Thanks to everyone for leaving comments.  Read my initial thoughts and the comments below this post.  You have left some really, really great stuff!

I don’t know how they did it but after this week I really like Jack again.  I’m glad that he’s finally asking the questions on the island and I really like the vulnerable new time line Jack too.

1.  This is a seriously bad photoshop project by someone.  I thought at first it was supposed to be a painting.  But the point of posting it is to show the B&W reference.  Interesting that his dad is in white.
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2.  TWO pictures of his ad on his table.  They really must have a much better relationship than before.  I like that this one is in a red frame.
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3.  “New” appendix scar or shameless, shirtless Jack photo opportunity?  But really, this guy is a surgeon, he’d remember a surgery done on him.  I don’t think there is any doubt here the writers wanted us to note and discuss this (and not the shirtless Jack shot).
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4.  I missed this the first time – but there is also a bunch of B&W art in Jack’s apartment.  In fact, his whole apartment is pretty black and white!
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5.   Symbolism!
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6.  Is it just me or is this a really weird pass time?  Two grown men who can both speak to the dead just passing time together with a no-holds-barred game of tic-tac-toe.
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7.  There could be many reasons that Jacob is here looking at the water.  Maybe he’s thinking that he knew Sayid would be infected but he had to choice.  Maybe he’s contemplating why the water is dark.  Maybe he’s looking at the reflection and sees more than just water (like he can watch people in any reflection and not just the mirror at the lighthouse).  Maybe it’s just a good place to talk to Hurley in private.  In this picture he looks like he’s dropping something into the water.
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8.  I’m curious where this kid came from?  Women on the island can’t carry full term and it’s not one of the children from flight 815.
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9.  Claire tells Jin that she’s been out in the jungle since they all left.  Why didn’t she “travel” along with them through time?  My thought is that Claire actually died back when her house blew up in Dharmaville.  They had to take her back to the temple to bring her back and that is when she was “infected.”  She did say that they took her there and did similar tests as they did to Sayid.  It also explains how Claire was hanging out with Christian in the shack.  Also, when Claire is talking about what The Others did to her back at the Temple he tells her that she’s not remembering things correctly.

10.  Another list from Jacob.  I love the Hurley took notes on his arm.  I write notes on my hand all the time so I get this.  You can’t accidentally leave your notes somewhere.
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11.    Claire sure is a messy girl in her new camp.  I didn’t notice before all the surgical instruments there.  The boat oar that Jin grabs makes me wonder if she was the one who was shooting at our time traveling Losties (remember that scene from last season?  someone crazy was in that other boat).
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12.  That is one freaky, creepy fake baby.  I really hope she’s not picking that thing up and rocking it like a real baby.  I’d take Tom Hank’s Wilson over this thing!
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13.  Claire’s line was ironic, “if there’s one thing around here that’ll kill ya that’s infection.”

14.  Ironic line from Kate to Jack, “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

15.  MacCutcheon Whiskey shows up again.  I think this has just become a little easter egg, but still fun to find!
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16.  Am I missing something?  Jacks’ mom tells Jack that David was really upset at the funeral, which Jack doesn’t recall.  But, what funeral?  The body is lost and they haven’t had his dad’s funeral yet.  Which funeral are they referring to?  Maybe Jack’s grandpa?

17.  More surgical instruments.  Does she really need all this stuff?
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18.  So Locke and Christian – to Claire- are separate people.  I just watched the scene back and Jin asks Claire how she knows that Aaron is at the temple.  She says that first her father told her (Christian) then her friend told her (Not-Locke).  What an interesting twist!  So Not-Locke and Christian ARE two separate entities or he comes to Claire in different forms.  Thoughts?

19.  Adam and Eve are back.  I see the scene in the cave as the writer’s way of telling us they haven’t forgotten about some of the older mysteries on the show.  And Hurley is speaking for the audience when he questions if they could be them if they were still time traveling.  My money is still on Rose and Bernard to be Adam and Eve.
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20.  It’s pretty odd that Jack’s dad’s address is 233 (see the label on the Will) and David’s mom lives at 233. AND Jack’s number on the island is 23.
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21.  Another Jack reflection.  Jack the single guy and Jack the dad.
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22.  Jack tells Hurley he came back to the island because he was broken.  We know Jack is a fixer but broken things seem to be a common theme with him.  They show the broken coffin and he breaks the mirrors.  His marriage was still broken.  The only thing he managed to fix this week was his relationship with his son (which is probably not a small feat).
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23.  Jack’s number!

24.  If anyone out there has read the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, were you thinking that this reminded you of the tower and that you just needed the Crimson King to be trapped there to make the image complete?
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25.  I think that the lighthouse appears much like Jacob’s cabin.  Hurley refers to the fact that maybe they never saw it before because they weren’t looking for it.  What else might they find that they are looking for?

26.  Welcome all candidates!
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27.  Thanks to SKID, I did miss this HUGE black and white image.  And the idea that they have to work together, brilliant!
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28.  Wouldn’t it be a great cross over if Faraday turns out to be David’s piano teacher?

29.  Remember when we used to see the run ins between the Losties back home and it was just a fun coincidence?  Now we have to wonder if there is more to it.  The conversation with Dogan and Jack was a very odd one indeed.  Dogan tells Jack that their children are too young for that kind of pressure, that one wishes that that could help and that he has a gift.  Hm, maybe David’s gift is more then just the piano.  Maybe he’s a candidate in more than one way.  I’m sure his last name is Shephard too.
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30.  The noise that the wheel makes at the Lighthouse is the same noise smokey makes.  Coincidence?

31.  If the names correspond to the wheel, then are there only 360 possibilities?
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32.  Here are a bunch of caps of the names.  108 is Wallace.  I’m still not convinced it’s not someone we know and this name is meant to throw us off (like someone’s maiden name, etc…)

33.  Images in the mirror.  I saw the place Sun & Jin were married, the church where Sawyer met Jacob and Jack’s house.  Remember how Smokey used to see images when he came across people?

34. Jacob tells Hurley that whoever is coming to the island, “I’m sure they’ll find some other way.”  I’m still a believer that it’s Desmond, but I read a really interesting theory – that the they is the alt timeline people.  That Jacob was still watching them.

35.  “Sometimes you can just hop in the back of someone’s cab and tell them what they’re supposed to do.  Other times you have to let them look at the ocean for awhile.”  I don’t think that this was only meant in reference to Jack.  I think the writers meant this for us, too.  We can’t just be given the answers, sometimes we have to find them ourselves.  But, I also think this pertains to Jack in the new time line.  He had to find his way to being a good dad all on his own.
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36.  I waited until last to post pictures of the names as there are a lot.  Thanks to Lost-In_mx for this link to the complete list of names.

More numbers.  Good shots of the numbers.  But who is 108???  I’m voting Desmond.  He’s special.

1.  First shot.  Jack’s dad in a white suit, Jack and his mom in black.

2.  Second picture, Jack smiling with his arm around his dad.  Maybe Locke isn’t the only one in this new timeline that has resolved his “daddy issues.”  Not only do they look happy, but to have a picture of his dad out?  Most of us only keep pictures out of the people that we really care about, not some drunken relative that ruined our life.

3.  Jack looking in the mirror.  Seems to be a theme going here.  Alive on the “other side” and you look at yourself in the mirror (Locke didn’t).

4.  Jack suddenly discovers the appendix scar.  This Jack had it taken out at 7 or 8, Original Jack had his taken out three years ago.  He just now discovers the scar?  I’m thinking that things on the island are somehow crossing over like Faraday talking to Desmond  back in time then Desmond “remembering” it.

5.  I love that Jack has a kid and I love that he’s a “good” kid.  He gets his redemption with his son also.  Uh oh, we know what happens to characters that find redemption (at least on the island).

6.  Lots of reflections in this episode.  Next scene is Jack looking at himself in the water.  Jack seems to have some sort of “feeling” or intuition that there is more then just his one timeline.

7.  They must be going to do more with Miles then have him play tick-tac-toe.  He talks to dead people too.  Maybe one for each side?

8.  Hurley has become Jacob’s new Ben.  I remember Ben telling Locke that he wouldn’t be able to see Jacob and was shocked when he did hear him (help me).  Now Hurley is in the same position when Jack asks to see him.  And Ben told Locke that it didn’t work like that when Locke insisted he take him to talk to Jacob.

9.  The book David was reading “Annotated Alice’… Jack starts to talk about “Kitty and Snowdrop” who were the black and white kittens and according to Wikipedia, “At the end of the book they are associated with the Red Queen and the White Queen respectively in the looking glass world.”  Ah, so many crossover themes!

10.  Could anyone hear what David was listening to?  Jeronimo Jackson or Driveshaft?

11.  Jin hurt his “left” leg.  Locke was always hurting his left leg.  When Michael hurt his leg it was the left leg.  Claire points to her left leg when she says she was shot.  Probably doesn’t mean anything but at least they are consistent.

12.  Claire knows that they left the island?  If she saw the whole thing then wouldn’t she be shocked to see them back?

13.  OK so Hurley, dude,  THE best lines this week!  Indiana Jones stuff, Obi Wan Kanobi, lying to a samari… ROTFL!

14.  Dogan knows that the candidates are but Richard doesn’t?

15.  Do we know why the line “you have what it takes” means so much to Jack?  I’m thinking that he had conversation with his dad but not the specifics.  Jack talks to David near the end and says that his dad always told him that he “didn’t have what it takes” but can there be more to this then just the obvious?

16.  The doll that Claire has in the bassinet solidifies the fact that he is coo-coo for coco puffs.  That was so creepy!

17.  Oh yeah, and the fact that she just kills the temple guy without blinking an eye.

18.  And yes, I noticed how much she and Danielle were alike. But I think Claire has a huge lead on the crazy train over Danielle.

19.  I love the new crazy jungle claire too.  Without the perfect hair and make up she looks pretty cool!

20.  Claire’s buddy is Christian, I think she sees Christian.  Jin saw Locke.  He takes all sorts of forms.  Who will Jack see???

21.  It’s nice to see that Jack has stopped drinking back in the new time line.

22.  Did you catch the “McKutcheon” whiskey at Jack’s mom’s house?  I’ll get a screen shot.  It’s Desmond and Widmore’s whiskey if you recall.

23.  And Jack’s dad must not be too much better if he still has an illegitimate child (Claire) in the new time line.

24.  Should be very interesting when Kate does reveal she’s been raising Aaron.  Kate can really kick some butt and our new Claire is pretty intense.  Going to be quite the showdown.

25.  Shannon’s inhaler was finally found!  They thought that Sawyer stole it and if memory serves he got quite a beating over that thing.

26.  Did Hurley just tell us who is in the cave?  Is it Rose and Bernard perhaps?

27.  Was I the only one who loves seeing the caves again?  Very nostalgic.

28.  I think it was Jacob that led Jack to the cave.  Jacob tells Hurley that Jack has to find the answers in his own way and finding the coffin was probably one of the ways to lead him there.

29.  I assume that Sara is David’s mother but I guess it doesn’t have to be her.  I notice that they didn’t show the “mother” in any pictures, she was “out of town” when Jack went to the house and they never say her name.

30.  House key hidden in the rabbit.  Another reoccuring theme – rabbits.  But this bunny didn’t have any numbers on it.

31.  I guess by Jack hearing his message on the answering machine for David (before he left Australia) answers the question of whether this time line started on the plane.

32.  Jack came back to the island because he was broken.  Jack always has to fix things!  His faith brought him back because he thought the island could fix him.  And it will.

33.  Jack questions why they hadn’t seen the lighthouse before.  Maybe it’s like the cabin that appears and disappears.

34.  Remember how much Faraday wanted to play the piano but his mother wouldn’t let him because he had more important things to do?  I just can’t help but think there is some connection between David and Daniel.

35.  Dogan at the tryouts.  Coincidence?

36.  Gotta get screen shots again of those numbers.  Now this looks much more like Jacob’s work (very detailed and orderly).  I think Desmond is at 108 degrees.

37.  How cool were the reflections in the mirrors?  Will have to screen cap but I thought I also saw buildings from sun and Jin’s meeting with Jacob.  Why Jack’s childhood house for him to see?

38.  Someone bad is going to the temple?  Could that someone be Claire?

Didn’t Jill tell Jack last season that Locke was a proxy, a “substitute?”  I assumed at the time that she meant that the body was a substitute for Christian’s body, but now I’m rethinking the intentions of the Others back on land.  There have also been other substitutes.  We saw Locke in a flashback speaking to a “substitute” Helen (remember the phone girl?).  Locke used Sawyer as a substitute when he had him kill his real dad for him.  Kate is the substitute mom for Aaron.  Ben used Juliet to manipulate Jack as she was a substitute for Sara.  Frank had a substitute pilot on flight 815.  Others?

1.  This scene of Locke laying the sprinklers smiling reminds me of season one where it starts to rain and while everyone else is running for cover Locke just sits there and smiles.
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2.  Locke may have to choose between two color swatches but they still gave him a black and white cup to drink from.  Have to keep that theme going!  I also like that the cup is both black and white.  Symbolic.
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3.  Is it just me or is it incredibly creepy that Not-Locke is keeping  Richard wrapped up like a spider would keep it’s prey until it was ready to eat it?  And Not-Locke cuts him loose just to let him run away?  So creepy assuming Not-Locke is going to hunt him down again.
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4.  What is even creepier is that this looks like my workplace… and I’m pretty sure Randy works there.
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5.  Locke hasn’t completely changed in the new timeline.  Randy calls Locke “Colonel” which is the same mockery he gave him back in season one over Locke’s pretend “war games” he was playing.

6.  This new time line Locke has really become a lost soul in the sense that he’s lost his manhood.  I would assume that whenever he became paralyzed he lost that part of himself.  I would even venture a guess that Locke’s dad is again associated with however he loses his ability to walk even if we see they are still on speaking terms.  Like Sawyer said in season one, “a tiger doesn’t change it’s stripes.”

7.  Interesting picture of Locke and his dad at his desk.  Looks old from how Locke looks in the picture.
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8.  Would Jacob not have told Richard about the “candidates” because Richard would have been jealous and not have helped find them?  Or does Jacob have another use for the candidates beyond what Not-Locke has told us?  Why would Richard have followed Jacob and helped him for all those years and presumably never asked why he was doing all of it?  Again with more questions and only 14 episodes left.  I’m hoping that the Richard questions will be somewhat answered in his upcoming episode.

9.  I still think that this looks like part of the bomb sitting by Sawyer’s sink.
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10.  “I don’t give a damn if you’re dead… or time traveling or the ghost of Christmas past.  All I care about is this whiskey, so bottoms up.”  I hate seeing him in misery but he’s so damn good when he is!
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11.  Check out the polar bear in Locke’s stuff from his desk.  I really don’t think it means anything, it’s like the PTB insert little hidden items for us to find.
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12.  I love that Hurley is all cleaned up and happy.  Next we’ll see that he’s married to Libby!  Wouldn’t that be crazy?!
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13.  Interesting that Sawyer can see the little boy  but Richard couldn’t.  I don’t recall that anyone besides Jack could see his dead father running around the island.

14.  My guess is that we haven’t seen this little boy before.  But, we have several choices regarding who he tells Locke he can’t kill.  It’s not Jacob.  It must be either Sawyer or Richard that he’s referring to. I am thinking that the kid is some sort of “middle man” between Jacob and Not-Locke, someone who would be at the very top of the pyramid, if you will.

15.  Not-Locke yells to the boy “Don’t tell me what I cannot do!”  We all know this is a classic Locke line.  Is there some of our Locke’s psyche still lingering inside of his body?

16.  The weird temp agency lady was also the card reader that Hurley went to see back in season three (Tricia Tanaka Is Dead).  Guess she found a new career path in this time line.

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17.  I swear that Locke’s corpse looks like it’s smiling.  We assumed before that Smokey could inhabit bodies that weren’t buried.  It’s very unusual then that he can stay in Locke’s form then.  Ilana says he’s now “stuck” this way.  Guess our willing suspension of disbelief is going to come in handy here.
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18.  Locke’s alarm clock sounded just like the buzzer that was in the hatch right before “lock down.”

19.  Some people have pointed out that out of the three new time line stories we’ve seen, Locke is the first one who hasn’t looked at himself in the mirror (Jack and Kate did) thus perhaps signifying he’s the only one who doesn’t have a living counterpart in the original time line?
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20.  Red flowers.
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21.  It sounds like Locke has seen doctor’s before trying to regain his ability to walk.  He asks Helen if she needs him to see “more” doctors and have “more” consults.

22.  Now that the one ladder broke, how on earth are they getting back up the ledge?

23.  The white and black rocks.  We’ve seen this symbolism before with Locke (backgammon and when Claire sees him in her dream).  I think that Not-Locke is being a little too enthusiastic about throwing that white rock out.  He has to know that Jacob isn’t really dead.
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24.  Man of faith now teaching science – the human reproductive system.  Cute touch.  And, knowing that women on the island have problems carrying babies full term, even more meaningful.

25.  Sawyer has started another long con with Not-Locke.  He will not leave behind his friends.

26.  I’m not convinced that this is Jacob’s list.  Why scrawl these names across a cave ceiling?  And the symbolism of Not-Locke crossing out Locke’s name didn’t escape me either.  And the numbers do mean something and I don’t believe that the island doesn’t need protected.

27.  Here are a bunch of screen caps of the names.  Here is also a list I found out on the internet of the names that could be read.
4 – Locke (John)
8 – Reyes (Hurley)
10 – Mattingley – Other
15 – Ford (James)
16 – Jarrah (Sayid)
23 – Shephard (Jack)
31 – Rutherford (Shannon)
42 – Kwon (Jin or Sun)
56 – Burke – (Juliet)
64 – Goodspeed (Ethan Horace Olivia or Amy)
70 – Faraday (Daniel)
73 – Costa – ?
90 – Troupe – ?
115 – Bargas – ?
117 – Linus (Ben, Roger)
119 – Almeida – ?
142 – Lewis (Charlotte)
171 – Straume (Miles)
195 – Pace (Charlie)
222 – O’Toole – U.S. Military
233 – Jones – U.S. Military
291 – Domingo – U.S. Military
313 – Littleton (Claire or Aaron)
317 – Cunningham – U.S. Military
337 – Martin (Karl) – Other
346 – Grant – U.S. Military
Partial
20 – Rous (Possibly Rousseau)
25 – ___
30 – ___
33 – ___
49 – Cha (Possibly Chang)
62 – ___
251 – ___
260 – ___
272 – ___
285 – Jen (Possibly Jenkins)
__ – Reynolds
__ – Sullivan
__ – Lacombe

NUMBERS!

I never would have guessed that the numbers correspond to each of those on Jacob’s list.  I didn’t even expect an answer to the number question.  But I for one am more then satisfied with this answer.  And to all the naysayers that thought they made this show up as they went along, this is proof positive that the answers were there from the start.  Too many connections to the numbers not to have been a plan.  Darlton rules!

1.  What I want to know is how Locke became paralyzed in the new time line.  If his dad didn’t push him then what happened?  Was he “meant” to be paralyzed?  Is this is cross to bear in life?

2.  Ironically the sprinklers come on.  The water seems to be associated with trouble in this show.

3. Helen says that she wants to take her parents and his dad to their wedding.  Locke’s dad?  Can’t wait to see that dynamic.  His dad is the original Sawyer.  I can’t believe that his dad is not a con man in any time line.

4.  I also LOVED that we got to see from Smokey’s point of view.  I thought that was a terrific camera shot.  But, I want to know what is up with all of the noises Smokey makes.  The cricket sound, the growling and the mechanical ticking.  Plus remember when Smokey looked like he was taking pictures of Juliet and Kate?

5.  Not-Locke says that people seldom get a second chance.  Is that what this is about?  The island has given them a second chance?  We can see that their lives back home were pretty crappy in the non-crash time line.  Redemption?

6.  Randy is back.  Wow, that guy is a huge douche (like Hurley said).

7.  Hey, maybe we’ll find out where the nickname “Hurley” came from.  Or why Libby was obsessed with him.

8.  I’m glad we’re getting a Richard episode.  I want to know what Jacob did use Richard for.

9.  I’m also curious to see who the little boy that Not-Locke is chasing.  I don’t think we have enough back story yet to know who it is.  My guess is that it’s someone from long ago.  Obviously quite important to Not-Locke since he’s chasing him around like the White Rabbit.

10.  How very interesting that Sawyer could see the little boy but Richard couldn’t.

11.  Ilana has more connection to Jacob then we know yet.  She wasn’t crying over her team mates.  And collecting the ash will surely come in handy later.  She also knows a whole lot about this island.  I’m sure she’s spent some time here before.

12.  OK, I really think that Sawyer had part of the bomb at his kitchen sink.  I’ll screen cap it later.

13.  Saywer had “the best” lines this episode.  I hate what they did to his character (killing Juliet) but I love that they have brought back the slick con man from Season One.  We know there is a good guy down in there now so it’s hard not to like him.  Also, I will gamble and say that there is no way Sawyer will leave this island without at least Kate.  We know there is a good part of Sawyer down there.  No way he’ll leave.  Remember that Sawyer is a professional con man.  He could very well be playing a con on Not-Locke right now.

14.  So remember that Hurley owned a box factory in our original time line that blew up.  He made a lot of money off of it.  Guess Locke may have dodged a bullet getting fired from there.

15.  Hm, and Hurley introduces himself in the new time line as “Hugo Reyes.”  Maybe he is the only one whose life really was better without the crash.  But…. without the crash this new time line would not have happened.

16.  The little boy tells Not-Locke that according to the rules he can’t kill Jacob.  Not-Locke supposedly found a loop hole.  But did he?  Or, is the boy telling Not-Locke that he can’t kill Saywer?  He only says “you can’t kill HIM.”  So the little boy may very well be Jacob.

17.  Ben had said before that Widmore wanted to kill everyone on the island.  That if the freighter got there that they would kill everyone on the island.  Now Richard tells Sawyer that Not-Locke is going to kill everyone.  Coincidence?

18.  It’s pretty cool that Rose is working for Hurley.  She’s still the calm voice of reason.  And she still has her cancer.  Guess she’s about the same in both time lines.

19.  There is the possibility that Not-Locke is trapped much like Juliet felt trapped on the island.

20.  Ilana says that Not-Locke cannot change his face again, “he’s stuck this way.”  Guess burying Locke’s body was a good idea since he won’t be coming back then.

21.  This burial reminded me of the ones in the past.  No one had anything to say.  I was very shocked that Ben admitted to murdering him.  Right now Ben has to be so lost.  He’s not the leader, he doesn’t have Jacob to follow and his “family” is dead.

22.  The irony of the title of this episode.  Locke is the substitute in two ways.  Not-Locke and the substitute teacher.  Looks like this teaching job Rose found him will prove to be very meaningful in his new time line life.  And meeting Ben!  Wow, Ben was grouchy too!  Maybe because he’s teaching European history.

23.  Locke’s life has to be somewhat different back home.  He’s still engaged to Helen and she didn’t leave him.  He must have done some things right.  but, was interested that he lied to Jack about going on the walkabout. But he’s not as much of a man of faith, more like a good faker.

24.  Did you notice that Helen’s shirt said “Peace and Karma?”

25.  Now that Locke and Sawyer are down the ladders how on earth are they getting back up?  Not-Locke had to save Sawyer for now.  He must need him alive…. for now.  Maybe has something to do with his name on that cave wall?

26.  Three choices – do nothing, stay and “protect” the island, or leave.

27.  What answers is Sawyer looking for?  Does he even know?

28.  4- Locke, 8- Reyes , 15-Ford , 16-Jarrah, 23- Shephard, 42-Kwon (he didn’t know if it was Sun or Jin).

29.  Where was Kate on the list?  What do the numbers signify?  Why are the candidates to the be the leader?  What makes them qualified?  And what about Vincent?

30.  In the preview for next week I heard Ben’s voice stating that “someone is coming.”  I’m thinking that Desmond is coming.  He’s coming back.  He’s special, as Daniel pointed out.

32.  I’m expecting Walt to show up at the school where Locke is teaching.

I’m always exctied about Lost but this is a not-miss episode.  6 X 09: Ab Aeterno is the one.  Check out this interview with TV Guide and Nestor Carbonell.

Lost’s Nestor Carbonell on Season 6’s Power Struggle
By NATALIE ABRAMS
TV GUIDE

Over the decades on Lost, there has been a constant battle for control of the island. Whether it’s been the Dharma Initiative or the Hostiles, one constant has remained: Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell). With a Richard-centric episode on the horizon, TVGuide.com spoke to Carbonell about all the things we we will find out about his character: where he came from, why he doesn’t age and whether he might finally take control of the island.

TVGuide.com: Have executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse at least explained to you why Richard doesn’t age?
Carbonell: Yes. I knew at some point that they were going to answer some of the bigger questions, I just didn’t know when. We have gotten to that point where there is an episode that deals with the origins of Richard Alpert and the bigger questions about his character, as well as bigger questions about the island and the mythology of it. It’s an episode that reveals a lot. After three years playing this character, I was floored when I got the script and I was so excited to actually get to do the episode. They wrote a really tremendous script.

TVGuide.com: There’s a theory that Richard arrived on the Black Rock slave ship.
Carbonell: I can’t confirm or deny any theories, but I’ve had theories that have been completely off mark. Time will tell.

TVGuide.com: Is Richard one of the oldest people on the island next to Jacob (Mark Pellegrino) and the Man in Black?
Carbonell: It’s safe to say he’s been around for a long time. Initially, in Season 3, when he appeared in the ’70s to young Ben, he was described as a Hostile, an indigenous member of the island, so we will find out if that’s true or not or what that means exactly. If he was a Hostile, what is a Hostile? Who is this man? We’re going to find out all that. He’s clearly, of the cast you see, the one who’s been around the longest. I don’t know with respect to Jacob, but I think we’re going to get a sense of all of that.

TVGuide.com: Is there a possibility that there are teams: Team Jacob vs. Team Man in Black? Would Richard lean one way or another?
Carbonell: There are some amazing twists this season. You’re going to see elements of characters that I never thought I’d play for my character and I think others didn’t expect to play them in their own characters. There are going to be emotional highs and lows for people that you’ve never seen. With respect to alliances, there’s going to be a lot of movement and fluctuations. There will be loyalty, but there’s going to be a lot of shifting and power struggle, which is always at play. Everyone’s mettle is tested in this final season. It’s the payoff season where all of those loose ends, or most of them, will be tied. A lot of those big conflicts will be resolved.

TVGuide.com: Richard doesn’t seem to want to be a leader. We’ve only seen him as the right-hand man. Has that always been true?
Carbonell: I was just talking to Damon and Carlton about that with Michael Emerson. You’re right. [Ben] is someone that I tapped to be a leader, who was chosen as the Panchen Lama taps the Dalai Lama. Alpert is acting as a Panchen Lama to Jacob. He became the powerful one, and Richard took a V.P. role, an advisory role when he’s around. It was the same thing with Widmore and Eloise. That’s traditionally been my role, but now, obviously, the order is going to be disrupted with what happens to Jacob. That’s one of the unsettling things for Richard Alpert. It’s been a long time finding his footing on this island. What is he? Is he a leader? Is he an advisor? He’s in conflict with the people who are tasked to be leaders, and at the same time with himself. Why doesn’t he have more power in that respect? It’s been a great thing to play as an actor because you’re insecure the whole time. You’re in command, but you’re not really in command. It’s been a thrill to play that shifting, of feeling like you’re in power to being completely powerless.

TVGuide.com: Has Richard ever had love in his life?
Carbonell: I talked about this with Damon and Carlton. I said before this season starts, “Guys, what is going on? Does this guy have a love interest? What is he, a eunuch? He’s never so much as looked at a woman on this show; what’s going on here?” We’ll see. The season is not over yet; there’s still hope.

TVGuide.com: What do you want to see in the end for Richard?
Carbonell: Redemption. At the heart of it, every character wants to be redeemed on some level. God knows my character has definitely committed some atrocities. If there’s redemption, I think he wants to get it. He wants to feel empowered and a sense of a real identity and to know his place on this island and in the world. I think most of all, Richard just wants answers.

What “did” Kate do?  I would say that there is something here just by the tense alone.  What Kate does. Well, Kate does get on my nerves.  But in relation to the grander scheme, in both time lines Kate is keeping Claire and Aaron together.  Aaron must be raised by Claire, or according to the psychic.

1.  Answer.  We know definitively who was walking through the jungle earlier (remember Jin and Eko watching the bare feet?).
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2.  Dogan – writing a letter to someone or journaling about the island?  Just seems odd to see him typing anything at all.

3.  Someone pointed out that Dogan keeps grabbing his necklace every time something dramatic happens.  Nervous habit, poison pill inside, ash, etc???

4.  Sawyer, “Course he’s fine.  He’s an Iraqi torturer who shoots kids he definitely deserves another go around.”  No, he’s not bitter (can’t say I blame him)

5.  Maybe nothing will come of this but I’d like to think that the look on Kate’s face at the airport when she looks back at Jack is dejavu.  I guess I’m hoping that some of the original time line is seeping into their consciousness.

6.  No, we have not seen the mechanic before now on Lost.  However, I started wondering why we had to see this scene.  We are in the home stretch of the show, do we really need to see how Kate gets the handcuffs off?  I don’t care how – I can assume she picked them or used some other way but why show us this scene?  Guess I’ll file it away in the memory Rolodex in case this guy shows back up to ask Kate to “return the favor.”  Ooo, maybe he’s a land Other.  Maybe he’s like Abadon and he’s just around to make sure they get where their supposed to go.

7.  The sound that used to happen between flashes now sounds like they are playing it backwards between scenes.

8.  Now I wonder if Danielle was also testing Sayid to see if he had “the sickness.”  Yes, I know she was trying to get information on Alex but I’m sure she was worried about him since her crew all had the sickness.  And how did he fail the test?  Because he didn’t die now they see he is immortal?  Maybe if he were good there would be a different reaction – no pain?

9.  Claire gets back in the cab with Kate because she is just as desperate as Kate is.  If Claire’s backstory is the same as the original, or close, she doesn’t want to keep the baby.  The father left, her mom is in a coma and her real father is a deadbeat.  Claire knows that the couple isn’t going to take the baby but perhaps has one last hope that they will and therefore agrees to go to their home.

10.  Best line!  “No, I am not a zombie.”  Darlton had to be laughing so hard when they wrote that line.  There is backstory here people with the zombie joke.

11.  I’m still sticking with the notion that Ethan is not simply a doctor that happens to get Claire’s case.  Faraday, in 1977, went back and built his lab and wrote all his notes down.  Therefore all of his research is out there in this time line for Dharma and the DeGroots to use.  So just because they aren’t on the original island doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.  Expect to see more “Others” as the weeks go by.
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12.  Oh, and his last name is Goodspeed because his parents were Amy and Horace.  “Rom” was only used with the Losties when he was trying to pretend he was on the plane.

13.  Coincidence?  When Claire tells Ethan she’s not ready to have Aaron the baby’s heart stops beating and flatlines on the monitor.  If you recall, in Season One Claire had mentioned that she hadn’t felt the baby move since the crash.  Was Aaron infected with the “sickness?”  Could he be infected also back in this time line?

14.  So if we believe that Claire must raise Aaron (and I love, love, love the theory that he must be raised by her in order to take over Jacob’s spot) then Kate did have a very pivotal line.  She tells Sawyer on the dock that if she can get to Claire and reunite her with Aaron then “all of this” would not be for nothing.  Is that our answer to it all right there?  Anything that happens in the meantime is just progress (as Jacob would say)?

15.  I went back and watched the scene from Season Four where Richard “tests” young Locke and you can watch it here – to see if there was a baseball involved.  Richard does present Locke with a baseball glove.  There has to be a connection and with the fact that there are millions of obsessed fans out there, if the baseball had appeared before we would know.  There is also the connection of Jack and his dad to baseball, but I’m thinking that the baseball glove also is a clue.

16.  Jack doesn’t end up swallowing the pill because Dogan gets it out of him.  I’m betting that Sayid will end up taking it.

17.  The original flight crashed on the island in September.  Here is a snapshot of Claire’s ultrasound and the date is clearly October 22,2004 – one month ahead of the original crash.  Maybe the bomb didn’t split time at all.  Maybe all it did was push Jack, Kate, Jin, Miles, Hurley, and Sayid back to where they were supposed to be in time.  So time in both is moving along as it should.  But because of the butterfly effect their flight was delayed one month, the island is under water and so forth.
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18.  I think Jack is going to take over the island much like Dogan runs it now.  He is the modern day medicine man, he now believes (or appears that way) and has nothing to go home to.  Dogan is telling him the secrets so maybe Jack and Locke will become the new Jacob and MIB (man in black) of the island.  Man of Science, Man of Faith.

19.  The guy tells Aldo that he can’t shoot Jin because he’s “one of them.”  Jin and the others were on Jacob’s list.  Remember that Jacob also had a list when the Others originally came and kidnapped Kate, Jack and Sawyer.  What’s up with these lists?

20.  I love that the new Claire is all dirtied up on the island!  No more makeup kit!  I think that even if the “darkness” has taken her over it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t know who she is or remembers the other survivors.  Hopefully at some point though Jin can escape and get back to Sun.  But I’m going to be interested if Claire has taken over Danielle’s place on this island (recorded creepy soundtracks, wonder where her baby is, etc…).
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NOTE: Please go back and read my initial thoughts and then the terrific comments before leaving new comments.  I’m interested to hear what you think will happen from here and your theories.

Pop ups are evil.  I mean, if you don’t know about Jack’s dad and the coffin then you need to turn off your set and go back and rent Season One.  Then they tell us right after the fireworks go off that “Richard knows what the signal means.”  Really?  No kidding?  It’s a good thing they told us or I would have thought that Richard was confused and thought it was the Fourth of July.  Duh!  We have loyally put in 5, going on 6, years of time and thought into Lost so how could anyone possibly know what we know by watching 42 minutes of pop ups?

1.  When Lennon tells them that if they don’t save Sayid they would be in “trouble” I don’t think that he means kindergarten trouble but more like “we are screwed” trouble.  But if the darkness takes over they really are in trouble!

2.  Does anyone ever come out of that water not taken over by darkness?  Was Claire dead and baptized there?

3.  Darlton said we’d get the numbers in a “big” way.  Ne numbers, or old numbers?  There were a lot of numbers this week.  Will have to go slowly and get them all.

4.  Kate reallllly looks like she knows Jack when she sees him outside of the airport.  And not a look like she saw him on the plane.  Dejavu again?

5.  We are getting answers. I think they showed us Lennon walking around without shoes so we have no doubt that these are the Others that we saw “way back” walking through the jungle.  They are the Others that took the kids.  Seems like they really do want to protect them.  Explains why they took the kids.  Protect them from this “darkness.”

6.  OK, it’s Season Six and NOW Jack starts asking all the questions?  Glad to see it but wow, it took long enough.

7.  Sawyer said back in Season One “every man for himself” and he’s doing it again.

8.  At some point Kate needs to stop going back for people.  It doesn’t seem to work out very well for her.  She went back to Otherton to get Jack, in the sub to get Sawyer and back to Claire and who knows where she’ll end up.

9.  Did you hear Kate call Sawyer “James?”  She has never called him James.

10.  The test for Sayid is Ash (keeps out smokey), electricity (also kept smokey out of Otherton) but I didn’t understand the branding.

11.  They also tortured Sayid in a similar way that Danielle did when she first caught him.

12.   Death by fire (Jacob), life through water (Sayid).

13.  Why “would” Claire come to the States to adopt out the baby?  It didn’t seem like she was all that surprised that they didn’t pick her up or that the lady’s husband had left.  Maybe the fortune teller told her that she had to.

14.  So I thought that when Danielle talked about “the sickness” it was something to do with Smokey taking over.  But from the sounds of what Dogan says, the sickness is more then that.  Remember when Ethan was giving Claire the vaccination?  Desmond took it in the hatch.  Seems there is more there then I thought.

15.  Nice Zombie shout out.  Darlton jokes that they are putting in a Zombie.

16.  So Claire is now putting traps out like Danielle used to.  The new Other guy started to talk about it but the little guy stopped him.

17.  I guess we can see that Kate is meant to be with Aaron.  Just how much we are yet to see.

18.  Love it, Ethan!  I thought it would be Juliet but I guess he was very obsessed with Claire back on the island so it makes sense that he’d be there.  Then to say that he doesn’t like to use needles – oh the irony.

19. Ethan was “Rom” in Season One.  Now he’s Ethan Goodspeed.  Not sure I still trust that guy.  Seems suspicious.  And a OBGYN or Pediatrician.  Hmmmm.

20.  Ethan tells her that Aaron is going to be a “handful.”  I guess we’ll see.

21.  Live together or die alone.  Sawyer says some of us are meant to be alone.  Not sure I believe that is his fate.  I’m sure Hurley can relate to what he’s feeling.

22.  I didn’t get the symbolism of the baseball Dogan had.  Jack and his dad talked baseball.  I think Eko played as a kid with his brother.  Others you can think of?

23.  Dogan was “brought there.”  Hm, seems there is a clue there to Jack that he was “brought there” as well.  I keep seeing in commercials that Jack is somewhere with Dogan and asks how his name is on something.

24.  It really sounds like Kate gave her name to the hospital as “Joan of Arc.”  I think it was Joan Hart but that is not what it sounded like.

25.  Does something happen where Claire dies and Kate is mistaken for her because she uses the credit card Claire gave her?  Somehow they find her, thinking she’s Claire, and give her that baby.  Could be a car accident or Ethan’s people try to take the baby and hurt her in the process.  She was not meant to raise that baby, according to the card reader in Season One.

26.  Why do the new Others want to protect these guys so much?  Is it something to do with Mrs. Hawkings theory that they all have to be there?  Or does Smokey just kill everybody and they care about their safety? Or the “darkness” takes over anyone unprotected?

27.  Claire is looking rough.  Finally, she took the makeup off!

28.  And, to end on a note and go to bed…. I think that we may see Mrs Hawkings back in the new time line trying to get the course of events back on track.

You must watch this YouTube video.  This guy is amazing with his “Lost” software how he explains the two parallel time lines exist.  Then there is this “deleted scene” from Season Five where Faraday also explains the split in time.

So, we can see how the island is underwater in the “new” 2004 airplane scene.  How?  In 1977 Juliet detonated the bomb.  The whole thing was gone and sunk the island (no, I don’t know how but come on, Locke turns into smoke so it’s possible here).  Butterfly affect comes into play.  Widmore has no reason to want to get back to the island (it’s underwater and everyone there is dead).  Desmond never sets sail on his around the world trip and lands on the island.  Ben and the Others back on the island never travel back and forth doing who knows what back on land.  Juliet never goes to the island.  Leonard would have never been chanting the numbers in the asylum for Hurley to use (yes, I know Hurley still won the lottery so it goes along with the theory that what must happen will happen).

In Season One people’s paths were crossing and it was fun to spot them but in Season Six their crossing paths now has a whole new significance.

If we believe the time line of Vaughn (the first video I linked) then the the two (or more) time lines will never cross.  But if we listen to Faraday he doesn’t say they will cross either but he does reiterate that whatever happened, happened.  On a side note, he says that he spent the 3 years back home recreating his all of his work back in Ann Arbor (if you recall that is where the DeGroots  founded the Dharma Initiative) so in this alternative time line they have access to all of Faraday’s work.  I can’t imagine what they might do with it in this alternative time line.

And let’s agree that Not-Locke was correct when he called their lives “pathetic” back home.  As we can see from this first episode, they are no better off with the plane not crashing.  Kate was better the original way because she didn’t have to go to prison and could stop running.

1.  Remember right after Faraday talks to Desmond about finding his mother Desmond wakes up with Penny and suddenly “remembers” the conversation?  When we first see Jack on the new plane he looks for a minute like he’s disoriented. I wonder if something similar happened to Jack in that we see him only moments in time after Juliet detonates the bomb.  Hopefully you understand what I meant here.  Not that she changed Jack’s present but it’s happening on two different plains of time simultaneously.

2.  I don’t know if they were serious, but Darlton were recently on Jimmy Kimmel and indicated that the fact that the stewardess only gave Jack one drink instead of two was significant.  But they joke a lot.  Time will be the judge.

3.  Darlton also told Kimmel that Rose being the confident flier while Jack was frightened has significance.  I think it’s cute that Rose tells Bernard she missed him while he was in the bathroom.  Or is there more to this as well.

4.  How is it that Jack doesn’t remember cutting himself?  And I love the scene here of Jack looking at himself in the mirror.  Symbolic of the time lines.

5.  If my theory is right then Jack would have never met Desmond in the stadium because Des would not have been preparing for his big sailing trip.  Ever had dejavu?  Jack is having it right here. Makes me wonder what my dejavu means.  Hm…

6.  Underwater shots.  Here you go!  Dharma security, Dharma houses, the swing set and even the Dharma shark!

7.  One thing has stayed the same, opening the scene with an eye.  But I have a hard time believing Kate could get her hands on false eyelashes.  Maybe she took them out of Claire’s bag.  Remember how Claire always had makeup on?

8.  If Artz is asking Hurley to site lines from his Clucky commercial, then these teasers this summer really meant something; Clucky Commercial, Kate on America’s Most Wanted.

9. I still want to know how the Dharma van traveled with them through time.

10.  Shouldn’t Rose and Bernard be in the current time with Jack and everyone?  And are we going to see Vincent again soon?

11.  Michael Emerson must be as excited at Terry O’Quinn for this season.  Ben is now tied with Not-Locke and way far away from being any kind of leader.  So his role and Not-Locke’s roll are going to reverse.  I can’t wait to see how these two guys embrace these characters.  You can see already the desperation in Ben’s face.  But he always has a plan, right?  Maybe Ben will be the one that saves them all.  That would be ironic.

12.  On a side note, are we going to find out anything about the “real” Henry Gale?

13.  Here’s the shot of Not-Locke sitting in the old rocking chair.  Looks like the chair from the cabin.

14.  Wow, Not-Locke can repel bullets too.

15.  Ash ring repels Smokey.  This makes me wonder who exactly was in the cabin.  We saw in the pilot episode (Season One) that the trees were being parted and the sounds of Smokey.  But I also thought for awhile that Jacob had Smokey trapped in the cabin.  Now I think that it really was Jacob in the cabin as it was surrounded by Ash.  I think it was Locke who ended up breaking that ring and that is when Jacob retreated to the foot.

16.  Locke had to die so that Smokey could take over his body.  But there is more to Locke then just a vessel.  Smokey also took over Eko’s brother, Christian and Ana Lucia so if that’s is all he needed then he could have killed Jacob before.  He needed a true believer, like Locke.  I wonder if Jacob also had Locke in mind for his own use?  Remember how Richard came to him as boy with his “test” that Locke failed?  They came to him again in high school.

17.  I think we are going to hear the Juliet- coffee line again with Sawyer.  I’ve said previously that I think she’s “mind” traveling between the time lines and that is how she knows the plan worked.  Elizabeth Mitchell did say that she has more then one scene in Season Six.  How the survivors will come to believe it is the next question.  Maybe Juliet will somehow retain her memory from the island in the new time line.  Maybe that is how Mrs. Hawkings knew to tell Desmond that he “had” to go to the island – she remembered or “mind traveled.”

18.  Yeah Charlie!  I really hope they bring him back more for this season.  Charlie and Hurley were good friends so I can hope.

19.  Looks like it’s still 2004 according to Sayid’s passport.

20.  Guess we might find out why this watch was so vitally important to Jin.  But all the money they find in his luggage makes me think that perhaps Jin was the one thinking of leaving Sun in this alternative world.

21.  I don’t think that we discuss enough what a great job Josh Holloway does with his role as Sawyer either.  We know what a great looking buy he is and to come onscreen with matted hair and all covered in dirt and blood, well he still looks good.  But I think he’s really brought something extra to Sawyer last season and so far this season.  I can’t wait to see how much he does this season too with the grief that Sawyer is going to be carrying.

22.  I’m thinking that although the island is underwater in the new time line, someone (whether it be Jacob or Not-Locke) needed that body and that is where Christian is.  I’m sure he’ll be popping up this season.

23.  Nice of Kate to walk away with the torch right as Jin and Jack are going around the huge, gaping hole.  But then she hears the whispers.  I know that it appears that it’s the new Others but I’m not 100% sure of this.  I could believe that they are talking in the cavern and the whispers echo, but it doesn’t explain how they traveled out in the jungle when the survivors heard them back in Season One.  I’m hoping there is a little more clarity coming.  Maybe all of the new Others at the Temple are dead or something like what Richard is?  Afterall, they do have a ragtag group of people – ranging from a hippie to a Japanese Samurai dude.

24. More red flowers!

25.  Here is the description of the new guy “Lennon” when they were looking to cast him.  “According to the casting breakdown, Lennon is the scruffy, edgy and charismatic spokesperson and translator for the president of a foreign corporation who is far more powerful than it seems from his position.”  Is the samurai guy president of a company back home?  Did they change their minds about his role?

26.  Jack didn’t care to know what the “risks” of putting Sayid in the water were because he’s not 100% a man of faith yet.  Jack just thinks Sayid is all but dead anyway.

27.  Non-Locke says he wants the one thing that Locke didn’t – to go home.  Why does that have to mean off of the island?  I think that the reason that the Temple Others got so upset knowing Jacob was dead was because the Temple is his “home.”  And I would guess that he can do very bad things from “home” especially considering that they have the magic water at the Temple.

28.  Jack tells Locke that nothing is irreversible.  What if Locke does go to Jack and have his back fixed?  Could Locke being fixed in this time line explain and carry over to another time line?  Could it explain how Locke suddenly has the ability to walk once he’s on the island?  I’m sure there is a subtle meaning to the line also but thought maybe there was a literal meaning as well.

29.  Here’s a shot of Jack’s card, in case it means something later.

30.  Right after Not-Locke knocks out Richard he says “I’m very disappointed in all of you.”  Huh, why?  the he slings Richard over his shoulder like an old boar.  Maybe he’s going to hold him ransom to get inside the Temple?

31.  I originally thought that Sayid was taken over by Jacob.  But when asked, Darlton would only say that “something” is inhabiting Sayid.  What are the possibilities?  We may not know yet.  After all, who could have ever dreamed that there would be a freighter appear or that only 6 would get home then come back.  But I would still prefer that it’s Jacob.

Weird date.  Too bad it’s not Saturday so we can sleep in the next day.

They should have special ads, like they do for the Super Bowl.

Way to go!  I wondered how the ratings would be.  This is fantastic!  I smell Emmy’s!

Click here for a breakdown of the ratings.