The Oceanic 6: What we found on ‘Lost’ this season

Season 4 of "Lost" comes to a close this week with a two-hour finale that undoubtedly will answer some questions and spark a dozen new mysteries to unravel in the show's remaining two years. What felt like two separate seasons because of the production gap caused by the writers strike (the crew affectionately refers to the divide as Seasons 4 and 4.5) introduced a diverse group of characters from a mysterious freighter and transported us into the future of the ultimate crash survivors, dubbed the Oceanic 6. (Don't forget that they crashed on Sept. 22, 2004, and their time on the island has been just 108 days. So when it's 2005 on the show, that's a look into the future.)

"Lost" Two-hour season finale: 8 p.m. Thursday on KITV/ABC. An encore episode with new footage airs at 7 p.m.

The Oceanic 6 take a cargo plane to Honolulu but rarely seem to tell the truth when they resume their lives in the United States. They lie to the media and in court, saying that only eight people survived the crash, instead of 48. The plane landed in the water rather than on the island. Kate rescued them all. Aaron is her baby. Jin never made if off the plane. No other survivors remain. And what about that raft journey to Sumba, where they were rescued?

The question that could loom largest: Why are they doing this? To protect those who decided to stay? And who among them is still alive?

Here's what we know about the Oceanic 6:

Kate's trial for crimes committed before the crash ends with a bargain and a long probation. She seems thrilled that Jack has become part of her life with Aaron. But Sawyer is not out of the picture, even though he didn't leave the island. He's apparently still alive, because Kate is doing something for him and hiding it from Jack. "It doesn't matter," she says. "It has nothing to do with us." But Jack disagrees: "He chose to stay. I'm the one who came back. I'm the one who saved you."

Aaron looks older in some of the flash-forwards, indicating a more rapid passage of time off the island. More questions than answers surround his future, however. Kate is now his "mother," but will he ever learn the truth? Did Claire die or abandon him? Who is supposed to raise him? His grandmother (Claire's mother), who is alive and well but doesn't know he exists?

Jack resumes his surgery practice, sets up house with Kate and Aaron, and asks Kate to marry him. After much deliberation about entering the relationship - mostly because of Aaron, it seems - Jack's jealousy, prescription drug abuse and drinking proceed to ruin this brief happiness.

Visions of his dead father don't help, either. Big revelation: Jack learns at his father's memorial service that Claire was his half sister. Therefore, Aaron is his nephew. Bad news: Hurley delivers a message from Charlie (also dead): "You're not supposed to raise him, Jack." Before they leave the island, Juliet excuses herself from the show's love quadrangle - Jack, Kate and Sawyer - while taking out Jack's appendix.

Hurley's family welcomes him into their mansion, purchased with his lottery money. But he ends up in the same mental institution he frequented before the crash. There he visits occasionally with the dead Charlie, and tries to convince Jack that all of the Oceanic 6 are really dead, too.

Sayid reunites with the love of his life, Nadia, years after helping her escape from an Iraqi prison. They marry and live idyllically until someone murders her. In far corners of the globe, Ben connects with Sayid and convinces the widower that he wants to find Nadia's killer, who is linked to Charles Widmore, the wealthy puppetmaster linked somehow to the lost island. Distraught, Sayid becomes a hit man for Ben, systematically killing people on Ben's "list" in an effort to avenge his wife's death.

Sun uses her settlement from Oceanic to buy a controlling interest in her father's company, commanding respect from him in a fascinating cultural backlash. Two people caused Jin's death, according to Sun, and her father is one of them. Her future includes a baby girl, just as Jin predicted. On the island, Jin finds out about the affair Sun had before the crash, but he forgives his wife when she assures him the baby is his.

And let's not forget ...

Ben is not one of the Oceanic 6, but he gets off the island and travels the world, presumably seeking revenge on Charles Widmore, whose people shot Ben's daughter, Alex. In the future he threatens to kill Widmore's daughter (Penelope, Desmond's long-lost girlfriend). All Widmore seems to want is the island, which he claims Ben stole from him.

While still on the island, Ben surrenders to Keamy, one of Widmore's freighter people, to give Locke time to move the island.

No wonder Ben escapes this conundrum: He speaks several languages, keeps a stash of money and passports in various countries and possesses a wily influence we have only begun to understand. Just before he walks into enemy arms, he turns to Locke and says, "How many times do I have to tell you, John? I always have a plan."