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?

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.

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.

Faraday said that they could not change fate.  Charlie is supposed to die.  Mrs Hawkins explained course correction.  Their destiny called from the island.  Their destiny will still have it’s way.  Kate will keep running.  Sawyer keeps conning.  But Not-Locke put it best when he said to Ben that the survivors don’t even realize how pitiful their lives are back home.  Guess we are seeing that.  Will like to see how this destiny fixes itself.

I think we are dealing with two time lines running parallel to each other.  Jack did change history but I think that the two time lines are going to intersect at some point.  Thus proving Faraday’s theory that you cannot change your destiny.

1.  You could see right away that the plane ride was different.  The stewardess only handed Jack one bottle of vodka and in the original she handed him two.  Boone was without Shannon.  Claire must have changed her mind about adopting Aaron.  Charlie didn’t run past Jack to the bathroom. The cops didn’t take Kate, they took Charlie.  (and btw, YEAH CHARLIE!!!).  But these things would not have been different because Jack / Juliet set the bomb off.  And the island was underwater which Jack could not have changed with the bomb.

2.  Desmond.  Where are thou Desmond?  What was that all about? But omg he looked good!

3.  I need to screen cap but I swear that was a Dharma shark.  Graphics were pretty bad though.  And the foot was there so history wasn’t completely changed.

4.  Kate’s eye opens.  And she’s in a tree.  Cool!

5.  So at first I was pretty upset that they just didn’t leave Juliet where we last saw her.  Then I remembered an interview with Elizabeth Mitchell where she stated she came back as Juliet because her role was pivotal to the season.  She tells Miles that “it worked.”  Of course no one will think to question him further on this but this is a huge clue to what is going on with the alter-universe of their lives that we are seeing.  She also talks to Sawyer about going for coffee, dutch.  Was she traveling to the other time line?  Is she in some state like Faraday had Eloise (the rat)?  Traveling back and forth in her mind?

6.  So back on the plane Hurley tells Sawyer that “nothing bad” ever happens to him.  Back with the original Hurley only bad things happened.  He thought he was cursed!

7.  Like Ben, I also want to know why Jacob didn’t fight back?  Unless he knows that like the survivors back on the plane, you cannot change your destiny so he gives in to it.  Plus, can he possibly take over Sayid’s body?  Is that why he wanted Sayid at the temple so badly?  Is Sayid now Jacob?  Oooo, Locke versus Sayid?  Show down!

8.  I wasn’t sure if it was on purpose, but I remember in the Pilot Boone really wants to get a pen to help save Rose.  When Jack is trying to save Charlie on the plane he asks for a pen.  I found it amusing.

9.  So with Rose back home is she now going to die of cancer?

10.  Why did the Dharma van travel forward in time but nothing else tangible did?

11.  Wow, Jack is really going to be screwed up in his head with all these people dying on his watch.  We’ll have angry Sawyer, depressed Jack and not-Locke.  What a trio!

12.  Now we know why Locke was the only one old Smokey didn’t kill.  He looked inside and what Smokey saw was what he wanted.  He needed to keep Locke alive to take over his body.

13.  Did you notice Not-Locke sitting in the old rocking chair?  Just like the old rocking chair in the cabin.

14.  So where did Desmond disappear to on the plane?

15.  Sayid told us not to mistake coincidence for fate.  It’s no coincidence that Christian Shepherd’s body isn’t on that plane.

16.  Remember last season when Hurley told Sayid that he was going to have a time that he needed help and that he wouldn’t help him?  Guess he changed his mind because twice Hurley literally saved his life.

17.  And was Hurley hilarious tonight or what?

18.  Kate heard the whispers in the temple.  Then we see the Others in the temple.  Not sure I know what the significance of the whispers in the jungle were if it’s just these people.  I’m hoping there is more explanation to come.

19.  I’m worried about Hurley running around in that red shirt.  There was a problem in the past with people wearing red and then dying.

20.  I like how they “baptized” Sayid in the temple.  I think the Japanese guy knew exactly what they were doing in the water.  He knew that Sayid wasn’t going to die.  And we know from the past that bodies left out and not buried seem to be resurrected.

21.  Another question – who is this Japanese dude?  Will be interested to hear his story.

22.  Locke broke the circle of ash around Jacob’s shack last season.  Guess he must have let Not-Locke in at that moment.  I will have to come back o the significance of the ash.  Also, the guy in the temple was OK until he stepped out of the ash.

23.  Claire either was on the plane or lives in LA.  She was in the cab with Kate.

24.  Jack also had a pivitol line to Locke, “nothing’s irreversable.”  Interesting.

25.  Why didn’t Richard want them to shoot Locke?    Looks like Richard knows Not-Locke from way back.  I’m thinking Black Rock history?

26.  Is Terry O’Quinn the best actor ever?  He really gets to exercise his acting chops this season!  I love it!

27.  Where is Vincent?

28.  The bullet hit Non-Locke but seemed to bend (didn’t go straight through him).  What exactly is this guy?

29.  My hope is that this is the last of the Saywer and Kate love affair (with his grief over Juliet).

30.  On a limb here – MAYBE the plane didn’t crash because the circumstances weren’t right.  Last season they had to recreate the flight as close to the original in order to crash on the island again.  If Jack’s dad’s body wasn’t on the plane then maybe they couldn’t crash?

I have to go back and watch again.  Come back in a few days for more thoughts and screencaps!  Welcome back, looks like we’ve hit the ground running.

Another tease:

“Desmond, aka Henry Ian Cusick.

Assuming the rumors are true that Lost’s sixth season will center around that fateful Oceanic Flight 815, which Desmond was not on, does that mean we won’t see Des?

Here’s what I can tell you…

1. According to sources, we will see Desmond again…
2. …fairly early on in the season.
3. His first appearance will be with one of the Losties, and the scene/encounter is very surprising.
4. You guys are going to love it! (Honestly)

That’s all I can spill for now, ’cause I’m told this is one surprise you won’t want to be spoiled for. “

Hi Friends!  I can’t believe Season Five is over.  It’s like when a relative (one that you like) comes to visit and at some point you are ready to get your house back but in another way you are sad to see them go.  I was thrilled to see the season play out and there wasn’t even one episode that I was disappointed with but I was also very sad for it to end, especially knowing we only have one season left!  Argh!  What will our new obsession be?

So for me I want to start with the Sawyer / Juliet scene at the hatch.  H-E-A-R-T-B-R-E-A-K-I-N-G.  I don’t cry for very many shows and that scene did it for me.  But I keep thinking of what our softened up 1977 Sawyer is going to become after this event.  Look out folks, you aint see nothing yet!  The sheriff is back in town and he’s got one hell of a chip on his shoulder!
  Ugh, the heartbreak!
  Way to go Juliet!  Push through the pain!

1.  So we know Jacob likes to weave rugs.  If anyone can read what is on this one that would be super cool and appreciated.  But the rug is always the same in the end, right, it’s just a rug.  Anything he learns in the making of the next one or does different is progress.  Just like what he says about people coming to the island.
   Click to enlarge

2.  Did Jacob catch a red herring?  The significance of that would be huge!  Or, it was just be amusing.
  Click to enlarge

3.  Black and white shirts.  How fitting.
    Click to enlarge

4.  Thank goodness Dan was so detailed regarding the bomb.  Maybe he had some sort of inkling that he may not be the one to do it or he knows how bad his memory is so that is why he was so very detailed.
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5.  Locke wants to kill the rest of the passengers from the Ajira flight, I assume.  He tells Richard that once they are done with Jacob that they need to “deal with them.”  How interesting.  Perhaps he knows that Ilana and the others are there to help Jacob.  I don’t like the new Locke anymore.

6. Frank being a “candidate” must have something to do with how Jacob will take form and speak to them after his death.  Ultimately, it’s going to be either Miles or Hurley, I think, that does the talking for him.  Heck, Hurley may even be able to get a game of chess going.

7.  It makes sense that Smokey, the man in black, and undead Locke are all the same entity.  Smokey came to Ben and told him he had to do whatever Locke told him.  duh!  Like killing Jacob.  Smokey was *reading* everyone on the island as it/he needed to find the right person that it/he could manipulate.  No wonder it didn’t kill Locke!  It wanted him for later use.

8.  Jacob didn’t kill Nadia, he actually saved Sayid from being killed.  He made Sayid pause before crossing and thus he didn’t get hit by the car that ran the red light.
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9.  Vincent!  Unfortunately, I’m sure that this will be the last time we’ll see this dog.  No back story. No more showing up when there’s trouble.  Unless… Jacob chooses Vincent to be his vessel around the island now that he’s dad.  That would be cool.
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10.  This is the last of Rose and Bernard, too.  But, I love that they found a loophole of their own.  They don’t play the game anymore, they just live.  They’ve embraced the island and it is what it is for them.  I would venture to say that they are the “Adam and Eve” that were found in the cave back oh so many seasons ago.  Too bad Sawyer and Juliet couldn’t have found the same Garden of Eden for themselves.
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11. The circle of Ash was broken from around Jacob’s cabin.  If memory serves, it was Locke that bent down and picked up some of the ash.  Perhaps that is when it was broken?

12.  Ilana’s eye opening.  It also kind of reminds me of Michael from the Halloween movies.  Eeeek!
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13.  Ilana didn’t just go back to the island to help Jacob.  She also made a little pit stop and nabbed Sayid to bring him back with her.  That is why I don’t think that Sayid will die from the gunshot nor will he did from the bomb.  Jacob needs him there for some purpose.

14.  Here is the part of the rug (I assume) that Jacob made at some point which Ilana knows already what it means.  I am hoping that we see some back story next year on their relationship.  Maybe she’s really old like Richard.
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15.  It’s interesting that they’re carrying around the big old cargo crate like it’s the Arc of the Covenant.  Did they really have to pick such a huge friggin’ box that took four guys to carry around the island?    I guess the writer’s couldn’t have used such blatant biblical imagery if they would have thrown him in a body bag or a knapsack.
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16.  Maybe it’s not the content of the book Jacob is reading that is important, but more about the author, “lead readers—whom she sees as, for the most part, spiritually lost in the modern, secular world—back toward the path of redemption.”
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17.  I miss Charlie!
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18.  Sun finding this ring makes me think back to when she (ironically) found her wedding ring in the sand.  How unlikely was that?  Perhaps some *divine* intervention helped her out there?

19.  The scene at the funeral of Sawyer’s parents, there is the sound of a large bird right before Jacob shows up.  Then, as he leaves you can hear the sound of a bird again (like a crow perhaps).  Could that be how Jacob gets around?  Remember the bird on the island that we thought sounded like it said “Hurley?  I keep thinking back to The Stand and in the book Randall Flagg gets around this way – he takes the shape of a bird.  Only, he’s the bad guy in that book and I like to think that Jacob is the good guy.

20.  I’m not liking that is was Jack’s dad that taught him about counting to five.  One of the most meaningful and life changing events and we find out that it was his dad who told him to do it.  Doesn’t seem as moving knowing this.  Oh, and Sawyer wanted just “five” minutes with Jack.  Lucky number I guess.

21.  Everyone that Jacob “touched” (except for Sun and Locke) were on the list of people that Jacob wanted from the survivors.  And, they are “coming” back from the past.  He somehow prepared them for this moment in the touches I think.

22.  The Sawyer and Jack fight was 5 seasons coming.  Glad they finally got that out of their systems … I hope.

23.  My bets are on Hurley for taking over as the leader of the Losties.  He was an indirect leader before (back on the beach Hurley had a subtle way of getting people to do things) and I can see him doing it again.  The war is coming between the black and white, the good and evil on the island and it doesn’t get much better than Hurley.  Plus, he’ll be able to talk to Jacob and what to do next.

24.  I loved the scene in the cab with Jacob and Hurley.  Someone to calmly tell him that he’s not crazy and getting to talk to those he lost is a blessing.  But I don’t believe that him coming back to the island was a choice.  Jacob knew once Hurley saw that guitar that he would go back (remember that Charlie told him that the people back on the island needed him).
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25.  The fact that Mrs Hawking and Jacob both were working to get the Losties on the plane and back to the island tells me that she is actually a “good” guy.

26.  Creepy Locke.  Nice shadowing on the face – black and white / light and dark.
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27.  Marvin Candle had a gimpy arm in the Dharma videos.  We see that during the *incident* that his arm gets trapped and Miles helps to free him.  So…. wouldn’t that mean that this event *has* happened before?  How likely is it that another event was the cause of hurting his arm? Like Miles said, Jack is creating the exact event that he thought he was preventing.  Free will be damned, this was meant to happen.
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28.   What if Jacob decides to take over the Locke body from the plane?  Locke versus Locke?  Like the old Spy versus Spy cartoons!
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29.  Jacob tells Ben that he has a choice – either to do what Locke asks or leave.  Kind of like he told Hurley he had a choice.  I don’t think Ben had much choice and Jacob knew it.  But Jacob won’t be dead in the spiritual sense.  Maybe he’ll even become one of the “whispers.”

30.  I think once Ben realizes next season that Jacob wasn’t the bad guy he’s going to have some big regrets.  Ben has been trusting and believing in Jacob for a very long time.  I’m sure he still cares about him in a sense too.

31.   If I were an actress and I knew I was going to be killed off of a show, I would ask for the exact death Juliet had.  That was amazing.  And she is an amazing actress.  Oh, and in the context of the show, I guess the island wasn’t done with her or she would have been so dead at the end of that fall.

32.  THE greatest season ender…. ever.
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33.   So where do we go from here?  It’s safe to say the Losties aren’t dead.  Matthew Fox did an interview after the finale and admitted that they weren’t dead.  But, from knowing this show there is no way that they will just suddenly appear back in regular time.  There will be a cool and interesting way that they are brought back.  Maybe they will be a big troop of Locke’s.  lol  Maybe they will be the whispers.  Maybe they will inhabit all the dead bodies around the island.

34.  Desmond had a small roll this season but truly I think Des is the one and only person who can truly be a variable in all of this.  Des is special.  Once he shows up then all bets are off.  Maybe ultimately Des will become the new Jacob in the end.

35.  Sayid will be alive.  He has to be.  Jacob saved him for a reason.

36.  Which side of the war will Richard chose?

37.  What does Locke need with all of the Others?  He told him that they would need rest to be ready for what he had prepared for them.  Which is what?

38.  We still don’t know what was in the box that Ben was hiding from Jack when he was in the hotel room.

39.  Walt *saw* Locke, in a suit, running from lots of people trying to kill him.  Will Locke rise again in Jack’s dad’s shoes?

40.  Will Walt return to the island?

41.  How will Claire come back into play?  Aaron is surely coming back as well.  Will Desmond’s vision of them leaving the island on a helicopter come true?

I was thinking about the choice of being able to take a pivotal moment in your life and change the event.  I’m sure all of us have at least one moment in our life where you wonder, “what if…”  But would you really change it if you could?  Should the Losties mess with their fate?  What if they were meant to die in that crash?  What if Jack manages to change the future and instead of crashing on the island, the plane crashes in the ocean and they die?  What does Jack have to go back to anyway that he’d want to change the crash?  Wouldn’t he be better changing his actions with Sarah, his dad or the drugs?

1.  I don’t think the Mrs Hawking does know what happens next (she tells Penny in the hospital).  Let’s assume that she picks up the journal when she shoots Dan back in 1977.  She has the events up until the time that Dan goes back and then shoots him.  Now she doesn’t know what is going to happen because the journal ends.

2.  Why would Dan think that Jack and the others don’t belong there in 1977?  What does he know or what did he learn back in Ann Arbor that we haven’t learned yet?

3.  I think that when we see Eloise go to Dan playing the piano as a young boy, this isn’t a flashback, if you consider 1977 as the “present.”  I think that we are seeing her after she shoots him on the island and gets the journal.  That is how you would explain that she knows Dan has a destiny to be fulfilled.
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4.  Everyone is in a jumpsuit except Juliet and she’s in a red “death shirt.”  I think that the writers are going to use the overworked plot device that someone is going to have to stay behind and die so that the others may live and return to modern times.  Juliet will be the one.  Think about it.  She loves Sawyer but knows the moment he calls Kate “Freckles” that their life there together is over.  She also still loves Jack.  She can save them both by sacrificing herself to get them back where they belong.  This is my prediction.

5. When Dan has Miles take him to the Orchid station and Pierre/Marvin pulls up, he looks at his watch and says, “right on time.”  OK, I can believe that Dan understands the physics of the island but how can he know the movements of Chang?

6.  And Dan spills the beans to Pierre about Miles knowing it will lead him to send the children off of the island.  How could he know this stuff?  I’m wondering if we are going to see that Dan is the one who made all the calculations under the church where older Mrs Hawkins talks to the Losites.  That is how he figured when the incident would be on the island and that is why he has to get back.

7. OK, the scene where Dan is crying over the news footage of the plane crash totally changes in the middle.  At the beginning Dan’s hair is wet and slicked back.  Then 30 seconds later it’s dry and longer.  Bad editing or does something in time change like it did with the pictures at the lady’s house that Miles “talked” to her dead son?
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8.  There is never much product placement but turns out JJ Abrams is a guest editor for the magazine this month.  The magazine we see is “The Super Power” Issue from August 2003. Issue 11.08.  See a large picture of the cover here.

9.  When Dan approaches Charlotte I wonder if he tells her the same thing about not coming back to the island or if he tries something different this time.  If I were Dan I’d probably try a somewhat different strategy.

10. Dang, Jack sure is a good shot!  Is there anything he can’t do?

11.  If Dan’s plan is to detonate the hydrogen bomb, was he going to let them all die?  I didn’t hear anything in his plan about getting them out of there before he bombs them.  But, we also don’t really know why he wanted to see his mom on the island so badly.  Maybe she will be the catalyst to getting them back to current time.  Maybe in 1977 she sees the journal and knows she has to help the Losties get back to real time.

12.  And I think that Desmond is going to end up being the Variable.  Why would he let them change anything?  I can see him doing anything to preserve his path that leads him back to Penny.

100 days of Obama, 100 episodes of Lost.  And they both just keep getting better….  Thank you Mr President for slamming the door shut on the conversation right at 9:00 so we didn’t miss one second of Lost.  That’s pretty awesome.

What is NOT awesome is that we lost Dan.  That sucks hard.  Yeah, yeah, I understand why but that doesn’t make it any easier to accept.  But I love that from the looks of next week Dan’s torch has been passed to Jack.  Jack starts reemerging as the leader.

1.  What an incredibly hard decision to make.  Do they really want to prevent the plane from crashing?  Why on earth would Kate want the chain of events to be different?  Jack just likes to fix things but I can’t see why he is so hot to stop the plane from crashing.  I’m not convinced that they will change the future though.

2.  So Dan tells Jack that they are really not supposed to be there.  I think that Jack and the others *are* supposed to be there and Mrs Hawkin is right, just like she sends Dan back to the island to be shot (by her) because that is correct chain of events.

3. Mrs Hawkin comes to Dan while he’s a boy with tears in her eyes because she knows that she is setting Dan on the course of events for his life that will ultimately lead to her shooting him.  She even tells him she has to keep him on her path.

4. I also love Mrs H’s reaction when Penny asks if Ben is her son, “Good Lord No!”

5.  Every one of the Losites has their jumpsuit on except for Juliet.  She is wearing her red shirt.  I hope they don’t sacrifice Juliet to get them all back to current time.  I thought that Dan would be the one to stay behind with the bomb in order for the others to get back, but now I’m thinking it might be Juliet and her love for Jack and Sawyer.  She’ll want to save them.

6.  Loved that we saw several scenes this week from a different angle that we’ve seen before.

7.  I think that Dr Chang believes Dan and he ends up sending all the women and children off of the island.  So when Dan tells Miles that he will “see” why he told Dr Chang the truth, Miles will see why his dad really sent them off of the island so long ago (and not because he didn’t care about them).

8.  I’m not convinced that Mrs Hawkin didn’t have something to do with Teresa going into her “coma.”  She wanted to make sure that Dan stayed on his life course and Teresa was definitely a distraction from that.  She does warn him that any women in his life will end up “terribly hurt.”

9.   Great new nicknames for Dan from Sawyer “Twitchy” and “HG Wells.”  Too bad he won’t be around for them to stick.

10.  I would love for the island to *heal* Dan but I don’t see that they will write that into the story.  Dead is dead afterall, right?  Except for Locke, and Christian, and Richard, and Jacob, and….

11.  The magazine on Dan’s couch is a “Wired” magazine and the title is “The Impossible Gets Real.”   Sounds like a little “wink, wink” from the writers of Lost to the fans of the show.

12.   I think that Widmore cares at least somewhat about Dan.  He helps to fund his research and then comes to Dan personally to ask him to go to the island.  He sends Naomi to talk to the others but comes to Dan himself.

13.  Juliet gives Kate the fence code yet Sawyer immediately forgives her.  First, I think that Juliet gives her the code because Sawyer calls Kate, “freckles.”  As soon as he says it Juliet gets this look on her face then tells Kate that “it’s over here anyway.”  She knows Sawyer still loves Kate (excuse me while I go barf after typing that).  I think Sawyer knows that he messed up with Juliet but I think he also does love her.

14. Looks like Dan has mommy issues.  The only one so far that isn’t on dysfunction junction with their dad.  Sure, his dad is a control freak, but Dan doesn’t even know that Widmore is his dad so it doesn’t count.
15.   I can’t wait to see what is in Hurley’s guitar case.  I doubt it’s a guitar.

16.  Dan thinks that they are the variables and that they can change their destiny.  But can they?  Seems like everything that has been happening is exactly what is supposed to happen.  I guess if they can then Jack will be the one that would do it.

17.  Why did Mrs Hawkin come to the hospital to see Des?  I don’t believe that she doesn’t know what is going to happen next.  She does know and there is a reason that she came there.  I was worried that she was going to steal little Charlie and send him to the island as a way to get Des back there.  But it doesn’t appear that she did, thank goodness.  And Des’ promise to Penny seems a little too prophetic… about him not leaving her again.

Oh Ben, what have you done?  He broke the rules by coming back (according to Widmore) and he used the guise that he was coming back to be judged.  So Locke gave him the little *push* he needed to go to Old Smokey for the judgment but I think Ben ended up worse than he started.  Was he judged, yes he was.  But what he ended up with was instructions by the one person he loves the most telling him to do what he dreads the most – following Locke.  Can I get a “HA HA!”  Be careful what you wish for people because you may get more than you bargain for, just ask Ben.

1.  I don’t know how long Ben will follow Alex’s instructions and Smokey, or whatever entity appeared to him, may have known this.  Setting Ben up to fail?

2.  I love how Ben “Dr Phil’d” Frank by asking him how the plan of having a boat of commandos come to the island worked out for him.  Dr Phil always asks people who are making bad life choices how it’s working out for them.  But Frank does make a good point to Sun.

3.  I’m not loving the Mediveal Widmore look.
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4.  When Widmore questions Richard on why he saved Young Ben Richard says two items of interest.  First he says that Jacob wanted it done followed by “The Island chooses who the island chooses.”  I took this to mean that Jacob IS the island and therefore if Jacob chooses Ben to live then The Island chooses Ben to live.  What this means… Jacob somehow is a manifestation of the energy of the island?  The second item of note is that when Richard tells Widmore that Jacob wanted Ben saved Widmore doesn’t question this.  I assume that this means Widmore cannot talk to Jacob.  I don’t think everyone can talk to Jacob, only a few chosen few.  I still question whether Ben could really talk to Jacob and that is why he was so shocked that Locke could hear Jacob.  Only a special few can hear what Jacob says.

5. Are we really sure Locke was ever dead and didn’t just appear dead?  I know, I know… the episode is titled “Dead Is Dead.”  Which is true, but if he wasn’t DEAD then he is alive now.  In other words you have to be DEAD to be DEAD.  So if John was always alive then it explains how he’s back up and walking around the island.  To back me up, I believe and have read that when you have lost everything then those are the most brave and free people in the world because you are already at the bottom.  If Locke believes that he really was dead then there is nothing else that he can lose at this point thus freeing him to be this new and improved Locke we see on the island.  It’s a more believable explanation then that he has somehow been resurrected.  I guess only time will tell.

6.  I can’t wait to see what’s in the big silver crate.  Kind of reminds me of Season One when Kate was so desperate to find the silver suitcase that the Marshall had been carrying.  I’m still thinking there is some type of honing device that is going to help Widmore locate the island.  Ilana has some boys helping her too which makes me think she had some people on this plane with her even though they weren’t sitting up front with her.  It reminds me that Sayid had them taking the transceiver to the highest point they could in order to send a signal out to anyone trying to locate and save them.  If this equipment is going to send out signals they may have to move it for a similar reason.
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7.  I would have loved for the writers to have had Ben introduce himself as “Henry Gale” to Ceaser.

8.   The question is, why did Danielle tell Sayid that she never saw who took her baby but that she does hear them?  Watching the epi back, it looks like (per the screencap below) this is all she really sees of Ben in her tent.  I can’t see that she really ever gets a good look at him.  This would also explain why when she had Ben trapped in her net that she didn’t realize it was the same man from that fateful night.
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9.  The island must have wanted Alex and Danielle dead, for whatever reason.  First Robert tries to kill pregnant Danielle, then Widmore sends Ben to do the job but ultimately it’s Keemey’s group that finishes the job.  Maybe in the grander scheme of the chain of events Danielle and Alex don’t fit in and have somehow interfered so in order to course correct they must both die.  Really, Alex does later help the Losties live and escape so maybe she somehow changed the course of what was going to happen.

10.  The shoes!
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11. I know there is some chatter about those in the past changing the future.  I’m starting to think that there might be something to it.  When Ben first gets off the boat with John (after leaving the second island) he does have somewhat of a confused look on his face, almost as if he can already see that things have been changed.  Is it just me here thinking this?
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12. They’ve been off the island for three years.  I would assume by the state of Otherville, the Others that did leave for the Temple didn’t go back there.  But, the interior of Ben’s house is in such disarray it seems to point to the fact that more happened there after they left three years ago.  Why would the houses be such a mess (like books all over the floor)?  Unless the past was changed which made the future different which means we haven’t seen yet why the houses are in such disrepair.

13.  Ben does tells Locke earlier in the epi that all 6 (5 really) are back but he doesn’t know yet where they are.  So I believe it when Ben looks at the picture and seems surprised to see Kate and the others in the picture.
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14. I still want to know what Locke had to go do while Ben was down summoning Smokey.

15.  It’s still bizarre to me that Ben keeps Smokey contained by a water trap.  Is Smokey like the Wicked Witch and can be killed by a little water?  And how do they get Smokey back?  Does Ben have to go back to the cave and plug the hole back up or is it somehow self containing and the water fills back up and slowly draws Smokey back in?  Are there other places on the island that can also control the Monster?  Mysteries everywhere.
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16.  You know I love this show but seriously, they needed to do something better with Ben’s hair.  I’m sure there was somewhere in the budget that they could have made a better wig for him.  And Mandak you are right, he does look a little bit like Hitler.
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17.  Locke assures Sun that he’s the same man he’s always been…. because he was never dead!?

18.   Maybe it’s not such a mystery how Locke knows where to go and how Locke knows where Smokey is.  Remember that Locke spent a lot of the first few seasons wandering around in the jungle.  The island can’t be so big that he couldn’t have found his way around quite a bit.  And, Locke is an explorer, an adventurer, a tracker, so he knows a lot about keeping track of things in this kind of environment.

19.  Ben wants Sun to apologize to Desmond but for what?  Sure, trying to kill Penny was bad, but bad enough that Ben sends back an apology?  Yes, we saw Des beat the living daylights out of him but it doesn’t explain why his arm was in a sling and it surely doesn’t give Desmond a reason to come back to the island (which I think he will).  I think that there is more that Ben does that we haven’t seen yet.

20.  Seems like Ben and Sawyer have something in common.  Sawyer was ready to walk away with the couple’s money until the little boy walked out and saw him.  Then Sawyer leaves the money and walks away.  Ben is ready to shoot Penny then little Charlie comes walking out and he lowers his gun.  Would he have shot her anyway if Des had not come and stopped him?

21.  What lies in the shadow of the statue?  I’ll tell you what lies there… the well.  And what is in the well?  The donkey wheel!  I still think that this is a riddle that Ilana has been instructed to use to make contact with … whoever she is supposed to make contact with.  But, I also think it’s a real question and if she finds the Orchid Station and the wheel there could be terrible consequences.

22.This hieroglyph has already been discussed to death (no pun intended) in other places but feel free to add your comments or further discussion.  I think it speaks for itself with the image.
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23.  I’ve said it before, but the smoke scene with Ben is a) cheesy and b) way too similar to the scene where Dorothy is whirling around in the tornado.  Either there were too many budget restraints and this is the best they could do or they did it on purpose.  I really don’t want to believe that somewhere in a production room they were sitting there saying how great this scene looked.  I choose to believe it was done on purpose.
            

24.  I think that the difference between when Eko meets Yemi and Ben meets Alex is that Ben repented and Eko did not. The question is now, will Ben stick to his word or will his urge to control and run the island get the better of him?
25.   I’m so excited that Miles gets to do his thing next week.  Also, check out the upcoming episodes as it looks like the Season Finale is going to be fantastic!

26.  I was also wondering if Ilana and the contents of the mystery box will somehow assist in bringing the 1977 Losties back to current time.

OK, it’s wrong how much I love this show.  I keep wondering how they are going to top themselves week after week but they just keep doing it.  I don’t think that another show will ever be as captivating to me.  I’m glad they won’t drag it on forever but dang it, I’ll miss it when it’s gone.

1.   I almost forgot about how much I hated Keemy.  Seeing him in the recap tonight reminded me just how evil he was.

2.   I thought it was kind of funny how Charles was riding the horse with his long, flowing hair.  Looked kind of Midevil.

3.  Jacob didn’t want Ben to live and neither did the island.  Richard forced that hand.  It seems like Ben was thrust into the leader role but he wasn’t really meant for it, Locke was.  So Ben didn’t really have a rivalry with Widmore, it’s more with Locke because Locke was born to be the leader.  But, Widmore and Ben both wanted the leadership role thus creating the rivalry.  And we’ve seen what Ben does to those who challenge or get in the way of what he wants (Juliet).

4.  OK, if you are loving the new Locke raise your hand.  He’s had a rebirth, literally.  I was loving all the straight talk and no “BS” John Locke.  This guy’s not the pushover softie anymore.

5.   Hm, what is in the big silver mystery crate on the beach that Ilana and gang are trying to open?  I think there are guns but they said it “needed moved” so maybe some homing devices so outsiders can find them?

6.  Interesting that Ben is trying to tell Cesar that Locke wasn’t on the plane but he’s not going for it.  Ben is switching roles now and he’s the survivor and Locke is the Other.

7.Remember that Jack’s tattoo says something along the lines of “He walks amongst us, but is not one of us.”  I was reminded of that when Widmore tells Young Ben that just because he lives with the DI doesn’t mean he’s one of them.
8.  Widmore ordered Ben to kill Danielle.  But how could they have not known that she had a child?  It’s interesting that Ben has such a soft spot for the children.  He also lowers his gun when he’s about to kill Penny and little Charlie comes out from the boat.  But the scene where Ben steals Alex was just horrible.  And we still don’t know what all the smoke signals were about when Danielle stole baby Aaron and tried to trade him for Alex.

9. Ben mentions that Danielle should run when she hears the whispers.  But I don’t necessarily think he controls them.  Need to stew on that one a bit.

10.  Locke calling Ben’s bluff about the smoke monster, just awesome.  What we’ve been waiting for for awhile.  Some straight talking.

11.  Ben knows about Ilana and Cesar not being “just” passengers.  I’m not convinced that Cesar and Ilana are necessarily working together though either.  So many new elements to consider.

12.  Why would Widmore think that Danielle was a threat to the island or was he just being a bully?

13.  Did Ben think that instead of killing Danielle he was doing her a favor by stealing Alex?  Seems pretty messed up.  Almost seems like Kate’s excuse for taking Aaron, to protect him, but in reality she wanted the baby.

14.  Ben doesn’t remember the rest of the O6 in DI, even though he was there.  Ben looks pretty shocked to hear that Sun has been talking to Christian.  We don’t know the connection yet with Ben and Christian.  Will be very interesting to see how this all fits.

15.   So cute when Ben was swinging Alex.  Almost made me forget that he’s a kidnapper.  But I do believe that she is the one person that he truly ever loved.

16. Has Ben been controlling when Smokey comes out to play?  Looks that way.  But before Ben was in control someone else had to be calling it’s moves.

17.  Ben’s wigs were really awful.  Too much in special effects and nothing left for hair pieces?

18.  I like how Ben tells Sun he can’t control what comes out of the woods and then John walks out.  Funny.  But what was our buddy Locke doing out in the woods?  And, he can’t control Locke anymore.
19.   Ben has killed many, many people.  The only one he thinks he must atone for is Alex.

20.   We assume that Ben doesn’t kill Penny but I don’t know that for sure.  The last we see Ben is in the water.  I only hope that it’s true.

21.  “What lies in the shadow of the statue?”  A riddle, like the snowman riddle Desmond has when they first go into the hatch.

22.  I loved this epi but the flashes of Alex in the smoke monster were a wee bit cheesy.  Again, seems like the budget must have been a little thin this week.  But the meaning was still there so I’ll forgive them.  It was all just so Wizard of Oz like when Dorothy is being swirled around in the tornado on her way to Oz.
23.  Alex comes to Ben like Yemi came to Eko.  Only Eko turned against him and was killed whereas Ben does not.

24.  Has the smoke monster given Ben back the innocence it took away from him as a child?  I can’t wait to see!