It's been a long eight months.
It's been hard without Jack and Kate. Without Ben and John. Without the polar bears. Without the island. But guess what? The wait is over.
When "Lost" returns tomorrow night at 9 p.m. on ABC, we can only hope that some of the questions that have been haunting Losties for the better part of a year will be answered.
When we last left our favorite castaways, the Oceanic Six (Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun and Aaron) had just been rescued and taken back to the mainland. Ben had just moved the island. Jin and the people on the freighter had just exploded and, in a finale stunner, we find John Locke dead.
As season five kicks off, let's take a look at the burning questions with a little help from Benjamin Linus ... err ... Michael Emerson (the actor who plays Linus).
Season five opens up where season four left off, hovering over the body of a now dead John Locke. Is Locke truly dead?
For those that have been watching the show from the beginning, you know that death on the island is a relative term. We have seen a more than a few characters walking around that had technically left this world. And as is par for the course on this show, there is bound to be more than this Locke situation than meets the eye.
"There are many places in the space/time continuum," says Emerson. "In one place we are one thing. In others we are something else."
Benjamin Linus seemed to really go off the reservation at the end of last season. Will we get a better idea of who he is and what he is trying to accomplish this year?
"What is his uber-purpose?," asks Emerson. "The answer to who and what Ben is part of the answer to the whole thing. It will continue to be reconceptualized. Ben's past, his future. I think this is question that will be answered in the last three episodes."
What's the deal with Claire?
Last year was a doozy for Jack's half-sister that culminated in her house getting hit by a missile fired from the freighter people. But who gets up from a missile attack unscathed?
And why is she walking around with the "ghost" of Jack's dead father? And how did she appear at Kate's house back in the states?
These are questions that will probably have to wait until season six as Emilie de Ravin is not slated to appear in any of season five. So consider any chance of getting this question answered, "dead."
Jack is now convinced that the Oceanic Six have to return to the island. There's a line in the season premiere where Ben tells Jack to pack anything he wants because he's never come coming back. Huh?
"That's one of those things Ben says that I think we should take at face value," says Emerson. "Based on his knowledge, they passed through some kind of window and won't be able to go back through it."
Desmond finally reconnected with his long lost love Penny at the end of last season. Is Desmond gone?
Don't count on it, brotha.
I know this show has become all about the sci-fi, but come on, did Ben really move the island?
Like it or not, the answer is a big old "yup." The island, as you saw, vanished when Ben pushed the old frozen donkey wheel. But where did it go?
Well that's the tricky part. I'm sure we can all agree that the island has moved in physical space. So perhaps a bigger question than where is it is when is it?
Any last words, Mr. Emerson?
"Well, it would be safe to say that Ben has not yet lost his capacity to take a licking."
Without giving too much away, here are few more questions to ponder:
Is Jin really dead?
What happened to Daniel and the others on the raft?
Who is Neil Frogurt?
Are we ever going to find out the deal with Walt?
