LOST - Top 10 Things That Will Happen in Season 6 (Purely Stupid Speculation, but Hey! What the Fuck!)

And a fade out to white was all it took to make us salivate for the coming season of LOST.

Now that we have a start date for the final season -- February 2, 2010 -- we can really start speculating about what's in store for us.

Here's my list of 10 things I expect from season 6. Of course, I will no doubt be wrong on most of them, but that's really the fun part of predicting what's to come on LOST; there is no shortage of surprises.

1. Parallel universe. Spoilers have surfaced, as they are wont to do, but I have pretty much had this figured from the start. To allow Juliet's sacrifice to restart events as if nothing on the Island ever happened would be a total cheat. A reset of events is the perfect way to tell the readers that the writers never had a plan. I don't believe Darlton are that shortsighted. When we pick up, I believe we will get two different realities: one in which the castaways arrive unscathed in Los Angeles, and one in which life on the Island continues.

Here's the twist, though. I think the castaways trapped in 1977 will be the ones returned to the events of 2004, while those remaining on the Island in the present day will stay put and be forced to deal with the aftermath of Jacob's death.

2. Jack and his dad will square off against each other. Since the episode "White Rabbit" Jack has been haunted by the memory of his father, and has been pursuing him. He pursued him to Australia, and has been pursuing him on the Island since finding the empty coffin. Since we know that Christian has made appearances as a spokesperson for Jacob, there will have to be a showdown -- of sorts -- between the father and the son. After all, this conflict is the linchpin of epic stories since the beginning of storytelling.

3. Christian is a servant of the Man in Black/NotLocke/Esau. It would not surprise me in the slightest if this is revealed. Since the beginning, Christian has usually been seen as the evil father, and the Man in Black has been revealed as the enemy of the benevolent Jacob. This tag-team will create quite a force to be reckoned with for the remaining castaways.

4. Jacob is not dead. I keep thinking Jacob is the Obi-Wan Kenobi/Gandalf/Dumbledore mentor figure of the LOST universe. Somehow, the Obi-Wan comment to Darth Vader springs to mind: "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine." Jacob may not take any corporeal form, but his spirit -- or force, if you will -- will play a huge role in the endgame.

5. Kate and Sawyer will be revealed to be the Adam and Eve skeletons. It's been obvious for quite a while that the writers prefer the chemistry between Kate and Sawyer -- a very Han Solo/Princess Leia combo -- so it makes sense that they will somehow unite on the Island and become the skeletons we've been speculating about since the beginning.

6. Somehow, someway, the real Locke will rise again. In "The Incident," the revelation of Locke's demise was sort of anti-climatic. Lots of fans were very disappointed that "Mr. Clean" didn't get a more fitting send-off; instead, he was viewed more as a tool for the Man in Black, who used his death as a loophole to attack Jacob. I can't believe this is the way the writers want Locke's story to end. Locke will return.

7. Locke and Jack will unite to save the Island. The show has always been about the Island's specialness. Some, like Locke, love the Island and serve it. Others, like Jack and Desmond, hate it and have tried to leave. By the end, Jack will accept his destiny as a servant of the Island and will team up with a resurrected Locke to save it from the hands of the devilish Man in Black.

8. Hurley will die to save Jack. Hurley has been at Jack's side as a helper since the beginning -- he helped with Claire in the pilot, remember? After Hurley went with Locke at the beginning of season 4, he later regretted that decision. He is Jack's sidekick, and will sacrifice himself to save Jack in what will be seen as one of the show's greatest deaths.

9. Smokey will pass judgment on the Man in Black. Smokey is the manifestation of the Island's spirit, and the Man in Black is the Island's enemy. Through some "rule" -- similar to the rule that kept the Man in Black from directly killing Jacob -- Smokey can't kill him, but a loophole will be found that will give Smokey the chance to kill him.

10. The detonation of Jughead has truly released the Island's energy and force. This will cause the Island to keep itself from being destroyed by the atomic blast. The Island will impose its will on events in even stronger ways than before. Maybe even by resurrecting the real John Locke and Jacob as I predicted earlier.

As with all speculation, most of what I'm saying is probably garbage, but it gives some food for thought. Any other predictions? What do you think?

Only 46 days (and counting) till the season premiere! Hooray!