Much (almost all) of Michael's sympathetic qualities seem to come from being wronged by stone cold bitch. Without that factor he is pretty much an annoying screw up.

Without that factor he is pretty much an annoying screw up.

Which, honestly, is why she probably didn't feel too bad about taking Walt away from him.

did I see that bagua symbol on the damned shark?!

Yes. Cree. pee.

Maybe the island (including, of course, the hatch of doooooom) is all one big social experiment a la The Truman Show, and the bagua symbol is an advertiser's product placement. (Not to us; but in the fictional Lost-world.)

I have to say that my extreme hatred for Locke continues, but I was able to watch most of this.

There will be no dissing of my man Crazy McCrazy Locke!

Poor Locke seemed very frustrated in the promo. I love how he gets fixed in his mind exactly how things should be, then just can't understand when it doesn't work out like he planned. Then again, it could just be I understand this frustration.

Bagua means eight trigrams, that are the building blocks of the I Ching. It's used as a map in Feng Shui to guide a person as to how to enhance their environment.

eta: When I saw the symbol, I was reminded of the Blue Sun.

I love how he gets fixed in his mind exactly how things should be, then just can't understand when it doesn't work out like he planned.

Which is just how a man who has lived inside of his own mind most, if not all, of his life should react when confronted with the real world for the first time. You can just tell that he's had this fantasy of himself as the Great White Hunter John Locke for years, surely longer than the four years he's been in the wheelchair, and the island isn't cooperating like it should!

For most of the first season, I was sure that Locke had this elaborately hidden life before being paralyzed. After seeing the Dad-takes-his-kidney flashback and seeing how he behaves in situations such as Boone's death and next week's preview, I'm thinking he worked retail most of his life, instead.

My Locke hatred might be a smidge irrational. It's sort of like the feeling I had toward an ex boyfriend's sister, it was loathing at first sight.

Did Locke notice the hash marks on the walls?

My first thought about the Others on the beach is that they are the survivors from the other end of the plane and their time on the island has been much worse.

My first thought about the Others on the beach is that they are the survivors from the other end of the plane and their time on the island has been much worse.

But didn't crazy Rousseau refer to the Others being there for a while (i.e., before the plane crash)?

Did Locke notice the hash marks on the walls?

I believe he did.

But didn't crazy Rousseau refer to the Others being there for a while (i.e., before the plane crash)?

I believe this is true, also.

Buffistas is my religion.

The logo was, in fact, on the shark. I played the rewind-freeze-frame game to see it. It's just at the base of the tail, a flash past just as it whips off camera.

So the food's got a label, the guy's got a label, the shark's got a label... I'm getting a Jurassic Park kind of vibe. I hope it's more complicated than that.