Yeah, but after a couple of times early on in the 3rd season, I stopped. Love the show too much to let me be the one who spoils it for myself.

I'm always about a day behind. I watch on iTunes as I don't own a TV. I just stay out of the threads until I'm current.

I'm a day behind as well. I download the episodes a few hours after they've aired so I can watch them between classes on Thursdays.

-Tamerlain

I don't watch the show on TV either. I download it the day after and watch it commercial free.

Okay, so did anyone recognize the Helicopter Pilot?

No.

But if you recorded the episode, go back and freeze it on the photo on the monk's desk when Desmond turns in his robe. It's a snapshot of the monk standing next to Debbie Reynolds, who figured prominently in Desmond's first flashbacks with Penny several weeks ago but I can't remember how.

I didn't catch who was in the photo, but I knew it was something we needed to see. Wasn't the ex's brother in another flash back as well? He looked familiar.

I caught that too. In the flashbacks, she knew that Desmond was able to see the future. Basically, she told him it was important that he let what he sees happen, because it will happen anyway (underscoring the fact that Desmond has saved Charlie's life 3 times [4 after this episode] but he will likely end up dying anyway).

As well as finding it incredibly sexy, I find it odd that Kate is still wearing thong underwear... 60+ days into their stay on the island. But I guess when you crash land your wardrobe would be pretty limited.

I've enjoyed the last few episodes; I think the writers are building up to what is (hopefully) going to be a good season finale.

-Tamerlain

I thought the girl in the photo was the "sheriff" of the others. Am I wrong about that?

She's the woman who Des tries to buy the wedding ring from, the jewlery shop owner, who knows what he can see from the first "Desmond Flashback" episode.

er, from the Lost universe or from other tv/movies she's in? She is a new character, right?

Now, would the pilot have been Penny had Desmond let Charlie die?

That's clearly what Des thinks.

It's not possible that the pilot would have been Penny had Desmond let Charlie die. The pilot was already on the island and hanging from the tree by the time we get to the scene where Charlie is "supposed" to die. Whether or not Charlie lives or dies only influences what happens after that point. So, Charlie living or dying can only affect whether or not the pilot is alive or dead, which is why...

...I disagree with that. I think Desmond only regretted letting Charlie live when he thought the pilot was dead hanging from the tree. Now that the pilot is alive, he has nothing to regret since Charlie living or dying couldn't have influenced who the pilot was. Obviously, had the pilot been Penny and also been dead, Desmond would have been questioning his decision.

-Tamerlain

I'm thinking that the whole Juliet thing is a ploy to get Sun to go along with testing that they wanted to do on Claire but were unable to because she was rescued.

Ah, you're just not thinking like the Island. ;)

OK, so eyepatch came back to life. And we believe Jack's father came back to life. And Locke warned that things don't tend to stay buried on the island.

Let's just hope to God that Arntz doesn't come back.

*shiver*

Well, clearly not everyone who is dead stays dead and/or there are multiple levels of death and everyone who is there is dead and if you die again after you're dead you can't be reborn. Or something.

This episode was VERY confusing.

He could have been faking it i guess. He's pretty resourceful that way.

I liked the revelation at the end that Spoiler: fake plane wreckage was created to discourage a rescue.

Any cunning linguists out there who can confirm what the Helicopter Pilot was mumbling about when semi concious? I'm particularly curious about what Patchy translated as "Thank you for saving me."

I have to re-watch it. I *gasp* fell asleep during the show. I did catch the spoiler, that really puts a twist on things.

According to those on the internets, she said something to the effect of "I'm not alone / I'm not the only one" in Portugeuse. I don't know how accurate that is as I don't speak Portugeuse, but it seems the general consensus.

Fake plane wreckage and fake bodies? She said no survivors, right? That sort of implies they found bodies, doesn't it?

Nah they could have found the wreckage in the ocean meaning no survivors. You don't need bodies.

There are a few things that could be implied by the pilots statements. First it could mean that the wreckage was faked. Second it could mean that the they are really dead (the writers have apparently said this isn't true). Third they could have forked into some alternate dimension (like in Donnie Darko).

Here is one of my latest theories. There were multiple reasons Jack, Kate, and Sawyer were kidnapped. One was to get jack to do the surgery. Another was to create tension between Jack and Sawyer and have Sawyer and Kate hook up so she would get pregnant. I bet she is pregnant now.

Anybody get the feeling that they're making this up as they go along?

Heresy! You are so off the island!

When Juliet left the message for Ben, she said she still had to get Austin's sample...meaning, I take it, that Juliet assumes Kate is pregnant. I'm betting that the Others allowed Kate to get into Sawyer's cage because they were hoping she would get pregnant when they had sex. It's not like they didn't know it was happening, and since men are extra virile on the island, the chances would be even better than normal.

I read something by the writers somewhere that they have a general plot outline that they write by, but nothing concrete. So yes..in a way they are making it up as they go along.

Which is no different from how 90% of TV dramas work....

Forget the rest of the episode - what the hell did Rousseau need with dynamite?

Maybe she found a really BIG nest of bugs and she wants to blow them up before she eats them.

No, I can almost guarantee you it has something to do with rescuing Alex.

Or Rousseau has lost her mind to the point that she is going to kill everyone on the island. Or maybe break something open on the island for people on the outside to see where the island is located.

I hope someone gives Juliette a major beating.

I don't know why I'm the only person who really likes Juliette. I hope she's on the verge of a beat down and pulls out some shocker that leaves all the Losties speechless. Sure, they're less than straightforward and they're certainly not running a transparent operation, but I don't know why the Others have remained so vilified after everything we've learned about them. The Others have a problem-a fairly serious one at that and one which now affects at least two of the Losties. It seems like what Juliette is doing, even if it's in secret and at the behest of Ben, could be critical for the survival of Sun and Kate.

Either way, I think the Losties need to wake the hell up and get a grip on the fact that there's a buttload about the island that they don't understand and won't understand without the help of Ben and Juliette. I, for one, welcome our new Other overlords. :P >

I think Locke's waking up. The "Next Time On" looked like a MAJOR island-backstory reveal.

My Wednesdays are going to be dull after the next three episodes....

This was a great episode! I loved all the little nuances that were thrown in, all the little off comments that really make you think.

I know they want to be rescued, but why the hell are they still living on the beach? Now that they know (supposedly) that they are 'officially dead' and there are no search parties looking for them, why not move? There is a nicely abandoned housing complex, or the grotto with fresh water, and a couple of hatches with bathrooms.

Or maybe Rousseau is the key to this whole thing. She is the spider that is spinning the web and everyone else are just flies. The crazy thing is just an act. THAT would be a crazy plot twist for the final episode. Kaiser Soze would be proud of that one.

I bet Naomi was sent by Darma or Hanso... she has to be lying. I also hope Walt makes it back before the final ep this season.

Good point, MP. I guess the answer is that they haven't moved because they don't all know that they're officially dead. As long as the select few get the info and not all of them, it takes forever for information to trickle down the the rest of the Losties.

I hadn't thought that Kate might get pregnant. It's pretty obvious when you explain it, but I'm so out of the loop with this show I wouldn't even have figured that.

I wonder who that helicopter pilot is working for...

CNN says that Lost will run for 3 more seasons with a definite end date. There will be 48 more episodes aired at a rate of 16 per season ("uninterrupted," whatever that means).

What happens if the ratings totally tank after 30 episodes?

uninterrupted means that they will run concurrently, just like they have been for the previous weeks...no breaks in the action for holidays or anything like that.

Well, yeah, but 16 episodes isn't much of a season. The first two seasons were 24 episodes long. This second segment of the season alone is, IIRC, 16 episodes. So we're looking at pretty skimpy LOST output for those last couple years.

It'll be a total of 72 weeks of LOSTlessness over those two years, just to put it in perspective. TALK about coming back from an off-season ratings slump!

If they keep doing what they're doing now, the next few years will be full of Lost goodness and I don't know why ratings would tank.

Well doesn't that just piss all over all kinds of things we thought we understood. Hot damn.

I didn't even know what to say when this one ended. I started off REALLY disliking how Locke seemed to think he was all that after he basically had to trick Sawyer into doing his dirty work. The man who couldn't off the one man he hated more than anything suddenly turned around and became a badass at the beginning of this episode. I happen to really like Ben, so seeing Ben's authority undermined by Locke was not so much fun.

From there on out.....man, who even knows what happened. Spoiler: Jacob is almost too strange to really have much of a conversation on, which says nothing for why Richard has looked the same for 30 (give or take) years, what the course of the original Dharma v. Hostiles conflict was (and how uncannily similar it is to the Losties v. Others conflict), what a truly vindictive bastard Ben is and whether or not Locke will make it out alive.

My guess is that the island will revive Locke, simply because 1) it's already cured him once and 2) he seems like too pivotal a character to get rid of so quickly and easily. That would bode VERY poorly for Ben (I'm surprised Ben isn't more thorough about making sure he's dead, given what he knows about the island), and as each week passes I find myself liking Ben more and more, so I probably won't like it. Like him or no, I'm having a tough time seeing Ben make it out of this season in a position of authority and, frankly, I'm kind of wondering if he's going to make it out alive. The house of cards he's built seems to be on dangerous ground.

Phew, lots to digest tonight.

I have lots of wacky ideas this morning.

At first I was disappointed by Jacob. After all, I was expecting some massive big event, not a supernatural one. However, after thinking about it more, it seems more significant.

Ben is a Dharma kid. He happens to meet Richard (a young Richard? Was the dirt an attempt to hide how old he was by the TV crew?), and it seems the two have been working together for years, since it was Ben who let the Hostiles in to gas the Dharma people. I think that Richard is the other leader, the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, but no one else knows about it except for Ben. Jacob is a ruse that the two have cooked up to help maintain control over the others, and Ben was genuinely shocked when Locke heard Jacob speak. Is "Jacob" really the Island itself, and that's what Locke heard?

I think this episode may have given insight into the whole birth thing too. Given the nature of natives, one assumes that means people who are already living there and assumes having kids as well. Perhaps the descendants of a shipwreck like the Black Rock? Is the inability of Ben's people to have kids a punishment by the Island for their purge? What a fitting punishment, for someone whos own mother died during childbirth to watch the same event over and over and over. On a similar line...what happened to Annie? Did Ben save her from the purge? Is she the original Eve of the childbirth problem...did she die giving birth to Ben's baby?

As for Locke...I'm torn about whether he'll live or die. Given the mortality rate of gunshot victims on the Island, things don't look for him. However, if Jacob really is the Island and Locke really heard him, the Island might save him after all. I'm betting we won't find out until next season!

Lastly...I didn't catch what Mikhail said after Ben asked him if he wasn't supposed to be dead. Can someone enlighten me?

Now...feel free to punch holes in my ideas :)

I'm paraphrasing here, but Mikhail said that he was "fortunate that the security fence wasn't set to a lethal level". He was also fortunate that Kate is a lousy coroner.

As for the episode itself, my immediate reaction was "HOLY SHIAT! THAT IS SOME SERIOUSLY FUCKED UP SHIAT!" but in a satisfied way. :)

Ben first gassing his Dad, and then collaborating in the massacre of the entire Dharma village? Damn! Seeing the bodies lying around the compound was reminiscent of latent images from the Jonestown massacre, and I bet that was intentional. To see the mass grave and have Locke dying on top of it was absolutely chilling. He'll be back though in some form or another. That's a moment I'm looking forward to.

Jacob? Who knows? I think Medusa is right in that it represents the island, even if it does turn out to be man made. I wonder if he (it?) is related to the smoke monster. A far-out theory I have, is that the sand-like material running in a line outside his shack is actually the smoke monster at rest. The force that is Jacob manipulates it like a sort of Island God.

Good idea about the Black Rock Ship being the descendants of the Hostiles! :thumbsup: I think one of the revelations unfolding is that the conflict between the Lost and the Others is one that has repeated itself over and over again back through hundreds of years. Let's start with the inhabitants who built the giant statues and ruins that we've seen fragments of, who are then purged by the shipwrecked survivors of the Black Rock. The Black Rock survivors become the inhabitants who are then purged by..?..and so on and so on up until the Dharma group gets taken out by the Hostiles.

One other thing: The episode implied that the Dharma group really was just an altruistic bunch of researchers, at least through Ben's understanding, but I'm hoping we'll find out that there was more to their operations than what we saw in the flashback.

And just think - you only have to wait a measly three years to get the answers. I wish they hadn't told us that.

Wow, I was totally floored by this one. Ben is one fucked up dude. I did think the hostiles were the descendants of the ship wreck. But, as a few questions were answered, a few more were asked as usual. The black dirt, I expected some type of explosion, but the smoke monster at rest seems plausible. Locke will live, he can't be off the show yet. I just wonder what Sayid would figure out if he was there. And for Mikhail to be some old military guy, he sure went down pretty easy.

My more mundane thought about the line of black dirt was that is a ring drawn around the shack to keep superstitious intruders out. However, the possiblitity exists that it is actually functional as a barrier of some sort.

A theory I've seen thrown around is that the "hostiles" are the crew of the Black Rock. Richard was dressed a little pirate-like when Ben first sees him. It would alos explain why there were explosions when the hostiles attacked Dharma, because they were using their dynamite from the ship.

We know the island can prevent/reverse serious injury (and even perhaps death, under the right circumstances) so maybe it can also stop aging. Richard hasn't aged a day since he met Ben in the jungle and I don't think we can trump that up to bad/lazy makeup with Lost's budget. If it can stop aging, incidentally, it has a vested interest in preventing birth for population control purposes. I don't know how much intelligence we want to ascribe to the Island just yet, but it does seem to be selective and it does not seem to help everyone it could. We'll just have to see. Given all this, I can't explain why Ben has aged AND has back problem cured. I'm still trying to sort that out.

I do not think Jacob is a joke at all. I firmly think that if he's speaking to you, you can see him. Though, what "he" is is very much up for debate. I do not think Ben thought he was tricking Locke and then he was wrong and there actually happened to be a mystical thing there that controlled the wrong and whispered to Locke and showed up in the chair. I think it's entirely possible that Ben is somehow controlling Jacob against his will, hence the "Help me" to Locke. It's also possible that it was more a request that he join Jacob's "cause" whatever that may be.

Tons of food for thought, keep it coming.

Whatever Jacob is--and I've read some pretty far out there theories today--I think the dark line--which looked like volcanic ash--is holding him in that shack.

I agree with you in that it's Ben holding Jacob and calling the shots, which wasn't what Ben implied in his conversations with Locke, if I remember correctly. For that matter, I guess Jacob wasn't really talking to Ben at all, was he? I mean, he seemed genuinely surprised at the fact that Locke heard him as well as the fact that Jacob spoke.

Richard's lack of aging just seems one more drop in the time trickery theory bucket that the show keeps hinting at, but never fleshes out.

Why didnt Bens dad grab that canister and throw it. He could have thrown it a quarter mile. Maybe even hit the mountains.

I agree that the ring of black sand is probably holding Jacob inside the circle.

Obviously Ben baited Locke into coming up to the shack, and desperately wanted to hear what Jacob might say to him.

Richard's lack of aging is intriguing. Remember that he left the island to recruit Juliet, so if the island granted him anti-aging properties, these properties hold true in the outside world.

Am I the only person who didn't see the ring? I remember Locke looking at the sand and thinking, that looks like ash, but I just don't remember there being a ring of it.

Why does everyone thing the ash is holding back Jacob? What of the ash is part of Jacob's body when the spirit wants to travel around the island eliminating potential threats? Like, what if the black smoke mist monster is actually Jacob and Jacob is testing each person on the island to determine if they are actually worthy to be living on the island?

It went off into the underbrush in both directions. The implication was that it surrounded Jacob's shack.

I rewatched the episode tonight... In the shot right after Ben is thrown across the shack, the camera pans very quickly back over to the chair that Jacob is allegedly in and... there's a figure sitting in it. Fraction of a second shot, but once you see it, there's no doubt about it.

Yes, the delightful 11 frames of Jacob-y goodness that we got out of the deal.

For those of you who missed it, slow motion clippy goodness care of youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=479HkrFTZiI&eurl=

SO.. Ben sees his mom..
Jack sees his dad.
Kate sees her horse.
Mr. Echo sees his brother.
Boone's sister sees Walt (who is wet and speaks a different language)

Am i missing anyone?
These are all things the Island wants a person to see.. for some reason..
Anyone have any ideas?

Hurley saw the dude from the asylum with him.

The dude from the asylum is Hurley's second personality, which tried to convince Hurley the island and everyone on the island is part of his imagination.

Imaginary friends aren't too far afield from dead people. You aren't supposed to be seeing either one of them.

If the hostiles/others win again this season, I am going to assume all the Losties have low intelligence because they seem to be taken out quite quickly.

I wonder if Charlie is going to get killed by the women in the underground hatch or if he survives. I am not too happy how he expressed such joy so soon after getting on deck. You would think he would investigate the place first....oh well

I'm scratching my head over this one. I think I'll re-watch it.

So Jack's dad is alive after they get off the island?

If that was truly a "flash-forward", clearly a lot of stuff is going to go down.

I noticed that as well.

And who's funeral did Jack go to? When he was talking to Kate, I assumed it was Sawyer's, but then she told Jack that "he" would be waiting.

Definitely a noodle scratcher....and one fine season ender, for the most part. Going to have watch that one again, I think.

Maybe it was Ben's funeral.

could jack and kate be brother/sister and the funeral was a late one for his father???

Radioguy:

After the viewing, at the hospital Jack tells the new chief of surgery to go get his Dad and see who is more drunk. If that was Jack's father in the casket, he may be pickled, but I doubt he's drunk.

Folks, this was an AMAZING episode.

Hurley bailing down out of the trees in Papa Roger's minibus was just BEAUTIFUL.

The whole thing down in the Looking Glass (whose logo is a Dharma symbol with a bunny in the middle?) was totally intense and amazing--a LOST scene in its finest form. Charlie got a GREAT episode to go out on. We'll see him again in flashbacks, of course, but I know I'll miss him.

Hey, if the guy with the HARPOON in his chest survived, there's still lots of hope for Charlie. And after Naomi's miraculous recovery from a branch through the chest, what's a little pocketknife in the back?

Looking Glass? Rabbit? Hmmmm....

Mikhail is a very strange and unique little character. I think his ability to escape death is not something that anyone could really rely on, particularly Charlie. He's escaped two events that are pretty certainly seemed fatal. Though, I have to say, the instant I saw Mikhail go down in this one, I instantly thought of the scene from Army of Darkness where Ash says, "It's a trick. Get an ax." I think even the island would have a hard time trying to put that back together.

Overall, that was one hell of an episode. I'd certainly echo what RB said and here's to Charlie. I'm not TOTALLY sure why he picked that end, since I'm not sure it's what any of us envisioned when Desmond first prophesized his end, particularly with the realization that Naomi wasn't who she said she was, but I suppose he believes enough in the need to save Claire and Aaron that he was willing to make that sacrifice. Long hard wait ahead of us until next season. See you all then.

My current theory (and it could change in about twenty minutes) is that the "he" Kate is talking about is her young son. I'm putting the "flash forwards" at about 2010, when the show will end. The kid would be about six, right? (Plane crashes in 2004. Kate comes home, pregnant, around New Years of 2005. Sounds about right.)

My best hunch is that it was Sawyer in the casket. A dumpy funeral home in a bad part of town and nobody at the funeral. Jack is asked if he is friend or family and he says "neither", does that fit anyone else? (However, I really like the idea that it's Ben in the casket. Can you imagine him living in LA?)

The Jack's Dad thing is really giving me the heebie-jeebie's. Doesn't the body have to be embalmed to travel via commercial airline? Everytime we're seen him on the island, he's dressed in a suit. The whole "Jack's dad is now alive" thing has me leaning toward rip in the fabric of time/space, alternate universe theory, but that doesn't explain the weird healing properties of the island. Guess I'm just confused and geeked out. Good finale!:thumbsup:

I find it hard to rationalize Jack's dad actually being alive. I think it's more likely that Jack is talking about his dad like his is alive because Jack is in an irrational state of mind from not having his painkillers or from being drunk. Perhaps the new chief of surgery and others who were listening to him didn't want to correct him because they didn't want to exacerbate his rage. I just simply didn't get the sense from watching the episode last night that Jack's dad was alive.

Assuming that the "flash-forward" is a definite course of events, then Ben is a liar, but we already knew that. He told Jack that everyone on the island would die if contact to the boat was made, but that can't possibly be true. Claire and the baby are gonna get in the helicopter, this has to happen according to Desmond's vision.

Now I'm wondering if everything in the "flash-forward" episode will definitely happen (fate/destiny) or if there are events that can occur on the island yet that will change what happens in the future (free will).

And agreed, Mikhail is pretty hard-core. How do you survive both a sonic pulse and a spear to the chest, and still have the strength to swim out (in full scuba gear) and take out Charlie?? He's probably still alive.

I think Mikhail is becoming a kind of Anti-Locke, embodying the uh, Dark Side of the Island.

If it was a Kate-spawn, she reacted a bit weird to the idea of her going to the funeral, didn't she? If it was Sawyer (which, like I said, was my first guess) then who is the "he" she uses as an excuse to leave?

I don't know what the hell is going on....time to hit the forums and see what everybody else thinks, eh?

What about Michael?

That didn't really seem like a Sawyer church, if you know what I mean.

I understand the realities of filming schedules, but isn't it a little strange that in a couple of months of show-time, Walt looks to be years older? And was he with John when they rejoined the other survivors?

My brilliant bride pointed this out last night: When Locke had the gun on Jack and Jack was connecting to the boat, Locke said something to the effect of, "Jack, you weren't supposed to do that." As if Locke was shown by Walt how the present was supposed to play out and Jack fucked it up somehow.

Also, we were part of the 600 million Tivo owners who tried to freeze-frame on the newspaper article to see whose funeral it was, but we couldn't do it. We also tried to freeze on Kate's license plate at the end and couldn't make it out, although other websites are reporting it said LOKO695 (I don't know how in the hell they got that).

If you don't feel like bearing with me anymore, then skip to the next post. Otherwise, here I go off the deep end. I've heard the show's creators refer to Stephen King's inspiration before in previous interviews, and this episode reminded me of Kingdom Hospital. If you didn't see all of that (or forgot it), here's what I'm talking about.

Kingdom Hospital explored the space-time continuum paradox from the opposite viewpoint from normal. For example, in every sci-fi story where people alter space-time, they always fuck it up so that they return to a new present that is in terrible shape because of their thoughtlessness. However, Kingdom Hospital gave us a present time that was already seriously fucked up and bizarre and the show's characters went back in time to "set things right." They then returned to a new present that was perfectly normal and happy.

I now have no idea where I was going with that, but I don't feel like hitting delete after all that effort. My brain hurts.

I say it was Locke's funeral.

Locke's health is connected to the Island, so his death on the mainland represents a true and final break of that connection. Future Jack desparately wants to re-establish that connection to fix things, so that's why Locke's death is so devestating. The door has been closed for good and the magic is gone. He blames himself for not heeding Locke's warning at the Radio Tower.

Also, Locke is now a rogue lostie and killer with his own agenda, which would explain why nobody would go to his funeral. Furthermore, in the future it appears that Kate and the others have put the island behind them so they would naturally avoid Locke's potent connection.

EDIT:

Perhaps I'm overthinking it. Future Jack wants to go back to the island and Lock didn't want to leave the island but all the others didn't. The rest are avoiding the drunk and and kook so nobody but Jack at Locke's funeral.

It's going to be a long summer.

fresnelly, if you are correct, I suppose a substantial part of the next 3 seasons could deal with the Losties after rescue. I had never considered that possibility.

I dont think Locke would leave the island. He would have stayed.
That casket looked really small to me, I think it was a child in it.

Only in the future tense I bet, though there could be a prolonged "on-the-boat" storyline. There's still plenty of Island/Others lore to play out, and I'm hoping they're going to toy with alternate futures given how miserable Jack becomes.

Are we missing anyone's backstory? If not, I think we're going to get more flashforwards woven through as a convention instead. It could be a bit like Momento.

I'm thinking that next season the flashbacks will be between the time the Losties left the island and whatever "now" we're dealing with. When Jack goes to convince Hurley to go back to the island, we'll see what Hurley's been up to since he left. Just a guess.

I'm hoping Locke didn't leave the island. Once Jack gets his folks together and finds the island, I'm looking forward to seeing what's been going on there.

Here's a link to the best picture I've seen so far of the obituary.

Kingdom Hospital, eh, warr? You know, I wouldn't have made the connection myself, but now that you mention it..

I think there were several connections to other stories, I just can't think of them all. Jack in the future, he needs help. He wants to be the leader he was on the island, but never will be. Kate and most of the others have moved on, but I'm guessing it's Sawyer who she is getting back to. I have a feeling Charlie didn't die, so we'll see him again. Locke, whoa, he's serving his (or the island's) agenda.

I think it's ben's funeral He lied to everyone, his dad and mom are dead. I couldn't gather anything from that clipping. Oh well, on to more speculation.

Why didn't Charlie just leave the room then shut the door and seal it? That really didn't make sense to me at all.

If the boat was not Penny's then why did Naomi have a picture of Desmond? And how did Ben know she wasn't with Penny. I'm wondering if Ben somehow shot down Naomi's chopper.

Also we know the future is not fixed but fate is. Desmond has been able to change the future for Charlie many times but Charlie had a fate that he had to follow. The question now is were the losties fated for the island.

The picture of the clipping looked like "The body of Jo.." to me...so perhaps it is Locke's funeral. Jack certainly isn't a friend or relative of Locke's, and Locke doesnt have any family left (that we know of)

Rekna, I wondered the same thing about Charlie shutting the door.

So, did Mikhail blow himself up with the grenade? Is he still alive?

Lots of mysteries for next season.

One item not mentioned - was I the only one sorry to see Tom knocked off? I thought the character of Tom was one of the best in the show - he had a inner loyalty conflict that made him one of the more facinating 'others'.

With some of Ben's main compatriots being axed, I think we'll see a shift from the others being the main threat. If that is the case, it will be interesting to see how Ben and the others interact with the castaways.

If it were any other mortal on the earth, I'd say he'd float to the top like an M-80'd fish, but this is the guy who pulled the pin right after being HARPOONED in the chest. Sheesh.

I was sad to see Tom shot. I felt that he had good qualities and was very loyal but was loyal to the wrong person.

What was up with Kate's face at the end? I didn't even recognize her.

I think she was wearing make up. And she was quite hittable.

Season 4 starts January 2008, so we can bust out as many theories as possible until then.

This is probably the best season finale of Lost ever.

Definitely. It was satisfying in a way neither of the last two season finales were.

Yeah, it's like on Survivor when you see the contestants at the reunion so chubby and coiffed that you barely recognize them.

Oddly enough, I found Future-Kate less attractive.

If I may engage in some more wild speculation :D, I think with the Others now diminished and a new organization being introduced via the boat (possibly the Others' parent corporation) I think the Lost will assume the role of protecting the island, or at least competing for its secrets.

What's the name of the latin Other who recruited young Ben in to the Hostiles? I know him only as the photographer from Suddenly Susan. I suspect he has a direct line back to the mainland company (Mittleso Foundation - the reshaped Hanso Foundation) and his role will become dominant as Ben begins to loses face.

I agree with the outside / inside argument. One other thought though: I would think the water would only rise to the level of the porthole. Couldn't Desmond swim around with the scuba gear and then hand it to Charlie? I have to think there was a way to get him out of there. I can fit through the dog door at my house that is a hell of a lot smaller than that portal was.

If the room was really sealed, the water would only rise to the porthole, it's possible that the air was pushed into another, inaccessible part of the room.

of course charlie could have gotten out, but he knew that if he survived, then claire and the baby wouldn't. it's that simple. i don't think that we can analyze why he didn't leave. he didn't have a choice. if he survived, they wouldn't get off the island. charlie was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice of giving his life for the safety of the others he loves

The water acted correctly; it would have filled the room and the air would have just been compressed. There would have been a small pocket of air left somewhere, but with 40' (?) of water above, it would have come rushing in, although at a much higher rate than on the show. I'll forgive that kind of indiscretion, though. Remember, air compresses; water doesn't.

Could he have fit through the porthole? Possibly. Could Desmond gotten there with scuba equipment in time? Probably not.

I think that the point is that Charlie just sort of gave up when his fate reached him. He didn't fight it; he embraced it. Sort of fitting after his drug struggle.

I thought the season finale was great. I can't remember when I figured out we were watching the present, but I had a feeling that something was wrong throughout the whole episode. It just seemed weird that Jack was an addict and that he was going to a funeral for someone unknown to us. And I don't think it's Locke, as someone previously said. The name starts with "Jo" but there's also "_antham" after that. I'll be happy to be surprised when the show starts up again, so I won't be looking up every character's name in an effort to discover if it's someone we already know. However, it could be someone high up from the ship that Jack radios. If he wants to get back to the island then he would be upset that someone who knows where it is is now dead.

I figure that Charlie must have believed that if he lived then Claire would not be saved. It's the only explanation given the size of the porthole that's in the background when we see him floating in the room. There's no way that he couldn't swim through that thing, it's enormous.

I don't even want to think about the implications for the next few seasons now that we've seen that the Lost get off the island. I don't think I'll enjoy watching 2-3 seasons of island-episodes when we know they get off; conversely, I'm not sure how I feel about watching episodes of Jack recruiting people to try to get back to the island. I'll just be waiting patiently till next season, hoping it doesn't disappoint.

-Tamerlain

DO they? Grancey sez we can only safely surmise that Jack and Kate get off. Maybe they were the only ones. The rest might have either been killed or refused to leave.

Hm, that's an interesting thought...

-Tamerlain

Saw this on Digg and thought I'd post it here for general consumption.

It's a compilation of all the events surrounding the plane crash.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ierynZLSLHk

Over 9 minutes and very well done, in my opinion.

Wow, that was incredible! I'll watch that again.

Well done. Good find guthmund