At the end, I didn't get that they were in two different places. It looked like everyone was at the cave. This confused me, but based on some posts upthread I take it I was mistaken?

Yep. Jack led (among others) Hurley, Sun, Jin to the caves, where Locke and Charlie still were (wonder if they - specifically Locke - will stay? Proabably) Sayid, Sawyer, Michael, Walt and Kate were left on the beach, by the fire they were still hoping rescuers would see. Michael and Walt had a nice moment on the beach, by the fire, and the closing musical montage highlighted the choices made, with special attention to Jack and Kate being separated.

Were you flipping back and forth between the game? :)

I think Locke will stay -- because I think he's really enjoying the island. (I don't know whether he would go so far as to sabotage people's attempts to alert rescuers -- at least, not yet.)

With the matching black and white stones on the dead folks, now I'm wondering what the black bear is up to.

You know there's got to be one, right? Probably watched from the long reeds as his buddy, the polar bear, got shot. "Note to self: the humans have mastered the use of simple firearms. Todo: mourn my friend Poley; exact horrific revenge on humans; buy more Charmin - get the the double roll this time."

Man, I really hope the twist isn't that they're all stuck in a game of "Black and White". I'm not sure I'm ready to see giant animals throw poop at people in prime time.

What is "Black and White"?

When it took so long for Sayid and Sawyer to rush in and rescue Michael, my first thought was, "Bet they were off doing their own rolling around in the sand, but with slightly more sex and slightly less punching."

This is totally Dana's fault.

Were you flipping back and forth between the game? :)

Busted!

(actually, my TV has picture-in-picture, so it was my eyes that were flipping left and right. And FAQ girl was wondering the same thing as me)

I would so watch the Sun and Jin show. Their story is fascinating. I want to know what Jin did before going to work for Sun's father, and if she never knew what her father's business really was, and if someone is taking care of her dog.

So, does every episode begin with an eye opening? Couple that with "living is easy with eyes closed" and we get a bunch of people who now have to open their eyes and learn to make hard choices on the island.

I'm in the corner with people who don't get why sentries can't maintain the fire on the beach while everyone makes their base camp the fresh water source. if roughly half the people stayed on the beach, that's over ten gallons of water that has to be shlepped out to them every day. One gallon of water weighs 7 pounds. Imagining myself as the water-shlepper, that sounds like a lot of wasted effort

(actually, my TV has picture-in-picture, so it was my eyes that were flipping left and right. And FAQ girl was wondering the same thing as me)

Well, it was dark when they were going back and forth between the two camps, so if you were looking at it in the little picture, then I can see how you might not get the differences in location.

If Lost was in the big picture though, then I suspect you may have been distracted by the presence of FAQ Girl...

Must've been the latter...

"Black and White" is/was a PC game.

Basically, it's a "god" game - you're trying to get villagers to worship you. One of the unique features is the "creature" - basically a giant animal (bear was one of the options, I think) that you train to do your bidding by appropriate rewards and punishment. Which, from what I hear, usually degenerates into getting it to throw poop at the villagers. Or throw the villagers at poop.