Time to get back to the action on ‘Lost’

Kate, Jack and Sawyer
After Kate played kissy-face with Jack last time, and then had that bizarro "Who's Wayne?" heart-to-heart with Sawyer, perhaps it's time to sort out this little triangle.  In its preview of the Jan. 11 episode, ABC says Jack is "an interested observer" when Kate gives Sawyer a haircut, which is sort of like saying that Sienna Miller was an "interested observer" in Jude Law's nanny dabbling.

Once Sawyer recovers from his injury, the good doctor may want a word or two with him that falls outside the bounds of the doctor-patient relationship. Doubly so since Jack and Sawyer will be headed off on a jungle search party in a Jack-focused Jan. 18 episode.

If nothing else, maybe the newfound tensions will distract Kate from her daddy issues.

Michael
Odds are on the island's devoted dad and his tinkering with the Swan computer to push forward the Dharma plot.

Given his determination to find Walt, you know he's going to get to the bottom of who's giving him an online howdy, even if it means a trek into the island's less savory corners. (Note to the producers: Extra points if you sneak a 110-baud modem and phone coupler into this scenario.)

Anyone want to bet that Michael's "unauthorized" use of the computer will somehow cause the 108-minute countdown to run down to zero? When the clock eventually does run out — and you know it'll have to eventually — let's hope the resulting incident doesn't have anything to do with those blast doors Michael discovered in the Dharma facility's ceiling.

Scratch that. Let's hope it does.

Ana-Lucia and Sayid
Sayid is still mourning Shannon, but their romance was brief enough (and Shannon bratty enough) that we bet he snaps out of it before long. He's likely still harboring a grudge against Ana-Lucia, aka Itchy Trigger Finger, but assuming the two hash all that out, we think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

You have to assume that some seriously bad juju is headed the Losties' way, and these two are the best soldiers of the bunch. They've both experienced plenty of heartbreak, and before long Ana will no doubt reveal that she lost her baby while on duty as an L.A.P.D. officer. And they've both got skeletons in their closets about their violent tendencies (Ana's revenge killing for her baby's death, Sayid's torturing ways).

While on the topic of curious couples, Claire's about to figure out the mystery of Charlie's attachment to those Virgin Mary statues. You can bet she'll be pissed. Will that put Charlie back on the horse? Will it mean the end of his pseudo-daddy role to baby Aaron?

Perhaps it's time for everyone to change partners — except Sun and Jin, and Bernard and Rose, all of whom deserve some quality bonding time.

Hurley
We miss you, Hugo!  Hurley's been sidelined since the Oct. 12 episode that further detailed his good luck/bad luck in the Mr. Cluck era. But it's quite likely his turn on "Lost's" romantic Wheel of Fortune could be coming soon. After all, an episode without Hurley is like an island without pilot-eating monsters.

Speaking of monsters, Lindelof also 'fessed up recently that the monster will return in Wednesday's show — and this time, at least one of the castaways will get some face time with the curious beast.

Will it be an oversized polar bear?  The Dharma equivalent of a land shark? A killer rabbit with huge fangs?

So long as there's not four of them. Or eight. Or 15. Or 16. Or 23 ...

MSNBC.com lifestyle editor Jon Bonné is waiting for more footage of that other Dharma station.

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