*night not “not”

(and horrible grammar/punctuation)

Great great thoughts on Smokey, judgement, reflections…even the idea of “who would they see?” at this point if they were to face Smokey! I like it.

The more I have thought about this episode, the more I realize that these kind of images and connections are probably going to be the way that ‘answers’ look as the season moves on. Yes, I presume they will do some big ‘answers’ like who the key players are and reconciling timelines and such…but I think some things like drawing these connections are going to be what they leave up to us as the viewer. In a weird way, it is like what you have pointed out with Smokey… that we will get to judge the characters and their choices and decisions, too, and in doing so it will help us to understand how things get resolved. We have said that kind of thing all along, but for me it was cool to see an episode that really portrayed it on various levels with Jack’s storyline. (Still not a Jack fan, but I liked how they wrote this one.) There is my late not stream of consciousness making no sense.

And again, thanks for your comment. It was helpful.

I think back throughout the entire show, all the “eye shots”…and then I think about a parallel timeline now running off island, possibly interacting with the original one we already saw.
I cant help but wonder if there is any connection in them…if they are somehow looking at themselves in the mirror while staring through the looking glass…

One thing I have said several times that seems to be coming back to plat is how Smokey judges people.

He shows them a reflection of themselves…what they really are…it makes me wonder what someone like Ben or Jack would see now if they were judged…I wonder if Kate would see her helping Claire…or if Hurley would see his name on all his bank receipts. Would Jack see his broken life with Sarah…or his recovery with his son?

We constantly rack our brains trying to figure out how they will merge consciousness back into one…maybe the monster is the key?

My one disagreement is the idea that New Otherton is still Dharmaville.
I know there are various things showing the differences in terms of a sign and the room whereChristian is…but we see Ben and Flocke in what Ben describes as “my office”…and its riddled with Dharma garb and he doesnt seem to notice any difference.

Alexs room is another give away that it is New Otherton. Ben recognizes it as his house and Alexs room.
If there were differences on that manner he most definitely would have taken notice in his own home.

I think when Sawyer and Kate go to his old house, and she sees him with the box, it shows him get it out of a floorboard, meaning it could go either way…but leading me to believe that it was done in that manner to show that he didnt just walk into the room and open a drawer, a sure give away.

Great review all around though…and think you covered Jacks struggles extremely well.
I really think reflection will be a large part of the final season…either way, we have been watching them reflect on their past for going on 6 years now…so why not reflect sideways now…maybe they will see something they like better…

I like your thoughts on what Sun & Jin have had to work through. It fits well with what Jacob said at their wedding, too. I’m sure Highbrow could just say, “yeah, that’s it…” so way to let him off the hook.

“Intention” is a very good word to bring up about Jacob and MIB. MIB’s “I’m trapped and want to go home” is about as cryptic as things come in terms of an explanation. And of course we really don’t have a specific one from Jacob, only tidbits of the immediate things such as getting Hurley and Jack away from the Temple. Otherwise anything about Jacob’s intentions or motives have really come from MIB.

As I stated on AES’ post from a few days back, for as much as Jacob has interfered with the Losties throughout their lives, MIB has flat out been more deceitful even though he is claiming to be ‘straightforward’ and that kind of thing. At this point, to me at least, he is the less trustworthy one. Oh but only time will tell…

I’m so glad you brought up the bleeding timelines. This is actually the thing that is bothering me the most. As interesting as the lighthouse was and all the imagery there… I still think there is a weird thing happening on the island where some things are different and some are the same (so much like the Sideways timeline!) But again, I totally could be misconstruing something that isn’t actually happening.

The prison from Sun and Jin could be the marriage they needed to work out. They have had some serious problems, which they resolved on island before leaving. Now they are struggling to find each other (literally) and so their marriage (which the place of marriage could represent) is in fact still a trial to overcome, in a way.

I really don’t know who to trust as far as MIB/Jacob goes, but after this episode I am again leaning towards Jacob. I don’t deny the fact, though, that they are both in it for a hidden agenda. The intention of that agenda, I think, can be assumed to be somehow good on Jacob’s part and evil on MIB’s part.

As far as the bleeding timelines – awesome observation and I agree that they are very connected. These connections are diverse, though, and unpredictable so far. If anyone sees a pattern, i’d love to know about it.

Did anyone else think when the big dial type thing first appeared,”hmmm, another thing you have to TURN…” and it has some power to bring people to the island?

I’m not sure what to make of it, but it didn’t seem coincidental.

@ Chief, you can’t make up your mind on all this and yet you hate Kate? Just kidding.

I agree that everyone is withholding the truth. But perhaps strictly applying our definition of truth is part of the problem in our expectations for what it will take to understand. I agree that MIB saying that the island isn’t anything is a flat out lie. (We’re not that dense to believe that line.) But there are so many other things that seem like they will have conflicting definitions, much like the conversation at the start of The Incident between MIB and Jacob.

How would you apply seeing the place where Sun & Jin got married though?

To me, “trust” is one of the most interesting themes right now, especially highlighted in Jack’s line of “why should I trust you when I don’t even trust myself?!” and how meaningful that proves to be again and again. At some point the characters are going to have to choose to believe in something, and it will be back to the power of their relationships compounded with all the choices that they have made in their pasts to help them figure out what to do next. There is just so much gray area…