i could watch this show for hours.

i am waiting for miles to tell someone what he is seeing, i wonder if its just freaking him out?

i loved it when hurley asked sayid if he was a zombie! LOL

GREAT recap again boys

xo

Being French, Rousseau always looked stylish & put together. She was island chic in a way Claire just can't pull off. Rousseau would never walk around with her face smeared with dirt.

I'm just glad Claire is back since that question has been hanging for 2 years.

Nice catch about the Dogen/Sun parallel

The way they edited the preview almost suggest Sun and Jin might re-unite. That will be a tearjerker of a moment when that happens.

FRank

I think Claire and now Sayid are "infected" by the smokey/the monster/the man in black.

The first explanation we got of the disease that supposedly afflicted Rousseau's teammates (and not Rousseau herself, mind you) was when she captured Sayid. While he was tied up, she explained to him that she'd had to kill them all. We still don't, so far as I understand, have the whole picture on that. We know that she thought she had to kill them all, based on that flashback in time when she shot her own boyfriend (husband?) and father of her child.

Now Dogen (Mahayana Buddhist philosopher? I'll believe it when I see it) is making similar claims about Sayid and Claire. And the cure is....poison? We have to destroy the afflicted to save them? Yeah. Umm....I don't blame Jack at all for taking that pill. Jack-with-nothing-to-lose may become my favorite character in the show, actually.

Great thoughts, but where do you come up with the conclusion that Claire in infected? I must have missed that. It seems like she would be after all this time, but maybe not?

The only thought that came to mind about the poison pill was that Japanese guy can't kill Sayid, in the same way that Ben can't kill Widmore, or Jacob's nemesis couldn't kill him.

We still don't know what these rules are that govern the island.

I've given up figuring out exactly what's going on and am just going for the ride.

I have some hunches, but I prefer to be surprised.

Also, glad they reminded us about Jack's sister. I had completely forgotten about that. If I weren't so busy I'd go back and watch previous seasons of lost to catch up on all the little details.

Wait, the sister they are referring to is Claire? Didn't Jack have another sister that something mysterious happen to, or was that another character. I must have made that up in my head.

And so, we got probably the last Kate-centric episode

I hope so, because "What Kate Does" is annoy me.

You are fooling yourselves if you think this the last Kate-centric episode we will be subjected to.

What was up with the weird close-up on Claire's eyes at the end? Were they just being dramatic or was something off/different about her eyes?

I just love that you guys can write about not only fashion, but Lost too.

Anyway, the Ethan being in the alternate timeline I think is pretty important. That has to mean that other others are around and not on the island. I didn't think about Ben, but he's probably off too.

Rousseau said that her team mates were infected after going into the temple. And when Ben went into the temple he turned into an "other". Maybe when some people go into the temple smokey "claims" them. I think they are now lining up and taking sides kind of like The Stand. There are lots of Stephen King references throughout the show, so I think this one may be apt too. From the preview it looks like FLocke wants to turn Sawyer from a Jacob guy to a FLocke/MIB/Smokey guy.
Alice

Claire's wig in B timeline - hate!
Claire as the new Rousseau - love!
Ethan as Claire's doctor - love!
Hurley asking Sayid if he was a zombie - love!
A Kate-centric storyline - hate!

Since the explosion worked (says the dead Juliette in this season episode 1), I'm assuming that those we saw on the island (who would have come to the island after the 1974 explosion) would have never made it. I'm expecting to see Juliete on a mainland flashback... but not ben since he was on the island at the time of the explosion.

Part of the problem with LOST is that there are so many twists we don't know whether to believe someone when they actual try to give us an answer. For that reason there are no more aha moments like there were in seasons 1 and 2.

We are just getting more questions with no real satisfaction of progress... something which is critical for this season... I'm disappointed so far. They need to start coughing up answers soon.

I have no insights, just more questions. The curse of this show:

* In the B timeline, where the hell are Walt and Michael? Mr. Echo? Shannon? The lady Hurley falls in love with? The lady cop? Are they going to come back?
* Why is Artz, a seemingly off off Broadway character who was only pivotal in one episode where he got blown up, back in a big way?
* Why did Desmond appear and then disappear in the first episode? Where has he gone?


HOW IN THE WORLD ARE THEY GOING TO TIE THIS ALL UP IN JUST A FEW SHORT MONTHS?

"No. I am not a zombie" may be my favorite Sayid line ever.

Anonymous 11:23, we assume Claire is infected b/c Dogan says "it happened to your sister." I had totally forgotten that Claire was Jack's sister. Just like I'd forgotten Kate, et al were on the Al Jira flight...I swear I need a timeline. I know there was one out there...

Thanks for the observations on destiny, guys. I hadn't really thought of it but yeah. Claire as the new Rousseau.

I found it interesting that Ethan referred to himself as "Ethan Goodspeed" instead of "Ethan Rom"

Ladydeedancer: In last week's episode they said Shannonn stayed in Australia

Walt will not make an appearnce because the actor has grown too much. Cant use him. Michael and Libby will be returning as reported by the media.

Frank

Yeah, anonymous 11:46, I noticed that too. I mean there was originally a GoodMAN on the island but I knew that this name didn't sound right. And being such an unusual name, it must be important.

Claire will always scream "Moy bye-bye!" As in, "They're troying to tyke moy bye-bye!"

Whahahaha that is so true.

I want to slap her when she says this.

"where do you come up with the conclusion that Claire in infected? I must have missed that."
The guy at the temple tells Jack that Sayid is infected just like his sister...Clair and Jack have the same father.

"Being French, Rousseau always looked stylish & put together. She was island chic in a way Claire just can't pull off. Rousseau would never walk around with her face smeared with dirt."
I don't think any comment will top this one :)

Love the Claire/Rousseau twist! Your reviews are very insightful, love reading them.

I was wondering if maybe Smokey had lived in Christian Shephard's body before Locke's became available? Didn't we see Christian and Claire last season together?

It has the hint of lining up the characters on opposite 'sides'. Again!

Have no clue other than what you pointed out except that Juliet was right, their setting the bomb off rest things, sort of. I think it splintered things so we get this through the looking glass reality. Other than that, I have no clue and I've watched twice already.

Ethan's parents were Horace & Amy Goodspeed, in Timeline B he was evacuated with his mother before the bomb went off. In Timeline A he joined the others after the purge & changed his name to Ethan Rom (which was an anagram for "other man". Ben was still with the others at the time of the incident or bomb, so he would not have been evacuated with the women & children...so he would not appear on the mainland in Timeline B. How this clears up some confusion.

"lsaspacey said...

Yeah, anonymous 11:46, I noticed that too. I mean there was originally a GoodMAN on the island but I knew that this name didn't sound right. And being such an unusual name, it must be important."

Horace Goodspeed was Ethan's father. "Rom" was the surname given to him by the Others after he became one of them, which obviously never happened in the B timeline.

I think that your statement Ethan assumes too much. Who said that the bomb sunk the island? We do not know what happened that caused the island to sink to the bottom of the ocean. We only know that it happened after Dharmaville was built.

Excellent title for an episode, as What Kate Does is follow people who have told her not to, messing things up as a result, not leave anyone alone to grieve, make everything about her, and whore around. Her 'we'll figure that out together' line made it clear she was once again after Sawyer.
I spent the entire episode swearing at Kate, or hysterically, completely silently, sobbing at Sayid (while my husband silently rolled his eyes. He's just jealous. I told him last week that if Sayid dies, I can never have sex again).

Here's what I found on "Dogen", the name of the dude who runs the temple: "After training for nine years under the Rinzai teacher Myozen, Dogen Zenji made the difficult journey to China, where he studied with and became the Dharma successor (14th Patriarch in lineage to Dong Shan Liang Chieh (Tozan)); 24th in lineage in Transmission of the Light to Master Tendo Nyojo (Ju-Ching, 13th Patriarch) in the Soto Zen lineage. Considered the founder of the Japanese Soto School, Dogen Zenji established Eiheiji, the principal Soto training monastery, and is best known for his collection of Dharma essays, Shobogenzo." Aaaahhhhgggg!

This show freaks me out. My daughter says I have a "Lost" sigh, and that's when she can tell I'm confused/freaked out/etc. :)

warmheartedgirl in Seattle

Nina said...

I think that your statement Ethan assumes too much. Who said that the bomb sunk the island? We do not know what happened that caused the island to sink to the bottom of the ocean. We only know that it happened after Dharmaville was built.
While it's true that one should make assumption with caution when it comes to this show, everything points to that conclusion. If Ethan is alive and exists in the B timeline, that means the island sunk at some point AFTER his birth. The "incident" occurred within a couple of weeks of his birth. It's possible that some other event after the "incident" caused the island to sink, but that strikes as a bit unlikely.

The main questions that pop into my mind when I watch this show are:
How many secretive fuckers are on that island anyway?
Why are the so illogical?
How can they be suprised and any magical event that happens after all they have seen?
I'm going to watch it to the end. But I do not expect all the mysteries to be answered in a satisfacory manner. Too many story lines seem driven by who is under contract and who out grew the role.

Ug...everything about the Clair B timeline was annoying. Who would get back into a car with some crazed stranger that just pulled a gun to their head? The hospital scene was a groaner. At 36 weeks she'd be screaming "Get this think outta me"

If the Walt character is dropped simply because he's too big, that's pretty weak, especially since the present day is "real time" now, right?
His storyline was way more interesting than Jack's or Kate's.
I'm still confused about where Whidmore is in all this and Farraday's mother. And Penny. And Desmond. And baby Charlie.

aim said...

Ug...everything about the Clair B timeline was annoying. Who would get back into a car with some crazed stranger that just pulled a gun to their head?

Someone who's retaining echoes of another life, where she trusted that stranger with the life of her baby.

SUS said...

If the Walt character is dropped simply because he's too big, that's pretty weak, especially since the present day is "real time" now, right?

No, the A timeline is 2007 and the B timeline is 2004.

Anonymous at 12:31 said: No, the A timeline is 2007 and the B timeline is 2004.

What?

The timeline where the plane crashed is the A timeline. The current events (Jack, Sayid, Hurley, and Miles at the temple; Kate and Sawyer at Dharmaville, and Jin finding Claire in the Jungle) are all taking place in 2007.

The timeline where the plane didn't crash, the B timeline, is the one where Kate is on the run and takes Claire to the hospital. Those events are occuring in 2004.

Since the backstories seem to be the same but then again not in the new timeline, did anyone believe Kate when she intimated to Claire that she was innocent? I am on the fence, but the possibility is intriguing. It sure does allow for a much brighter future for Kate in the alt, and then when you couple it with Ethan popping up, you have to wonder how far back do the differences go? I think at some point the Claire connection is going to lead to a Jack/Kate reconnection in the alt timeline, too. And the Jacob/MIB dialogue you highlighted is going to be key to the ending and how the new timeline and old timeline are resolved. I just have a feeling.

dharmabum said...

Since the backstories seem to be the same but then again not in the new timeline, did anyone believe Kate when she intimated to Claire that she was innocent?

Over the summer, there were teaser videos released. One was an episode of America's Most Wanted regarding Kate Austen.

SPOILERS BELOW:









Kate is accused of a crime that is not the same crime she was accused of in the A timeline. In other words, in the B timeline, Kate's not on the run for killing her stepfather.

TLo said...
"Claire's tatty-ass wig in the B timeline."
***********************************

LOL. Why do they keep putting this woman in crazy, giant-cranium wigs?

I wasn't loving last night's episode, mostly because I've never loved Kate. Over the years she's put in a few touching performances, but EL seems to have limited acting abilities and can't do humor the way so many of the other characters can (i.e., Ben, Hugo, Miles, etc.).

Nice catch about the looking glass references and elements.

I'm relieved that Claire's back and absolutely thrilled they've decided to pull her into the Roussea storyline and legacy.

Thanks for re-capping Lost, TLo. I've given up sorting through and analyzing the plots, sub-plots and sub-sub-plots. Essentially, I'm all in 'til the end, but mostly just enjoying the ride.


edina

so maybe I'm the last one to make this connection, but here I go. The ash is used as a force field against the smoke monster. The smoke monster, as discovered in the last episode, is Mr. Nemesis himself. Mr. Nemesis can take the form of dead people as well as "infect" alive people. So, since Mr. Nemesis was looking for a loophole to kill Jacob, think about this: Dead Christopher Shepard is also Mr. Nemesis. He was in the cabin because the ash border was broken (can't remember which episode). He helped Locke go off the island knowing that he would die which was his ticket to using his likeness. Then he told Ben via Dead Alex that Ben had to do whatever Locke told him to.

Crazy dude has been pullin' the strings for a long time.

I have a question:

Wasn't there a character that had a sister with a rare illness that they couldn't find a cure for? I thought for certain that was Jack's sister.

Or am I making this up? Because when Dogen talked about Jack's sister, that's immediately who came to mind, not Claire.

For all I know, how does Dogen even know anything about Claire since she's reclusive Rousseau part 2?

Anonymous said...

I have a question:

Wasn't there a character that had a sister with a rare illness that they couldn't find a cure for? I thought for certain that was Jack's sister.

Are you thinking of Juliet's sister, who had cancer?

Yeah, how did Dogen even know Jack has a sister? That's my question.

The ashes have me puzzled too and I'm wondering if I've missed something. What are the ashes made from? As far as I know, we haven't been told yet, but there seems to be a fairly big supply.

Did the MIB/Smokie say something in that conversation with Jacob on the beach about bringing people to the island? I thought he did but I'm not sure I'm remembering correctly. If he did, then it seems that Jacob is the agent of Fate that tied these people together. Why did he chose them in particular and does he still touch their lives in the split universe?

re-watching cause I'm tired of continuous snow coverage.

Claire's sonogram is dated 10-22-04, the original plane crash was 09-22-04. This seems like this should be significant, but I can't seem to put 2 and 2 together.

help?

>>Wasn't there a character that had a sister with a rare illness that they couldn't find a cure for? I thought for certain that was Jack's sister.<<

Perhaps you're thinking of Faraday's girlfriend? Her sister met him at the door (lord I could be so off. I need to rewatch or something) and the girlfriend was bed bound?

Speaking of the temple's lack of technology, when I saw Sayid on the torture table, all I could think about was the torture of Wesley from The Princess Bride! The temple does have a distinct "pit of despair" feel to it.

Women with incurable diseases: Juliet's sister needed Juliet's help to have her child, I think she may have had cancer but I'm not sure -- she definitely had something bad. There's also Rose, who also had an incurable fatal diagnosis of some sort before she went to the island.

Claire is Jack's half-sister and perfectly healthy.

Didn't the two Others (including Mac from It's Always Sunny! Good to see you, Mac!) say that Rousseau has been dead for years? So she actually has been "infected" and "died" and now that her physical body is also dead, Claire has taken her place? Is that it?

Or am I completely making this up, since no one else here is saying anything about it?

Rousseau HAS been dead for years. Three years, to be exact. The freighter people killed her in late 2004. It's now 2007 on the A timeline.

So one thing that I keep thinking is going to be really important, but that I haven't seen mentioned is the psychic in the first season that told Claire that her son had to be raised by its mother (or unnamed dire consequences would result)... he's the one who bought her the ticket for the plane that would crash on the island--a place where Aaron would have to be raised by his mother. When Claire disappears in the A timeline, she leaves Aaron to be raised by Kate--not, obviously, his real mother. Am I misremembering this?

Also, yes, "dude, are you a zombie?" might have been the best moment of the episode.

"They're troying to tyke moy bye-bye!"

-------------------------
LMAO! Thank you for that.

I have nothing whatsoever to base this on—but, could the ashes be cremation ashes??

Someone or thing burning up those who have died on the island, even those who were buried, and maybe later dug up?

Jacob is in Sayids body. It's the only way he could come back is in a dead body. He used Hugo to take sayids body there just like his buddy used John Lockes to come back. I think we are going to find out that they were all born on the island or conceived on the island.

I was really confused about this too but the smoke monster is not in John Locke's corpse. It has taken the form of Locke. In the last episode the fake Locke walked past the corpse of Locke carrying Richard.

There is speculation that the smoke monster can only take the form of dead people. But there were some apparitions that were not dead like Walt or not people like Kate's horse.

That's an interesting thought about the ashes. Somehow it feels right, like a very Lost kind of thing. I'm not sure what that date thing MyFawny noticed is about but that was a good catch.

I'm too lazy to read the other comments so I don't know if this has been mentioned, but, Ben would not be in timeline B because Sayid killed him.

Why did the smoke monster cross the road?

To get to the other Sayid

Anonymous 8:17 PM:
Brava!

Great recap, again. I'd really like it if you got into Dexter and The Wire. Then we could be twins. Triplets.

Ethan was killed by Charlie shortly after 815 crashed (2004 island time) so he is no longer alive/on the island in the A timeline.

The fact that the plane didn't crash affected in the B timeline affected where Ethan grew up--it looks as though 815 not crashing meant that he left the island at some point and is a doctor off island.

I don't think the pill has to be taken willingly as much as it has to be given by a non-Other.

There have been repeated instances through the show when various "native" islanders have used the survivors to harm one another. With the exception of Ethan hanging Charlie (and he didn't actually die) most of the violence has been self inflicted. Michael on Libby, John Locke on his father (actually James on John's father), Ana Lucia on Shannon. I'm starting to think that the Others at the Temple are followers of Jacob while the Others of the jungle were not. Perhaps more freelance. The stewardess and the children being safe in the temple indicate that this group cannot directly kill the survivors, despite Aldo's wish to do so before Claire came to Jin's rescue.

Very interested to see how this all plays out. Most my friends think it was a lame episode but I keep finding more questions in it.

First of all, I have to agree with everyone about how glad I am that you review this show. I read several summaries and your's is always the most insightful.

My question is why would Jacob send Sayid to the temple and tell the Others he must be saved if they were just going to kill him? Wouldn't that be countermanding Jacob? I hope my Sayid isn't a bad guy. Keep up the good work!

Honestly, I enjoyed your recap much more than the actual show. It’s getting ridiculous how many times we’re introduced to Others (Others/Hostiles, Temple Others aka Other Others). And how many times can a Lostie get thisclose to being whacked, which is just at the moment the failed murderer gets shot/killed/mauled/etc.? Ugh.

And some of this shit just doesn’t make sense and I’m not about to give them a pass because they try to confuse everyone with two timelines or mythical beings.

For example:

“In other news, the mystery of just what the hell is going on with Sayid deepens. So maybe we were wrong last week. He's not Jacob in Sayid's body. He's apparently "infected" in much the same way Rousseau's team was. Rousseau's ghost hung heavy over everything last night, but we'll get to that in a bit.”

OK, if Sayid is now infected by MIB/Smoke Monster sickness, then why the F did Jacob tell Hurley to bring him to the Temple to save him? Didn’t omniscient Jacob know how he was wounded and how it might have caused an infection? Didn’t he know that the water was polluted? Didn’t he know he was allowing an infected zombie into the sacred Temple? He’s either a cold-hearted bastard or worse…an inept god.

“*If Ethan is alive in the B timeline, that must mean he was taken off the island before the bomb went off. Pierre Chang ordered all the women and children off the island. Does this mean his mother's wandering around somewhere? Is there a Ben in the B timeline? Discuss.”

Another batshit crazy loophole that I feel Jughead has entitled the writers to make up as they go along, thinking, “Oooh, this will get the audience chattering.” Seriously, anything that doesn’t make sense in 2004 timeline can be explained away with a stupid, “Well, Jughead changes some things but not others, and we get to say what changed and what didn’t. You audience get to guess if we’re just mildly crazy or completely off the reservation. Either way, we call it art.” Whatever.

Also,

“The point is, it is apparently destiny that there will always be a crazed, rifle-toting woman wandering the jungle after having lost her child. With Rousseau gone, it became Claire's turn to set the traps and stop using hair products.”

The parallel is there but forced. The Others actually came and snatched Roussea’s baby. Claire on the other hand willingly gave up her baby to hang out in a cabin with Christian. Oh, I know. They’re going to now rewrite the scene as Claire being claimed by the evil Smoke Monster. Bulllshit.

Anyway, you guys pointed out some fun things to think about (recurring destinies, Looking Glass) and of course I’ll watch until the bitter end. But I still call stink. :p

Jacob is in Sayids body. It's the only way he could come back is in a dead body. He used Hugo to take sayids body there just like his buddy used John Lockes to come back.

Except of course the MIB didn't inhabit Locke's body. Locke's body is laying in a coffin on the beach. He impersonated Locke, like he, say, impersonated Eko's brother Yemi. I'm not sure where the idea that the MIB inhabits bodies came from, but I've seen it quite a bit.

I'm still perplexed by the business with the pill. If they wanted to kill Sayid, there are more efficient ways to get that done. Why did they try to trick Jack into cohercing Sayid to off himself? That was was messed up.

Here's the conversation between Jacob and the MIB.

Conversation on YouTube.

I'm with you on the complaints, people. Lost is never going to clear it all up and I think some old plots were dropped so it's not safe to make too much out of anything from the first two seasons. Still, I'm hooked and pathetically will take whatever answers we get out of the d@mn b@st@rds. :D

You made a lot of great points about Kate in this post -- namely that she's best when we're not focused on her and one of her paramours, but instead on Kate and herself, which is where I think her ultimate loyalty lies. But you were a little kinder in regards to her motivations last night than I would be.

I don't think Kate was just "out to help a grieving friend". And I also don't think her tears were just about feeling bad for Sawyer. I think Kate was crying for herself as well. She's always thought Jack or Sawyer was hers for the taking, and this was a big revelation to her: that whatever there's been between them in the past, the depth of what Sawyer had felt for Juliet blew that out of the water.

OMG the idea of a Ben in the B-timeline hadn't even hit me yet. OMGOMGOMG now I can't wait for it to happen! I'm betting he'll be all happy and well-adjusted.

I also love that Alternate Reality Ethan is still trying to take Claire's baby.

"* Claire's tatty-ass wig in the B timeline. Discuss." That my friends has MADE my week LOL!

And when I saw Ethan in the LA X timeline I peed a little ( sorry for the TMI), other than the epic story telling that was the highlight of this episode!

I have to say that this show is pissing me off more than interesting me at this point.

The whole Walt thing is pretty terrible and almost says that the makers of this show don't give a shit about it's audience or offering them any closure or payoff for their years of loyalty.

They made such a BIG DEAL about Walt being so special, his multi-episode kidnapping, his immediate bond to Locke, his drawings of polar bears before he ever landed on the island and now after all the episodes and series time devoted to Walt the whole arc is just abondoned??!! WTF?

Now this season has followed the same frustrating pattern of offering way more questions than answered and leaving in the dust several plot points emphasized in earlier seasons. When Mr.John Lennon glasses(dont recall his name) gave his spiel to Sayid about the testing of him and that he passed,, and then said to the lead asian guy "I just lied to him didn't I" I yelled" that's it! FU lost writers I'm done being your loyal lackey!" and i turned the channel.

Perhaps i will later rent the season where I can watch it all at once or maybe i will just read bloga and recaps, but I'm done giving them my ratings points when they seem to care so little about the audience. i feel like they all sit in a room and laugh at us during the writing sessions. I had HOPED that the final season would follow a different formula, as in MORE ANSWERS, LESS NEW QUESTIONS!.

I really think they may have been making alot up as they went along, inventing ways to make us wonder and tune in out of hope for a payoff answer. I fear that alot of plotholes may never be filled or explained because they dont fit in to the ending they have finally decided on which maked me feel like i watched alot of episodes for noting and the only return on my time investment is frustration.

If they can abondon such a strong and time invested plotline such as Walt then they really dont have to answer anything to the viewers satisfaction, they know the minions will tune in to EVERY episode of the last season in hopes of a payoff they may never fully deliver.

Another thing that i never see mentioned is thoughts about the night when BEN summoned Smokey.

If Ben was Jacobs guy then how did he know how to do that? When smokey came it only wounded most of Widmores mercenaries. Why? when it usually killed?

That alone makes me think that smokey and MIB are NOT the same thing, and maybe smokey is a force on the island that either side can use to do their bidding if they have the knowledge on how to summon it.

I see my thoughts about plotholes has been echoed by others in the comments.

I did not read them before i commented, sorry if it sounds a little ditto to others.

I hope the show mmakers read them and realize that they are not more clever than some of us and we see the disregard for thier audience.

I totally disagree w/ you guys. Lost does not give you what you enough of what you "need" which is why I stopped watching it. for the perfect balance of want/need in a shot -- watch Buffy.

Can I just say that Sayid's hairy chest is H.O.T.?

Thank you.

"I think Kate was crying for herself as well. She's always thought Jack or Sawyer was hers for the taking, and this was a big revelation to her: that whatever there's been between them in the past, the depth of what Sawyer had felt for Juliet blew that out of the water."

I completely agree with this, but would add that even more so, Kate was crying because she recognized herself in what Sawyer said about being destined to be alone. He at least had a chance to know what it meant to have, for lack of a better term, a soulmate, which Kate has never known. Though maybe that just makes the depths of his despair even greater. Kudos to Josh Holloway, I could barely breathe during that scene.

It was Walt's Mother, Susan, who passed away of the mysterious blood illness. Not Jack's sister...

Maybe Walt and Michael aren't on the plane Timeline B because the mom didn't die of the "mysterious" disease. Maybe she was poisoned by Others and in Timeline A, but in Timeline B they all died in the blast.

I wanted to see Libby on the plane lock eyes with Hurley. Boo hoo.

ShelbyDee

Does anyone remember why Desmond ended up on the Island 2 times (before 851 crashed the first time)?

I know I'm a week late on this, but I wanted to chime in anyhow.

On TLo's questions:
1. In S3E20 "The Man Behind the Curtain," Ben is taking Locke to the cabin, supposedly to meet Jacob. Locke pulls out a flashlight, and Ben has him put it away, saying "Jacob dislikes technology almost as much as you do." Not sure what all is being said there, but that explains the primitive tech in the Temple.
2. Maybe this is just a part of the show's overall free will theme? Where did Dogen get a pill capsule anyway if he doesn't even have light bulbs?
3. I honestly think this was just a dramatic plot device. Maybe it says something about his character development, but I mean he never even asks what's in the pill until after he takes it, and still doesn't ask what exactly Sayid is 'infected' with. I think they just wanted to have Dogen whip out some more kung fu.
4.&5. I don't care what Miles does. He's adorable and so funny.
6. I think the bomb detonation altered lots of things, including when/where a lot of the Dharma folks are. The specifics of all of them may or may not be important or even revealed specifically. I'm ok with this.
7. If you notice in Season 5's finale, Faraday has a neck wound in the same place Jack does when he looks in the mirror. Incidentally, we only see Jack's neck bleed in the mirror, not actually on him. Someone probably said that already.
8. Claire is annoying, as is her wig, as is her accent. I bet she's way better as crazy-jungle-lady. At least she got pudgy and looks sort of believably preggers this time around.

he sailed there when trying to win penelope's love on her dads race or something, then shipwrecked and got hoodwinked into pressing the buttom...and when he forgot too/wasnt able to it supposedly caused their plane to crash

right?

Catching up on these so I'm behind.

I just wanted to point something out about the ashes:

When newish chick with the long black hair (LOL, sorry, I'm losing track of names at this point) found out that Jacob was dead and had ultimately been burned, she collected his ashes in a bag.

Maybe those ashes can be used for protection -- and maybe Jacob keeps getting burned and resurrected in some other body over and over through time.

So maybe all the other ashes they're using to create these circles of protection tie into that somehow.

Who knows? I think they're gonna pull a whammy on us at the end and make Jacob turn out to be the evil one anyway.