The recap is up. I took a deep, deep drag on the speculation crack pipe, toward the end.

Not sure if this has been mentioned. A friend of mine theorizes that the hatch was created to keep the buried H-bomb from going off! My friend also notes that Sayid (back in season 2 when he and jack were nosing around under the hatch) said he had only heard of concrete that thick being used at Chernobyl.

Hmmm.... Obviously, what was going on with the hatch was a lot more weird than can be explained with just an H-bomb, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's something to this.

I saw that theory being floated on TWoP or somewhere. I think it makes the most sense. They made a big deal about how thick the concrete was. Another possibility -- if it's not where the bomb is buried, then perhaps it was to double as a shelter, in case there was ever a problem, but I think your friend is right.

Cindy, I'm intriugued by the theory of Charles Widmore and [memfault woman with Heidi braids and gun] being siblings, and Heidi braids being Daniel's mother, making Daniel and Penny cousins.

I have to admit, the Widmore reveal left me gobsmacked in a way I didn't think this show could do any more.

Ellie - the British woman with the gun in the last episode, right?

Ellie

Thank you! My brain totally shorted out, even though I read Cindy's recap earlier in the day (which mentions Ellie's name).

I have to admit, the Widmore reveal left me gobsmacked in a way I didn't think this show could do any more.

Right? I think it had just been taken for granted that he was Dharma. This show really knows how to play the audience.

I think it had just been taken for granted that he was Dharma.

I wasn't assuming that, either. We saw that Widmore Industries had ties to Dharma, but I took that as him being a wily businessman, AND I thought that was how he heard of the island in the first place (i.e., does business with Dharma, eventually hears about this weird island, wants to find island in order to exploit it for gain).

I forget a lot of stuff about the show, though, so it's possible it was more strongly implied that he was Dharma and I forgot.

Oh yeah, map props to Cindy for catching the Ellie/Eloise connection (I didn't watch the enhanced version). Interesting also that Daniel named his lab rat after his mom...

(i.e., does business with Dharma, eventually hears about this weird island, wants to find island in order to exploit it for gain).

I forget a lot of stuff about the show, though, so it's possible it was more strongly implied that he was Dharma and I forgot.

I think it was strongly implied that Widmore had been on the Island at least once, that he was trying to find it again. If he were part of the Dharma Initiative, that would make sense. I never considered that he started out there to begin with!