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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

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We continue with our round-table discussions of Lost. This week, we’re joined by Bridget McGovern, Theresa DeLucci and Melissa Frain. As always, spoilers abound, so stay away from this post if you haven’t watched the latest episode of Lost, “Namaste.”

Melissa: I am getting utterly spoiled by all of these phenomenal episodes. Absolutely loved tonight, despite the fact that Richard Alpert did not appear even once. Many thoughts, many questions…

First, Sawyer continues to amaze and impress, even while keeping his shirt on 100% of the time. I’m thrilled with his new role on the island, and especially loved the bit at the end when he asked Jack if he was relieved, and Jack answered that he was. The new Sawyer exudes some serious power and authority; I have to say, I’d feel relieved if I knew he was taking care of everything, too. Somehow I don’t think Sayid shares my sentiments, though…

The parts in the present are a little difficult for me. It’s tough for me to orient myself properly because I now think of the 70s as the present, and when they jump back to the future I cannot for the life of me keep straight who is where and what could be happening elsewhere on the island. That said, when Christian came out of the house, something clicked into place. I knew it would be him as soon as the light went on (and maybe that rustling in the trees—smoke monster?—also gave me a little hint). The whole bit with Christian pulling the Dharma photo off the wall was incredible. Loved. It. So…where is Claire? 

Also, backtracking a little…I had major flashbacks to season one when Frank was talking to the new survivors. It felt a lot like when Jack was stepping up and trying to keep everybody calm. Is it just me or was Sun totally looking around with this bored expression like “I’ve heard all this before…”? I was amused, either way.

All that was great, but I think the most interesting tidbit of the episode for me was…the baby is Ethan!!! I did not see that coming, but here it is, and now I have a ton more questions. If Ethan was born on the island to Dharma parents when Ben is a kid, that means he is already around when Ben grows up and wipes the whole community out. Why, then, is Ethan spared? Are others from the DI spared as well? I always had the impression that Ben (and only Ben) was working secretly with the hostiles to wipe out Dharma. Was Ethan (and others?) also involved in the plan? If so, he joins the parent-killing group. What could they have done to make him turn on them and conspire with the hostiles? I mean, we know Ben’s story, we know he could give a shit about his dad…but what else is going on here? And if he’s not part of the conspiracy, how does he survive?

Taking that a step further…who is part of the Dharma Initiative when Ben wipes them out? Are our heroes and heroines part of the group that is killed and dumped in the pit? I have a near uncontrollable urge, as usual, to watch past episodes and obsessively stare at the skeletons in the pit for clues.

I could probably gush about the numerous reveals and hints and so on all night (that kid is Ben! Faraday is around somewhere but we’ve got no clue where! Somebody has managed to finish building the runway that Kate and Sawyer were forced to work on last season!)…but I’ll leave it there for now.

Bridget:Tonight’s episode was like a magical journey through a veritable Candyland of Awesomeness. I really don’t think there’s any other way of describing it. First, we got to see the plane crash, in which Frank “Sully Sullenberger” Lapidus crash-lands on one of the smaller islands off the coast of the main Island. Turns out Ben’s still there, with The Creepy turned up to eleven, as is Sun—why was she not Raptured back into the Seventies like the rest of the Oceanic Six? Is it because she’s super badass and evil now?…Because she is. She is exactly one sinister goatee away from being her own evil twin, and it’s amazing.

I enjoyed the Revelation Recap Exchange between Seventies Sawyer, Seventies Jin, and Jack, Kate, and Hurley. “Hey, so Locke’s dead.” “What? Oh no! By the way, welcome to 1977.” As usual, Hurley’s commentary was one of the best parts of the episode. I love how often the writers seem to make him the mouthpiece for the audience and fans—not just in his sincere, yet vaguely snarky observations, but also in his desire to get a straight, logical answer once in awhile. When he reacted to the fact that Sawyer and Company are now part of the Dharma Initiative with, ” So…you do realize that you all get wiped out?”, I wanted to high-five him. I did not (since that would be weird).

There was so much going on in this episode, but the standout moments included Dr. Pierre Chang telling Jack that he’s only qualified to be a janitor, the fact that Amy and Horace Goodspeed plan to name their baby Ethan (!!!), and of course, the fact that little doofus child-Ben is on the Island in 1977, unwittingly feeding sandwiches to his once-and-future nemesis Sayid. We know that Faraday is no longer part of the Dharma initiative, but also that he’d theorized specific rules for what could and could not be changed by the Time Traveling contingent…I doubt he’s dead. Maybe just crazy, holed up in a cave somewhere, scribbling equations on the wall and babbling about Charlotte? That seems about right.

And finally, we’ve got Evil Sun and Lapidus back on the seemingly-abandoned main Island with Christian Shephard (and maybe the Smoke Monster). I’m wondering where Locke is going to fit back into this mix—is he in the same place and time as Sun and Lapidus? Next week seems to focus mainly on the competition between the Seventies survivors; it seems likely that Locke might meet up with Sun and Christian while everybody else is off playing Dazed and Confused in the jungle. Besides, Sawyer and Jack need to work out their lame alpha-male tensions before we throw Locke back into the mix, right?

Theresa: Yep, another good episode, especially for Sawyer fans. Jim (don’t call him James) has become the kind of man I think Kate knew was inside of all that Southern bluster. But it’s that first leap off the helicopter last season, and away from Kate, that put him in this new position of power in the first place. Now that Kate’s back, I think it’s a real test to the new Jim. But wasn’t it a classic Sawyer move to get jobs for the returning castaways and make Jack a janitor? Ha! I still always think of Dr. Pierre Chang as Dr. Marvin Candle. Jack looked mildly amused to be meeting a real live Dharma movie star.

I know a lot of people don’t like Juliet, but I feel really bad for her. Kate’s smug face can make me want to tell her to shut up before she even says a word. Was that a disappointed look she gave Sawyer at the end? Juliet is just not fated to be in a happy relationship. Which is too bad because I think she’s smarter and less annoying than Kate.

I had to look away from the plane scene. I am such a wuss. I only hope my next flight has a pilot as slick as Lapidus. His blue eyes just kill me and I love that he kind of took over the leader role of the Ajira folk. Jeff Fahey is such a great character actor and I like that he’s traveling around the island with Sun and meeting Christian.

So, Sayid. If anyone is hardcore enough to kill a child, it’s him. But young Ben is so painfully sad-looking. Will it come to that, Sayid killing Ben before he can poison the Dharma folk and cause so many problems in the future? Or will Sayid help Ben kill them, so he and his friends can escape?

Yes, Locke is in Sun’s time, looking over the unconscious Ben. Get back to Locke!

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