If things to come are in the shape of the crazy-assed black smoke I think I’d be running! That had to be the coolest thing to date. A friend of mine at work (you know who you are) said that the show is becoming too sci-fi and not based enough in reality. So I had to point out to her that even so-called reality shows aren’t really a portrayal of reality. But now I’m ranting. For any and all naysayers out there who thought Lost couldn’t sustain the premise for 6 seasons, you should watch this epi as it was just that excellent.  And, for any parent who has ever lost a child, I think that the rage they would feel is accurately portrayed by the black smoke.
See my initial thoughts for more…

1. Why did they have to kill Danielle? We never got to see her flashback. If anything, she’ll probably reappear is some form (along with Alex) like we’ve seen other dead bodies come along in this show. Better get them buried.

2. I don’t think that we are seeing a precursor to Jack’s later pill habit. I think he’s taking antibiotics because he has appendicitis. Bernard is going to do the surgery. It’s probably going to end up being very anticlimactic.
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3. Scott - good call on Vincent Price. Never would have thought of it, but I could see one of the writer’s paying an homage. I wonder if we’ll ever get the Vincent flashback we’ve been promised. Could shed a whole bunch ‘o light on what’s been going on. (see the comments after my last post)

4. The dead doctor. We know he was killed - but why and by whom? We know that back on the boat he’s still alive - which negates the idea that time travels faster off the island. We know that Dan has been lying - if he lies about this what else has he been lying about?

5. Here are some screen shots of the game board from Sawyer, Hurley and Locke’s game.
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6. Where ever (whenever) Ben is traveling from, he’s got a nasty cut on his arm. I’m feeling like we’ll see that story in a future episode.
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7. I don’t think we can possibly know exactly what this device is yet but my guess is that it is directly connected to the time travel and probably how Ben can do it physically as well as with his mind. On a side note, isn’t Michael Emmerson freaking amazing in this part?
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8. It was Christmas Eve when Sayid made it to the boat. When Ben comes to the hotel it’s October 24th 2005. Not much time has passed. They must leave the island very soon.

9. I can’t believe the way that they killed Alex. I was expecting Richard to come along and stop them. Totally shocked by that one.

10. I actually felt sorry for Ben here.
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11. Ben and Widmore as constants - another piece of evidence is that these bad guys that are coming to get Ben refuse to kill him. Also, Ben keeps saying that once they have him there is nothing stopping them from killing everyone on the island. In other words, Ben must live even once they capture him.  You cannot kill of your constant.
12. I’m still not convinced that Widmore had anything to do with Nadia being killed. I don’t see any reason he would have to do that. However, I can see many reasons why Ben would.

13. When Claire comes out from laying down she says that she is a bit wobbly, but she’ll live. Then Miles says, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” Beyond the crazy situation they are in, Miles knows more about what’s going to happen. Why on earth are they trusting that guy?

14. Now *this* is the stuff nightmares are made of! How bad was the black smoke this time? It’s almost like it’s been energized by Ben’s anger. Like he somehow transferred those feelings into the smoke.

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15.  Looks like Widmore is a fan of the abstract art that keeps showing up (the mural, Claire’s boyfriend’s art).
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16.  Dang it, I did see that it’s Desmond’s scotch.  And Widmore is drinking it because the nightmares started.  Well, that should be an interesting story that we get to see.
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17.   So Ben stole everything he has from Widmore?  This makes me think that Widmore was one of the founders of the Dharma people that Ben killed off.  I could definitely see why Widmore would want to gas Ben’s people when that is exactly what Ben did to his.

Hello friends! Was that freaking fantastic or what?

1. I liked how Vincent was there barking at the dead body. Where death is…. there is Vincent!

2. Ray had his throat slit. He was the doctor. Jack is the doctor. Maybe *they* don’t want the doctor to fix people. The only reason I can figure that the doctor is alive on the boat (according to the code) is that time is actually moving more slowly *off* of the island, which is completely different than what I thought.

3. So, according to Hurley “Australia is the key to the whole game.” Clue from the writers or red herring?

4. Code 14J. Nothing significant I can think about right now. Any thoughts?

5. Both of Ben’s eyes opening when he wakes up in the desert. He probably is pretty aware of everything going on and himself.

6. Falliwax was the name on his coat. Ben is coming from somewhere obviously very cold and then travels to the desert. But, Charlotte also found the Dharma polar bear in Tunisia so maybe there is some *time* there that is very cold that they travel from.

7. Ben can kick some major boooty! I think the secret to his *traveling* was the little black device he was carrying. But it also reminded me of the little walkie talkie things the Star Trek guys used to carry when they wanted beamed back tot he ship.

8. I’ll be interested to find out why it’s so important to Ben that Locke survives whatever is about to happen. Yes, he can *talk* to Jacob but can’t Miles also? Maybe Ben actually likes his company.

9. OK, what was up with the dummies that heard the gunshots outside the cabins and kept coming out! Duh!

10. Claire must be special to survive the house blowing up. Seriously. Desmond and Locke also survived the hatch blowing up and we know that there is something special about them both. Guess we will eventually see.  I also liked how when Claire first came to after blowing up she said, “Charlie?”
11. Dean Moriarity is the catalyst for most of the adventures of the book “On The Road” by Jack Kerouac. In the book, Dean is the “the holy con-man with the shining mind.” He’s a traveler. Dean is the name Ben gives to the desk clerk in Tunisia.

12. Jacob is the only person who can help. Miles will be able to talk to him! How convenient! Maybe these guys really want Jacob and not Ben. But they know Ben will go to Jacob for help thus leading them to him. Miles says he’s going to the beach but maybe he circles back. Actually, I want Miles to talk to Jacob. How cool!

13. Poor Sayid. Got Nadia back. Then taken away. Horrible! Looks like Ben might have even had something to do with that being set up.

14. Jack must have had a toothache to need Bernard. Or he needs a surgery and Bernard is the only one that can handle it. I can’t see Juliet doing it because she cares for Jack. I’m sure Bernard has done some cutting in his profession. We know Jack lives whatever it is.

15. I’m not convinced that the guy Ben tells Sayid killed Nadia really did it. Remember when Sawyer is set up to kill the guy in Australia that he thinks killed his father? I think Ben wanted this guy dead and Sayid did the dirty work for him.

16. OK that black smoke scene was the bomb! OMG! And it was freaking angry! How does Ben have that control over Smokey? I can’t wait to see more. And smokey just blows right past them and doesn’t bother him while he’s saying goodbye to Alex.

17. Which, by the way, I was totally SHOCKED that they just killed her off like that. Did they really think Ben was going to surrender after they killed her? And what was up with those rules?

18. You know it’s not a good thing happening around them when Aaron is crying. And that baby was wailing when Hurley agreed to go with Locke and Ben to Jacob’s shack.

19. Widmore was drinking the same scotch as what Desmond was making in the monastery.

20. Ben and Widmore are constants. That is why they can’t kill each other.

21. But now it’s even more obvious why Widmore helps Desmond (remember in Desmond’s time travel epi) to find Penny. He knows that Desmond will protect her no matter what.

22. The picture of the Black Rock is hanging behind Widmore’s bed.

23. I’m thinking that Widmore’s people are the one’s that Ben killed (the original Dharma). Ben had jammed the signal so Widmore couldn’t find the island again.

24.  I loved seeing the good guy, hero Sawyer in this episode.  Will have to screencap some of the classic Sawyer “looks” that we saw again this week.

LOVED IT!!!!

I don’t want to say that this episode stunk because it really was OK, but certainly not in my top favorites. Even if it didn’t follow the amazing episode last week, I think that this one would still be just mediocre at best. Still not a stinker yet this season though.

Click here for my initial thoughts. 

1. OMG! It’s a black rock in the Zen garden! It must mean something! (sacrasm people!)
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2. Juliet is going to die. We know about Ben’s obsession with her and I doubt he would ever let her leave the island. BUT… what if she dies helping Aaron leave the island? She obviously cares about children (she asked Ben about Zach and Emma not to mention she’s a baby doctor) and that would also explain why future Jack can’t bear to see Aaron off of the island.

3. Way to go Harper! Not only does she have a Certificate of Recognition from the Hanso Foundation, she also belongs to the Experimental Social Psychology Society. She is obviously well qualified to be counseling people on *this* island.
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4. Wow, Harper, jealous much? I can understand the animosity once she finds out that Juliet is a home wrecking ho sleeping with her man, but in their first meeting she’s already cutting her down (”You’re not a celebrity…. you’ll find out soon enough that you’re no different than anyone here.”). Claws are out!

5. Yeah Tom! They really should have kept him. I would have loved to have seen his flash back story.
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6. I’m thinking that Juliet is of so much interest to everyone not only because she is the baby doctor, but also because Ben has obsessed about her for some time and I would guess they’ve all heard or know about it. “So, this is the woman he’s been so infatuated with.” Sounds like Ben did quite a lot of research and work to get her to the island.

7. AND, we’ve finally found Ben’s Achilles Heel. Juliet.

8. I’m wondering if Juliet somehow did figure out why the women keep dying but that Ben has sabotaged her research because it will keep her on the island. He knows how passionate she is about her work and if she can’t solve the puzzle it will keep her there until she does.  Juliet probably has no clue that she has solved the mystery because Ben is a very sneaky little man.
9. Those are pretty amazing torches that can stay lit in the rain.
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10. If you heard scary whispers in the jungle wouldn’t you be like “What the hell was that!?” Juliet and Jack never discuss, at least that we see.

11. Of course Ben would send Harper as an unspoken reminder to Juliet that she still *belongs* to him.

12. It was pretty good timing that Harper showed up during the whispers then vanished. It reminded me of the old Walt apparitions.

13. Why is it safer for Jack not to know about The Tempest? He’s not prone to freaking out over new information, so why not at least give this guy a clue about the gas? If I were Matthew Fox I would not be pleased with how naive they make Jack all the time. You can’t just chalk it up to trust.  At some point doesn’t he want answers?

14. I really like Kate’s new, darker hair. She must have gotten a touch up from Claire while she was at the barracks.
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15. Michael Emmerson is truly an amazing actor. He goes from a love sick little puppy in this scene to the crazy mad man who practically drags her to the dead, rotting corpse of Goodwin. I thought the scenes where Ben is doting on Juliet were great. He is practically skipping around his house getting ready for their dinner together.
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16. There must be a lot of (ahem) *coupling* going on here at the island for all these pregnant women to be running around. They have to conceive on the island in order to be part of the experiment. I’m just saying that they can’t all be using in vitro fertilization.

17. I miss the old crazy, jungle running, knife throwing, sneaking around Locke. This domesticated version isn’t nearly as interesting.
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18. I found it interesting that the writers hinted that Ben had something to do with the plane crash. I thought that it was settled that Desmond’s error caused the crash. But Goodwin asks what Ben is going to do then they flash to the plane breaking apart mid air.

19. This is definitely a new tape of Widmore. Ben just showed Jack the Red Sox game a few weeks back in island time.

20. Does the tape of Widmore really prove anything to Locke? I think I would have had a heck of a lot more questions for a man that had just shot me and left me for dead days ago.
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21. When Locke asks Ben what Widmore wants, Ben goes into the story about the mold. I’m thinking that is our answer why Widmore wants to find the island - for the healing powers.

22. Locke wants to keep this island to himself just like Ben wants to keep Juliet. They do have this obsessive side to their personality in common. I think that Locke will help Ben keep Widmore away so he can keep the island secret.

23. Ben’s man on the boat. We all think it’s going to be Michael, but it just seems so obvious. It’s torture because on one hand we know Michael is coming back and it makes sense. But on the other hand it seems to go along with the show to have a twist. Maybe have Michael as his man but Christian Shepherd be the captain? I would love it to be Charlie but that is just asking too much. Any wild and crazy theories out there?

24. Cool new hatch.
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25. Notice the painting over Ben’s shoulder. I think that this is the “her” that Harper was referring to that Juliet resembles. I think that it’s Annie. Annie probably got preggers, died, lost the baby and that is what fueled Ben’s fire to fix whatever is killing the women. Then he found Juliet and kind-of, sort-of started to forget about Annie.
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26. Daniel sure can type fast in those heavy rubber gloves!
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27. Here are a bunch of screenshots from the computer:

28. I forgot to mention the map that Faraday is looking at to find The Tempest. My guess is the original was taken out of the Black Rock log but since they are using it to find the hatch (that could not have been there in the 1800’s) then someone who has been to the island would have had to give them the location. Michael perhaps? Maybe that is why they were holding off going to the island because they needed the one last piece to be sure they wouldn’t be killed when they stormed the island. I know that Charlie had to flip the switch to get them there, but they needed to be able to find The Tempest and the Losties on the island didn’t know about this hatch.
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29. They have to be either purposely filming where these red flowers on the island are, the red flowers do mean something, or there are just a whole bunch of these around Hawaii. Anyone from Hawaii know?
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30. If Juliet was so in love with Goodwin, then why is she so hot and bothered for Jack (outside of the fact that he’s a hottie)?

31. Awesome camera shot.
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32. Oops, here are some shots of inside the new hatch:

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33. Hurley is darned good at horeshoes. But remember how good Walt was at throwing that knife? They both apparently have some special *abilities.* Either that, or they’ve spent some serious time in the Southern US learning these skills.
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34. First we have Hurley questioning Locke out in the jungle on the way to the barracks. Then Claire wants to talk to Miles. Now Sawyer sees Ben just wandering around. Yes friends, I think we are going to see a revolution just as Ben predicted, against Locke.

35.  Now we know what Daniel’s purpose was in being chosen to come to the island. Didn’t see that one coming. Now it will be interesting to see what Miles and Charlotte’s uses are. I’m not so convinced that they are good guys or really care what happens to the Losties. Well, Daniel and Frank seem to care, but Miles and Charlotte are certainly more self centered.

36. Could Smokey be the by-product of a gas leak from The Tempest? I think there is more to it than just gas (like it cloaks something solid) but it appears that this gas is deadly and could certainly kill people.

1. If they had to dump supplies out of the helicopter to reduce the weight load, not to be rude, but how in the world are Hurley and five others going to get into the helicopter and off the island? There must be another way.

2. Cute with all the daddy issues over the past three seasons that Mr. Friendly tells Juliet that after a week with Harper she’ll have you crying about your daddy.

3. I must be deaf because I can’t ever understand what the whispers say. I think I heard Juliet but I don’t know for sure. Then Jack heard them too. I don’t remember him hearing them before. Probably freaked him out pretty good! I was just waiting for the black smoke… which they say will reappear in the next couple of episodes.

4. The Tempest. Appropriate name. Play about people stranded on an island and a spirit trapped in a tree (jacob).

5. Remember that there was an “incident” once on the island? Could it be possible that the gas was released before (and not when Ben killed off Dharma)? It would explain why the hatch was quarantined (couldn’t leave to the poison air), why they originally had gas masks and perhaps whatever poison was in the gas has something to do with women not being able to conceive on the island.

6. I thought it was hilarious that Ben asks Locke if the rabbit happened to have a number on it.

7. Juliet is the other woman in more ways than one.

8. I figured since Locke had Ben trapped in his own house, Ben knew ways to communicate and probably even leave if he wanted to. Duh Locke!

9. The picture on the wall in front of Ben’s safe looked like the place where Rose met her healer, Isaac of Uluru.

10. I can’t believe that Locke didn’t question Ben seven ways from Sunday about how he got the secret video of Mr Widmore. And if Widmore is so bad then why does Ben have the tape locked in a safe? Could this be another reason to believe (as viewers) that Mr Widmore isn’t the bad guy? If Charlotte and Daniel are really there to make the chemicals inert, then maybe he’s trying to stop Ben from killing Desmond. Maybe Widmore is dying and knows that the island has healing powers and he wants to get there himself. We know one thing for certain, you cannot trust Ben.

11. I’m interested to see screencaps of the secret video and see if we can tell who Widmore has blindfolded.

12. Doesn’t Locke wonder why someone was secretly taping Widmore? And doesn’t he wonder how, on the island, that Ben got a copy from the outside world? And why even make the video?

13. I liked that Juliet mentioned the kids that they took from the tailsection survivors. I know I was wondering about them.

14. Girl fight! Juliet versus Charlotte. I wouldn’t mess with Juliet, but we haven’t seen yet what Charlotte can do.

15. Yes! If Daniel ends up *really* being a good decent guy then maybe they will keep the character on the show. Last week in the podcast Darlton acknowledged that they knew the fans really liked Daniel. Please keep him!

16. What a sick-o … Ben taking Juliet to the dead body of Goodwin with the flies buzzing around his body. That man is evil.

17. So I guess we know that Ben wants to kill Jack but we’ve seen flash forwards so we know he at least makes it a little while off of the island. But we also know that Ben has a double life off of the island.

18. Claire asks to see Miles. I’m worried that she’s going to get hurt trying to talk to him.

19. It appears that Ben is keeping the gasses on the island just in case he ever needs to wipe out another population. Why else keep them around? Why does any government keep dangerous chemical warfare knowing it could get in the wrong hands.

1. What does Eggtown mean anyway? Usually the meaning behind the title is much more obvious. But nooooo, they have to go and make us think even more.

* Idea one: “Egg-town is a pejorative term that refers to the days of bartering. A traveling salesman would have to barter his candy or tobacco or shoelaces for different commodities. A poor exchange would be for eggs, a relatively common item that is also highly perishable. Nobody wants to trade for eggs from a traveling salesman because they have their own, so the salesman who accepted an egg in exchange was forced to accept a bad deal. Salesmen would use the term like “If I were you I would stay away from Bogart. That’s an egg-town.” Of course, the lack of trust among salesman was also high, and it was likely that one salesman would lie to another about the quality of a town’s customers to keep them for himself. Invariably, the second salesman ventures into to Bogart only to find it is truly an egg-town. He is either persuaded to not visit a town that has good customers or is tricked into visiting a town that can only offer eggs. The term “egg-town” represents a deal with undesirable outcomes in either case. Source; Lostpedia

* Idea two; “Don’t put your eggs all in one basket.” Seems to apply to Kate’s agenda. And many others (Sawyer, Locke, Hurley, Juliet, etc…). Plus Kate is totally playing Sawyer and Jack off of each other.

* Idea three: Ben eggs on Locke. Nothing new there really.

*Idea four (and my least favorite): It’s a fertility reference. Where is “Eggtown” exactly? This is just too cheesy to believe though.

2. Why open with Locke’s eye when it wasn’t a Locke-centric episode?
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3. Here’s the book that Locke chooses for Ben. Check out my other post for a link that will run down the books in this episode.
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4. Locke is taking this power tripping this a little too far. I think he’s trying to recreate the commune that he was so happy in back home but he fails to see that he’s working with far different conditions - for instance, the people that are there aren’t there because the chose to drop out of society to live on a pot farm. Locke is cooking up a big meal for everyone to get together and sing Kumbayah, but when your personality is like Sawyer and the two prisoners being held (not to mention Old Smokey is lurking somewhere out there) it’s not exactly the perfect ingredients for a happy community.

5. Is it just me or is it weird that Ben’s house is built on a basement thats primary function appears to be a jail. If the peace loving Dharma gang lived there before, what did they need the basement for? The hostiles? Did they take them prisoner here? It’s very Silence of the Lambs to me. Like a secret underground Gitmo.
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6. Locke gives Ben the last two eggs and then kills the chicken. Yeah, really smart. Almost as smart as blowing up Patchy’s communication station. Are there more chickens around somewhere that we haven’t seen? It is Eggtown after all. (That was a joke).

7. Is Ben right? Is Locke more LOST than he ever was? Seems to me Locke was doing just fine for himself before he came to this commune he set up. I would probably chose his side just for the idea of ice cubes and showers, but he doesn’t seem to have it all figured out like he did before. We need Charlie here to make some smart remark or add on a new nickname for Locke. (Remember the Great White Hunter?) But I was glad John walked away from Ben when he did.
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8. Ben lived in this house (presumably) for most of his life. I would bet that he also knows a way out of the underground prison. I think he’s staying there to toy with Locke for awhile. If Ben really thinks he’s in danger from the freighter people he will surely disappear.

9. Wow. the Dharma folks shop at WalMart. They sell the Mainstays brand around these parts at least.
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10. Here’s a screencap of the guy yelling at Kate when she walks into the courtroom. One site went as far as to play it backwards and you can hear, “We hate you!” Interesting little twist.
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11. Kate’s lawyer. I think that this is just to get us talking, but check this out about the actor:

Her lawyer, played by Shawn Doyle, previously acted alongside Elizabeth Mitchell, Juliette, in the film Frequency. In the film, he plays a serial killer named Jack Shepard who kills Mitchell’s character after she saves him because her son messes with time travel. Source: Wikipedia

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12. Interesting choice of cities for Jin. Especially considering Kate robbed a bank there and Sawyer’s baby’s momma (Cassie) lives there.
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13. I want to go on the record (again) saying that Jin and Sun are the remaining two of the Oceanic Six. I know that some of you will argue that Aaron was number five, but I don’t know that he’ll count necessarily. And on an aside, if Kate wasn’t preggers when she was taken into custody by the Marshall, then how does she explain the baby (assuming she’s telling everyone back home that it’s hers) when they were only on the island for a few months? She would have to be bringing him back with her from the island in order to claim him as her own. You can’t shove a 6 month old baby up your dress and *pretend* to give birth. Not around where I live, at least. People might get suspicious of that.

14. Why does Sun want to raise her baby back in Korea? Yes, she was running from Jin that day in the airport but she was also running from her father. If she goes back it will be more of the same and Jin will be working again for her dad. Gosh, maybe there is another reason we don’t know yet! Do you think?

15. Creepy boathouse. Looks so much like Jacob’s shack, too.
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16. Oh boy, I hate seeing Kate in a red jumpsuit. Red has not been a good color for anyone on the island. What started out as a joke (the red shirts) has turned into a harbinger of doom and death.
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17. The DA decides to try the case herself. Momma decides she doesn’t want to testify against Kate. Hm, seems like someone might be pulling some strings here…. with the bazillion counts against her and all she gets is probation? And let’s talk again about why the DA is so set with her staying in California? Must be someone or something outside the state that Kate could connect with and make trouble with (fill in the blank for whoever is pulling the strings). Could be Ben. He is very rich.

18. I don’t think that Kate stole baby Aaron. Remember on the island she really didn’t want to hold him. Back home she won’t take a deal for prison time even knowing the charges she faces. I think this is because she made a promise to Claire to take care of him and she knows therefore that she can’t go to prison.

19. Remember that Aaron is also a very special child. The Others kept trying to nab him. The psychic didn’t want her to adopt the baby out. It has been hinted all along he is special. I think Kate knows this. I think that she *has* to pass the baby off as hers because if the *bad guys* found out who the baby really was they would probably try to take him. I think that is also why she was so dead set against bringing him into the courtroom - she knew the media coverage around and wants to keep him out of the spotlight. Not to mention he is still a very young child and I’m not sure what he could possibly do to help build her character in court. Outside of the cute factor of course.

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21. OK so according the Jack they crashed on an island in the South Pacific yet the *airplane* was found off the coast if Indonesia. That is one hell of a swim. I guess really is a hero.

22. I think that whoever the two additional survivors Jack mentions (he says 8 survived but we know only 6 make it back) are survivors that must get killed in whatever dramatic events are about to happen to get these six off of the island. Sawyer? Michael & Walt? Locke?

23. Foffman mentions in the comments that scenes are remniscent of prior scenes in the show. Here’s one - the DA asks Jack if he loves Kate. Just like when (I forgot his name from last season) asks Kate when they are in the cages if she loves Sawyer as he’s about to kill him. She says yes to save Sawyer. I know Jack says no, but later tells Kate he was lying.

24. Why does Kate keep wearing dirty clothes? There are clothes around her size and a washer and dryer.
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25. So Miles can *arrange* to *amend* Ben’s current situation (being held hostage)? And Miles knows that Ben has access to millions of dollars in cash. And Miles suggests to Kate she’s better off on the island (something he’s not telling her?) and that “Who knows, maybe you didn’t survive the crash.” Miles may be a creep, but he has *some* conscience (he gave some of the money back to the grandma). Maybe he’s trying to warn Kate in a subtle way not to go back. Kate wanted more in this scene than to just know if they knew she was a fugitive. That wrap wouldn’t just go away. I think we’ll see more going on with these two.

26. Is it just me or does Kate’s mom bear a striking resemblance to Gwenyth Paltrow?
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27. Remember that Ben *healed* Juliet’s sister Rachel when he wanted to keep Juliet on the island. I’m thinking that Ben has something to do with Kate’s mom living so far past what the doctor’s had expected. Maybe he can’t save her but he can keep her alive. But it won’t come without a price.

28. Dan’s memory is getting better. Maybe he’s not perfect, but it’s better. I think that it’s the healing powers of the island. I think this also tells us why Dan was crying when he saw the plane crash on tv. He couldn’t remember why, but something he knew at one point touched him. What if he has some type of electric shock therapy and it fried his memory? He kind of needs it though if he is going to get them back to the boat (they need the coordinates). I’m sure it will also come into play for scenes we haven’t seen yet.

29. The card that Dan remembers is also in a picture on Aaron’s wall back home. Wonder why this is going to be significant? Unless *gasp* it’s just another meaningless connection that drives us obsessed Lost fans crazy!
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30.  The phones the “Freighties” have sure to have long lasting batteries don’t they?

31.  Kate has a really nice house which I’m sure Oceanic paid for.  But she has those awful red flowers that appear everywhere on the island in front.
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32.  For the record, this is not Juliet’s sister Rachel.  Not even the same actress.
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33.  I would guess that Aaron is at least 2 to 3 years old here.
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1. Eye opening… at the opening. But you knew that. It was Locke’s eye.

2. Ben in the room that the “real” Sawyer was being held. Remember last season when Locke first encounters him all tied up?

3. Loved Locke’s line about the book he gives Ben. “Maybe you’ll catch something you missed the second time around.” Not that I, *ahem,* would watch anything a second time for things I missed….

4. Locke should have know Ben was playing him when Ben asks about the other prisoner, “Miles, is it?” Duh, Ben is the one that told Locke all about the four that came from the freighter and all about Charlotte’s background. So he obviously would know Miles’ name.

5. Do you see the bearded guy yelling at Kate when she was walking through the paparazzi into the courtroom? He really stuck out to me but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. Will for sure have to screen cap him.

6. Katheryn ANNE Austin. We had talked before about Kate possibly being the Annie from Ben’s childhood on the island.

7. Wow, Jin learned English pretty quickly didn’t he? If they’ve only been there 100 days and Jin only found out about Sun’s secret approximately half way, that means he had somewhere in the neighborhood of a month or more to learn the language. Impressive.

8. Interesting that when Jack came to the beach and told Sun and the others that Dan and Charlotte were there to save them, Dan looks down. Yeah, not their primary objective.

9. Creepy when Locke’s hands were all bloody from killing the chicken.

10. Loved it when Hurley asks Kate if she Scooby Doo’d him when she found out where Miles was.

11. Didn’t the boat house look like Jacob’s cabin?

12. Miles wanted to be in the boathouse? I think there was more to this than just wanting to get to Ben. There is a bigger plan at work.

13. The numbers again. Duncan (Kate’s lawyer) tells her to plead down to 15 years. Prosecutor offers four initially.

14. Charges against Kate (I think we’ve seen them all happen). Fraud, Arson, Assault of a Federal Officer, Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Grand Larceny, Grand Theft Auto, and Murder in the First Degree. And 15 years for all this! She’s crazy not to take it unless (here we go again) she knows something. Maybe made a deal with Creepy Eyed Man and his people? They could have swayed the mom and the prosecuting attorney.

15. Of course the “him” is her son but how much time had to have passed since this epi and when Kate meets up with Jack (in the scene at the end of last season)? She says “he” will worry where she is. In the middle of the night why would her kid know she was gone unless it was much later and he was older. And why would the attorney consider bringing in this small child to a courtroom?

16. Busy signal on the phone to the boat? Why? What have they done with Sayid and Desmond? Guess we’ll find out before the first eight end.

17. Wow! Was Jack smoking hot in that courtroom or what? Guess Kate wasn’t the only one that cleaned up nicely.

18. Jack says that there were eight survivors. Maybe…. Michael and Walt make it back to land before the other six? Otherwise there would have to be two that die trying to get back and only the other six of the eight make it.

19. Whatever happens to get the six off of the island must be very dramatic. It must be something that really compromises their morals and feeds all of the post-island guilt. Jack and Kate couldn’t even look at each other in the courtroom when he was telling what happened. I WANT TO KNOW!

20. Loved the movies that Hurley has to choose from. “Xanadu” or “Satan’s Doom.” And, they looked to be VHS tapes. Again with the old school technology.

21. The only words I could hear during the Xanadu song was “Open your eyes…” ironically.

22. OK so Kate uses Sawyer for more than just getting Ben to Miles. So what, Miles knew she was a fugitive. What did she really want to know from him? I think there is more here.

23. So Ben is rich. And Miles knows who he is and “what he can do.” I can’t believe I’m going to say this… but can he somehow time travel? I don’t think he has a machine or anything but perhaps he’s found a way to get off and on the island through some sort of time rip. If I could do that I would get some winning lottery numbers and get rich but perhaps Mr. Fenry used it for evil. OK not evil but something very bad that makes someone off the island spend lots of money to find him.

24. I’m very curious to find out what the $3.2 million is for. Charlotte is already in on it. I’m sure that Miles and Charlotte had a plan before Miles let himself get caught.

25. Daniel has a terrible memory. Remember that. It will be important later.

26. It sounds like Charlotte tells Regina on the phone that Cassie wasn’t answering the other line. Remember that Sawyer’s baby’s momma was Cassie. Coincidence (or fate)?

27. Can I just say that this season has rocked!!

28. Locke is a FREAK putting the grenade in Miles’ mouth. Either he really knows something huge or how could the Six possibly leave everyone else behind with him?

29. Kate can’t get pregnant. Eggtown. Was there some kind of X-Files-esque conspiracy to steal her eggs? Falopian tubes removed and cannot get the eggs to hatch?

30. Red flowers in front of Kate’s house. Those things are everywhere!

31. Aaron. I didn’t see that one coming. I can see why Jack didn’t want to come and see the baby. Guilty conscience. Just another reason to head back to the island. Claire must have given Kate the baby just in case they didn’t get back to rescue them. Not sure why Claire wouldn’t have gone instead of Kate. But, if Desmond saw Claire and Aaron getting lifted into the helicopter I would say that is a sure sign that we will see a rescue of the others by the end of the show. Eeek! I don’t even want to think about the end of the show.

32. I agree. Who cares if Kate leaves the state? I think after this she’s going to have to leave the state to find Penny to get back to the island and save the others left behind. Who really wants her to stick around?

33. Next week looks really cool as they are flying into the electrical storm. If they left in the helicopter at least one day before Jack radioed the boat can it be possible that time moves differently going to and from the island? We know they make it to the boat because the other freighter people are in the preview. I also saw a chalkboard….then again…. it is a Desmond flashie. He has short hair in the preview too. And…. per NBC the flight to the boat causes some unexpected side effects.  Another weird Desmond time/head trip?

The looking glass. I kept thinking to myself, the mirror was the “looking glass” in Alice in Wonderland but it was also the portal to the other world. “Through the Looking Glass” is also the sequel to AIW and here is some of the major themes, according to Wikipedia, “In it, there are many mirror themes, including opposites, time running backwards, and so on.” Then, I watched the special on Thursday, “Answers,” and despite the fact I don’t think we really got but a few resolutes to hot questions (like, NO they are not in purgatory people! Give it up!), they did say, regarding Charlie’s question “Guys, where are we?” that they are in a time space continuum. So I think it’s a pretty sure bet that we will find that something about time is not quite right here. It could explain why people heal so fast (time speeds up) or why babies die (time going too fast for the fetus to develop) or why Richard doesn’t age (time going slow). My theory isn’t fully formulated yet but I’m interested to hear yours. Oh yeah, and next weeks episode is titled “Through The Looking Glass.”

1. Juliet says that she’s been leaving tapes for Ben. Duh, and they just stand there like “OK, thanks for the honesty!” WTF is up with these people? I would be wanting to know what the heck she was saying on those tapes. Who is pregnant (considering the women DIE during pregnancy)? How is she getting her *samples?* Man, it’s like a bunch of 5 year olds that just start to ask the right questions then you can distract them with the pretty butterfly going past.

2. When exactly did Jack hook up with Danielle? We never did find out how she got out of the Other’s compound. And what were they thinking by a) wasting all that dynamite blowing up a tree and b) making such a HUGE commotion which would surely attract some unwanted attention? “Hey Ben, did you just hear something?” “Yeah, the losties are just playing with explosives. No big deal.”
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3. Radio was on channel 23. One of our numbers.
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4. Check out the license plate. I read it “You’re Too Old.” Symbolic for what’s to come for our Charlie?
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5. Is it just me or does Liam look like the devil? (and yes, I have seen the devil so there!)
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6. Charlie was making his “list” before Desmond told him of the most recent death flashforward. Charlie is writing his own greatest hits.
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7. What plane wreckage is Jack referring to when he tells Danielle that he will have some of the people strip it for wire? I remember in season one they had to move down the beach away from the wreckage because the water was going to wash away the fuselage. Plus, they burned it because of the bodies inside. Did they pull some of it away from the water? Sawyer has a piece of it that he has his tent in but it’s nothing significant. I keep seeing them walk by with pieces of the plane with wires sticking out. Yeah, almost as believable as Ken and Barbie being there the whole time, too.

8. I know that Ben shows up back at his camp in a rage and wants to go to the camp *now* rather than the next night but what if he and Juliet were planning this all along? Think about it. She is the *good* guy and tells Jack what is going on. Finding out that they are coming “early” Jack rounds all of the WOMEN up and treks them out into the open (see the scene from next week) where who of all people do the come across? Ben! Conveniently. Or it could also be Jack that is working with Ben - he doesn’t stay behind to fight, he doesn’t argue with Sayid when Sayid tells him to be the leader and go, and then he rounds them up making it look like he is trying to save them. Jack told Danielle and Rose that they couldn’t stay behind when they suggested it but when Sayid said he was Jack didn’t put up any fight. And who stays behind? Conveniently, their best shooters! Who will protect the women from being captured? There wasn’t enough time to rig all the dynamite so the casualites for the Others is going to be less. This reeks of set up to me.
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9. Hey look, they have hair extensions on the island, too. Which station are these kept at?
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10. We know there are three seasons left on the show so how can Claire and Aaron get saved? I’m thinking this… who are you going to put in the rescue vessel first? Women and children. Claire and Aaron. They are saved thanks to heroic Charlie pushing the button. But the signal that they receive to find them is only a blip in time. Charlie dies, the switch goes back on, the helicopter can’t find it’s way back and no one else is rescued at this time. Desmond swims back to the surface (yeah, you can see him in the underwater hatch next week) at some point in the season to let the survivors know what happened. Now you have a whole new dimension to the show. They can get help but have to fight the underwater Others. Juliet is once again (who is shocked?) a liar because it’s not flooded. Lots of story lines could happen here. Getting Claire and Aaron off of the island makes sense because *aw shucks* the most innocent are saved. Now the Others can really hack them up on tv!

11. Charlie has expressed several times that he cannot swim. I thought for sure that his dad wasn’t going to catch him, but he did and the moment made his “Greatest Hits” list. Then he says later that he was Junior Swim Champ in Northern England and can hold his breath for four minutes. He was either lying or something happens later to make him afraid of the water. And, does this mean we will see Charlie back next season so we can resolve his story line, so he can find his redemption? Ah, this is killing me! I saw an interview with him on Jay Leno from last week and Dominic is asked if he will be back and he just smiled and said something ambiguous. I want Charlie AND Desmond back. I don’t want either to die for the switch.

12. Pictures of the Looking Glass map:

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13. Check out the rabbit on the logo for this station:
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14. In “The Answers” they showed a clip of Locke being drug by “the monster” down into a hole. A rabbit hole perhaps? Goes with the theme. And why haven’t they come across more of these holes? Surely if there are holes out in the jungle the size of this one there have to be more and people surely would have come across them.

15. I wonder what other secrets Sayid has in this book where he had the Looking Glass map? And why is he trusting Jack so easily now?

16. Hm, maybe ABC is listening. We wanted you-know-who to go bye-bye and they did. We wanted Rose and Bernard back and here they are! And Rose went to the Beauty Salon hatch where Claire has been. Now give us a Mr. Friendly backstory next year!
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17. Ironically, Alex is cutting up a white rabbit.
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18. Rabbits are also a sign for fertility. Maybe they are used in fertility experiments on the island. But Alex likes them for lunch.

19. Alex has daddy issues. It’s cute that she’s hiding Karl out in the woods. But I was thinking, what if some guy was dating my daughter that I didn’t like? Would I cage him? Put him in a sensory *overload* chamber? Anything to keep him away from my daughter? No, of course not. I don’t have the space for a chamber like that in my house!

20. Dexter Stratton - Couldn’t find any real significance of this name. No anagrams that stuck out either. Maybe it’s just background with no more significance than that. Buggers!

21. Lord of the Rings fans - did Charlie’s character ever get the ring? I’ve never seen the movies so I don’t even know the significance of the ring. But I found the passing of the ring from Charlie (who was in the movie) to Aaron must have some meaning, if only tongue in cheek.

22. What happened? Charlie went from Rock God to playing Oasis on the street? Did we miss a huge chunk of time here?

23. Nadia.
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24. What if Jack has the *sickness?* He looks terrible. He seems to be unstable. Danielle never did fully explain what the sickness was, only that her mates got it and she had to kill them. Will Jack’s fate be the same?
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25. Check out the far left of the screen. You can see the camera person’s foot in the sand and part of the camera. Oopsies!
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26. Same scene. Very sad. Hurley wants to go and Charlie has to make something up because he doesn’t want his friend there when he dies. Guess it’s hard to come up with something kind to say when you know you are about to die.

27. I don’t understand why Sawyer wasn’t the third shooter. He was pretty dead on killing that polar bear way back when so they know he can shoot. They know that he’s not above killing also. Must have other plans for him. I am also shocked that Sun agreed to let Jin stay. Didn’t she tell him once that she lost him but would never lose him again? Now they are separating the pregnant couple. I smell something fishy!

29. This lost Lost scene worked for me. It was simply done. There weren’t lots of our favorite characters running around the scene in an effort to get us to believe it. It was just Charlie and Claire and at that moment, that is probably how he felt. Applause, applause to ABC for K.I.S.S. (keeping it simple stupid!).”
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30. Remember Joanna, the drowning woman from season one? Could they have drug her under the water and brought her here, or have been drug under by these women? They want women for their experiments so it makes sense why.
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31. Why did Juliet lie about the hatch being flooded? Wouldn’t they have been more apt to go to the hatch (if they Others wanted them) if they thought it was functional?

32. I am thinking since they can jam the signal from here that this is another communication station (we see Mikhail down here in next week’s preview also). So could this station have crashed Naomi’s helicopter? After “The Answers” we can’t blame them here for the crash of 815 because they said decidedly so that Desmond caused the plane to crash.

33. Remember how the hatch (Desmond’s) had tunnels that had recently been filled with concrete (sorry, I don’t have a screenshot right now for this)? Juliet said that there was an incident. Does the Looking Glass lead to the other hatches, but when the incident happened they had to close off the tunnels?

34. “I’m alive, I’m alive.” Oh crap, maybe I’m not going to be for long! Poor Charlie!
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35. New characters. Guess we’ll find out how long they’ll be staying this week. They don’t seem amused to see someone new in their hatch.
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36. So in the previews for this week it looks like Desmond will be joining Charlie and a surprise visitor arrives (Mikhail). Looks like the 3 shooters are going to be captured (which is odd because Ben told Ryan to kill the men). And surprise, surprise, Ben finds Jack and ALL THE WOMEN wandering in an open field. Who will be the snake in the mailbox? Should be very exciting and TWO HOURS friends!

So we open this week with Desmond wandering through the jungle again like some Career Builder commercial (Run Dessy! They scheduled a meeting to train new characters how to try and blend into the scene). I’m giving this episode an A+, though, because overall I love the Desmond character and this flashback/flashforward idea is bar none the best on TV. Two down, 14 to go! *Fingers Crossed*

1. Surprise! Charlie is a thief! I was disappointed that Hurley was there even though he kept himself off to the side. Hurley tried to reason with Charlie but didn’t seem to be trying too hard to stop him did he? Maybe the promise of Dharlomars was just too enticing.
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2. “The island killed him.” Nothing really new here. I’ve read that Locke finds a whole new motivation on the island this season so I’m curious to see what he does with it.
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3. OK, so if Claire goes out for a swim every day, why was she fully dressed? And how exactly is she hanging on to Desmond if she’s dead? I’m just saying…
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4. “That guy sees the future, dude.” I guess I would have put on my swim trunks then, brother!
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5. Why does Hurley ask if they know any songs about drinking and fighting and girls with one leg? A very weird song request.
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6. Here is what flashes before Desmond’s eyes when he turns the key (note: it’s all on the island):

7. This is an interesting item to note that I found on another board. Notice the screenshot of Desmond’s eye. It’s identical from the first time we saw Desomond (when he wakes up to *Make Your Own Kind Of Music*) and then when he *wakes up* back home. Notice the reflection in his eye.

Here is when he wakes up in the hatch:
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Here is when he wakes up back home after falling:
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8. Desmond is a klutz.! Twice hit over the head in one episode! Who knows when he originally hit his head and found out he had precognitive abilities, but I believe that it became “clear” to him when he fell in his *flat* and woke up to Penny. I think that Desmond has probably seen flashes of events for much of his life but being taught, like we all are, to be pragmatic, he brushed the moments off as Deja Vue or just as premonitions and as his mind playing tricks.

So he wakes up with Penny and maybe while he was passed out he was seeing the future on the island (see the flashes above). I think all of the flashes that he sees from that point forward are moments in the future that have not happened yet. I think we were in the flashback but what was confusing is that we were seeing Desmonds premonitions. It became confusing because we have already seen the events happen, Desmond has not. To put it another way, we are watching his flashback just like any other character, only Desmond is special because he can see the future. We have seen that future so there is no time loop, just a convenient red-herring to throw us off in thinking that he is in some type of time loop.

I think that the jewlrey store lady does also see the future, but she also has been planted by Widmore to make sure Desmond breaks up with Penny. Remember Claire’s psychic? He was hell bent on getting her to stay off the plane, then suddenly changed his mind and wanted her to get *on* the plane? This lady shows Desmond that she has an ability (the guy getting crushed by the scaffolding) then tells him he must follow his destiny.

However, there is also the possibility that she is, as he questioned, his conscious. He is dreaming of her while he lays *unconscious* on the island. He knows that he could not change the past, as all of us have wished for at one time or another, and she is a manifestation and personification of the guilt he feels over his past choices with Penny.

9. Course Correcting. If it is true and the universe will make sure the a course of destiny is followed, then aren’t *ALL* of the survivors from the plane crash going to die? You are in a fiery crash and you live. Doesn’t that mean that the universe is going to course correct for them all, not just Charlie (or Claire)? Eko did tell Locke that they were next.

10. I found this at another board, but the mural in Mr. Widmore’s office is the same painting as was in Claire’s apartment that was painted by the baby’s father, Thomas:
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11. Here is a screenshot from another painting in Mr. Widmore’s office. The polar bear is going to attack a buddha?
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12. Here is a link to a website that has screencaps of all the advertisements along the soccer field (that was on tv in the bar).

13. I found it interesting that we see Daddy issues coming up again. Jin was a *loser* that was trying to impress Sun’s dad by working for him, much like Desmond. Although, Desmond decided he didn’t want to work for her dad, he still faces the scrunity in not being *good enough* for his daughter.

14. OK Lord Of The Ring Fans… this HAS to be similar to imagery in that story. Help me out here!
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15. There is an overabundance of red in this episode. Remember friends what the significance of red is?
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I have a theory.  In this theory Rose and Bernard have just shown us the path to the rest of this show and the ending.  Here is where I see Lost ending….

In the book “The Lost Chronicles” JJ Abrams states (and I paraphrase here from memory) that this show will end.  They will not leave us hanging (of course, unless they jump the shark and ABC decides to kill it).  We will see what happens to the survivors.

Rose does not want to leave the island.  Much like Locke, she has found her peace, her Garden of Eden if you will.  Now that Bernard knows the WHY he is also OK with never leaving this island.  The stage is now set.

Sun … she is now pregnant.  A miracle.  Will she want to leave?  Will Jin want to go knowing that he wants this family so badly, he certainly doesn’t want to go back and face Sun’s father so why not settle here?

Claire.  She was warned that Aaron should and cannot be raised by another.  We know she doesn’t get along with her mother and Thomas (baby-daddy) doesn’t want anything to do with her.  What does she have to go back to?  Add the relationship with Charlie back to the equation and neither of them will want to leave.

Eko.  Building a new life as the priest.  Knows now the fate of his brother.  Maybe he will find his life here.

Hurley.  Hello??? Libby and Darmalars.  Need I say more?

Locke.  This is a given.  He is out of the wheelchair and is The Great White Hunter (to quote Charlie).  What does he have to go back to?  Helen is gone.  His dad betrayed him.  His mom is nuts.  He will be the pride of the pack here on the island.

At this point in the story we could argue that the rest of the characters that I haven’t mentioned have plenty of reasons to return home.  But we only know some of their past.  We didn’t know even one little bit about Rose last week and now we know that she will never leave the island.  Who knows what other revelations we might encounter over the next season or so.

So here is how I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see Lost close. 

A Coast Guard ship spots the island.  The survivors see it coming.  As the boat approaches the shore the survivors are hiding in the trees, watching.  The soldiers on the boat are searching.  Maybe they see some of the remaining fuselage down the shore. 

No one is coming out from the trees.  Their hearts are beating fast, pupils dialated, palms are sweaty, yet no one moves out.  Minutes go by, maybe a soldier steps ashore.  Stillness.

Vincent comes bounding out from the trees.  He’s Sawyer’s dog now.  He is Sawyer’s companion (maybe he’s the only one who can stand him or he hasn’t isolated himself from).  Long pause.  Sawyer steps out from the trees.  Sawyer cannot stay here.  His life is the con and he craves it back.  Sawyer now looks like one of the so-called “Others” we have gotten to know.

The soldier is surprised and pulls his gun.  Sawyer puts up his hands and in his suave way calms him and explains who he is.  The soldier asks where everyone else is.  Sawyer pauses.  A long, long, thoughtful pause.  He is waiting to see if anyone else emerges.  Nothing.  Sawyer states two words, “They died.”

Soldier, Sawyer and Vincent board the Coast Guard ship.  Sawyer doesn’t look back as the boat leaves but lifts his hand in adieu.

Like any great show, we don’t have all the answers in the end.  What we are left to speculate is how the survivors who are now left behind will live their remaining days here.  Will they become the illusive “Others” to anyone else landing here?  At this point our survivors will know all the secrets of the island and may carry out many of the same actions we are now seeing from the current “Others.”  Nothing is told.  We just have to sit ….. and wonder.

THE END.

For the record, Deel Twee is “Part Two” in Dutch. It just sounds cool… I think.

Also, my Scott gave me a program to capture screen shots so now I can use my own!

1. I think that the Others (from Claire’s new memory) are coming on and off of the island by an underground rail system. Listen carefully when Claire & Co. approach where the new hatch is. You hear what sounds like thunder. But, when has there been thunder before when it rained? Also, the *thunder* rolls on and on. I think that “if” there is thunder, there is also the sound of the rail system. This would also explain why Danielle says that when the Others are coming she sees black smoke. When the train is approaching the island it’s probably above ground and she sees the smoke from it.

2. I also maintain that they are doing some type of mining so they could also be using the rail system much in the way a coal mining company uses railways.

3. Vincent, get away from Hurley!

4. The baby’s rash, real or red herring? Remember this guy?

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From Solitary 1 x 09:

SULLIVAN: Doc, what do you think this is, this, this, this, uh, rash. It’s bad, right, like some kind of a tropical disease?

JACK: It’s hives.

SULLIVAN: What’s that? Is that like poison ivy?

JACK: It’s a common rash, Sullivan; it’s brought on by heat and stress.

SULLIVAN: Okay.

JACK: Just try to relax; it’ll clear up.

SULLIVAN: Right.

JACK: Try to keep your mind off it.

SULLIVAN: Okay, [to Sun who has a poultice] What is that? Is it like aloe? Isn’t that for sunburn, or something?

HURLEY: Try to keep your mind off it? What else has that guy got to do but stress?

JACK: I’ve got enough on my plate without having to treat hypochondriacs.

This conversation adds to the ambiguity of the cause of the rash. If this guy had it clear back in Season One and just now the baby is getting a rash, we could assume that it is nothing. However, there could be an incubation period, especially if Ethan was injecting the baby with the virus.

5. The bottles that Ethan took out of the fridge to inject into the baby had the label of RX-1. Check out this thread from Fuselage.com:

“Basically it means Rx1 is a form of pneumonia which is not dangerous. Vaccines are injections of the same stuff that makes you sick but they - the bacteria - are either dead or inactive (like Rx1) and they’re injected into your body so that your immune system recognizes it and creates anti-bodies that remain in your body so it can fight the disease when you’re actually infected.”

6. Also, in the refrigerator, we see all sorts of other bottles. There is the greenish liquid we see injected into Claire, but I also see a pink, blue and clear liquid. Then, in the second pix below, we can see all sorts of other bottles, too. So I assume that Claire and the baby are not the only experiment going on here on the island. For instance, there was something in the water Ethan gave to Claire to keep her docile.

7. So if this is indeed a vaccination, can The Others be helping baby Aaron? Remember that Goodwin told Ana that the Others weren’t bad and Zeke told Jack that Walt was “just fine.” Maybe The Others are releasing some type of virus onto the island and they are protecting the children.

8. Danielle. Remember that she told Sayid in Season One that around two months when they were coming back from the Black Rock they ran into “Them” and they were the carriers of the virus. Well, they have been on the island for about two months and now she tells Claire that if the baby is sick, she knows what needs to be done. Which it appears she is telling Claire she must kill the baby since she says she killed her team.

9. I got a kick out of the Stephen King reference. I think this was just the writer’s way of “shouting out,” if you will, to the viewers. There is much talk out there that the show is following some type of pattern from The Dark Tower Series.

10. Claire’s flashback. First, I thought it interesting that we did not see the usual flashback. However, I wonder if Claire is crossing memories much like Libby told her could happen. She went as far as to tell Danielle she wanted Ethan to have the baby so he would be safe. The psychic told Claire she had to send the baby to the couple in LA so he would be safe. We haven’t seen the conversation she had with the first adoptive family, but I would think that it was similar to some of the dialog she had with Ethan. Also, this screen shot has Claire now and Claire then in the same shot. I don’t remember seeing this type of shot before in this show, which makes me think that this is just a visualization of the concept of Claire mixing her memories.

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11. Con. Ethan conned Claire much in the way Sawyer described the way he cons women. Ethan put it into her mind that it was her idea that they should keep the baby. She trusted him enough to even let him feel the baby kick. It was almost as if he had feelings for her, also. Ethan told Claire that he was going to miss her when she was gone. Weird. Crossover memory, perhaps?

12. So we know the guy outside the door was Zeke. But who is the “him” he is referring to? Hanso? Candle? Is it the same “Him” that Desmond referred to (Are you Him?)?

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13. Smoke and mirrors. Much like the Wizard of Oz, we find out that things are not what they seem. We know that this set of Others are putting on disguises for our survivors. But why? I think that they are doing it to keep the survivors under their control, keep them afraid of the monster in the woods, if you will. If The Others have drawn a boundary or a line in the sand, it keeps the survivors in a certain territory on the island and probably in an area that is set up with listening devices as well as speakers (remember the whispers).

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14. The new hatch observations. My first reaction to this hatch is the obvious, the way it looks which is very different that the Swan. Primarily, what we see is a hall with a few doors but the edges of the hall are rounded, why? Could this be like what they did in the X-Files that they had a car where they were doing their medical experiments? This goes along with my rail theory.

15. So where did the hallway lead to that Ethan passes with Claire? Was it the way out (the hall that Kate & Co. entered the hatch through)?

16. What happened at the hatch? The main hallway looks like there was something earth moving that ransacked the place with the wires hanging down. I am thinking that maybe when Locke didn’t press the button at “0″ that some type of reaction did start to happen. Maybe it shook the ground hard enough to kick up dust (thus the outlines on the wall where the animals were in the nursery) and would also explain the refrigerator being knocked over and the wires hanging down from the ceiling. The other option is that the hatch has been there so long and that is why the outlines were on the wall and maybe a different set of Others (the children, perhaps) attacked them and when they found that they were gone, tore the place apart.

17. Lastly, what is the Escape Hatch? If the entrance Ethan leads Claire away from is the way out, why have an Escape Hatch? Could it just be that they are in an old rail car and this is left over? Could they even be in a completely different hatch that Claire was taken to? When they come back to the hatch, where is the Escape door? I couldn’t see it in the screen caps. This would explain why the place looks so torn apart because it is indeed NOT where Claire was taken.

18. I saw five people in the “surgery” room. There is talk on the internet that the man sitting who is looking at the camera is Henry. I have made the pix bigger but cannot tell if it is him. But I do still contend that Jack’s dad is alive and that he is part of this team. I don’t think that he died in Australia, but rather, it was an elaborate set up so that people back home would think that he was dead so he could go on to the Hanso project. What did Jack’s dad have left back home once his license was stripped from him? And why oh why if they are getting ready to perform a surgery and they are in surgery garb is the DOOR OPEN!!!??? Is this another con? Do they want her to see this? Is that why the man on the end looks out - to make sure she sees what is going on?

19. The song that the airplane mobile was playing was the same song that Claire asked the adoptive family in season one to sing to the baby. She said that her dad used to sing it to her when she was young. “Catch A Falling Star.” Another crossover memory? How else would this happen?

20. Did you notice the picture in the nursery on the wall of the steamboat? Look familiar?

21. What about this. The reason that “HE” is so set on having a list is because this experiment has gone wrong and the plane was supposed to somehow land, not crash. Now the Others don’t know exactly who has survived and so that have to send in a mole to make this list. Everyone that is there is not necessarily supposed to be there and that is why some of them have died. That is why the “good ones” were taken as they are the ones that the Others want. Maybe those who have died where not wanted by the Others. If memory serves, Boone and Shannon were moved on the plane. I remember that Joanna (the girl who drown) was bumped onto this flight because of illness. Maybe the Others don’t want them there because they don’t need them.

22. I think that Eko is building a structure that we will not see until the end of the season. He (OBVIOUSLY) knows way more about the island that we think (Hello, his conversation with Henry?). He must know what they might need, OR he is just smart enough to know that they are not going to be rescued and that eventually they will need “real” shelter outside of their tents. I sure hope that he’s not building a church. That for one is too obvious and two, I believe in the separation of Church and Lost….

    Click on image to enlarge

   Click on image to enlarge
23. There is a distinct alarm going off in the background when Claire has escaped Ethan and the gang and we can see them coming for her. Would they have an alarm on the door?

24. I’m still on the fence over Henry and his Otherness. It seems even more obvious from Eko’s confession and Henry’s manipulation of Locke that he is truly an Other, but I take issue with the fact that the writers are spoon-feeding us this info. I’m just suspicious.