What a fabulous episode. Remember how great this show was in the beginning? Well, it hasn’t *lost* (ba-dum-pum) anything since then! Viewers take note! The Great White Hunter is back!

One concern for me – once I watched the previews for next week I almost don’t want to watch more Sawyer torture. I’m done with The Others, their over-the-top head games and again, can someone please write in some vengence for Sawyer? ABC – GET RID OF THIS STORY LINE!

On with the show…

1. Opening with the eye, of course. Scene was remiscent of the very first ever opening of the show with Jack out in the jungle.
Click to enlarge

2. Ironically, the Jesus stick falls from the sky onto Locke. A bit contrived considering what transpired from there, don’t you think?

3. OK, so Locke & Co. have been gone for a whole day and Charlie never alerted anyone of what happened there at the hatch? Man, if you told me I would be heading out there not only to see if anyone was hurt but also to check out what was left. And were Desmond, Locke and Eko knocked out cold all that time? Makes me wonder if there were Others involved in this blackout period.

4. I loved that Locke went into his “sweat lodge” for a little wacky paste and a magic carpet ride. I just wonder when the journey really ended because I’m not so sure that Eko was really talking to Locke about saving Jack.
Click to enlarge

5. Ironically Locke needed to speak to the island but he couldn’t talk.

6. I was glad that Charlie was so reluctant to help Locke. The writers gave us, the loyal-obsessed fans, credit for remembering Fire & Water. They haven’t been friends since then and I wouldn’t blame Charlie. Why would you help someone who set you up and then beat you in the head repeatedly. Gee, I wonder why Charlie would hesitate. But Charlie *always* seems to be in the thick of things, doesn’t he?

7. There were so many funny lines in the episode tonight. I especially enjoyed Charlie’s little jabs at Locke like, “Oh yeah, I’ll stand guard in case you devolve into a monkey.”

8. In the airport scene I found it especially entertaining that Desmond was walking around with all the airline stewardesses. Probably true to life, well, the fictional lives of these characters.
Click to enlarge

9. Since Locke was handing out apologies tonight, why didn’t he apologize to Charlie? He *did* hlep him but he also was wrong about Charlie as much as he was wrong losing faith in Eko. Will he continue to use and toss Charlie away?

10. What was the animal that chased Locke out of his tent? Polar bear? Spirit guide?
Click to enlarge

11. Locke says that “They’ve got him,” meaning Eko. But the bear had Eko. Is he referring to Eko at this point?

12. What other bad things happen to people that hang out with Locke? Did we really see anything bad happen tonight beside the fact that he was duped by the cop back home? Boone died, I guess that is bad, but seems mostly bad things are on the island and he was the one getting the short end of the Jesus stick back home.

13. Jeronimo Jackson T-shirt. Cute.

14. I can see why Locke keeps losing his faith. First his mother tricks him into reconnecting with this dad, who in turn tricks him into major surgery and organ donation. Now we see that Eddie destroys the new family that Locke has found. How sad his life is!

15. Hatch imploded. Cool effect!
Click to enlarge

16. Hurley almost bit it tonight thanks to Locke. “Dude.”
Click to enlarge

17. Locke’s driver’s license vs. firearm paperwork. No conspiracy theory, just discrepancy. Birthdate on license 5-30-56 but on paperwork 11-15-46. Expires 5-11-02 which gives us a time frame until the plane crash (and obviously his handicap) and we know he is still in California. Maybe the cop *did* notice the difference but also recognized Eddie as a cop but didn’t want to mess up his operation. I’m going with this over prop error.
Click to enlarge

18. Is it just me or does the commune that Locke lives in eerily resemble The Others commune here on the island? Will it be Locke that chooses to stay with them for that *family* feeling? Or does he have too much of a bond, or so he thinks, to the Losties? But the cop thought the farm was bad and they were just peaceful. Are we supposed to think now that maybe the Others are’t so bad either.

19. Polar bears are the “Einsteins of the bear world” huh? Funny stuff. What else does he know that might help them?

20. Eddie says that everyone at the commune wants a daddy. Goes along with the daddy issue of the show we have had so far. Interesting.

21. Charlie used Locke’s line tonight, “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

22. So has Locke stumbled across some type of burial ground when he finds Eko? What is with the dump truck? And the dharma garb? No symbol in the middle so how old might these bones be?
Click either image to enlarge

23. Does he or doesn’t he? I don’t think he does. I think that the Great White Hunter is too soft to kill this guy who he considers his friend and then leaves the commune in shame.
Click to enlarge

24. Why didn’t Desmond implode and how can he tell the future now? Will he turn into the Hulk as Hurley predicted? And why did they make him into the Caucasion version of Jesus? Seriously, is there some time warp thingy going on that Desmond is wrapped up in? Where did his clothes go and why wasn’t anyone else naked?

25. I wasn’t crazy how they brought in the two new characters. They just wander on up and now we are supposed to accept them? Maybe in small bits, guys? Plus, don’t we have a few other story lines to contend with now instead of adding more? Doh!

26. Dude, nice legs! ha!
Click to enlarge

27. Eddie was headed to the town of Eureka. Check out this link and read about the SciFi Channel’s show of the same name. Ironic, isn’t it? Too many similarities to not be something there. A secret town that no one will ever find. The Others town could potentially be a community of the best scientists and thinkers? Interesting.

28. The Jesus stick now reads, “Lift up your eyes and look North.” Remember that Michael headed North to find Walt. Also, Desmond told Jack, regarding Sarah’s surgery, that he needed to lift her up.

Click to enlarge

29. Eddie gave the cop that pulled over Locke in the beginning a knowing look (when I watch it back now). Was he angry at almost getting busted right in the beginning? And what was up with the torrential downpour followed by an instant burst of sun? Just like the island.

29. In the airport sequence, why are Hurley and Benry the only two who work for the airline? Possibly Desmond, too, but I think he’s just wearing a suit, not a pilot’s uniform. I don’t want Hurley to be duping them somehow so I hope this is just a production choice, but no Others appear in this scene that we know of.

Initial thoughts.  Those two hours were JAM PACKED and it needs another *looksie* for more thoughts.

1.  Charlie is having serious post-traumatic issues.  He doesn’t seem to understand what happened.  He seems surprised Locke and Co. aren’t back yet when Bernard asks where they are.  He seems confused when Claire mentions the “violet sky,”  He is just way to jovial to not be in shock.

2.  Michael is going to die.  Will he come back to help his friends first?  Who knows, but there is no way that they are just going to let him go that easily.  Maybe Walt will talk him into going back for the DAMN DOG and something will happen to Michael.  It would be cool if it was set up that Sawyer ends up being a foster parent for Walt.

3.  What was Desmond in prison for?  Seems he was set up by Penny’s dad.  Mr. Widmore sure doesn’t want his daughter with Desmond.  He goes so far to send him to this experimental island?

4.  How does Penny know about the island?  I loved the last scene, it was so X-Files-esque.

5.  I don’t think that Desmond, Locke and Eko are dead.  But I sure wish someone would go check out the hatch.  Especially after the Quarantine door came flying to camp.  Hello?

6.  Sayid will go and save Jack, Kate and Sawyer.  We could see Sayid back on the boat during the *incident* and I’m sure once he hears Hurley’s story he will find a way to save them.  Plus we are talking about the 3 main characters.  They have to be saved.  But it sure would be cool to see where The Others are going to take them.

7.  What was the look between Jack and Kate right at the end?  It seems they have something in mind but by the look on Sawyer’s face he was not part of the plan.

8.  Libby so set up Desmond.  She *HAD* to be put up to giving him that boat.  Did she have a deal similar to Michael – was she trying to get someone back and had to deal to help get all of the survivors on that island in order to get her loved one back?  Plus, she really looks crappy as a red head.

9.  I don’t believe that Desmond made the plane crash.  You are telling me that the magnetic force was so powerful that it pulled down a plane from the sky, but the cans of food on the beach only fell off of the shelves?  No way.  Yes, the instruments were probably messed up and yes, the people on the plane were meant for this island, but I don’t think that Desmond’s close call with the buttons was the cause.  I think that the pilot may have made errors because of the instrument malfunction, yes.  But there are too many connections not believe they are supposed to be there.  I think that the reason *The Others* wanted the list so badly was because they needed to know who survived the crash.

10.  Desmond knows about The Others, but how?  He refers to them as “The Hostiles.”  At some point he must have left the hatch and had some sort of encounter.  Desmond just has way too much story left to tell for him to be dead. 

11.  What was up with the $42,000 reward from the boat race?  42 is one of the numbers.  Coincidence?

12.  The big bird that flies down towards Jack and co.  I had read last season during my research that the Black *Roc* is a mythological bird.  Connection?  Does it have a connection to the *monster*?

13.  The big foot on the beach.  Four toes?  Where *is* the rest of the statue?  Was it destroyed in the last *incident*?

14.  Desmond’s story is so disturbing and sad.  It’s one of those life stories that makes you look back and say, “What if…”  What if Desmond had read Penny’s letter back in prison?  Would there have been a happy ending to his love story or would he have ended up exactly in the situation he is in?

15.  We hear the whispers right before Sawyer & friends get poison darts.  We assume it’s these Others but could it have been the “good” Others warning them that the “bad” Others were coming?

16.  There is much more to discuss…. will continue since we have *all summer* to go over this one.  But I thought this had to be the best season finale I have ever seen…. 

17. Still to discuss: Kelvin, rip in his suit, volcanic rock, Rudinski (I think that was his name), fabric softner paint, stuck in a “snow globe,” Mr Widmore, Desmond in prison, more on Libby, answer to riddle, Charles Dickens, Sawyer’s comment about aliens, Sayid praying, Hanso commercial, the original incident, the Swan key, the new incident, the hole in Kelvin’s suit, the boats, the ferry, Fenry, ah, and I’m sure there is much more!

1. Widmore bullets.

Click to enlarge

2. There can be no doubt that this was not Walt talking to Michael. Unless he was some sort of prodigy Boy Scout, how would he know that he was North? He tells Mike that he is being held by the rock with the big HOLE, but isn’t that a convenient landmark?

Click to enlarge

3. Why do the Others want these four specific survivors? They don’t seem to be *good* like the tailies that they took. The only theory that I have so far is that these four have seen things on the island that do not possibly belong there. Jack saw his dad. Kate and Sawyer saw the horse. Hurley saw Dave. Eko and Locke’s visions don’t count because they came to them in dreams. But I don’t know yet how the Others know that they have had these visions unless they have somehow induced them.

Click to enlarge

4. What happened to Kate? She is so scruffy! Just because you’re stranded on an island with killer Others is no reason to leave the hatch without some lip gloss! Get it together girl!
Earlier this season

Now

5. Um Mike, you’re not going North. Plus, I thought compasses weren’t supposed to work on the island?

6. Hell. For some reason a Squirrel Nut Zipper song comes to mind… *In the afterlife…* Oops, off on a tangent. Anyway, Mike asks Eko about hell which seems to spark a story that is remarkably meaningful considering the situation. Me thinks Mr. Eko knows human nature and has already figured out Mr. Mikey’s crime. Why else pick the story about the boy “protecting” his sister and as long has he was “sorry” he would not go to hell. It also is very Shakespearean “Out damn spot” when he is trying to clean the blood off the floor.

7. Michael puking. Is this from guilt or drug withdrawal or both? I still think this guy was drugged and that is the only way I can see the audience forgiving him for his crimes.

8. Immunizations. I wonder how this is going to play into next season? Charlie has injected himself to see how it would feel before Claire gives it to the baby. Was he injecting himself with a virus or immunizing himself?

Click to enlarge

9. Kate must have amnesia. Zeke is standing talking to Mike right as Jack and co. walk up in the jungle. He tells Mike, “If you make a sound you’ll never see your boy again.” I watched this back and Kate is right there when he says this. Why hasn’t she said anything about this? She has to know they were talking to Michael.

10. “Caught in a net,” I like this new Sawyerism. However, I don’t think that Sawyer was buddying up to Jack or thinks that they are now BFF’s. I think that Mr. Sawyer knows that he has given up his edge by handing over the guns so he needs to be on the good side of the survivors if he plans on getting back his hold. I also think that he was so eager to hand over the guns now is because of his own guilt over Walt being kidnapped and Sawyer wants his own revenge. Plus he has some unfinished business with Mr. Friendly. Showdown at the OK… hatch?

11. Eko’s cross being drawn to the wall is a *nudge* to us to remember that magnetic wall. I hear that it’s going to be opened up this week so we can see what is back there. Any guesses? Probably not Jimmy Hoffa.

Click to enlarge

12. Poor Charlie. Building this church gave him purpose, not to mention he was like a kid telling his girl that he had a new job, when he was talking to Claire. I wonder if Charlie will try and enlist some help to get it done. Bernard is probably not busy.

Click to enlarge

13. I have a theory about the rock with the big hole and about what the symbol on the Other’s hatch is. I think that this rock was put there as a symbol to any ships coming ashore to know where to dock on the island. It’s their lighthouse if you will. I think that the symbol on the hatch is a door. It is the entryway to the island. I would guess that if you opened the doors you would find a corridor that leads out to a dock where the seabilly’s boat is hidden. There is probably some sort of cutout in the rocks that makes the dock secluded and hidden from view. If they are keeping Walt in this area it would explain why he is wet when he appears around the island (this would be a damp area). If I’m wrong, then I would guess it leads underwater to a different hatch.

Click to enlarge

14. Didn’t the Others camp seem a little too set up like a Hollywood movie set? No one seemed all that surprised to see Michael and their little camp was so quaint with their villagers milling about at their tents with their drying fish. Not to mention the guns and needles. I don’t think that this was a production error but just the Others going with their image (remember the spirit glue and fake beards)? All here to keep up the facade for the survivors.

15. I’m guessing in season 3 we are going to see Miss Klugh show up in a flashback. Didn’t she sound remarkably similar to the custody attorney when she questioned Michael on why he knew so little about Walt?

Click to enlarge

16. Scott called it right away when Sayid grabbed both of Michael’s hands. He was checking his pulse and his palms to see if Mike way lying. Sayid is good! But why wouldn’t Sawyer or Jack be suspicious of why Mike wouldn’t want the only “real” soldier to go into battle with them? Wouldn’t you want a trained soldier going with you for your kid instead of the overweight goofy guy? Is it just me here folks?
Click to enlarge

17. Even more than a Charlie – Claire reunion, I want to see a Charlie – Locke friendship back. Maybe they’ll build the church together. Locke seems to take inspiration from Charlie here as he just cuts off his cast and heads back to the hatch. Can’t wait to see Locke’s version of letting go! Plus, I think that the writers knew that they couldn’t keep the audience interested in a story line that required a button to be pushed every 108 minutes. They are killing Locke’s obsession and our imprisonment to this story line.

Click to enlarge

18. The scene with Mike and Walt was weird. If Walt hadn’t hugged him I would have thought he was projecting himself again. But Walt did say that they were pretending however I don’t think that Mike is taking this into consideration. He is taking them at face value.

19. Boat. Will they find Desmond asleep on the boat? I thought originally that the Others might have sent a boat over as a *nudge, nudge, remember your mission* to Mike but then I remembered that Desmond had a sailboat and he has probably been working on it since he left the hatch. Guessing that he would like to get off of this rock and back to the world now that he knows it hasn’t blown up… or so he thinks! Will he take the boat next season and sail off with some of the survivors?

Click to enlarge

20. Damn dog.

Wow, what a great episode!

1. Whoa, is Michael high or what? Remember how drugged and brainwashed Claire was? She was about a .04 to Michaels 2.5! I think that is why part of the preview next week is in black and white (his stoned memory) and we can see *someone* injecting Michael, similar to what we saw Ethan doing to Claire. This is also the only way “we” and the survivors will ever forgive him, too.

2. So how are The Others manipulating their dreams like this? Is it in the water? Is it in the trees thus in the smoke coming from the fire? Is it in the fruit or meat that they are eating? Somehow they are manipulating the survivors’ minds…

3. I think that Locke was originally brought to the plane (through a DREAM) to find the hatch but because of Boone’s *accident* the plan was put on hold. But his legs were also disabled the first time he came here leading me to believe he is not supposed to climb. Why?

4. OK, so Eko wakes up in the night, grabs the axe and tells Charlie, “I’m going to get John.” SCARY! They give him some great set ups, don’t they?

5. Eko is starting to sound like Locke did last season. He asks Locke if he has ever followed a dream. He tells Locke that they should wait for further instructions (once at the plane). His faith is now pulling Locke on.

6. Funny line – when Eko is looking at the map and he asks John if something is a river and he responds that no, it’s a wavy line. Tsk, tsk. Sarcasm.

7. Poor Hurley, he already thinks that he is cursed because of the numbers and now Libby is dead for what he thinks was his fault. Wonder who he’ll see now on the island? And will he ever figure out how he knows her? Her story never went anywhere.

8. Claire’s psychic. He’s a fraud, shocker, right? But, what I think is interesting is that he told Eko that he gathers info and then exploits people. I think that he was doing this to manipulate Eko. He conned Claire into getting on the plane so did he just con Eko the same way? He *pretends* that his daughter is a fake then sends her to the airport to talk to Eko? Is Eko’s monseniour somehow involved and that is why he sent him to investigate the miracle?

9. The ground was salted so nothing would grow around the question mark. Eko indicates that this is so that anyone flying above will see it. Makes me wonder what kind of other markers there may be around the other hatches. Why make these markers? Well, we are supposed to find out why the plane crashed to begin with so maybe we will find this out in the next couple of epis.

10. I couldn’t tell what was on the table in the observation hatch. It looked like a cigarette and trash, but my sis thought maybe it was heroin and empty packs.

11. Orientation video. The doctor uses a different name and sure does look younger. He was Marvin Candle for The Swan but now says that he is Dr. Mark Wickman. Video was dated 1980. Also, the Swan video was reel-to-reel and this one was VHS.

12. There was dust on the journals that the participants were supposed to write in, but the thingy that carriers them was still working. TV’s looked dated but still worked. Where is the power coming from? Where is the PALA FERRY that takes them back when their 8 hour shift is over?

13. Scott and I examined the numbers on the printout but could not see the pattern. Is it a date followed by some type of time stamp? The pattern consists of eight numbers beginning with 41602 then 3 numbers. They vary from 41, 05, 29 and 23. Is the first set the date?

14. I want to know what all the other tv’s in the new hatch were for? Could they need all of those just for the Swan OR could they be watching other places (the jungle?) or other hatches?

15. Here are the clips from Eko’s first dream”

– Eko’s POV from the water when he is washing ashore after the crash
– Black smoke Eko saw in the jungle
– Dead body floating in water
– Necklace on brother in Africa
– Feet of the Others (children) walking through jungle (with the teddy bear, remember?)
– Campfire
– Jin blindfolded
– Statues of Mary that the lady was selling in Africa
– Charlie and Eko watching the drug plane burn
– Eko’s brother talking to him in the church
– Dharma symbol in hatch (w/arrow)
– Bible from the crate in the other hatch
– Jesus stick
– Skeleton of brother from drug plane
– Locke looking scared
– Eko behind the black smoke
– Brother – Eko getting the cross necklace
– Plane taking off, brother yelling and then guards coming up in jeep
– Dr Candal from Orientation video
– Dharma Swan log in hatch
– This all followed by Eko coming into the hatch and finding his brother sitting at the computer telling him that the work being done there is important.

16. Eko’s fake passport was dated 14 April 04.

17. Sawyer was again showing a very soft side. He was willing to give up his stash that he worked so hard to con in order to keep Libby from suffering. Then he comforts Kate. Nice.

After watching with the thought in mind that THEY want us to see these *specific* clips, here is my list I call

(insert creepy echo) “Thoughts and Questions”

1. Arrow on the hatch door where the Tailies were staying. What does it mean? We know the medical hatch had a caduceus so what is this?

2. *Orientation* video indicated that they were to stay in the hatch for 540 days. Desmond says he has been there 3 years. What happened?

3. L-O-V-E-D the Locke quote after watching the film. “We’re gonna need to watch that again!” Yes we are!

4. Ana recounts the number of tailies that were taken by the Others. What happened to them? Why chose them and not any other survivors? Why take so many tailies and so few of the mid-section-ers?

5. I still think that Kate poisoned someone in her past. I saw her getting Sawyer to drink and it reminded me of my theory. We have seen alot of clues leading us to this (poison to Michael (meant for Jin), drugging Jack to get him to sleep, etc…).

6. LOVE the scene where Eko comes out of the woods with Sawyer over his back. “Where’s the doctor?” Classic TV.

7. OK so the guys from the raft come out of the woods and did you see how happy everyone was to see them? Wouldn’t you be like, holy crap, there goes our chance to get saved? I would.

8. Hurley told LIbby she looked familiar. Did he forget?

9. Eko’s stick with the bible references, what was up with that?

10. Mike on the computer. OK, so you’re stranded on an island and your kid has been taken by seabillies. The computer that is used solely for “saving the world” suddenly lights up with an instant chat and you don’t say anything to anyone?

11. Sawyer has really gotten beat up on this island. He gets stabbed by Sayid, punched by Hurley and shot TWICE by The Others. When will he get his revenge or when will we see the tough guy? He told Zeke that it wasn’t over… can’t WAIT for that confrontation!

12. When Sun asks Kate if she ever took a pregnancy test she answers yes. Tom? The Marshall?

13. What is all being built at this point? We are told that Eko is building a church but what was Charlie and Sayid building? And when did Charlie become Mr. Fixer Upper?

14. Henry is so freaking good at manipulation. I bet the actor playing him is just loving this part and I love watching him. Good job bad guy!

15. OK, I SWEAR that tonight I heard the word “Lockdown” come out of the speakers during the scene when the weird sounds are coming out before the doors go down. Me thinks the producers cleaned this up a bit for us.

16. The map. I think that in 20 years when there is a recap of the greatest TV moments, the scene where the map on the door lights up will be in that countdown. I can’t wait to look back and remember the moment and to also have all the knowledge of what the show is really about. In the meantime I’m enjoying the ride!

If you’ve been wanting to know what happens in the hatch when the camera is off, here it is.  This is actually the song that Locke was listening to… Geronimo Jackson.

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

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

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

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

3. Vincent, get away from Hurley!

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

   Click on image to enlarge

From Solitary 1 x 09:

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

JACK: It’s hives.

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

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

SULLIVAN: Okay.

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

SULLIVAN: Right.

JACK: Try to keep your mind off it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

   Click on image to enlarge

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

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

   Click on image to enlarge

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

Click on image to enlarge            Click on image to enlarge
      

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Click on image to enlarge

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

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

 Click on image to enlarge

   Click on image to enlarge

25. Is this Alex? I can tell you that it is supposed to be Sawyer who finds her in the jungle (visions of the girl coming back to the hatch and Sawyer being there to scavenge) and he convinces her to join them. Again, could be a red herring or she could be a mole. Planted to make Claire think that she saved her.

26. Why was the bootie left behind?

27. I like this visual. It reminded me of when Locke and Jack were first looking down the hatch with Desmond.