It's sweeps, she's not that useful a character in her own right, and her death will affect the rest of the group dynamic in interesting ways.

Jessica, I had a feeling you might be on my side. [edit: I knew there were more of us!] I like her because she's tough, because she's frequently wrong and gets pissy about it, because she's made some awful choices out of fear and the need to prove herself. I wouldn't want to be her best friend, but she makes for good TV.

am i the only one who was continuously distracted by how much Ian looked like "Rob Lowe: 80s edition" with that awful wig?

It really was an awful wig.

I like her because she's tough, because she's frequently wrong and gets pissy about it, because she's made some awful choices out of fear and the need to prove herself.

Yup yup yup. All this. Good stuff.

tiggy - it was the awfulest wiggiest wig I've seen in awhile. Ick.

Not to mention Boone looked like he had been on heroin in the flashback.

Well, that could tie-in to Charlie's story.

And next week, a trip back in time to, what? 44 days previously?

Some parts of this episode were WAY too convenient. Of course, that's happened so often on this show that I'm just gonna wave the hands a little.

Last week I detected a strong theme that ran across the different plot lines. Did anyone else see one this week? I thought trust, but...

I knew Sawyer wasn't going to die. Too obvious. Also, since they were Minear-izing Snickerbitch Shannon, she was doomed once it started raining.

Was I the only one who saw a little Sawyer/Michael action? And kinda liked it?

Also thought it was interesting that they crammed almost a whole episode of Charlie and Claire into a C plot. And are we thinking that Charlie is back on the smackfarthing? Or just carrying it around like a security blanket?

I think the security blanket thing.

Re: Boone, I was more distracted by what seemed like inconsistent characterization, but the wig was crap too. I couldn't tell how long ago this was all taking place (several years, I guess? Three, four, five?), so I thought it was strange that Shannon and Boone's relationship was so different. The way she was almost dependent on him--not financially, but emotionally--struck me as a total reversal of how things were between them right before they came to the island. I can buy that a lot changed between them in those years, but right now I don't have any idea why.

The DMB playing in the background made me think mid-90s.

Also, a Martha Graham internship? Kind of a big deal, yeah? Not something you could get if you slept 16 hours a day? Which makes Stepmommy Dearest a bit of a moneygrubbing beeotch.

Good God, who wrote this ep? I never thought anyone would make me empathize with Shannon. (I still don't get the relationship with Sayid, though.)