It's DOCTOR Linus

After nearly every episode, I say to myself, "WOW, that was my favorite episode." And after each, I proclaim my love for whichever character was featured most prominently. I am a fickle and changing girl, because that character changes from week to week. But this past episode brought my love affair with Lost, and indeed my love affair with a particular character, to a whole new level. That character, of course, is Ben Linus.

He is the man we love to hate and hate to love. He has been so deliciously bad, but has revealed soft parts of himself. He is flawed and in some ways broken. As are all of the people inhabiting the Lost world, but there are so many levels to his character. There is a reason Michael Emerson has been nominated for 10 awards for his work on Lost, including last year's Emmy WIN. He. Is. Awesome.

So we all knew that any episode featuring Ben would be nuanced and complicated, because that IS Ben, and "Dr. Linus" did not let us down.

So let's get sussing!

- How much did we love that sideways Ben was teaching his students about Elba? The tiny island where French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled. "It was on this island that everything changed," he says, "that everything finally became clear. But exile was not the worst of his punishment, it was the loss of power." Sound like the man in black to anyone? Or perhaps Ben himself?

- The loving sideways Ben and his father, there is genuine affection between the two. Makes me wonder about Ben's mother. Did she die during childbirth as she did in our familiar Lost world? A tragedy that led to the fractured relationship between father and son, and eventually to patricide. But very importantly, this is where the senior Linus reveals that they had been on the island, but left. Dharma and the island exist in this sideways world! Or at least they did. Do they still?

- Ben and Alex have a special relationship in sideways Lost, too. Contrary to his behavior on the island, sideways Ben abandons his personal ambitions for the sake of Alex. Did anyone have any doubt that he would do the right thing? I didn't. Okay, maybe for a second, but only a second.

- We're finally given a glimpse into Richard's existence. When he leads Jack and Hurley to the marooned ship, Black Rock, he says that after all the years he's been on the island, that was the first time he had been back to it. (Was that ship another era's Oceanic 815? And Richard a passenger?) He confides that he was "touched" by Jacob and given the "gift" of sustained life. However these days he's ready to be done with it, but the island won't let him die whether by his own hand or another's. As Jack so ably proved. Each of the candidates was touched by Jacob. Were they also given this gift?

- Miles. He's such a cool cat. I guffawed when he threw Ben's words right back at him as he tells everyone that Ben was the one that did the dastardly deed: "He was standing over Jacob's dead body with a bloody dagger, so yeah, I'm pretty sure." My favorite quote of the episode was from Miles, as it often is, "Why would I need your money? There are a couple of gimbonis* over there named Paolo and Nicki with $8 million in diamonds on top of them." Not in the teensiest, eensiest bit surprised to see Miles caressing a couple of sparklies after that line.

- The most emotional moment of the show: the showdown between Ben and Ilana. He's a man with nothing left to lose. Marooned on a tiny island. No friends, no power. (Napoleon?) He confesses his role in his daughter's death, because of Jacob. He gave up everything for Jacob. He begs Ilana to just let him leave, that he'll go to the only one that will have him, Locke. When she said "I'll have you," I teared up. Two people, both with their entire lives invested in Jacob, at rock bottom, finding common ground.

- Still a little weepy from the moment in the jungle, we're given the reunion on the beach. Shannon texted me "Michael Giacchino is a genius" and it is in scenes like this one, where his music plays so heavily on our emotions that you become aware of just how true those words are. He IS a genius.

- And of course, we couldn't possibly not mention the submarine that surfaces during this touching moment carrying a scheming Widmore. Theories on his agenda?

Can't wait until tomorrow night!

*I have no idea what this word is or how it is spelled. I have attempted to look it up with no success. However, I just couldn't omit it from the quote because its a fun word. It's also probably some sort of racial slur and offensive to jewel thieves everywhere. Don't shoot the messenger folks.

Sundown

Folks, I don't even know where to begin...
'cause this, as a reply to Ben's "There's still time to escape...":

"Not for me..."

Well, it scared the heebie-jeebies outta me.

Long have I loved our former Iraqi Republican Guard, our Ninja in the black wife beater. But it appears Mr. Kung Fu Fighting (as Cara texted to me during this episode--"Everybody was kung fu fighting...") is now kicking for the dark side.

Queue the Imperial March from Star Wars.

Rather than recap what I found to be a very confusing and mysterious episode, let's jump straight to the sussing, shall we?

*Dogen (God rest his soul) referred to Fake Locke as "evil incarnate."

Call me bonkers, but my definition of "evil incarnate" is Satan/The Devil/The Man Downstairs, whatever you wanna call him. Are we finally to believe/accept that the Man in Black/Fake Locke is the bad guy? That he's inherently evil? If so, what does this make Jacob?

Well, he's cute...but is he an angel? Truly good? The White Knight?

*Ahhh, Martin Keamy...

Don't hate me, but Kevin Durand (who portrays Keamy) has the sexiest voice ever. EVER!

Just as he did in the Season 4 finale, Sayid opens up his can of whup-ass on one Martin Keamy, leaving him deader than dirt. It seems that regardless of timeline, regardless of locale, Sayid is gonna have the last laugh, as far as Keamy's concerned.

But let's discuss...what does Keamy have to do with Jin in this timeline? Does he still work for Widmore? Why's he storing a Korean in a freezer? And didn't those eggs look delicious?

*Was I the only one who, upon seeing this scene, had a Buffalo Bill flashback?

"It puts the lotion in the basket!"

It's apparent that Claire has "done gone and lost her mind," as Shannon so succinctly put it in last week's recap of "Lighthouse." If the mangy hair and eerie crooning of "Catch A Falling Star" weren't enough to cement her position in the loony bin, the two things Claire yelled to Kate from the depths of the pit are more than enough to convince me that she's riding the crazy train: "I'm not the one who needs rescuing!" and "He's coming, Kate. He's coming, and you can't stop him."

*Dogen is now deader than a doornail, and Fake Locke is able to enter the temple...

But whyyyyyyyyyy? Or, better put...WHYYYYYYYYYYY? Was Dogen the only thing keeping the Man in Black out of the temple?

My 5+ years of being an uber fan of Lost have left me with somewhat of a swelled head. Like most hardcore Losties, I have a pretty good idea of where this journey is leading us. Yet now I'm hearing a hissing sound...and it's the sound of the air being let out of my head. Because, like Claire, I've done lost my mind over this episode.

I came thisclose to writing this post as:

"..."

It's literally how I felt the minute "Sundown" ended. Don't get me wrong, I loved this episode...as I usually love the Sayid-centric hours. But I'm stymied, y'all. Really and truly perplexed.

Hold me...

and by "hold me," I clearly mean I want HIM to hold me:

Commence with the discussing...shed light on this mystery-laden episode, please!

Lighthouse

I'm looking forward to reading the comments on this episode... because I thought "Lighthouse" was a great one. Maybe even the best Jack-centric episode (so far) of all six seasons.

As with the last post on "The Substitute", I'm just going to highlight my main thoughts/questions. I'm sure I've missed some things, but that's what all you Sussers are for, right?


Let's begin with the Alterna-Lost timeline:

• What is the deal with Jack not remembering when he had his appendix removed?!
  

(I also want to know about the cut on Jack's neck from "LA X: Part 1... remember when he went to the bathroom on the plane?)

I don't know what to make of this. After the first episode, I read somewhere that if you follow the original timeline of 815's crash, maybe the time Jack noticed the cut was about the time he was getting stitched up by Kate. However, if this is true... then the same can't be said about his appendix. In this Alterna-Lost timeline, it's been a few days since the plane landed. Juliet removed Jack's appendix much later in the original timeline.

Then again, we are dealing with time travel. So, who knows...

• Jack has a SON?!
  

This was the part where I had to pause and rewind the DVR... 'cause my first reaction was, "Wait... did that boy just say 'DAD'?!"

So now the obvious question: WHO IS DAVID'S MOM?

While watching the show last week, Lula had some interesting guesses... which included Libby and Shannon. Both of us agreed David's mom is probably not Sarah (Jack's ex-wife according to the original timeline).

The next day Lula and I chatted on the phone... and her new theory as to who could be the mystery mom is one I most agree with:

JULIET.

And Doc Jensen thinks so, too! From his "Lighthouse" recap (BTW, Doc's recaps should be required reading for every "LOST" fan):

BURNING QUESTION: Who's David's Mom? Who's the female participant in the creation of this inexplicably conceived Sideways child? Who's this phantom woman that Sideways Jack was once with and now isn't? Wouldn't if be totally ironic and fitting if she was the Sideways iteration of Lost's resident fertility doc/Jack dumpette, better known to us as Juliet? And you wanna know why she wasn't home last night? That's right, kids: Going dutch on coffee with new boyfriend Sawyer. (Your goosebumps? That's right, I did that.)


Anyone disagree to the theory that Juliet is David's mom?



Now for on the Island:

• I didn't notice this until my 2nd viewing of this episode... but Jacob poured something into the Temple's spring... what was it and why?
  

• Still wondering about the identities of "Adam & Eve"
  

Of course, Hurley (in the way only Hurley can) theorizes maybe the skeletons are one of the original 815 survivors. My sister thinks "Adam" and "Eve" are going to turn out to be Kate and Sawyer... the two people who are "meant to be alone" end up dying together. Hmmmm...

• Claire has done lost her mind.

I can't be the only one who shuddered at the sight of this:

GAH.

Out of all the scenes with Claire and Jin... here's what I noticed most:

Her "friend". Since the MIB has only been inhabiting Locke's body (or whatever you want to call it) for a few days, and Claire has been living in the jungle for the past 3 years,

• Who does Claire "see" when she looks at her "friend"?
  

Could it be Christian? Or...?


So, what say you, Sussers? What are your thoughts and theories about this episode?

The Substitute

The beauty of contributing to a Lost blog is being able to write about a show in which we're completely impassioned. The beast of contributing to a Lost blog is being so flummoxed in regard to a particular episode that, despite our best efforts and intentions, a general recap sometimes falls short.

Such is the case with last week's The Substitute.

Having watched Lost from the very beginning, and having seen each episode twice (at least), I say with certainty...The Substitute ranks in my top five favorite episodes of the past five years. It's generally a given that any Locke-centric hour will be exemplary. Season 1's brilliant Walkabout, in which we gather that prior to flight 815, John Locke was confined to a wheelchair. (That show closing image of his chair, illuminated by the fire on the beach? Genius.) Or how 'bout Season 3's The Man from Tallahassee, when we learned the reason for Locke's wheelchair captivity:

Like most, I gasped loudly upon seeing Anthony Cooper shove his son out of the window.

But as delicious as Locke-based episodes are, they're also rather difficult to digest. While watching The Substitute, three points plagued me:

1. The "reveal" of the numbers.

More specifically, that "Shephard" (Jack? Christian? Claire?) was written next to "23."

Um...23...seriously?

Psalm 23? "The Lord is my shepherd."

It's honestly the very first thought I had upon seeing that name & number together.

(I'm a Bible college graduate--work with me here!)

2. "Jacob's" ladder.

Both the Biblical reference (Genesis 28)

and the song by Huey Lewis,

which I sang all night long after seeing this scene.

(Also...I was relieved Sawyer didn't plummet to his death. Whew!)

In the Bible, Jacob's ladder represents the ladder between Heaven and earth,

It has also been interpreted by scholars to be

the manner in which angels descended Heaven for earth.

Angels. Heaven. Earth. Good. Evil. White. Black.

See how my mind works?

3. In Locke's alterna-timeline, he is actually with his lady love.

Helen (yay, it's Helen!) was wearing a t-shirt which read "Peace & Karma."

Peace and karma, people.

I immediately texted Cara with, "Her shirt reads 'karma!'"

Cara's reply? "Awesome."

Awesome, indeed.

With these three bullet points--the number 23, the ladder, and karma--I attempted to suss out their underlying meanings. The spiritual aspect? Mythological? Relevance to our story?

This is Lost, y'all. Nothing is coincidence, and everything is steeped in myth, literature, psychology, religion, and pathos.

This morning the great Doc Jensen, of Entertainment Weekly, and the world's greatest Lost susser (in my estimation, at least) posted part two of his thoughts on The Substitute. He mentioned Huey Lewis, and I started singing again..."Step by step, rung by rung..." He also mentioned Severus Snape, my most favorite character from the Harry Potter series. And I had a "VOILA!" moment.

I highly recommend you taking a few minutes--ok, 20--to read Jensen's post. It's available here.

Honestly, I found myself nodding along, muttering, "whoa!' and "dude--he's a genius," while reading.

Also, let's discuss a few particulars of The Substitute:

Why is James "Sawyer" Ford

so smokin' hot in plain ol', Dharma-issued boxers & a wife beater?

Buzzed on Dharma whiskey, no less.

Have mercy!

Why is Ilana scrounging around Jacob's ashes?

The following day (February 17) was Ash Wednesday, in our 2010 timeline.

I'm certain that was a rare coincidence, but still.

What is the significance of the ashes?

Creepy Child Alert, Creepy Child Alert!

Creepy Child Alert, Creepy Child Alert!

(The Shining has ruined me forever. Creepy kids. Yeesh.)

Back to our show...

who was the creepy, blood-covered child? I've read many theories, including Jacob (reborn?), Aaron (aged), and Sawyer (???). Creepy child warns Flocke (Fake Locke, that is), "You know the rules, you can't kill him..."

Say whaaaaat? Can't kill whom? Jacob? Richard? Sawyer? Vincent?

Where is that dog? And Rose and Bernard, for that matter? '

Let's discuss. What jumped out at you while watching this episode? Did you love it as much as me? Are you satisfied with Flocke's "explanation" of the numbers? (I'm not.) Why was Kate's name not visible on Jacob's cave wall? Do you want to see Sawyer in his skivvies again? (Please. Of course you do.)

Homework before tonight's episode: seriously, go read Doc Jensen's brilliance.

That is all.

Wait...

that is not all.

I forgot to mention my most favorite moment of this episode:

Mr. Ben Linus, teacher of European history.

Best. Ever.

What Kate Does

At the heart of Lost has always been a focus on cause and effect, actions and their consequences. Each of the Losties made a series of choices that led them to the island. To a man, they are deeply flawed individuals. Most are self-inflicted, like Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Some seem to be on the bad side of fate, like Locke and his loser of a daddy or Rose and her cancer. But they are all people with scars.

In this episode, we spend time both on the island and off, following two very different paths. But as so often happens, all roads lead to the same place and we see the same people irresistibly drawn together in the alternate timeline. Cause and effect.

The Island

The show opens with Spectacles shuffling down the hallway, paranoid and harried. He rushes into a room and says with great import: He's ALIVE.

Who else could he be talking about, but Sayid, who is back from the dead after a not-so-refreshing dip in the temple spring. Now Sayid may be back, but he is more confused by what's going on than the rest of us. Hurley explains in his usually succinct way, we been captured by the Others...again.

But the Others aren't through with Sayid. Not by a long shot. They ask him to come with them, they have a few questions for him. Jack, who just can't let anything happen without sticking that nose in, says no. A scuffle ensues and a shot rings out. Everyone freezes and we see Sawyer. "I don't care what you do with any of these guys, but I'm leaving," he says. Dogen (formerly known as Mr. Miyagi) tells him he has to stay (implying that our Losties must stay together?), to which Sawyer says, "No, I don't" and sets off into the jungle.

After he leaves, Kate offers to track him down and bring him back. As she and Jin are getting their stuff together, Jack and Kate have a moment as she is turning to go where he grabs her arm and looks down into her eyes and tells her to be careful. I thought he was going to kiss her. Wanted him to. But no. Will these two star-crossed lovers get back together? I know there is a strong anti-Jack and Kate sentiment, but I always liked the two of them together.

Remember when I said the Others weren't done with Sayid, well, here's where that gets ugly. It seems that "just a few questions" actually means "shoot electricity through your body" and "stick a red hot poker on your chest."

When Jack sees Sayid's condition, he storms in to see Dogen, where he demands to know what they did to Sayid. Dogen tells him, through Spectacles, that they were testing him and that the tests proved that he was "infected." Dogen tells Jack that he must get Sayid to take a pill he has just finished making. Doing so will give Jack a chance to redeem himself for all of the people who were hurt or killed trying to help him. Action/consequence at play.

When Jack walks back into the spring room, Miles and Hurley are quizzing Sayid about the afterlife: was there a white light, angels singing, dead relatives, are you a zombie? (Oh, how I love Miles and Hurley!) Jack asks them to leave, which they do, but not without protest, and then tells Sayid that he is supposed to get him to take the pill. Sayid says, "I don't know anything but who I trust, and if you want me to take that pill, I will."

Jack walks back into Dogen's room. He asks who he is. Dogen says he was "brought" to the island just like everyone else. Dogen asks about the pill and Jack says he didn't give it to him because he didn't know what was in it. You just have to trust me, Dogen says. "Trust?" Jack says, "Let's see where trust gets us" and tosses the pill into his mouth. Dogen dives for him, punching him in the stomach and doing a little Heimlich action, finally getting Jack to marf up the pill. "What was in that?" Jack rasps. The answer: Poison.

Meanwhile, Kate and Jin have been having quite the rumble in the jungle. After escaping from Aldo and Justin, the Others sent to keep an eye on them, Jin turns back for the temple and Kate continues on after Sawyer. She finds him in his old cabin in the other Other compound as he is tearing up floorboards in search of a box. A box which contains a small, black, velvet bag.

Kate and Sawyer sit on a dock, looking out over the water. Kate tries to apologize, to take the blame for Juliet's death, but Sawyer stops her. "It was my fault," he says, "We sat in this very spot and I talked her into staying because I didn't want to be alone. But I guess some of us are just meant to be alone." He pulls out an engagement ring and says, "I was going to ask her to marry me." And with that he stands up and throws it out into the water. As he walks away, he tells Kate that she can probably make it back to the temple by nightfall. Were you crying here. I was. Each of the three times I watched this episode.

Back in the temple, Dogen and Jack sit at a table sharing a cup of tea. Jack asks why they want to kill Sayid. "Because he has been claimed. There is a darkness growing within him and once it reaches his heart, everything that was once your friend will be gone." "How can you be sure?" Jack asks. "Because it happened to your sister." Dunh, dunh, dunh.

In the jungle, Jin is leaning over a stream to refill his canteen when he is attacked by Aldo and Justin. As he attempts to escape, his foot gets caught in a bear (um, hello, BEAR?!) trap. Just as things look terribly dire for our dear Jin, Aldo is thrown back by three shots to the chest. A moment later more shots ring out and Justin goes down, too. Wondering who his savior could be, Jin looks in the direction of the gunfire and sees crazy hair CLAIRE.

Alterna-Lost

At the airport, Kate brushes past Hurley and jumps into a cab with a customer…Claire! She orders the cabbie to go and he floors it, almost hitting poor Arzt, whose luggage is strewn all over the place just like, well... Poor Arzt.

From the back seat, Kate scans the crowd looking for Marshall Edward. She sees Jack standing on the sidewalk talking on the phone and makes a face. Like so many other situations in this alternate timeline, she seems to recognize him.

Once away from the airport, the cabbie takes off and a frazzled Kate dumps a sobbing Claire on the side of the road. Kate careens into a dingy garage. After a brief showdown at gunpoint, a mechanic, who clearly is no stranger to "bracelets," helps Kate extricate herself from them. For the bargain price of $200. He laughs ironically when she asks for a spot to change her clothes.

In the bathroom, she goes through Claire’s bag, no doubt looking for something to change into. No luck, it's a diaper bag. Underneath a picture of a very pregnant Claire, the bag is full of baby stuff.

Kate gets back on the road and finds Claire sitting at a bus stop. She offers her a ride to the home of the couple that are adopting her baby. As they approach the house, Claire asks Kate to come in with her. When they knock, a teary-eyed woman comes to the door. Clair identifies herself and Mrs. Baskim (the adoptive mommy-not-to-be) tells her that her husband (Who might this fellow be, pray tell? Methinks he might be someone we know!) just left her and that she wouldn’t be any good for the baby now. Kate says “this girl came all the way from Australia and you couldn’t call?” Claire starts screaming and says “ITS COMING!!”













At the hospital, Claire lies in a bed while Kate charges out in to the corridor looking for a doctor. Of the several that seem to be standing around, she steers toward one. As he turns around, we see it is ETHAN! Aka Dr. Goodspeed. Is it just me or does he make you feel just a teensy bit uneasy about the quality of health care he is going to provide?

Ethan comes into the room and says that all signs point to her having a baby tout de suite. But Claire says she isn’t ready and just as Ethan orders a something-something medicine drip, the baby’s heart monitor flatlines. Ethan calls for an ultrasound saying that it is possible the baby just moved out of position, but Claire is freaking out, screaming “is Aaron okay??!!” (Aaron??) Ethan uses the ultrasound wand and shows that the baby is fine and says that Aaron (Again, Aaron??) is going to be a handful.

Claire is laying in the hospital bed looking at the sonogram picture (dated 10/22/04?) when two cops walk in asking for Joan Hart. Claire said she was just the cab driver and she had already left. The cops leave and Kate comes out of a storage room. Claire asks why they’re after her and Kate says "would you believe me if I said I was innocent?" “Yeah” Claire says.

When Kate compliments the name Aaron, Claire says "I don’t know why I said that, it was like I knew it." Kate tells her she should keep him and they wish each other luck.

They're all going to need it. Whew.

Okay, Sussers, what thought you of this ep?

LA X {Part 2}

Since I've procrastinated in getting the recap for hour 2 done (and a new episode airs tonight), I'm just going to hit the high points.

Well, the high points according to me. I've only been able to re-watch the 2nd hour in spurts, so I may have probably missed a thing or two.

But here we go! Starting with the events of the "flash sideways":

• Did anyone else notice Artz giving a weird look to Sayid, as the two of them waited for their luggage?
  

• I can't decide if this look is "This guy looks familiar, somehow" ...kind of how Jack was to Desmond on the plane. OR is Artz suspicious of Sayid being a terrorist, which is what Shannon accused Sayid of being on the original Flight 815. Hmmmm...

• Kate manages to escape from Marshall Edward (he has a name!), taking his gun in the process. Another interaction with Sawyer on an elevator... then she's outside trying to take Frogurt's cab but he's not having it. "There's a line!"

• With the Marshall hot on her heels, Kate jumps in the nearest cab and tells the driver to go. The cabbie tries telling Kate he already has a passenger, but she points the gun at him and we see the passenger is... CLAIRE!!!

• We don't see if Claire is preggers or not... if she is, do we assume she's in LA for the same reason she was on the original Flight 815? To give her baby up for adoption?
  

• Jack is called to Oceanic's courtesy desk... where he's told there's been a problem with his "cargo". Apparently the coffin containing Jack's dad never made it on the plane. Sounds to me like Christian was never meant to be buried. Again, hmmm...

• Jin is also having issues with his baggage. Apparently he didn't claim a big wad o' cash. (What's the deal with the watch, though? I don't remember it...) I did catch Sun being called "Miss Paik"... does this mean Sun and Jin are NOT married? And I do not like this Jin. At. All. What a jerk.
  

• The final scene in the airport involves another encounter between Jack and Locke. Both are filling out paperwork in an Oceanic office. Jack, because the airline lost his father's coffin (and his father). Locke because the airline lost his knives. (Again... I don't remember the significance of the knives...???). I admit I was tearing up right along with Jack, when Locke was explaining to him the airline just lost his "father's body".

• Jack tells Locke he's a spinal surgeon and asks what happened... only to be told by Locke that surgery can't fix him. Jack gives Locke his card and tells Locke, "Nothing is irreversible."
  

• Are we to believe this bit of advice, too? That somehow things in the past can be changed?

As for what happened on the island:

• Miles stays behind with Sawyer to help him bury Juliet, while Jin, Jack, Kate and Hurley take Sayid to the temple.
  

• Hurley is wearing a RED SHIRT!!!! NNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!

• After burying Juliet, Sawyer forces Miles to "listen" to her. What Juliet wanted to tell Sawyer before she died? "It worked."

• What we can assume from this is that somehow Juliet (or her conscious?) was able to see the "flash sideways" and that Flight 815 doesn't crash on the island. Right?
  

• Jin, Hurley, Jack and Kate make it to the temple wall with Sayid. While making their way inside, Kate wanders off and then doesn't respond when Jack calls for her... why? I didn't catch the whispers the first time around but heard them when I re-watched. The gang is attacked by the "Others" and we get our first look at the actual Temple (of Doom?)...
  

• Meanwhile, back at the beach... Ben and MIB/Fake Locke are still inside the statue. MIB/Fake Locke tells Ben that the real Locke was confused when Ben killed him, and his last thoughts were "I don't understand." MIB also says Locke was the only one who realized how special the Island is, the only one who didn't want to go back to his pathetic pre-Island life. And how this is ironic... because MIB only wants to go "home".
  

• Just exactly where is "home"???
  

• We're back at the Temple... and so are Cindy and the children from Flight 815 are at the temple?! WTF?!
  

• The leader of the Others, Mr. Miyagi, gives the order to shoot Jack et al. But Hurley comes to the rescue, saying Jacob sent them and gave him the guitar case. I don't know what I was expecting to find in the case, but it certainly wasn't an ankh.
  

• Seeing the way these Others are dressed makes me wonder if this was the reason Tom and the "Others" who attacked the Losties wore fake beards and shabby clothes. To somehow blend in with these Temple "Others"???

• They take Sayid to the spring inside the Temple (where Miyagi and Hippie are stunned to see the water isn't clear). A few of the Others hold an unconscious Sayid in the muddied water, where he apparently drowns.

• Sawyer and Miles have been captured by the Others and brought to the Temple... Hippie takes Hurley to have a talk with Mr. Miyagi. It's here where Hurley drops the bomb that Jacob is dead... and all heck breaks loose. Miyagi and Hippie are yelling for everyone to "get to your posts! ring the bell! prepare the ash!" They also set off a flare...
  

• Which is seen by Richard. And he looks pretty freaked out. I wish I could find a screencap of this look, because it's awesome.

• Also awesome are the reactions when MIB/Fake Locke comes walking out from the statue.
  

• Lapidus: "I'm seeing it. But I'm still not believing it."

• MIB confronts Richard, saying it's nice to see him out of those chains. Could this mean Richard was a slave on the Black Rock? Richard obviously knows who MIB is. MIB knocks Richard out, hoists him onto his shoulder and shouts that he's "very disappointed with all of you," then walks right past the real John Locke's body.
  

• The final scene of the final season premiere happens back at the Temple. Hippie asks to speak to Jack in private, but Jack argues and starts to fight with a few Others. The fighting abruptly stops when everyone sees Sayid sit up! A confused Sayid asks, "What happened?" (And let me tell you, he wasn't the only one confused.)
  

So what did you think of the 2nd hour? Where is "home" to the MIB? What did you think the guitar case was holding? Do you think Jacob is now inhabiting Sayid's body? Any other thoughts? Suss it out!