Good catch on the earlier b-day discussion, Anne. I'd forgotten about that. So glad to finally get Michael's story, and part of Walt's; I wonder if we'll get a Walt's perspective ep? I mean, not necessarily of the same happenings. I had not guessed for a second that Walt's super powers were pre-Island. Curious.

Do we think Walt knows he's... special? My impression from everything up until the "You're not listening..." scene is that he's clueless. But I don't know.

he's trying to bond with his son but not doing a very good job.

It's not all Michael's fault, though, but trying to force someone to form a bond with you is a great way to repel the other person instead of bringing him/her closer.

Hauling people around on those narrow vines, Locke's hands should be cut to ribbons. Really.

It seemed that the amount of vines that Locke was holding was less than the amount of vines wrapped around Walt's waist.

What was Michael's answer in that earlier ep when challenged on not knowing Walt's birthday?

Y'know, Blood Meridian is one of my favorite books, but I think Locke's not malevalent enough to compare to The Judge, who was, after all, an authority figure from the start of the book (and in contrast, I'd say Locke's only an authority figure to Boone, maybe Charlie, and now Walt & Michael) and a completely amoral cold-hearted killer. Locke exhibits quite a bit more compassion and humanity. At least for now.

What was Michael's answer in that earlier ep when challenged on not knowing Walt's birthday?

August 24 (Episode - House of the Rising Sun)

He recited Walt's birth date without skipping a beat.

Then, he asked Walt if Walt knew his birthday.

I knew going in that Harold Perrineau had better acting chops than anyone on the show except maybe Terry O'Quinn, and it was so nice to see Fury make use of that to good effect. Everything just sort of clicked into place regarding Michael, and much of it was done without being overtly spoken. Here's hoping he starts getting credit in the media for the great job he's doing after this episode.

I was thinking last night of fun theme songs for the various characters, and came up with the following:

Jack — "Jumping Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones for all the cliff diving and jungle flailing and stripping.
Shannon — "The Bitch is Back" by Elton John. They should have played this over the closing credits of "Hearts and Minds."
Sun — "Silence Is Golden (But My Eyes still See)" by Frankie Valli.

Any suggestions for the other characters?

I'm curious when in the shooting process they did the Michael flashbacks, because while I can guess plenty of things they could do about the hair difference, I've seen Harold Perrineau in enough stuff to know that he's not wearing a fake beard on the island.

Haven't seen HP without facial hair since SMOKE that I can recall. It really does make him look a lot younger.

Here's hoping he starts getting credit in the media for the great job he's doing after this episode.

Wordy McWord Word. He was great in the aforementioned SMOKE, but I think that's still the largest film role he's had (maybe Mercutio counts as close). I'd like to see him get more to do than back up Morpheus or get eaten by grizzly bears.

I think that's still the largest film role he's had (maybe Mercutio counts as close

I'm pretty sure it counts, considering that's both what the TWoP recapper and cleolinda call him. And how I remembered him. I need to see that movie again, because I think I was tired and fell asleep the first time, but I did remember really liking the Mercutio, especially since he's probably my favorite character in the play.