Tonight! Someone will die! Today! We predict that someone!

We've asked a lot of questions about "Lost" in Channel Surfing's short history (according to blog tags, we've written about "Lost" 55 times ... huzzah!)

Some have been adequately answered. Most have spun into new questions that will likely carry into the show's sixth and -- hopefully glorious, time-tempered -- final season (we're Bee-Gee'd out and ready to move beyond 1977). Yet there's a pressing question that uncomfortably hangs in the air. And quite honestly, it feels like it should be one of the most important in "Lost's" mystical, smoke-filled annals.

Thanks to cryptic spoilers, there's been a dark cloud looming all season long. Someone major is supposed to die tonight, and no, not even insiders like Doc Jensen or Michael Ausiello know who's about to get tapped on the shoulder by Mr. Black Hood and Sickle.

Thanks to Ma Hawking's itchy trigger finger, Daniel Faraday has seen better days (anyone else think it's weird that Doc Shephard hasn't even tried to save his life?), though we can't imagine ol' Twitchy won't resurface in some form going forward. Yet as a character who was only introduced in Season 4, we're not sure Faraday constitutes the MAJOR (see the bold letters!) death "Lost" has been promising. We also know that Locke is on a mission to take out the Almighty Jacob tonight, but again, that's seems to be a bit of a red herring ... especially if my wacky theory about Locke being a trapped Jacob is really true.

So while yes, dead doesn't always mean dead on "Lost," both Matthew Fox and Michael Emerson have stated in separate interviews that tonight's cliffhanger is a huge one. I'm taking that to mean I'll be blown away by a crucial death sequence (sorry Phil, you don't count. Not even you, Miles, make Channel Surfing's list of truly important cast members).

Nope. This one better be earned. I better be so distraught, upset, angry or emotionally spent that come tomorrow morning, I won't want to get out of bed and slog to work (OK, more than usual.)

Which is why I'm moving ahead with this question as though a Charlie Pace-like death -- and not a phony Locke as Jeremy Bentham death -- is imminent.

But enough blather. Here are my best guesses. Your prognostication is welcome, as well.

1. Juliet Burke: Maybe I'm biased and don't find the Kate-Juliet-Sawyer love triangle all that tantalizing (well, in some ways I do), but it seems that Juliet's sole purpose on the show has transformed into what my wife and I have dubbed "the cold stare." In any given moment -- serious, funny, insanely dangerous -- you can count on the camera to capture Juliet's all-too assuring dead-eye gaze and pouty lip quiver from afar. TRY AS YOU MIGHT, YOU CANNOT SHAKE HER WILL!

But that's not why she's a good candidate to bite it. Inevitably, there's too much built up with Kate and Sawyer to allow Juliet and LaFleur to play kissy-face in Season 6. Sawyer needs to get some edge and righteous anger back -- his good riddance to the island fits his redemptive arc, but came off as weak sauce -- since his role as head of 1977 Dharma security fizzled worse than Mike Brown's stint with FEMA ("Heckuva job, Jimmy"). I think the "Lost" audience cares enough about Juliet at this point to be saddened by her death (or at least the creators have tried to make us feel that way in order to score an emotional payoff from a Sawyer-Juliet farewell), but most important, I'm not sure she serves a greater purpose anymore. I mean, every time someone asked her about "The Others," she'd reply with a "they didn't tell me that" shrug of the shoulders. Well, what good are you then! Plus, Josh Holloway totally has an Emmy-worthy goodbye scene in him. Then it's time to make way for some Season 6 resentment/mixed emotion garbage toward old flame Kate. Yep, Juliet's a goner.

2. Benjamin freakin' Linus: Only because the conspiracy theorist in me is intrigued by all the press Michael Emerson has been doing as a lead-up to the finale. Let's be honest: there'd be no bigger bang for this hyped-up finale than to kill Ben. Bug-Eyes has become a wholly separate "Lost" entity and simultaneously beloved/despised uber-villain, so while I'm fairly certain they'll need him around for the inevitable Charles Widmore showdown, it's fun to speculate since he's THE GUY to knock off for the best next-day water cooler buzz -- especially if he does something selfless in death.

Though Ben seems to be wandering somewhat aimlessly since Locke assumed post-death power, the dude has to be silently plotting his next move. I also thought it strange that Baldy informed Ben of his plans to kill Jacob. What purpose did that serve other than to tip Ben off (or lord it over him)? Anyway, it probably won't be Mr. Linus, but if it is ... it's going to be a loooooong layoff until Season 6.

3. Sayid Jarrah: The one-man Iraqi wrecking crew used to be one of my favorite characters. Now he's kind of an afterthought, so much so that when he popped out of the jungle last week, it was like seeing Boone or something. "Oh, that guy! Yeah, what's HE been up to?" Thanks to his charitable Habitat for Humanity background, Sayid seems like the sacrificial lamb type, especially now that he's part of the team tinkering WITH A HYDROGEN BOMB. He's also a fugitive having tried to kill Young Ben, so the target from Dharma is squarely on his back -- and you know psycho Radzinsky would love to pop off a few rounds. Then again, there hasn't been much build-up for his death -- the guy's been AWOL in the jungle, after all -- so perhaps he's still an important piece of the puzzle. I'd be sad if he perished, but it's something I'd also understand.

The two-hour finale of "Lost" airs tonight at 8 p.m. A one-hour recap precedes it.

-- Thomas Rozwadowski, trozwado@greenbaypressgazette.com