Lost was world famous for its mystifying plot twists. And while most of these came as a surprise, others had been well telegraphed.
Lost was a spectacularly written piece of television that kept its viewers guessing to the very end. Part of the fun of Lost was hopping online to peruse the message boards and forums, where millions were attempting to deconstruct the spider web of a plot. Meanings of symbols were cracked, character motivations and backgrounds were guessed, and future storylines were assumed.
For the most part, the writers of Lost kept one step ahead of their viewers, offering wonderful twists that breathed new life into the show while simultaneously shocking the unprepared. But some twists were guessed far in advance.
One of the saddest things about Locke is that he never accomplishes his goal. This was briefly flirted with at the end of season 5 when it was revealed that Locke was actually alive on the island after getting killed by Ben. But some people correctly assumed that this wasn't the real Locke, as the island never had the ability to bring the dead back to life.
While they weren't really sure who this "Locke" was, they were right in assuming it wasn't the John Locke that everyone knew. Locke was dead, and his body had been appropriated by The Man in Black.
Sun and Jin shared one of the best relationships in the show. Not only were they adorable together, but their complex past promised a lot of great drama. Part of this past is Sun's ability to speak English - a fact that was initially kept from both the audience and her own husband (as she wished to leave him).
However, some called the twist before it occurred. It was quite obvious that Sun knew more than she was letting on, and judging by a few curious glances and reactions, it became increasingly evident that she could understand what everyone was saying.
This is one of those moments that made Lost so great, a fantastic marriage of tragic pasts and separate storylines. Anthony Cooper was at the heart of many twists, and viewers quickly realized that he was a manipulator and a con man.
Once that became known, it was quite obvious that he was the con man who conned Sawyer's mother. Of course, there was always a possibility that it was someone random, but the set-up was so perfect that it became obvious.
In the second season episode "The Long Con," Sun is briefly "kidnapped" by an unseen figure. A bag is thrown over her head and she is dragged from her garden. Blame is immediately placed on The Others, but it so obviously wasn't. It's not really in the Others' MO, as they don't typically scare the castaways in such a violent and straightforward manner.
While viewers probably didn't know it was Charlie who did the kidnapping, it was quite obvious that it wasn't The Others.
"Exodus" helped make Lost iconic thanks to its thrilling pace and exceptional ending. While The Others kidnapping Walt is one of the show's most famous sequences, it was perfectly set up for anyone paying meticulous attention.
Aaron was kidnapped by Rousseau, and she constantly mentioned "the boy." If The Others weren't interested in Aaron (as Rousseau proves), then there was only one other "boy" they could have wanted. It still came as quite a shock, but there were enough clues that some people predicted the outcome.
Some of the greatest Lost characters were introduced after season 1, and that's certainly the case with the tail section survivors. And while their introduction was fun, it didn't come as the biggest surprise.
Discussion of the tail section was periodically peppered throughout the first season, and Rose was adamant that her husband had survived the crash. There was just too much build-up for the tail section to come to nothing.
Michael Emerson was also introduced in the show's second season, playing a mysterious man named Henry Gale. This made for a fascinating storyline, as opinion was split on the true identity of Henry. Some genuinely believed he was an unfortunate man stranded on the island, while others believed that he was an Other.
When the truth was finally revealed, it didn't come as much of a shock. There were just too many clues that Henry was an Other, and Emerson played him in a telling shifty and mysterious fashion.
Season 4 introduced a fun element to the show, and that was the ruined plane at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. This brought about countless theories, including the idea that the castaways had been dead the whole time and the island was some sort of purgatory.
Some fans, correctly, assumed that it was a fake plane. The purgatory twist had long been shot down and debunked, and there was only one other option. Widmore had the plane planted to stage its discovery, therefore buying him time to find the real survivors (and the island).
Throughout the first and second seasons, viewers (and the castaways) were led to believe that the Others were borderline feral. However, this clearly wasn't the case. Perhaps the biggest clue to this was Ethan.
Ethan was clean, clean-shaven, and wore everyday clothes. He wasn't some filthy, bearded nomad with bare feet; in fact, he was easily able to integrate himself within the castaways. As a result, many assumed that the Others weren't the savages that everyone thought they were. They were right.
There's a rule with television when it comes to deceased characters. And that is, "If you don't see the body or the act of death itself, they aren't really dead." This is a common bait-and-switch technique used in television, and it was utilized on Lost with Jin.
Jin presumably died in the Kahana explosion, but the scene was left rather ambiguous. Jin had jumped off the ship, and the explosion was seen from a distance. No body was seen, and Jin wasn't visibly caught in the explosion. So when he showed up again in season 5, it came as no surprise.
