LOST, LOST, LOST

I still haven't recovered from the premiere episodes...but I'm going to try to explain what I saw.

I agree with Jay (for some reason in the comments section as "Levi") in one respect: I think that I have just as many/more questions than I had before...

I have to say one thing. I'm a Jack fan. In the Jack/Locke debates, I side with Jack. In the Jack/Sawyer debates, I side with Jack. I know that it's not a coincidence this show opened up on Jack and whether he likes it or not, he's the most important character to this show in many ways.

But one place that I think that Sawyer shines are in episodes like this where he really seems to be the only voice of reason. Regardless of what you think of the ideas behind the show, if any of this shit happened to you in real life, you'd probably question things a bit more...don't you think? If some guy showed up on the island and you didn't trust him not that long before, why would you start taking his theories on time travel that seriously.

(Full disclosure...here's the articles I read before I wrote this: EW recap on "Because You Left", EW recap on "The Lie", TV Guide recap, TWP recap of "Because You Left", TWP recap of "The Lie", Zap2It recap, and a good Chicago Tribune article)

Ok...since there really is no order to this episode, here are some thoughts:

-We know that Asian baby at the beginning who is the child of Marvin Candle (or whatever his name is). We have a few choices here: Miles (probable), Jin (or one of his family members), Sun (or one of her family members...maybe her baby?), or the guy Sun had the affair with. Candle creeps me the fuck out, but he's a really interesting character.

-One of my favorite theories that I heard this past week are the whispers are really people moving through time. Since they can't interact with themselves in the past, they're trying to warn them of impending doom...but instead all they hear are whispers.

-Faraday's interaction with Desmond will end up being an attempt of his to save Charlotte...but will prove bad for the rest of the island dwellers

-So Hurley got advice from two people in these episodes: Ana-Lucia and Sayid. Ana-Lucia said not to go to the police and Sayid said not to trust Ben. Although Hurley seems to have no trust for Sayid, he still goes with his advice over Ana-Lucia's when he turns himself in to avoid Ben.

-The one thing I don't like about the show is that at times it gets too self-referential. Certain characters are supposed to talk for the audience. They're supposed to reference the own craziness of the ideas in the show and how people are supposed to just go along with it. I just feel like at times it's a bit much. Especially with Sawyer's shirt off the whole episode. But I did love Hurley's quick recap of the show so far and his mother's disbelief but assurance she believes him.

-I feel like either Hurley's mom or dad will end up being bad at some point. Total gut. But just a feeling.

-Where is Sun's baby? She travels all this way and no baby? Maybe she's really trying to kill Ben and just get back home as she says and not up to something else as has been suggested. It'll be interesting to find out.

-Frank Lapides is going to play a big role at some point. I just feel it.

-A little more backstory of Miles, Charlotte and Faraday are in order

-Everyone on this show has some daddy issues...do you think maybe Aaron's daddy with reappear at some point? I'm pretty sure Jack's daddy will. And I think Christian is a BIG part of what's going on behind the scenes of this whole island.

-Ben can't be good. He just can't be. Whatever he's trying to do now is to benefit other people, not the Oceanic 6 or the people left...right? We've spent too long with him as a villain to accept him as anything else

-Do you think something happened to Charlotte's mother that she can't remember her name? Maybe something that was changed in the past, changed some event in the future? Just throwing that one out there too...

-Is Alpert angry because Ben made Locke the head of the Others? Do you think he's telling Locke he has to die so that Alpert can take over? Richard Alpert has seemed to be too good up until this point. I think maybe there's something else there. Maybe that's why Ben wants to go back with Locke, to take back over.

-The Losties are jumping through time and people are hung up on how Faraday ended up in the opening scene? Maybe he ended up back there and didn't want to get killed so he tried to blend in. You figure eventually this record has to stop spinning...and then where in time do they end up?

-The record does stop spinning...right?

-If you asked me in Season 1 who the last person I would expect to become evil was, I probably would have said Sun. Now I have no clue what to think of her. Does she blame Kate for the death of Jin? Jack? Ben? Widmore? No one? Will she try to kill Jack in front of Kate to make Kate feel the pain she felt? Will she try to kill Penny in front of Widmore to do the same to him?

-Thought it was interesting that Locke tried to climb up the same vines that Boone fell down from many moons ago trying to get to that plane.

-Mrs. Hawking as Faraday's mom makes almost too much sense...there needs to be some twist there, right? It can't be the same person...Or will it just be like the Claire being Jack's half-sister wink/wink-nod/nod thing we've done for a while?

-British soldiers on the island? Think maybe that one of them was Charles Widmore? (sort of liked that theory...especially after hearing "my island"). But if that's true, what happens now that Locke has stuck a knife in his back?

-What happened to all those children who were kidnapped? Why were they kidnapped? Why did they take Walt? What about those kids from the flight who were kidnapped? Or the flight attendant? Or those kids who were walking through the forest that time when Jin spotted their legs? Did they just drop this plotline a la the polar bears actually being on the island?

-I think these episodes helped to point out so much more that Kate is the most selfish person on this show. There are a lot of selfless characters: Jack at times, Locke at times, even Sawyer at times (I mean he jumped out of a freaking helicopter)...but Kate always seems to be looking out for her own self-interest.

-Who sent the lawyers to Kate's house? My list of top candidates: 1) Ben, 2) Sun, 3) Widmore.

-Jack's brought a lot of people back to life when they've seemed dead...will Locke be the next one he saves?

-I am so conflicted about reading up on LOST spoilers because I don't want a lot of these surprises to be ruined for me...but in some ways, I want to know already. I told people who haven't seen the show yet to wait until it's done and then just watch all the DVDs over a month. It's torture waiting so long in between answers.

-Loved the suggestion that the reason Widmore and Ben "can't kill each other" is because either one or both are dead in the past...which occurs in the future. Might that knife wound of Locke's done it? Is Widmore searching for the island to stop that from happening?

-We've had a lot of people reappear after death. But one person's story which still has lots and lots and lots of questions is Libby's. Why was she in the mental hospital with Hurley? Now we have to ask if this happened in the past or in the future?

-I need to go back to watch that first episode with Desmond and Mrs. Hawking.

-I, for one, love the character development with Jack. He crashes and burns but always needs to come back to play the hero. I think that Jack may be more with it than we think. Maybe I'm giving him too much credit. But he always seems to have a little more of a plan that just following Ben along for the ride. Jack and Ben have always had this sort of Cain and Abel, brotherly, but rivals relationship with each other.

-Jack saved Ben at some point and it seems like Ben may be trying to do the same with Jack here. Maybe I'm wrong, though. As I said before, Ben doesn't ever seem to be able to move to the "good" side

-Juliet and Sawyer are going to get it on at some point. Jack and Kate as well.

-We NEED to find out what Sawyer whispered into Kate's ear before he jumped out of the helicopter

-I don't think it's any coincidence we learn about an Arrow Station as a protective station and then arrows rain down later on the Losties.

-Again...I'll end on a previous note. Faraday is trying to save Charlotte by contacting Desmond...but Desmond is "special" and may not be held to the same rules of effecting future events as others would be

I can't wait for Wednesday! Thoughts and theories are welcome!