Alan K. Henderson's Weblog

(Spoilers)

Par for the course, this episode opens more new questions than it answers. We now know for certain that Anthony Cooper is the one who conned Sawyer's parents. But why does Ben say that Locke brought Cooper to the island? I believe it is Ben's twisted logic; Locke wants to "join" the Others, so the Others are "forced" to test his loyalty. In truth, Locke never joins anybody, and the Others are psychopaths.

We also know where the outside world found the alleged wreckage of Flight 815 - waaaay off course at the bottom of a 4-mile trench near Bali. Evidently it is the major trench seen clearly on this map, paralleling Indonesia to its south (the green arrow points to Bali, as you probably guessed). Wreckage and bodies were found - but nobody said whether any specific bodies were identified. If the Bali wreckage is unretrievable, the apparent most likely explanation - DHARMA or somebody faked the crash - diving the Oceanic plane into an oceanic trench is a perfect cover-up. And why did the plane go off course? Maybe the official story is that it was hijacked by an Iraqi with ties to an Australian terror cell.

Cooper's delusion (I'm certain it's a delusion) that the island is Hell is understandable. He experiences an incredible accident at 70 mph (what, no Hurley number?), is taken into an ambulance, and the next thing he sees is Locke. That would definitely mess with his mind. It messed with ours.

I think that Sawyer has found more peace with Cooper than Locke has. Cooper was an easy distraction to keep Sawyer from facing himself, but that distraction is now gone. I don't think that Locke has ever really come to terms with the feelings of betrayal. Maybe this is a reason why Locke avoids joining anything. He'll trust Rousseau to walk away with a box of dynamite no questions asked, but he won't commit to a group.

It'll be fun to see what she plans to blow up.

We also know that Naomi was hired by Penny to find Desmond at a set of coordinates, and that after searching empty ocean the island "appeared out of nowhere." A helicopter can see a pretty big portion of Earth. How did the island get overlooked? How did the island's properties zap the helicopter, and not the other form(s) of transportation (the sub is the only one that's known) to and from the island? And how did Penny know that Desmond would be found where an electromagnetic anomaly would be located?

Sayid got the satellite phone to work, but static (evidently a product of the Swan hatch incident that wiped out even the Others' communication) prevents its use. Will he find a way around that obstacle? My first thought would be to build a simple catamaran from two hollowed-out logs and to get away from the island to get a better reception. But I would also build sturdy shelter after spending so many days on the island. Common sense is often not found on TV shows.

I am certain that Ben tricked Locke into stealing his tape recorder. There is no way that Ben could not know that Locke would have overheard part of that tape when he approached Ben's tent. I suspect that Juliet's mission is a ruse, and Juliet doesn't know it. But why? Is Ben setting her up to be discovered by the Lostaways, in some bizarre form of punishment? Or is he using her to feed false information to distract the Lostaways from his real plans? If the latter, then Richard Alpert must not be in on it; from his conversation with Locke he seems convinced that Ben is fixated on the fertility research. He wants the Others to focus on some other goal - but what?

Jack is an [insert multiple expletives] lousy diplomat. His campmates fear that he's given in to Stockholm Syndrome and is working for the others, and now he's just let Kate know that he and Juliet are keeping some secret - and they're keeping it to themselves for now. THIS IS NOT HOW TO MANAGE AN EXCEEDINGLY TENSE SITUATION, YOU IDIOT!!

I'm beginning to think that Vincent would make a better president than Jack.

Labels: Lost, Television