(waits for the inevitable "shark jumping", "who watches this crap" and "I fell asleep" comments)

have to agree. best episode in a while. 7 to go before i officially start killing studio/network executives in order to end the writers' strike...

if fell asleep watching this crap about shark jumping...

Fun fact: This was the first season premiere in which the flashback/flashforward did not center on Jack. Although they teased us a bit at the beginning before switching the focus to Hurley. Does this mean that Hurley now has a more pivotal role than Jack?

@extracrispy: He certainly has a "bigger" role.

Wocka.

Wocka.

"What happened to make Future Jack change his mind about going back to the island?"

I got the impression that this flash forward actually concerns events that happened before the one that was part of last season's finale. The big clue for me was "I'm thinking about growing a beard."

The point we were introduced to last night is before Jack has decided they have to go back - he's clearly troubled but not ready to accept Hurley's suggestion that they may be needed back on the island.

Did anyone catch what was written on the wall of the interregation room?

Ok, Pile On! Lost isn't even trying to be sci-fi anymore. It's well into the realm of fantasy.

@Bill2me: Exactly. So what pushed him over the edge from "not ready to accept Hurley's suggestion" to telling Kate in no uncertain terms they have to go back?

@lperil:

Maybe his not-dead-Dad payed him a vist (He was in the rocking chair in Jacob's cottage).

you say breakfast screwdriver as if it were a bad thing

you all everybody's... braaaaaaaaaaaains!

Zombie Charlie is much cooler than living Charlie.

Way more questions were raised than were answered, so I'd say it's a very tepid start. Maybe my hopes were too high.

And I know the answer to at least one of yours: it wasn't Jacob. It was Christian Shepard. Unless Christian IS Jacob. Ugh.

Who are the people who, according to Charlie, need Hugo?
The remaining survivors left on the island as part of whatever Faustian deal the 6 made to get off.

Who was the man who visited Hurley in the hospital?
Not sure who he is, but his last name was Abaddon. Abaddon is another biblical name. There are several theories on who he actually is in the bible. One theory places him as one of the 4 horseman, Pestilence. Another as the angel who locked the gates of hell after satan was cast down.

If Hurley wanted to stay on the island with Locke, why is he back in L.A. with Jack? Where's Walt? Was that Jacob? When did Sawyer get so sensitive? What happened to make Future Jack change his mind about going back to the island?
Hell if I know the answers to any of those.

Yeah, I think these flash forwards were definitely from before last season's flash forward. Jesus. Tarentino called, he wants his chronology back.

I enjoyed this episode, but I honestly wasn't expecting them to delay the getting-off-the-island thing in such a frustrating way. The thought of spending this whole season watching them *almost* get off the island, while knowing that they apparently do at some point, has the potential to be phenomenally frustrating.

@ex_ea_slave:

Have you ever met anyone named Abaddon (means Destroyer in greek)? Why didn't they just call him Mr. Evil?

@Seth L:

Oops, got that wrong, it means Destruction in Hebrew, not Greek.

@Seth L: What was written on the wall of the interrogation room? I either didn't catch it or don't remember it. And I think Lost's been clearly fantasy for some time.

I don't think Hurley's going with Locke meant he wanted to stay on the island, merely that he didn't trust the Not Penny's Boat people. (It's not clear whether what's happening "now" on the Island is the incident that leads to the return of the Oceanic 6.) And if Locke really cared about saving the others and making a stand against the NPB people, he would have let someone everyone trusted -- say, Sayid -- make the pitch. But that would have required Locke to yield center stage, so you know that's not happening.

How cool is it that Jack really did try to blow Locke's head off? In the middle of Locke's usual patronizing speech, too.

@lperil: My guess - it has something to do with seeing dead people.

@Ray Gunn: if that's your complaint i think you're watching the wrong show.

I think the wall of the interrogation room said "N O S M O K I N G"

@tetracycloide: Well, I was hoping they'd at least throw us a bone. Reveal some clue or answer to longstanding questions. I mean, how long has it been since we've even seen the Monster?

Part of the fun of watching LOST, especially in its first 2 seasons, was that the plot development allowed for the same sense of satisfaction you get when you play a puzzle- or adventure video game. Every now and then, you solve a mystery.

There's only so much mystery accumulation an audience should be asked to handle before it starts to look like cruelty or incompetence.

@Ray Gunn: that's exactly why i stopped watching lost at the end of season 2.

@tetracycloide:
And you win the prize! DING DING DING!

Hiro got fat.

What the... Was that cop on the right Bruce Campbell..?!

1) Can't believe Jack just let Ben go off with Locke and the others. If he was ready to shoot Locke, he would have slit Ben's throat before he let him go.
2) Apparently after you die you get a makeover.
3) Can't wait for next week.

@booktart : You are correct, sir/madam.

And the interrogating detective? That actor gets around some:

[imdb.com]

Lost, Life, 24, Prison Break, Nip/Tuck, Band of Brothers, Six Feet Under, Standoff, Grosse Pointe Blank (!), CSI, etc.

Cal Arts baby!

As to the Oceanic 6. We assume Jack, Hurley, & Kate. But in the season finale, there was a funeral of someone both Kate and Jack know. They talk as if they don't like that person. Was that person part of the six? Or was that maybe Michael, who they hate for betraying them and leaving the island with Walt?

@extracrispy: Another Fun Fact: This is the first season opener that did not have the first scene devoted to a new character. [Jack, Desmond, Juliet]

@Spiral: I thought the funeral was probably either Locke, Ben, or Sawyer.

But they would probably be too obvious.

And somehow I doubt Ben would get off the island alive....

Maybe it was Hugo. [But the casket didn't look especially large...]

@lillian27: I love Michael Cudlitz, he was fantastic in Band of Brothers. He's become one of those "Hey, It's That Guy!" kind of actors. (And it's "madam," thank you!)

My guess is that either Locke or Ben was in the coffin. Did you notice Harold Perrineau's name in the opening credits? Michael's coming back...

@ideaman2020: I thought the funeral was Locke or Sawyer by how they talked in the finale, but Michael is another possibility. I'd include the dead person in the six unless it's the Michael possibility.

I didn't think that it could be Hurley since it's the future, but I'd think that Kate would care more if it was him. Then again, maybe he really fucked up this season.

As to season pacing, I feel like this season will be them leaving them island with flash forwards to them going back. Then next season (the last I think) will be them going back to finish things, second half of IT-style.
Then again, with a writer's strike, all bets are off.

It's also the first season opening episode that didn't start with a close-up of somebody's eyeball.

I doubt that Locke was the dead man, mainly because I can't think of why he'd leave the island. Christian Shephard is my front runner (If that was, indeed, him that we saw in the shed.). Micheal is a good (no pun intended) dark horse pick.

@Spiral:

TPTB have said there are three seasons left, including this one. That's a lot more stalling to get through.

@Ray Gunn: "There's only so much mystery accumulation an audience should be asked to handle before it starts to look like cruelty or incompetence."

Conversely, question answering is equally cruel, silly, and incomprehensible. I fear every attempt to appease the audience's need for answers, only appreciate the (occasional) continued capacity to provoke new tensions.

What questions need answered about the "monster"? Should we expect a scientific explanation for how a cloud of smoke both roars like a dinosaur and grinds like a machine? A psychological motivation for uprooting trees?

Lost (like X-Files, Twin Peaks, The Prisoner, and many others) will ultimately (if not already) consume its own momentum. True, unanswered questions and contradictions are just as much a problem as providing answers. But it's the nature of the form. I'll never understand anyone expecting "answers" from Lost. Unanswered questions is its modus operandi. Expecting otherwise will only end in disappointment. (And I don't care what Abrams or anyone else says about plans for a satisfying resolution.)

Enjoy the thrill of the unknown while it lasts -- the show becomes more transparent and silly with every attempt to create an understandable or resolvable story. The most satisfactory conclusion to Lost (and other series like it) is canceling it prematurely and unresolved (I know, many would say it's already too late).

@Bill2me: @lperil: I think that its supposed to be BEFORE the scenes where jack goes a little nuts and grows a beard.

@Spiral: What about the whole time travel thing that Desmond went through? I have this feeling like JAck or someone else will relive a part of their lives and try to change their futures.

@Chongo: Cuse and Lindleoff were adamant in their podcasts that what we've seen in the flash forwards WILL happen, and that there will be no "changing of the timeline events" by a character.

Does this mean there will be a weekly Lost thread here? Yay!

-Jacob's cabin = time loop? Notice the lantern was whole again. Also, check the photo (painting?) of Vincent on the wall. Hm.

-Matthew Abaddon. So Biblical. Rumor has it he is the smoke monster.

-Anyone who played the find815 game through to its conclusion knows now that they found a real Oceanic plane at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Which means either we're dealing with alternate timestreams/realities, or someone went to tremendous expense to plant a fake plane crash. At that someone is probably Penny's dad.

-Ok, I'm going to go decipher the whispering Hurley heard at the cabin. Yeah, I'm way into this stuff. :-) Love trying to solve the mysteries.

@Seth L:

I don't follow your reasoning? There's no fun in building a puzzle if someone keeps coming up and dumping in a differnt puzzle on top of it.

The scenes we saw in the new episode are a flashforward to a time before the flashforwards in last season's finale (someone seemed unsure about this). Presumably one of the other six is Claire, since Desmond saw her getting rescued.

Hurley seems to be grateful to Jack for getting them rescued, and presumably he joined up with Jack again in order to manage to do so. But he is also beginning to regret having left the island. Presumably Locke is still alive on the island, as are many others, and that is one of the things they've had to lie about - they presumably had to claim that they were the only survivors and that the plane itself had crashed into the Pacific Ocean and was the plane that was "found".

One possibility worth exploring is that the island is a place where parallel universes intersect. I've explored this idea on my blog and would welcome feedback on the ideas I've presented there, as well as further thoughts and suggestions.

@TIM FAULKNER: Good grief, thank you for putting the slap-down on dey azzez!

This is ultimately more about mystery and faith, than science and reason. I mean come on people, just roll with it! Smoke monster anyone? [How biblical is that!]

Will it ultimately be taken to any sort of satisfactory conclusion? Depends... Me thinks one needs to go no further than the parallels and deviations with Alias for some clues.

JJ's Alias seemed to almost go somewhere with it's narrative and mystery in the first 2/3 seasons, but kept on crapping out on us and moving on in less and less satisfying ways in the 4/5 seasons. They did finish it however and did stamp a conclusion on the thing, as shyte as it was (IMHO).

On the other hand, Lost is a much better TV show on every level, so that brings some hope that maybe JJ has learned his lesson can pull off a better conclusion to the proceedings than with Alias. We'll see...

Just my $00.02.

BTW, sure loved the episode last night!

It's time for a spoof version of LOST. UGLY BETTY may be a silly show, but you have to give UB props for a tight presentation.

Weekly Lost post: Yes, please!

-So, you guys, that was confirmed Christian Shepard in the cabin? Looked like beardy ole Jacob to me.
-What's with the new set where everyone meets? What part of the plane is that?
-It seems like Hurley's FF was too much he's just crazy, hallucinations, (water crashing in?) to be a tight, island caused trip out. But maybe the island's powers extend farther and more obviously post-"rescue."
-It's gonna suck when all this build-up runs out after 8 fucking episodes!

I think my comment might have drowned because my profile was not yet registered when I posted, so I'm trying again: Is that Bruce Campbell, that cop on the right??

@jbq: Can't tell from the clip hre. Jaw looks too narrow... hrm.

@tinymoves:
-Yes, it was Christian in the rocker in Jacob's cabin. Take another look, and note that John Terry was in th credits. And if you still don't believe, Jorge Garcia confirms it in an interview with Kristin Dos Santos of E!

-I think Hurley's FF was meant to show that he is very stressed about all the lying. He hallucinates when he's stressed, just like Jack self-medicates when he's stressed. They are both stressing.

-With you on the 8 episodes seeming to be fat too few, but glad that we have any!

@Tim Faulkner: Why not just stare at a random number generator, then?

I count my self truely lucky, to have never watched ONE episodeof "LOST". To waste ones time worrying about such trivial matters is one reason our country is so screwed up. PEOPLE turn OFF the television
and relate to EACH other..my god am i the ONLY grownup in America??

@oldandintheway: Dude, with an attitude like that, what are you doing hanging out in a SciFi forum, where 90% of it is about escapism?