Late to post, I know. I was disappointed in this episode. I am tired of Jack flashbacks, and am not entirely convinced this one wasn't a false memory implanted by the Others. Am tired by Jack/Kate/Sawyer. As far as I'm concerned, Kate chose Sawyer last season. Don't care about the Others' stories or psychological mindfuck experiments, either on the folks we know or anyone new, at this point.

I started watching because the idea of a disparate group of people trying to survive in a "foreign/alien" environment was intriging to me. I don't mind the weirdness, OMGWTFPolarbear! and other mysteries, but I do mind the resetting that seems to occur each season. The producers seemed to have wandered very far off the original path. I want to see what sort of society these folks build, how they cope with the weirdness of the island. But even more importantly, I want to see more Sayid. Is that too much to ask? I think not.

I must agree with you, Fern. There is a serious scarcity of Sayid these days and that's just not right.

Lost was 5 million viewers down on it's premiere. And having seen it, I'm not surprised why - they really, really need to just stop adding layers and explain something. Anything.

I'd swear nobody writing the show has seen The X-Files.

I just read the Entertainment Weekly review/wrap-up of the premiere, and it praised the episode to high heaven. It made me wonder if the reviewer and I even watched the same show.

It used phrases like: "In an episode overflowing with stellar moments," and "I have to applaud the choice the writers made in structuring the rest of the episode." and "...the episode sharply narrowed its focus, mostly to explore Jack's state of mind. We haven't spent this much time with our hero in ages, and it felt great to care about the guy again!"

Particularly on that last one, all I could do was think -- did the reviewer miss the entire second season? It seemed like every other episode was all about Jack and his angst. Or maybe it's just that a little angst goes a long way, and we've overdosed on Jack angst. Whatev.

Maybe it's like the Emperor's New Clothes, Steph.

Okay, I do enjoy Greybishop's summary of the show:

Imagine a group of strangers finding themselves together on an island after a horrific plane crash. Imagine that this same group isn't just a random collection of lost souls. They have connections. Connections that link them all in ways that they can't even imagine. Connections to each other, and to the island they're stranded on and the mysterious forces that seem to be directing their collective fate to this place, this time.

Imagine that this mysterious island is home to more than just a group of stranded crash survivors. Imagine it was once the home of a vast and complex experiment that was exploring sociology, psychology, electromagnetism, zoology and much more. Imagine that the remnants of these experiments might well destroy the survivors, the island, or even the world.

The survivors of Flight 815 are not alone here. There are Others. This band of newcomers don't know anything about the island. They don't know anything about each other. They don't know anything about the Others. What they don't know might just kill them.

I've been meaning to ask, since Kate was put in all these deliberately vulnerable positions (the shower, the clothes, the handcuffs), and the next time we see her after the beach scene with Ben, she is all dirty and roughed-up looking...what did they do to her? Sawyer asks if she's alright, and if I remember right, she refuses to say, maybe even starts to cry a little. They wouldn't take their Kate-breaking to the level that my mind is jumping to, would they?

I was wondering that myself, Juliebird. I don't know if the director just read the script wrong, or if it was intentional 'we'll flash back to this during sweeps'.

I really don't know what to say about Lost. It makes me want to stab my TV with sporks a lot of the time, but yet I still watch.

There used to be a creepy, supernatural tone to the show. That's what I liked about it. Walt's weird abilities, the polar bear in the comic book coincidence, the too-real hallucinations, the animated black smoke. They've just dropped all those elements. All the mystery has come down to is a bunch of whackos with a strange hidden agenda. I'm still watching, but I don't care about any of these characters anymore. (Except Sun.) I just keep hoping they'll come around to explaining the spooky stuff. Or at least remembering they put it there.

I love a good conspiracy theory, but I'm not that interested in the one on "Lost." I'm absolutely along for the ride and may ride it out at least this season and next, but I would like more supernatural funkiness and more about the original survivors.

Something that feels more planned out.