LOST Episode 607: Dr. Linus

Episode 607: Dr. Linus- more later

It appears that everyone liked this episode, but not Sundown so much. I had a lot more to say about Sundown. I liked it a bit better than this one. I did like seeing Ben's redemption, though.

The Geronimo Jack's Beard podcast (Jorge Garcia's) was especially good for this episode. Michael Emerson joins Jorge and his girlfriend to talk and read some script. Jorge Garcia talks about how he decided to add vampire to the list of things he guesses Richard is. Some directors are apparently more strict than others about actors' changes to the script. He does his part and has his guest, Michael Emerson, read Alpert's part. That's kind of funny in and of itself. There's more good stuff, too.

Emerson also does the "did principal Reynolds do something to you" line. Great stuff.
Michael talks about acting Ben's part and how many times his script says when he tells yet another lie- 'Ben has never been so earnest' or 'we've never been so touched by him'. Funny stuff. He also commented on how Ben greets everyone- "Hello, Jack", etc. Does he really neeed to do that? Funny.

***

Also, Alex and Ben have a warm relationship, unlike on the island. Mirror images again? On top of that, he chooses Alex over power when given that choice. Alex tells him the principal and nurse were sleeping together, Ben intends to go for his job by having Arzt get the nurse’s emails, but when Ben confronts Reynolds, Reynolds gives Ben a choice- Reynolds resigns and Ben gets the job, but Alex doesn’t get a good recommendation or Ben doesn’t get the job, but Alex gets a glowing recommendation.

It was awesome that we didn’t know which choice he’d made for a few seconds- he was in the office with his stuff, looks at Reynolds’ nameplate and drops in disgust- I thought he’d got the job. Then Alex tells him about Reynolds’ glowing recommendation. I thought he’d found a way to get both things he wanted in weaselly Ben fashion. Then Reynolds comes in and we find that Reynolds is still the principal.

Also, we have another line said by more than one person. It was said by Richard or Ben that Locke had to die. This time Richard says he has to die.

***

I will attempt to get all the captions from the enhanced episode. Maybe this is a waste of time. My comments are in italics.


Ben is running from the massacre/ that is taking place at the Temple.
The smoke monster attacked the Temple/ and killed everyone who was still there/ as seen in the previous episode, "Sundown."
This is Sun, Miles, Ilana, and Frank Lapidus/ Ben stayed behind at the Temple to get Sayid
But Sayid chose to side with the Man in Black/ who is the smoke monster/ in the form of John Locke
Ben once described the Temple/ as the last safe place on the island/ for the Others

Ben's teaching the kids about Elba and Napoleon, but appears to be talking about himself...

This is not a flashback or flash forward/ its a flash sideways
It presents what would have happened/ if Oceanic flight 815/ had never crashed on the island/ but instead landed in Los Angeles
In the flash sideways, Ben is a European History teacher

Arzt complaining about formaldehyde on his shirt like Hurley commented on getting Arzt on his shirt. Kind of funny.

This is Dr. Leslie Arzt, a science teacher.
On the island/ Arzt was an Oceanic 815 survivor/ who died in the season 1 finale, "Exodus."
Arzt died near the Black Rock ship/ when he was helping Jack, Kate, and Hurley/ handle unstable dynamite.
The dynamite exploded in Arzt's hands/ and killed him.

Locke suggests Linus be the principal if he cares so much. He and Linus had various discussions in the hatch and as leaders about this concept.

This is John Locke/ a substitute teacher in the flash sideways.
On the island/ Ben was the leader of the Others.
Ben banished the previous leader/ Charles Widmore, because Ben believed/ Widmore didn't care enough about the island/ as seen in the season 5 episode, "Dead is Dead."

Miles is referring to the smoke monster/ which killed Ilana's team/ inside the foot of the statue on the beach.
Ben is lying.
He is the one who killed Jacob as seen/ in the season 5 finale, "The Incident."
Locke manipulated Ben into the murder.
Ben later discovered that Locke is actually the smoke monster.
Miles was born on the island in 1977/ and eventually left the island with his mother.
Miles has had the ability to talk to the dead/ since he was a young boy as seen/ in the season 5 episode, "Some Like It Hoth."
Miles returned to the island in the season 4 episode, "Confirmed Dead."
Miles was part of the team from the freighter/ Charles Widmore hired to capture Ben/ and take over the island.
As seen in the season 5 episode, "The Incident,"/ Ilana was in a Russian hospital/ when Jacob came to her and asked for her help.
Ilana came to the island/ to protect Jacob/ but Ben had already killed him.

Is this an indication that Ilana wasn't with the temple others and just arrived to the island some time after Ben killed Jacob in the season 5 finale? I had assumed she had been there awhile with Jacob being a father figure to her. Maybe the "like a father" events happened off island?

(1st commercial break. )


This is the original beach camp/ where the Oceanic survivors lived for over 100 days.
It has been abandoned for over three years.

This man is Roger Linus, Ben's father.

Nice irony in that Ben is giving father oxygen to live in this flash sideways but gassed him to death in the other time line.

This is a flash sideways difference.

Ben and his father got off the island, but Roger mentions DHARMA as though it was something good, a good opportunity or something. They appear to have left voluntarily and not under terms of coercion, fear of a bomb or hostiles, dissatisfaction, etc. I'd say he did pretty well since he has a doctorate in this timeline- I don't think he did in the other one. But maybe he got the doctorate on the island and this would have led to opportunities his father deems better than Ben's current job where he is obviously not satisfied?

Ben killed his father on the island/ by releasing a canister of poison gas/ as seen in the season 3 episode/ "The Man Behind the Curtain."
When Ben was 11 years old/ his father brought him to the island/ where they lived and worked/ as members of the DHARMA Initiative.

This line below appears when Roger tells Ben "who knows what you would have become." A liar and a killer. That's what! In this timeline, though, he was thinking he'd have become someone great who was able to use his talents.

In the island story, Ben and his father did stay/ and Ben became part of the Others/ and eventually killed most of the members/ of the DHARMA Initiative during the purge.

This is Alexandra Rousseau, Ben's student.
However, she represents/ another flash sideways difference.
On the island, Ben kidnapped Alex as a baby/ from Danielle Rousseau/ and raised Alex as his own daughter.
Alex was shot and killed on the island/ by the leader of Widmore's mercenary team/ as seen in the season 4 episode/ "The Shape of Things to Come."

Sun has been separated from her husband, Jin/ since the freighter explosion/ in the Season 4 Finale/ "There's No Place Like Home."
Sun was rescued/ along with the rest of the Oceanic 6/ but she returned to the island to find Jin.
Jacob was the person in charge of the island.
Jacob made contact with each of the survivors/ at some point in their lives and touched them/ as seen in the Season 5 Finale, "The Incident."

And here we have stated in the dialogue (again?) that the people Ilana keeps asking about (which still could be a bit different or more narrow than the names in the cave and lighthouse wheel) are candidates to replace Jacob. To do what? Ilana says if she's selected, she imagines she'll find out. Does Ilana know? I think so. She doesn't have time for Sun's barrage of questions. It's good to know Ilana is as clueless as we and MIB are- she doesn't know which Kwon is the one to protect either.

There are 6 candidates left, as stated by Ilana.

Jacob's touch seems to have brought them to the island/ and made them candidates for his replacement.
Jack and Hurley are both survivors/ from the crash of Oceanic 815.
They are also candidates to replace Jacob.
Like Miles, Hurley can also talk to the dead/ as seen in the Season 4 Premier/ "The Beginning of the End."
Jacob appeared to Hurley/ told him to leave the Temple/ and to bring Jack with him, as seen/ in this season's episode, "The Lighthouse."
Hurley knows/ that something bad happened at the Temple/ and they shouldn't go back.

This is Richard Alpert/ who worked with Jacob/ as an advisor to the Others.

Why does he keep popping in and out of the jungle like that? Like Locke and Christian.

Jack met Richard in 1977, as seen/ in the season 5 episode, "Follow the Leader."

And to Jack's question, "where did you come from," Richard answers, "you wouldn't believe me." Jack says, "try me," and Richard says, "not yet." Mysterious... If it were simply time travel, they'd all be quite familiar with that, I'd think. A lot of characters have interacted in the past and present with time flashes and such, but sometimes they don't remember seeing the other... The not yet thing is like Jacob and MIB withholding information until "the time is right." Maybe Richard's is more of a safety issue- they are out in the middle of the jungle where people keep running into one another.

Jack does trust Richard because/ in 1977, Richard led Jack to the hydrogen bomb/ which Jack tried to detonate/ at the Swan construction site.

Lapidus calls Sawyer's tent the library, which is kind of funny. Ben comments disapprovingly on what people bring to read on trips upon coming across a nudie magazine. His flash sideways character would also frown on that and choose more intellectual material.

Ben is in Sawyer's tent/ searching through his stash of supplies.
One of the books in Sawyer's stash is The Chosen by Chaim Potok.
The book explores religious faith/ between two boys, their fathers/ and their friendship/ in the chaotic times of 1940's Brooklyn.

Lapidus tells Ben he was supposed to pilot Oceanic 815, but overslept. Ben seems overly upset or disturbed by this... like he knows something more? Lapidus pondered how different life would have been if he'd have crashed Oceanic 815. Ben essentially says it isn't actually too different since the island got him anyway. The fate thing is showing up again.

Some have a theory that Wallace (#108) is Lapidus (like Ford is Sawyer) and that Smoky or Jacob killed the Oceanic pilot thinking it was Lapidus, but I don't think #108 Wallace is going to be all that relevant since he is crossed out on the lighthouse wheel. I think Jacob's saying they needed to help someone find the island, turn it to 108 degrees, was (like Jacob eventually told them) just to get Jack to see himself and other images what was going on up there. I don't think Jacob and Smoky are prone to confusing people or mistaking them for other people for some reason. Wallace is crossed out and I think if we find out who it is, it won't be terribly important, but rather just an answer for us.

I do think that perhaps the Oceanic 6 getting off the island was necessary (or at least an "attempt," since we know that if one way fails to bring someone, they will come by another way if they are meant to) to bring Lapidus to the island since it's his fate to come. It is interesting that Ilana (or someone in her group?) has said he could be a candidate.

Lapidus was the pilot on Ajira flight 316/ which brought the Oceanic 6/ back to the island.
The replacement pilot on Oceanic 815/ survived the crash on the island/ but was killed by the smoke monster/ in the first episode of the series.

Ben is at Ilana's gunpoint. Not an unusual position for Ben, but he usually manipulates his way out of it.

This is the survivors' graveyard/ which is known as Boone Hill.
It is named after Boone Carlyle,/ one of the first survivors to die on the island.
Boone died in the Season 1 episode/ "Do No Harm"/ trying to make a radio call for help/ to rescue the survivors.

Ben is told to dig his own grave with a funky wooden tube/shovel and then we go to commercial.

This next bit needs clean up, but here's most of the rest of it:

Alex's mother is Danielle Rousseau.
On the island, Danielle was shipwrecked/ and lived there for over 16 years.
When Ben stole baby Alex from Danielle,/ he threatened to kill Danielle/ if she came looking for Alex, as seen/ in the Season 5 episode, "Dead is Dead."

Ben still digging...

Ben and Lapidus/ recently buried the body/ of the real John Locke on Boone Hill, as seen/ in this season's episode, The Substitute."

Miles offers Ben green beans, doesn't know why he's digging.

The green beans are left over/ from the DHARMA Initiative food drops/ which frequently descended on the island.
Miles wanted $3.2 million/ to lie to Charles Widmore/ and tell him that Ben was dead/ as seen in the Season 4 episode, "Eggtown."

Ben offers Miles $3.2 million to cut him loose, but Miles declines since he can take Nikki and Paulo's diamonds they were buried with. Ben tells him Ilana's going to kill him for killing Jacob, who he believes didn't care if he was killed or not.

Ben knows he can leave the island/ by turning the wheel at the Orchid station/ and portalling to the Tunisisan desert.
Nikki and Paulo's story was depicted/ in the Season 3 spisode, "Expose."
They stole diamonds from Nikki's employer/ and tried to escape to America/ but Oceanic 815 crashed on the island.

Miles tells him Jacob did care and that his last thoughts were that he hoped he was wrong about Ben.

Before Ben killed Jacob, Ben was told he had a choice.
Jacob told Ben/ he could do what Locke asked/ or he could leave/ and let Jacob and Locke discuss their issues.

Back to Hurley asking what's the deal with Richard not aging, them and Jack walking through the jungle.

Richard has lived on the island/ for a very long time/ and seemingly doesn't age.
This is the Black Rock/ a 19th century slave ship/ that mysteriously shipwrecked/ in the middle of the jungle.
Danielle Rousseau/ brought the survivors here to find dynamite/ that was stored inside/ as seen in the Season 1 episode, Exodus."

Richard tells Jack about the temple massacre.

Sayid and Kate left the temple with Locke/ in the previous episode, "Sundown."

Richard is surprised Hurley spoke to Jacob; tells Hurley whatever he says, don't believe him.
Richard says there's something he needs to do- Jack says what- Richard says die. Nice.

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Ben goes to Arzt about hacking the nurse's email and wouldn't initially tell him why. On the island, people would be cool with that (doing morally wrong or shady things because thier leader told them to no questions asked- because of faith in the leader or faith in The Plan?), but, here, Arzt gets mad and walks away. Ben relents and tells him he knows the nurse and principal Reynolds are having an inappropriate relationship on school grounds and Arzt deduces that he's going for Reynolds' job.

On the island, Ben is a master manipulator/ and is always one step ahead of everyone else/ to get what he wants.
Ben said he always has a plan/ in the Season 4 Finale, "There's No Place Like Home."

All Arzt wants is a parking space in return?? And new lab equipment. Ironically, he says to Ben, "you really had me fooled with that sweater vest. You're a real killer!" And the caption writer also appreciates the irony...

On the Island, Ben is indeed a killer.

Ben still digging... quite the perfect rectangular shape. Well done, Ben.

Ben has been responsible for many deaths,/ including the purge of the DHARMA Initiative,/ the deaths of the Oceanic survivors,/ the Others and Jacob.

Back to Black Rock...

Richard is angry/ because Jacob kept him in the dark.
Jacob did not explain to Richard/ his plan for the candidates, as revealed/ in this season's episode, "The Substitute."

Jack walks in, Richard says as long as he's been on the island, this is his first time back to Black Rock. Has Richard been on the island most of his (long) life? Does he want ot stay or is he trapped by the Rules or the Plan or Jaocb or MIB? There are chains hanging in the ship. Are these the chains MIB talked about when he mentioned to Richard he was glad ot see him out of the chains? Was Richard a slave? Was he passenger or crew or stowaway who got caught doing wrong and was put in chains or given the fate of a slave? Where are the slaves? Were they given a gift like Richard? Did they get off the island courtesy of Jacob or MIB? Are they dead and buried from the shipwreck? Richard was an advisor to Ben and the Others and was obviously allowed to go off the island as when meeting young Locke and did we see him when recruiting Juliet ot the island? Was his function mostly off island or on island? I have so many questions about Alpert that I don't even care anymore how the ship wrecked in the middle of the jungle...

Hurley joins Jack and Richard...

This is the same cache of dynamite/ the survivors used/ to protect themselves from the Others/ in the Season 1 Finale, "Exodus."
It is the same dynamite/ which blew up Leslie Arzt.
The jungle heat causes the nitroglycerine/ to seep out of the dynamite/ and make it unstable.

Richard: "I can't kill myself,"
Jack: "What?"
Richard: "Even if I wanted to, and trust me, I do. I can't kill myself. Which is why I want you to do it for me."

In the Season 4 episode, "Meet Kevin Johnson,"/ Mr. Friendly told Michael that the island/ wouldn't let Michael kill himself/ because the island wasn't done with him.

Jack: "What are you talking about?"
Richard: "What I'm talking about, Jack, is that Jacob touched me. And when Jacob touches you, it's considered a gift. Except, it's not a gift at all, it's a curse."

Is the gift different for everybody I wonder, or is the gift that they can't kill themselves or that they defy fate somehow, including not being able ot kill themselves?

This is an odd twist for Jack. He has turned into quite the man of faith where previously he had been the man of science and Locke was the man of faith. Did he come to some realization about what he had to do as Jacob wanted? Or does he just realize that he has something to do but doesn't know what yet? Hurley doesn't quite get it, even though he can see and converse with Jacob; he's pretty panicky about getting out of there away from the dynamite.

Jacob visited Jack and touched him/ after Jack's first solo spinal surgery/ as seen in the Season 5 Finale, "The Incident."

Jack: "Why do you want to die?"

Jacob touched Hurley in a taxi/ after Hurley was released from prison/ and encouraged Hurley/ to return to the island on Ajira flight 316.

Richard: "I devoted my life, longer than you can possibly imagine, in service of a man who told me that everything was happening for a reason. That he had a plan. A plan that I was a part of and when the time was right that he'd share it with me and now that man's gone. So, why do I want die? I just found out my entire life had no purpose. Now, if I light this myself, it won't work, but you can light it for me, Jack. I made the fuse long enough so you'll have time to get out."

Richard is with Hurley on this and doesn't understand the reason for Jack's confidence either. Jack lights the fuse and says dramatically, "let's talk."

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Richard: "You should go with him, Jack,"
Jack: "No, Richard, no I shouldn't."
Richard: "You're going to die."
Jack: "Actually, I don't think either one of us is going to die."
Richard: "What makes you think that?"
Jack: "I just came from a lighthouse where my name was etched in wood on a dial that turned a mirror that somehow reflected the image of the house where I grew up. Jacob's lighthouse. He got Hurley to bring me out there because he wanted me to see what was reflected in that mirror. For some reason, he wanted me to know that he had been watching me ever since I was a kid."
Richard: "Why?"
Jack: "I have no idea why, but I'm willing to bet you that if Jacob went to that trouble, that if he brought me to the island for a reason, that it's not to blow up sitting here with you right now."

This is a big turn for Jack.
The last time Jack saw Locke alive/ they argued whether of not/ coming ot the island was their destiny.

Richard looks at the flame. "That's a pretty big risk you're taking right now, Jack."
Jack: "Yes."
Richard: "What if you're wrong?"
Jack: "I'm not."

Jack has always been a "man of science"/ and has rejeced the idea/ that fate brought them to the island.

The flame fizzles out. Jack: "Want to try another stick?"
Richard: "Alright, Jack, you seem to have all the answers. So now what?"
Jack: "We go back to where we started."

I noticed that creaky, water, nautical sound in the background while they were in Black Rock. Interesting. And Richard is now a believer- in Jack. First Jacob, and Ben and Locke and now Jack! Maybe our mysterious man in eyeliner is not as smart as we thought. He can be swayed pretty easily? Or perhaps he had a weak moment like when Peter denied Christ and Jack and the dynamite has restored his faith in Jacob's big, mysterious plan? Another parallel could be Jaocb's death caused Alpert to doubt like Christ's death no doubt probably cause some to doubt before they saw or heard he was resurrected. Not to read too much into it, though...
Back to Ben and his grave... the tikka tikka noise...

Ben recognizes that sound/ as the sound of the smoke moster.

I remember back when I thought Ben had all the answers with the special fence, ash rings, Jacob's cabin, being able to summon the smoke moster... I guess that did change when he met Smoky in the temple and was shown "Alex" and scenes from his life. He sure looks scared now. Unlocke appears.

This is the smoke monster/ taking the form of John Locke.
Ben strangled and killed the real Locke in LA/ before returning ot the island.
Ben and Jack brought Locke's body/ back to the island/ and Locke was "resurrected"/ as the somke monster in human form.

Unlocke says he doesn't want him to die and he wanted to come get him intead of him getting caught by Ilana, but he was already gone from the statue. Something tells me this is n ot true...but that would make both Jacob and MIB manipulative liars...

Locke's offer is a way of manipulating Ben/ by playing on Ben's desire for power.
The last time Locke manipulated Ben/ Ben ended up killing Jacob/ which set the island/ on a course of death and destruction.

This caption could be a bit spoilery, unless they are totally wrong. I wonder if the people writing this know what the writers intended or if they are guessing. Fans are still undecided if Jacob's death is good or bad. Or if Jacob is good or bad.

Locke tells Ben the plan to go to Hydra- I wonder if Locke's delay is so Ben will reach Widmore before him or so Ben can catch up and they will go over together? Is he anticipating Ben chooosing to go with Ilana or will this throw a wrench in things?

The "other island"/ is just off the coast of the main island/ and the place where the Ajira Flight 316 landed.

I wonder if the Oceanic plane wasn't supposed to crash, but since Lapidus wasn't flying it, the other pilot messed up and couldn't handle it and crashed. On the other hand, the candidates are fated to go to the island... I guess Lapidus had had previous experience by this time with the special conditions wiht the helicopter, Faraday, Miles, Charolotte, and Naomi. He managed to get to the island in the original time line without the help of Oceanic 815 as well.

Gotta love Ben's run. It reminded me of a cartoon the way he threw that log shovel in the air and took off. I believe I would have casually dropped the log and took off running myself. To each his own.

Back to the Ben flash sidways...

He's confronting principal Reynolds with hard evidence- email printouts. He wants Reynolds to resign for the reason of his choice and recommend Ben for his job and he notes that he'll get the job because they respect him (Ben knows there's no reason- he doesn't care about the kids, education, etc as evidenced by this incident.). I noted and appreciated the old Ben coming back for this presentation of the emails to Reynolds- the confidence, superioirty, manipulation, cold delivery and tone. Perfect. This falls apart, though, when Reynolds shows him Alex's request for a recommendation to Yale as teh response to Ben's demand. Foiled again!

Reynolds uses a (previosly) Ben style tactic and stays one step ahead in the blackmail game. Reynolds gives him a choice, much like we've seen Jacob and MIB doing lately. And in a similarity relating to Alex, he had the choice to save her or schoose the island and his power. Reynolds says Ben can have his way, but Alex will get a bad recommendation and not make it into Yale. If Ben doesn't say anything, Alex will go to Yale. Reynolds saying the ball is in his court and he can have what he wants but there will be unpleasant consequences reminds me of Jacob and MIB's manipulations (and possible role of the flash sideways' as possibly the result of these choices- my guess) this season.

Ben is faced with a similar choice/ that he had in the season 4 episode,/ "The Shape of Things to Come."
Ben can choose to think only of himself/ as he did on the island/ which resulted in Alex's death/ at the hands of Widmore's mercenaries.
Or Ben can choose/ to sacrifice his own interests/ and allow Alex to realize her dream.

Back to Ben being chased by Ilana in the jungle...

MIB had told him not to hesitate because she wouldn't (if she were in that position? or is he saying she just wants to kill him in an effort to get Ben to kill her?). He does hesitate and explains he feels like she does. He chose the island over Alex's life in the name of Jacob. He said he sacrificed everything for him and he didn't care. Ilana looks like she could be reconsidering her father figure... Can we believe Ben this time? Ilana says she will have him and seems to forgive him. ??? Is it that easy? Ben has a look of disbelief as well. Is Jacob about forgiveness and MIB about judgment? I don't know. Is MIB really planning to meet up with Ben or does he know Ben will end up with Ilana? I kind of think MIB is counting on Ben to come with him based on Jacob being "right" about Ben. Ben killed Jacob, who wanted to believe he was wrong about Ben (that he had good in him?), but he wasn't. Maybe he was wrong about Ben and choosing Ilana's group is a way to redeem himself in this time line as well.

LOST Episode 608: Recon

Episode 608: Recon

Zoe appears in the episode.
This site has an interview with the actor who plays Zoe (means life in Greek).
Apparently, she says Zoe is looking for someone on the island (who isn't??). She's got the good vs evil and science vs faith in her. And she's got the answer. She'd better since her name's on every page of the last script. Allegedly.


I'll split this one up into on island and flash sideways.


On Island:

Sawyer promises Jin they won’t leave without Sun. That was nice for a rather selfish con man. Sawyer tells Jin he's with Locke. He later tells Kate he's with no one. It's probably just explaining his position- he's with whomever can get off the island, but we'll see.

Locke, Sayid, Claire, Kate and the rest of the temple escapees arrive at Locke and Claire's camp.

***

Claire looks lovingly at her freaky squirrel baby and packs some rope, knife and stuff. Kate is disturbed and asks what that thing is. Claire, lucid for the moment, explains that it's all she had. I believe it. I mean, what would you do if your kid was nowhere to be found (never mind that you set him down in the jungle somewhere) and you were alone for more than a few years...

Cindy wants to know what happened to the people at the temple and Locke says the black smoke killed them. Claire sketchily grabs Kate's hand, maybe she's thinking of what Aaron would feel when she saw the kids' reactions and Kate is her only connection to Aaron? MIB stoops down and tries to reassure the kids who were obviously upset by this news. Oops. He promises to take care of them. Literally or figuratively? Will he keep them safe or is the plan to kill them? Why bring them to the island at all? Why not leave them out of it if you can bring certain people to the island? MIB has been pretty forthcoming up to now, but now he’s pulling a Jacob and withholds information and says I’ll tell you later, right now we have to press on. I'm still not sure if he's going to kill them to get off the island or take them with him. Claire walks away from Kate and gives a secret look like I'm going to kill you later. Guess she was biding her time in the temple after all. Or she's torn between knowing Kate can take her to Aaron and being angry for "taking" him. Kate is clearly weirded out.

Sawyer asks about Jack, Hurley and the Losties. and Kate tells him.she saw them on the way out, but doesn't know about Miles.

***

Locke is telling people to fill up on water because they’ll be at the clearing for a few days. Sawyer is upset and questions him. Locke leads him away from the group to talk. Locke’s acting very self important, like an authority figure. His demeanor reminds me of what he said at the statue about being very disappointed in people. Is this sarcasm or part of the manipulation, or is he really disappointed for a reason we are to find out later?

Clearly, though, Sawyer too, must be high on the totem pole since he is given information clearly not meant for all ears. Or does he just want to play people against each other at different times so he has to keep some people in the dark? Maybe it’s the candidate thing- they are to be protected and given answers, etc?

We get confirmation that Unlocke is indeed the smoke thing from the dialogue.

"What happened back at the Temple? How'd you know to rescue everybody from that smoke thing?"
"I didn't rescue them. I'm the smoke thing."
"You telling me you killed all those people?"
"I gave them the opportunity to leave peacefully and they didn't take it."
"Why not?"
"Because they're convinced that they're protecting the island from me, when in fact, all I want is to leave. So it's either kill or be killed. And I don't want to be killed."

I was thiking the only way for MIB to do what he's doing with Locke is ot be dead, so I don't know what's going on. But I guess it would explain why Christian is walking around and his body is nowhere- he's dead. Locke's body was buried and Unlocke is walking around, so there's somehting else afoot, there.

Again, Unlocke explains to a Lostie-Sawyer- (previously it was Sayid in the exchange where Unlocke says he feels sorry for him because he thinks Unlocke wants to kill them):
"Because they're convinced that they're protecting the island from me, when in fact, all I want is to leave. So it's either kill or be killed. And I don't want to be killed."

This is definitely the attitude we saw with Claire when she axed that guy in her tent. The Others and some of the Losties early on in the series have had this same sort of attitude. Maybe it's just a survival thing rather than a clue to what's going on?

MIB tells Sawyer that he will do a recon mission for him. Sawyer wants to know why and MIB says it's because he thinks the Losties didn't come alone (duh) and they are going to take that plane home??? I don't know if they could fly that thing after an emergency landing- who knows what the fuel situation is or what damage was done during the incident that caused loss of control. A few things- does Locke just want to know about Widmore, did he see motion on Hydra, but didn't know what it was, is Smoky not allowed to do recon, is he testing Sawyer, is he really making use of Sawyer's lying, is he making a point about what Sawyer needs to change?

***

Sawyer goes on recon to Hydra for Locke.

He finds Kate’s dress in the cage and seems like he doesn’t hate her. Memories... He was pretty mad when she found him at his and Juliet’s place in New Otherton, now, not so much.

Kate tries to talk to weird Sayid, but he’s clearly not OK. Kate gets jumped by crazy Claire and Sayid just watches. What’s wrong with him? MIB breaks them up and kind of treats them like kids, like he did with Sawyer- tells him he shouldn’t have interrupted and sincerely accepted a sarcastic apology, etc. He tells Claire to go over there and he’ll deal with her in a minute.

MIB talks to Claire.

Sawyer’s on Hydra. He sees a bunch of dead bodies, then someone who claims to be the only one left. This is like some in Ben’s group (Ethan) posing as one of the Losties. And Ben posing as crashed balloonist Henry Gale. I believed him!

***

She’s not convincing, though. She dragged the bodies to another place and she asks if Sawyer’s group all have guns, if he's alone, how many are there, and a ton more really dumb and suspicious questions. She was gathering wood when they were killed. Some say that's how Sawyer knew she was lying- the wood carrying people always die. But I think he saw that she dragged the bodies in a pile and was gathering wood- he could have seen that it was obvious she was going to burn them. She was getting rid of evidence rather than making a grave, like the Losties generally did to respect the dead. Suspicious either way.

MIB apologizes to Kate. He tells her why he told Claire the Others had her baby. He wanted Claire to hate to keep her going. Does this mean he’s evil? Feeding off of hate is like Darth Vader in Star Wars (which the writers are big fans of). It can't be good. Unlocke promises to keep her safe- clears up how she came out of the temple- I wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be with that group or not given Unlocke’s reaction.
She asks where Sawyer went and instead of answering right away, they go to the water.

Sawyer catches the woman in the lie, she calls her friends, Sawyer’s surrounded and he says “take me to your leader.”

MIB continues to talk to Kate. He tells her Sawyer’s on Hydra and separates her to “talk”. What were they doing before? They seemed alone to me. I guess she is like Sawyer in that she’s allowed to have more answers than the rest of the people who followed MIB out of the temple. Kate called him dead and he explains that he’s not dead (?) and compares himself to Aaron because their mothers were/ are crazy. Locke's mother was crazy. His he saying he;s Locke now or MIB's mom was crazy too. If so, that's a lot of crazy chicks. He says “Problems that could have been avoided had things been different." So, is this his purpose? To change things for himself? To change them for Aaron? This would be a lot of work and death to save Aaron the trouble he had himself…

***

Sawyer’s on the sub. He sees a locked door. Are Desmond and Penny inside? I like the theory I heard that Widmore has to have a candidate with him to find the island since Widmore was banished or is not a candidate...

Other possibilities for what's behind the double locked door:

• Eloise Hawking
• Aaron with Claire's mother or without?
• Sun's dad, Mr. Paik
• Miles' dad, Dr. Chang
• Christian Shephard
• Nadia so Sayid will perk up
• Whatever MIB or Jacob promised the people a la Ben's magic box that "brought" Anthony Cooper
• Some one or some thing that will cause the two time lines to converge or make sense
• Someone or some thing important to MIB- though how 2 locks are keeping a smoke monster at bay is beyond me.

Widmore wants to know who Sawyer thinks he is, Sawyer says he’s the guy on the freighter who tried to kill them all, and Widmore says it’s sad how little he knows. Unlocke said this to Sayid when Sayid told him the temple people think Unlocke wants to kill them. Interesting. Sawyer accused him of killing the survivors and dragging them to a ditch. Widmore denies it. Can we believe that? Widmore wants to know why Sawyer’s on the island. Sawyer says John Locke sent him. Widmore says John Locke’s dead. Sawyer makes clear they both know what’s up with Locke and says he will tell MIB that he came and saw no one, he’ll bring him to Widmore and he can kill him. Is that really the reason he wants to see him? The two agree to the plan. I think anyway.

Claire apologizes to Kate. They make up? Is that the end of Claire’s “I’m going to kill her” thing? A bit contrived, but I'll accept "she's crazy" for an explanation.

So, MIB has pulled another Jacob. Hurley asks Jacob – you didn’t really send us there to help someone find the island or something like that and Jacob admits, no.
Sawyer: "You didn't really send me over there to find passengers from that plane, did you?" MIB: No.

Sawyer tells MIB the people from the plane are dead. Locke asks how—does he really know and wants to know if Sawyer figured it out or is telling the truth? Did he as Smoky kill them himself? Sawyer tells him Widmore’s there with a sub, Locke looks surprised, but knows his name’s Charles. Has he dealt with Widmore before? Tells him about the 6 armed people, sub crew, and the locked room. Also tells Locke that he told Widmore he was going to tell Locke that no one’s there and he’d walk MIB into the trap. Sawyer assumes Locke will change the plans given this info- but who really knows??

***

Sawyer and Kate talk by the fire. He reassures her that he’s not “with” Locke or anybody. Typical Sawyer. He tells her the deal- while Widmore and MIB are fighting it out, he and Kate will get off the island on the sub. I kinda believe him, though why he's suddenly buddy buddy again with her is beyond me. Maybe it's fate- in the flash sideways they run into each other when she's escaping at the airport and again when she crashes into him with her car this episode. He calls her Freckles again. Guess she’s got two men again like the old days. Guess one look at that dress in the cage was enough to forget about Juliet and reignite the flame for Kate?? Again, contrived, but they are pretty good on the mythology and such. Can’t complain too much!


Flash sideways:

We see Sawyer in a familiar scenario, but instead of a con man, he’s the police trying to catch the con man. I liked that bit of redemption for him. Also, the code word to bring his team of cops in is LaFleur- his name in the DHARMA/70s time jump and I think it was said that it was also a name he used in cons. If the latter is true, does Sawyer have a con man past or is LaFleur just a story device or fate or a more minor thing like that? Miles is his partner?! Could be interesting.

***

We also find out that Sawyer’s father killed his mother then himself. He’s calling Anthony Coopers at his desk where we find out he’s Detective James Ford. Is Cooper responsible for (indirectly causing since he conned Ford senior) his parents' deaths in the same way in both time lines? He killed Cooper, Locke's father, on the island after Ben wanted Locke to kill him (in order to be the leader of the Others?), but he didn't. Will he kill Cooper or bring him to justice peacefully somehow in the flash sideways? Will this "turn" Sawyer to the dark side or reinforce his choice of cop over criminal? Will the disposal of Cooper, should he decide to do it, affect Locke? It seems like if Cooper is a con man, he at least hasn't treated his son as a gold mine and easy mark or if he has, it doesn't bother Locke in the same way it did in the original time line. I still want to know how Locke's family situation ended up- did his mom give him up, did he live in foster care, did his dad play a good role in his life, etc?

And, Sawyer’s set up by Miles with Charlotte. They know each other in the flash sideways as well. Fate? They were on Widmore’s freighter together. She was an anthropologist then and an archaeologist now. Also, he says Charlotte works with Miles’ dad at the museum (step dad or biological/scientist dad??). In the original, Miles left the island with his mom and lived with her. Is the mom AWOL in this reality or does he have both parents? I wonder if in his flash sideways, he and his parents will mention the island as with Ben and his dad. Does Miles have the gift in the flash sideways? Charlotte was on the island as a child and also left with her mother, leaving her father behind. Same as Miles- did she come back with both parents or the father and does it matter? Her reason for studying anthropology was supposed ot be to find the island and her father again- she is an archaeologist- kind of similar, so she could still be trying to find the island I suppose but I wonder what the career difference means.

In the original, Miles's dad is Dr. Chang, I think. He is Miles Straume, I'm guessing that's his mom's maiden name. I haven't thought too much about Miles's situation honestly. Did we see a last name for Miles in this one? Is it still Straume and if so, why if his dad's around in this time line.

Miles accuses Sawyer of lying. I guess about Palm Springs. Why is he so mad? Is it a cop partner thing? Or is Miles the one who can lie and read liars well?

***
The date with Charlotte is a little weird. I thought the What- You know what- thing was probably about the worst pick up line ever and a bit contrived. Unless she had a plan for which Sawyer was more of an obstacle or accessory… She asks for a T-shirt and he tells her top drawer. So does he want her to find his “Sawyer” file or did he forget where it was? There weren’t any T-shirts in there, were there? And the way she tore that drawer apart, it looked like she wasn’t looking for a T-shirt or didn’t found the file by accident. I wonder if she wants to find more out about James for some reason other than careful dating. I wonder if Miles put her up to it because he wants to know more about the lies he knows he’s being told- he does run his credit cards and find out about Australia (instead of Palm Springs) later… I doubt she's doing "recon for Widmore, DHARMA, Dr. Chang or someone. It's possible I guess.

Books on Sawyer's dresser, which Charlotte also examines:

A Wrinkle in Time- kind of relevant

Watership Down- He fight with Boone about it. Apparently Boone brought it or they both did and Sawyer took it when he went onto hoarding mode just after they made camp.

Lancelot

***

We see Liam again asking about Charlie. Hope we find out more, there.

In the flash sideways,Sawyer’s not a very good liar or Miles can read his partner. Sawyer’s been lying to Miles about where he went – Oceanic 815 to Australia, but appears to come clean about (part?) of his past that Miles may not know about.

I wonder if Sawyer has a con man past and that’s why he’s trying to find Anthony Cooper? It would make a good story of his choosing to become a cop or criminal and overcoming the past as we saw with Jack in his flash sideways when his mom offers him a drink, he declines and his mom commends him. But if he’s a recovering alcoholic, his mom surely wouldn’t offer him a drink, unless she did so absent-mindedly in her state of grief? In either case, they could have chose the wrong way then corrected themselves. More than likely, though, I think both came close- Jack- stress and alcoholism in the family/ Sawyer- dad involved in crime? and himself nearly so as he described to Charlotte at the restaurant- and both chose the right path over the destructive one altogether.

When Miles confronts Sawyer about lying about Australia, he mentions 815. Does he know something about where that flight was supposed to go or is he just mad about lying to his partner? Sawyer punches the mirror when Miles says he’s not his partner, like Jack does at the lighthouse.

***

Sawyer goes back to Charlotte to apologize- with beer and a sunflower (??). She rejects him. Maybe he should have brought wine, like with Juliet? Was she just not up for giving he blind date another chance after an intense burst of anger for something so small or did she get the info she needed and is not interested in him or has a boyfriend- Faraday? Sawyer leaves the sunflower. Maybe this shows he’s got a softer side than before- before, he wouldn’t have gone back and if he did, after the rejection, he would have said suit yourself rather than leaving the flower in a gesture to show he’s still sorry or that he’s still open to talking when she’s ready.

***
Sawyer makes up with Miles and lets him look at the Sawyer file:
"When I was nine years old, my father shot my mother, then he killed himself. Sawyer was the reason why. He was a grifter, con man. I've been hunting him down since the day I left the academy. I chased down a lead in Australia. Got a name, Anthony Cooper. I ran the name. I got a list of Anthony Coopers, and I've been calling them. And when I find the right one, I'm going to kill him."

Sawyer's car is hit by a woman in a car we find out is Kate in the last moments of the show.

Latest embarassment for US on Israeli settlements

http://www.linktv.org/mosaic/20100312/mosaic-news-3-12-10-world-news-from-the-middle-east

Highlights from this episode from 3/12/10:

Holmes condemns Israel for lining the fate of 1.5 million Gazans with the fate of Gilad Shalit.

City of Nations- The Western Har Homa settlement will be expanded by 50,000 units, the goal being to separate Bethlehem adn Beit Sahour from East Jerusalem which would separate Jerusalem from the West Bank.

The Jerusalem municipality wouldn't comment (surprise!), but they sent a letter saying City of Nations has bad info. They say the 50,000 units are allocated one third for Arabs and two thirds for Jews according to population. The City of Nations responded that Arab building in this case (as in any other) is obstructed by the Israeli Interior Ministry headed by the right wing Shas Party. The Jewish ones apparently aren't having any such problems.

Likud Knesset Minister Danny Danon – “no one- not the Americans and not the Palestinians can dictate to Israel whether it can build in its sovereign capital.” Construction will continue unabated.

Israel is the only one who thinks that E. Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza are part of Israel.

Danon says timing, not the issue was the cause of embarrassment during Biden’s visit (???)
Are you kidding? So, it would have been no big deal if Biden wasn’t visiting? We would still have the same position, would we not? Granted, we have softened that tough stance quite a bit, allowing them to do what they want in Jerusalem even though part of it is indeed Occupied Territory and as such is as much a problem to build on as the West Bank and Gaza. Biden present or not- they are still obstructing the peace process!

Another response to why build even though he’s endangering the peace process and alienating Obama, the EU, etc is that Netanyahu was pressured not to build Har Homa and it is thriving today. That’s the way this settlement will be in a few years. They know about the obstacle they create, but don’t care because there are no consequences. City councilman Yair Gabai said that the international community will have to come to terms with the fact that Jewish people will not give up on Jerusalem.

Who is going to push whom into the sea?? Given the construction and permit problems Arabs face in Israel and the ease and speed with which settlement projects are popping up, despite cries of violation of international law. would lead one to believe that Israel was trying to ethnically cleanse the area, rather than the other way around.

He’s a guest on the program, so there are more gems for sure…

*** *** ***

Biden scolds Israel over settlement plan
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6271YE20100310

Now there’s a headline. Satisfying at first. Then you realize this has happened how many times before and to what effect? We should be boycotting them for their actions in Gaza, ethnic cleansing and other violations of law. Instead we humbly accept their insincere apology (if they give one at all) and act as though it never happened. We praise them at every opportunity, speak at AIPAC functions, our Congress gets elected indirectly by settler groups, call them men of peace and never ever dare accuse them of not being a partner for peace, not even when their actions justify it.

*** *** ***

Netanyahu Apologizes As Biden Leaves Israel Amid Doubts on Talks
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703625304575115353730769376.html

If they’ve done nothing wrong, why apologize?

Netanyahu says he will try to avoid this in the future. He means, of course, the timing, not the illegal building on Occupied Territory.

Mr. Biden asserted the U.S.'s right to give Israel constructive criticism on its policy. "Sometimes only a friend can deliver the hardest truth," he said.

Yes, but what are they doing with that truth? They are laughing (and spitting) in our faces and continuing to act outside of the law. They are still murdering and stealing and committing massive violations of human rights and international law. What are we going to DO about that? Keep smiling and nodding like we have no idea what's going on? When other nations consistently do this sort of thing, we sanction; we don’t continue to politely inform and advise while they ignore the problem, obstruct peace, and run us over.

*** *** ***

EU's Ashton chides Israel over Jerusalem settler plan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8568206.stm

"The EU position on settlements is clear. Settlements are illegal, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two state-solution impossible."

The EU seems to be one of the few delivering a message to Israel. They actually visit a variety of countries in a Middle East visit. The US checks in with Israel to see how and what we are supposed to think about what other leaders will tell us- if we even visit any other Middle Eastern countries. We sometimes suggest or criticize, but quickly backtrack and let them know that whatever they want to do is fine and they will have our full support no matter what. Some message. No wonder they take us so seriously.

If we aligned ourselves with the EU instead of Israel, one of the involved parties, maybe we could actually solve problems and help the situation.

Obama uses different language on the Israel Palestine issue, but the effect and actual policy are the same. I mean, I actually get the idea that the administration may understand that Israel is doing something that isn't in the interest of peace, but the effect is the same as with Bush- Israel can do whatever it wants with absolutely no consequences and often with our (at times tacit) approval. There has been no policy shift. When I see efforts of the sort used with apartheid South Africa, then I will see that "change I can believe in."

Undercover Boss

In other news, the US is embarrassed by Israel yet again...

Until I get back into news mode...

Another TV show: Undercover Boss

Admittedly, none of these really made me feel better about big corporations and the disconnect between the corporate world and the workers. I think some of the bosses do mean well and I have enjoyed most of them, especially the 7-11 one. An effort is generally made to reward and offer opportunities to those employees the boss works with while undercover. I found this to be nice for those involved, but what about the thousands of people like them who didn’t happen make it on the show? Where’s their vacation and special opportunity for advancement? It could be a special treat for those who inadvertently helped with the show. If you look at the rewards as sort of consolation to those who find out they were being filmed (for this purpose) without their knowledge, it might be ok.

Watching the Undercover Boss about Hooters definitely made me feel worse about that place. I guess I had hoped that it really was all about the wings. So I’m still pretty naive. Apparently it really is about parading women about in ill-fitting “uniforms.”

The segment with the ex-military guy was good. The guy kept things in order and had high standards. They got some funny clips to show at the end, which was probably nice for them. Brooks made a donation to Operation Homefront, which was a nice gesture, but what does that do to encourage people to be more like this guy? A) would that motivate people and B) would they really donate a large sum to your (everyone’s) charity of choice for a job well done? I think in addition to that, they should have promoted the guy and found a way to bring his qualities to other stores- maybe with that guy helping/training in some way.

In the segment featuring Jimbo and his deplorable behavior, Brooks actually said he knows what the brand is about, but doesn’t know how to treat it or some nonsense like that. At least we know that it’s not the wings, it’s the girls- in case there was any doubt. Classy. He would let his daughters work at Hooters, but probably not on Jimbo’s watch. Nice. So, I guess it was only fitting that upon receiving a mild reprimand, Jimbo defends his behavior and stands by his actions since his sale are good. Totally ridiculous, but fitting to show the guy has no respect for anyone, not even the boss.

Jimbo and his reindeer games are certainly to blame, but Hooters lends itself to this sort of behavior, really. The brand is about girls in tight, barely there shirts and shorts, but you’re not supposed to demean them. For many, it’s hard to walk that close to the line and not cross it. I’m not saying men aren’t to be held responsible when they do. And the other side of that coin is the girls choosing to work there. Hooters certainly isn’t the only guilty party, but if Brooks ever thought that place was family friendly or free of sexual exploitation and harassment, he’s delusional. If Brooks wants to change that aspect and appear as though he’s honestly concerned about the girls and his restaurant being family friendly, he would have to change those uniforms and probably the name, too. I guess you could move to an owl theme or dare I say breast cancer, I don’t know… Probably not the latter.

Wearing a T-shirt saying "Delightfully tacky, yet tastefully unrefined,” Brooks is dumbfounded when women tell him his brand is demeaning to women. ??? Where has this guy been??? Maybe no one will say it to his face, but surely he has overheard something at some point? And, dude- Did he read his shirt before squeezing into it? Is that what the brand is about? Is he proud to wear that shirt and have it refer to his company??? And what about that conference room sign, “Caution Bumps”? He’s shocked that people think Hooters demeans women and isn’t a family friendly establishment? Really?

I was encouraged by his response that he wanted to change things. It was a huge letdown, though, when his big solution to change things was not to change the name and give them some real clothes to wear- even a tasteful cheerleading outfit – but to embark in a propaganda campaign starring the two girls who took him out on the street for the promo detailing all the ways that Hooters gives back to the community or some nonsense. He really missed the boat on that one. He could have employed them and others in an effort to reinvent the uniform and other aspects of the job to something that is more respectful to them.

The segment with the woman manager should tell him he should look for more women managers to manage the generally disrespected girls and reorganize things to make it easier for people to go to school, be single parents, etc. Instead, he sent her on a vacation, which was a nice gesture, but what about the other single moms? She apparently took a less stressful job in the company, but who’s going to fill her position? Potentially another Jimbo? Yikes! What did he do to prevent that from happening again? Nothing that I could tell. Was she offered an equal or lesser paying less stressful position? I had assumed she was promoted, but I don’t know that I should, here.

When he visited his plant where the sauce is made, no one knows who he is, but they all love his father. Morale has gone down since his death and Brooks decides to show up more often like his father did. Somehow, I don’t think he’ll be able to have the same relationship with the employees. He doesn’t appear to care as much as people say his father did. Building a company is a bit different than having one dropped in your lap and it shows.

I don’t think his experience affected him the way it has other bosses and I think a lot of crucial points made were lost on him. His own ignorance of the perception of the brand was absolutely astounding. Maybe he’s been too long in his corporate bubble (As evidenced by the morale at the plant…), but it was unbelievable to me.

LOST Episode 606: Sundown

First impressions- more later

So Dogen (in the temple) explains in every man there is a scale (remember the cave, scale, stones) with good and evil. The machine tests that and Sayid's swung the wrong way and that's why he wanted to kill him. It looked pretty obvious that the temple people drowned Sayid and the pool and Dogen pronounces him dead. Miles will later confirm that the walking Sayid is actually dead. Or is he joking? Is Sayid not really dead? Why can't Dogen see Sayid's dead- he tried "again" with the pills last time and with a knife this episode. I tend to believe Miles since he can hear the dead and all...but questions remain... Dogen attacks Sayid, they fight, and just as Dogen is about to plunge the knife in Sayid, Dogen's baseball rolls off the table- you can go Sayid, but don't come back- I've really got to get that ball. ??? Maybe the ball reminded Dogen of his son (or is his son's) and that he can't kill Sayid that way because his own scale will swing the wrong way?

Claire asks Locke why it has to be her. She seems normal, here, like she's dreading what she was told to do. She asks why Locke can't do it or why not send Sawyer or Jin. Locke said if he could do it himself he wouldn't be asking Claire. This sounds like when Widmore asked Ben to kill Rousseau and Ben asked the same thing... She looks like she commits to doing the deed, but wants to know Locke will deliver on his promise to give Aaron back to her. This seems like the opposite of the promises Jacob has made to Dogen and Sayid- the loved one can live, but you can't be with them. ??? Mirror images again? But, who's good and who's bad?? Maybe Jacob's asking them to sacrifice for a better cause- the loved one will live? And Unlocke's deals could be more sinister- kill this person and you can be with your loved one? This paints Unlocke as bad, but what he says before the commercial may contradict that. Claire asks are you going to hurt them to which Unlocke answers only those who won't listen- that sounds a bit like my Christianity theory, but I still hesitate to say that Unlocke is a Christ figure. It could just be for selfish gain somehow. Unlocke has said that he always does what he says and he wouldn't have kept Ben, Alpert, Sawyer, etc in the dark and he gave people the choice to leave the temple and live. So, that doesn't seem very bad at all...

When I think about which is good and which is evil- Jacob or Unlocke- I go back to the boy with blood on his hands. Is this telling us Jacob who has blood on his hands (actor is later supposedly identified as such) and is evil or is the young Jacob reminding Unlocke that Unlocke has blood on his hands and will have to pay.

Another thing is that Jacob's followers are telling everyone Unlocke will kill them. He didn't kill Sawyer and he said he felt sorry for Sayid because Sayid probably thought Unolcke wated to kill him courtesy of Dogen and company. More deception of Jacob's side.

Another problem with Jacob being good is that he said it's important for Jack and Hurley to be as far away from the temple as possible. I thought Jacob was protecting them, but Dogen needed exactly those two when Claire said to send "someone he won't kill" to meet Unlocke outside of the temple. Why would Jacob need to protect these two if Unlocke's not going to kill them? One would conclude that Jacob wanted to indirectly cause Smoky to kill a bunch of people in the temple. ?? That's not exactly the actions of a good guy. Or is it? Perhaps we don't want Jack to help Jack realize this thing Jacob wants to push him towards?

Sayid's flash sideways. His brother needs him to "take care of" a dirty loan shark who wants money after the debt was paid. Did the brother make a deal with Keemy that he would have the means to get the second store, but would be in debt for the rest of his life (or the life of the store actually) and didn't like the terms and wants Sayid to fix things as only he can? Sayid offered him the money, so he definitely was asking for a show of force, not money. Going with the obvious, that Sayid's brother isn't violating the terms of an agreement, though, Sayid is given another trade off. He saves his brother, the kids, his love (sister in law) from financial ruin, but he has to turn to the evil he's apparently trying to stay away from. This time, he's making the sacrifice to save people he loves, though, at this point in the flash sideways, he looks like he's not going to do it. In the deal with Ben, he assassinates people to get info to be with his love, Nadia. Interesting that there is a lot about people " knowing who Sayid is" (he's evil?) and Sayid trying to fight that tendency. Sayid's brother comes to him to do the deed because he knows what Sayid did in the war. Nadia asks him not to do what he's thinking about doing in the continuation of the flash sideways. Dogen calls Sayid evil incarnate, but appears to believe he still has the option to choose to tip the balance for the good (by killing Unlocke with the sword before he speaks)- or he does think he's evil and just wants Unlocke to kill him. There is emphasis in the flash sideways on Sayid saying he's not "that man" (evil, torturer, assassin, etc) much like he said after Oceanic crashed and people found out about his Republican Guard past. People ask him to "take care of business" in Sayid fashion in both cases, but both times he seems to reluctantly help them even though it means being "that man" he doesn't want to be. Hmmm.

Sayid is banished from temple after fighting with Dogen.
　
A favorite line of mine:

"Apparently I'm evil. These people say I'm better off dead, which is surprising
considering they were the ones who saved my life."
"Well, actually," Miles
says, "they're not. They tried to save you, but you were dead, man, for two
hours. Trust me, when you sat up, they were just as surprised as the rest of us.
So whatever brought you back, it wasn't them."

I wonder if Sayid knows he’s not Sayid and he’s just acting confused to fool Miles?

Claire comes in and does the thing for which in return she will get to be with her son- she tells Dogen “he” wants to see you. Unlike Jacob, the favor he asks isn’t killing or doesn’t involve never seeing what you love most- so far.

Dogen tells Claire MIB can come in; Claire said he wants Dogen to go out. Dogen and seemingly Claire know that MIB will kill Dogen if he goes outside the temple. Why? Because of the deal with Jacob? Claire then tells him to send someone he won’t kill.

She’s tossed in a pit, which ironically saves her from Smoky. Looks to be the only way to survive in the temple at the sundown deadline. Claire seems to know she’s safe either because of the pit or something to do with the nod at the very end of the episode. Sayid was fine, too- where was he at sundown- near the pool, right? Or did he get out of the temple before sundown? I thought for sure he had come out after, though.

In response to “send someone he won’t kill,” Dogen asks for Jack and Hurley, who are gone. Sent to the lighthouse by Jacob. Remember Dogen was mad Hurley was poking around and he didn’t die because of protected status as a candidate.

When they can’t be found, suddenly Sayid is needed for the task. This apparently is an effort by Dogen to get Sayid killed. For whatever reason, He thinks MIB will kill him when Sayid goes to “kill” MIB. Why does Dogen not know that the sword isn’t going to work on MIB or that MIB wouldn’t know that he can’t be killed (again) and would feel threatened enough to kill Sayid?? Weird.
It comes up again that Jacob is gone and MIB is free and will kill everyone on the island because he’s evil incarnate.

Sayid’s flash sideways- he finds out his brother is mugged and Nadia begs him not to do what he’s thinking of doing.

Kate goes to the temple, meets Miles who tells her Claire’s there.

Sayid’s in the jungle. Locke steps out and says hello and Sayid stabs him with Dogen’s special knife. Dogen had told him to stab him before he said anything. Is this why he didn’t die? Sayid didn’t say anything before he stabbed Locke, but I’m pretty sure Dogen wanted Locke stabbed before Locke said anything to Sayid. I could be wrong.

Locke takes no offense and gives the knife back. Sayid asks what are you? Without telling him, he asks who they told Sayid Locke is to which the answer is evil incarnate. Hmm. Evasive. Locke tells Sayid that this was an attempt by Dogen to kill Sayid. Is he lying??

Locke expresses disappointment for Sayid being talked into killing Locke so easily. This is similar to Locke saying he’s disappointed in everyone as he passes the real Locke on the beach.

Sayid asks what Locke wants, assuming that’s the reason Locke didn’t kill him. This kind of points to Sayid believing Dogen still. Locke makes the same deal with Sayid as he did Claire, I’m guessing with Nadia. I wonder what and why the difference in the deal – in the flash sideways, Claire is ready to take custody of Aaron since the adoptive parent(s) declined and Kate told her to keep him, etc. Sayid isn’t married to Nadia; they are in-laws, though they clearly care for each other as though they should be married. Was that his choice or a trade off or penance?

Sayid’s flash sideways- Nadia asks why he pushed her to be with his brother when he clearly cares for her. He says he doesn’t deserve her.

Sayid delivers his message just inside the temple as Claire did-

"There is a man in the jungle
about a mile south of us by the outer wall. He sent me back here to give you a
message. He wants you to know that Jacob is dead and because he is gone, none of
you have to stay here any longer. You're free."

"The man that I met is leaving the
island forever. And those of you who want to go with him, should leave the
Temple and join him. You have until sundown to decide."

If they stay at the temple, they’ll die- except if you end up where Claire and Kate did in the hole.

Kate finds Claire and tells her she raised Aaron off the island, but wants to reunite them and she wants to save Claire. Someone drags Kate away and Claire says she’s not the one that needs to be rescued. Claire seemed to accept Kate's explanation that she took Aaron, he's fine, and that everyone thought she was dead- too easily. Or is she just biding her time before she kills her?

People are running out and tall man is upset. Sayid said he delivered the message and people have to decide. When someone tries to stop Cindy and the kids, she says Jacob is dead, so the temple isn’t safe anymore. What about the ash and Dogen? I thought they had to do with a place being “safe”.
Tall man tries to negate Sayid’s message by saying “he” can’t come in. Not very persuasively, I might add. Why should they believe that guy?

Sayid flash sideways - gets in SUV with Keamy and they go to the industrial kitchen. Keamy brings up the mugging, how Sayid wil take care of the family (implying he’s going to kill him?), then the money he says his brother owes. Sayid shoots one guy and threatens Keamy. Keamy says ok, his brother owes nothing and Sayid shoots him anyway. Sayid them finds a Korean only speaking Jin in the walk in fridge. (???) Was Jin delivering the watch to Keamy? Did his father-in-law send him there to get killed? Was Jin to deliver a payment to Keamy, but he didn’t have it because of the airport detention and confiscation?

Dogen knows Sayid let Locke talk to him because he couldn’t kill him. Sayid said that he stabbed first then let him talk, which isn’t quite true. Sayid then confronts Dogen about the two indirect attempts on his life. As always when confronted with the “why didn’t you kill him yourself” question, there is no simple answer. This time, instead of talking about the rules, Dogen tells Sayid about the drunk driving accident where Dogen’s son dies and Jacob makes a deal that the son could live, but Dogen couldn’t see him and has to live on the island with this Temple Master job.

Dogen asks and Sayid confirmed that “the man outside” offered a similar deal.

Interesting bit that Dogen said Jacob offered him a deal... is this different than the Losties getting touched by Jacob at various points in their lives? His son died because he had been drinking and he caused the crash. Jacob offered his son's life back in return for Dogen having a new job and never seeing his son again. Also, he mentions Osaka, not LA, where he lives in the flash sideways. Sayyid confirms MIB offered him a similar deal and that he drives a hard bargain. He could have- he can have Nadia back alive, but he can't be with her and he has to do what Jacob says. MIB seems to offer the better deals, delivering a message in return for getting a loved one back, so this would be a change if Sayyid couldn’t be with Nadia. Perhaps MIB gave him the choice to be with her, but he chose not to because he didn’t deserve her. When the rules prevent people from doing something, they generally say that, but Sayyid said he didn’t deserve her. Or perhaps there are different rules when bringing back someone from the dead rather than Jacob and MIB offering different deals. Maybe you can’t be with the person if you bring them back from the dead because if you did, you’d cause their demise again. (think about the Desmond and Charlie saga where he keeps trying to save him?) Or Sayyid could really be lying and could be Jacob- in which case the driving a hard bargain would be dark humor. One difference is Dogen doesn't appear to be dead and Miles tells Sayyid he is dead. Another is the circumstances of the loved one's death. Dogen was responsible for his son's death. One could say that Dogen should have died. When Nadia died, it was because Jacob got Sayyid's attention in the street. That one never added up to me. He came to other Losties at vulnerable times- told Kate not to steal again, gave Sawyer a pen to write a letter which would avenge his parents' death, said he was sorry this happened to Locke when he was pushed out of the window, but he seemed to nearly directly cause Nadia's death.

Ben also offered a few of these deals. Was he authorized or is this a parallel or an effort to usurp authority? One with Juliet- She had to stay on the island in order to get- I forget what. The sacrifice would be not being there when her sister had the baby - Juliet helped with her lost fertility and won't get to see her sister overcome cancer and be happy with a child she thought she'd never have. She did get to see a video of her and the child at the playground- Alpert was cameraman. Another deal Ben did was with Sayid after the Oceanic 6 got off the island. He had to help Ben (assassinate people for him) in order to get info on where Nadia was so he could be with her. He seems to have a happier ending except for meeting Jacob in the street and Nadia getting killed after only a short time being married (3 mo?).

At sundown, Dogen attempts to stay. Sayid stabs and drowns him. Which thing kills him? Does it matter?

Lenon tells us Dogen was the only on keeping it out. Sayid let it in. Sayid says he knows, stabs Lenon. Yikes! Wow.

Will Dogen and Lenon return (as something/someone else) like Sayid from that temple pool or maybe the correct procedure wasn’t followed…Sayid’s involved a sand timer, if I remember correctly, and drowning him when he came to in the water because the time wasn’t up.

Kate and Miles run when they hear Smoky. Smoky's grabbing people left and right. Miles and Kate split up because Kate wants to get Claire.

Miles runs into Ilana who demands to know where Shephard and Reyes and Ford are and Miles just wants to know who she is. Ilana gets her answer- everyone's gone. Miles sees Frank, Sun, Jin. Miles is confused about Frank. Will we see them "play catch up" later or is this to tell us that it happened?

Ilana then asks about Jarrah. It seems significant that she asks about him separately from Jack Hurley and Sawyer, but isn't Sawyer with Unlocke who is with Sayid and Claire???

Ben offers to get Sayid after hearing he's in the pool room. Ilana appears not to want him to...perhaps because he's evil incarnate?

Kate goes to "rescue" Claire, but Claire won't come, stating that they'll be safer in the hole. ??? Smoky comes, Kate jumps into the hole. Claire seems like she's being pretty nice for a person who wants ot kill the person who raised Aaron...hmm...change of heart or just waiting for the right time?

Ben comes to the pool to "rescue" Sayid. Ben says there's still time and Sayid says "not for me." Probably a significant statement. The darkness has reached his heart and he knows it perhaps?

Ilana, Frank, Miles, and Sun are on their way out of the temple. Sun finally finds out Jin's alive! Yay! I've been waiting for this for awhile. Ilana seems to know about the same way out Jacob gave Hurley, if I remember correctly.

Creepy "Catch a Falling Star" plays. Sayid walks past dead bodies and burning debris. Sayid and Claire look content as they walk out. Kate looks horrified. Unlocke looks a bit puzzled or disappointed to see Kate. Sayid and Claire may look content because they have made good on their end and Unlocke will now let them see Aaron and whomever Sayid oved most--or because they are evil incarnate like Dogen said. Who knows. I don't tend to believe Unlocke is evil because it's too obvious withe the black clothes and all and Jacob's way more deceptive...who knows. It's LOST.

It appears many people made it out. Interesting that the choices were to go out of the Temple and follow Unlocke off the island forever or stay in the temple and die. No choice to stay on the island forever...



***
Remember when Jack got the tattoo from the Thai woman who told him she could tattoo what she saw in him on his arm, but there would be consequences. In the immediate time, he was beaten. Perhaps the writers were telling us early about these future trade offs and consequences people would face for choices that Ben, Jacob and Unlocke presented?

The spoiler said Smoky rams a guy against a pillar, but Smoky cleaned house. Crazy.



The post-Smoky temple scene reminded me of the spoiler about the village in episode 15 or 16. Interesting...

Didn't Ilana say he was stuck like "that"? I thought that meant Locke, but he can obviosly be Smoky, too. I wouldn't call that stuck. Smoky can do some stuff. Apparently not go into the little hole Claire was in, though! Go figure. Either Ilana doesn't know Smoky is Unlocke or "that" means something else.

The choice given was to stay in the temple (and die) or leave (in order to follow Unlocke off the island) by sundown. It almost reminds me of the choice of the Oceanic 6 to stay on the island or leave. Also, the fact that there was a choice to follow Unlocke or don't and die by the hand of Smoky, sounds a bit like Christianity in that we all have free will and the choice to follow Christ, there being a reward for following and punishment for disobedience. I'm not sure it fits to call Unlocke/MIB a Christ figure, though.

Jacob's list- I like my idea that crossing off means they've accomplished or found their purpose rather than Jacob's killing them off- indirectly- according to some rules. I had a thought, but have to go back and check to see if the list could relate to those who have agreed to stay in the temple or those who have decided to stay out.

In the general scheme of things, I wonder if there is a significance to Christian being on the Oceanic flight in a casket and Locke being in a casket for the Ajira one. Was Jack in charge of checking both? I don't remember how Locke's casket got on there or who was "in charge" of it.

Another general thing- I wonder what the significance of Locke choosing what he did for Alpert's test is. He chose a knife in his 3 things when perhaps he should have chosen the law book? I'm assuming that's why Alpert said there's nothing special about him. Unless Alpert was lying so he could be in charge instead. What if choosing the knife does mean Locke isn't supposed to be the leader or wasn't spposed to be used by MIB? Locke would be a substitute leader as well as a substitute teacher in The Substitute. Hmmm. Maybe the thing Jack has to do is be the leader? In Thailand, the woman who tattoos what she sees in people told him...I'm reaching...but there is that Eastern theme again...

I'm still bugged by why Locke and Unlocke are allowed to exist together, but Christian and Sayyid are dead, but don't have a copy of them- one dead, one inhabited by something (somebody) else.

LOST Spoilers from The Transmission!

If you don’t like spoilers, please don’t read this post!!

I happen to love them! ☺

Here is The Transmission's site- from which todays material comes:
http://www.hawaiiup.com/lost/

This is a post about the SPOILERS in LOST that the folks at The Transmission talked about in their “The Lighthouse” podcast.

I repeat, if you don’t like spoilers, please don’t read this post!

In my opinion, not enough is even close to revealed to spoil the end, but I know there are some who want to hear as little about future episodes as possible and that’s cool.

I have transcribed some lines and such that I heard on The Transmission, so I encourage you to go to their site and give them props… and to make sure I have not made any mistakes…I have left a few things out, but I’m not claiming to have transcribed it all! ;) Spoilers are transcribed; the narration is summarized. Enjoy!

At about 13 minutes left in the podcast, The Transmission, “The Lighthouse” reveals some good stuff in the Forward Cabin segment. People who have spied and grabbed call sheets and such have graciously shared it with Ryan and Jen and they tell all of us where the crew was filming this week, if they saw anything juicy, etc.


First up:


Tonight’s episode!

*** *** ***

From The Transmission:

(I'm so late with this that this first one is almost not a spoiler anymore!)

Episode 606 call sheet was obtained. It was filmed in January.

• Claire enters temple courtyard
• Sayyid slits Lenin’s throat, Kate and Miles run, Smokey attacks, rams guy into pillar (does Smoky kill someone we know?)

Episode 613: The Last Recruit (call sheet, I think, or maybe just sightings?)

• Jack and Locke catch up (does Locke tell him who he really is or any more than we already know I wonder? And what’s the deal with Jacob? Did Jack get mad and run away and turn his back on him after the whole mirror, you’ve been watching the whole time, I’m going to pout thing? Did he just happen to run into Locke or was Jack brought or directed to him?)
• Sawyer tells Jack his plan (uhh…can’t wait for that one…let me guess…shoot everyone and get out of here? Actually that sounds like what Alpert said Unlocke wanted…but can we trust Alpert…hmmm)
• In jungle walking Jack asks Claire if she trusts Locke (does Jack trust crazy Claire??? He –among others- ran off the island with her baby- or let Kate take Aaron off the island- is she going to kill him? Did they talk it out and she now understands that everyone thought she was dead and so they were looking after him? Does she even know Aaron’s off the island yet? Did they talk about being related? Did they talk about their dad? Are they chummy or is he keeping her at arms length like Jin did because of the crazy?)
• Locke asks Sun if she saw Sayyid, Locke runs off, finds him, Sayyid tells Locke he shot Desmond (Whaaaa?)

From report they got last month, update:

• Jack David Claire Desmond- at courthouse or law office at same time
• Claire on her way to adoption agency, meets Desmond in lobby and convinces her to see a lawyer, they ride up in elevator
• Jack and David arrive for reading of Christian’s will and Jack’s ex-wife calls (I guess I’m leaning towards Juliet since I’ve focused on the mirror theme and in the cave and lighthouse Sawyer is 15 and Kate is 51. Jack and Juliet are both scientists/doctors and Sawyer and Kate are a bit darker- or they seem dark, but maybe they had to do something bad to put something right in the case of the parents anyway…)

Monday

Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Ben - interior on submarine
Tarps had been placed to block view from street, but saw Jack, Sawyer, Jin and Sun all wet


Wednesday
Episode 615: Across the Sea - from call sheet

Primitive village, huts, campfires, boar roasting 23AD
Claudia shows boy in black the village and tells him she’s his mother
(my note- if this were a normal situation, she wouldn’t need to explain this, so it will be interesting to see why this is happening)

Another scene
“Mother”- not Claudia- tells young Jacob (same actor as the boy with blood on his hands who appears to Unlocke this season) that she killed their mother

Next scene 43 AD
Adult Jacob is sent by “Mother” to get firewood and when he returns, the village has been gruesomely burned to the ground

Boy in black – Ryan Bradford (from a soap opera)
Claudia – Lela Loren (NCIS …IMDB)
"Mother"- Allison Janney (West Wing…IMDB)

Thursday (my note- same call sheet or different- I’m not clear)

• shore near Police Beach prepped for no footprints
• No main cast, but told by someone on set it was a key scene
• Someone in black shirt, someone is white shirt facing ocean sitting on a log, talking in 23AD

Scene with Jacob and his mother

Both of these scenes were apparently long with lots of takes and tons of dialogue.

Another sighting
At a market – Stop and Shop - Hurley stand in crossing a street picking up ticket off the ground


Friday
Set up near cages of Hydra, rain machine, Jack, Hurley, Kate, Sawyer, Claire, Jin, Sun, Lapidus spotted

Midnight Friday- forest/jungle/smoke machine/eerie feel- tarps blocked view, but dialogue heard between two young kids (!!)

Lines are a follows- (contributor was confused as to who said what, though):

Jacob, what are you doing?

Noises like fighting, struggle, an attack? (my note- possibly just the two boys or are there “others” involved?)

I’m going with them. The other people.

I want to go home to my mother. (Sounds like Unlocke wanting to get off the island)

She’s not even our real mother.

You don’t trust me, but one day you’ll believe me.
(Possibly Jacob says the last two lines? I’m guessing…)

*** *** ***

The first line is boy in black.

The first scenario that came to mind was that they alternate lines with Jacob possibly saying the last two. This might fit with the scenes above where Jacob had contact with the "Mother" in two scenes and during one of them, he's told she killed their real mother. That explains why he'd choose the others over his mother. Boy in black had a scene with the real mother and he presumably wants to go back to her. Why they could be talking about two different scenarios being as one I don't know. The Losties currently have two different timelines... I don't know...

If Jacob says the second and third lines, it would mean the other people want to take him to his mother. If boy in black says the next and Jacob says the last, I guess it could be talking about how this is all about proving that the "Mother" who killed the real mother was more of a mother to them and Jacob is going to prove it?

There could be a problem with my trying to explain teh whoel show with these few lines of dialogue.. :)

Arrrggggghhhh! But it was so cool to get those lines. I'm glad we're going to get the back stories of these two dead and or time traveling men on a mysterious mission.

Is the 23AD village on The Island or elsewhere?

Does the boy die and that’s why he separates into black and white (think Locke’s backgammon explanation…) ?

All I'm saying is- who/where is the daddy here? Is this one big daddy issue that has caused a ripple effect of daddy issues? Or mirror images- since that's a theme here.

Did the boy kill his dad – even if for good reason- and that’s why he shows up with blood on his hands? If he did kill his dad it could explain why the leader of the Others has to kill their dad...if that's even a prerequisite...

Did he set fire to the village and that’s why he shows up with blood on his hands?

If his mom did send him away to get firewood and be safe, did she have something to do with the fire? Why is he the one with the blood on his hands if he didn’t set it himself or do something to cause death?

I think the two- Jacob and Man in Black- still could be one person even given what we’ve seen spoiler-wise, but as I’ve said before, I‘m not a fan of that theory. I don't know why. It may fit with the mirror image theme, good and evil, etc, though, if they were one person. Maybe when the two sides of this person reconcile or get back together, the Losties’ present and flash sideways will reconcile?

Does this have something to do with Aaron needing to be raised by Claire? The last half of the lines made me think it could.

Lost- good vs evil theme / Adam and Eve skeletons

Possible spoiler at the end!! Beware!!

I think the writers have said that good and evil is a theme- I could be wrong. I’m getting that vibe anyway. The way Locke explains backgammon to Walt kind of sets that up at the beginning. The game and opposing sides are brought up in the tic tac toe game between Hurley and Miles most recently. At the tie, Miles isn’t surprised. Maybe the theme is not necessarily that good will win out, but that good and evil will always be there or something like that. Perhaps Backgammon was used to set up the dark and light good and evil theme and the tic tac toe to represent the age old struggle (seemingly a stalemate) between good and evil.

Some think Jacob and Smoky are the same person; I tend not to think so- or hope it’s not the case.

Jacob is thought by many to be the good in the good vs evil yin and yang theme - light clothes/ led Jack and Hurley to the lighthouse / the boy with blood on his hands was illuminated (if this is indeed young Jacob) but, he lies and manipulates people’s courses or “choices” to make them go to the island, so that’s not too good.

It reminds me of when I started to doubt which was good and which was evil with the Losties and the Others and Ben’s lies. I wonder if Jacob will turn out to be like Ben…

“Smoky” has killed and that isn’t good, but is this a divine justice sort of thing or is it malicious? Some accuse God of being cruel for what is done in the old testament and it looks that way if you don’t know the whole story. Perhaps we don’t know enough of “Smoky” to see him as good. It would make a good plot twist to make him seem evil, but really be the good, but that one may be a little too played out.


Adam and Eve skeletons- I think the writers have said this is a significant plot point, but I could be wrong. Everyone’s trying to guess who they are.

Rose and Bernard- I think I’ve heard the writers say they like these two characters. Rose went into remission on the island and they could be retirement age, so they’d be candidates for voluntarily staying on the island.

Jin and Sun- The skeletons are found initially farther apart and this season they are next to each other- could be a smaller set or maybe signifies a change in events which is why I like the theory that says they are Jin and Sun. They were moving apart before the island and maybe they end up together? But Sun left their daughter to come to the island, so one would think they wouldn’t want to stay there. Maybe Jacob’s intervention is what makes people miserable and brings them to the island…

Desmond and Penny? It seems they wouldn’t want to die on the island. Or would they? It’s less sure if in this go around they didn’t have a son together and he’s off island as well.

We will get more info on Jacob and the other guy this season, even going back to AD 23 I think, so it could be two people from their back stories…

Lost - general

Christian- where is his body?? - airline lost the casket in season 6- season 1 Jack found the casket, but his body wasn’t there- he has been seen in the cabin and talking to Rousseau-esque Claire

Don’t know if this is significant or just the real life and on screen pervasive theme of women’s fathers thinking the prospective husband is not good enough… Desmond with Penny’s father (Widmore) is like Jin’s trouble with Sun’s father. Both seek jobs with the father-in-law and marry their daughters. In Desmond’s case, he marries Penny eventually against all odds and Widmore’s various efforts (boat race, refusing to give his blessing to an engagement) and doesn’t end up working for him. Did Widmore move the island to keep Penny away from Desmond? In Jin’s case, he agrees to work in Sun’s father’s business doing hit jobs, extortion, etc and becomes like Sun's father and a man Sun can’t respect. Widmore and Sun’s father have some connection- I can’t remember what- business?- but Sun finds Widmore through her father I think. Does this have any foreshadowing or clues for our convoluted plot’s resolution?

Ben appeared to know everything, but we find he knows nothing and lied about being able to see Jacob in the past. He seems to be a chronic liar- is this because he’s an evil force in the good vs evil theme or is he lying for the greater good somehow. Like the pressing need some feel to kill those infected or compromised- Rousseau probably killed her team, Dogen tried to get Jack to kill Sayyid.

Why didn’t Ben’s cancer heal or not happen on the island - Locke can walk, Rose went into remission/ why did he get spinal cancer anyway/ Natural causes? Something related to the Big Game?/ Punishment?/ Is it related to why he seems to be in charge or seemed to be chosen- maybe he was- but did something that got him demoted and the change or thing he did resulted in him getting cancer.

Many think Unlocke was in Christian at that point, but why take Christian’s body but make a copy of Locke?

Why can smoke monster kill in smoke form, but not in human (or at least Locke’s) form?
Ben and Alpert have seemed like they knew a lot at times, but Unlocke reveals that they don’t know anything; they’ve just been running Jacob’s errands no questions asked. Ben had Widmore exiled for breaking the rules, so perhaps he wanted to take Widmore’s place, but knew he wasn’t a candidate or supposed to?

Whidmore has connections to a lot of characters- he fathered Farraday with Eloise and Penny with someone else off island...hmm

There is a focus on Jack, too. His half sister is Claire, His dead dad is walking around on the island, Jacob is trying hard to get him to realize what he needs to do- whatever that is.

When Ben first meets his "daughter" Alex:
“Ben was angered that Widmore had not informed him of the baby prior to accepting the mission. Widmore demanded that Ben kill her, claiming it to be the will of Jacob. Ben refused, and instead proposed that if it were indeed the will of the Island, Widmore should be able to do it instead.”
–Lostpedia

Another parallel incident is when Alpert brings wounded young Ben to the Others camp to be healed and Widmore is upset about it. Lostpedia says Alpert tells Widmore it's Jacob's orders...but he could be lying and it would fit a pattern with Jacob and Ben lying. But if Widmore is as big as I am thinking, wouldn't he know what Jacob wants and what the real deal is??

Whidmore seems to be in charge in 1989 when Ben and Ethan were told to kill Rousseau. In 1954 Whidmore was young and under Alpert’s command. Where is Alpert in 1989? Whidmore seems to be under the same rules as Unlocke when the boy tells him “you can’t kill him” and Ben when he seems not able to kill Whidmore even when he had the opportunity off island.

More on rules like “you can’t kill him”:“Some time after the Purge, Ben had Widmore exiled from the Island and supplanted him as leader of the Others. As Widmore was led to the submarine by armed guards, Ben came to say farewell. Widmore, however, felt Ben had come to "gloat" about his victory in having him exiled. Widmore had been exiled for "breaking the rules": namely, for regularly leaving the Island, and for having a family off the Island (specifically, a "daughter with an outsider"). Widmore scornfully told Ben that one day he would have to choose between Alex and the Island. He was then led to the submarine and exiled. ("Dead Is Dead")” --Lostpedia

Desmond- the rules don’t apply to him, he travels through time a number of times at will- as opposed to Losties which flash through time randomly (could these be linked?)- because he wants to change things and be with Penny, he saved Charlie a number of times. He eventually ends up with Penny and their kid on a boat, happy. What does this have to do with the major story of the Losties?

Candidates and recruits mentioned...significant difference or are they recruited to be candidates?Candidates seem to refer to Jacob's replacement as island protector or keeper of the rules? And Ilana said Unlocke was recruiting...for what? I hope it's not for a major war like some are predicting. I think that would be pretty lame.

Is the island really just an island or is that a lie by Unlocke to ensure Sawyer continues to want to get off the island?