Locke Dead? WTF!!!!11!!!

So, Locke is in the coffin. The question to which we've been waiting a year to learn the answer. The question that, at ComiCon last year, Damon and Carlton cited in direct response to the question, "What question should we be asking?" And now we know. And it's not who I thought it would be.

But now that we know, what does it mean? Apparently, Locke came to see at least some of the O6, and Walt. Probably he had contact with Ben as well. We know the main reason he came to see them: to convince them to return. Is there more to it? Did Locke wind up having to move the island again? Is he, too, banished? Why the alias?

Here's my theory: What if the Locke in the coffin is future Locke? What if in 2007-8 there's still a Locke on the island, but years in the future, he tries to go back and change the course of events?

Even though they've opened up the reality that time travel is going to play a role, this idea (of changing the past/future) conflicts with Ms Hawkings' insistence that the universe self-corrects. Nevertheless, Desmond did alter future events significantly in his "consciousness travel". Does Locke wind up using this tool, maybe with the help of Daniel (whose fate is as yet unknown)?

The bottom line is, I've always believed Locke to central yo LOST, and I felt that was finally vindicated the last few episodes, especially "Cabin Fever". So I'm having a hard time believing he's dead. As in, not mostly-dead, but all-the-way-dead.

Of course, what if it's an Orchid-time anomaly-copy-bunny thing? AAARRGGHH!! My head!

The other question I have is, what bad things happened? I originally assumed that the worst things to happen to the island and its inhabitants would occur during the siege of the island by Keamy and his men. But that seems to be over, with relatively few casualties. So there must be something more.

Keamy's dead, most, if not all, of his men are dead. What could have happened, especially as a result of the O6 leaving? I am down with the idea that the Losties were drawn there, and therefore not supposed to leave, but what could have happened that depended on their presence to prevent?

As you can see I'm at a loss on that one.

I'm getting ferklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic: WTF!! Discuss.

There's No Place Like Home, Part 2 (Alliances)

OK, I'm a little confused as to just who's flying whose flag here. There seem to be many overlapping interests, but does it just boil down to two? Is it an epic battle of good and evil? Or is it really more complicated?

Let's start with the island. I'm assuming it has its own identity and goals and motivations, etc. It would also seem that it sometimes acts through various agents. The question is, who are these agents, and to what degree are they motivated by their own needs?

Jacob seems like the most obvious candidate for direct representative of the island, but how do we know? We don't even know where he came from (although we do know he lives in a cabin that's not more than 30 years old). We do know that Jacob is the ultimate leader of the Others, whose direct subordinate was a "Chosen" human representative. (I'm differentiating here between "human" and whatever Jacob is, even though he may in fact be human. Sue me.) This chosen one apparently was Ben, now it's Locke. That could be a post in and of itself, but I'm going to try to stay on topic.

But what about Christian? I have to believe there's something significant about the fact that it's him. That is, I don't think it's just a convenient way of the island manifesting itself, mostly due to the fact that he's been the "all-purpose" manifestation as of late.

Now, it could just be the reality of TV; maybe Libby would have been more appropriate to tell Michael he was done than Christian, but Cynthia Watros wasn't available. But even if that were true, I think TPTB are brilliant enough to adapt.

In other words, whether by plan or not, I believe Christian has a major role, and why not? He's been a part of the show from the beginning, he's the father of one marquee character, as well as being the father of another major character, who just happens to be the mother of a baby who we have every reason to believe is central to the overall story.

But to get back to the matter at hand, why does Jacob have a spirit deputy, as well as a human one? Does "Christian" answer to Jacob absolutely? Does Ben? Will Locke?

It's obvious to me that Ben has acted in his own interests, or at least out of emotion, in the past. He admitted as much in the finale. But I do believe he has the interests of the island at heart. Jacob essentially banishes him from the island, but he still works on behalf of it (see his visit to Jack in Hoffs-Drawlar). His crusade against Widmore's people may or may not be solely selfish, but I do think he believes in the island, and will go to great lengths to protect it.

Locke as well; he may still be a little naive, and he may still have something to prove, but I believe he wants what's best for the island.

So, what is Widmore? Is he simply the enemy of the island? If so, what are the "rules", and who created them? Why can't Ben kill Widmore?

I can't help but wonder if Widmore might not be a tool of the island as well. There have been layer upon layer of religious references in LOST; is it too much to believe that Widmore is some kind of a Satan? Satan, after all, means "adversary" in Hebrew. Is it possible he is the necessary "evil" agent in a "game" where the agents of "good" must rely on their virtues and/or redemption to succeed?

There are theories floating around out there that Widmore is Magnus Hanso, who has the same immortality as Alpert. I don't know what I think of that, but I suspect that Widmore's history with the island predates his involvement with the DI via Hanso.

But what about Widmore's supposed lieutenants? Keamy is clearly one; he states explicitly that Widmore paid him to capture Ben. I think it's clear his men had allegiance only to him. But what about Naomi, Abaddon, and the team? And who is the economist?

We know Naomi takes her orders from Abaddon, but we don't know for a fact he works for Widmore. Naomi and the team Abaddon outlined were on Widmore's freighter, true, but that doesn't mean they didn't get on by subversive means, like Michael.

My problem is with the fact that Keamy's team was clearly well equipped to perform the extraction mission. So if Abaddon reports to Widmore, what was Naomi for? In her flashback with Abaddon, she clearly believes she is in charge of the extraction, and wonders why she's being saddled with a bunch of scientists/nutbags. She's also the first one to touch down on the island, followed by the science team. Why are they there? Who is hoping to gain from their presence on the island? Are they simply Widmore's advance team for after the island has been recaptured? Was Naomi being used? Or does Abaddon work for someone else?

As noted previously in this space, the name Abaddon has biblical roots as well. Go here and scroll to the second-to-last paragragh for the full explanation of the name, but suffice it to say he's an agent of the devil (Widmore).

But there's just some nagging feeling that Abaddon has other alliances. I don't know what or whom they could be, but his role just seems too bizarre and up in the air. For instance, he was also intrumental in bringing Locke to the island.

I'd like to mention the phone-call/visitation dream that Kate had at the end of the episode again, because it seems to tie into this idea of sides/allegiances. The voice on the phone told Kate to come back; Claire's apparition told her not to take Aaron back.

One possibility is that they're not contradictory; Kate could go back without Aaron. But who would take care of him? Jack has to go back. Claire is (dead?). Sawyer is on the island. Sun is in Korea. Charlie's dead. Seems kind of unlikely to me.

Is Claire selfishly trying to protect her son from the dangerous job she knows he has to do? I don't think so. I suspect that her appearance to Kate is the same "Claire" we saw in the cabin. That Claire was at ease, and tacitly agreed with "Christian" that Aaron was where he needed to be (presumably, in position to get off the island).

So does Christian also not want Aaron on the island? And if so, does he speak for Jacob in this case? How much hinges on Aaron? How important can he be if he's not supposed to go back? I assume Ben wants him to return; why?

Whew! Now you know why it took me so long to get another post up. Even when I try to limit the topic, it still goes off in all directions.

Alright, have at it.

There's No Place Like Home, Part 1 (Whispers/Apparitions)

Wow, what a great finale to cap off a great season! I have to admit, it's daunting trying to organize my thoughts into something coherent, so I'm just going to start the discussion, and see where it leads us.

We got so much in the last three hours of the season: a transfer of power, from Ben to Locke; apparitions galore, especially Christian; Sun buying out Paik Industries and confronting Widmore (the latter also confirming a long suspected Paik/Widmore connection); Charlotte born on the island?; Ben banished; Locke dead!

I think I'm going to start with the apparitions and whispers, and try to hash out their motives, who they represent, etc.

As readers of this blog know, I have never subscribed to the idea that the whispers were directly connected to the Others. This idea was first put forth by Danielle in Season 1, and Lost fans have held to it ever since.

It made sense at first, when we thought the Others were mysterious and magic. Now that we've become more intimately acquainted with them, it doesn't seem like they do a bunch of backward whispering themselves.

Also, the frequent indications that the voices include those of dead people, and not limited to the Others, has further led me to believe they are separate. I imagined them in the service of the island, like the Smoke Monster.

But of course, that group includes Jacob, and the Others clearly are in the service of Jacob. And the Others have displayed uncanny knowledge and skills in tracking and fighting. So what if they are aided by the whispers?

The scene with Keamy's team being taken out by the Others so clearly tied in the whispers with what was happening, that it became impossible for me not to see a connection. Then I thought of the whispers preceding Harper's appearance in the jungle in "The Other Woman".

Initially, I took that to mean she was an apparition. I figured this explained the somewhat unlikely locating of Juliet.

But Damon and Carlton have said she was really Harper. So maybe the whispers helped her find Juliet? And maybe the whispers helped the Others keep the advantage over Keamy's men?

The most recent transcriptions at Lostpedia are in fact from "The Other Woman", and while vague (as usual), they would seem to support this idea. Check them out here.

But the whispers also accompanied apparitions, namely Christian, when he came to the freighter to "release" Michael, and in Kate's dream, on the phone, before discovering Claire in Aaron's room.

Christian is worth a post in and of himself, so let's stick for now with apparitions who have appeared off island. Up until now, it had seemed like the goal was getting the O6 back to the island. But Kate's vision/dream was a departure, and a contradiction.

For the first time, we have an apparition (Claire) explicitly telling someone (Kate) not to go back, or actually, not to take Aaron back. Why?

In "Cabin Fever", Christian tells Locke that Aaron is where he needs to be (with Kate, ready to be rescued?), and "Claire" seems to be OK with that. Does this mean Aaron needed to be rescued? Then why does Ben want them all to go back? How many factions are there?

Also, on the phone call that woke Kate up before she encountered Claire said that she needed to go back, before it was too late. Listen to unscrambled versions here.

What's up with a dream/vision arguing both sides? Are they supposed to go back or aren't they? Who wants what outcome? Is Claire dead? Will my head explode? It makes me really wonder what Christian would have told Jack if they hadn't been interrupted in "Something Nice Back Home".

Which is another good point. Jack has apparently been listening to "Jeremy Bentham", and now Ben again. Did Christian (or the island) never make another attempt to communicate with Jack? Why is he flying so blind?

OK, that should kick this puppy off. I expect to really hash this out over the next few weeks, but I can't make it work without help, so let's get busy!

Cabin Fever

Cabin fever? I've got LOST fever! This episode was so jam-packed, I have to warn, this may be lengthy.

Locke-centric, the flashback showed Locke from several stages of his pre island life: birth, age 5, age 16, and during rehab after Cooper pushed him out the window. The dominant themes in the FB (as well as in Locke's island scenes) were being chosen, and what kind of man he is.

Born prematurely, under the duress of his sixteen year old mother being hit by a car, in 1956, John's chances were not good. Indeed, the nurse later reports he had all sorts of infections and complications, and he fought through them. He is a fighter.

After Emily Locke makes it clear she can't fulfill the duties of a mother and runs screaming from the room, Mrs. Locke sees someone gazing in through the glass. It is revealed to be none other than Richard Alpert (yay)! She seems both to know him (although she claims not to) and to be surprised to see him. As fascinating as Alpert following Locke from birth is, the idea that he goes back even futher with his family is quite intriguing, to say the least.

Alpert shows up again in Locke's life when he is five, claiming to be interested in John for the school for "extremely special" people that he runs. He notices a picture John drew, which looks very much like Smokey attacking someone. He then administers a test of sorts, showing John several items: a baseball mitt, a vial with some sort of grayish material, a compass, a "Mystery Tales" comic book, a knife, and an old book entitled "Book of Laws". He asks young John which of the objects belongs to him...already.

It's not clear to me if the first two objects he picks up (vial and compass) are choices or whether he's considering them and then rejecting them. Either way, he then appears to consider the Book of Laws, which appears to make Richard happy, but then goes instead for the knife, which makes Richard look disappointed and angry. He tells John the knife isn't his, grabs the objects, and storms out.

He tries to contact John again when he's sixteen through Mittelos Laboratories, with his teacher giving him a brochure and telling John Mittelos is interested in him. John complains that science camp is why he gets stuffed into lockers. His teacher tells him he needs to be true to who he is.

This idea of who he's supposed to be is reinforced by injured Locke's encounter with Abaddon (?!?), who tells him to go on a walkabout to find out who he is.

Who is he? The scene with his teacher shows a new element of Locke. We've always thought of him as the man of faith, not science. Did he turn his back on his true talent? What of the scene with Richard's objects? Is he not supposed to be a hunter? And what would the Book of Laws have made him? Has Alpert or who he represents been waiting a long time for Locke to realize his true destiny?

Who does Richard represent? I assume the island, but then who does Abaddon represent? I have until now assumed he worked for Widmore. Why would Widmore want to influence Locke? Is it possible both factions knew he was key to the island, and both wanted to get him there, hoping they could then manipulate him to their own ends? What will Locke "owe" Abaddon?

I guess Alpert and Abaddon succeeded, although the latter seems to have the most direct role in getting him to the island: Locke's pursuit of the walkabout led to him being on Flight 815. Alpert also gave John help at a key moment on the island, when he gave him Sawyer's file in "The Brig". But John has not held true to his lab boy self, and he has obviously gone for knives in a big way. So why is he still the chosen one?

It would be easy to say the teacher was just wrong. Certainly, in the past, John's familiar outburst, "Don't tell me what I can't do!", has been vindicated. Richard's reaction to the test, however, reinforced the idea that he wasn't being true to himself. And yet, on the island, he has now apparently arrived as the knife-wielding, meat-bringing chosen one.

Which leads us to the scenes with Locke, Hurley and Ben on the way to Jacob's cabin.

These scenes seem to cement the idea that power is transitioning from Ben to Locke. Ben says, "I used to have dreams," after Locke reveals how he knows how to locate the cabin. More interesting is when Ben congratulates Locke on manipulating Hurley, and Locke denies doing so, saying, "I'm not you." Ben replies, intriguingly, "You're certainly not." What does that mean?

Of course the visit to the cabin is the culmination of all these events, where Locke is definitively told he is "chosen". By Christian. With Claire. In Jacob's cabin. I don't think I'm alone in saying, "WTF!?!"

Let's start with Christian.

First off, what is he wearing? No suit with gym shoes? Evene when Hurley saw him in the cabin he was wearing his usual garb. When did he switch to Others-chic? More importantly, what does it mean? And why was he shimmery, Jacob-style, when Hurley saw him, but not now?

But it's what he said that's more important than his outfit. He claims to speak on Jacob's behalf, and he apparently knows a lot about what's going on. He knows where Aaron "should" be, he knows Locke has been chosen, and he knows what they have to do.

I have long wondered whether Christian had a previous connection to the island, or whether his image is just being used by the island, since his corpse crashed there. The appearance to Hurley was one thing, but this was not equivocal. He appeared to be corporeal, he spoke, identified himself as Christian, all to someone who had no way of knowing who he was. This wasn't Dave appearing to Hurley, the horse appearing to Kate, or even Christian appearing to Jack and Claire. Now that he's clearly appearing to people who did not know him before, I can't help but think the real, living Christian had some connection to the island.

So why does he need to speak for Jacob? Where is Jacob? Was Jacob trapped and now he's not? And what's Claire doing? Why doesn't she seem to care about Aaron? Is she dead? (BTW, hats off to Emilie de Ravin, who did an incredible job seeming spooky while looking radiantly beautiful.)

Well, I'm going to leave it for now, so as not to explode my head (and I haven't even gotten to Horace or the Kahana, or really delved into the cabin). But I'll leave you with my favorite line of the night: Hurley with a serious look on his face, saying, "Yeah, I'm pretty much OK with you going in alone too." HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Anyway, let's try to figure this out before Thursday, shall we?

Namaste

Something Nice Back Home

I love the ride that is LOST. This week's episode has been labelled filler by some, but I disagree. I think "SNBH" has many key points of interest, underlying the fact that it was just a damn good hour of TV.

Of course, it answered the question, "Is Danielle really dead," in the affirmative. Contrary to the reasoning that we were promised a Rouseau backstory, therefore she can't be dead, she seems quite indisputably to be so. Of course we know death on this show doesn't prevent characters from reappearing, but a Danielle-centric episode does seem out of the question now. I'm going to reserve judgment on this development for the time being.

As far as the flash forward goes, it was a good episode for Jaters, at least until the end. Beyond that we filled in some gaps.

We know that between the trial and the events of "Through the Looking Glass", Jack and Kate did try to make a go of it. One can only assume Jack's jealous outburst at the end is the reason for Kate's reluctance to see him in "TTLG".

We also saw Jack's daddy issues front and center, in his desperate plea, "Am I really good at this?" This sub-plot also provided an Alice in Wonderland reference, when Jack was reading to Aaron.

But more interesting about the FF was the conversation with Hurley and the appearance of Christian Shephard. Obviously, Charlie has appeared to Hurley several times since the events of "The Beginning of the End". And he seems to be working in concert with Christian. But more on that in a minute.

There was a "No Smoking" sign in the cell where Hurley saw the vision of Charley in "TBOTE". After Jack saw Christian, he explained his actions by saying the smoke detector was malfunctioning. These would seem to be references to the smoke monster, and would seem to lend credence to the theory that Smokey is behind the "manifestations", a theory to which I have always been lukewarm.

But I'm not sure that it matters. Smokey and the manifestations/apparitions are both acting on behalf of the island, or may even be "limbs" of the island, and that connection is probably the important thing. But it does remind me that Locke saw something different once. Maybe it's only the Smoke Monster when it's in revenge mode (or recon mode). Questions about parallels to Christian and/or Hindu trinities also reemerge.

But back to Christian. He's becoming more and more significant. To recap recent appearances, we saw him sitting in Jacob's cabin during Hurley's encounter in "TBOTE", and for those of us who watched the mobisodes, we saw him instruct Vincent to wake up Jack, saying, "He's got work to do." This would have taken place immediately before the first scene in the pilot episode.

So the question is, are ghost-Christian and ghost-Charlie at all themselves? Or are they just Smokey appearing to individuals in the most persuasive form? Christian refers to Jack as "my son" in the mobisode; what does Vincent care? Is this a clue?

But the biggest OMG moment for me was when Claire woke up to see Christian holding Aaron. This was a spooky scene, but it also I think provides an alternative to Claire dying. I for one never expected anything like that, so her death was the only way I could reconcile Aaron being with Kate. Now I can see another possibility, obviously.

Not that I have any idea why Christian took Claire and not Aaron, or why Claire let him. I would guess he's taking her to Jacob, but I don't know why.

More importantly, what does this have to do with the "raised by another" thread? Charlie's message to Jack is, "You're not supposed to raise him, Jack." But Kate is? The island seems responsible for separating Aaron and Claire. Why?

I suspect we'll learn more about this next week, and I can't wait. Before then I'll try to get a part two out, but until then let's hash!

The Shape of Things to Come, Part 2

OK, first off, I'm aware the last post was a little spacy. It was late at night, and I was tiredly trying to get something up. That's my excuse. I know, I had the whole weekend. What can I say?

Anyway, on to the rest of the discussion.

Let's take a minute to grieve for Alex. She was a sweet kid who helped out the Losties numerous times, and she had a horrible final hour.

This scene was high drama in the best LOST fashion, and Michael Emerson, as always, was sublime. If you didn't have sympathy for Ben before then (see last post), you must have felt something for him there. Even if he appeared to be acting recklessly and selfishly, he still obviously did not expect Keamy to actually shoot Alex. It clearly wounded and shocked him, and he apparently did have reason to believe she was safe, due to...

The Rules!! What are the rules? Why are there rules? Games have been a big theme in LOST, and chess lingo and Risk both make an appearance in this episode. Are Ben and Widmore playing a real life chess and/or Risk game? Is it Mob rules (no family members)? In this case, family seems to be the relevant rule, but are there more? Why can't Ben kill Widmore?

There are many rational reasons for their struggle over the island, especially Widmore's greed and desire to exploit the island, and Ben's desire to protect it (at least, that's how I'm leaning). I'm not sure how an actual "game" with agreed upon rules fits in with those motives. Is it Trading Places? Did they bet a dollar on whether or not a bunch of people "lost" in their lives could find redemption if brought to the island? Are they simply doing everything possible to win, short of (at least, previously) harming family members? I can't believe that the stakes are not more real than that. Besides, Ben doesn't appear to be trying to get people to redeem themselves; he's already made up his mind (or allowed Jacob to tell him) who's good or bad.

In Widmore's bedroom, Widmore says to Ben, "All you have, you took from me." Obviously, he means the island, its resources, the Dharma facilities, and whatever Ben has been able to gain with them. Of course, we've known of a Widmore/Hanso connection, but I believe this is the first relatively direct evidence we have that Widmore was ultimately the one against whom Ben rebelled in the Purge.

It's hard to reconcile the Widmore we know with the hippie/Dharmic do-goodism of the DeGroots, but what if Widmore somehow learned about the island from a history of the Black Rock, figured out the DeGroots knew how to find it, tracked down a descendant of Magnus Hanso (Alvar), had him set up a front company through which Widmore channeled the funds for the Dharma Initiative, with the ultimate goal of acquiring the island for himself? But he didn't count on immortal Black Rock survivors who would find a kinship in a young Dharma boy, who would steal the island out from under his nose? Crazy? Or is it so sane you just BLEW your mind?

But back to the rules. Ben's first action after his daughter is killed, preceded by the statement "he changed the rules" was to, apparently, release Smokey. It seems like it might have been prudent to do that earlier, and the fact that it took a deep, personal tragedy coupled with a feeling of betrayal to instigate this action leads me think that may have been against the rules also. But why? (Have you noticed how many of my sentences end in question marks?)

Of course, the very fact that he apparently at least had the means to summon the monster was a big reveal. Did he lie when Locke asked him what it was and he said he didn't know? Or does he really have no idea what it is, he just knows how to call it? The secret door has hieroglyphs (highlighted here) for which DocArzt has provided a translation. Here's the whole description on DarkUFO.

Well, even though there is so much more to talk about, I think I'm going to have to leave it there for now. Maybe I'll squeeze one more in before this week's episode.

Again, thanks for reading!

Namaste

The Shape of Things to Come

Wow. That was a jam-packed episode. It's taken a few days for me to assimilate it all, but I think I'm finally ready to unpack "The Shape of Things to Come". Let's give it a shot.

Of course, this episode was Ben-centric, and I think it gave us a lot more information about him more than the average episode reveals about its "flasher" (as in -forward, -back, etc...)

Much in the same way Darth Vader is the clear villain of the original Star Wars trilogy, but becomes the protagonist when viewed over all six films, so I think Ben will become more sympathetic and less villainous from here on out. (The comparison ends there, because (I believe) Ben actually has a cause which will likely turn out not just to be good, but essential. Anakin succumbed to evil, without a significant mitigator.)

Many LOST fans still regard him as evil, but I myself have never believed he was a pure villain. From the moment he first uttered the words, "We're the good guys", I figured there was something to that. He's obviously human (his possessiveness of Juliet, eg), but I believe he's on the right side, and Widmore is on the wrong side. TPTB will probably make a fool out of me, but that's my reading as of now.

Of Ben's many actions, interactions, and settings this epi, we may as well start with something that wasn't that big of a surprise. Namely that Ben is multi-lingual, and that he can kick ass! Seriously, did he not exhibit pwnage in the desert with the two Bedouins?

That was fun, but more important is how he got there. I don't think it's any stretch to say time-travel was involved, since he had to ask what year it was. The Dharma parka he was wearing had two notable aspects (other than the fact it didn't belong in the desert): it bore a specific logo as yet unseen, as well as the name Halliwax. Check it out. And here's a close up of the logo.

Now, for those of you who still haven't seen the Orchid film, now would be a good time to do so. I'll wait.

OK, so now we all know that (Edgar) Halliwax is the "name" of our favorite atmospheric lighting scientist (Marvin Candle, Mark Wickman, Edgar Halliwax...lolz) for the purposes of the Orchid Station's orientation film. And we also all now know that the Orchid has something to do with time travel. So.

What does this mean? When is he leaving for these trips? Is it close to current island time? My guess is, yes. Maybe this is part of what Jacob's instructions are to be? Too soon to tell, but we know he goes to 2005, a year and a month from the time of the plane crash. He's either going into the future from close to "CIT", or he's going into the past from a reasonably distant future point.

My money's on the former, because we've been told by Ms Hawkings as well as Faraday that you can't change the past. Of course TPTB's rules have been shown to be somewhat flexible. Nevertheless, I suspect we'll see the beginning of his journey before the season's out.

Questions like, "Why is he wearing Halliwax's jacket?", and, "Why did he wear a a parka at all for a trip to the Sahara?" are not readily answerable at this time, but it's worth remembering both the polar bear skeleton in Tunisia, and the Arctic station (or was it Antarctic?) from the end of season two. Did he detour through polar bear habitat? And what happened to his arm?

I think this portion of Ben's activities poses the most new questions; let's go nuts in the comment section! As for the rest, I had originally planned on a comprehensive single post, given my tardiness. But it's late and I have to work in the morning! So Alex, Sayid, Smokie and Widmore will have to wait until tomorrow. I promise I'll come through!

Thanks for wading through my ramble! Until tomorrow,

Namaste