NUMBERS!

I never would have guessed that the numbers correspond to each of those on Jacob’s list.  I didn’t even expect an answer to the number question.  But I for one am more then satisfied with this answer.  And to all the naysayers that thought they made this show up as they went along, this is proof positive that the answers were there from the start.  Too many connections to the numbers not to have been a plan.  Darlton rules!

1.  What I want to know is how Locke became paralyzed in the new time line.  If his dad didn’t push him then what happened?  Was he “meant” to be paralyzed?  Is this is cross to bear in life?

2.  Ironically the sprinklers come on.  The water seems to be associated with trouble in this show.

3. Helen says that she wants to take her parents and his dad to their wedding.  Locke’s dad?  Can’t wait to see that dynamic.  His dad is the original Sawyer.  I can’t believe that his dad is not a con man in any time line.

4.  I also LOVED that we got to see from Smokey’s point of view.  I thought that was a terrific camera shot.  But, I want to know what is up with all of the noises Smokey makes.  The cricket sound, the growling and the mechanical ticking.  Plus remember when Smokey looked like he was taking pictures of Juliet and Kate?

5.  Not-Locke says that people seldom get a second chance.  Is that what this is about?  The island has given them a second chance?  We can see that their lives back home were pretty crappy in the non-crash time line.  Redemption?

6.  Randy is back.  Wow, that guy is a huge douche (like Hurley said).

7.  Hey, maybe we’ll find out where the nickname “Hurley” came from.  Or why Libby was obsessed with him.

8.  I’m glad we’re getting a Richard episode.  I want to know what Jacob did use Richard for.

9.  I’m also curious to see who the little boy that Not-Locke is chasing.  I don’t think we have enough back story yet to know who it is.  My guess is that it’s someone from long ago.  Obviously quite important to Not-Locke since he’s chasing him around like the White Rabbit.

10.  How very interesting that Sawyer could see the little boy but Richard couldn’t.

11.  Ilana has more connection to Jacob then we know yet.  She wasn’t crying over her team mates.  And collecting the ash will surely come in handy later.  She also knows a whole lot about this island.  I’m sure she’s spent some time here before.

12.  OK, I really think that Sawyer had part of the bomb at his kitchen sink.  I’ll screen cap it later.

13.  Saywer had “the best” lines this episode.  I hate what they did to his character (killing Juliet) but I love that they have brought back the slick con man from Season One.  We know there is a good guy down in there now so it’s hard not to like him.  Also, I will gamble and say that there is no way Sawyer will leave this island without at least Kate.  We know there is a good part of Sawyer down there.  No way he’ll leave.  Remember that Sawyer is a professional con man.  He could very well be playing a con on Not-Locke right now.

14.  So remember that Hurley owned a box factory in our original time line that blew up.  He made a lot of money off of it.  Guess Locke may have dodged a bullet getting fired from there.

15.  Hm, and Hurley introduces himself in the new time line as “Hugo Reyes.”  Maybe he is the only one whose life really was better without the crash.  But…. without the crash this new time line would not have happened.

16.  The little boy tells Not-Locke that according to the rules he can’t kill Jacob.  Not-Locke supposedly found a loop hole.  But did he?  Or, is the boy telling Not-Locke that he can’t kill Saywer?  He only says “you can’t kill HIM.”  So the little boy may very well be Jacob.

17.  Ben had said before that Widmore wanted to kill everyone on the island.  That if the freighter got there that they would kill everyone on the island.  Now Richard tells Sawyer that Not-Locke is going to kill everyone.  Coincidence?

18.  It’s pretty cool that Rose is working for Hurley.  She’s still the calm voice of reason.  And she still has her cancer.  Guess she’s about the same in both time lines.

19.  There is the possibility that Not-Locke is trapped much like Juliet felt trapped on the island.

20.  Ilana says that Not-Locke cannot change his face again, “he’s stuck this way.”  Guess burying Locke’s body was a good idea since he won’t be coming back then.

21.  This burial reminded me of the ones in the past.  No one had anything to say.  I was very shocked that Ben admitted to murdering him.  Right now Ben has to be so lost.  He’s not the leader, he doesn’t have Jacob to follow and his “family” is dead.

22.  The irony of the title of this episode.  Locke is the substitute in two ways.  Not-Locke and the substitute teacher.  Looks like this teaching job Rose found him will prove to be very meaningful in his new time line life.  And meeting Ben!  Wow, Ben was grouchy too!  Maybe because he’s teaching European history.

23.  Locke’s life has to be somewhat different back home.  He’s still engaged to Helen and she didn’t leave him.  He must have done some things right.  but, was interested that he lied to Jack about going on the walkabout. But he’s not as much of a man of faith, more like a good faker.

24.  Did you notice that Helen’s shirt said “Peace and Karma?”

25.  Now that Locke and Sawyer are down the ladders how on earth are they getting back up?  Not-Locke had to save Sawyer for now.  He must need him alive…. for now.  Maybe has something to do with his name on that cave wall?

26.  Three choices – do nothing, stay and “protect” the island, or leave.

27.  What answers is Sawyer looking for?  Does he even know?

28.  4- Locke, 8- Reyes , 15-Ford , 16-Jarrah, 23- Shephard, 42-Kwon (he didn’t know if it was Sun or Jin).

29.  Where was Kate on the list?  What do the numbers signify?  Why are the candidates to the be the leader?  What makes them qualified?  And what about Vincent?

30.  In the preview for next week I heard Ben’s voice stating that “someone is coming.”  I’m thinking that Desmond is coming.  He’s coming back.  He’s special, as Daniel pointed out.

32.  I’m expecting Walt to show up at the school where Locke is teaching.

You must watch this YouTube video.  This guy is amazing with his “Lost” software how he explains the two parallel time lines exist.  Then there is this “deleted scene” from Season Five where Faraday also explains the split in time.

So, we can see how the island is underwater in the “new” 2004 airplane scene.  How?  In 1977 Juliet detonated the bomb.  The whole thing was gone and sunk the island (no, I don’t know how but come on, Locke turns into smoke so it’s possible here).  Butterfly affect comes into play.  Widmore has no reason to want to get back to the island (it’s underwater and everyone there is dead).  Desmond never sets sail on his around the world trip and lands on the island.  Ben and the Others back on the island never travel back and forth doing who knows what back on land.  Juliet never goes to the island.  Leonard would have never been chanting the numbers in the asylum for Hurley to use (yes, I know Hurley still won the lottery so it goes along with the theory that what must happen will happen).

In Season One people’s paths were crossing and it was fun to spot them but in Season Six their crossing paths now has a whole new significance.

If we believe the time line of Vaughn (the first video I linked) then the the two (or more) time lines will never cross.  But if we listen to Faraday he doesn’t say they will cross either but he does reiterate that whatever happened, happened.  On a side note, he says that he spent the 3 years back home recreating his all of his work back in Ann Arbor (if you recall that is where the DeGroots  founded the Dharma Initiative) so in this alternative time line they have access to all of Faraday’s work.  I can’t imagine what they might do with it in this alternative time line.

And let’s agree that Not-Locke was correct when he called their lives “pathetic” back home.  As we can see from this first episode, they are no better off with the plane not crashing.  Kate was better the original way because she didn’t have to go to prison and could stop running.

1.  Remember right after Faraday talks to Desmond about finding his mother Desmond wakes up with Penny and suddenly “remembers” the conversation?  When we first see Jack on the new plane he looks for a minute like he’s disoriented. I wonder if something similar happened to Jack in that we see him only moments in time after Juliet detonates the bomb.  Hopefully you understand what I meant here.  Not that she changed Jack’s present but it’s happening on two different plains of time simultaneously.

2.  I don’t know if they were serious, but Darlton were recently on Jimmy Kimmel and indicated that the fact that the stewardess only gave Jack one drink instead of two was significant.  But they joke a lot.  Time will be the judge.

3.  Darlton also told Kimmel that Rose being the confident flier while Jack was frightened has significance.  I think it’s cute that Rose tells Bernard she missed him while he was in the bathroom.  Or is there more to this as well.

4.  How is it that Jack doesn’t remember cutting himself?  And I love the scene here of Jack looking at himself in the mirror.  Symbolic of the time lines.

5.  If my theory is right then Jack would have never met Desmond in the stadium because Des would not have been preparing for his big sailing trip.  Ever had dejavu?  Jack is having it right here. Makes me wonder what my dejavu means.  Hm…

6.  Underwater shots.  Here you go!  Dharma security, Dharma houses, the swing set and even the Dharma shark!

7.  One thing has stayed the same, opening the scene with an eye.  But I have a hard time believing Kate could get her hands on false eyelashes.  Maybe she took them out of Claire’s bag.  Remember how Claire always had makeup on?

8.  If Artz is asking Hurley to site lines from his Clucky commercial, then these teasers this summer really meant something; Clucky Commercial, Kate on America’s Most Wanted.

9. I still want to know how the Dharma van traveled with them through time.

10.  Shouldn’t Rose and Bernard be in the current time with Jack and everyone?  And are we going to see Vincent again soon?

11.  Michael Emerson must be as excited at Terry O’Quinn for this season.  Ben is now tied with Not-Locke and way far away from being any kind of leader.  So his role and Not-Locke’s roll are going to reverse.  I can’t wait to see how these two guys embrace these characters.  You can see already the desperation in Ben’s face.  But he always has a plan, right?  Maybe Ben will be the one that saves them all.  That would be ironic.

12.  On a side note, are we going to find out anything about the “real” Henry Gale?

13.  Here’s the shot of Not-Locke sitting in the old rocking chair.  Looks like the chair from the cabin.

14.  Wow, Not-Locke can repel bullets too.

15.  Ash ring repels Smokey.  This makes me wonder who exactly was in the cabin.  We saw in the pilot episode (Season One) that the trees were being parted and the sounds of Smokey.  But I also thought for awhile that Jacob had Smokey trapped in the cabin.  Now I think that it really was Jacob in the cabin as it was surrounded by Ash.  I think it was Locke who ended up breaking that ring and that is when Jacob retreated to the foot.

16.  Locke had to die so that Smokey could take over his body.  But there is more to Locke then just a vessel.  Smokey also took over Eko’s brother, Christian and Ana Lucia so if that’s is all he needed then he could have killed Jacob before.  He needed a true believer, like Locke.  I wonder if Jacob also had Locke in mind for his own use?  Remember how Richard came to him as boy with his “test” that Locke failed?  They came to him again in high school.

17.  I think we are going to hear the Juliet- coffee line again with Sawyer.  I’ve said previously that I think she’s “mind” traveling between the time lines and that is how she knows the plan worked.  Elizabeth Mitchell did say that she has more then one scene in Season Six.  How the survivors will come to believe it is the next question.  Maybe Juliet will somehow retain her memory from the island in the new time line.  Maybe that is how Mrs. Hawkings knew to tell Desmond that he “had” to go to the island – she remembered or “mind traveled.”

18.  Yeah Charlie!  I really hope they bring him back more for this season.  Charlie and Hurley were good friends so I can hope.

19.  Looks like it’s still 2004 according to Sayid’s passport.

20.  Guess we might find out why this watch was so vitally important to Jin.  But all the money they find in his luggage makes me think that perhaps Jin was the one thinking of leaving Sun in this alternative world.

21.  I don’t think that we discuss enough what a great job Josh Holloway does with his role as Sawyer either.  We know what a great looking buy he is and to come onscreen with matted hair and all covered in dirt and blood, well he still looks good.  But I think he’s really brought something extra to Sawyer last season and so far this season.  I can’t wait to see how much he does this season too with the grief that Sawyer is going to be carrying.

22.  I’m thinking that although the island is underwater in the new time line, someone (whether it be Jacob or Not-Locke) needed that body and that is where Christian is.  I’m sure he’ll be popping up this season.

23.  Nice of Kate to walk away with the torch right as Jin and Jack are going around the huge, gaping hole.  But then she hears the whispers.  I know that it appears that it’s the new Others but I’m not 100% sure of this.  I could believe that they are talking in the cavern and the whispers echo, but it doesn’t explain how they traveled out in the jungle when the survivors heard them back in Season One.  I’m hoping there is a little more clarity coming.  Maybe all of the new Others at the Temple are dead or something like what Richard is?  Afterall, they do have a ragtag group of people – ranging from a hippie to a Japanese Samurai dude.

24. More red flowers!

25.  Here is the description of the new guy “Lennon” when they were looking to cast him.  “According to the casting breakdown, Lennon is the scruffy, edgy and charismatic spokesperson and translator for the president of a foreign corporation who is far more powerful than it seems from his position.”  Is the samurai guy president of a company back home?  Did they change their minds about his role?

26.  Jack didn’t care to know what the “risks” of putting Sayid in the water were because he’s not 100% a man of faith yet.  Jack just thinks Sayid is all but dead anyway.

27.  Non-Locke says he wants the one thing that Locke didn’t – to go home.  Why does that have to mean off of the island?  I think that the reason that the Temple Others got so upset knowing Jacob was dead was because the Temple is his “home.”  And I would guess that he can do very bad things from “home” especially considering that they have the magic water at the Temple.

28.  Jack tells Locke that nothing is irreversible.  What if Locke does go to Jack and have his back fixed?  Could Locke being fixed in this time line explain and carry over to another time line?  Could it explain how Locke suddenly has the ability to walk once he’s on the island?  I’m sure there is a subtle meaning to the line also but thought maybe there was a literal meaning as well.

29.  Here’s a shot of Jack’s card, in case it means something later.

30.  Right after Not-Locke knocks out Richard he says “I’m very disappointed in all of you.”  Huh, why?  the he slings Richard over his shoulder like an old boar.  Maybe he’s going to hold him ransom to get inside the Temple?

31.  I originally thought that Sayid was taken over by Jacob.  But when asked, Darlton would only say that “something” is inhabiting Sayid.  What are the possibilities?  We may not know yet.  After all, who could have ever dreamed that there would be a freighter appear or that only 6 would get home then come back.  But I would still prefer that it’s Jacob.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17.  And was Hurley hilarious tonight or what?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

27.  Where is Vincent?

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

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

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

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

Wow. Now *THAT* is how you do a season finale.

So bittersweet.  Two hours of amazing tv but now the season is over for another 9 months.

1.  Why the big fancy metal box to carry around Locke’s dead body?  Whatever / Whoever has taken over Locke apparently doesn’t need the corpse to take his form.  Unless there is a twin out there of Locke.  I hate that it’s not Locke though.  I thought this guy had finally found his mojo but turns out he’s the man in black.

2.  I can’t help to think again to Stephen King and the bad guy he has running around (Randal Flagg, Walter, whatever you want to call him).  I’m thinking it’s the same “bad guy” concept that has a hold of Locke’s body and I also think it’s the same guy from the opening scene that wants to kill Jacob.

3.  We are back to our black and white theme.  Very first scene, Jacob has on white, the other guy has on black.

4.  I really want to stew on my thoughts of that opening scene.  If you’ve seen the 80’s movie “Clash of the Titans” then you’ll remember the scenes where the “gods” were moving the people around.  It almost reminds me of the opening scene.  It’s like Jacob brings people to the island out of some “power” he has.  I think maybe he is hoping that on one of the boats / planes that crashes someone will kill him and end the seemingly endless loop of events.  According to the man in black, they come, they fight but it always ends the same.

5.  Jacob seems like such a kind man.  He goes to each one of our Losties at an important moment of their life and is so gentle.  Except with Locke he actually brings him back to life after he falls out of the tree.  But, Jacob goes to each of the survivors which surely means there is a larger purpose for them.  And when they crash on the island Jacob makes the list of who he wants from the survivors.

6.  Jacob must want Sawyer to finish the letter.  He gives him a pen.

7.  Should Jack really be carrying the inner part of the bomb around on his back?

8.  I think that Richard is suspicious of the *new* Locke.  He keeps staring at him (or so Locke keeps pointing out) and even says he’s different.  But Jack tells Richard that he shouldn’t give up on Locke so I think that Richard might be second guessing his suspicions.

9.  So Eloise is their leader.  Richard says so when he makes Jack and Sayid go ahead of him through the Dharma houses.

10.  I’m not clear on what Frank might be a “candidate” for according to Ilana.  Guess we’ll have to wait until next year to see.  Maybe a new *body* for Jacob to inhabit?

11.   Hurley is a rock star in that van.  How many times can he be a hero driving that thing into dangerous situations.

12.  I love Rose and Bernard.  I truly hope that they leave those two exactly where they are.  Give someone some happiness people!!!

13.  “It’s always something with you people.”  I agree with Rose.  They can’t just sit still and live a calm life, they are always shooting at someone.  But I guess it would make for one boring show if they didn’t.

14.  Ilana has her face wrapped and all we see is her eye.  We haven’t had an eye opening for awhile.  When Jacob comes to her in the hospital she obviously knows him.  What must he ask for her help with?  I’m thinking it’s to stop the man in black from whatever evil he’s spreading.  Maybe she is one of the good guys.

15.  AND, if Jacob wasn’t the one in the cabin then there are some people on the island who have been talking to the evil / black spirit on the island.  And, Claire was in the cabin so she is somehow involved with him.

16.  Book that Jacob is reading, Flannery O’Conner “Everything That Rises Must Converge.”

17.   The first time that Ben took Locke to the cabin the man in the black shirt is the one who asked Locke to help him.  I don’t think that Jacob was there at all.  And I think Richard knew that.

18.  I was sad when Sun found Charlie’s ring in the baby cradle.  Made me miss Charlie for one and for another I missed the old, more simple days of the show.  Charlie gave his life so that Claire and Aaron can leave the island and I still think that we will see that happen.

19.  Maybe Jacob going to all the important events was like Dan going to Charlotte as a little girl.  He’s trying to subtly influence their behavior and thus change the course of events and therefore breaking the loop.

20.  I think it’s cute that Jacob is the little old lady who lived in a shoe.

21.  I thought that it was going to be Jacob that actually put the woman back together during Jack’s surgery.  Such a poignant moment in his life that I’m glad Jacob didn’t heal her.  But, we can see that both Jack and Jacob like Apollo bars.  I’m not clear yet on what his role was in that scene.

22.  Sawyer is 100% right, a man does what he does because he wants something.  But, I don’t think that Jack is trying to change the future because of Kate alone.  I think it’s all of his regrets collectively that he wants to change.

23.  The Jack and Sawyer fist fight was five seasons coming.  I think they needed to have it out once and for all.

24.  Juliette learned early about being in love but not being with that person that you love.  The scene with her as a little girl was a wee bit cheesy though.

25.  Jacob wanted Hurley to have Charlie’s guitar.  But I love that out of everyone, he only straight talks Hurley.  And he also reassures Hurley that he’s not crazy but rather that he’s blessed because he has the ability to talk to his dead friends.

26.  Sayid will live.  Killing of Juliet (as I thought she would be) was the sacrifice for the season.  They can’t also take him away from us.  They just can’t!

27.  I don’t think that the man in Locke has the capability of killing Jacob.  Having Ben do it is the loop hole he had been looking for.  But I’m also not convinced that Jacob didn’t want to die.  He doesn’t do anything to make Ben feel better about not seeing him all those years.

28.  Notice the black and white shadows on Locke and Jacob’s faces in Jacob’s foot/house?  Ben doesn’t have the shadows but the two of them do.  Will have to screen cap.

29.  Yeah Miles!  Finally pointing out what we’ve been thinking.  That the Losties are actually causing the event that they think they are preventing.

30.  So the scene at the Swan construction site was crazy intense, once the bomb actually went off that is.  Like when Locke first let the numbers run out and all the metal started coming.  Miles saving his dad.  And of course the Juliet in the tunnel scene.  OMG, heart wrenching!  I was very teary eyed in that scene.  You can also believe that Locke is not going to take losing her well.  If he was bad before then he’s going to be totally off the charts now.  I can see him blaming Kate and Jack for her death since he seems to think that they had a very happy life until they came back.

31.  Yes, Juliet waking up at the bottom of the tunnel was unrealistic but if the island wasn’t done with her then it makes sense that she lived in order to set the bomb off.

32.  Anyone able to translate what Richard says lies in the shadow of the statue?

34.  I really hate that it’s not *our* Locke running around the island.

35.  Jacob says “They’re Coming.”  I think that he means the O6.  They *were* meant to come back and I think it’s to stop the dark man that has taken over Locke.  That is their purpose.

36.  Elizabeth Mitchell has to be beyond pleased with the way they wrote her character off of the show.  Sure, it sucks that she’s gone but if you are going to go, THAT is the way to do it!

37.  I also was moved with the flash that Lost’s final season is next year.  What!  Can it be true?  I knew that was coming as well but it’s going to be such a bittersweet season.

I liked tonight’s episode but to me it felt like a device to just get us from point A to point B.  Not a lot really happened, but it got us on track for big things to come.  No big surprise that Ben came to Sayid (well, to Sayid it was a surprise) but I’m sure there are really big things to come in that story line.

1.  Why didn’t Sun flash with the other Losties?  I suspect Ben had something to do with that but not sure how he did it yet.

2.  Having Sun in the future and Jin in the past is the perfect way to set them up to do whatever it takes to reunite.  We’ve seen the kinds of things that Jin did when he worked for Sun’s father so it doesn’t seem above him to do bad things when needed.  I’m assuming that Ben and Co. set it up that way because they will need Sun and Jin’s help to reunite all of the Losties.  Like players in a chess game.

3. We can see Sawyer start losing control when Jin takes off to look for Sun and the plane crash.  He seems to have done a good job regaining control of his life as part of the DI, now these 3 show up and start shaking the foundation.

4.  Back a few seasons ago I thought it was going to be Locke’s group versus Jack’s group.  Now I’m wondering if it’s going to end up being Sawyer versus Jack.  Sawyer considers DI his people now and I don’t think he’ll leave easily knowing about the purge.

5.  Interesting to see Radzinksy building the hatch.  Will need to get a screen cap of that.   I’m also very curious how he ends up *trapped* in the hatch.  I’m guessing his fate along with the “quarantine” signs on the hatch doors go along with the *incident* which probably involves the Losties and how they return to current time.

6.  Ben had no intention of going back to the big island.  He totally set up Sun.

7.   Ha!  Jack was tapping on his watch.  They said way back in Season One that watches didn’t work on the island so I wondered why everyone was wearing them.

8.  Jack was looking pretty fine in that tight blue shirt.

9.  And why was Frank still wearing his tie?  He’s just been through a horrific plane crash and he still wears a tie?  What’s up with these people?

10.  Speaking of ties…. will be very interested to see where Daniel has taken off to.  I’m sure they will need him in order to reunite with the present Losties.

11. Jack is a janitor.  Cute that Sawyer set that job up for him.

12.  Locke hasn’t shown up yet on the beach.  It must take some time to wake up the dead.
13. If Sun and Frank are in current time then why is Otherville in such bad shape?  When they left they had still been living there and everything was in good order. However, I remember the first time we saw Otherville and it appeared to be in the the middle of a large crater surrounded by jungle.  *This* Otherville may be something like Jacob’s cabin that appears and disappears.

14.  Sounded like Old Smokey in the trees before Sun and Frank hit the barracks, too.
15.  Why did Radzinsky care so much that a hostile saw the plans for the hatch and where they were building it?

16.  The Whispers are back! And was that not the creepiest image of Christian when he first appeared in the door?

17.   Wow, Sawyer really gives it to Jack straight about how Jack just reacted rather than thinking.  It seemed pretty mean but I can’t say that Sawyer was wrong.  Now, we just have to hope that Jack doesn’t go and mess up whatever Sawyer has planned.

18.  A friend of mine asked a good question – how is it that a newbie on the island gets to bring a prisoner a sandwich?  Ben could not have been there before because Sawyer would have known.  And I want to know how Juliet didn’t notice Ben’s name on the list from the sub.

19. Vincent, where is he??  And Rose and Bernard- do we assume they are dead?

Thanks everyone for your excellent comments.  I’m writing my initial thoughts around 11:00 at night which is late for me since I have to get up early for work the next day (no, sadly my work does not revolve around Lost).  So thanks again to everyone for your thoughts, comments, and additions to my blog every week, especially the initial late night thoughts.

1.  We know from past dialog that there is going to be an “incident” that changes things on the island (like fertility presumably).  I originally thought that Jughead was going to start to leak, but I’m now wondering if the Losties have to do some crazy donkey wheel turning event to propel themselves back into the present time.  My guess is that it’s before the big DI purge as by leaving that will give the Losties a whole new sense of guilt for not staying to help.  I’m also guessing that Daniel is going to have to convince them that they can’t change the past and therefore the Losties cannot interfere with the purge.  I can see this being especially hard for Sawyer as he is their head of security and from the looks of things he really cares about these people (like begging Juliet to help Amy deliver the baby).

2.  I think that the O6 had to come back because each has a specific role that they will play and they must be there for the course of events to happen.  Course correction.  Do we know what that is yet?  I don’t think so.  In an interview awhile back Darlton said we wouldn’t find out until late Season 5 into Season 6 why they had to come back.  In the meantime, I’ll sit back and enjoy watching Sawyer’s evolution (go home Kate!  He’s doing great!)

3.  It must have been very strange for whoever found the rope just sticking out of the ground.  Could this have possibly been what lead someone to dig the well, find the cavern and eventually to digging the Orchid Station?
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4.  The giant statue is holding a giant Ankh.  Coincidence?  It’s the same symbol that was on Paul’s necklace
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5.  I’ll tell you why I think the turning of the donkey wheel caused the statue to crash.  After the flash Miles says that “that one was more like an earthquake.”  Unless anyone has a better explanation, I’m thinking that an earthquake would be a reasonable explanation for a statue going down.

6.   For any doubters, the spelling for this episode is “LaFleur.”  I’ve heard some chatter about this and maybe there are alternatives, but for us this is the correct spelling.
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7.  I’m curious how they buried the bodies of the hostiles so quickly.  They don’t have shovels.  The logistics of it doesn’t make sense.

8.  I think Mr Friendly may have been trying to call a truce with the Losties back in Season Two where they meet up with Locke and company out in the woods.  Mr Friendly says that it’s their island and they allow them to stay there (I remember thinking at the time that they should just let them go home then…).  Part of the problem with that truce is that the Losties refused to stay put and were always traipsing around the island.

9. OK so the “Internest” says that the mothers always give birth on the mainland.  The possibilities are that there have been problems giving birth or that these peace loving hippies have enough common sense to get their people proper health care.  Either way, it’s a good thing for Amy that Juliet was there.

10.  I wonder if who the baby is even matters.  But, if it does then I think it would have to be one of the male characters in his 30’s.  That would be Jack, Sawyer, Ben or Desmond.  It’s not Ben because we were witness to his birth.  My guess would be either Jack or more likely Desmond since we know he is “special.”  Plus, we really know nothing about Desmond’s parents.

11.  I can also see why Richard would specifically recruit Juliet back to the island as she may be the last person who delivered a baby on the island.

12.  Look how cute Sawyer looks when he’s all happy and stuff.  Yes!  I like this version!
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13.  OK, so Sawyer does say that they were looking for the Black Rock, not on it.  But has Horace really not heard of the boat?  He seems to know later on when he brings back the dynamite.

14.  How can the little girl Daniel sees be Charlotte?  They are in 1974 and it was said earlier on that she was born in 1979.  The only reason I can think of is that in her mother’s effort to cover their tracks and change her identity post-island was to also change her DOB so that no one would know that it was her.
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15.  I’m thinking that Sawyer’s revelations to Richard about who he was and talking about Locke is what turns Richard around and has him send for Locke (remember the “science camp” that they tried to recruit “high school Locke” to go to?).  If Locke “failed” the test when he was a young boy Richard may have been doubting that Locke was special.  Then along comes Sawyer and restores his faith in Locke.
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16. Looks like things have also changed for Juliet.  When we first met her she was burning muffins that she tried to make for the book club.  Now she’s making Sawyer a big meal.
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17.  Didn’t Patchy say that he was one of the last remaining DI?  He even still wore the jumper.  We haven’t seen him yet.  Will be curious if they bring him into the story.

18.   I wonder where Jin called Sawyer from?  He only had a walkie and no cell phones.
19.  I’m thinking that Sawyer will have to say that Jack and co. are his long lost ship mates.   Hurely might be hard to explain as he kind of sticks out.  And where the heck are Rose and Bernard… and Vincent!

Watching the episode back, I wonder how much of the “life” we saw of Jeremy Bentham.  There has to be more we haven’t seen yet.  Maybe Locke in whatever form he’s in now, travels back to the mainland because I can’t believe that the chinsy little visits he paid the O6 (well, four at least) were enough to get them back to the island.  Especially seeing how distraught Jack was with the obituary.  And wanting to jump off of the bridge after seeing Locke just for that brief moment in the hospital?

1.My money is on Widmore, that he sent Cesar to the island on the plane.  The guys works his way around that office very purposeful and finds the maps of the island.  He also seems to find the gun easily so I don’t think it’s a far stretch to assume he has specific orders of his purpose there.
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2.  Here are some screenshots of the Life Magazine Cesar leafs through, but I’m not convinced it’s not just a red herring.           Click to enlarge

3.Frank is pretty amazing that he could land the plane on the island without crashing.  It’s not like the put lights on the runway or anything.
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4.  I wonder if Locke noticed that he wasn’t wearing his own shoes?
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5.It’s odd to me that Locke doesn’t have any marks on his neck.  One would think he’d have bruising after being strangled with an extension cord.
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6.  Under the category of “don’t ask unless your prepared for the answer” is Ilana asking Locke to guess why he was dressed so nice.  And gotta love him for being honest.

7.   Not that it matters to the story line, but keeping with the theme is the shot of Locke’s eyes when he wakes up after turning the donkey wheel.
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8. I still think the scene of the Tunisian’s taking Locke from the desert, to the hospital and treating him resembles birth.  I can imagine that a baby must feel a similar fear.

9.  Here is a shot of the Tunisian license plate:
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10.  So Widmore says he was the leader of the Others until Ben has him exiled.  At what point would Ben have done this?  If it was before the purge then it would have been during the Dharma days and Widmore would have been very young.  Or it would have been after the purge which means that Widmore was not part of DI.  Or, he was part of DI and helped to orchestrate the purge and after that time is when Ben had him exiled.  I’m sure that there is a woman involved here too.  We have seen how possessive Ben is over women.

11.  Someone on the island must be reporting back to Widmore.  How else would he know that Ben tried to kill Locke?

12.  I also want to know why the island needs Locke to be the leader.  Widmore says that it has needed him for awhile.  So does this mean that Widmore doesn’t even want to go there?  If he was the leader before Ben had him exiled, then he’s saying he no longer wants to lead but to have Locke go back and do the job?  This isn’t adding up yet for me.

13.  I was expecting so much more from the Locke and Walt reunion.  Agreed, Walt isn’t surprised to see Locke.  They seemed to have such a bond on the island.  Now he just chats for 30 seconds and then takes off.  I have my fingers crossed that this relationship will transpire to much more back on the island.  Walt is special just like Locke so I would hope that the writers will give some sort of ending to Walt’s story.  I’d love to see Walt and Locke living like father and son.  They are both orphans.  And Walt didn’t even ask what ever happened to Vincent!  I would ask.  This was just a very fulfilling scene.
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14.  If Mr. Creepy Eyes helps people get to where they need to go, then where was he trying to help Hurley get to when he wanted to send him to his own private room?  Would they have sent him back to the island at that point?  I don’t think he approached the rest of the six so what makes Hurley special?

15.  If Helen died of a brain aneurysm, could it be the same kind of “aneurysm” that killed Charlotte or is it just a coincidence?  Out of all the ways she could have died, it had to be something suspiciously close to the after affects of time travel.  I would like to hope that Helen is actually alive, but somehow I suspect she is dead because it moves Locke even more back to the island, that he has absolutely nothing left back at home.
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16.  So maybe I can see why Jack was so upset if he really thinks that Locke killed himself.  Jack seems to transfer his own feelings of inferiority and loneliness onto Locke when he sees him in the hospital.  Jack tells Locke that he’s nothing special, that he’s nothing more than a lonely old man.  Jack probably thinks that he somehow lead Locke to kill himself.  Then he starts to wonder if Locke is right, that maybe he should go back to the island.  Jack was special in his own way on the island, too.  And, Jack promised not to leave anyone behind so I can see how the guilt starts to really sink in with Jack.

17.  Now I wonder if Ben had something to do with Christian’s death also.  Christian did hire Ana Lucia to be his body guard when he went to Australia.  Perhaps he had been told that he would have to die in order to go back to the island.

18.   I was trying to get a screen shot of the white board in Locke’s hospital room but in reading it, I happened to notice in the bottom of the screen that Locke’s foot looks like it only has four toes!  I know that the smallest piggy is hiding there, but what a funny coincidence to the mysterious four toed statue on the island.
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19.  Haha, I’m watching the next scene and here are the four toes again.  I think it’s just funny more than meaningful.
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20.  So I think that Ben was the doubting Thomas, not Jack.  Ben started to doubt that Locke had to die to save the island until he starts talking about Eloise then he knows that it’s true and that is why he changes his mind about Locke’s death and kills him.
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21.  Is it possible that the moment when Locke turned the donkey wheel, that was the exact moment that the plane was directly over the island?  That could be the flash that brought them back to the island.  That would also explain how Kate and the others end up back in time with the Losties on the island (except for Sun – but we have to have a big set up for when she reunites with Jin so her story can’t be easy).  Maybe this is also how it’s possible for Locke to still be alive.  His dead body didn’t come back to life in as much as his spirit or whatever from the donkey wheel body transfers to the corpse on the plane.  I know it’s a weak theory but I’m sure it could be *fleshed* out and work since it all happened at that exact moment.

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!

If you thought this episode was about your workplace, well then you probably in for a let down.

Ratings were down again for Lost.  Is it really a surprise?  We are down to the nitty gritty now with the show.  Things are now making sense (well, sort of) to those of us who have maintained our commitment to the show.  Lost isn’t one of those shows that doesn’t delve into character development, the characters (including the island) *are* the show.  You can’t just pop in and out like a soap opera and a year later it’s the same story line.  The show has evolved and yes, it does take thinking to keep up and understand what is going on.  So for those viewers who have lost interest, I’m sure they are glued to the set every week wondering who’s going to get voted off their favorite show.  Lost isn’t for those with a short attention span and those who don’t want to think and commit.  But I know that there are at least still 9 million of us in the US still watching Lost and I don’t think that those ratings are too bad all things considered.

1.  Ben the bad guy vs. Ben the good guy.  I have to say that a guy who can unemotionally gas his own father cannot possibly be a good guy.  But, I’m still shocked by Ben defending Jack to Jill.  I hope by the end of next year the question is answered but perhaps there is some middle ground?  Like anyone who has read the book “Hannibal” can relate, you can be a horrific killer and still somehow there is a human being inside somewhere who does have feelings and the capability of being kind to others.  I’m also wondering what Ben means when he tells Sun and Jack that they have no idea the things he’s had to do to keep them safe.

2.  Is Locke a sacrifice the island demands?  Remember how Locke says this about Boone?  I’m thinking this – Smokey is a security system for the Temple.  The Others are headed to the temple when the Freighter is headed to the island.  We know that when Danielle’s team gets close to the Temple Smokey pops out and takes one of them in what looked to me like a sacrifice.  So how does this all tie together?  The Temple is the heart of the island so when you reference the Temple you are in essence talking about the island.  So I think we are going to see that some force around the Temple is what is demanding these “sacrifices” and Smokey will factor into the mix.  I would assume that the group of Others headed to the Temple probably had to sacrifice one of their group to Smokey in order to enter the Temple.  Maybe the Temple is where Locke will re-enter the island either in his flesh or in whatever form Christian has taken to move around.

3.  I’m questioning the nature of the “sickness” that Danielle’s team had.  Many of us assumed when we saw the Freighter gang getting sick from the time travel that we had figured out the “sickness.”  But after seeing how Robert duped Danielle then almost killed her I’m questioning what sickness they had.  Danielle indicates it was something infecting them down Smokey’s hole.  We haven’t seen any of the Losties go down there yet so perhaps we are going to see a whole new “sickness” we didn’t expect.  Perhaps the Others had the anticdote to whatever it is (remember the injections that Desmond was taking and that they were giving Claire?  We never have really gotten a satisfactory answer to what that was.)  Perhaps next season they will go down Smokey’s hole and get sick and Juliet will save the day with the injections.
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4.  I’m sorry guys but I can’t remember who pointed it out, but yes, Theresa is the name of Boone’s nanny that he said fell down the stairs when he was young.  Theresa is also the name of Ana Lucia’s mother, but I would think the more probable connection would be to the nanny.

5.  Black and white.  This has been a theme since season one (sorry, my brain is on overload looking back at what it all means and how it’s coming together).  Someone had a good point that Christian is not a manifestation of Jacob at all but they are two separate forces.  Could Christian be the black (bad) and Jacob is the white (good)?  Why does Jacob need Locke to help him?  The ashes around his cabin are probably to keep out the evil (Christian).  An ancient rivalry perhaps (Widmore did say that the rivalry went back a looong way).  Could have started at the time of the four-toed statue or the Black Rock.

6.  Remember how Jack picks up his father’s body at the morgue?  Could Christian at that point have sacrificed his mortal body in order to return to the island (like what we think Locke is going to have to do)?
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7.  When we saw Dan at the construction site of the Orchid, could that have been when he traveled back to warn a young Charlotte not to return to the island?  Perhaps the had to live there for awhile in order to get close to her as a child.  Perhaps he was also there to keep them from digging into where Jughead was buried.  Charlotte just remembers now that Dan (the crazy man) told her not to come back to the island, like when Desmond woke up with the “new” memory of Dan telling him to find his mother?
8.  In case you forgot about the obituary for Locke, here is the transcript.  Who is the teenage son they refer to?

The body of Jeremy Bentham of New York was found shortly after 4 am in the 4300 block of Grand Avenue. Ted Worden, a doorman at the Tower Lofts complex, heard loud noises coming from the victim’s loft. Concerned for tenants’ safety, he entered the loft and found the body hanging from a beam in the living room. According to Jaime Ortiz, a police spokesman, the incident was deemed a suicide after medical tests. Bentham is survived by one teenaged son. Memorial services will be held at the Hoffs-Drawlar Funeral Home tomorrow evening. (source; The Tailsection)
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9.   Opening with a close up of Sun’s eyes (well, her face but the closest we have had to the old opening technique of a close up on someone’s eye)
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10.  Translation, “I’m going to kidnap Aaron so he’ll be safe and bring him back to be raised as your brother.  I have to do it since Kate is such a whiner and can’t do it herself.”
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11.  Here are the best screencaps I could get of Smokey.  The scenes move so fast it’s hard to get a clear shot, but I don’t see anything new.
        

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12.  To go along with my theory that they are jumping to very specific places… Jin stops Danielle from going down the Smokey hole because of her baby.  Had Jin not been there she would have followed them and could have potenially been infected with the “sickness.”  Not necessarily course correction, but just keeping the course… on course.
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13.The Temple doesn’t look so much like a temple but more like a wall left from what used to be a temple.  I wonder if what is on the other side is what Danielle has referred to in the past as “the dark territory.”
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14.   Montaud’s arm.  The same arm we see Vincent bringing back to camp in 3 X 12?
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15. I think that the sound that they hear before they flash sounds just like what we used to hear right before we used to see a flash back/forward.  A simple device used by the producers to indicate time change.

16.   Could Charlotte be the child of Ben and Annie?  They moved away and her mother wanted her to believe it was all a dream.  Maybe Annie was in hiding from Ben and couldn’t have Charlotte talking about the island in case it could lead Ben to them.

17.Is it just a coincidence that Locke says to Miles, “I’ll see you when I get back.”  Miles can talk to dead people.  Locke knows he has to die to come back and Miles is capable of talking to dead people.  On a side note, I really want to know when Miles will start talking to Jacob.
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18.  The light at the end of the tunnel for Locke.  Interesting imagery.  Looks like that would have been one heck of a fall for him.
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19.   Christian meets John under the well to correct the course since Locke was supposed to move the wheel, not Ben.  He can’t help John up because he has to do it himself without any help or it won’t work.
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I really wanted a two hour episode tonight.  It was so good.  This season has been spectacular so far.  Can you imagine if we had to put up with re-runs while they are building this momentum?  I, for one, am willing to wait the extra time if we don’t have to suffer through re-runs.

1.  Opening on Sun’s eyes.  We haven’t seen the opening on an eye yet this season.

2.  Is Sun planning on kidnapping Aaron?  Why would she tell Ji Yeon she met a new friend for her in America unless she was planning on them meeting soon?

3.  You can hear the numbers on the walkie talkie that Robert has.  I’m wondering if it was Lenny talking… before he left the island.

4.  Cute, the (blonde, jerky crew member ) says, “Next you’ll be talking about submarines…”

5.  Jin seems moved watching how Robert treats pregnant Danielle.  His heart must be breaking knowing that his wife left preggers.

6.   Finally, we get to see a little bit of The Temple…. and Smokey lives there!  Did you catch the hieroglyphs on the side, just like what was on the counter in the hatch right before it blew up?  I wanted to see what was there, darn time shifts.  I can’t wait to screencap Smokey this week.  And Robert wants to go down the hole to help since they don’t leave anyone behind.  Sounds like another hero we know, Jack.

7.  Next Jin comes across Danielle and her crew, mostly dead.  And Robert wants to kill Danielle!  Almost like he was dead and Smokey took over his body.  Like Yemi when he meets Eko way back when.  I’m not so sure now that it was the time travel sickness that takes over Danielle’s crew.  Robert wasn’t acting like he was brain fried, he seemed possessed.  Danielle seems to think that he was “infected” when he chased Smokey down the hole.

8.  Jin finds Danielle by following the smoke.  Remember that Danielle was following the smoke when she kidnapped Claire’s baby and was taking him to the Others?  There *has* to be a connection.

9.  And why does the Temple need a security system?

10.   It was cool to see that Sawyer was so happy to see Jin.  Genuine happiness out of Sawyer!  Thank goodness someone gets to explain to Jin what is going on.

11.  Finally, someone seems confused why Locke would want to bring someone back.  Jin doesn’t want Sun back there.

12.  Ben tells Sun that he just needs 30 minutes and he can prove Jin is alive.  How is Eloise going to prove it to her?  I doubt the ring alone will convince her.  Why would she just take Ben’s word for it?  And if Locke wakes up he’ll tell her that Jin is dead since that was his promise and we know that Locke is a man of his word!

13. Charlotte was talking and acting like Teresa (the woman back in England who’s brain was fried by Daniel first).  She was popping in and out of time and different ages.  I like that we know that she was there before and why she was so adamant about getting back.  But I was really surprised they killed her off.  I think we know that Dan must travel back and tell her not to come back.  But he’s breaking one of the “rules” by doing this.  Love sure has a funny way of making you do crazy things.

14. Seems Charlotte is a fan of the Jeronimo Jackson.

15.  Dan says that as far as bringing the O6 back that is where they leave science behind.  Meaning?  Meaning that they don’t have to bring them back?

16.  NO! Sawyer has a nosebleed!

17.  Charlotte also knows that the well is by The Orchid station.  Maybe when she was a kid she spent some time there.

18.  Shouldn’t they have left Dan with some type of protection, like a gun?  They’ve seen how the Hostiles can be so they really should have given his something.  And where are Rose, Bernard and Vincent?

19.  Locke descending down the well was interesting imagery.  At first I was thinking of when they were lowering Kate down the hatch but my sister pointed out it was like a birth canal.  Maybe also like death… you see the light at the end of the tunnel.

20.   Juliet thanks Locke “if whatever you’re attempting to do works.”  We have been too trusting of her.  She knows stuff.  She was an Other.  I think we’ll be seeing more of what little miss Juliet knows in the coming epis.

21.  If they don’t bury Charlotte will Smokey be able to move her around like the other dead people from the island?

22.  I think we see now that whatever they are holding they take with them when they travel.  Sawyer is still holding the rope when Locke is going down the well and the time changes.

23.   I don’t think Christian is Jacob.  I think Jacob somehow embodies him or can take over any dead body that isn’t buried on the island.  But he does know about Jack when he tells Locke to tell his son he said hello.  Christian/Jacob can’t help Locke up so I assume that’s because he’s not physically there, but not sure yet how that works.  Projecting somehow perhaps?
24.  Why does Locke have to die to turn the wheel and why is he always hurting his legs?  Ben didn’t die when he turned it.  And Christian/Jacob seemed pretty perturbed that it wasn’t Locke that turned the wheel.  Locke does take shortcuts though, like when he let Sawyer kill his dad for him.  But, if Christian/Jacob wanted Locke to turn the wheel, I think somehow Ben knew this but did it himself for another reason.  Remember, Ben always has a plan!

25.   Ben actually looks surprised when Desmond shows up and says he’s looking for Dan’s mom.  I don’t think he knew!  Or, he never thought anyone would else would figure that piece out.

26.  I don’t think Eloise is really OK with just the two of the O6 there.  She probably will send her other people to help round them up.

27.  Wouldn’t Desmond just be absolutely freaked out seeing Elosie?  He HAS to remember that she’s the one that sent him to the island and taught him about course correction.

28.  I saw Jack jumping in the water in next week’s epi so we know at least he is there.