The age old question of “what if…?”  But the new parallel time line isn’t just about what if flight 815 had not crashed.  Jack having a son was not a result of the flight not crashing.  Ben now being chummy with his father is not the result of flight 815 not crashing.  Juliet setting off the bomb has had a significant impact on the future of all the Losties, maybe even others we don’t know.  At some point we will see why it’s important that we know what happens in this other time line  but I suppose it’s human to wonder what your life would be like “if” you or your ancestors had made other choices.

1.  If Miles has to be near the body in order to pick up the last thoughts, how did he speak to that lady’s grandson a few seasons ago?

2.  Reflection.
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3.  The irony that Ben is tending to his father’s oxygen tank (looks and sounds like gas) when he gassed his father back in the original story.
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4.  They didn’t show us that Ilana is carrying this toolbox and collection wires for nothing.  My bet is on her helping signal Widmore to the island.  However, there is a chance that Jacob knew Widmore would be coming so he instructed her to set up a signal to help someone else, perhaps Desmond, to find the island?
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5.  Six candidates are left: Jack, Hurley, Kate, Sawyer, Jin/Sun, and Sayid.  Seems that Sayid and Sawyer would be long shots at this point.

6.  This scene is very reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz and the scene in the field of poppies.  Only I don’t remember anyone waking up thinking about cheese curds.  And they took a nap (albeit involuntarily) on the way to see the Wiz (like on the way to the Temple).
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7.  Frank questions how different his life would have been if he had been flying Oceanic 815.  Yes, there could be yet another alternate reality out there where Frank was the pilot.  This series of “what ifs” reminds me of when you put two mirrors together and they just keep reflecting back in to each other indefinitely.

8.  Sure looks like the Black Rock.  The number 19 had heavy significance in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series… and we know that Darlton is a fan.
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9.  It’s funny that Artz gets so frustrated with Ben for stalling when he wants answers.  Kind of like how we feel, huh?

10.  Ben sure does dig a perfect rectangle.
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11.  “That guy is crazy and I know crazy!”
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12.  Man of faith.  We always see the eye opening so it’s interesting to see the change in Jack along with the eyes closed this time.
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13.  I think that Smokey may be tethered to the island by chains.  All the noise that he makes and the fact that he can’t jump fences makes me think that he might still be in chains and it keeps him on the island.

14.  I was surprised that Ben chose to stay with Ilana.  His shot at power was with Locke.  Maybe there really is remorse inside of him and hope that his sacrifices for Jacob still mean something.

15.  I was really disappointed not to see a Dharma patch on Alex’s backpack.
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16.  Never one to pass up on an opportunity, I love the Miles dug up the diamonds.
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17.  The final scene with Widmore was yet another reminder of the brilliance of the writing on this show (and the crappy CGI but I can live with that).  Who would have guessed this turn of events!  Who can imagine what crazy things are going to happen with this guy around?
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Along with Jack, my faith is back.  This week was at the top of my favorite list for sure.  And the “new” Jack, loving him!  Man of faith indeed! Oh and that twist at the end, unreal!

1.  So I was looking back at the Last Supper promo pictures for this season and I think that they each represent a time line.  AND, Ilana is on Locke’s side in both pictures. Ben is on Jack’s side.  I’m growing very suspicious of Ilana which I hate because I was very touched when she told Ben “I’ll have you.”  Here is a situation where I hope I’m wrong.

2.  Elba.  What a nice parallel for what Ben is going through on the Lost island.  How will Ben fare on his “island of Elba?”

3.  Hilarious that Artz has “stuff” on his shirt, much like Hurley had “Artz” on his shirt.

4.  Locke, the substitue, tells Ben he should be in charge.  Then later Not-Locke wants to put him back in charge.

5.  Glad to see that Miles had a somewhat larger role this week.  We also got a clear picture of what his true talent is AND that he talked to Nikki and Paulo (and why didn’t anyone notice that he said they were BURIED ALIVE?).

6.  There were some really great throwback moments tonight to season one (arriving back at the beach, seeing Sawyer’s dirty magazines, Jack and Hurley coming up on camp).  Ben even talks of being nostalgic to Frank.

7.  This year we have reflections (in the past it was the eye opening).  Ben’s was in the microwave as he waited for his lunch to cook.  BTW, I didn’t know they made “organic” TV dinners.

8.  So how cool was it to see Ben’s dad.  Have they all resolved their daddy issues in the new time line?  After all, we found out that Roger was in the Dharma Initiative, was on the island and somehow chose to leave.  Oh, and I loved that he says “who knows how much better our lives would have been.”  Um, maybe not so much.  Frank also mentions how different his life would be if he had piloted the original flight but Ben makes a good point that the island still got him in the end.  So will new time line Ben end up on the island too?

9.  Alex wasn’t his daughter but he still had “fatherly” feelings for her.  And that he sacrificed what he wanted for her was really sweet.  AND it goes back to the question if the father’s have to sacrifice for their children.

10.  What the heck is Ilana building with her tools, wires and mechanics?  Is SHE the one building a beacon so that Widmore can find the island?  Jacob did say someone was coming so he must want him there.

11.  Cheese curds.  Man, Hurley gets the best lines!

12.  I like the picture of “The Black Rock” in the book Ben is reading with Alex.

13.  Sounds like Danielle is having quite a life – she’s working two jobs just to pay rent?

14.  Ben always has a plan doesn’t he?  New time line or old he’s always thinking.  Blackmailing the principal sounded like a good idea in theory.

15.  Jacob gave all of those he touched a gift (or as some would say, a curse) of longevity.  Guess it didn’t work for Locke.

16.  Ben sure digs a nicely shaped rectangle.  Did you notice how perfect the shape was?

17.  This new Jack is so great.  He’s so calm.  He has so much faith in what will happen.  And instead of an eye opening, he closes his eyes.

18.  Ilana had to hear Smokey coming in when he approached Ben.  Hard to believe that she didn’t but then again there are a lot of things that are hard to believe here.

19.  To step back, I found it amusing that Artz kept complaining about their “outdated” equipment.  I wouldn’t have been surprised to see one of the old island computers in his room.

20.  Since Ben doesn’t shoot Ilana and chooses to stay with the beach people, is Smokey going to be mad or is this what he expected?  We saw what Smokey did to the people at the temple when they didn’t come out and follow him.

21.  When Ben tells Ilana that he’s going to go to Locke my thoughts were that this was the first time I’ve heard Ben tell the flat out truth.  And it was also the first time I believed him and actually felt sorry for him.

22.  Are they ever going to reunite Jin and Sun?  The story line has drug on long enough.

23.  I did NOT expect that twist at the end.  WOW wow and WOW!  Widmore wants to take back over?  This is going to be one interesting new twist.

Everybody’s Kung Foo Fighting!  Not that I encourage it, but the scenes where Sayid meets his match are always pretty exciting.  I have to say I was not loving the episode this week until the last few minutes.  Then it really got good!

1.  Sayid’s reflection in Nadia’s door. Not a mirror but still a reflection and he looked at himself.  So is he not dead?  The reflection was distorted though.

2.  Very interesting that there are more kids this episode.  Are the names on the wall/lighthouse the offspring?  Could everyone who has been on the island an ancestor of the Losties and then their children will follow after them?  Cyclical?

3.  Dogan says that for every man there is a scale, one side good and one side evil.  Some have said that Not-Locke and Jacob come from the same man.  Also, does this imply that each person has a choice in what side they embrace?  Sayid still has good.  Will we ever see that good again (I sure hope so!)?

4.  Sayid’s brother woke him up at 2:30 (play on the number 23).

5.  We have confirmation that Dogan has a son back home.  It’s a sad story.  But it sounds much like the same story that was told to Juliet (remember her sick sister?).  But Richard came to Juliet.  Jacob himself came to Dogan but it doesn’t sound like it was a very good deal.

6.  I liked the imagery of the boomerang.  And that they broke the vase that Sayid was trying to fix.  He was conveniently fixing it too right after Not-Locke told Sayid he could have anything in the world that he wanted.

7.  What brought back Sayid?  I assume it has something to do with Not-Locke but I’m not convinced that what’s done is done.  I think that Sayid can come back around.  There were multiple references to Sayid still being a good man, that he wasn’t the bad man he was in the war and that every man has two sides.

8.  OK so all of Dogan’s people were that easily convinced to leave the Temple?  And now they are just going to follow Not-Locke after knowing he was evil?

9.  I didn’t see Sawyer with Not-Locke at the Temple.  Maybe left him in the cave?

10.  Sayid’s brother comes to him asking him to help with the men he owes money to (of course it ends up being Keamy!).  Sayid ends up killing them.  Not-Locke also comes to Sayid for help in which Sayid also kills for him.

11.  So it wasn’t the ash that kept out Not-Locke?  As soon as Dogan is dead then he can cross the line?  And what is up with the special dagger to kill Not-Locke with?  Is this the same box that Ben was hiding in the air vent in Jack’s hotel room last year?

12.  Very interesting twist putting Jin in the cooler.  More that to come I’m sure.

13.  Sayid started looking dark when he went out into the jungle to find Not-Locke.  Then he was realllly bad by the end o this week.

14.  Notice the rain when Smokey started coming around – when there was trouble?  I don’t know at this point if it means anything or is just a story device to let us know that trouble is coming.

15.  There may be more 12’s but I caught that Sayid was 12 years out from the war and that Dogan’s son was 12 when he died.

16.  Claire is totally going to try and kill Kate.  Great acting when Kate told her that she did have Aaron.

17.  “Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket…”  the same song Claire used to sing to baby Aaron.

18.  It’s really not fair that Not-Locke’s team has the crazy smoke that can just kill all sorts of people.  How on earth can they fight that!  Maybe that is Jack’s important job?

19.  When Not-Locke tells Sayid that he can have anything in the world it reminded me of when Ben told Locke something similar and referenced the “magic box” on the island.

20.  The look on Not-Locke’s face when he sees Kate come out with Sayid says to me that he doesn’t believe that she really wants to be there.

21.  So here comes the “war” that we heard about, that was coming to the island.

22.  The fact that Claire is so surprised that Kate has Aaron makes me think it was Jacob that came to her back home in the image of Claire and told her not to bring him back to the island.

I’m not posting the article here because some of it may be considered spoiler-ish.  But click here for some yes, no and maybe answers about this season.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click here for a breakdown of the ratings.

I actually got sick to my stomach with jealousy looking at these pictures:

Click here

I’m sure there are people out there who either were at the event or have read about the premiere but I’m not one of them and I don’t want to know!  But if you do please don’t post any comments here of they will be immediately removed or please put on the spoiler page at my site.

Jorge mentions it on his site too.  I can’t wait to read some of his posts once the episodes begin airing.  If you haven’t been there before you should really check out his blog here.

I’ll be watching these before Tuesday!

Looking for ‘Lost’ Clues? Watch These Episodes

By EDWARD WYATT

With 95 episodes of “Lost” already broadcast, it would be all but impossible to review the entire series before the premiere of the final season on Tuesday. But there are shortcuts. Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, executive producers of the series, provided a list of the episodes that they think are the most crucial for newcomers who want to prepare for the final season and for longtime viewers who want to refresh their memories about key plot points and characters. Total viewing time? About six hours. Episodes are available free on ABC.com and Hulu.com and for sale or rent on iTunes, Netflix and on DVD.

PILOT —“The absolute essential starting place,” said Mr. Cuse, detailing the crash of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 and introducing most of the relevant characters. “There is a circularity to the storytelling,” he added, meaning that the final season would answer questions raised in this very first episode, where Locke, ostensibly explaining how to play backgammon, lays out the central premise of the series: “Two players, two sides. One is light, one is dark.” (Two parts.)

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS Jump ahead to the final episode of Season 3, when a freighter, perhaps sent to rescue the survivors, appears offshore. Leaving the island will require sacrifices, however, including the death of a major character, while a shocking twist changes everything viewers understand about the fate of the survivors. (Two Parts.)

THE CONSTANT The fifth episode of Season 4 is probably the creators’ favorite, they said. While not essential in explaining the mythology of the series, the episode reveals abundant information “that will pay off in the final season,” Mr. Cuse said, including details about Desmond Hume, who was discovered by the survivors to be living on the island and whose familial relationships place him near the vortex of the island’s mysteries.

THE VARIABLE A companion to “The Constant,” the 14th episode of Season 5 sees Daniel Faraday, who came to the island on the freighter, reconsider his belief that it is impossible to change one’s path, and thus, one’s destiny. As the island travels through time, Faraday comes to believe that detonating a hydrogen bomb left on the island might prevent Flight 815 from ever crashing.

THE INCIDENT The finale of Season 5 sets the stage for all that remains. For the first time, Jacob, who seems to control the island, is introduced, dressed in white, along with another man, in black, who wants to kill Jacob. Two players, two sides. The new season will pick up immediately after the earth-shattering explosion that concluded last season. (Two parts.)