Lostaholics writer Nancy Drew in her well-researched article titled "What's Next? Time!" (see below) delved into how deeply invested Lost has become with the concept of time; and her conclusions are exactly right when she states that we will soon know how time-travelling (or time-tripping, or time-jumping) works on the island. As of Season Four we know that the calendar date on the island is the same off the island, and that the characters are in real, not perceived jeopardy. Remember that just four months ago the discussion forums were lit up with speculation about parallel realities and multiple possible outcomes? Even if we are unsure exactly how time operates on the island, one thing is certain: time on the island is, at the very least, not just linear. In contrast, many ancient and oriental societies understood time (past, present and future) as circular. This view might be beneficial in an age when modern man seems plagued not just with the stresses of the present day but also with acute anxiety about the future coupled with an inability to change his past.

Regardless of what time anomalies may or may not exist on the island, the characters of Lost have already been freed in time because the island is a place that allows each person's past, present and future to operate on them. With that marvelous motif, each eye that opens on the island opens not only to the present, but also seems to open on the flashback subject's past. This allows for an access to profound memories, which is no doubt one of the goals of many modern therapies. I often have wondered what effect those memories have on the flashbacker, beyond the narrative function of telling about their past actions. It seems to me that the Losties more often have been actively working to break the patterns set by their past, rather than repeating them. We witness Hurley, Locke and Charlie all seeking to rid themselves of past cowardice and passivity. Kate tries to free herself of the need to run while Desmond represents the island's access to the future. The ability to turn the fog of the future into a vision of discernible events is the stuff of fairytales, but it is an ability for which we also long. I think that it is invaluable that the island doesn't give the full picture of the future, but instead the island shows the character what motivates them and whom they truly love.

Speaking of love, let's talk about sex on the island. Even part-time viewers of the show can tell that sex is not just a casual experience for any of the characters. In our self-reliant culture we learn that we need no one - and it this belief has produced numerous, superficial relationships for us while we lack true depth of knowledge of one another. The dilemma that we find ourselves in is that we are hard-wired with a connection requirement but we remain lonely and isolated. Researchers are studying our new 21st century ways of relating to one another and are observing how markedly different they are than any major society before us. Sex itself has become a right we exercise, a basic commodity of relating. People these days have sex with one another before they know if they like each other, let alone whether or not they deeply love each other. That is not true on this island. Instead the sexual, relational life of all the characters is a platform for deep connection, and therefore true love and bitter betrayal. Think of the marriages on Lost: Sun and Jin, Rose and Bernard, Jack and Sarah, Kate and Kevin. Think of the affairs: Desmond and Penny, Jack and Achara, Sayid and Shannon, Sayid and Elsa, John and Helen, Sawyer and Cassie. Perhaps even more poignant are the unconsummated relationships: Hurley and Libby, Sayid and Nadia, Charlie and Claire, Jack and Kate or his dilemma with Juliet. Certainly Ben's relationships with Annie and with Juliet appear to be a main impetus for his emotional life.

No matter how you appraise these couples they obviously take these relationships as seriously as they take their own willful actions and consequences, meaning that none of the couples hook up and then simply drop each other. In the case of Jack and Kate it seems that the reason that they haven't had sex isn't simply because they aren't physically attracted to each other, but more so because they can't seem to get themselves together emotionally. Therefore, many people think their relationship is pointless. I call it something different. It is old-fashioned and deeply searching. If they ever understand one another, they will be a couple for the ages. They along with their fellow survivors recognize that relationships deeply mark a person and their circumstances.

You can see this as well in the overriding importance of procreation not just to Ben and the Others but to all the characters. Apparently Sun and Jin's and even maybe Kate's future actions all hinge on the need to have and protect the baby in their care. Not only is Lost suggesting that sex is not for just a moment, but that connection is our deepest desire. "Live together, die alone" just might be the way to survive on the island and in all of life.

Sex is not the only topic Lost treats counter-culturally. I also find their approach to death to be, well, almost religious. The issues of burial, grief and the afterlife permeate not only the show's concerns, but the character's actual day-to-day life. The survivors of 815 had to deal almost immediately with the dead from the crash. Any thought they had of "someone else will clean this up" disappeared by the third day or so after the crash when the issues of disintegration of the bodies became dangerous to their own health. I found this fascinating. While many modern stories introduce death and even grieving as plot points, Lost asserts death into the life of its characters. Realizing that no one else is going to clean up their mess is a main point of maturity and all of the survivors have had to grow up quickly. Bodies and affects must be properly handled and buried. More significant even than that to me is that death must be spoken over. Frankly, I find many graveside scenes in movies and teleplays more of a vehicle for either production design to paint a tableau or for characters to have their own turning points. Lost's concern seems to be much more that an entire community needs to recognize its loss and share in that burden and emotion. Speeches delivered by the sand covered graves are rarely eloquent. Instead, they are rawly emotional and relational. Recall Hurley's heartfelt response to Libby and Sayid's vulnerable response to Shannon. Jack's sense of group involvement early on was formed by his willingness to take part in the grief process, while we saw Locke acutely absent when Boone was buried. In Jack's flash forward the absence of all people at the funeral parlor is the subject of his deep concern, Kate's dismissive anger, and the audience's fascination with whom is inside the casket. Who has died unsung, unvisited, unmourned? In the Lostiverse, this is the ultimate tragedy, someone who has died alone.

On the other hand, perhaps the most exciting offer held out by this story is the idea that death can be transcended. Why is Christian's casket empty but no one thinks he is a ghost? Why is Jacob apparently disembodied but still powerful enough to determine the Others' agenda and the fates of the Losties with his all-prevailing list? How did Ben see his mother Emily and what power was exhibited in him that caught the attention of Richard? How old is Richard and why can't he "remember birthdays?" Why did the mental health patient convalescing with Hurley not observe Hurley having a vision, but actually shared a corporeal appearance of Charlie, who declared himself as "dead, but here"? Most telling to me is Locke's declaration to Nikki (I lose points for mentioning her) that "nothing stays buried on this island" and the Others' funeral process of sending bodies out to sea. What has been buried that might rise again on the island? Is Smokey a harbinger of death, or is he simply a guard at the door to the afterlife or even a judge of motives and deeds? What is the island's power?

The best news to me delivered so far regarding death is in the person of Charlie Pace. When a person like Charlie sees his death, and walks into it willingly and selflessly for the benefit of others, it characterizes the word "hero" in a way that has worked on the world's psyche since time immortal. Yet we have not called Charlie either a martyr or a victim. Charlie is the forerunner for what a real champion looks like in the world of Lost. Whether or not his friends will follow in these footsteps may well be the focus of the rest of the story. Lost as a modern myth is revealing to us the power that memory, sexual relation and death exerts on our mind, body and spirit. Our response to these issues may well determine our own wellness and fitness for facing the challenges ahead.