‘Lost’ death surprises by being predictable

In the end, the much-hyped death of a major character on ABC's hit plane-crash drama "Lost" was surprising only because it was so predictable.

Since its fall debut, "Lost" has thrown viewers twist after twist. Mild-mannered Hurley turned out to be a millionaire. Cool Kate was a bank robber, and maybe worse. Mysterious John Locke had been paralyzed until the crash cured him. And stepsiblings Boone and Shannon had, uh, the kind of sibling relationship a lot of us suspected only went on between Greg and Marcia Brady.

So when show creator J.J. Abrams started telling the press that he was going to kill off one of his 14 main characters before the season's end, no one seemed safe. Readers shared many of their thoughts with us, and almost everyone was suggested as a possible corpse.

It was fairly unanimous that main character Jack (Matthew Fox) was safe. Not only was he the island's only doctor, but he seemed to be central to all plotlines, the little universe's non-elected leader. His semi-girlfriend Kate may have her own dark past, but she seemed fairly safe too, although many readers weren't too fond of her. (In a birthing scene on Wednesday's episode, she at first seemed about as useful as Prissy from "Gone With the Wind.")

Viewer speculation focused almost instantly on minor characters, helped by a quote from actor Josh Holloway in TV Guide where Holloway dropped a hint that the doomed character was one whose plotline wasn't developing.

If there'd been Las Vegas betting on "Lost," that quote alone would have pushed the odds heavily towards Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), if only because it's tough to develop your plot on an English-language show when you're only allowed to speak Korean. Other prime suspects included Charlie, the formerly drug-addicted rocker, and single dad Michael.

Another plane crash
But then came last week's episode, in which the island's Dynamic Duo, Locke and Boone, set out on an adventure inspired by a vision of Locke's. He'd seen a small plane crash on the island, then seen his companion Boone streaked in blood and mumbling. Then, as visions seem to do on Mystery Island, Locke discovered that at least part of his vision was true: A small Beechcraft plane had crashed on the island and was hanging high in the trees.

Reisig &Amp; Taylor / ABC Ian Somerhalder's Boone may have found a way off the "Lost" island after all.

As viewers learned in that week's flashback, Locke had been used by a person he thought cared for him. His wealthy father, who'd never been in his life, befriended him only long enough to convince his son to donate a kidney to him, then shut him out of his life again.

Now on the island, in his new life, Locke and Boone had become friends. Locke wanted to know what was in the crashed small plane, and he himself couldn't climb into it. Yet he'd seen the vision of a bloody Boone, he had to suspect that this part of his vision would also come true. Yet much in the same way that his father sacrificed him to get what he wanted, Locke sacrificed his young friend, sending Boone into the plane without telling him what he'd seen. And of course, the plane came crashing down from the trees, injuring Boone badly. As Locke dragged a bloody Boone back to doctor Jack, last week's episode ended, and the speculation heated up.

But now instead of going for the obvious bet, many viewers figured the show was feinting one way and would actually go the other — that Boone being so badly injured made him too obvious a candidate for the grave. Surely, they felt, some of the island's magic would save him and another, less obvious character would lose his or her life.

MORE FROM LOST

‘Lost’ finale finds some answers

‘Lost’ finale finds some answers Answers we'd like to find on ‘Lost’ Best and worst moments of ‘Lost’ ‘Lost’ to answer nagging questions in finale Readers abuzz over ‘Lost’ shootings Dude! How well do you know Lost’s Hurley? Chart: Castaways discover new hatch   Add Lost headlines to your news reader: