I didn’t think they could beat last week’s episode.. But I was actually squeeing a fair bit through this one. WTF is going on?

What’s been resolved?

* The outside world DEFINATELY thinks that 815 has been found in the Sunda Trench, nr Bali.
* Rescuing the Losties is not the primary reason for the Freighters - Benjamin Linus is.
* Matthew Abbadon ISN’T an Oceanic Lawyer, but still not sure exactly what he is. Apart from bad ass scary, that is.
* Locke didn’t die from being shot as he has no kidney where the bullet penetrated him.

New questions?

* Why are the Freighters after Ben? Where is the picture taken? Doesn’t look like an Island location.
* How does each person fit the mission. They are all “there for a reason”
* Who is the “man on the boat”?
* Why does Daniel cry when learning of the fate of 815?
* Why wasn’t Frank flying 815?
* Why did they bring gas masks?

Numbers, Connections & Re-occurances…

* This episode was the first to break the one character-centric episode since Season 2 (Exodus). This one had four septate flashbacks. Yep, flashbacks are, er, back!
* The helicopter’s number has both 8 and 42 in it.
* Whilst Miles is ghost hunting there is a poster and two lottery tickets that have the number 15 on.
* There was 324 (3 x 108) on board 815.
* There was 4 in the helicopter.
* Saving lives. Miles saved Charlotte’s, Charlotte saved Ben’s, Locke’s father saved his.

Character thoughts…

* Daniel Faraday - Physicist - seen crying whilst watching the footage of 815 being found.
* Charlotte Lewis - Archaeologist - seen finding a POLAR BEAR in Tunisia with a Dharma Hydra collar.
* Miles Straum - a Ghostbuster(tm) - seen ridding a woman’s house of her murdered grandson, and some cash.
* Frank Lapidus - a Pilot - watching the news footage and then ringing the Oceanic hotline to claim “that’s not the pilot!”
* Miles knew that Naomi was in trouble, sister was code of having a gun to her head. He wants to see her body to see that Kate’s story checks out.
* Sayid & Juliette’s gun toting entrance was fantastic. I really thought Jack was blagging at first.
* Ben wasn’t messing around this episode. He shot Charlotte twice in the chest and was then had the shit beaten out of him by Sawyer.
* Locke was going to shoot Ben however Ben convinced him that he needed to keep him alive as he knows all about the Freighters and has a “man” on their boat.
* Frank had memorised the manifest and knew instantly Juliette was a native.
* Didn’t notice Jin, Sun, Desmond, Rose or Bernard this episode.
* Locke got in the meta-reference regarding Walt being taller.
* Locke was again able to predict within seconds when the rain would stop.

Team Update!

Team Locke : Locke & Sawyer seem to be struggling for control of Team Locke. Vincent has changed camps, taking Charlotte’s transponder with him.

Team Jack :

Memorable quotes…

Miles: “Where’s the chopper?”
Frank: “I saw a cow.”

Locke : “What’s the monster?”

Sawyer: “Taller? What, like a giant? Okay, what exactly did Walt tell you?”
Locke: “He said I had work to do. That I had to stop this woman, Naomi, from bringing the rest of her people here.”
Sawyer: “You didn’t ask any follow-up questions?”

Locke: “Whatever they came for, it isn’t us. We keep moving forward as planned.”
Sawyer: “Sure. Who are we to argue with taller ghost Walt?”

Karl: “Keep your mouth shut, Mr. Linus.”
Ben: “Karl. Now, if you’re going to sleep with my daughter, I insist you call me Ben.”

Theories…

* Why would they want Ben? They are all in some way connected to Dharma and want to enact revenge on Ben for wiping them out…
* I really like the theory that Michael is the spy on the boat. It would explain where he’s been and enable us to bring him back in this season.

Did you miss?

* The cow that was Frank’s encounter was wearing a bell. Was this the same cow from Mikhail’s ranch?
* Ben and Locke seemed very surprised that Hurley knew of Jacob’s shack of weird fun.
* Jeff Fahey (Frank) isn’t listed as a cast member, so is his time on the Island going to be short?
* Sawyer called Locke “Colonel Kurtz” and Ben “Yoda”
* Daniel says that the light “doesn’t scatter right” on the Island. What does he mean by that?
* The Oceanic hotline is a real phone number linked to the show.
* It’s now Christmas Eve 2004!
* Charlotte is Charlotte Staples Lewis. Similar to Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis.
* Dan Faraday. Faraday is a famous physicist in the field of electro magnetism.
* Miles gave Charlotte her vest, effectively saving her life as she was shot by Ben later.
* Whilst Miles was Ghostbusting the pictures in the hall changed. WTF?
* Lots of tie ins with the ARG, Find815 this episode.
* A poster for the Lost-verse band Dirt Spigot can be seen in the room Miles hunts for the ghost in. In the episode “Fire + Water”, the director of the diaper ad says that he actually wanted Dirt Spigot for the ad instead of Drive Shaft.

I can’t work out if I like Charlotte or not… she’s cute, no?
B