I think the producers play a lot with time. Part of me thinks that we are not seeing everything in a sequential order and we won’t know what certain parts mean until the episodes unfold.

lost in brooklyn - I think Ben is evil too - but may not be as evil as Locke.

I wonder if we are done with the flashbacks…there are still some things that I would like to find out about the Lost guys….

tvscifi — where do you get your “timeline” from? Curious… that would be quite cool (and deviously subtle) to have that happen while Miles was in the house.

The more this show progresses the more I stop trying to come up with a single elegant explanation. I think in order to tie all these threads together it will take a lot of work. Now I just enjoy the ride. I look at this like a jigsaw puzzle… at first you can’t tell how the pieces will go together. Then as more and more come together you see larger pieces of the big pictures but it’s incomplete. And then the last fragments come together. We’ve been given a lof of conclusions but still have another 40% (more or less) of the puzzle to put together. I doubt there will be a single “aha!” moment at show’s end but rather a gradual crescendo and satisfying conclusion befoe that sad and final THUD.

Very strange!

I was musing over Hurley for the past couple of weeks, especially in regard to a few of the points you bring up. Before the crash, it seemed (and please correct me, fellow readers if I am mistaken) that he was the only one who had any dealings directly with the numbers before the crash; You mention him being sent back to inform the rest of the losties about the fates of Jack, Kate and Sawyer (listed in no preferential order, btw… I prefer Kate ;); In the flash forward from Beginning of the End, he seems the focal point as to the future and/or past of the island and its inhabitants (be they losties or now the freighters, freighties, freightoids, etc), through visits from Abaddon, Charlie and Jack. Back to previous episodes, he’s delivering the food from the plane, he was (as you point out) in charge of the manifest, and he was also driving the R. Workman van, which is a delivery vehicle, at heart. My point is that he seems to be some sort of messenger, either through his own mind’s creation, or tasked by outside (i.e. Island et al) forces. I didn’t know where to take my mind from that point (thinking hurts, sometimes), but just wanted to get that out there.

That’s all I got for now, aside from another Star Wars reference in season 1 (yep, I’m re-watching them!), when Jack helps Shannon control her asthma, Hurley gives him props with the “Jedi Mind Trick” comment…

Cheers!

On that note, I will admit, I am a little disappointed that it appears we will be having another season of losties splitting into factions and others chasing others and still more others being thrown into the mix on the island. I’d love to see more off island stuff but I’m sure we’ll get little glimpses here and there. And though it would be signalling the end (in a way) I’d still like to see some resolutions to mysteries that don’t create more mysteries. Sigh.

Was I the only one who nearly flipped out because it looked for just one minute like the show was going down the purgatory path? Thankfully, the drunk pilot saved the day by realizing the wreckage couldn’t possibly be real.

I agree with the theories that the new guys are somehow Dharma related (maybe their parents were Dharma people who ended up in a mass grave? Could that explain Daniel’s emotional reaction to the footage of the underwater wreckage? Still not sure how that is connected. It definitely explains why they’d want to get Ben.), but I also think the freighter has something to do with Penny’s father (thus, the Desmond connection).

I’m not crazy about Miles, though he has some good lines. I think he is there to research why Ben’s not so BFF, Richard Alpert, is like 756 years old and doesn’t look a day over 37 (are he and his kind ghosts?). Also, he had a hand in killing the Dharma people, so it fits.

Ben is evil, always will be, though it’s hard not to feel a little sorry for him when in nearly every episode the poor guy is tied to a tree and beaten bloody or having his kidney sac sliced. He definitely has some bad Karma. I think the new guys are good and I hope Locke doesn’t kill them. Oh, which reminds me, one more point on Locke (who I have no love for) did anyone else wonder how a man who is, supposedly, so good hearted he couldn’t kill the man that stole his kidney, abandoned him and pushed him out of a 40 story window, had no problem offing Naomi? We’ll see. Can’t wait for thursday.

I saw the Hurley “no, don’t do it bro” look he gave Sawyer as well….Hurley has tried to make sure Sawyer was respected by the group when Jack isn’t around because he looks out for Sawyer…I think it may have been because they are friends…but you are right that it could have been more.

Did anyone mention how cool it was when Jack pulled one of the oldest tricks in the Other’s book out and used it on the frieghties when they were pointing the hidden guns at them? …..awesome.

This may well have been brought up before, but I’ve been thinking about The Island. Is it basically a giant magnet that attracts people for its own purposes? And when people leave it, there’s a huge price to pay, as you’d imagine there would be for any entity that tried to pull itself away from such a powerful force. This could ostensibly explain why pregnant women don’t do well on the island– maybe the island has its own reasons for not wanting to perpetuate human life. I guess that wouldn’t exactly explain the healings that go on, but maybe someone has a thought on that too!

Ryan and Jen– I’m a newbie to your podcasts, but am enjoying them tremendously! Thanks for helping us make some sense of this magical mystery tour!

First off, I know when he mentions the cabin being the other way than Locke was leading them, a lot of people think Locke is simply surprised that Hurley knows about the cabin. But my first thought was that Locke looked back and asked “What’s that, Hurley?” in much the same way that a parent might ask a question in one of those “What was that, young man?” style tones, cautioning him not to say more, most likely to keep it from Ben. This ties in with my thinking that it was indeed Locke in the window (from episode 4.1), and I’m not sure at what point we join his and Hurley’s ensuing campfire conversation, and thus what was already said between them. I could be wrong…

The other little thing I noticed was in the scene when Sawyer is getting medieval on Ben for the first time, right after Locke tells him (something like) “oh, go ahead, execute him in front of his daughter,” Sawyer looks at Hurley, who gives a quick shake of his head “no,” as if advising Sawyer on what to do. I didn’t know what to make of it, was just curious if anyone else noticed…maybe nothing, maybe something. Gotta love this show.

Welcome back Ryan & Jen!

Steve-I think Naomi was interested in keeping Kate calm and unsuspecting. If Naomi had told her Freighter friends that she was in trouble, then Kate would have sounded the alarm that the rescuers were hostile and to be on the alert. But when Naomi seemed to “cover” for the Losties, Kate let her guard down and that gave an advantage to the rescuers.

Miles reminds me of a more angry Sawyer: he likes nicknames (calling Jack “handsome” and Daniel “genius”), he is sarcastic, suspicious and snarky, and he is somewhat of a con man. Hmmm….

I dont know if that can help you but Ben said the last name of Miles its Miles Straume !! sound like maelstrom no ??

I was most intrigued by Miles. On the island, he seems to be such a kick-ass guy making threats and leading the New-Others; but in the flashback he is just a crooked psychic taking advantage of others. Most importantly, why didn’t he want the Losties to know his lastname?”

Could his last name be Candle? Or Waxman, Or Wick? Still seems odd he didn’t want Jack to hear his last name. Maybe he is afraid Jack will be able to track him down in the future.

Just weird I would see that the day after this episode

NOW GET BACK IN THERE AND WRITE EPISODES 9-16!!!!

Sorry, I’m just fired up again about Lost. ;^)

Does anyone else get a kick out of Dong (Rhyme with Plong) being on the island? If only they could find a ka-ra-o-ke machine. “I wish that I had Jesse’s girl!”

Since I can’t remember… did Naomi mention Penny’s name before Desmond (or anyone else) did, or did Desmond give it away to her first?

Just one random thought …

Awesome start to the season. I’ve been on the edge of my seat through these two!

/danno

When I saw the Star Wars connection, I thought about this little tidbit of information.

My vote for the mole on the fraighter: Micheal.

I bet Ben knew the fraighter was coming and sent Micheal in a boat to meet it. Micheal worked out some deal with Ben to pass information back to Ben when the ship approached the Island.

I’m started to be on Team Ben. As manipulative as he is…perhaps he is not as evil as the Newbies (or the people behind the Newbies).

in the scene where Miles is holding Jack at gunpoint and revealing that Naomi’s sister is really code for “something’s wrong”, Miles very pointedly and snarkily said that Jack, being in a dangerous situation, would be correct to say “Tell my sister I love her.” Was Miles teasing us by hinting that he knows Jack has a sister? It seemed like an odd thing to say at the time, but I think he knows about Clair.

In the scene where the helicopter is going down and they are all scrambling to jump, you can hear Charlotte saying something about her vest “where’s my vest!” Curious that she seems to be the only one wearing a bullet proof vest and that she will actually need it very soon….hmmm. Did she know that Ben would shoot her and came prepared?

When Abbadon and Naomi are discussing the mission, he tells her that she is responsible for getting the team in and out and making sure NO ONE DIES! Neither Abbadon or Naomi seem to have much love for the team nor would they shed a tear at their funerals in the “real world”. But dying on the island is not like dying anywhere else and could create complications for Abbadon and those he may be working for.

Good catch on “The Magician’s Nephew” everyone. I have suspected that they may not be anywhere “normal” in the sense that it actually can be pinpointed on a map. It is “somewhere” but it’s like magic or paranormal or super techie science. This was further reinforced when Daniel started talking about the light not breaking just right and from the way his neck was swiveling when he first arrived on the island.

Whew…guess I’m being a backseat driver, but I can’t help it!

I was thinking that maybe because the cabin can apparently move around that the ring around ben’s cabin was to keep it in one place. Maybe each person, in fact, has their own cabin and their own ‘Jacob’ …..my head hurts…awesome…

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet–I think Locke knows EXACTLY what Smokey is and was testing Ben. When Ben couldn’t answer, Locke knew he didn’t know as much as he says he does. But I was fascinated that Ben knows all about the ship. Yes, could be Michael. And I also love the “Tall Walt.” I’m so happy that Lost is not letting me down.

And good call to all of you for figuring out the name references!! Love it.

My favorite name in this episode was Sawyer’s latest nickname for Locke: Col Kurtz. It rings too true. In looks, leadership and disputable sanity.

Tunisia is where George Lucas filmed much of the desert scenes for all six Star Wars movies. Most notably, Tatooine. Unless I am mistaken, I think it was just an homage that they chose Tunisia, and it wouldn’t be the first. If you explore lostpedia, there are lots of fun Star Wars references throughout the series. Even one of the pictures of a character from the Find 815 Lost Experience is a cheesy photoshop combining the faces of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

Those wacky writers…

I liked the “Close Encounters” feel of how the four newcomers were drawn to the island. I kept waiting for someone to play with their mashed potatoes, draw a polar bear, and say “This means something. This is important.” I also appreciated the nod to Star Wars by finding the polar bear in Tunisia. Brilliant episode!

A Dharma polar bear in Tunisia? Locke’s dad on the island? A magic box? Many have suggested time travel and I’m sure some have suggested teleportation…which is what I’m thinking. Perhaps Ben’s magic box is something that allows instantaneous travel off of the island to different locations. This could explain the polar bear and the kidney thief. It also makes it entirely possible that Juliet was never transported on the island in the submarine. Instead she took the sleeping pills and they transported her through the magic box and then put her on the sub and woke her up.

Any thoughts?

Best line of the night was Sawyer saying something about taking direction from Tall Walt.

And I am loving this Abbadon character.
More to come eventually I am still gathering some thoughts

Spoiler*******

After seeing the scene where Miles goes into the kid’s room, turns on that machine and talks to his “ghost”, I give up….I am getting out of the driver’s seat of the theory-mobile…I’m not even going to try to ride shotgun…heck, I’m getting in the backseat. I just cannot predict where this show may be going next!!! Then when Ben started spouting off all that info…..I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest!!! Bravo Lost writing team! Bravo! Bravo!

OH! and did you see the look on Ben’s face when Hurley mentioned the cabin?!

And welcome back to audio-podcasting! You’re great!!!

I agree with Bill…in part. I also think Michael is the man on the boat. (Notice he was in the in the opening credits, but not in the episode?) However, I don’t think Ben is controlling Locke through Walt. We knew Locke and Walt had a special connection from day 1.

This was one of the best LOST episodes I have ever watched. When Locke said that Walt was taller…I think that was the best line of the entire series. And then of all questions to ask, he asked “What is the monster?” Brilliant!

I didn’t think I’d like the addition of the new characters, but thanks to their individual stories, I am VERY interested in them now.