David

I counted at least 14 torches, so at least 15 others. I think Danielle said there were 16 in her party, so I am wondering if they are the Others.

I think Jack didn't want Kate to go on the search because he knows he has feelings for her, and didn't want her to get hurt. Coming back, he was too ticked to speak to anyone. Jack doesn't deal with failure well, and Kate was the only reason he gave up. But he may have just pushed Kate right into James/Sawyer's arms.

What did everyone think of Jack's conversation with Ana at the end?

Here is what I got from last night.

My guess is that Jack's wife is seeing Desmond (the guy in the hatch at the beginning of season 2)as the other guy. Jack sees a picture of Desmond and a woman in the hatch, and I think it is his wife.

Also, the "other"person that brought Kate out of the jungle was named Alex. That was the name of Danielle's (the french woman that captured Said)child.

I think that the main "other" (who Sawyer referred to as Zeke and looks like the Gortons Fisherman) is really Mr. Degrut that was in charge of the whole project at the beginning.

Thoughts?

Very interesting about Jack's wife and Desmond. Could be a connection there. I was waiting for the patient's daughter to show up somehow on the island or connected in another way.

Also, I must have missed something somewhere along the line. How did Sawyer know that the "other's" name was Zeke? Did he tell them last night and I just missed it?

He just called him Zeke - It's probably not his real name. It's like saying "Chief" "buddy" "sport" "huckleberry" etc....

Or did one of "the others" call him 'Zeke' on the boat last season when they took Walt? Can't remember...

"Zeke" is just another Sawyerism like "Freckles", "Mr. Clean", et cetera. I do like that Sawyer has made it personal between him and this particular Other.

Nice catch on the name Alex. I knew it was familiar but I couldn't remember why.

I thought it was cool that Jin was ready to charge off to bring back Michael. And that he backed down when Sun told him to stay.

Will Hurley get a girlfriend?

Good to see that someone is taking care of the dog. At least that give Ana-Lucia a friend.

I think Hurley and Libbey have already met. (Didn't he ask her if they had met.) Not just a pick up line. She is a psychologist, and I think she worked where Hurley was a patient.

Great catch on Alex. And the Desmond/Jack's wife theory is very interesting. I had wondered if Libby had worked at the hospital Hurley stayed at. I would like to see his episode again and see if she shows up in the background.

I wonder what will happen to Michael. The Gorton's Fisherman said "He'll never find us." Will he keep wandering around and eventually return to camp? It seems like the Others wanted to draw him away from the survivors. Why?

The others seem to know a lot about the survivors, but I got the impression that Ethan was not one of the others from the Fisherman's response. If not Ethan, how do they know so much?

Lots of questions - is it Wednesday yet?

Thanks all for the updates. Now I can be back up to speed. Nobody is getting the tv during Lost in the future, because I get too lost by missing any of it.

tahdah, you need a cattle prod to protect yourself and the remote.

I have season 1 on DVD and I will try to check out to see if Libbey is on the staff. Other things I need to check:

Is Danielle's place of residence one of the Dharma stations on the island? Will have to look for the symbol in the background where she held Said.

The mural on wall in the Swan station may have lots of information painted on it. need to look at it again.

I watched the Ecko episode again and slowed it down where the camera went through the smoke. There were images of his brother, the guy he killed, a woman, the church, and one other image that was only 1 frame long. I want to go back and see if Locke saw anything linked to his past in the smoke.

The theory now about the smoke is that it scans the target's memories (or, more ominously, reviews the target's memories from its own files, which presupposes that it ALREADY knows these people somehow) and will smite the unworthy. So Eko passed. But Locke did not. (Although I believe he only was rejected on a second examination--the first time was very early in S1 when he seems to have met its approval.)

That theory makes sense. I wonder if Locke didn't pass the second time because of his involvement in Boone's death? Eko would pass because he was always working for the greater good.

Zamboni Driver- you should write for CliffsNotes; great recap!

David, I wondered the same thing. We know there are at least 5 (there were 5 on the boat that took Walt). We also know that Eko killed 2 when they attacked the tail-enders. What I couldn't get past is how could 3 (or even 5) Others take 18 tail-enders and then keep them.

The other thing I wondered - have the survivors that were taken joined the Others. If so, the force is always growing. If not, what happened to them. We saw several of them, including the kids, walking through the jungle barefoot. But what about the rest of them?

They'll probably focus on other things for awhile now that we have seen the Others and the Monster.

ZD

There is a lot about the others that seems inconsistent. Ethan seemed smart, clean cut and quite strong, maybe inhumanly so. But when Ecko and Jin were hiding in the bushes and saw the feet of the “Others” they were bare and their cloths seemed tattered. Then we meet “Others” on the boat and don’t get a good look at them, but they do seem organized and intelligent. Then last week Jack and group actually talk to one and he acts like they are superior but he and Alex look a little haggard.

So, if Ethan was not with Alex and “Zeke” who was he and is he a true “other” or something else entirely? Does that mean there are still at least two other groups out there? (no pun intended)

And yes David, I agree about the torches. I thought the same thing when they lit them. And even if there are 15 of them, there are a lot more survivors.

Well, everybody now thinks Charlie is scum but I'm not so sure. It's Locke I wouldn't trust as far as I can spit. Why would Locke take the statues and lock them up with the weapons in the bunker instead of just destroying them? Throw them in the ocean. -- P.W. --

I'm beginning to believe Locke is starting to be in with the others in one way or another... Thats the only reason I can see for him not destroying the drugs, to use them against the other survivors.

I have heard that episodes are supposed to be "darker." This is probably just the start.

From the previews, it looked like we are in for a repeat next week. It would be nice if they could string together more than 3 new episodes before giving us repeats. Anyone else on board with the thinking that Libby might be in with the Others?

Did anyone catch Charlie's comment about the island being a "test" for everyone?

Libby one of the others, huh. What makes you say that? Curious -- PW

I agree with the comments about Locke. He seems to be up to no good. When Charlie was ranting about the baby being in danger, they showed Locke just sitting looking kind of crazy. It made me think that he may be the one to do something to the baby. Would he dare make a sacrifice to the others?