Lost

For those of us who are happily spoiler free, the fourth season of Lost, which begins Thursday at 9pm on ABC, still remains shrouded in mystery.  The one thing we do know about the upcoming season is that five new cast members are joining the series, playing characters that will likely shake up the world of our favorite castaways.  Now that the premiere is a mere three days away, it's time to take a look at these newcomers, go over what we know about them, and speculate what role their characters may play in what is sure to be the most exciting season of Lost to date.

First off, I'm just assuming, possibly incorrectly, that all but one of these new characters will be arriving on the boat that is coming to the island.  Whether these new characters have malicious intentions is hard to say, but we can always make certain assumptions based on the people cast in these roles.  Let's take a look at them:

Rebecca Mader as Charlotte Lewis

This British actress is perhaps best known for her short lived role on the FOX series Justice, where she starred alongside Victor Garber.  All we really know about her character at this point is that she's sexy, intelligent, in her twenties, and will show up in the second episode of the season, entitled "Confirmed Dead."  She'll likely be one of the strangers coming to the island, and assuming she's not completely evil, my guess is that she'll end up as the love interest of one of the castaways.  Sayid (Naveen Andrews) seems like he could use a little loving, and who better to provide it than a hot academic?

Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus

Veteran character actor Jeff Fahey has been in a variety of movies over the years, from The Lawnmower Man to Grindhouse.  When he was originally cast, series co-creator Damon Lindelof told Entertainment Weekly, “Fahey is one of those actors who feels like he fits into the Lost model:  He's enormously talented and will be vaguely recognizable to some people, but he'll be able to land on our island without most people going, 'Oh, I know who that guy is.'  And especially for the part we cast him for, he has exactly the right sensibilities.''

Exactly the right sensibilities?  That's a telling statement.  Fahey is known for playing rather intense, and sometimes downright evil, characters.  I have a feeling he may be a rather unfriendly addition to the Lost island.

Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday

Speaking of actors who often play creepy or evil, one look at the resume of Jeremy Davies shows that he's usually typecast as the weird guy.  After all, he did play Charles Manson in the remake of Helter Skelter, so bringing a certain intensity to his new role should be no problem.

Faraday is named after real life physicist Michael Faraday, who researched electromagnetism, which is a powerful force on the island.  It's possible that Davies will be playing a physicist instead of a psycho, which will be a nice change of pace for him.  He'll show up in the season premiere, entitled "The Beginning of the End."

Ken Leung as Miles

Ken Leung has appeared in films such as Rush Hour and Inside Man, as well as on television with memorable turns in Law & Order and The Sopranos.

In the one photo I've seen of Leung from the series, he was near a parachute and was pointing a gun at Jack (Matthew Fox).  This could be a sign that he's not from the freighter with the others, since I doubt he'd need to parachute in from a boat.  Damon Lindelof has said that the writers created the part of Miles specifically for the actor, so I fully expect to see a lot of him over the coming weeks.  He'll arrive in the second episode of the season.

Lance Reddick as Matthew Abbadon

Lance Reddick is best known for his role as Cedric Daniels on The Wire, and was also recently cast in the new J.J. Abrams pilot, Fringe.  It's believed that his character will be some sort of corporate recruiter, and my guess is that he won't be a particularly kind one.  The Hebrew word "Abbadon" means "destruction," so he'll likely be causing a lot of trouble for the castaways.  His character will arrive in the season premiere.

After examining all of the new characters and the people who are playing them, my guess is that two of them will be downright evil:  those played by Jeff Fahey and Lance Reddick.  The characters played by Rebecca Mader and Jeremy Davies will probably be brilliant, helpful, and hopefully rather nice.  As for Ken Leung's Miles, my guess is that he's there to help, even if he does pull a gun on Jack at some point.  You can't trust everything you see in a picture.

We'll know more about all of these people within the next couple of weeks.  "The Beginning of the End" will air this Thursday at 9pm on ABC, and will be preceded at 8pm by a recap special entitled "Lost: Past, Present & Future."  After months of anticipation, the wait is almost over.

- Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of FOX)