by the Island, and that despite other people, variables, attempts at maintaining WHH, the Island has other plans in mind that people may not fully understand or know and is working them out in other means than through the characters.

@Chad - I think we're, unfortunately, still not clear enough about what exactly is going on with Desmond. Are his premonitions just premonitions of what will happen, or are they visions of the future actually happening? When he went back and had his talk with Ms. Hawking, was that just a vision, or was he actually reliving those events, and Hawking placed herself there as the jewelry store clerk so she could intercept him from changing something too drastic?
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For the record, I agree with you (I think it's the latter to both questions) about Desmond and time. But I don't think he can make drastic changes. The Universe will correct itself before things get too off track. Or it will just stop (like Hawking said it would if he married Penny).
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I don't agree with you about Ben having different outcomes. I think Ben was always saved by the Temple, and I think Ben always manipulated Jack to do the surgery.
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I also don't believe Desmond changed how the O6 got off the Island, because they hadn't gotten off the Island yet. Just because WHH doesn't mean that the future is set in stone forever. It's only set in stone once it's happened, if that makes sense. Now, hypothetically, if someone had skipped ahead in time from, say, middle of season 3, and they saw the events playing out differently, then yes, Desmond changed those events. But since those events hadn't happened, there was nothing from which they could change.
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For the record, I think this was stated last week, but are we all assuming Hawking ends up with Daniel's journal, and that's how she knows so much about so many things (manipulating Desmond's life so severely, for instance)? Maybe Daniel has fleeting comments in his journal about his mother pushing him so much, so Hawking pushes him as hard as she does because she read it. (Yay, chicken/egg!)

natego: but that would mean that what Desmond did prompted "Christian" to take Claire verses allowing her to go. So would you be saying that since Desmond did what he did, it changed what happende in regards to getting off Island and therefore he "christian" saved claire from having to suffer as she would if she left.

I just listened to Darlton's podcast from this week, and they talked about a deleted scene from last week that is actually quite illuminating: Farraday compares trying to change the future to throwing rocks in a stream. If the rocks are small, they'll just sink to the bottom. But throw a big enough one, and it will divert the stream's course. In other words, if you toss in a pebble, the stream will "course correct" over it. But chuck in a boulder, and the stream goes in another direction.
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If this is "true," then whatever happened happened UNLESS you throw a big freaking boulder. Or explode a hydrogen bomb...

@natego - I had forgotten about the vision of Claire getting on the helicopter. I'm going to have to digest that for a bit.
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@Matt - Hawking appears to think that boulders don't so much divert the stream as stop the universe from existing. Whether that's true or not is hard to say.

One thing that I haven't heard talked about is another reason Eloise HAD to send Faraday back, and thus get him shot: perhaps him going back and getting shot is what allows her (and baby Faraday)to get off the island before the Incident in the first place, thus allowing Faraday 30 years of life that he might not have had otherwise? That is, by killing him as an adult, she allowed him to live as a child (and since WHH, this HAD to happen in some way). Any thoughts?

@vastwastelander - I don't have any guesses as to the causality of her leaving the Island (although at this point one guess is as good as any), but from a purely temporal/philosophical perspective, Hawking believes she HAS to send Farraday to the Island because in her past - and his future - he was - will be - there. Basically, like you said, because of WHH, this HAD to happen.

@Dave - Yeah, the boulder-chucking theories of Farraday and Hawking pretty much make up this season's thematic conflict.

@lostepic.. all im saying is maybe Desmond changed that something that led to Claire being in Otherton to get her house blown up where it may not have happened if things went down the way they were going to. Maybe she would have stayed at the beach and ended up on the helicopter.

@natego, etc. I still find it unlikely that Claire is dead, for a few reasons:
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1) For the sake of the prophecy, in that she has to raise Aaron, and Kate's attempts to do so don't seem to be working. I'd imagine the Claire-Raising-Aaron rule is intractable, regardless of what other "minor" changes may occur.
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2) For the sake of the plot, in that I find it unlikely that the show runners would kill off a new mother and have The Show's Baby raised by a minor character, long-term. There may be gradations, like if she's dead and somehow able to be involved in Aaron's life as a ghost. However, I'm still betting on a helicopter rescue for a living/ resurrected Claire. . .

@vastwastelander - I wouldn't discount the fact that Claire might be dead just because she's a new mother (I'm playing devil's advocate, I personally believe she's alive(ish)). But the writers do have a gruesome streak... Montaund's arm comes to mind.

Re: Claire - My head says she's dead. My heart says she's alive. I honestly can't reconcile the two opinions, so at some point (hopefully early) in season 6, one of the two is going to be ticked off. I've got this looming feeling that all the psychic stuff from season 1 and Claire needing to be the one to raise Aaron is going to get left by the wayside. Then again, that could be the feeling the producers want us to have, so that we're blindsided by it in s6.

Props to Tom Shaw for reminding me that I was excited to learn about the Dharma Initiative. How could we not have learned anything about the DI while our cast has been living there for most of the season? FAIL! FAIL! FAIL! I still love Lost, almost as much as I love hatches.

Ok. If Claire is alive. She isnt going to leave the island. By what we can tell with her interactions while with Christian, she is fine where she is. Besides, after the 06 working, not so hard to get back only to have Claire leave to be with Aaron, ah I dont know. Dead, Ghost, Claire being involved with Aaron....Bad, cliche, and just un-Lost. The producers know better. The whole ghost thing has been handled fairly well. Hopefully we will learn who/what Hurley is really seeing, manisfestations of Island, off Island, like we have seen on the Island?

Yes I agree Dave. You said it. these past two seasons are good in that they are leading up to the end product, season 6. However, on their own they have had their disappointments. Some great moments and a few great episodes that just made you go "yes". and Smile because you remember back story etc... of why whats happening is happining.
@natego: yeah. I am with you on that. I am agreeing with you on the whole claire thing but expounding on your Idea. Desmonds vision was real, but it was given to him a la Island and the Island knew what was going to happen and "perhaps", just perhaps, had "Christian" interviene, due to Desmonds intervention of Charlies life, leading to the freighter coming then the house getting blown to bits etc...
I am with Matt on the cause of Faradays death.
@matt: I am so late on seeing the podcasts. Awesome illistration.