10 Things You Need to Know About 'Lost'

[Sydney]

Fans of "Lost" love the intricate puzzles and mysteries woven through each episode. The questions keep mounting, and we can only hope that series co-creator J.J. Abrams has the answers and plans on telling us . . . someday.

Look for some of these major "Lost" mysteries to be referred to - and maybe even resolved - in the final episodes. But knowing this series, the answers will only lead us to more questions.

The crash
Oceanic Flight 815 en route from Sydney to Los Angeles loses its tail section and crashes on a remote island. The pilot reports before he dies that the plane was off course and rescuers will look in the wrong place. Forty-eight passengers survive. With hope of rescue dwindling, the castaways must learn to survive in their new jungle home - which they share with a huge, menacing, unseen monster.

Lottery numbers
People laugh when Hurley reveals that he's worth millions back home, but it's true. Hurley won $156 million in a lottery with the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. The win brings bad luck to Hurley and his family, and Hurley starts to believe the numbers are cursed. He got them from a mental patient, and he traced them to Australia, where they also brought people bad luck. The French woman tells Hurley that the numbers were in a transmission that prompted her research team to explore the island.

The French woman
Sayid's solo trek across the island led him to Danielle Rousseau, a French woman living alone in a compound. Wild-eyed and unstable, Danielle babbles about being part of a science team that landed on the island years ago. The rest of her team is dead. She made the distress call that has been playing for 16 years. She held Sayid captive, but he escaped with her maps and papers.

The vault
John Locke and Boone have uncovered a mysterious vault that thrusts into the jungle floor. Its hatch has no handle, and all efforts to crack it open have failed. Hurley's winning lottery numbers are written on it. Look for the vault to open - probably with disastrous consequences - in the season finale.

Locke can walk
A flashback revealed that Locke was confined to a wheelchair when he boarded the doomed flight. But after the crash, Locke miraculously regained the use of his legs. Locke seems to be in tune with the island, and he recently hinted that the island made it possible for him to walk. If the island becomes angry, will it take away his power to walk?

Walt's powers
The show has hinted that Walt has some kind of telekinesis power, or the power to make things that he thinks about materialize. In a flashback, Walt looked at a photo of a bird, and a similar bird struck a window in his home and died. On the island, Walt enjoyed looking at a Spanish comic book featuring a polar bear, and a polar bear appeared. He read Locke's mind when they touched and warned Locke not to open the hatch. Walt also seems to be able to manipulate dice when playing backgammon.

Raft
Michael is determined to get himself and his young son Walt off the island. Michael started building a raft out of bits of wreckage, but it mysteriously caught fire. He has built another raft, which must set sail soon to take advantage of the favorable winds. Walt confessed that he set the first raft on fire, probably using his strange powers that have been hinted at earlier in the show.

Claire's baby
Single mom Claire gave birth a few episodes ago to a little boy. In a flashback, a psychic warned Claire that she must raise the baby herself or invite dire consequences. Which makes the fact that pregnant Claire was briefly kidnapped by a strange man (not from the plane crash) who wanted her baby even creepier.

Boone's death
After teasing us with the near-deaths of several castaways, the "Lost" writers finally went all the way. Boone and Locke found a small plane stuck in a tree; Boone climbed up to the cockpit to test the radio. The plane fell, fatally injuring Boone. Several castaways blame Locke for Boone's death.

'We are the survivors' radio broadcast
When Boone was in that cockpit, he managed to send a message over the radio before the plane lurched to the jungle floor. Boone yelled, "We're the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815." The response - which is a subject of hot debate - sounded like "We're the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815." Does that mean that our castaways are in some kind of weird parallel universe? Or could it be Boone's own voice bouncing off of an energy field and echoing back to him?

- Julie Washington
Plain Dealer Reporter
Wednesday, May 18, 2005