Season 4 Preview - "Previously on Lost..."

Well, it's been 8 months (or thereabouts) since "Through the Looking Glass" blew our collective minds. In all that time, I'm sure some of you may have forgotten some details of where we left off. So, at the urging of loyal reader Todd, I've put together the following recap of where each of our characters found him or herself at the end of Season 3.

The Others
Juliet Burke triple-crossed Ben, choosing to join the lostaways rather than fake-infiltrate their camp just to mark off the pregnant women's tents for some late night kidnapping action. She left the beach with Jack's party headed towards to radio tower, but when it became obvious the ambush was not a complete success, she joined Sawyer in heading back to the beach, where we'll find her when the series resumes.

Karl and Alex, the star-crossed teenage lovers, decided Ben had gone too far in keeping them apart. When Alex learned Ben was stepping up the kidnap raid, she dispatched Karl to get to the beach first and warn the lostaways. Karl accompanied Jack's crew to the radio tower. En route they ran into Ben and Alex (Ben had brought Alex with him because, feeling his relationship with her slipping, he planned to dump her on Jack's people). Alex was finally reunited with her mother, Danielle Rousseau, who she helped to tie up "dad."

Ben Linus seemed to honestly believe he could talk Jack out of calling Naomi's freighter for rescue. Having realized the beach raid was a failure, he took Alex to head off Jack's party before they reached the radio tower. Jack beat Ben bloody when Ben tricked him into thinking he had the ambush party executed. Ben was tied to a tree outside the radio tower begging Jack not to call Naomi's people, when he was knocked unconcious. Jack told Kate he planned to kill Ben after Ben saw them all get rescued.

Tom, Ryan, Aldo, Isabelle and five additional nameless Others were killed on the beach, some by Sayid, Jin and Bernard's ambush, Ryan by getting run over by Hurley's Dharma bus, a nameless extra by Sayid's bad-ass neck-snapping move, and Tom by Sawyerific execution.

Bonnie and Greta, on Ben's orders, were killed by Mikhail to prevent the rest of their people from learning Ben was having them jam the Looking Glass transmissions.

Mikhail blew up with the grenade he used to flood the control room of the Looking Glass to try to prevent the jamming signal from being deactivated.

Jacob is still a sometimes-visible telekinetic hermit who appears to have been trapped in a unabomber shack by a ring of white ash. He asked John Locke to help him, prompting Ben to gun Locke down at the Dharma mass grave.

Richard Alpert, Cindy, the Kids, and all other Others continued on their pilgrimage to what Ben called "The Temple."

Desmond and Charlie - At the Looking Glass
Charlie died heroically, per Desmond's vision. He deactivated the Looking Glass jamming signal and spoke briefly over Dharma video phone with Penny, of all people, before he sacrificed himself closing the door to save Desmond from drowning after Mikhail blew out the porthole. Charlie's last living act before making the sign of the cross and floating away, lifelessly, was warning Desmond that the freighter that had dispatched Naomi was "not Penny's boat."

Desmond, having witnessed Charlie's sacrifice, was still underwater in the interior of the Looking Glass station. Many sets of scuba gear were available for him use to swim back to the beach.

On the Beach
Sawyer, still reeling after he finally fulfilled his life's goal and killed Mr. Sawyer himself, Anthony Cooper, thought he'd sacrifice himself trying to save the ambush party. Joined by Juliet, we last saw him standing over Tom, whom he executed "for taking the boy."

Jin, Sayid and Bernard, held captive by the survivors of the Others' raiding party, were freed by Sawyer, Juliet, and...

Hurley, who, stung by Charlie's refusal to let him help at the Looking Glass and Sawyer's insistence he'd only get in the way at the beach, once again revived the Dharma bus and used it to mow down Ryan, turning the tide on the beach and saving his friends. We left him talking to Jack via walkie-talkie. Jack told Hurley they should stay put, and rescue was on its way.

At the Radio Tower
John Locke, left for dead by Ben in the Dharma Initiative mass grave, was inspired to save himself by the unexpected appearance of Walt, who was clearly older than we last saw him. Walt told John he had work to do. Jack staggered to the radio tower, where he killed Naomi with a throwing knife to prevent her from calling her ship. But he could not bring himself to kill Jack, and, pleading that Jack was "not supposed to do this," John slinked off into the jungle.

Danielle Rousseau turned off her 16-year-old transmission, and helped tie up Ben, but told Jack she did not plan to leave, since there was nothing for her off the island anymore.

Sun, still pregnant with Jin's baby, faces certain death if she does not leave the island soon.

Kate, Claire, Rose, Aaron and the rest of the 815 survivors, having hauled their gear all the way to the radio tower with Jack, now wait for their return to the beach, where they expect to find rescue.

Other Characters
Michael Dawson was last seen at the end of Season 2, piloting an Others boat away from the Pala Ferry dock with Walt.

Walt was last seen leaving with his dad, until he appeared (older) to Locke by the Dharma grave.

Anothony Cooper, inexplicably brought to the island, was killed by Sawyer at Locke's urging.

Sarah was with another man after leaving Jack, and will be pregnant in about three years' time.

Christian Shepherd, Ana-Lucia, Libby, Mr. Eko, Boone, Shannon, Nikki and Paulo are all still dead.

Arctic Researchers have not been seen since the Season 2 finale.

Penny could be anywhere, but does not appear to be on the freighter, and does appear to have direct communications with Dharma facilities.

And, finally, in the future....

In 2007, Jack and Kate, we know, will have left the island. Jack, who flies across the Pacific and back every weekend, is a wreck of a human who wants desperately to return to the island, even if it means he needs to go down in another plane crash. When he reads an obituary for an as-yet unidentified person, he contemplates suicide, only to once again heroically pull people from burning wreckage on the 6th Street bridge in Los Angeles.

So that's where we left off. We've got two weeks to go before "The Beginning of the End." While you wait, here's a little snack for you. ABC has put together this cute recap of the first three seasons, titled "Lost in 8:15." The double-entendre of the title should be apparent. So please enjoy this toungue-in-cheek look back at where we've been.