Getting “Lost”: Dead Is Dead Preview

Johnnysweeptheleg has left the building. Where is he? Probably the same place Rose and Bernard have gone. Like the island’s favorite married couple, johnny will likely pop up again sometime — probably in the comments section — but, until then, I’ll be doing these Lost posts like Eric Carmen. That’s right … all by myself. So bear with me.

With that said, let’s talk about this week’s episode. Here’s what ABC has to say about “Dead Is Dead”: To atone for sins of the past, Ben must attempt to summon the smoke monster in order to be judged. Guest stars include Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Tania Raymonde as Alex, Sonya Walger as Penelope “Penny” Widmore, Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Sterling Beaumon as young Ben, Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana, Said Taghmaoui as Caesar, Melissa Farman as young Danielle Rousseau, Brad William Henke as Bram and Matt Hoffman as Jed.

Here are the unanswered questions heading into this week’s episode, “Dead Is Dead”:

• Why would Richard Alpert have to check with Charles Widmore and Ellie before saving Ben?

• How will Richard Alpert save Ben’s life, and why will it cost Ben his innocence?

• Assuming that baby Ethan is Ethan Rom, how does he end up with the Others?

• Is Horace Goodspeed really Ethan’s father?

• Why isn’t Daniel Faraday part of the Dharma Initiative, circa 1977?

• How will Sun get to 1977 to reunite with Jin?

• What is the deal with that giant four-toed statue?

• Why did Jack, Kate and Hurley end up in 1977, while the rest of the Ajira 316 passengers seem to be in a different time?

• At the time of the purge, Horace is married to Olivia … so what happens to Amy?

• If Charles Widmore led the Others for 30 years, does that mean Penny was born on the island?

• Is Helen really dead or did Matthew Abaddon simply show Locke a fake grave site to get him where he needed to be?

• Who will be fighting in this war that is supposedly coming?

• Will Locke avenge his own death once Ben wakes up?

• Who is the man who created the equations used to find the island?

• How and why did Hurley get on the plane? (A visit from Charlie perhaps? It would explain the guitar case.)

• Are Ellie and Eloise Hawking one in the same?

• Why did Widmore fund Faraday’s research and pay for Theresa Spencer’s care?

• Why didn’t Richard and the other Others move through time when Locke did?

• How is Desmond “uniquely and miraculously special,” according to Faraday?

• Who is the woman in the butcher shop?

• Is Claire dead? If not, how is she communicating with Kate off the island?

• Who (or what) is Jacob?

• Why doesn’t Claire want Aaron to go back to the island?

• What does Christian Shephard want from Jack and Claire?

• According to the Oceanic 6’s story, who is Aaron’s “father”?

• Why doesn’t Jack want to see Aaron off the island?

• Why was Locke chosen by the island?

• What exactly is Richard Alpert’s role in the Ben vs. Widmore battle?

• What exactly are “the rules”?

• Why can’t Ben kill Widmore?

• Who really put the fake Oceanic 815 at the bottom of the ocean?

• What happened to Annie?

• What’s in that Black Rock journal, and why does Charles Widmore want it so badly?

• Who are the people on Ben’s list, and why are they on it?

Check back on Thursday for a recap of this week’s episode.