Lost Episode 6.7: "Dr. Linus"

This was a great Ben episode. I've heard on podcasts that the writers have said that this season can be thought of as three distinct acts, each lasting about six episodes. Act one ended last episode. Tonight's episode kicked off act two. I can see that, it definitely felt like things were gearing up and new settings were chosen for each group of characters. Locke's people are on the Hydra island, Jacob's team is on the beach. Pretty familiar set-up, kind of like when the Losties were on the beach and the Ben-led Others were on Hydra. Now, let's get into the details. But first, yet another disclaimer: I didn't have time to proof this at all (beware of run-ons and tangents) or add as many pictures as I would like, because I'm super swamped at work right now. And I basically kept to the major events to save time.

Let's start with the off-island stuff. And the first major event is:


DR. ARZT SHOPS AT MARSHALLS: So we get to see Dr. Linus the teacher, and he turns out to be a pretty good teacher. And, we quickly learn that Leslie Arzt works at the same school as Locke and Ben. Arzt is complaining about formaldehyde on his shirt (ironically, later Hurley will complain about once having Arzt on his shirt) and Arzt says he's going to have to go back to Marshalls. I wonder if this was a paid endorsement or just a joke? I happen to work at the agency that does their advertising so I'll have to ask around and find out. Anyway, after hearing Ben complain, Locke plants a seed of temptation in Ben's mind that he deserves to be principal. I don't think Locke was meaning to be anything but encouraging here, but it gets Ben's mind working in Machiavellian ways and it mirror's Locke's temptation of Ben later on the island. Nice writing in this one. I'm really a fan of the Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz written episodes. (You can follow Horowitz on Twitter.) As a side note, the same writing team wrote the upcoming Tron Legacy film, so I bet it's good.


ROGER LINUS IS STILL THRIVING: Good old Uncle Rico/Roger Linus is still kickin' it, but this time he doesn't seem to be as resentful of his son, who faithfully changes his oxygen tanks. I thought the oxygen tank was a brilliant counterpoint to the deadly gas canister Ben used to kill Roger back on the island. In this scene we learn that Ben and his dad left the island at some point, obviously BEFORE it sank to the bottom of the ocean. Why did they leave? We're not told, but we are told the reason they went there in the first place, which was never a question I had, but now that you mention it, it was a weird career move for Roger to make. Roger apparently wanted to get Ben in with the Dharma geniuses so he could reach his full potential. A nice thought, but even on the island Ben was still a "workman" and living with his dad until his mid-30's so maybe Ben needs a little more support than that to reach his dreams.


ALEX GETS SCHOOLED: I don't have much to say about the return of Alex, but it was nice to know that Ben had a more healthy and less kidnapp-y relationship with Alex this go around. And that somewhere, not too far off, Danielle Rousseau is alive and well, sitting on a couch eating cheese puffs and watching Man vs. Wild. During Alex's first scene, Lost's credits were still rolling, and a really shocking one (to me) came up: Directed by Mario Van Peebles. Really? Crazy.


THE GHOSTBUSTERS GUY IS A PERV: Anybody else recognize Principal Reynolds as the whiny lawyer guy from Ghostbusters? About whom Bill Murray's character proclaimed, "Yes, It's true. This man has no (male genitalia slang term)?" That line always confused me as a child, because I missed that it was a joke and mistook it for a literal statement, my entire perception of his character changing in the process. I felt sorry for him instead of angry at him, which was not how I was meant to feel at all – but I couldn't help thinking that it must be hard to go through life mocked by your peers for being flat like a Ken doll in the lower regions. Well, as Prinicipal Reynolds, he has quite the opposite problem and apparently is having relations with nurse Kim Kondraki, who I looked up on Lostpedia and is not anyone we've heard of before. However, the principal's last name Reynolds IS on the wall of Jacob's cave. Is he a candidate? Or was Jacob referring to the more logical choice, Burt Reynolds?

BEN THE BLACKMAILER: So, Ben tries his hand at conniving his way to Principal, but fails because he chooses Alex over his quest for power, unlike he did on the island. As he's dealing his way to the top, Arzt calls him a killer, and Ben seems to pause for a moment. Is he remembering other timelines? Or just liking the sound of it? I'm going to vote on remembering. Because, as I've said before, I think all this is happening after the events on the island, and is the epilogue to the show. And whatever side people choose on the island is reflected in this off island life. OR, and here's a mind blower – is there NO off-island life? Does the island make you have flashes, but they're not real? Is what we've seen in flashbacks all along what the island does to you? Have the Losties always been on the island, and their entire past is fabricated by the island itself? I just exploded my own brain. I have no idea.

Now, let's go back to the on-island events, starting with the teaming up of Jack, Hurley and Richard, which I loved.



HURLEY WAKES: Saying "Cheese Curds", which is kind of a cheap shot, but I laughed. One weird thing: Hurley asks for breakfast and Jack says they should be able to get to the temple by nightfall. So, the Lighthouse was a day's walk from the Temple? Huh? I need a Tolkien map of the island, pronto.

RICHARD HAS A CRISIS OF FAITH: Much like Jesus' disciples doubted and disowned Jesus during the three days that Jesus was dead, Richard is having trouble dealing with the thought that his long, long life has been meaningless. I loved the direct questions that Hurley threw at Richard about his anti-aging properties ("Are you a cyborg?"), but Hurley never saw Richard in the 70s, so that was a little weird. Richard admits that he received a gift from Jacob, and says that Jacob touched him. Does that mean that Kate, Sawyer, Jack, Hurley, Sayid, Locke, Sun & JIn are all immortal now that Jacob touched them? I would assume NOT, since Locke and Sayid both kinda died after the fact. And also, youngsters Kate and Sawyer still aged after Jacob's touch. Guess he super-touched Richard.


JACK HAS A RENEWAL OF FAITH: At first I REALLY, REALLY hated Jack in this scene for going all Kevorkian on Richard without a second thought, but thankfully I was just falling for the writers' clever tricks. Jack's long, deep stare at the ocean apparently worked and now he's fully grasped what Jacob was trying to show him: He's there for a reason. Oddly, he tests that in front of Richard by seeing if a stick of dynamite will explode in their faces, but to each his own. Perhaps under other circumstances, Jack would have become a snake-handler. Anyway, he convinces Richard they have purpose, and man am I glad, because Richard's only cool when he's cool. Otherwise, he's kind of a Captain Bringdown. Oh, also, we totally got confirmation that Richard came in on the slave ship in chains. I suspect we'll see more of that story in flashbacks in the next couple of episodes. And, as far as Jack goes: I've put him down pretty badly recently, but it looks like his whiny days are over and he's ready to finally start kicking some butt and being a leader again, like he was in season one.

Now let's go to the Ben, Ilana, Frank, Sun & Miles storyline:

ILANA'S ASHES: Looks like Ilana didn't gather the ashes for a spiritual reason, but a practical one. She didn't trust Ben when he said he didn't kill Jacob earlier this season, so she hands the bag to Miles and he sorts things out. Ilana gets angry and says that Jacob was the closest thing she had to a father (warning: future daddy issues Ilana flashback possibly looming ahead) and then turns her back on Ben, angrily leading the crew back to the beach.

ONLY SIX LEFT: They start to clean up the beach to be livable again, and Sun and Ilana chat about going to find Jin. Ilana wants to find him as well, to protect him because he's possibly the Kwan that's a candidate to replace Jacob. Sun asks, "To replace him? Doing what?" And Ilana answers, "If you're the one selected, then I imagine you'll find out." Mysterious talk. I feel sorry for the actress that plays Sun, because all she ever gets to do lately is ask where Jin is or try to find him. Ilana also mentions that there are only six candidates left. Who is she referring to? I'm guessing she's written off Sayid after hearing he killed Dogen. But I don't think she knows about Sawyer joining Locke. So maybe her six are: Jin, Sun, Jack, Hurley, Sawyer and... Ben? Or Miles? Miles' last name Straume was on the wall of the cave, but it was crossed out. Oddly, now that more time has passed and more screenshots examined, the wall has been shown to contain both the last name Austen and the last name Linus, but both of their names were crossed out as well. Why? I guess Frank could possibly be the sixth candidate, though I don't think his name has shown up anywhere yet. Check the updated candidates' list here.

WHERE ARE ROSE AND BERNARD?: And Vincent the dog? Just wanted to ask. Did they jump back to this time with everyone else?

FRANK OVERSLEPT: I liked the short exchange between Frank and Ben, where Ben asks why Frank wasn't the pilot of the original Oceanic flight like he was supposed to be. Turns out he slept through it. Kinda funny. I like Frank, but I'm wondering at this point why the writers had him return to the island. So far, he hasn't played much of a role besides awesomely landing the second plane safely and a throwing out a few nice quips here and there. Ilana interrupts their conversation to tell Ben to dig a grave. His own.


BEN THE GRAVEDIGGER: I have to say, Ben is a pretty good gravedigger. That grave was perfectly square by the time he got it done. I guess if it's your own grave you're digging, your quality control standards are pretty high. Miles stops by to throw out some great zingers and Ben tries to make a money offer to him. Miles points out that the graves of Nikki and Paulo next to them have 8 million dollars worth of diamonds in them he could have if he wanted, and at first I wondered how he could possibly know that but my wife quickly reminded me that Miles speaks to dead bodies. I also enjoyed the shot later in the episode where Miles had already dug up the diamonds (probably while Ilana was chasing Ben.) Oh yeah – Miles also gives out another huge piece of information: As he died, Jacob was hoping he was wrong about Ben. This was a great moment, and helped built up to the life-changing decision Ben was about to make later. I really love what they did with Ben's character this episode.


LOCKE THE TEMPTER: Smokey shows up and starts to pretend like he's a helpful, nice guy again. I think this episode showed that throughout his time on the island, Ben was trying to follow Jacob, but was tempted with power and was corrupted by it. I think just like Locke suggested that Ben should be in charge of the school in the alternate timeline, Smokey's been saying the same thing to Ben during his time on the island. I think Ben was a candidate brought to the island by Jacob for good, but like the horned-one himself Smokey started whispering self-aggrandizing thoughts to Ben and caused Ben to make selfish decisions that hurt those around him. Locke tells Ben to make a run for it to a gun he hid in the woods a few hundred yards away. Couldn't he have just handed him the gun?

BEN'S CONFESSION: Ben runs through the woods like a schoolgirl and nervously grabs the gun and shakily points it at Ilana just in time. I keep wondering what happened to the matrix-like tough Ben that chopped up dudes in the desert with karate and a crazy knife-stick. Why doesn't he have that confidence all the time? He then explains his actions to Ilana in a really great speech. I liked how at first he was saying that he let Alex die to serve Jacob, and was mad at him for it, but as he kept talking he admitted that it was power that he wanted, and that his desire for power was more important that Alex, and he regrets that. He also says he regrets killing Jacob. He thinks his only choice is to basically go to the devil, and at that moment I think Ilana realizes that Jacob wants her to forgive Ben. "I'll have you" was a great moment, and a VERY Christian moment. Not to get too deep here, but the only reason I became a Christian – the only reason anyone else I know who's serious about it became a Christian – is because I got to a point in my life where I felt just as worthless and guilty as Ben did in this scene, and admitted it to God, and he said that he would still have me. He forgives even the Bens of the world. And asks his followers to forgive them as well. A really great scene, and I loved how it wasn't an easy decision for Ilana. She broke down into tears on the beach afterward, apparently angry, doubtful and unsure she made the right decision following Jacob. Unsure of what would happen next and how she would get through it. I can't think of another time I've seen a better example on televison of how messy walking in faith can be (and is for all the Christians I know) but at the same time showing how obviously right it is to do so. I was really afraid she would let Ben go, and was relieved she gave him a second chance. Great stuff. Ilana's tears are interrupted by the arrival of help in the form of Richard and two of her candidates, so that had to make her feel a little better that she was on the right track. When suddenly...


SUBMARINE MUSIC! That periscope really surpised me. Especially when it was joined by what sounded at first like the Mission: Impossible theme. I really thought the periscope was going to be the entire cliffhanger, but was suprised to see them cut inside to reveal: Widmore! Crazy. His first mate (or whatever) asked if they should stop, and Widmore said, "Proceed as planned." Is this who Jacob said was coming? It's very possible, but I'm not 100% sure. I don't think Widmore is a good guy. I was starting to feel that way after meeting his younger self and after his talks with Locke off-island, but I can't get past the fact that he hired Keamy to shoot Alex in the head. Seems like a mean thing to do. Unless that was just Keamy's idea. My guess is that Widmore is a free agent, like Ben used to be, and is acting in his own best interests. Or, does "Proceed as planned" mean head to the hydra station, to meet up with Smokey? Time will tell.



That's it for now. They haven't released the name of next week's episode yet, but if I had to guess I would say we're due for a Sawyer-centric episode.

Here's what I saw in the preview for next week: First, it featured a song, which is unusual. I think it was Leonard Cohen's "Bird on a Wire". First it showed Locke walking through the jungle with his people. Then it showed Kate crying. Next, Jack was sitting near a fire on the beach. Kate & Sawyer looked at each other lovingly. Sawyer's voice: "Whaddya say you and me get off this island?" Then a wide shot of the beach Losties around the campfire: Jack, Hurley, Miles, Sun, Frank, Ilana and Ben but no sign of Richard. I wonder how Ben and Richard will get along now? My guess is Ilana will stand up for Ben.

What did I miss? Anybody have a good poll suggestion for the sidebar?

Lost Episode 6.6: "Sundown"

In tonight's episode, the Lost writers really let their Stephen King influences show. Much more stressful than last week's light fantasy romp through the jungle, this one really had a claustrophobic sense about it, getting darker and darker as it approached its "sundown" ultimatum. Really well done, and pretty shocking. All in all, I would say it was NOT an episode of Two & a Half Men. Let's get into the details. This time I'm going to split it up and discuss the flash-sideways and the on-island stuff separately. Let's start with Uncle Sayid.

OFF ISLAND FLASHES:


SAYID'S YOUR UNCLE: Well, the big twist here was that Nadia married Sayid's brother, Omer. I guess the one who couldn't kill a chicken turned out to be a lady killer instead. Nadia and Sayid are clearly in love and Omer clearly has no redeeming qualities, so Sayid's nieces and nephews feel their only option is to go through Sayid's luggage and pull out his well-worn picture of Nadia in front of everyone. Awkward! (Here I have to pause a moment to make sure everyone out there learns the only word I've ever invented. Seriously, I'm pushing to make this an actual word. Here's the deal. When you're referring to brothers and sisters, you say "siblings." But when you're referring to nieces and nephews, you have to say "neices and nephews." Well, that's an oversight, my friends, that you no longer have to worry yourself about. Introducing the word "nieblings". Even now, my spell checker is trying to tell me that's not a word. But it is. At least it should be. Start saying it. You'll wonder how you ever lived without it.)


USE CAUTION WHEN WAKING SAYID: Omer wakes Sayid, and surprisingly it's not to tell him to stop hiding pictures of his wife in his luggage. Apparently, Omer's borrowed money from some bad people. He tries to convince Sayid to YET AGAIN use his torturing power for evil. Man, people are always trying to corrupt that "gift." (Is torturing REALLY a skill? I think I could probably figure it out without any formal training.) Sayid turns down this suggestion by saying he's "not that man anymore." At first, I assumed this was because he had found peace in this flash-sideways life. After all, Locke and Jack seemed to be on their way to finding peace. However, before the end of the flash-sideways we see him go back to his unforgiving, gun-shooting self. So, instead of being a new Sayid, is he really the same Sayid? This parallels what happens on-island when Sayid tries to tell Dogen he's really a "good man" but ends up turning evil. So, let me try out a theory on you, based on this. I think we're going to see that whoever sides with Smokey on the island is going to stay troubled in the flash-sideways reality, but those that side with Jacob on the island will have peaceful, happy endings in their flash-forward. What do you think?


"I DON'T DESERVE YOU" After Omer gets hospitalized by thugs, Sayid does what Nadia asks and goes to her house and babysits his nieblings. Nadia lets us know that she really loved Sayid all along but questions why he pushed Omer towards her instead. Perhaps in this reality Sayid is more concerned about the ethical ramifications of one dating someone they tortured in a war. He claims "I can't be with you, because I don't deserve you." If this scene really does take place AFTER the events we're seeing on island (as myself and many others have theorized), than maybe Sayid really CAN'T be with Nadia because on the island he chose to let the evil side of himself win by joining up with Smokey?


KEAMY THE CHEF: Ok, this is where it might get a little confusing. Sayid's brother's name is Omer. But the familiar looking thug who picks Sayid up outside of Nadia's house is named Omar. With an "a". This guy is the same Omar who came to the island to help Keamy do his evil deeds in Season 4. I spotted him right away but for some reason was still really surprised to see Keamy a few minutes later. (By the way, kind of awkward for Sayid to sleep at Nadia's house while Omer is in the hospital. I'm assuming that if he doesn't deserve her, though, than he sleeps on the couch.) So, Omer takes Sayid to a restaurant, which I'm pretty sure is the same restaurant where Naomi took Miles to speak to a dead body in the episode "Some Like it Hoth." I always assumed that restaurant was owned by Widmore. Is it the same here? Does that mean that Keamy, even in this timeline, works for Widmore? That would explain why Jin was also locked up here (great twist, by the way), because he was delivering something for Mr. Paik, and we've learned in the past that Paik and Widmore definitely know each other. Maybe Jin was stealing money from Mr. Paik and Widmore's guys are taking care of it? Anyway, Sayid shoots them all, but not before Keamy relishes in evil and fried eggs. That Keamy actor is either really good at playing an evil guy, or he should actually be arrested because he really is evil. Hard to tell. I do have to say that Sayid was kicking a lot of butt this episode, both as a good(ish) guy and a bad guy.

Ok, that's it for the flash-sideways, now on to the

ON-ISLAND STUFF:


SAYID SAMURAI SHOWDOWN: This was a cool scene but pretty much your typical Iraqi Republican Guard vs. a Samurai Baseball Fan in an Egyptian/Aztec Temple Fight Scene. It had all the elements you expect from such a staging: logs to the head, bonsai trees thrown in anger, a baseball falling to the ground with oddly-muted foley. Pretty exciting, though, nonetheless. But before all those shenanigans, we got more info from Dogen about Jacob and his nemesis, The Dude That Refuses to Be Mentioned By Name. Or, rather, we learn more about the nature of man. Apparently "for every man there is a scale: one side good, one side evil." Is the island a place where people go to get rid of the evil side that everyone has within them? They can follow Jacob and be delivered from it or follow Smokey and surrender themselves to its evil pull. One theory out there (vocalized often from Jack on the Jay and Jack Podcast) is that Jacob and Smokey are two sides of the same person. The ultimate and physical expression of the two sides – light and dark – within us all. I'm not sure I buy into this theory but it does seem possible, especially after this episode and Dogen's speech about the scales. It would explain, at the very least, why they haven't given us Smokey's name yet. What was up with Dogen's baseball falling to the floor? I'm assuming it was a reminder that he is not allowed to kill anyone, or maybe just doesn't want to kill anyone after accidentally taking his own son's life in an accident. Did Jacob push the ball off the table, causing the weird sound effects? Or did it just fall and the sound was just for dramatic purposes, showing its significance?


CLAIRE SENT BY "YOU KNOW WHO": Creepy Claire goes into the temple and tells them to send someone out to speak with Johnny No Name. Smokey really played this whole Temple invasion like a chess game, sending in a pawn (Claire) in exchange for a knight (Sayid), which he sent back in later to take out the King (Dogen) and the Queen (Lennon). (Here I should point out that I have no idea how to play chess. Just go with me and pretend that last example made sense.)


DOGEN'S DAGGER: Dogen selects Sayid to be the one to go out to meet Locke, and hands him a dagger with the instructions to kill Locke before he has a chance to speak. (Maybe Smokey's name is actually Saruman. What? Lord of the Rings reference? Yep. Cause it rules.) Dogen tells Sayid that Smokey has been trapped for years and wants to kill every living thing on the island. How many years has Smokey been trapped? And if he was trapped, how was he killing folks left and right, all over the island throughout the years Lost's been on? Confusing.


KATE FAIL: As Sayid leaves the temple, he spots Kate on the way out. Did you think he was going to stab her? I did. But I guess she's not someone he knew was dead. Still, it looked bad for Kate for a second there. And we're definitely in that show-ending zone where anyone could die. Speaking of Kate, she sure didn't try to look for Claire very hard. I didn't even see her peak behind a solitary leaf. She just filled her canteen at the barracks and walked directly back to the temple. Nice mission-questing, Kate. At least she's welcomed back with Miles' excellent zinger: "Sawyer sent you packing, huh?"


STAB FAIL: Sayid stops to drink some water and Smokey shows up. Here I feel it is important to note that Sayid failed. He paused on Smokey's arrival. There was a clear second there where he could have stabbed Locke without thinking. But instead Locke said "Hello, Sayid" and, as Dogen predicted, it was all over. Could Sayid have killed Locke if he didn't let him speak? Did the speaking activate something in Sayid? Or was it really just Dogen hoping that Smokey would dispose of his messy Sayid problem? Either way, it was too late and Smokey had the chance to start using his evil powers of persuasion to pull Sayid to the dark side. The last place we left this scene, Smokey was insinuating that he could bring Nadia back for Sayid. After we cut away, did Sayid fully give his soul over to "evil incarnate"? Because after this point, the Sayid we know and love sure seems to be fully gone. And I think Smokey gave him more complete instructions on what to do next. Specifically, take out Dogen.


SAYID THE MESSENGER: Sayid marches back into the Temple and proclaims loudly to everyone that because Jacob's gone, they're free. Cindy looks doubtful. But if they don't choose to follow Smokey, then they will be killed by midnight. I think Smokey was completely bluffing at this point. I don't think he was allowed in the temple. (Speaking of which, if he wasn't allowed in the temple, why was he allowed underneath it in This Place is Death?) Apparently, Dogen's life somehow protected the temple. I guess maybe because Jacob blessed him specifically to that effect when he approached him off island? Reluctantly, Cindy and the two kids nobody cares about decide to join many of the Others who leave the temple to put themselves under Smokey's "protection." Probably a bad move.


IT PUTS THE AARON INTO THE BASKET: Meanwhile inside the temple, Kate finds Claire at the bottom of the Silence of the Lambs Hole. She basically brags on and on about how great a mother she was. Claire seems legitimately surprised to hear that Kate took Aaron off-island, so I guess she believed Jin's cover-up at the end of last episode. But it seems Claire should realize at this point that, yes, Jin was lying to her, but so was Smokey. Smokey had been telling her for three years that the Others had Aaron when clearly they didn't. But, she didn't seem to mind when she saw Locke at the end of the episode so maybe that's just one of the perks of being crazy as a rabid squirrel.


SAYID RETURNS THE DAGGER: Sayid finds Dogen in the temple and surprisingly waits until his long depressing monologue about his estranged son is over before drowning him. Dogen's story was interesting, though. Am I understanding it right? It sounded to me like Dogen accidentally crashed his car after picking his son up drunk. Then, Jacob came to the hospital and offered to bring his son back from the dead in exchange for coming to the island to help him. I have to say, I don't think this is the same offer that Smokey made Sayid. I think Smokey is offering Sayid some kind of evil Pet Semetary option that involves selling your soul to bring a zombie monster replica of the person you love back into the world. I think what Jacob is offering is what we saw in the flash-sideways. Dogen had a son who was alive and well, playing the piano at David's recital. I think Jacob's plan is to somehow get all of these people back in the timeline they SHOULD be in, which is the one we're viewing in the flash-sideways. Jack's probably the one that's going to do that, somehow. Maybe that's the task he's got to complete for Jacob after he finishes crying off the side of a cliff. After Dogen's tale, things get shocking really fast as Sayid kills off both Dogen and Lennon in a sudden burst of violence. I was not SUPER sad to see these characters go. I was more sad to see Sayid go off the deep end. Though he did do it with gusto, so you gotta applaud that. We learn from Lennon that Dogen's death means Smokey can enter the temple. Sayid grins and says he already knew that. Does every actor on this show have a hideous evil grin they've been working on? Seems like it.


MILES IS NOT DEAD YET: The most stressful moment of the episode? Thinking that Miles was going to get killed by the Smoke Monster. I'm so glad he didn't. It turns out it was just the weirdest rescue squad ever. But I was glad to see them, even their spunky sidekick Ben. I like Ilana, but I feel sorry for her. On Lost, typically a character only gets one costume for the entire season, and hers sucks. It looks like she works at a pool hall:




BEN BACKS AWAY SLOWLY: Ben goes to find Sayid, but finds his old buddy grinning over some corpses and backs cowardly away. I get that Ben can be a coward, but what happened to the Ben from that episode The Shape of Things to Come that had ninja skills and a skull-thumping stick? Ben says "There's still time" and creepy smilin' Sayid says "Not for me." It looks to me like Ben did not catch up with everyone else, but he says to Sayid that he knows a way out, so I'm guessing he's going to follow close behind Ilana and the Others in their secret Scooby Doo path.


MASS TEMPLE EXODUS: So Frank, Miles, Ben, Ilana and Sun head out the back of the temple to safety. Meanwhile, Kate jumps in the Silence of the Lambs hole to avoid the smoke monster. For a second it looked like there was a person screaming in the smoke as it passed by. Was that a victim or a part of the smoke monster consciousness or something? Eventually the smoke monster passes and Claire and Sayid walk like drones across the battlefield back to the exit to meet up with Locke, giving him the evil 'sup nod. What was the creepy song that was playing during their exit? I'm pretty sure it was Claire's voice singing the same song she was singing at the bottom of the hole earlier in the episode, but I couldn't make it out either time. Was it the song she always sung to Aaron in past episodes? That would be my guess. Shockingly, Kate decides to follow Claire and Sayid out of the temple. I can only assume at this point she doesn't know Sayid is bad, and she's still hoping to "save" Claire. In fact, she doesn't really know that Locke is evil, does she? It will be interesting to see where that group goes next in order to get off the island. If that's really Locke's plan. One other thing I noticed: Sun is on Jacob's side and Jin is with Smokey. I'm guessing that he's an unwilling member of the Smokey team, kind of like Kate, so maybe they'll escape together and meet back with the others. Will Sawyer desert Smokey and go with them?

That's it for this week. Here's what I saw in the preview for next Tuesday's episode. (Caution, if you did not watch it there are some more spoilerish spoilers than usual):

Locke lifts his eyebrows. Kate looks shocked. Ben says to Jack (I think) "I can't believe you're just gonna stand by and watch this happen." Sayid looks mean. Ilana is at the beach near a funeral site holding a gun. Over a shot of Ben, the announcer says: "The man who brought death to so many people is going to face his own demise." Um, spoiler alert? Why don't they just start with: "We want you to watch next week's episode so bad, we're going to tell you how it ends." I hope it does not end that way. Ben needs to be around until the finale, for sure. Next, Ben digs some hole or a grave. Is Ben trying to bury all the Others that died in the Temple? Or is he finally giving the Dharma folks a proper burial? Interesting. Ben looks out of a grave he's digging and hears Smokey's ticka-ticka sound. Ben says: "Forgive me." Close up of Miles opening his eyes. The announcer says: "There are only ten more episodes until the incredible season finale." Smokey POV cam shot. Sawyer running. Ilana running. Hurly running. Sawyer looking. Jack looking. Ben, Sun, and Miles looking around at night with torches. Ben looks up from the ground, where he's apparently fallen down. He looks terrified.

Next week's episode is called "Mr. Linus."

Lost Episode 6.5: "Lighthouse"

This is going to be another slightly briefer post, as this time I had to pause mid-post to pick my mother-in-law up from the airport on a super-delayed flight. Apparently a millimeter of snow will cause that to happen here in Austin.

I think besides the first episode, this was my favorite episode this season. The flash-sideways was a little sappy, but on island we got lots of crazy new sci-fi elements, more island exploration, and, in Hurley's words, some "old-school" island quests. Also, as my wife noted, it really feels like the show is starting to come to an end with the information we're getting. And that's kinda sad. Anyway, lots of answers and of course a couple of more questions... let's take a look...


JACK'S APPENDIX: So we start in the flash-sideways with Jack in his apartment after his flight, and this time in the mirror he notices a scar from getting his appendix out. Remember in Season 4's episode "Something Nice Back Home" when Juliet operated on Jack in his tent on the beach? It looked like Jack was remembering that, too, for a moment, and even asks his mom about it and she says it happened as a child. He says "I guess I remember that." Which is kind of a weird thing to say if you're not having dual timeline fatigue. Curious.


JACK'S OFFSPRING: Next we meet yet another new character, with yet another biblical name: David. Jack's son. We quickly learn that even as a dad, Jack's got daddy issues. And we have another new mystery: Who is David's mom? Someone we know? Jack's old wife Sarah? His brief smooching affair partner Gabriela (the dying Italian dude's daughter?) Someone else we know? Surely not Bai Ling? It's probably someone we know who was NOT on the alternate Flight 815. Maybe Juliet? Ah, Lost. You promise us answers yet give us more questions. It's fine with me, though, the questions are more fun. Plus I need something for my poll. Anyway, David's a big fan of music (my guess is he was probably listening to the piece he was preparing to perform on his headphones) and oddly, he's reading Alice in Wonderland. Which is a reference to the episode "The White Rabbit", where Jack saw his father on the island for the first time. Of course, the book also features a looking glass, which comes up in the lighthouse scene later. And there's a rabbit statue on David's mom's doorstep.


MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE TEMPLE: Miles and Hurley entertain themselves the way that the Others do... by playing Tic Tac Toe. I guess the others don't have board games? Or horseshoe technology? Or anything else to do at all? No wonder a bunch of them left to go live in the barracks and host book clubs. The game ends in a another tie (foreshadowing the larger game of Smokey vs. Jacob? I hope not) and Hurley heads toward the kitchen when he sees Jacob, who's doing something with the fountain. Why is the dude that plays Jacob so awesome? He hardly says anything but he's super sanguine and all, "hey. how's it going." Maybe that's why the actor is up for a Saturn award this year for best guest-starring role. Either way, I'm really digging the Hurley/Jacob scenes. They're a lot of fun. Jacob tells Hurley "Someone's coming to the island." I'm assuming this is the "They're coming" people that he was referring to in the Season 5 finale? Who's coming? The number Jacob was going to have Hurley put in the lighthouse was 108, which is the sum of all the hatch numbers added together. Does that mean everyone's alternate timeline selves are coming to the island? That would be weird and a little annoying in a Parent Trap kinda way to have a bunch of doubles on the island. Is it Desmond and Penny that are coming? More of Widmore's people? Anyway, someone's coming and we have no idea who it is.


CLAIRE GETS ALL 'MISERY' ON JUSTIN: Ok, let's talk about all the Claire scenes. They were creepy. Apparently, when everyone left she started out hanging with Christian Shephard (who MUST be on Smokey's side) but then was captured by the Others and 'tested'. She escaped and then Smokey and Christian have convinced her to set up crazy traps, wander around, wear a wig of straw and be a loon. Meanwhile, she built a baby out of creepy pelts and skulls, which was beyond the call of duty, even for a crazy person. Christian was probably even freaked out a little by that. Claire stitches Jin up then puts the axe to Justin for telling the truth, which I think we all saw coming but was still hard to watch.


"I JUST LIED TO A SAMURAI" Hurley tries to follow Jacob's orders without involving Jack, so he starts wandering around a hallway scooby-doo style looking for the secret escape tunnel. This was a really funny scene, and also informative. Apparently the castaways have had tons of power all along, all they had to say was that they were a candidate. This whole candidate thing is fine, but it does feel a little late in the game to be introducing a new rule like that, especially one that's apparently the point of the whole show. If candidates are so sacred, why did Ethan and Goodwin sneak into the Losties ranks and start killing people willy-nilly in Seasons one and two? How could Ethan get away with the whole "I'm going to kill someone everyday until you bring me Claire" if Jacob values candidates so much? I guess Ben told the Others to kill people without having Jacob's blessing, and we've seen that Ethan, even as a child, was pretty willing to get the killing started. Were they just a couple of bad seeds in the bunch? But, beyond that why would the Others fear the Losties once they learned the smoke monster had killed some of them? At that point, wouldn't they realize the Losties were NOT on the side of smokey and were brought there by Jacob and needed protection? And why would Richard go along with Ben's mismanagement for so long if he knew that Ben wasn't even talking to Jacob? I have so many questions about the Others and why they have acted the way they did. Don't even get me started on the fake beards and old timey outfits. Because I thought they were just costumes, but apparently that's how they dress in the temple. It's all so confusing.


CHRISTIAN'S WILL: Really the only interesting thing about the scene where Jack visits his mom is that it sets up that the Shephards now know about Claire Littleton, Jack's half-sister, which I'm sure will come into play in a bigger way in upcoming flash-sideway stories. Also we learned through Jack's mother that they already had the funeral for Christian, without the body. And it's hinted at by Jack's mom that Jack might have been an alcoholic at one time when she congratulates him on not drinking anything. Maybe that's what caused Jack's divorce?

HURLEY AND JACK START THEIR TREK: I love how easy it is to get Jack to go with you on an adventure. You just have to say, "You have what it takes." He would probably respond well to greeting cards or motivational cat posters. With what we learn later, it's obvious he's really going because he wants to see and perhaps confront Jacob, because he's interested to know how Jacob could know intimate details of his life. Could he have guessed it's because he watches people from his magic lighthouse peeper machine? Probably not.

KATE MAKES AN APPEARANCE: And is going to go look for Claire. Could Claire kill Kate? Seems drastic, but I guess anything's possible. Hurley urges Jack to leave Kate behind, and Jack invites her anyway because for some reason all episode long he's being a total jerk to Hurley. She turns Jack down and says "I hope you find what you're looking for" which is the kind of motivational greeting card talk that really gets Jack going.


CAVE SWEET CAVE: Hurley and Jack spot an asthma inhaler and realize they're outside their old cave. Is it me or is the geography of this island totally out the window these days? When it's all over and done with I want a complete, accurate map of the island in a cool Tolkien-like poster illustration so I can nerd out over the island's proportions and see if these treks make any sense geographically or not. Anyway, I loved how they went back in the cave and reminisced about their old skeleton buddies Adam and Eve. (Side note: Would you have slept in a cave with two skeletons in it? I would have totally buried those things.) I'm not sure what to think about the writers going ahead and pointing out what fans have been predicting for years–that the skeletons are really two people we know, who have traveled back in time. Now that they said it out loud, it seems like they won't explain the skeletons that way. Or maybe they're just trying to set it up clearly so everyone gets it? I dunno. I love when Hurley's around because it's like the fans are in the show and able to ask the things that we're all thinking. Jack also reminisces about smashing up his dad's coffin "because he wasn't in it." This made me wonder briefly if Jack's dad faked his death somehow in both timelines, but in season one Jack actually went to the morgue in Australia and identified the body, so who knows. I would really like the Christian Shephard/Smokey connection explained, though.

WHY DID JACK COME BACK: Once again Jack is asked why he came back to the island, this time by Hurley. Seems like his answer changes every time. I guess it's to embarrassing to say "Kate" so he says "because I was broken, and I thought it could fix me." This is a another Christian-esque thought. People come to Jesus when they're broken and have no more faith left in themselves. We know Jack's at that stage because last episode he confessed that he didn't even trust himself, which is an important realization to make before you can really reach out to God for help. This episode's really piling on the spiritual metaphors. Especially in Jacob's last speech to Hurley outside the lighthouse, which we'll get to in a bit...


THE LIGHTHOUSE: This was a pretty cool setting, and a really bizarre turn of events. Hurley tries to set the dial to 108, and we see that the dial is made up, yet again, of names and numbers of people we know. I'm sure later this week as more screengrabs are posted we can go back and see who's listed. One big one to note: Austen, as in Kate Austen, is number 51. Check it out:


Does that have anything to do with Area 51? Probably not, but if it does even I might give up on this show. (Not really. I would totally be up for that). Anyway, she is a possible candidate, or at the very least Jacob's been spying on her with his adjustable lighthouse peepers. Probably they need a better name than that. Lighthouse Looking Glass? Whatever the mirrors are, they're broken now, because Jack's a baby and he couldn't think of any other possible use for the most awesome invention he's ever seen. Maybe he could have gotten on the web through the glass and booked a ticket home? Or did he think maybe the Kwans would have wanted to look at their daughter, to check up on her? He finds one fool proof way to connect to the outside world, and then, Locke-style–he totally smashes it. Good one, Jack. Here's another screengrab with more dial-names on it, for your perusal:




THE RETURN OF JACOB'S FRIENDLY, KNOWING HALF-SMILE: Jacob reappears and makes the above compassionate but slightly over it face and Hurley scolds him for not showing up on time. Yet again we see some parallels between having a relationship with Jacob and having a relationship with God. Hurley is mad because Jacob knows what is going to happen but insists on letting free will be involved for Jack, and doesn't take advantage of his omniscience to make things easier on everyone. And Jacob, like God, is clearly more interested in relationships and what happens to the people involved than in the quest itself. I really liked the whole "some people you can hop in a taxi and tell them what you need them to do, and other people need to stare into the ocean for a while." I do think the reason Jack smashed the glass is because he was embarrassed and angry that Jacob had been watching him and had seen the way his dad mistreated him. Jack feels like his dad is right about him, that he doesn't have what it takes. So when Jacob says the very words that Jack longs to hear, trying to affirm him, to Jack it seems like he is mocking him or looking down on him. Man, this show is really headed for longevity with all the layers they're creating that are open to interpretation. Jacob also confesses here that he wanted Jack and Hurley away from the temple because it was about to get ugly there, Smoke Monster style, which I'm assuming we'll see next episode. I'm concerned because Miles is there. I hope Smokey doesn't get him. Sayid, I'm sure, will be collected since he's already been marked. It's interesting to note that Miles' last name, Straum, was on the cave wall last episode and was scratched out. What does that mean? Is Miles already dead?


THE PIANO AUDITION: Man, these scenes were well written but it was REALLY hard to cut from Jack smashing the lighthouse glass and all the info we were getting on the island to the off island scenes of some kid playing the piano. I like these scenes, and I liked seeing Dogen in this setting, but it's really quite a pace change they're trying to balance in these episodes. It feels like they're starting and ending a show at the same time. If they pull this off all the way through to the end of the series and pay it off in a great way, they've really done an amazing thing. I did like the "Welcome all candidates" sign at the entrance of the auditions.


"THAT'S NOT JOHN, THAT'S MY FRIEND, WHOSE NAME I WILL NOT GIVE YOU AT THIS TIME." The cliffhanger on this one was pretty decent. Jin realizes that Claire has gone completely overboard, so he lies to her (in order to protect Kate?) and tells her the Others have Aaron. Just as Jin finishes his lie, in walks Locke. Claire says, "That's not John, that's my friend. You know, the one I conveniently don't name." It's important to note that Jin doesn't know that Locke is evil. Like Sawyer, he's probably heard from his buddies that came back on the Anjira flight that Locke is dead. I hope they doesn't go the route of having Jin on Smokey's side and Sun on Jacob's side, but for some reason I don't really see that happening.

Sorry all that was a little more rambling than usual. What did I miss? Did you guys notice anything else?

Next week's episode is entitled "Sundown". The preview for next week was purposely vague (and unnecessarily snarky) and only showed a few quick flashes of what we'll see next week. Never fear, I watched them in slow motion and will break it down for you: Locke walks away from the temple. Sayid looks up at the camera from inside the temple. Claire comes into the temple courtyard with her hands up. A baseball drops to the ground inside the temple. (Oh no! Dogen's baseball!!!) We pan briefly through the jungle in what looks like another Smokey POV cam. Then Dogen pins Sayid to the ground. My prediction would be a Sayid-focused flash-sideways, but I really have no idea. Guess we'll find out in a week.

Just for the heck of it, here's a picture of Claire's creepy button-skull-fur baby. Looks kinda like Crow T. Robot. Enjoy:

A few LOST thoughts before tonight's episode

Hey guys, here's a few random theories I've heard since my last post, and I wanted to get them up here before tonight's episode...


NOT JACOB'S CAVE? Several people have suggested to me that the cave Smokey showed Sawyer was not really Jacob's cave, and I'm starting to come around to that. I can see Smokey lying to Sawyer in order to get his allegiance. The isolation of the cave itself also makes it seem more like an outcast's cave, like Smokey would be. Especially compared to Jacob's posh accommodations in the four-toed statue (a place I've heard referred to on podcasts as "Club Foot". Ha.) It also seems more like Smokey to scrawl in creepy handwriting all over the ceiling of the cave. Perhaps he's scratching people's names off the list as he kills them? And in that line of thinking, the name Burke (Juliet's last name) was also scratched out on the wall. And Jacob died before Juliet did, so he couldn't have scratched her name out. Also, the cave seems to go deep underground, and we know that that Smokey has been summoned through the ground by pulling a plug out of the puddle toilet under the Dharma barracks. Maybe this cave is Smokey's attempt to keep up with all the people Jacob is bringing to the island. Even the scales at the entrance could suggest the Smoke Monster, since we know people go to the smoke monster in order to be judged. Stuff to think about.


IS LOCKE STILL IN THERE? One theory I've heard that I really think makes a lot of sense: there's still some of Locke's spirit inside of Smokey, and he will start coming through more and more, eventually saving the day. We heard Smokey yell out Locke's catch phrase last episode ("Don't tell me what I can't do!"), is he going to start to take on more of Locke's characteristics? And if so, will we begin to see an internal struggle for Smokey as Locke starts thwarting his plans from the inside? It would be a great way to redeem Locke's story (especially now that he's dead and buried) and it would also seem like a good way to bring peace to the island. If the island constantly has a struggle between light and dark, but now a candidate for Jacob is in the same body as the Man in Black, maybe they will cancel each other out, or Locke will regain control completely and bring safety to the island as the first smoke monster/island guardian combo?


FLASH-SIDEWAYS TALK: There's definitely something suspicious about these flash-sideways. A couple options: This is what will happen after the end of the events in Season 6 on the island. We're basically seeing the happy ending for all our Losties now, and the timelines will somehow link up toward the finale of the season. OR, what if the flash-sideways are what happened the FIRST time? What if they're flash backs to the first flight 815, and at some point they will be reset and everyone will get on the Flight 815 that we all know about? Who knows. But I don't think they're throwaway stories with no real importance. Something's going on. Also, if you look at the above picture embiggened, you will see a photo pinned in Locke's cube of his dad Anthony Cooper wearing a beret.

Tonight's episode, "Lighthouse," is apparently Jack-focused.

LOST episode 6.4: "The Substitute" more thoughts

Ok, after a full night's sleep (kinda) I'm ready to write some more about last night's important episode.

Let's start at the beginning:


LOCKE'S WHEELCHAIR TROUBLES: Is there anything more depressing than Locke repeatedly falling out of his wheelchair? Maybe Rose's cancer. Locke finds himself face down in the grass while the sprinklers come on, and who should run out to rescue him but Peg Bundy, I mean Helen. And we quickly learn that in this timeline, they're planning a wedding–one which they plan to invite Locke's dad to. Weird. I still maintain these Flash Sideways are a glimpse at what would have happened if the island was never involved in these people's lives, so maybe the evil dad Anthony Cooper wasn't even Locke's real dad, but someone hired by Smokey to play the part in order to get Locke to the island? Or in this timeline is Anthony Cooper just a real nice guy? And if that's the case, how did Locke get in a wheelchair? Also, we know in the other time line that Helen died in 2006 of a brain aneurysm. Is that still her fate in this timeline?


SMOKEY CAM: Man, the sound effects in the Smokey Cam were pretty crazy. Also cool was seeing the reflection of the monster in Sawyer's window. And what was up with that knife he picked up? Was that a knife we've seen before? Maybe his smoke hands just can't carry knives around with him so he had to set it down for a bit while he zoomed around the island, but it would be cool if it turns out to be a knife we've seen before.

LOCKE GETS FIRED, HURLEY IS NICE: I wish Hurley was my boss. Also, Hurley's tremendous luck apparently kicked in again when Locke's wheelchair ramp jammed right before scratching Hurley's hummer.


RICHARD IN A BAG: Smokey uses the knife to chop Richard out of a tree. Poor Richard. Smokey tells Richard he wants him to "come with him" and that he used Locke's body to get close to Jacob because Locke was a candidate. Surprisingly, Richard doesn't know what a candidate is. Locke tries to make Richard feel used by Jacob by saying he would never have kept Richard in the dark. This, again, is the same approach the serpent took in the Garden of Eden, promising us the same knowledge that God has, so we can be like God, and not a "slave" to Him. Even though it will obviously result in a machete to the throat Richard responds, "I'm not going anywhere with you", and is, yet again, awesome. Smokey is clearly going to kill Richard when the blond boy with bloody arms shows up. More on him in a minute.


ILANA AND BEN GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER: Ilana is crying and Ben walks into the statue to see her. She asks what happened to her friends, Ben says she wouldn't believe him, and Ilana says, somewhat cheesily: "Try me." My wife and I groaned at that line. Just kinda cliché, and also maybe because she delivered it like she was in a Revlon commercial. Ben lies and says that Locke killed Jacob, then threw him in the fire, and Ilana collects his ashes. I'm assuming these are the same kind of ashes they were using before to protect themselves from Smokey? Some kind of time loop thing? Ben asks why Locke took Richard into the jungle and Ilana says, "he's recruiting". Is this the beginning of the "war" that's been said to be coming since season 3?


SAWYER LIKES IGGY POP: And drinking in his underwear. I don't want Sawyer to go bad again, but I guess that's where the death of Juliet and his involvement with Smokey is taking him. I liked how unimpressed Sawyer was with Locke's ability to come back from the dead. Sawyer instantly knows that Locke is not Locke, because he's not scared like Locke was. Smokey says he can answer why Sawyer is "on this island". Which is, of course, because Jacob brought him there.

ILANA KNOWS ABOUT JIN: Ilana tells Sun that Jin is probably in the temple. I'm assuming Ilana knows all about everyone brought to the island because of Jacob's list. Clearly she knows more than Richard, because she also knew about the whole "candidate" thing when she suggested to Bram that Frank might be one. I'm interested in getting her back story just because we would learn more about Jacob that way, I'm guessing.


THE BLOND KID: Locke and Sawyer are walking through the jungle when they come across the mysterious blonde kid, who's apparently had time to dress his wounds. Sawyer can see him, too, unlike Richard. Maybe because Sawyer's a candidate? The kid seems to have the upper hand on Smokey, and I'm not sure why Smokey doesn't chase after him as the smoke monster. The boy says: "You know the rules. You can't kill him." Fake Locke latches onto one of real Locke's catch phrases by yelling "Don't tell me what I can't do!" If that kid is not Jacob reborn, then I'll be surprised, because he looked and acted just like Jacob.

RICHARD POPS OUT OF THE WOODS: And tells Sawyer that he doesn't know what he's dealing with: that Smokey won't tell him anything and that he's going to kill Sawyer and everyone Sawyer cares about. Yikes. Apparently this talk does convince Sawyer somewhat, because in the next scene he pulls a gun on Smokey and asks him "what are you?" He answers that he is "trapped". And says before that, he was a man just like Sawyer, and that he's felt joy, pain, anger, fear, betrayal, and what it feels like to lose someone you love. And then he says "You're so close, James. It would be such a shame to turn back now". Seems like Smokey keeps playing on everyone's sense of destiny or desire to know what's going on, with the real goal of supporting his own needs. I'm assuming Smokey getting off the island would be the worst thing imaginable, and that it would cause lots of damage to the outside world? This would explain what's at stake in this show, at least a little bit.


"HE'S STUCK THIS WAY" Ben and Ilana carry Locke's body across the beach and Ben asks if Smokey can still take other forms, and Ilana replies that he's now "Stuck this way". Weird that she knows that, and also possibly untrue, because we saw Smokey in the form of Ben's daughter Alex last season. He was in Locke then, yet still appeared as Alex. Unless Jacob dying stuck him into this form? It's really unclear, but more and more it sounds like some kind of cosmic board game is taking place and we currently don't have a copy of the rules that Ilana has access to. Then they reach what I assume is the burial ground that our Losties were using all along, with Mr. Eko's frame of a church standing in the background. I'm surprised they were able to trek all the way from the statue to the survivor's camp so quickly, I was under the impression they were far away from each other. Ben delivers Locke's eulogy, claiming Locke was a "believer" and that he was "sorry that he murdered him". Juxtaposed with this tribute to "believer" Locke is Flash-Sideways Locke's discussion with Helen where he claims he does NOT believe in miracles, but she disagrees and says
she's just been waiting for him to come around and then rips up Jack Shepard's business card.


THE CAVE: This season we're seeing a lot of new parts of the island and doing a lot more exploring than we've done in the last few seasons, and I'm pretty happy about that because the exploration parts of Season 1 and 2 were among my favorite moments of Lost. I was really sad to see that angle go when the story line shifted to the Oceanic Six's departure and return. So here we have an entirely new setting: Jacob's cave. Upon entering, Locke tosses a white stone into the ocean as an "inside joke". I guess even though they didn't have Steinbeck in whatever time this dude is from, they still had inside jokes. (Side note: since Smokey retained Locke's memories, wouldn't he have known about Steinbeck that way?) And here's where we get to the interesting part... the writing on the cave walls. Here's everyone's assigned numbers, thanks to Lost Easter Eggs.


As predicted, there were a bunch of other interesting names on the wall, too, although I will say that the set designer did a GREAT job of writing names that were unreadable. Either that or Jacob has poor penmanship. Click here to read a comprehensive list of names written on Jacob's cave. A few to note: Littleton is written there (which is probably Claire) and, interestingly, her name was scratched out. I'm assuming because she's technically dead. Also, I saw that Goodspeed was written down (as in Dharma's Horace Goodspeed), and I guess that's confirmation that Jacob even had a hand in bringing Dharma to the island, which I wasn't sure about before.

FLASH SIDEWAYS BEN LINUS: teaches European History. I would have guessed science, but I could see history. My guess is that Ben and Locke will become friends, and then Ben's cancer will kick in and Locke will recommend Jack Shephard for the surgery. And Jack will remove Ben's cancer yet again.

LOCKE'S THREE CHOICES: Smokey offers Sawyer three options: 1) Do nothing, and eventually get your name scratched from the wall when you die. 2.) Become Jacob's replacement and protect the island. "From what?" "From nothing, that's the big joke. It's just a damn island." (I think there's a little more to the island than that, obviously. I mean, there's a crazy wheel of time, at the very least.) And choice number 3.) We just go, get off this island, and never look back. Together. Sawyer chooses option 3 and I'm afraid that means it won't go very well with him in the long run. Even though he's probably the best hero on the show.

Next week's episode is called "Lighthouse". Here's what was in the preview: Locke looks at the camera. Scary Claire looks over her shoulder. Jack sits on a cliff, looking out at the ocean. A voice says, "Someone's coming to the island." Maybe Lennon or Ben? The voice was hard to recognize. Jack looks at his reflection in a puddle or a fountain. Jacob looks up at someone and smiles. Scary Claire walks through the jungle. Jin wakes up and looks startled. Jack yells "What does he want from me?", then there's another flash of Jacob's face, then Jack smashes what looks like a Lighthouse beacon with an ax. Weird. I guess there's a real lighthouse somewhere. And who's coming to the island? Anyway, next Hurley looks at the camera. Kate pulls a gun. And Locke smiles.