3x4 - "Every Man For Himself" Current

Since we now know that there are two Islands I will refer to the Island the plane crashed on as Island number 1 and the Island where the Others conduct their expirments as Island number 2.

Island number 1

1. What's up with Desmond? Am I to believe that he has seen the future? If so how far into the future can he see, and what exactly is he learning from it? He called that lighting rod an experiment but Desmond's not a scientist. He's a former member of Her Majesty's Army and everything we've leaned about him so far does not suggest scientist.

2. Who the hell are Paulo and Nikki and why do I care? It seems a little random to introduce new regular characters who are survivors from the fuselage section. Unless these guys have flashbacks this season, I'm gonna have to write them off.

Island number 2

1. Sawyer's smart, but he didn't factor the possibility that the Others could be watching them at all times.

2. Kudos to the Others for pulling a brilliant con on our resident confidence man Sawyer. I was worried that Ben actually killed the poor bunny rabbit with a pacemaker as a demonstration.

3. So this new Island is where all the experiments happen. This was meant to be the "oooooooooooooo. So that's where the Others are." That's why Colleen was worried about Sayid finding the Island.

4. Intersting conversation between Jack and Juliet. "We make decisions together." Didn't Locke say that exact same thing to Ben word for word last season? We know that's clearly a lie since Ben ordered Ethan and Goodwin to give lists the day of the crash and he also ordered Colleen to capture Desmonds boat, and he was obeyed both times without question or hesitation.

5. Don't doubt Jack's efforts here folks. He really did try to save Colleen. He's a doctor, he doesn't get to decide who to save and who not to save. What's interesting here is that they didn't have a working crash cart available. It should be no trouble at all for them to obtain one if they still have a pipeline to the outside world.

6. One of the Others has a tumor? That's what they want Jack to do? Could it be Ben?

7. Colleen and Pickett were married? Clearly Pickett's on a warpath and ready to kill Sawyer over her death.

8. All the hell Sawyer went through this episode, Kate better love him. She won't leave without him anyway.

3x4 - "Every Man For Himself" - Flashbacks

1. Sawyer has a daughter? With Cassidy (from "The Long Con.") no less? Never exactly thought he was the fatherly type.

2. He can even pull cons from inside a prison. Sawyer managed to trick a big time thief into believing that the Warden wanted the money he stole. Sawyer even managed to get the Warden in on the con, and the biggest con of them all, HE DID IT FOR HIS COUNTRY! Never actually thought Sawyer would actually did something good with his life before he got on the Island.

3. Sawyer really does have a heart. He uses the money he got as his comission to set up a bank account in his daughter's name but he wants it set up so that she'll never learn where the money came from.

Thoughts: Sawyer clearly does care for other people but he can't bring himself to do anything good overtly for the people he cares about. Is it just me or are the writers spending less and less time with the flashbacks in each episode?

3x3 "Further Instructions" - Current

1. Locke lost his voice, why? Maybe it's from all the screaming he did during the end of "Live Together, Die Alone?" In any event it leads to that ritual which set up the return of Boone! One can probably refer back to that airport sequence for clues to other characters' story arcs. I have to watch this episode again to see the visible writing on the Jesus Stick (I KNOW THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO STAND OUT!) UPDATE 10/19 - The Jesus Stick says " 'Lift up your eyes and look north.' - John 3:05." So that's how he knew where to find Eko. - END UPDATE

Thoughts: Oh and why do they ALWAYS start things with the opening of an eye? They do that for, Desmond in "Man of Science, Man of Faith," they do it for Jack in the Pilot, they do it for Juliet in the season three opener, and they do it for Locke now. There's a meaning to it I'm sure but I just don't know what.

2. "Desmond's just a kid but he saved the world from self destruction, running naked on an island straight out of a wrecked hatch, we were laughing." Okay now that I posted that shameless parody of "Johnny's Just a Kid," why exactly is Desmond naked? What exactly happened in there? I hope they don't drag this out too much. I want a quick answer so I can move on from the Hatch. He also predicted that Locke would make a speech about rescuing Jack, Kate, and Sawyer! Can he see into the future now?

3. Eko got captured by a polar bear! Why am I reminded of "the Empire Strikes Back?" Seriously though, how did he wind up in the open jungle where he could even get attacked by a polar bear? Did that bear even look real?

4. Why is Charlie so willing to stay by Locke's side during all this? Don't forget that Charlie was so angry at Locke in season 2 that he helped Sawyer steal the guns, just to get back at Locke so why the turnaround?

5. Hurley made it back, just like the Others planned. He told Locke and Charlie that they were not to rescue Jack, Kate, and Sawyer but even Hurley is in favor of a rescue effort.


Afterthoughts: Locke's back, and he's the new leader in town. I like him in charge better then Jack. Locke's more decisive then Jack. Especially since Jack doesn't do anything about Walt's capture until the very end of last season and we all remember how that ended. The survivors may have a real advantage, the Others probably aren't expecting any more visits from them. All we can do now is wait until the next episode.

SHUTDOWN!

3x3 - "Further Instructions" Flashbacks

I'm rewriting this blog since I had more time to think about the flashbacks and I've just watched the episode again. G also pointed out certain things that I didn't realize before.

1. It's curious to see Locke with marijuana farmers in the first place. He almost seems at times like the present John Locke given that he's ditched his anger. Clearly a lot of time has passed between this flashback and the "Lockdown" flashback because he's very happy with his life at this point.

2. Eddie chose Locke as his way into the group. I'm going to say that Locke got conned again here (yes I'm using the word "con") this time being used to unwittingly allow an undercover cop to infiltrate the group Locke's a part of. I ask again, why is Locke living with these guys anyway?

3. Locke must have been so sure that he was a hunter that he didn't see a need to use the sweatlodge. Given the criteria established in this episode, knowing how to point and shoot a gun does not make one a hunter. Eddie basically tells Locke, "you won't shoot me because you're not a hunter?" Is that supposed to mean that one must be able to kill another person in order to be a hunter?

4. "You're a good person." Again with describing people in terms of "good" and "bad." We've since learned that the criteria that defines people on this show isn't as black and white as it seems because Kate and Sawyer each murdered at least one person yet the Others wanted them, while they didn't wanted Ana-Lucia even though she murderd one person and killed two Others in self-defense. Locke apparently never killed anyone despite having a handgun in his possesion during this flashback.

5. G mentioned the fact that Locke didn't clean up his mess being the parallel to the present situation in which John actually cleans up his mess concerning Eko and the Hatch. I agree with that assessment but I'm still curious as to what will happen to Locke in his next flashback assuming they plan to continue that story arc.

3x2 "The Glass Ballerina" Current

1. Sayid is so hell bent on vengence for Shannon's death that he'll do anything, even con and yes I use the word "con" Jin and Sun into helping him in his rampage. If it weren't for that flashback at the beginning with a young Sun breaking that ballerina figure, I would have expected this episode to be Sayid-centric.

2. Jin understands English better then we believe? I wonder just HOW well he understands. I mean, could he understand what Hurley meant when he asked Jin to pee on his foot? All these times when people have been speaking freely around Jin. HOW much does he know? Creepy.

3. Has Sun chosen to be an enemy of the Others by shooting them? What would they do to their enemies, and would they really kill a preganant woman knowing she is pregnant (come on, the Others know EVERYTHING about the survivors, they'd have to know that)?

4. Will Jack cooperate? What do they want his help with? Why even ask Jack for his cooperation in the first place especially considering that Jack is the most stubborn of the survivors? Don't they have a use for Kate and Sawyer as well? All three of them were on Michael's list so there's no point in simply capturing them just to play them against eachother (they do a good job of that on their own).

5. Speaking of Sawyer and Kate, it's about time they kissed again (yes I am a Skater. Started as a Jater, but they make a better couple). Clearly they work well together, because they used it as a ruse to find out what the gurads are capable of and Sawyer seems pretty confident they could escape if they had a decent chance. But then again, the Others are watching on video cameras and Sawyer and Kate probably haven't factored that into the equation.

6. What's up with Juilet? She can be seem like the nicest person you'd ever meet one minute, but the next minute she's pointing a gun at Kate with NO HESTIATION. She might be the most dangerous Other of them all.

Afterthoughts: WOO-HOO! LOST IS BACK! The show's like a week late but it's really back this time. Now I'm back in Lost mode and the blogs will flow so much easily from here on in. That's how you do a Lost flashback, you reveal something we don't know about a character AT ALL, and you tie it in to with the present with a scary situation. Lost is back ladies and gentlemen. Now without further ado, I must go to bed before my brain explodes.

SHUTDOWN!

3x2 - "The Glass Ballerina" Flashbacks

Now this was a better flashback then Jack's. I say this because so little of who Jin and Sun actually were before they were on the Island is conveyed to us in the present, so it's a big shocker every time we see them in a flashback. You never know what to expect.

1. So Sun slept with Jae. No real suprise there, she had been coming to him for English lessons well after she became fluent. She got suprised big time by the sudden arrival of her father.

Thoughts: Okay people, I know exactly what the writers want you to think and I have to say, in the immortal words of Dj Dan, SHUTDOWN! Come on people, OF COURSE IT'S JIN'S CHILD! Think back to ALL the medical miracles we have seen on the Island - Locke walking, Rose being cured of cancer, Charlie coming back from a literal death experience (we all saw it, he stopped breathing), and it only makes sense that Jin should therefore be cured of his infertility!

2. Jae commited suicide in shame for having slept with Sun. That would explain why he was clutching the necklace he tried to give to Sun in that flashback sequence. I don't think that Mr. Paik would have sent a back-up hitman because he clearly trusts Jin implicitly at this point in the storyline.

3. Mr. Paik does not tell Jin that Sun cheated on him. What's up with that? If you ever read the Godfather, you learn all about how one does not interfere with a marriage in ANY way, not even if the husband is abusing the wife, even if the wife is Vito Corlone's daughter. I imagine that the same standard is being applied here as Mr. Paik says, "it is not my place to tell him."

Afterthoughts: Clearly Jin and Sun are much happer, and possibly in less danger on the Island then they are in the real world.

3x1 - "A Tale of Two Cities" Current

Okay this is way more worthwhile then the Jack-centric flashbacks.

1. The Others clearly handpicked each "prison" for Jack, Kate and Sawyer to wake up in. Kate wakes up in a shower, Sawyer wakes up in a Skinner-box (google B.F. Skinner for more information), and Jack wakes up in an interrogation room.

2. Ben tells Kate that the next two weeks will be hell on earth for her. Why tell only her and not Jack and Sawyer. Does have a crush on Kate (he's not gonna be the new love interest for Kate that I read about, is he?)? Or does he think that Kate is not going to be able to handle what is coming next.

3. Oooooooooooooo, so THAT'S where the polar bears came from. In the spirit of six degrees of seperation, Sawyer is probably in the same cage as the polar bear he killed in the pilot episode. Clearly the Others mean to taunt him by putting him there, but why only Sawyer?

4. The Others clearly have an information pipeline to the outside world. There is no way that the DHARMA Initiative could be able to continue without an outside world lifeline. Which means in this reality, AND NOT THE REALITY THAT IS THE LOST EXPERIENCE, the DHARMA Initiative is still an ongoing project.

Afterthoughts: Who are the Others? No really, who are they and what do they really want with the "good ones?" Whatever it is, they're not looking for new members to join their book club.

3x1 - "A Tale of Two Cities" Flashbacks

So what new secrets about Jack did we learn this week? Not much I'm sorry to say. The flashbacks were really predictable given what we learned about Jack in the past -he "fixes" things and he has a hard time letting go. So Jack's obsession with finding out who Sarah's new man is led him to tackle his father at an AA meeting (which Sarah probably convinced him to attend). Overall, the flashbacks were sub-par given what I've come to expect from Lost flashbacks, and that says a lot given the fact that this episode marks J.J. Abrams' return to the show.

As for the "Other" flashback (pun intended), now that was creepy. So the Others have their own community and every week they have a book club, Ethan is the local plumber, yet they are all able to hide it all the second a plane crashes. What's up with that? I hope we get a Henry Gale, uh I mean Ben, flashback soon.

UPDATE 10/8 - Now that I think about it, that small town has got to be what the Monster - the "security system that eats people," is meant to protect. How else does one explain the fact that Danielle Rosseau never found it? Answer: every time she got close, she would get chased away.