• The flashfowards showing the return of the Oceanic 6 and what happens to them in its immediate aftermath are the center point of "There's No Place Like Home." Lots of other stuff happened, to be sure, but after four seasons' worth of episodes, seeing the O6 actually arriving back in the US was the money shot, in my book.
• On their way back to Hawaii after their "rescue," the Ocean 6 look dazed as Jack reminds them to get their story straight. Little do they know that their pilot's got his lucky rabbit foot's out because he thinks they're bad mojo — though from the looks on their faces, they might well agree. Whatever happened to separate the O6 from the rest of the survivors of Oceanic 815 has clearly been traumatic. On the tarmac after landing, everybody gets reunited with their loved ones except for Kate, which may help to explain how bonded she becomes with Aaron — there's nobody else in her life.
• Loved how Hurley brings Sayid — neither of them know Nadia is waiting for him outside — over to meet his family. Who, of course, have a big tropical-island-themed welcome home party planned for him. I don't what was best about the party: Hugo hearing island-style whispering and preparing to brain somebody with Jesus ... who is not a weapon ... or apologetically telling the O6 that his mom "really doesn't get" why a tropical-island theme is not such a good idea. We also get to see how the numbers still haunt him (the beginning of the "madness" which puts him back in the mental hospital?) when they show up on the gauges of the newly restored Camaro.
• Old habits die hard: Hugo's got a Mr. Cluck bag in hand as he walks up to the mansion before the party.
• At the press conference which follows their return, the O6 practice their story in public — though it seems pretty clear that at least one reporter smells something fishy about Kate's story. After all, Aaron is enormous for a five-week-old baby, let alone one allegedly born three-months prematurely. It also means that Kate would have been pregnant while in federal custody, something her records probably don't mention. But of course, Ms. Austin's "legal issue" is off the table. I wonder, though, if the "Kate is Aaron's mom" theme might eventually prove to be the weak link in their cover story — especially after Claire's mom shows up at Christian Shephard's memorial service to tell Jack that Claire is his sister. (You know, I didn't think that last night's ep was that soapy, but boy, that sentence makes it sound otherwise.)
• Sun gives up the dutiful daughter role with a vengeance, uses her settlement money to buy a controlling interest in her dad's company, Paik Industries, and takes the opportunity to tell him she blames him for Jin's death — or "death." I loved the look on Paik's face when he realizes his daughter's become that most awful of things: a powerful, non-submissive woman. Right on, Sun!
• Some people think Sun blaming her father for Jin's death proves Jin really is dead—but I don't think it does. Sun can't break her cover story to say I hate you because my husband's stuck on the island. The story is he died — and she has to stick with it, hence the memorial stone, etc. I'm holding out hope that Jin's alive — but his proximity to the explosives on the freighter has me worried.
• Speaking of the freighter, how "lucky" to be on the first Zodiac load off the island, only to discover your "safe haven" isn't so safe? And look who's onboard: Michael, the guy who sold you out.
• Meanwhile, back on the island. Ben, Locke, and Hurley have reached the Orchid station, but Keamy and crew have beat them to it. Ben tells Hurley that moving the island is a dangerous and unpredictable measure of last resort. He also tells Hurley that the crackers he's eating out of the kit Ben retrieves from its hiding place are 15 years old, and since he's on a roll, he admits that he hasn't always been entirely truthful in the past. Widmore knows about the station, and he wants what's inside.
• Richard (!!!) and a herd of Others capture Kate and Sayid—what do you want to bet they turn out to be the "good guys"?

Apparently, you could hide a lot of things under those 1950s circle skirts, because teenage Emily's got a bun in the oven and it hardly even shows. That bun turns out to be wee John Locke, born prematurely after Emily gets hit by a car. Little John is a "miracle baby," according to a nurse, because he's the youngest preemie to survive at their hospital. Shortly thereafter, who shows up peeking through the hospital window but the long lost Richard Alpert! It turns out he's got his eye on Locke, dropping by when the youngster is of school age to see if he qualifies for the home Alpert runs for kids who are "extremely special." Locke's special all right — he's already drawing the smoke monster attacking stick figures. Alpert sets a group of objects in front of him (baseball mitt, Book of Laws, Mystery Tales comic book — "What Was The Secret of The Mysterious 'HIDDEN LAND!'"—compass, vial of what looks like sand, and knife) — and asks John to pick the ones that belong to him. But when John picks the knife (in addition to the vial and the compass), Alpert angrily yanks it out of his hands and hits the road. Is little John messing with him—or just not ready to take the Book of Laws over the lawless knife?

When next we see Flashback Locke, he's being rescued from his high school locker by a sympathetic teacher/counselor. Turns out Alpert's been by the school — he wants Locke to go to Mittelos Laboratories' science camp. But Locke doesn't want to face his destiny just yet (even though his science fair project is a model of an island). He's not a science nerd; he likes cars and sports, dammit! When the teacher — okay, maybe he's not so sympathetic — tells John he'll never be a super hero, Locke for the first time utters, "Don't tell me what I can't do." He still isn't ready for destiny years later when, in physical therapy after his father tosses him out the window, his orderly — none other than Mr. Abbadon, apparently not a harbinger of death all the time — tells him to go on a walkabout.

Of course, Locke finally does go on that walkabout (it'll be interesting to see what happens when his path again crosses that of Abbadon — and you know it will), and now he's on Craphole Island looking for Jacob's cabin with Ben and Hurley — because they're the craziest, in Hugo's opinion. And when they do find the cabin — thanks to a dream visit from Horace, murdered Dharma Initiative math guy — Locke comes face to face with Christian Shephard, and ... Claire. Which is definitely one in the pocket for those in the "Claire is dead" camp — or is it? And how do you move an island anyway? In time or physically or some other way? My guess is the first.

Back on the freighter, Keamy's returned and he is ticked off. He tries to kill Michael/Kevin for giving him up to Ben, but Michael's unkillable. Keamy's prepping to return and "torch" the island, armed with a secondary protocol and lots of materiel. When Lapidus balks at flying them back to the island on this mission, Keamy slits the doctor's throat (thus fulfilling what the Islanders already know). He kills the captain too, for good measure, after Keamy reveals he's got something (a detonator, perhaps?) strapped to his lovely, well-muscled arm. (Note to Lost writers/producers: more naked Kevin Durand, please!) By now, Desmond has to be regretting his decision to stay onboard the Kahana, after Sayid escapes in the motor launch.

Lapidus, flying the helicopter against his will, jettisons a working satellite phone over the beach, where it's found by Jack and crew, who assume it's a message for them to follow the whirlybird. Don't know if that's a good idea, kids.

So Jack has appendicitis, even though as Rose points out in a Dramatic Moment, people on the island don't get sick, they get better—except for everybody who's died, of course. Juliet decides to operate, and sends Sun to the medical station to get instruments. Daniel goes along because he knows what the instruments look like, Charlotte goes along ... just because ... and since nobody trusts her at all and Daniel only marginally, Juliet sends Jin along with a gun. This excursion gives Jin the opportunity to find out that Char speaks Korean—which he uses to his advantage (along with the threat of skills acquired during his hit-man past) to get her to promise to take Sun off the island when the helicopter arrives. Unlike Jin, I didn't notice that Daniel and Char have a thing going on, quite possibly because I find her so very annoying. (Loved Rose's "Just watch your tongue, Red"!) Does Char even have the authority to get Sun on that helicopter anyway?

In a flashforward, we see Jack and Kate shacked up in connubial bliss, right up until Jack catches a glimpse of his father, and then gets a call from Hurley's doctor. Hugo's institutionalized ("he's crazy," in Jack's professional opinion), and now he's refusing to take his meds, isn't sleeping, and doesn't believe his therapist exists. He does, however, have a message for Jack from Charlie, who's a regular visitor: "You're not supposed to raise him, Jack," meaning Aaron, of course. This freaks Jack out, as does Hurley's assurance that, per Charlie, Jack will soon have a visitor. Of course, it's his dad, this time in the waiting room, nicely dressed in a dark suit and white shoes. Jack immediately starts popping pills. He also gets wildly jealous of Kate, who needs to do something for Sawyer, who we find out CHOSE to stay on the island. Jack gives Kate a hard time about not being related to Aaron, but doesn't seem to know that he, in fact, is Aaron's uncle. This is clearly the beginning of Jack's furry mad man phase.

Meanwhile, Miles, Sawyer, Claire, and Aaron are still trekking through the jungle to the beach. As they pass through the site of the ambush, Miles hears Rousseau and Karl's last moments, falls to his knees, and uncovers their bodies—damn! Rousseau is really dead!—which freaks out both Sawyer and Claire. Sawyer doesn't trust Miles at all, and puts a "restraining order" on him around Claire after he catches Miles looking at Claire like he's never seen her before. But Miles isn't interested in Claire the way Sawyer thinks he is (project much, Sawyer?), but as someone "sensitive" in the psychic sense—and maybe he hears Charlie, too. I also think Miles has recognized Aaron as, well, an "individual of interest." After the four of them barely escape death at the hands of Kearny and crew (thanks to Lapidus) Claire is visited by Christian Shephard—her dad as well as Jack's—and follows him into the jungle, where she disappears, leaving Aaron behind.

This and that:

• Jack reads to toddler Aaron from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), specifically from Chapter 2, "The Pool of Tears." Here's the full quote—because it's one of my childhood favorites, and because it was an excellent fit in last night's episode:

  Alice took up the fan and gloves, and, as the hall was very hot, she kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking: "Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, THAT'S the great puzzle!"

• Aaron's got a toy Millennium Falcon!
• Is that a piece of twine Island Kate is wearing as a headband? Surely there's a box of Dharma-logo hair ribbon somewhere on the island.
• Jack picks up a newspaper with the headline "Yankees Bludgeon Red Sox in Series Sweep." Anybody got a theory on why there have been so many NY-Boston world series references? Obviously, it's an easy way to mark time, but knowing Lost, there's probably more to it than that—or is there?
• Island Jack has an appendectomy but Future Jack has no scar?
• Lately every time toddler Aaron pops up in an episode, his cherubic good looks combined with the storyline that seems to suggest he is Very Special make me think of the Infant Jesus of Prague—especially as the latter appears in John Waters's Multiple Maniacs.

Let's talk about pacing for a moment. "The Shape of Things to Come" raced at full speed through the hour last night. It made me remember the last season of the Sopranos, where everybody and everything was shoehorned into the scripts. Last night we got the return of Vincent and Smoky, Claire's fake-out death, a truly shocking murder, a peek at Ben's secret lair, an explanation of why Sayid is Ben's paid assassin, time-travel, and a bunch of other meaningful information. On the one hand, this makes for an exciting episode, vastly superior to snoozers like "The Other Woman," but on the other, couldn't they divide the action up a little more evenly throughout the season? Is this a mark of writers who finally know where they're going and are concerned they don't have enough time to get there — or are they simply trying to deal with a strike-truncated season?

Back to that shocking murder. Poor Alex. To hear your father call your mother "an insane woman," then repudiate his relationship with you seconds before your murder at age 16 is tremendously sad — as is the fact that they have killed off yet another of my favorite female characters. They'd better not harm a hair on Penny's head, but after Ben's hotel room confab with Widmore, that hope is probably in vain.

Of course, Alex's death is the first time we get to see Ben drop the Evil Manipulator mask. He can't believe his eyes when Kearny pulls the trigger, which of course makes it all the more shocking to us (as does its placement shortly after finding out Claire's not dead after all). "They changed the rules," Ben mumbles. Which leads me to think that his nonchalance and bravado in his negotiations with Kearny are due to the fact that he's been in this exact situation before—only it doesn't end in Alex's death. This is a pivotal moment. Now we know why the stakes are so high. Before it was about power and possession, now Ben wants revenge in addition to the island. We get a glimpse of Ben's secret lair (its entrance, anyway), learn that he can summon, if not control, the Smoke Monster, and see him time travel (to 2005 Tunisia, Iraq, and London). All of this hinges on Alex's death.

Finally, Sayid. I know you are grieving for Nadia, but I thought you realized that Ben can't be trusted. He points out Ishmael Bakir, names him Nadia's killer, shows a photo in support of that allegation, and you swallow it hook, line, and sinker? The smile on Ben's face as he walks away after Sayid offers his allegiance is wonderfully evil and creepy—back to his true form after his daughter's death.

A few random comments:

• The Shape of Things to Come is also the title of a novel by H.G. Wells, that takes the form of a history book from the future—but I'm sure you guys already knew that!
• Ben vomits orange liquid when he wakes in the desert. The anti-sickness serum is orange—so if you dose yourself before you time travel, perhaps you don't become unstuck in time.
• He's also wearing a parka with a Dharma insignia we haven't seen before, and the name Halliwax, though later he uses his Dean Moriarty passport.
• It's open season on doctors. Jack is already popping pills and showing signs of a disturbing illness, while the doctor from the freighter floats up dead, his throat slit. (By the way, Kendrick—the fictitious couple Ben tells the London hotel clerk he's on his way to see—is the doctor's name in Audrey Niffenegger's novel, The Time Traveler's Wife.)
• Finally, a question for you. When it comes to great, brain-hurty episodes like this one, I find I need several additional viewings and a supplementary podcast or two, plus visits to some of the websites, to come close to picking up all, or at least more, of the nuances and details. I'll enjoy that, but man, it's a time suck. How much time do you spend on Lost throughout the week?

The scene with the non-detonating "joke" bomb was a great metaphor for the way Lost sometimes treats its viewers. There you are, primed for an episode where something big happens in a splashy way, ready to hold your breath and peek through your fingers, and what you get is an hour of Juliet. "Not yet," indeed. Don't get me wrong — in context last night the bomb was simultaneously hilarious and yet again indicative of the depths of Ben's mindeffing ways, but I also think it's the writers' way of saying, yes, we're toying with you, too, audience.

My biggest question from the evening, however, is just exactly how does the island decide who lives and who dies? Michael can't kill himself, Tom tells him, because the island won't let him. Maybe the island has a special rule pertaining to suicide — because up until now I would have said that some people on the island actually are dead. I thought Ana Lucia and Libby were dead ... though of course the latter shows up as a nurse in Michael's post-crash dream. (Confession: I would not have recognized her had I not been spoilered on this point, though of course Michael's reaction would have tipped me off.)

Speaking of which, does this mean that Tom himself is not dead? At first I thought the flashback occurred prior to Sawyer's hot lead payback on the beach, but now I wonder if like Mikhail, Tom's got, if not nine lives, definitely more than one. (Great to see him out of the closet, by the way.) Perhaps the dead who come back to life need to be useful to Ben or Jacob. There has to be some distinction, otherwise the writers have lost the dramatic impact of killing off characters — Karl and Rousseau, for example. Of course, she only got it in the backpack, so I believe that viewers like myself will still have a role model of middle-aged female awesomeness to root for when the show comes back on April 24. But immediately thinking "she's not really dead" after watching her get shot negates any cliffhanger aspect to the end of "Meet Kevin Johnson" — but we've gotten to a point where the loyal viewer knows that not every death is what it seems, and that takes away the punch.

A few more observations:

• Here's what my friend Skip had to say about Ben's way of dealing with Alex's relationship with Karl:

  Man, Ben's idea of birth control is really skewed, huh?
  Option A: He locks your BF in a room and makes him have his own personal rave
  Option B: He gives you a map to a den of snipers that will shoot your BFF after he utters the ultimate Scooby Doo/Star Wars-ism "I've got a baaaad feeling about this..."
  Well... maybe Ben didn't know the snipers would be there. Maybe.

  And after Alex got all gussied up, too.
• 
  
• I'm losing my Locke love. He's gone from the knife-tossing shaman to Ben's self-important shadow. Boo.
• 
  
• Frank Lapidus is an Oceanic 815 conspiracy theorist, just like the rest of us! Like Frank, I'm hungry for details, so I love that we're learning more about how the outside world reacted to the crash. Last night we had a personal take (Michael's mom's righteous indignation at Michael's refusal to explain why he and Walt showed up alive and have to be referred to by new names) and a public one (the newscast announcing the plane had been found).
• 
  
• I'm sure you all caught the shout-out to Kurt Vonnegut (whose Slaughterhouse Five protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, becomes unstuck in time) as an answer to a question on the game show playing in the backgrond when Michael tries to shoot himself the second time.
• 
  
• When Minkowski finds Kevin/Michael bouncing a tennis ball in his room, he references Jack Nicholson in The Shining, but I immediately thought of Steve McQueen in The Great Escape.
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• Sayid, Sayid, Sayid. You are a brilliant strategist and soldier, but turning Michael in may yet prove to be the act that sets in motion your ultimate indenture to Ben.
• 
  
• Remember, there's no new episode of Lost until April 24—and that the timeslot will have moved back an hour. See you back here for a recap on the 25th!

• "Ji Yeon" is the first time the writers have given us simultaneous flashbacks and flashforwards, and while I'm not sure they'll be able to get away with this structure again, I think it worked here. It may have teetered on gimmicky, but ultimately everything that happened was within the boundaries of the Sun/Jin story and characters. (Just talking about the back/forward scenes here; I'm not sure I buy Jin's immediate about-face after Bernard's rather cheesy "karma" talk.) Again, for me, Lost's most successful episodes are the ones with an unforeseen twist. Jin's obsessive pursuit of the toy panda reminded us of the way he used to be, necessary to set up his "new self's" forgiveness of Sun; discovering that this storyline was a flashback was fresh and surprising.
• On the other hand, Michael's return had to be one of the most anticlimactic reveals in the history of Lost — not least because they've been spoilering us with Harold Perrineau's name in the credits for the past six weeks. Excellent poker faces on Des and Sayid during their introduction to "Kevin Johnson." Note to writers: You've got one African-American man on the show and you turn him into a janitor? I know, it'll all be explained next week when we "Meet Kevin Johnson."
• Lima beans, cockroaches, and blood—Captain Gault really knows how to make his guests feel welcome. At first I thought his name was a shout out to Ayn Rand's John Galt—which made me happy because I'm a big fan of AMC's Mad Men, where ad agency head Bert Cooper hands out copies of Atlas Shrugged to favored employees—but apparently it's a reference to fictional salty dog John Gault. Michael/Kevin's note (assuming it came from him) said not to trust the captain, but he's the only one answering questions and providing information — which, even if it turns out to be lies, lies, and damned lies, is nonetheless satisfying. Wonder what's on the black box from the staged crash, and, like Gault said, where do you get 324 bodies?
• I think we can safely assume that there will be more of Zoe Bell than her chain-wrapped jump into the sea. Yes, there's a Dickens reference (the ghost of Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol), but it also reminded me of Houdini's underwater escapes.
• Who will win the battle for hearts and minds between Juliet and Kate? I'm not liking either one of them too much right now.
• As of last night, the Oceanic 6 = Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun, and who? Aaron? Is Jin one of the eight who made it off the island only to die later? Then why is his death date listed as 9/22/04, the date of the crash? Some suspect that Jin is alive back at the island, but why would he stay behind?
• Loved Hurley in a suit and his obvious relief that nobody else was coming. I'm leaning towards this trip to visit Sun and baby taking place before he breaks down and ends up in the institution again.
• Anybody else wonder if the toy store owner was going to offer Jin a dragon dressed in a panda suit a la the scene in Best in Show where a hysterical Parker Posey tries to buy a replacement stuffed bee?

• I know that a lot of you like Juliet. I don't — and I'm not entirely sure why. I think it may be a combo of her constantly smug expression plus a vulnerability that makes me want to slap her rather than identify with or want to help her — because it's her passive-aggressive way of manipulating people. I'm not sure if this the way the character is written or the way actor Elizabeth Mitchell plays her. Either way, I'd be totally remiss if I didn't mention that Juliet got another of the evening's best lines. Jack expresses incredulity that Ben has a therapist on staff, and Juliet shoots back: "It's very stressful being an Other, Jack." Hah!
• Too much Juliet wasn't the only disappointing aspect of "The Other Woman," though after last week's tour de force, anything barring full disclosure of What It All Means, explained by a naked Desmond, was bound to fall short of expectations. "The Other Woman" falls into the category of Lost episodes that seem interminably long because they do little to advance the storyline. Did we really need a whole new character (Harper) plus her not particularly interesting back story, just to get Juliet to follow Charlotte and Dan to the Tempest? Ben has or had a crush on Juliet (or chose to make people believe that). Did we need precious minutes wasted on Goodwin/Harper/Juliet to explain Ben's anger at Juliet? We already know he's ruthless and controlling, why drag Juliet up the hill to see that "the Tailies" killed Goodwin? I'm sure this was all meant to underscore the hatred that leads to Juliet's defection but, to me, this storyline felt shoehorned in and unnecessary.
• On the other hand, I really want to know what happened to Ben's childhood sweetheart, Annie, assuming here that she is the person who Juliet looks so much like.
• Speaking of unbelievable, let's talk for a moment about Locke, who apparently now believes everything that Ben tells him. I'm glad for the tidbit of info about Charles Widmore and his search for the island (it's looking more and more like he is "The Economist" who employed Sayid's doomed futuresweetie), but hasn't Locke learned that whenever Ben starts handing out dossiers, it's for Ben's benefit and nobody else's? Totally loved Ben's laconic "so has the revolution begun yet?" He's got Locke's number all right.
• Ben obviously fears and hates Widmore. So because Ben = bad, does Widmore = good? Or - my take, so far - are they both bad apples, bent on the island's exploitation, each for his own nefarious purpose? And where does Penny fit into it all?
• I assume Claire wants to talk to Miles because of her previous chats with psychics back home (who told her not to let other people raise her baby). Miles is not so stable, and it seems that Claire doesn't make it off the island — or makes it off the island and dies. Is there a connection?
• C.S. Lewis and Dan Faraday have disarmed the Tempest station. They have either saved everyone on the island from the poison gas Ben meant to kill them with, or they have destroyed one of the island's lines of defense, making it easier for the Freighties to attack.

There are four reasons I liked this episode so much: (1) Desmond is one of my favorite characters. Yes, his looks and accent are part of it, but there's something about his everyday humanity that really appeals. He's stuck in the middle of something he doesn't understand—first the hatch and all that it entailed, now time-travel—yet he tries his best to stay on an even keel. He doesn't need to be a hero, like Jack, or a shaman, like Locke—or fall prey to sanctimony as they have. Last night Des nearly lost his marbles, but who can blame him? By the way, the quick cuts between 1996 and 2004 were almost too much, but I think the editing really helped viewers experience Desmond's extreme disorientation.

(2) I love time-travel stories (the BBC's awesome Life on Mars, for example). It makes perfect sense, given my love of history. I mean who doesn't want to get in the time machine and go see what the dinosaurs looked like or solve a historical mystery? Of course, literature and movies have proven that such travels are fraught with difficulty and danger, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like getting caught in an erratic loop between 1996 and 2004. (Though given a choice, I'll take 1996, for completely shallow reasons pertaining to age and weight.)

(3) This episode cemented my fondness for the "absent-minded professor," Daniel Faraday. I think he's the most appealing and interesting of the new characters—not surprising given he's the guy who seems to know most about what's actually happening on the island in a physical/scientific sense.

(4) I think "The Constant" is about as contained an episode as you're going to get with Lost (barring the reviled-by-some "Exposé"). The story had a beginning, middle, and end, the latter of which provided a bit of closure instead of a cliffhanger. Now, I like cliffhangers just fine, but I think we all can agree that too many of them = too many unanswered questions = viewer frustration and burnout.

A few more observations:

• I want to believe that this episode explains Desmond's presence in the military prison back in season two's "Live Together, Die Alone," i.e., he went AWOL to find Daniel Faraday, but I think the timeline might be off.
• Still haven't seen hide nor hair of either Michael or Ben's Double (time-traveling Ben?), both of whom have been theorized as Ben's possible shipboard mole. Granted, we haven't been much past the sick bay yet—and George Minkowski says Sayid and Desmond have "a friend" on board.
• Minkowski's having the same time-travel issues as Desmond. Of course, the big question here is whether or not he's really dead. If you die in one of your, um, timeslots do you die in the other as well?
• How cool is it that Penny's evil dad is bidding on the only known artifact of The Black Rock: the first-mate's journal, owned by the family of Tovar Hanso? (Though I have to wonder how Desmond knew to find him at the auction ... big suspension of disbelief required here.)
• Really happy that Desmond and Penny reconnected. (Does this mean I'm a shipper?)
• Love the idea of having a constant to keep you grounded and avoid time-travel freakout. Isn't that what we all want anyway?
  

• Shout out to Philip K. Dick! I haven't read Valis but I'm sure some of you have. Care to share your thoughts on its significance?
• Still on the subject of books, Sawyer was reading The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Cesares, about which its publisher says: "Set on a mysterious island, Bioy's novella is a story of suspense and exploration, as well as a wonderfully unlikely romance, in which every detail is at once crystal clear and deeply mysterious." And then Kate smacked him upside the head and went back to the beach.
• Locke is slowly turning into Colonel Kurtz. He believes he's responsible for the island's wellbeing, but he's becoming corrupted by the power he believes it confers on him. It's not a democracy, he tells Kate, whom he later banishes for disobedience and gross insubordination. Nor, according to Locke, is it a dictatorship — yet he expects absolute compliance from the group who followed him. But he's uncertain enough to ask Sawyer, "Do you think I know what I'm doing? Do you regret following me?" Bad things are brewing.
• Speaking of which, loved Locke shoving a grenade in trussed-up Miles's mouth.
• Also loved Miles's distinction between blackmail and extortion, as well as his emphatically specific request of $3.2 million from Ben.
• Future Kate is acting as Aaron's mother, which means that something happened to Claire — she's either dead or still on the island. Either way, didn't the psychic in Claire's past tell her not to let anybody else raise her baby?
• Claire was downright chirpy this week, flouncing off with a smile when Sawyer came to visit Kate, then happily suggesting Kate might like being a mom, too. I scoffed at TVGuide.com's complaint that Claire wasn't grieving enough a couple weeks ago, but now it seems kind of valid. (Still don't want a big grieving Claire storyline, but shouldn't she — or anyone — at least mention Charlie once in a while?)
• Future Kate says she's heard Future Jack tell the cover story (only eight survived the crash, but two died, Kate was a hero) so many times she almost believes it herself. Why this scenario? I mean, why not just say six survived? Unless Claire (and someone else) did survive, only to die and that's why Kate has Aaron.
• Finally, regarding tonight's Kate is/is not pregnant storyline, why no Dharma-brand condoms on the island? I know Ben and the gang are trying to reproduce, but given that women who get pregnant on the island die, shouldn't there be some readily available birth control amid those great stockpiles of food and supplies? (Likewise, free Dharmette tampons might be a big upside to life on the island for women.)

The episode was a fabulous, Hurley-centric return to form. There was a minimum of soap opera; I only gagged a little when Claire, Sun, and Rose sat around congratulating each other's men and teasing about the superiority of giving birth in hospitals. The opening car chase/crash sequence revealed that Hurley is one of "the Oceanic 6" who have made it back to civilization, presumably along with Jack and Kate and three yet-to-be-identified others (though you can never, ever take anything for granted with this show). Flash-forwards show that Future Hurley is having just as much trouble with life off the island as Future Jack.

Meanwhile, back in 2004, Desmond returns from the Looking Glass with the news that it's Not Penny's Boat. Jack's too invested in being a Fearless Leader of Men to listen, and the survivors split into two groups: those who want to leave follow Jack, and those who want to stay go to the barracks with Locke.

And yes, there are the inevitable questions. Who are the people who, according to Charlie, need Hugo? Who was the man who visited Hurley in the hospital? 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? In summation, storylines were advanced, helicopters arrived, new questions were raised, and Charlie came back from the dead with a cute new haircut. I can hardly wait for next week.