Okay. Caught up now. Totally knew Charlie wasn't dead, because I'd read ita's lj cut-tag text re: this show not written by Minear. But I still put my hand up to my mouth during the fake-out. Just generally? Don't like seeing people hung.

Nothing like a little post-coita...err, -torture conversation to make a man into a confidant. That is to say, theirloveissopure. In addition to "Sayid is back" and "I kept your fires burning" the slash just splashes up on this little island, doesn't it?

Now. What was Ethan's motivation in insinuating himself into the plane crash line-up? When did it happen? What benefit did he gain, and did he finish with whatever he wanted to do by the time he was outed? (Further, I was a little disappointed that it was him not on the manifest. Woulda been nicer if it wasn't. Maybe it wasn't! Maybe it's still Sawyer-Mr.-It's-Stupid-To-Change-My-Name!)

Love Hurley. He's totally a multimillionaire, and I finally care about his backstory beyond just liking the character.

Still liking Locke, too. The running-running-running scene made me revise my opinion on him a little, because I was started to get a little ancy about him, what with the turning up in pregnant women's dreams and all. His reaction shot to Sayid's pronouncement made me feel like he already knew they were not alone, but the running made me think maybe not.

So maybe he's only a little possessed? Possessed some of the time?

Oh, and what's with him handing out knives like candy?

Lots of spares. I think he has one for every crash survivor, with leftovers.

Has anyone commented on Walt's extreme backgammon luck? IIRC, someone had an idea about him having some sort of special access to the *island's power* what ever it really is. Perhaps this was a little bit of it showing through?

Cleolinda's Recap [link] for All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues finally got posted yesterday.

From Cleo's recap:

Ethan, by the way, is really scary. I think he must have taken some ass-kicking-on-film lessons from Cousin Tom, because he basically picks Jack up by the ankle and whacks him back and forth against the rocks like Bam-Bam or something. "IF YOU DON'T STOP FOLLOWING US," says Ethan, "I WILL KILL ONE OF THEM." In reply, Jack bleeds on the mud.

More:

And then Jack sits up in the rain and the violins start in and the camera pulls back and Charlie just lies there and he is dead. Totally dead. Stone cold dead. An ex-Charlie. Joined the rock band invisible. The internets burst into flame and JJ Abrams' inbox crashes under the weight of the death threats. And then Jack gives Charlie three or four more savage punches to the sternum while Kate wails. Seriously, this is what "beating a dead horse" looks like, in case you've ever wondered, except that OMG CHARLIE'S NOT DEAD! CHARLIE IS BREATHING! and the scene swings back from "the ballsiest move in the history of genre television" to "criminally manipulative." Kate and Jack cry and hug and cradle him and smile and hobbit makes three.

And if you listen very carefully, you can hear Charlie gasping, "Shattered... sternum! Internal... bleeding! Ack...!"

I have a new cleolinda tag! Yay!

and the scene swings back from "the ballsiest move in the history of genre television" to "criminally manipulative."

I know I'm biased by the Joss love, but I'd place several Mutant Enemy moments as ballsier than that. Angel killing Jenny Calendar, "Close your eyes," and "And yet, somehow, I just can't seem to care" all come to mind.

Oh, how this cracked me up:

The jungle. Jack is flailing through a meadow like a muppet. I think Jack has problems.

Since Charlie wasn't staying dead, how can that scene be ballsy?

Killing a hobbit and keeping him that way? I think the Kittens could probably take lessons from Dom's fan base. That'd be ballsy, and why I didn't think it was happening, certainly not just after sweeps.

Sorry Liese, about the spoil. When I wrote it, I was cynically thinking no one on my friend's list would have bought the fakeout, and figuring it was mildly vague.

Since Charlie wasn't staying dead, how can that scene be ballsy?

I think she was referring to the hypothetical scene in which he stayed dead with the "ballsy" statement. MostlyDead!Hobbit got "criminally manipulative" instead.