Lost Analysis and Commentary (Episode 10 - He's Our You)

The alternate title for this week's episode could have been: "Sayid is a Stone Cold Badass". Our favorite Iraqi is indeed an intriguing character. I've always found Sayid-centric episodes to be among the best. He is rarely the focus of the main story, but when his character is given a chance to stretch his legs, I find him fascinating.

Badass Sayid

I mentioned a few weeks back that we were likely going to see flashbacks again and we indeed got them started this week. Some people were glad to see them gone earlier this season...but I think they are an important component of the series that adds depth to the story. In fact, the flashbacks are one of the things that made Lost special when it first came on the scene. Admittedly, before the introduction of the flash-forward, the flashbacks were feeling forced. But now, after a little break, I, for one, am welcoming them back.

What was great about this week's episode was that the flashback filled in important keys to the story. We now know that Sayid was capable of taking a life at an early age ("choking the chicken" will never be quite as funny as it used to be). We learned that Sayid's hatred for Ben was due more to Ben showing Sayid his true nature...a natural born killer. We found out how Sayid came to be in handcuffs, escorted by Ilana onto Ajira 316. And finally we have been told that Ilana doesn't work for Benjamin Linus (unless she is lying....but I am inclined to believe her). Entertaining and informative...that is the way all flashbacks should be. I expect we'll flashbacks about Kate (where is Aaron?), Hurley (how did he get out of jail and here did that guitar come from?), Jack (did he have a second meeting with Locke?), Sun (what is she really up to?), and Ben (if he isn't dead....what happened at the pier).

Now I know everyone is waiting for me to get to the final scene, but first I want to take a little detour to a line that probably slipped past most people. When Horace was conducting his DHARMA Initiative Town Hall Meeting, Radzinsky says "Either we make a decision, or I call Ann Arbor...and they make a decision for us". Ann Arbor is the home of the University of Michigan....where DHARMA Initiative founders Gerald and Karen DeGroot were based in the 70s. The DeGroots are one of those pieces of Lost lore that have been the subject of much hardcore fan speculation. The only thing we know about the DeGroots is the little that is told to us in the orientation films for the Swan and Pearl stations. Gerald also appears briefly in the Room 23 film (If you remember back in season 3, Karl, Alex's boyfriend, is being brainwashed by the Others in Room 23 where he is forced to watch a movie with a bunch of weird images and music playing). The mention of Ann Arbor tells me that we are likely to see the DeGroots in the near future. I am really pleased that this season pieces of the backstory are coming into play (the statue, Danielle's team, the DI, the DeGroots....and maybe before long The Black Rock).

Karen and Gerald DeGroot from the Pearl Orientation Video

OK, now let's talk about the episode's final scene. Last week, I said that either Sayid will attempt to kill Ben or he will align with Ben and join the Others. Well, they teased us into thinking it was headed toward the latter, then suddenly Sayid pops a cap in lil' Ben. If it wasn't for last week's preview showing Sayid shooting at someone in that final scene (I was really pissed that they did that), it would have been as shocking as Michael shooting Libby and Ana Lucia. None-the-less, I was still somewhat surprised to see Sayid shoot Ben point blank in the heart.

Dead Ben?

So what does this mean?

I believe one of three things will turn out to be true: 1) Ben isn't dead OR 2) Ben is dead and this has changed everything OR 3) Ben is dead and the island resurrects him via the smoke monster (ala Christian).

I'll take them one at a time. In any other location, a shot like that would kill Ben...but they are on the island. The island has miraculous healing power, but others who have been shot on the island (save Locke) die and stay dead. However, if the island isn't done with Ben yet, he won't die. Also, I believe in what Daniel has told us: "whatever happened, happened" (interestingly enough this is the title of next week's episode). So, in order for Ben to be a presence in the future, he must live in the past. I believe this to be the most likely case.

Now option two is that Ben is indeed dead. The one case you could make for this is the mystery I mentioned last week regarding the seemingly alternate future the Ajira crash survivors appear to be in. If Ben is dead, then there was never a purge of the DI and who knows how many other things would be different (then again Ms. Hawking has said "the universe has a way of course correcting"). Let me make one thing perfectly clear...if this is indeed the way it plays out I will be pissed off beyond belief. For one it would mean everything that we've seen in seasons 1-4 never happened and second it sets up a million time paradoxes. I just cannot believe the writers, who have been planning the show so meticulously, would allow something like this to occur.

The third option is that Ben dies and is resurrected through the smoke monster (or some other island means) and becomes the walking dead like Christian. This could explain why Ben appears to be omniscient and detached. However, I don't buy this either. It just isn't consistent with the rest of the show. I don't see how Ben could spend so much off island time if he is a part of the island.

So, I'll stick with Ben is alive....for now.

Oh...and by the way, when the DHARMA torturer came out of his tent, how many of you said, "Hi, I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl."?

Oldham (or Larry?)

That is all I've got for this week. Next week I start a 4-week intensive training course. I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write blog entries, but I'll do what I can.

Lost Analysis and Commentary (Episode 9 - Namaste)

In comparison with the rest of season 5, this week’s episode was a little pedestrian…but I think that is more a testament to the great episodes we had so far (Jughead, 316, L&D of Jeremy Bentham and This Place is Death...to name a few), rather than a condemnation of Namaste.

This week was entertaining and it had a few good moments here and there, but I think this was more of a set up for the rest of the season. And that isn’t a bad thing....just a necessity to tell the rest of the story. They needed to make it clear that Jack/Kate/Sawyer/Sayid are in a different time than Locke/Ben/Sun/Frank. Done. Team Sawyer needed to introduce the Ajira 316 survivors to the DHARMA initiative. Done. Everyone needed to say their hellos. Done. Sun and Frank needed to get to the main island, while Ben remained on Hydra Island. Done.

Before I get into my major discussion topics, let me throw out a couple of little nuggets that I thought were interesting. First, we not only got to meet the never-before-seen Swan Station button-pusher Radzinski, but learned that he was the architect of said station….the one he eventually blows his brains out in. Second, Jack was made a DHARMA “workman”….got to believe he will be working with or for Ben’s dad, Roger (“Roger Workman” as Hurley once referred to his skeleton).

Radzinky working on The Swan model

So now lets get into some analysis…starting with the crash of Ajira 316 (I called landing on the runway back before episode 316….I have to pat my self on the back when I get one right, since I’m more likely to blow my predictions….see below). Did you notice that after the flash took Jack/Hurley/Kate/Sayid to 1977, it turned from night to day outside the plane? Also, as the plane is going down, you can hear “4...8...15...16...” over the radio. If this is being broadcast from the island, it raises a continuity issue....Daniel Rousseau changed the radio broadcast (from the “numbers”) some time after her arrival in 1988. The other odd thing was when Sun and Frank arrive at the main island, the barracks appear to be in complete disarray….not like they were when we last saw them (when Keamy and company attacked the Losties last season). And then, when Christian tells Sun that Jin is with her friends, he says she has a “long journey” ahead of her. Seems like an odd thing to say. My initial reaction was that they aren’t in 2007, but then I remembered during the opening scene change, the caption said “Thirty Years Earlier”. So if Team Sawyer is in 1977, then the Ajira folks are in 2007. However, something is definitely not kosher here. I don’t want to speculate too much about this, but is it possible that the Ajira flight has entered an alternate timeline (or parallel universe)...one in which the Oceanic 815 crash never occurred? I’m reluctant to go down that rabbit hole (its like the smoke monster hole...once you go in, you are never the same), but it is an intriguing idea.

Night turns to day outside the plane

But here is another question. Why is Sun the only one of the Oceanic 5 survivors that didn’t flash to 1977? I’ve read some speculation that since Ben is already on the island in 1977, he can’t flash back there....so this would imply that Sun is already on the island in 1977. The theory being two of the same person can’t exist in the same place/time. In my opinion that is load of fish biscuits...we’ve seen earlier this season when the Losties were time skipping that they were existing at the same time as when they were already there (Locke saw the light from the Swan and Sawyer saw Kate helping Claire give birth). Here is a much better explanation: Sun left the island pregnant and needed to return with her child (matching the entity that left) in order to flash to 1977. And Ben simply was not supposed to return.

I mentioned Christian’s encounter with Sun above....and that was quite unusual. It was obvious that the smoke monster was moving the trees around prior to seeing Christian. Then there was smoke coming in the processing building door after the wind blew it open (and right after that if you look over Sun’s left shoulder, you we see a woman in the shadows...possibly Claire). Now the obvious conclusion is that Christian is actually a manifestation of smokey. However, I you recall from one of my previous posts, I talked about the smoke monster’s moniker of Cerberus....and its potential role as the guardian of the underworld. Maybe the smoke monster can retrieve the dead (we’ve seen dead people on the island when smokie is around....Yemi, Ben’s mom, Harper).

Who is behind Sun?

Now, let’s get this over with....Amy’s baby. Well, it turned out to be Ethan (damn I was wrong about it being Hurley)….which makes him island born....this could explain why he is an Other. I had another theory that Amy is actually an Others/Hostiles spy that has infiltrated the Dharma Initiative. It wouldn’t be the first time the Others have done this....but I’ve talked myself out of this theory. I don’t have much about Ethan...and I can’t think of a reason to care....yet.

No more talking about Ethan

But what I do care about is....where in the world is Daniel Faraday? When Sawyer mentions Faraday, Jack asks, “Faraday’s here?” To which Sawyer replies, “Not anymore”. So where is he? I’d say one of two things has occurred. Either Daniel spun the Donkey wheel (not very likely) or he took Charlotte off the island (ding, ding, ding). I think Faraday has vamoosed with Charlotte and is doing some time/space tinkering in the outside world. Only a guess though.

Last, but not least, how could I not talk about the Ben-Sayid meeting. While it wasn’t too much of a shock that at some point we would run into young Ben....I really liked the way the scene played. The kid who plays young Ben has really stepped up his acting game since his first appearance in season 3. I thought his mannerisms and facial expressions (even the eyes...those horrible eyes, as Widmore once said) were spot on. I see the rest of this season playing out one of two ways. Either Sayid will attempt to kill Ben or he will align with Ben (as he did after returning to the real world) and join the Others. Since he can’t kill Ben without violating the space/time continuum rules, I think the latter may turn out to be true. Remember that Widmore said a war is coming. Maybe the war will turn out to be different factions of the Oceanic survivors.

Growing into his creepiness

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Namaste and good luck.

One last thing. I want to put in a little plug for The Lost Initiative from Sky One. These guys do a very entertaining webcast twice a week. Their theories and analyses are weak, but it is still very fun to watch. You can find them on facebook or google them.

Lost Analysis and Commentary (Bonus Blog - The Epic Mythological Saga)

This week we don't get a new episode of Lost (I'm jonsing for more). So to fill the void, I am writing a blog entry takes a different look at Lost in the context as one of the great epic mythological sagas of our time.

The series has influences and/or parallels to works of literature and cinema as diverse as: Watership Down, The Wizard of Oz, The Brothers Karamazov, and Lord of the Flies ("sucks to your ass-mar"). For the purposes of this discussion, though, I am going to draw comparisons to three pop-culture epics:

The Star Wars Saga

Stephen King's The Stand

The Harry Potter Series (the books)

Each is a sprawling saga with a huge cast of richly-drawn characters, a complex mythology, overflowing with religious imagery and themes of: good vs. evil, redemption, and self-determination vs destiny. Sounds a lot like a certain island adventure I know. They also have another attribute shared with Lost...damned good storytelling. If you're a fan of Lost it is impossible not to enjoy these three.

Star Wars and The Stand are both major influences on Lost...references to both permeate Lost. Harry Potter is less of a direct influence, but has similar themes to Lost and spawned comparable fan analysis and debate. Also, prior to the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof wrote an op-ed piece in the NY Times entitled, "The Boy Who Died" that included the following passage: "She (JK Rowling) can't whack Harry because there are rules that must be followed when it comes to how one ends a grand mythology. Good triumphs over evil. Hope overcomes despair. Paper covers rock. Harry wins. Voldemort loses. The Ewoks sing."

Back during Lost's original pilot, Locke explains Backgammon to Walt as "Two players. Two sides. One is light, one is dark." I think it would be foolish to overlook this as anything but an analogy for the epic struggle we are witnessing on Lost. In Star Wars there is the Dark Side of The Force, balanced with the implied "light side", as well as the battle waged between the rebels and the Empire. In The Stand, there are two groups of post-apocalyptic survivors, one following Mother Abigail (the representation of good) and the other following Randall Flagg ("The Dark Man"). In Harry Potter, the battle lines are drawn between Harry and the Order of the Phoenix and Lord Voldermort and the Death Eaters.

Locke explaining Backgammon

The interesting thing is that in each of these examples, the epitome of evil is clear: Darth Vader (or arguably The Emperor), Randall Flagg, and Voldemort are the bad guys. They wear black, they offer the weak power to follow them, and they kill the innocent. Conversely, Lost has bucked this convention, shrouding the identify of the villain in mystery. Clearly, the likely candidates are Benjamin Linus or Charles Widmore (you could also make an argument for Richard Alpert, Jacob, or Christian Shepherd....although wouldn't it be fantastic if someone like Bernard turned out to be the villan?). But which one is the bad guy?

Lost has blurred the line between good and evil. If Ben or Widmore is the villain, does that make the other one a force of good? If you remember back to the season 2 finale, when Ben is letting Michael and Walt leave the island, Michael asks Ben, "Who are you people?". To which Ben replies, "We're the good guys Michael..." Now coming from Ben, you need to take that with a grain of salt, but it is an intriguing line none-the-less. Both Ben and Widmore are cold, calculating bastards. It is hard to imagine either one truly being on the side of good, even if they think they are. Both may believe themselves to be on the side of right. But an unwavering belief in one's convictions can lead you to down a dark path (just ask Anakin Skywalker).

We're the good guys Michael

What about a hero? Luke Skywalker, Stuart Redman, and Harry Potter each represent the hero, respectively, in the comparative pieces I’ve listed above. In Lost, you could make an argument for several characters: Sawyer (nahhh....more Han Solo), Charlie (nope, he was modeled after The Stand’s Larry Underwood), Kate or Sayid (Mikhail once described them as “flawed...because you are angry, and weak, and frightened”...a great Jedi once said: “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”) There really is only one choice: everyone’s favorite tattooed spinal surgeon, Jack Shephard.

Jack has his demon’s, but they are internal, like Harry Potter's. He is a reluctant leader, like Stuart Redman. He has daddy issues, like Luke Skywalker. But he is the leader of the Oceanic survivors....he is the “shepherd”. I’ve postulated before that I believe Jack to be Jacob. Beyond the obvious similarities in first name, Jacob could be described as the “shepherd” of The Others. Additionally, Judeo-Christian and Islamic teachings, all contain references to “Jacob’s ladder”....a bridge between the worlds of God and Man. I speculated in my last blog entry that the island was an entrance to the underworld or afterlife. I think Jacob and his ladder, play well with this interpretation. Note that Christian (Jack’s father, with a not too subtle name) and Claire (Jack’s half-sister) have both been seen in Jacob’s cabin. Maybe Jack is the one to shepherd (or Shephard if you prefer), the dead into the next world (“see you in another life brotha”).

Jacob

In epics of good vs. evil, there is often a Christ-figure. By the time we made it through the last Harry Potter novel, Harry’s role as a Christ-figure could not be more clear (I won’t go into the details in case you haven’t read the series). In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi says to Vader, "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can imagine." Vader then does indeed light-saber him and Obi-Wan disappears into the Force only to reappear as Luke’s spiritual guide. Obi-Wan dies to save the world from evil...just as Christians believe Christ died for the sins of man. In Lost, if you had asked back in the first couple of season who the Christ figure was, I would have said Walt. But as the series has progressed, we’ve learned that others are “special” too. I think it is clear that recent episodes have cemented Locke as the Christ-figure. His death and resurrection are the perfect Christ parallels. He dies to get everyone back to the island (the entrance to the underworld....or perhaps opening the gates to heaven).

Another theme related to the religious symbolism, is redemption. In Return of the Jedi, Vader finally makes amends for his evil deeds by killing the Emperor. You could make an argument that this one act does not make up for decades of mass murder...but many religions believe that all sins can be forgiven. Similarly, in Harry Potter, Snape is a figure who seeks redemption, if not in the eyes of others, at least in his own soul. In The Stand, Larry Underwood, is the character of redemption....atoning for his drug addiction and becoming a member of the new society. As I mentioned earlier, Larry is a parallel character to Charlie on Lost. But Charlie isn’t the only character the island brings redemption to: Kate (murderer and fugitive), Sawyer (con man), Sayid (torturer), Jin (ashamed of his roots), Sun (infidelity), etc. In fact you could make an argument that each of the Seven Deadly Sins are represented in the Oceanic 815 survivors:

Lust – Sun or Boone
Gluttony - Hurley
Greed - Sawyer
Sloth – Charlie or Shannon
Wrath – Kate or Sayid
Envy - Jin
Pride – Jack or Michael

Once on the island, each of these characters transcends these “sins” and finds redemption there. Think of each of these characters and try to find one who has not found more happiness and meaning to their life on the island than in the real world.

Sinners one and all

The last theme of the great epic that I’ll touch on is choice. As Dumbledore once told Harry, “It is not our abilities that show what we truly are...it is our choices.” In all of these stories one could debate self-determination vs. destiny as the driver for a character. But I would say that self-determination fulfills a character’s destiny. It is Vader’s choice to turn to the Dark Side, but if he does not make this choice, he can’t fulfill his destiny as “the chosen one” to be the one to destroy the Emperor and return balance to The Force. In The Stand, survivors must choose between the hope of Mother Abigail and power of Randall Flagg. Lost’s characters must also make choices to fulfill their destiny. Locke chooses to leave the island to save it. The Oceanic 5 choose to return to the island. They have their choices, but are their choices ones made of free will or are they just fulfilling a predetermined destiny? Or maybe they are doing both.

In this entry, the examples I’ve used are three great works of popular fiction: the film series that reinvented the science fiction film genre, the best work of the most popular horror writer of the last 50 years, and the book series that elevated children’s literature to never before seen heights. All of them employ the common themes of epic mythological sagas. The greatness of Lost, is that it too embraces, yet toys with, these mythological archetypes....taking them in new and different directions. Long after Lost is complete, I believe it will be viewed as a seminal work....taking television to places never gone before.

I know I talked about writing a couple of blog entries this week, but this one took a lot out of me. I’m going to take a break and relax until next week’s episode, “Nameste”....you know it is gonna be great.

Lost Analysis and Commentary (Episode 8 - LaFluer)

This week’s episode is one that I loved, but my guess is that not everyone will agree (the same can be said for this blog entry....it's long....buckle up). The DHARMA Initiative has long been one of the great mysteries of the series since its introduction in season 2. When it was clear that the episode was to be based in the DHARMA period, I was expecting this to be the Rosetta Stone episode for the DHARMA puzzle. Instead we got a story about a kinder, gentler Sawyer set in the DHARMA period. Now, we learned some interesting things about DHARMA, but it still left many questions unanswered (damn you Lost creators Damon Lindelof and Cartion Cuse). But more on DHARMA later.....

....what I really want to talk about is the episode’s first 30 seconds. For a few short moments, Team Sawyer was propelled into the distant past and we finally saw one of the things I have been dying to know more about: the four toed statue (you could almost hear the collective gasps of Lost geeks around the country). But in true Lost fashion, we were only given a partial reveal.

Back of the statue

We only got to see the back of the statue, but I think there are enough clues to draw some significant conclusions. My immediate reaction when I saw it was that it (well...immediately after jumping up and down and yelling "Four toed statue! Four toed statue! Four toed statue!") was that it was an Egyptian statue . As the episode went on, a couple of things confirmed the Egyptian origin. First and foremost was the appearance of the ankh necklace. The ankh is the Egyptian symbol for eternal life (paging Richard Alpert....Richard Alpert to the four toed statue please). I also believe the prominence of Horace Goodspeed (more on Horace below) was also a clue. Horace is a homophone for Horus....Egyptian god of the sky. Looking back to last week’s episode, Hurley was painting a picture of a Sphinx when he was visited by Locke. Going back even further, Egyptian hieroglyphics have been seen in 4 different locations on the island: the temple (when the smoke monster ripped off Montand’s arm...still super cool), the secret door in Ben’s house, a pillar in the Frozen Donkey Wheel chamber, and the countdown timer in the Swan DHARMA station. So I feel very confident that the statue is Egyptian.

Ankh

Hurley's sphinx drawing

That begs the next question....what exactly is the statue a representation of? As soon as the episode was over, I was off to wikipedia to start investigating Egyptian Gods. I checked with some of the major Gods I know: Ra, Osiris, and Horus. But none of these seemed like the right fit. Then I came across Anubis: protector of the dead and guide to the afterlife. Anubis is a part-man, part-jackal. He is typically portrayed with long hair and in a tidbit I found on the internet is often portrayed as having four toes...ding, ding, ding. It is also common to see artistic representations of Anubis holding an ankh. Each of these appear to be consistent with the statue. However, while the statue appears to have pointy ears, they are not as pronounced as typically seen on Anubis. I believe the body of evidence, though, strongly supports Anubis (if you are totally fascinated by this subject, also look up a couple of other possibilities: Sekhmet and Taweret).

Anubis

So, assuming the statue is a representation of Anubis, what does this mean? I don’t have a fully formed theory, but I think there have been enough clues dropped that are driving in a general direction. And I think that direction is death and the underworld. Anubis’ role in Egyptian mythology varies, but he is generally considered to be the god of “dying” (as opposed to the god of “death”). He protects souls as they pass to the underworld and determines, by weighing the heart of the dead, their worthiness to enter the underworld.

Now let me turn from the statue/Anubis to another aspect of the Lost puzzle: the smoke monster (bet you didn't see that coming....one of my own little Lostian twists). If you remember back to season two, when the blast doors were lowered in the Swan Station (onto Locke's legs...that poor bastard gets a lot of leg injuries), a diagram was shown representing a map of the island (more of a functional map than geographic). The map was drawn by DHARMA members (the unseen) Radzinsky and Kevin Inman (the guy Desmond was with in the Swan). On this map was a reference to a “Cerberus system” and four references to “CV”. The Lost producers have confirmed that “Cerberus” is the name Radzinski/Inman have used to refer to the smoke monster and CV = Cerberus Vents. So what is the relevance of this? In Greek mythology, Cerberus was the three-headed watchdog of Hades (the underworld) that permitted spirits to enter the underworld and prevented them from leaving. Hmmmmm......

Blast door map

Death has been central to the series. For the purposes of this discussion, I’m going to put aside the many deaths that have occurred in the course of the series, as think they are largely plot driven. However, it is impossible to ignore the appearance of dead characters on and off the island: Charlie, Christian, Claire (I’m in the Claire is dead camp), Anna Lucia, Libby and of course Locke. I also think Charlotte’s declaration of “This place is death!” during her dying delirium is particularly telling.

So I am drawn to the conclusion that the island is linked to the entrance to the underworld or afterlife. However, I think anything beyond that, goes from supported by evidence to speculation. A popular theory is that the Oceanic 815 survivors are dead. I’m not sure I buy this, but it plays well with the death/underworld theme. It could explain why the Oceanic 6 were not supposed to leave the island. However, I think there is something much larger going on that we don’t have enough information to conclude. More to come on my theories related to this as this season progresses.

At this point you are in one of three categories: 1) completely fascinated by the above analysis, 2) bored to tears for turning your favorite show into a PhD thesis, 3) pissed off that I’m not talking about the rest of the episode. So if you are still with me, let’s move on to the rest of the episode.

Personally, I enjoyed jumping back and forth between Team Sawyer’s introduction to DHARMA and showing them fully integrated in the Initiative. I was not overly surprised to see Sawyer (or LaFluer if you prefer) hook up with Juliet. However, as a character LaFluer (Head of DHARMA Security, respected member of the community, and loving significant other) is a bore compared to Sawyer (wise-cracking, self-centered, redneck, con man). We can only hope that the return of Kate will bring back the Sawyer we all know and love. More nicknames please!

Now let’s talk a little about DHARMA. Here is what I learned:

1) From at least 1974-1977 Horace Goodspeed is the on-island leader of the DHARMA Initiative. So who is Horace? Horace arrived on the scene shortly after Ben’s birth and tried to help get baby-Ben and his folks to a hospital. Horace also brought Ben and his father, Roger Linus, to the island to work for the DHARMA Initiative. According to his DHARMA jumpsuit, he is a mathematician. We’ve also seen him in Locke’s dream that helped him find Jacob’s cabin. Now, in this week’s episode, his role was revealed to be very significant. We’ve also learned he was married to Amy (this was her first appearance) and fathered a boy (more on this in a moment).

2) While the Hostiles (aka others) and DHARMA, have been in conflict, it appears they have had periods of peaceful coexistence. I loved Richard Alpert’s arrival at the DHARMA barracks and his interactions with both Horace and Sawyer. I found it telling that Richard was puzzled by Sawyer’s comments about the 1954 encounters. This, coupled with his compass discussion with Locke, tells me that Richard is not orchestrating the big picture. In my mind, this puts him in the same league as Ben, Widmore, and maybe Ms. Hawking....an important player, but not the big kahuna.

3) A small red-haired girl was wondering around the DHARMA barracks and Daniel thinks it is Charlotte. And it probably is.....but that child was seen in 1974 and according to Ben Linus (from last season) Charlotte Staples Lewis (C.S. Lewis by the way) was born July 2, 1979. May mean nothing because she may have left the island in a way that shifted her into the real world at a later time.

On a more character driven vein (for all you shippers out there) we are about to move from a love triangle (Jack-Kate-Sawyer) to a love square (Jack-Kate-Sawyer-Juliet). Here's how I think it will play out: Sawyer and Kate will ultimately end up together; Juliet will end up dead; and Jack has bigger things in his future (cough....Jacob....cough).

And now to the baby boy. There was a big deal about the birth of Horace’s and Amy’s baby. So, is this just a plot device to get Juliet to be a hero or is the occurrence of an island birth significant? And more importantly who is the kid? The child was born in 1977, so that is a clue. Well, scanning the message boards, I’ve seen suggestions of Ben (no way, too old), Ethan (maybe, but I doubt it), and Jacob (give me a friggin break). I’ve got my own theory: Hurley. Hurley was born in 1977. He has reddish-brown curly hair, like Horace and Amy. He doesn’t resemble the parents who raised him. And he seems to have a deep connection to the island (the numbers, seeing dead people). So, I am on the record: baby = Hurley.

The bad news is that we have to wait 2 weeks for the next episode. However, I am going to take next week to write a couple of “extra” blog entries. Right now I am thinking one will be a discussion of the overarching theme of “Good and Evil” and the other will be a set of predictions for some of the big mysteries of the show. I know it isn’t the same a new episode, but hopefully it will fill the void. If you've made it to the end of this seemingly endless blog entry you are either a super Lost fan or have no life (not mutually exclusive categories).