"Lost" Thoughts: Part I.c

I had a sort of "a-ha!" moment midway through the final episode. I believe some sort of contrived and hackneyed dialogue between Jack and Locke about fate and the island and blah blah blah provoked me to realize: I enjoy "Lost" because it is classically gothic. Substitute the haunted house as a character for a haunted island as a character. The show is a melodrama, a mystery, a horror, and an action; thus, the show is a wonderful pastiche. Gothic. Nicely done Sir Abrams. You pulled a fast one on me.

Speaking of fast ones, those final episodes quickly switched the path of certain questions and plot points. Additional questions that may serve as amendments to the preceding ones:

What's the deal with the black smoke?
What's the deal with the moving black smoke?
What was pulling Locke into that hole?
Did you see a chain, because I saw a chain...?
What do the others want with Walt?
How are the raft folk going to navigate back to the island?
Are the others affiliated with the black smoke?
Are they affiliated with the monster/security system?
Is the black smoke affiliated with the monster/security system?
Is Charley really going to have to struggle with Heroine again??? Really?
Come on. Can't we move forward in the writing?
Am I to believe the romance between Shannon and Sayid?
Was Ernst explosion necessary?
What's down that hatch tube?
Why's that ladder broken?
How are they going to get down?
Are the flight survivors really at risk now that the others aren't actually coming after them?
Where is that speed boat going?
Is Locke a religious freak or just spiritually super connected?
What is the deal with Hurley's numbers?

So, I also think it would be fit to make some predictions.
1) Jack and Kate hook up.
2) Sawyer and Kate hook up.
3) Sayid and Shannon give it a shot, realize they're both only shadows of legitimate characters, and Sawyer and Shannon hook up.
4) Locke becomes invaluable in exploring some new aspect of the island.
5) The flight survivors find supplies curiously well-stocked in the hatch.
6) The flight survivors find showers, AC, and a barber shop in the hatch.
7) The island is a space-time warp.
8) Langoliers show up.*
9) Walt is meant to be one of the others.
10) Vincent will have some sort of significance. Why else would a dog be on the island?

Ten solid predictions. I thought the season ended well, and, fortunately for "Lost" and all associated therein, the "bonus" episodes, courtesy of Netflix's format (Part I.b), propelled the show up a full star notch.

"Lost" Season One: Three.5 out of Five stars.

*I may have revealed a new low in my geekdom.