I think the next few weeks of Lost are going to be about guessing which actors have got parking tickets.

I haven't watched yet, and I think I'm going to put it off as it doesn't sound like a great episode.

It's more that it's a weird episode, Kevin. The flashbacks are about Ben, and we learn more about the Others and the Dharma Initiative. Sort of.

I really wonder whether the creators had the Dharma Initiative in mind when they thought up the show. Because they sort of locked themselves into this labyrinthine mythology when they introduced them as the reason for the Island. Although the Island apparently has magical properties separate from the Dharma Bums.

I know, I know it's naive to think they had anything in mind at the beginning. But I like to hope. I just wonder what they think of how it's turned out. Because it occurs to me that Lost is becoming a really long movie where what you eventually think of it depends on the ending, because it will impact the entire series. For instance, would anyone have tuned in at the beginning if they said, "They crash on a mysterious Island! And...there used to be this hippie science commune that was studying its properties..." I'm wondering what sort of explanations/payoffs would have been more satisfying to currently disenchanted viewers.

I liked the episode a lot. It left Scott sort of meh. As P-C says, it was a very weird episode.

I'm totally perplexed and confused by Jacob. The creators talk about him as if he's real. But I have no idea what was going on in that room. Is Ben completely off his rocker?

I'm getting excited for the finale. Lost always pulls out the extra crazy for finales, and that can be fun.

Like the emperor's clothes - only GOOD people can see him ... or those with a life expectancy beyond the end of the season.

I have a new theory with Lost. When people die on the island, they live in real life. I've not got much further than that, like.

This is because when people die in real life, they live on the island, right?

The Jacob screen cap struck me as vaguely Roy Dotrice-y...but after his last turn as Wesley's bad-daddy, that would be distracting.

The Jacob screen cap struck me as vaguely Roy Dotrice-y

my dad thinks it looks like this guy, who played Sully in Commando. you know, the guy Arnold dangled over the cliff by his ankle. and i JUST realized he is in The Crow. huh.

Some people at TWOP are speculating that Jacob is Penny's dad.

Also, there's some speculation that Jacob and Richard are members of the crew of the Black Rock. (Pirates! They're pirates!)

Would the entire crew of the Black Rock necessarily have been Dutch if the ship is Dutch?