1) This show just got exponentially weirder with Locke's corpse turning up in the box (among MANY other things).

I know!! Like Steph, I wanted Locke to be Locke, but I don't really know what's going on with the "loophole." Who is that other guy? It seems like that they've introduced yet another twosome whose eternal struggle for THE ISLAND is fucking up the lives of everyone who gets in the damn way. And yet now...Jacob seems like the good guy after all?? WHAT THE HELL??

2) BASTARDS!!!!! (on the very ending and this being it until 2010).

AARGH. I really don't think I like the idea of the plan actually working, and I want that to just be The Incident. Because otherwise, a bunch of yahoos just CHANGED HISTORY because of THEIR FUCKING LOVE LIVES.

and it said final season in 2010. Sooo, hopefully all questions answered.

I fell asleep during the retro special. I think I missed the beginning of the actual episode. Stupid work making me tired. Will re-watch Sunday. Seems to be Locke is channeling other-dude-from-ship-offshore-days.

Did anyone else notice that in the scene with Juliet and her sister (being told of their parents divorce), the furnishings were from the 2000s? I mean, like wildly contemporary, definitely not from the 70's or early 80's.

Is it possible that all along, she's actually been from the future? As in, born in the late 90's, and an adult in 2020s or 2030s, and headed back into time?

Of the main people in the story, isn't she the only one Jacob didn't visit?

Did anyone else notice that in the scene with Juliet and her sister (being told of their parents divorce), the furnishings were from the 2000s? I mean, like wildly contemporary, definitely not from the 70's or early 80's.

That really jumped out at me, yeah.

Of the main people in the story, isn't she the only one Jacob didn't visit?

I think so. Also, did you notice that Jacob gave something to almost everyone he visited? Kate = lunchbox. Sawyer = pen. Jack = candy bar. Hurley = guitar.

You could technically say that he "gave" Sun and Jin his blessing at the wedding. ("His Korean is perfect!" Hee.)

That leaves Sayid and Locke who weren't given anything except trauma and pain. I wonder if that means anything.

Steph,

I think Jacob may have partially healed Locke so that he could survive to the hospital. I could never believe how he survived that fall and given Jacob's powers, I think he must have left that kind of mark on him.

I found this quote on hitfix.com. It seems to be the ravings of a mad man. Anyone here who knows literature better than I do? Any truth to any of this?

Drew, are you familiar with Adulous Huxley? Did you know that he hung out with the real Richard Alpert? They did LSD together. Did you know Huxley wrote a story called Jacob's Hands, about a man named Jacob that had the power to heal people with his hands? Did you know he wrote a book called Point Counter Point, where the story is an intricate set of sub-plots revolving around several key characters each with a set of sub characters. Each character represents some aspect of life or is a stereotype of some sort and the various character paths cross in varying circumstances and Huxley analyzes every motive and internal emotion in detail, sometimes even jumping into a character's past to provide context. Did you know Huxley wrote a book called The Island, about a man shipwrecked on an island who encounter a group of people living on the island. It deals with group living, assisted reproduction,trance states for super living, and a long hard journey to a temple for spiritual enlghtenment. Or how about another Huxley work After Many Summers Dies The Swan, where the action revolves around a few main characters brought together by Jo Stoyte. Each character represents a different philosophy of living life.And every individual is called on to display not only unsleeping good will but also unsleeping intelligence. It features one character Dr Obispo, who places great faith in science and medicine as a saviour of humankind but he is trapped in ego-based "human" behaviour that prevents him from reaching enlightenment. And another character, Stoyte,who is in his sixties and fearing death, finds himself in deep contemplation of life. Enlightenment eludes him, however, as he is ruled by fear and craving. Stoyte travels with Dr Obispo to Europe, where they find an immortal human, who now resembles an ape. Stoyte cannot grasp that transcendence or goodness should be one's ultimate goal, rather than prevention of death, and expresses his wish to undergo treatment so that he too will live forever. Does any of Huxley's work I have presented sound familiar?

Okay, anyone think that when we come back 2010!!!!! Richard Alpert will have suddenly aged?

Huxley did in fact write all of those: [link] (Jacob's Hands is a novella, not a novel).

From Lostpedia:

Name reference

The real-life Dr. Richard Alpert (aka Ram Dass) is a noted psychologist and Hindu spiritualist. In 1963, he was dismissed from Harvard University for his research (in collaboration with Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley, Allen Ginsberg and others) into psilocybin, LSD-25, and other psychedelic chemicals. He later traveled to India, where he was given his Hindu spiritual name "Ram Dass", which translates as "Servant of God". Alpert wrote of his experiences in an unusual tome entitled Be Here Now, and founded the Hanuman Foundation. See Bio and Wikipedia entry. Damon Lindelof confirmed that the character of Alpert was indeed named after a famous person. [1]

Richard Alpert's colleague Aldous Huxley wrote a book called Island, which has been referenced in Lost, most specifically with regard to the Pala Ferry; Pala is a Utopian island in Huxley's book.

The first episode of The Carpenters short-lived TV series Make your Own Kind of Music[2] featured a guest appearance by musician Herb Alpert[3]. Different versions of the show's theme song are featured in several Lost episodes, most notoriously during the opening sequence of the Season 2 premiere. ("Man of Science, Man of Faith"). Richard is also the first name of the male half of The Carpenters.

Richard is of Old German origin, and its meaning is "powerful leader".

Illana refers to Richard as "Ricardus" and it is Latin for Richard.