You need to tell us your theories more often then. If you already knew there was a working surgery, they were faking being woods people, that they used theatrical makeup and clothes, that they injected Claire's baby with something and the various other things revealed.

pwned

no .. no theories at all. i said i didn't find it all that surprising .. i mean i saw it and i wasn't like damn!! I didn't see that coming ...

think about it:
these guys have a well functioning boat
they don't have an accent when they speak
they got guns
how hard is it to believe they're smarter than they look

then you got some agency doing screwwed up things around the island. for all we know, the entire hatch is their set up and what not.

i would go as far as to say that i won't be surprised if this new Henry Gale guy got himself caught purposely so he may infiltrate the survivors and cause dissention amongst those making decisions.

Agreed on that.

It seems that these "others/dharma dudes" send a spy into all the groups. Ala Ethan, and wasn't there one with the tallies, maybe to judge which ones to kidnap.

Anyone else think it was pretty cool how the baby's room in the Dharma place had a mobile in the crib of Oceanic Planes going around?? How many crashes have there been?

It made me wonder if the flashbacks were what the psychologist said they might be, half remembered mixings of various memories together and not totally reliable. She remembers ethan, being taken to a doctor there, being in a plane, and her memory mixed it all together. Just a theory, I don't know what to believe personally.

I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case. If he actually wanted to escape, assuming he's as strong as Ethan and Goodwin, he could have easily knocked out Sayid and Rousseau once he was freed from the rope trap, instead of simply running and giving Rousseau time to shoot him.

Something tells me Gale isn't any random "other" but perhaps the head guy that Ethan and that doctor talked about. He's not Zeke of course but we don't really know that Zeke is in charge.

Actually that doctor talking to Ethan was Zeke, just clean-shaven and well-dressed. When Kate found the fake beard later in the episiode, you knew that Zeke was just putting on an act.
Gale seems like another Ethan, I don't think he's the head Other. The guy in charge could very well be Alvar Hanso, the guy who created the whole Dharma project.

Hmmm...

I think Gale is clearly an Other. To be an "innocent" and survive on the island would have made Gale hard and a realist. When he's not being tortured by Sayid (which was once?) he's being fed and getting what he needs from the Doc and Locke. He's technically SAFER in the room locked up. He also wouldn't be trying to stir up shit.

But one thing is... I think The Others have really underestimated the Lostaways. It's starting to show little by little. I think the guns were a surprise, it sure was to Ethan. There seems to be a lot of arguments in their family, Ethan went after Claire because he was in DEEP SHIT apparently. But the Others are human (apparently) so it fits that they aren't immune to making mistakes, and between Jack and Locke and Sayid and Kate and Ana-Lucia and Eko and etc. there is a lot of extremely dangerous people in the Lostaways camp for The Others to deal with.

I am watching the whole series again with my friends every Thursday... 3 Episodes. Tonight we watched Special... it kind of dawned on me. We all know that Walt seemingly has the ability to "draw" polar bears or birds to him... who's to say he didn't draw his father to him the same way?

Something to think about.

The plot arc of Lost seems increasingly familiar. Mixed group of heroes finds a haunted place and a monster, which turns out all the be faked by some rich people in disguises who are up to no good. Wasn't that the plot of every Scooby Doo episode?

And I would have gotten away with it all if it hadn't been for you pesky kids.

Well yes, but that's because that's how the Others want it. They said the names of the people they took that were on the lists were taken because they were "good." They're selective about who they choose and why -- I think they left the group of castaways there for a reason. I think they might not have expected them to rebel the way they have and survive the way they have, but the Others still clearly have the upperhand.

Finally saw the episode...

Great episode, though I had some problems.

1) Claire just randomly started having these flashbacks, at the direct time when the baby was sick? It seems a bit too connected for the show's own benefit.

2) The Jack/Locke Henry Gale thing. Like some people said above, originally it was Jack who wanted him out and Locke who didn't, then it switches for the next episode.

3) We've still only had one pre-flight Claire episode! We know jack-shit about her. I would've liked to learn just a little bit of who she is.

4) We didn't need more "I am righteous. I walk in fate's footsteps. I am learning the way" talk from Eko. I still love the character, but that's getting a bit redundant.

Other speculation:

When Claire starting yelling "I saw Ethan! I saw Ethan", did anyone else notice Libby's reaction was a little too calm? She didn't say "Who's Ethan?" or anything like that, she acted like she knew who he was.

I can't believe Jin/Sun are already getting a 4th episode, even Locke/Sayid/Sawyer only have 3 each. This puts them in a tie for 2nd most episodes. I don't know about you guys, but I'm not feeling they're central enough for that degree of attention at all. I put them in at least 7th place. Jack, Kate, Locke, Sawyer, Sayid, Claire, Charlie, and then maybe them.

And Sun's baby is not Jin's. She's dirrtttyyyyyyy.

The others not really being others is a fantastic development.

And does anyone else think the Alex helping Claire thing might've been a set-up by The Others? Maybe they weren't controlling Alex, but the might've put her in a position where they knew she would do the betrayal deed. Ethan and such were probably not in on it if that's the case, maybe just "him" was pulling the strings. I mean, the way the doctor surgery table was in clear sight, it all seemed too evil. Maybe all they had to do was inject the baby, then they could let it loose into the normal Lostaways camp. It has that vaccine in it, it's not like they need to keep it in their quarters.

I would say Sun/Jin have been as important as the others from the get-go, there some of the originals, and dont forget Sun/Jin have four episodes 4/(2 people) is 2.

Like the one's the others stole.

And that damned dog too!

Jin and Sun episodes bore me to no end. I don't know what it is. The characters are great. They're not favorites, but I don't hate them! I just hate the episodes. They desperately need to throw something incredible into their episode in order for it to entertain me. Otherwise, I couldn't care less about how they came together and how Jin became an asshole.

A few questions for you all.

The Lostaways have killed several of the Others. The tailies killed 3 or more, Ethan was killed. Yet no reprisals? Doesn't that seem strange? For a "family" they don't seem to get upset by their members dying much.

What do you guys make of the fact that the Others are all blonde or light brown hair while the lostaways are ethnically diverse and several are engaged in inter racial relationships. Is it a simple message or is there something more going on here plotwise.

Anyone else think we might run into Kate's Dad (The one in the Sayid episode who was holding her picture) on the island?

Well Ethan looks like he fucked up. He is with the others but it looks like Claire is in his charge when Alex lets her go. I think he goes after her directly because Zeke (Mr. Friendly?) was yelling at him in the episode. I'm sure they know he's dead (they have feelers in the camp obviously) but in a way Ethan might have been disavowed.

The tailies killed at least 3 or 4 others, but 19 Tailies were taken, and I have a hard time believing they are all alive somewhere. I would say that that's quite a lot of reprisal.


There is at least one black Other (he's on the boat in Exodus, Pt. 2). And wasn't one of the guys that Eko killed black too?


I'm more interested in something I read (either here or elsewhere) speculation that Locke's father might be "Sawyer".

So, who is "he"?

I would guess it would be one of these :

Hanso
Korean dude
Degrot
Zeke
Gale
Arabic speaking American soldier

Good episode this week, but for me the giveaway that the other aren't others was slightly early . . .
Also, why was the surgery place abandoned?

That confused me as well... They'd abandoned the place, cleared it of all the "medicine" and stuff... but left a shitload of their clothes, some theatrical glue, a fake beard (which had the same RX-1 label on it as the stuff they pumped into claire... if you look closely, you can see the tear on the label). All seems a bit convenient to me...

They knew Claire would come back with assistance, so they abandoned it just like Rosseau abandoned her first hideout after Sayid left.

They didn't completely abandon it, though, because Kate found the fake beard that Zeke had just used a couple episodes before (about a week in Lost time) when he had held her hostage and forced Jack, Locke, and Sawyer to give away their guns.

I think they just got rid of all the medical stuff because, once Claire escaped, they didn't need it anymore. Either they're just using it as storage, or they're putting on another act.

Maybe the monster had some fun...