I love when a story can take the bad guy and make you feel sorry for him. I will give Darlton credit for making me feel sorry for the MIB.  He didn’t chose his fate and essentially he just wanted to get the heck off of the island to see what else is out there.  Reminds me of a kid raised in a small town that just wants to leave and explore the world but then gets stuck through circumstance out of their control but never loses the yearning to leave.  MIB never gives up his quest to leave.  Can’t say I blame the guy!

1.  Claudia is wearing the dreaded red.  I love the contrast here of her in the red dress but the color may have doomed her from the start.
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2.  This was a new use of the reflection.  I can’t help but think that there was more meaning than just New Mother showing up, but then again this is Lost so it could just be nothing.
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3.  I keep waiting for the reemergence of Locke’s wacky paste that he used on Boone so he could have a “vision quest.”  But New Mother didn’t give Claudia time to do anything really before she smashed her head in and stole her babies!  Didn’t see that one coming.
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4.  I noticed watching back that there appear to be graves inside of the cave.  Note the crosses in the background.  Could these be from New Mother’s original crew?  My guess is that she was like Danielle and that they got the “sickness” and she killed them.  Or she went nuts and killed them.
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5.  Black and white from the start.  Can you imagine (moms out there) if twins were really this big when they were born?  She’d probably be screaming a lot louder than that!
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6.  New Mother has set these two boys up from the start to fight amongst themselves.  She gives MIB special treatment (ie: the game) then tests Jacob by asking what he’s doing to see if Jacob will rat out his brother.  Which he does.

7.  New Mother has to know about the Others living on the island yet she lets the boys run around freely.  Makes me think that she has some sort of bargain with them that makes them leave them alone.

8.  When Jacob and MIB are watching the Others kill the boar it reminded me of Jin and Eko in a similar position.
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9.  THIS is the reason they are there, really?  I’m going to try and be positive here.  We’ve devoted almost 6 years to this show and I’m going to be a woman of faith and assume that since Darlton wrote this episode there is going to be more involving this cave.  I really hope.
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10.  The way New Mother describes the light really reminds me of birth or the light at the end of the tunnel during birth.  She says that the light is bright and the warmest light you’ve ever felt, that a little of it is in all of us.  Very symbolic.  But she says it’s not enough for regular men – is that where the science comes in?  We can’t just accept and live in the light?

11.  Nice red flowers by the entrance.
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12.  I think that MIB is the protector and/or the balance of this light and especially now that he has part of that light in him.  Jacob isn’t the protector as much as he has to keep MIB there.  That is why Danielle called the “monster” a security system because he really is protecting the island.  Although he may want to leave, he can’t or the the balance of dark and light would go out and it’s Jacob’s job to keep him there to keep the balance.

13.  A few words on Claudia appearing to MIB.  First of all it reminded me of the “vision” Charlie had back in Season Two of Claire and his mother.  Second, I think that New Mother is actually appearing to him.  I’ll say that I think she’s her own version of the smoke monster and that part of that being is the ability to appear as the dead.  It goes along with how New Mother is pitting these two against each other.  Why would she do this?  Perhaps there has to be that balance between good and evil in order to keep the light on the island.  Maybe like Jacob said, people have to chose to be good and New Mother wants MIB to chose to stay on the island.
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14. Here’s the infamous dagger.  The dagger that can supposedly kill MIB and the same dagger used to kill New Mother.
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15.  OK weird-o mom putting a spell on the wine she gives to Jacob.  I looked back and when Jacob gives Richard “everlasting life” he also has him drink the wine.  But perhaps MIB smashes the bottle not only because it symbolizes his being stuck there but also because he can’t drink the wine, it’s too late for him.

16.  There is no way New Mother pulled MIB out of the well, filled it with dirt and then proceeded to kill and burn all of the Others. Further proof that she’s special as well, perhaps another form of a smoke monster?  Maybe that is also how she knows so much about the light, what is down there, what it feels like and also what happens when you go into the light.
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17.  I understand that there has been a lot of talk amongst them, but MIB stabs New Mother before she has a chance to speak to him in the cave.  perhaps it’s a little more open to interpretation regarding not letting MIB talk before you can kill him?

18.  MIB asks Jacob a very good question – why did New Mother bring him back to the light?  Perhaps she wanted Jacob to throw MIB in there.

19.  I think that MIB is still alive, even though we saw his body.  My theory is that by throwing him into the light he had his “rebirth” and shed his earthly form, if you will.  The smoke is still the essence of him much like now that he’s in Locke’s body he still has his memories and feelings.

20.  The young Jacob that is appearing to MIB has blood on his hands which makes me think it’s symbolic of Jacob essentially killing him.  But he’s watching him mockingly perhaps because he knows that MIB cannot leave the island and that he has to follow whatever rules HE made up for this game.
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21.  The cave also put me in mind of the Cave of Voices from the Dark Tower series.  There was also a portal there where they could travel to other worlds.

22.  Jacob represented the man of faith while MIB was the man of science.  It’s ironic that MIB eventually took over Locke’s body who was the original 815 man of faith.

23.  In watching this one back I didn’t dislike it nearly as much as I did initially.  The writing was excellent and Jacob and MIB were really great in their roles.  So I’m going to chalk this one up to poor acting on New Mother’s behalf.  I still have faith that this Tuesday and then the finale are going to be amazing.  If this show had not been amazing we would have never stuck with it for this long and one bad episode isn’t going to damper my spirits.

Hi everyone.  I’m going to try and be objective but wow was I disappointed tonight.  The writing and acting just wasn’t doing it for me tonight.  I was so looking forward to this week and with one epi left after tonight I expected to have my socks knocked off.  One of the reasons I think so many of us love Lost is that they don’t dumb things down for us and tonight I felt like they did.

1.  I found the reflection of the “new mother” in the water interesting.

2.  Are we to believe that the “new mother” was chosen to protect the island and that there were people here before her?  Did she get the “sickness” and kill them all like Danielle?

3.  The “new mother” seemed OK with the babies until MIB was born.  And cute that they are in black and white blankets from the start.  Then MIB won’t stop crying and “BAM” she beats her on the head.  OK, was that necessary?  I think MIB is right when he says his mother was nuts.  She didn’t have to kill Claudia.  They could have lived all together.

4.  The new mother is so playing favorites with MIB.  Leaving him that game.  And how interesting that he “just knows” how to play.

5.  Little Jacob is the bloody kid running around the island mocking Flocke.  It’s the same kid.  But what the heck is that all about?  His guilty conscience is chasing him but if so then why can other people see him?

6.  Locke was told all his life that he was “special” and now we see that MIB was told he was “special” too.  Not sure what that means unless they are truly the ones who protect the island.  Maybe MIB can’t leave because in some ’special’ way it is him and not Jacob that holds the light there.

7. How can the boys grow 30 years into men and then stop aging? ”

8.  Jacob and MIB watching the others kill the boar reminded me of Jin and Eko when they saw the Others walking through the jungle.

9.  What makes all men dangerous according to the New Mom?  The same thing that they said before, “They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt and it always ends the same.”

10.  OK people, was I the only one who groaned when the found the cave with the light?  REALLY!  This is it?  I liked the red flowers there though.  What is this light?  Is it the light one sees when the die or the birth canal as they are born?  Why is THIS the light of the world?  Why can’t they both protect the light?

11.  I thought Jacob’s purpose was to keep MIB on the island? It sure doesn’t look like he’s looking for someone to guard the light?

12.  What was the purpose of Claudia coming back and leading MIB to the others?  Why can’t Jacob see dead people?  Oh lordy, there are so many more questions than answers this week.

13.  I did think it was pretty cool that they are living in the cave, the same cave MIB led Jack to so that they would have water.

14.  I don’t even know what to believe that New Mother says since she’s obviously nuts.  She just goes around beating people in the head to get her way.  Maybe they can leave the island.

15.  I want to think on this but there seems to be something to the fact that New Mother thought she had to raise the boys.  Should Claire be the one to raise Aaron?  Raised by another?

16.  We didn’t get any answers about that knife and why it can kill MIB or Jacob. Or what the sickness is.  And why did New Mother thank MIB for killing her?  Was she just tired?  The same reason, perhaps, that Jacob let Ben kill him?

17.  We did get to see the origin of the donkey wheel.

18.  MIB has to be the one that is special.  Otherwise why was New Mother so set on keeping him there?  Seems like she kept Jacob around more for company and to spy on MIB rather than to truly take over as guardian.  That really didn’t work out so well and Jacob ended up with the job anyway.

19.  The light seems to be what was under the pool in the temple.  They resurrected Sayid in the light as they did with MIB and what they had was much worse than death.

20.  What’s up with the drinky poo to make Jacob responsible for the island?  And her line sounded remarkably similar to what Sayid said to Jack last week about it being them.  Being them for what – to take over the island.  But the drinking of the wine seemed a pretty cheesy story device.

21.  And I can see why MIB is so angry.  New Mother killed his birth mom, killed his people, buried the well that they worked so hard on and took away his dream just to leave the island.  She was nuts and he was angry for a very good reason.

22.  There’s a storm coming all right.  New Mother knows that MIB is there waiting but since she’s passed the torch, literally, to Jacob she can now die in peace.

23.  Jacob made MIB what he is today.  Whatever is down in that cave is what is left of his brother and his spirit is still po’d and wants to just leave the island.  It’s like taking over Locke but he didn’t really take the body over, just the image.  It’s like they are a shell of what they once were filled with some strange spirit from down in the light cave.  But I still think that even though we found who our Adam and Eve skeletons belonged to, we still have MIB wandering around the island in some form.

24.  I need to take a day and watch this one again.  My initial reaction was of disappointment but maybe thinking it over will bring me to more insight.  It just seemed tonight that the way the story was presented to us was weak and I was expecting more to this.  Yes, there were some answers and I don’t judge an episode on whether we got answers because I love that this show doesn’t always give them.  But what we do get is amazing story telling and tonight just was a weak episode.

Your thoughts?

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I dunno.  After slamming the show I’m torn on whether they should write him back in.

Mr. Eko Does An About-Face, Wants To Get Lost Again 

Will we be seeing Lost’s mysterious Mr. Eko return for the ABC series’ final season? If actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje has any say in it, the answer is yes… but maybe he’d say anything to escape GI Joe 2.

After asking to leave Lost during the show’s third season, Akinnuoye-Agbaje is now seemingly wanting back in for the show’s end run, telling reporters during a press appearance for GI Joe,

I’m here for [the Lost producers]. Adewale is open for business. We have had talks about some things they might do for the final season and there are other dead folks coming back allegedly but at the moment it is still a maybe. A strong maybe but I have not shot anything yet or signed any contracts. But I’m hoping.

Explaining about why he’d be willing to go back, he said,

I loved working with that team and the reception I got from people was phenomenal. Even at Comic-Con this year I went to sign my action figure for G.I. Joe and people had tons of questions about Lost. It makes you feel good that you could be off a show for more than a year and still have people thinking about your character. It was a great part.

A slight difference from Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s comments at the time that “the character was complete” following the actor being “devastated” about revelations about his history, accompanied by producer Carlton Cuse saying that “it was the best time to go our separate ways,” but I guess you can never underestimate the effect of starring in GI Joe will have on a man.

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!

Should the Losties really be going back and course correcting?  What if their purpose is to go back and change something?  I appreciated that Jack refused to help Ben.  Sure, it violates the Hippocratic Oath, but I appreciate that he’s operating more on faith now and doesn’t have to control and fix everything.

1.  Are we so sure that Claire’s mom is on the up-and-up?  After all, she was meeting with Ben’s lawyer.  And, just a few short months ago was in a coma and now miraculously, and conveniently, she’s up, walking around and meeting with shady lawyers.   I’m going to hold judgment on her until we see a little more.  I still think that Aaron is going to show up on the island and maybe she’ll be the one to bring him.
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2.  Jin says that Sayid is headed North. Everybody heads north in this show.  When Michael went looking for Walt remember which way he went (North)?  Remember Eko’s stick… “Lift up your eyes and look North.”
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3.   I want to know if Hurley is still seeing his dead friends now that he’s back on the island?  Any more chess with Mr Eko?

4. Kate is using Cassidy as her confessional.  She tells her about the crash, the survivors and even that Aaron is not her son.  Is it fair that she puts all of this on Cassidy?  I don’t want to believe that this will come back to haunt her but on the show you never know what kinds of connections people have.  Heck, for all we know Cassidy is a Widmore.

5.   Listen to Jack, new man of faith, “Did you ever think that the island wants to fix things itself?”  Poignant moment or Jack making excuses?  I like to think that Jack is going to let whatever happened, happen.

6.  I don’t think that it’s such a far stretch that Juliet is now “doctoring” Ben and that none of the DI is questioning it.  According the conversation between Roger and Kate, when you get to the island you just get “stuck” in a job until they deem you worthy of a better position.  So Juliet was working on cars and they had a doctor so they really didn’t need her to step up until now.  If I was Roger and it was my kid who had been shot, I still would have been asking questions about her qualifications to be able to operate on my child.  I’d also be insisting that they pull the doctor out of the Looking Glass and get him up on land to help my kid.
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7. Hurley’s question to Miles about why Ben doesn’t remember getting shot by Sayid as a kid is answered by Richard.  His memory of the event will be gone.  Not all of his memory, just of that event.  However, I think that someone must tell Ben about it because Ben is convinced that Sayid is a cold blooded killer and I think that is because he knows that Sayid is capable of shooting even a kid for the greater good.

8. Yet another example of no one asking questions.  Why doesn’t Kate ask Juliet why she thinks that the Others can help Ben?  Wouldn’t you wonder if they had a surgeon or a doctor or what her thoughts were?  I guess you wouldn’t think to ask if it might be a mystical temple with healing powers, but you would want to know something.  It’s season five with only one season to go, I want answers!

9.  There is just no way it’s a coincidence that the woman with Aaron looks just like Claire.  Ben probably has someone following Kate just looking for opportunities like this to mess with Kate and the others.
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10. So Cassidy sure is working hard to convince Kate that Sawyer is a bad guy.  Kate must not have told her everything because Sawyer didn’t necessarily break her heart, she left him.  Yes, he was a real jerk acting so excited when he found out she wasn’t pregnant, but he did want to be with her and he was upset when she left him in Otherville.  I remember Kate mockingly asking Sawyer if she was supposed to stay there and play house with him.  So Cassidy has her own motives and wants kate to hate him as much as she does.

11.  Uh oh, Claire’s mom is in a red shirt.  You know what that means…
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12.  Kate is done running.  As much as it hurt her, she stopped.  She did the right thing by giving Aaron to his grandmother.  She is even going back to the island to find Claire which had to be incredibly hard for her.  Now maybe we can move forward with the evolution of Kate from being “lost” to somewhere good and I hope that in the end it doesn’t mean Jack or Sawyer (sorry guys, I think this chick needs to move on from the island after she finds Claire).

13.  I think that part of her insistence to help young Ben also has to do with her feelings of protecting the children.  That she would do anything to protect them.

14.  If Richard doesn’t answer to Ellie and Widmore, then who does he answer to?

15.  The Temple, circa 1977.  Why does Ben and the Others in “current” time go there to hide from the Freigther gang?   Why does Smokey live there?  What are the healing powers?  Does any of it have to do with the “Dark Territory” that Danielle had mentioned?
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16.  I think that Locke’s welcome to Ben to the Land of the Living was meant to be an ironic statement and didn’t have anything more behind it.  And, might I add, I missed Locke!!!!
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17.  Ben’s judgment day is next week.  That could mean lots of things but one thing is for sure, it’s bound to be a great episode and hopefully full on answers.

18.  Hopefully we’ll get some Desmond next week too.

Up until the end of this episode, I thought this one was a sweeper…. sweeping up all the little crumbs of Sayid’s past and how he came back to the island.  But still another home run for the writers and producers.

1.  The opening scene of Sayid and his brother reminded me of Eko and Yemi.  And we also get to see yet another with daddy issues.

2.   So Ben has been living there with DI and Sawyer and the others didn’t notice?  How?  Maybe they did know but then why wouldn’t they tell Jack, Kate and Hurley that he was there?

3.  Ben hands Sayid a book about using plants to really *see* things… like Oldham used on Sayid so he could see his purpose on the island?  And if this really was Sayid’s purpose will he die now?  Click here to read about the book.  It also reminded me of the wacky paste Locke used to use when he went on his magic carpet rides or sent Boone off into hallucinations.

4.   Ben sending Sayid to kill various people who were supposedly out to hurt his friends reminds me of when Sawyer was sent to kill Duckett in Season One when he thought it was the real Sawyer.  The guy who turned out to be just some guy who owed Hibbs money.  Ben has sent Sayid after these guys for some reason but it’s doubtful it had anything to do with the Losties.

5.   Ben shows up and says to Sayid that Locke was killed by the same people who are watching Hurley which is true since it was BEN that killed him.

6.   Cute, Hurley working in the kitchen.  I would think those jokes get old for Jorge Garcia.  I would have like to have seen Hurley maybe working in the entertainment hall or something more cerebral than the kitchen.

7.   If Oldham is DI’s torturer, wouldn’t he have had something more torturous then a sugar cube?  And what are side effects of the medicine?  Could Sayid have imagined the whole killing Ben episode?

8. Ben’s dad is a real jerk.  He should have killed the dad and spared Ben.

9.   I like getting back to flash backs and flash forwards.  I have come to expect the jumping around rather than a linear story.

10.  The lady who played Ilana has a very terrible accent.  I don’t know if she was trying to hide a real accent to pretend to have an accent, but either way it really took me out of the story.  The fake accent was too distracting.

11.   When Sayid was high on the sugar cube and started laughing, I started to think this is the only time I’ve seen him happy and laughing the whole show.  It was kind of nice to see a different side of him.

12.  I wonder if the DI talks amongst themselves.  If so, would Horrace tell Pierre Chang about what Sayid says about being from the future?  Remember that Pierre believes in time travel (when they are excavating the donkey wheel)?

13.   Ilana appears to be working for Ben, but if Widmore knows they have to go back to the island she could be working for him as well.  We’ve never established who Elsa was working for when she tried to shoot him.

14. If Sayid killing little Ben was real….. then Sayid has just changed the past.  Could be why next week is called “Whatever Happened, Happened,” that was Dan’s response when Sawyer asked him about helping Amy and changing the past.  Or, Ben knew that Sayid was going to kill him and that is why he understood Locke’s sacrifice.  Or, little Ben doesn’t die and either Jack or Juliet is going to have to help save him.

15.  Even though we know why Sayid knocked out Jin, I would think Jin is going to see it as a betrayal.  But I hope they find a way back together at some point.

16.  And from the  sounds of next week, Ben does live and the title makes me think that Daniel will reappear, which is good, I missed him!  The big question will be… is he still wearing the tie?  And, Clementine is in next week’s episode???  That is Sawyer’s daughter!

I didn’t get to watch the pop up episode before the new one this week.  Anyone have any good stuff from it?

1.   How could Locke not be nominated for an Emmy award for acting?  He has been spectacular this season so hopefully we’ll see a nomination next year.  Although, Lost isn’t the show dejour anymore so who knows if the powers that be will even notice.

2.   Alana tells Cesar that she first saw Locke standing in the water in his suit.  I just watched part of Season One again this past weekend and the first time Jack sees his dad on the island is…. you guessed it, just standing there in the water, in his suit!  I think this is confirmation that Jack’s dad had some sort of resurrection like Locke has had coming back to the island.

3.  Cesar and the new plane crash “Losties” are on the second island.  He knows stuff.  Why else would he be looking for maps and information about the island?  Why does he need the shot gun?  Seems like someone gave him some insider information before he came to the island.

4.  Also looks like rather than a tragic plane crash, they were lucky to have the landing strip that Kate and Sawyer helped build.  My guess is that in some of the time travel they knew that the plane would be coming with Locke so they were building the strip for that landing specifically.

5.   Frank and “some woman” took one of the boats and headed off.  Great, now I’m wondering what Frank is up to (I thought he was a good guy).  How could he have possibly known that they had landed on a second island?  Who was the woman he was with, where did they go, what are the up to?
6.  Is Alana going to be the new Ana Lucia of the island – only far less annoying?  She fits the tough cop role.

7.  I’m guessing Locke wants the passenger list so he can make sure all six were on the plane.  Remind you of another list?  Ben wanted the manifest from flight 815 probably for a very similar reason and maybe one of them was to see if Christian was there as well.

8. I love how Locke just enjoys life.  He eats that mango like it’s his first after being resurrected from the dead.  Oh wait…

9.   There is a lot of truth telling this week.  But then again, maybe not.  Do we really know that Widmore is the good guy?  Creepy eyed man wasn’t telling the truth – from what we saw when he first lied about Helen.  Ben loves, hates, loves, kills Locke.

10. Did we really need to see Locke puke? YUCK!

11.  So Widmore is watching the “exit” from the island.  His story sounds about what we thought.  He was exiled by Ben and now he wants to go back.  But I’m not so sure I believe that Widmore was the leader.  However, Ben just takes what he wants so I guess it’s possible that in his jealousy he found a way to get Widmore off the island.  It’s also possible that they are *both*hot heads and they *both* wanted and still want to be the leader and each is willing to do anything to get back and be the self-appointed leader.

12.  Somehow Locke does fit into all this and I don’t know that there is enough information at this point to know why he’s so important and why both Widmore and Ben want Locke back.

13.   You know, they could have treated Locke a little more gently when the plucked him from the desert.  The only thing I can figure is that they didn’t know if he was a good guy or a bad guy when they first found him.  Also, I was thinking of the parallel imagery between being born and what Locke went through.  He “wakes up” like just being born, and all these strangers grab him and man handle him and shove stuff in his mouth and hurt him.  Maybe like what a baby feels right after being born?

14.   So what’s this war all about that’s coming?  I don’t think they are talking about some type of atomic bomb or could they?  If it was an actual world war I could see why they’d want to be on a time shifting island.  I want to go there too!

15.   Widmore says that the island needs Locke and it has for a long time.  Can’t wait to see what that’s all about.

16.   When Widmore and Locke were chatting right before Locke took off for the airport, it looked remarkably like Eko’s village.  The dirt and the kids kicking a ball around.  Maybe a recycled set?

17.   I also liked that Widmore answered every single one of Locke’s questions without hesitation.  Now, maybe he’s a professional liar and is just less jumpy and allusive than Ben, who knows.  But it was nice that people were asking and people were answering!

18.   Interesting that Sayid chose to do charity work.  Seems a bit like he was running away from the law while trying to make some type of penance for all the bad that he did back home.

19.   So why did the obituary say Locke was survived by a teenage son?  Did I miss something?  And I was certainly expecting more when Locke met Walt.  I thought it would be a far more touching scene.  Instead Walt is just having dreams about Locke back on the island in a suit and a lot of people trying to kill him.  I’m hoping we’ll see more Walt as there has to be some explanation of why he’s so special.

20.   Abbadon helps people get to where they need to go.  So he’s the grim reaper, right?

21.   Helen died of a brain aneurysm 4/8/06.  Really? Just because we see a tombstone doesn’t mean someone is dead (Jin).  The writers once said that once someone dies, they are dead but I guess that’s not true since Christian and Locke are up and walking around.  I still found it very sad for Locke.  The one person in his life that he really loved.

22.   Locke’s one visit to Jack was enough to convince him to go back?  Now we see why he was on that plane ride a few seasons ago, just wishing the plane would crash.  I think that Jack already had a very heavy sense of guilt for leaving the other Losties back on the island and Locke’s visit just pushed him over the edge.

23. That is one crappy hotel that Widmore puts Locke in.

24.   I want to confess that I cried when Locke was trying to kill himself.  His anguish was palpable!  And I don’t think he was going to kill himself to save the island, he was doing it because he genuinely believed that he was a failure.  Heartbreaking scene for me.

25.  I believe that Ben truly did not want Locke to kill himself.  That is, until he heard that Jin was alive and then to know that Locke has to see Mrs Hawking, that put him over the edge.  But… killing Locke with his bare hands!!!  I know that Ben is not above killing people (remember the killing his own father while looking him in the face?).  But come on!   Outside of when Charlie died, this was my second least favorite scene of this show.  And I don’t mean in an angry way, but that “I’m so emotionally invested in these characters I couldn’t bear to watch” kind of way.

26.   “I’ll miss you John, I really will.”  Ben is completely convinced killing Locke was what he had to do.  Does he believe that Locke will rise again?

27.  So the previews are setting it up like Kate and Sawyer reuniting is the scene we’ve been waiting for.  Not for me!  The first scene I wanted was the Desmond and Penny meeting, which we got.  The second one that I want to see is when Juliet reunites with her sister.  Sawyer and Kate, yeah, it’s interesting but I have sisters and one in particular that I’m very close to and if I knew she was sick and then I left and couldn’t come back to know how she was doing I’d be devastated!  To me, that is way more moving that two people that only met a few months ago.

28.  Cesar saw the light right before the O6 disappeared huh?  So far, only those *traveling* have seen that light.  Not sure that there is anything to that yet.

29.  And when is Vincent coming back!