I have to say, I was quite amused by the fact that everyone in the Republican Guard speaks English so fluently

I don't think they did. I think that was a director's trick to indicate that they were still speaking in Arabic (?) but for the actors to continue in English to remove the need to subtitle half the ep. That's how it appeared to me at least.

This wouldn't have worked with "House of the Rising Sun" because we needed the HSQ of Sun speaking English.

I think that was a director's trick to indicate that they were still speaking in Arabic (?) but for the actors to continue in English to remove the need to subtitle half the ep.

Yeah, I actually got that, but I still thought it was funny, especially to have them start out in Arabic and switch over to English so quickly. Like I said, Naveen Andrews' Arabic sounded a little hesitant and awkward to me, so I can understand that if he doesn't already speak it fluently, it's going to be difficult for him to do those scenes. But it still bugged me a bit. Plus, then I couldn't figure out right away whether Danielle and Sayid were speaking English or French together (or Arabic???).

Yeah, that's what I thought was happening -- we had the magical translator gizmo in our teevees.

NO! CLAIRE AND THE BABY WILL BE SAFE AND HAPPY FOREVER!

This bears repeating.

I don't think they did. I think that was a director's trick to indicate that they were still speaking in Arabic (?) but for the actors to continue in English to remove the need to subtitle half the ep. That's how it appeared to me at least.

Yeah, it was very Hunt for Red October, only it was cooler in the movie. But, then, they had more time for that kind of thing.

it sure looked like the guy who played his superior officer was a white dude, which was both distracting and disappointing.

If I'm reading IMDB right, I believe the actor's Navid Negahban. There's no biographical information included, but I wouldn't necessarily assume they abandoned any pretense of realism and just cast Joe Random. (Mind you, I can't remember if the character's name actually was Omar, but I don't remember any other males in this episode who would have been significant enough to get actual names. I could be mistaken.)

(ETA: Oh, unless the guy Sayid was beating up on in the beginning was Omar. But no, I think that was "Prisoner". On the other hand, the woman who played Nadia was Andrea Gabriel, whose heritage I don't feel qualified to guess but who has in the past been cast as a Latina. Hollywood is a strange land -- on the other hand, we already knew that since Thomash and Sean live there.)

(EATA some linkage, and also to apologize for the nitpicky rambling; blame it on my Sociocultural class, and my blond-haired green-eyed Mexican American professor.)

Hey, that's right! And then he was all "I just hope one day I'll find her again!" What's the deal?

Regrets, he's had a few, but then again....

Yeah, it was very Hunt for Red October, only it was cooler in the movie. But, then, they had more time for that kind of thing.

That's exactly what I thought! But they didn't have any cool-sounding placenames like "Armageddon" to use as the transition word.

Now that Locke has acquired another young acolyte in Walt, how long is it until Michael has his flashback ep and throws a hissy fit over losing his influence with his son at the same time?

Now that Locke has acquired another young acolyte in Walt, how long is it until Michael has his flashback ep and throws a hissy fit over losing his influence with his son at the same time?

And if it's by the same person who wrote "The Moth," we'll get a line like, "I could build an aqueduct, but I couldn't build a relationship with my son."

Bwah!

But -- evil cliffhanger! Did we see Sayid in the promo?

I loved that Hurley's find that he was so excited about were the golf clubs (and golf balls, I would guess.)

t not here

And, okay, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have to say... Sawyer was pretty freaking cute in this episode. Despite how much I still hate the character, it seems that I have finally succumbed to the power of the dimples. sigh.

Damn it, me too.