We know that Jack and Hurley or two of the Oceanic 6. We don’t know about Kate. The Oceanic 6 seem to be a publicity name given by the press for those whom they believe to be the only 6 survivors of the crashed plane. Possibly some others have gotten back to civilization in other ways, including, possibly Kate, if she isn’t one of the six.

There is no reason to think that the general public or press in general know anything at all about the island. There may be a cover story ... say that the six of them forced their way out of the wreckage in that undersea trench, and were found on a raft made of some floatable airplane wreckage. The cop questioning Hurley didn’t know anything about Ana-Lucia or the island. Since Ana-Lucia was his former partner, he would have been following the revealed story.

The three Losties we’ve seen back may be concealing the truth in part from fear of reprisals by others who have insisted they stay mum, in part because they know they wouldn’t be believed.

The folks on the freighter are quite likely those behind the earlier Dharma Initiative. After all, when Ben sided with the Hostiles and organized the purge of all those who didn’t side with him, and possibly arranged to hide the island more securely than it had been hidden, those behind the Dharma Inititative would be expected to try to find the island again. Hanso Corporation?

Was the drop of Dharma food near the Hatch done by Ben’s Others or by the people behind Dharma?

Penny Whitmore apparently represents another group. Perhaps those resposible for Dharma have split. That an incoming message from her was received by the Looking Glass is signtificant of something.

Possibly Jack, Hurley, and perhaps Kate, did something to hide the island again, restored some kind of shield, which necessitated them being outside of the range of the shield themselves.

The man in the coffin may not be one of the Losties. Remember, there will be new regulars this season. It might be one of them and perhaps not a particularly nice person. Kate seems to have cared little for him.

Is Jack’s father alive again and a drunkard again? We’ve seen suggestions that the island, and those connected with it, can use powers to influence “fate”. Did Jack gain his father back, Kate undo her murder of her step-father, Hurley perhaps undo winning the lottery and being cursed, and similarly so with three others. That’s power that organizations would kill to have, and it’s no wonder that others on the outside are so ready to exploit the island.

That those behind Dharma would be quite happy to kill Bena and his Others seems reasonable, considering what Ben did to most of the Dharma folk. But why would they kill the Losties, as Ben claims? Is Ben lying to attempt to get Jack on his side?

I thank this will be tha best season yet and its going to be jack,kate,sawyer,kate,juliet and hurley going bak but thats me!!!! And the rest i think will probabaly die! Its sad to say but ya!

How does everyone know who the Oceanic 6 are? When did it say?

I think you folks are maybe making this more complicated than it has to be. Based on what we've seen so far, here's my guess:

The people on the freighter are from the Hanso Group. They will agree to remove some of the survivors (6?) in exchange for "the lie" that the rest of the survivors are dead. Most of the survivors will choose to stay and fight to protect the island, forming a new group of Hostiles. After leaving the island Jack will be tormented, in part because he believes Hanso probably will kill the people he left behind (of course we know that the island seems to give supernatural assistance to those who protect it, such as the Hostiles and the Others). Eventually, maybe around the beginning of season 5, Jack and the others who left will return to the island somehow, finally bringing the timeline of the show in line with the real date. The point of season 5 and 6, in my opinion, will be the fight against Hanso and finally getting explanations about the mysteries of the show (Jacob, Adam and Eve, the smoke monster, the giant foot, etc.)

Don't think I'm really off for saying this, but I don't think anybody gets off the Island. I think that Jack is taken to a place where he sees how his life will be when he gets out, and maybe we'll see the other characters getting flashes of what will be out there for them as well. Remember in the last episode when Ben told Jack, what does he so desperately wants to go back home to?. Maybe the people in the boat are the ones from Dharma doing experiments, in all these lost souls. I do see Jack's father in a chair, how does Mikail keeps being killed and bouncing back alived and well, and in the trailer where Sawyer tells Kate about "Surviving", is that a Plane in the background?, how about Locke's father, remember him saying "this must be hell", the Island must be a place to make your final peace before haven or hell. We'll probably need more than 3 more seasons to answer all this questions.

What if all of these flash forwards are just Desmond visions?