>a lot of the plot is about that briefcase, so it does matter.>I'd say it "matters" more because of a need to resolve that nagging mystery, but not necessarily to the degree that the story suffers as a result. It could be along the lines of the MIB "galaxy", in that seems incredibly important, yet winds up something subjectively trivial.We thought it was some serious shit, but it turned out to be a goddamned marble to some alien.Kate from Lost robbed a bank for a toy airplane that held sentimental value, but was otherwise worthless to pretty much anyone else.So the contents of that briefcase, for all we know, could be pretty much anything.Certain things would be less interesting than others, to be sure, but overall it's moot because what happened, happened.