Get Ready: The Glass Ballerina

Sorry for the delay in getting the "Get Ready" post up. I normally do this right after the new episode airs, so we can get all your great comments in one place as we prepare for the next podcast.

It's great that LOST is back in full swing, and we got another new episode last night, The Glass Ballerina. We'll be podcasting this weekend about this latest episode of LOST, and talking about the Sun and Jin backstory, Sawyer and Kate's "chain gang" experience, as well as talking a little bit about what we've learned of their captors. We'll also be talking about the ambush attempt that Sayid, Jin and Sun attempted, and we certainly have to talk about the developments with Jack and Ben. Has Ben really lived his whole life on the island? Do they really have connection with the outside world? Will Jack cooperate? It's just the tip of the iceberg, folks.

I'll be out of town, so Robert will be podcasting with a familiar voice, Brian. You knew he'd be back, right? Get your comments to us by posting them here, sending us an email or sending an audio comment via our automated voicemail at: 206-666-2278.

Stay LOST.

Comments

[Fish Biscuit]

Didn't really notice any clues or easter eggs in this episode. Anyone else?

[JB]

Pretty good episode. I think we see a few more insights into Sawyer as well as Jin. Sure he was a street smart con-man, but the way he confronted the Others and the things that he found my that confrontation, speaks of some deeper training somewhere.
This is way out there, but could it be that Sawyer was working for some other US government agency, and that Kate ended up being another one of his cases and he was there without the Marshall's knowing. He ends up falling for her, so he has to keep up the charade. I do not think that is the case, just throwing it out there.

I think we got some good insight into Jin. I think he knows what Sun did, even though it was evident that Mr. Clean did not tell him. I like him more and more with each episode.

Lastly, as everyone else, that was classic with the Sox. Can't wait until next week.

[Carl, UK]

Just a thought, but the fact Mr Clean had the pearls in his hand... was he trying one last time to get Sun to runaway with him, did Sun push Mr Clean to his dearth? just the way on the boat the woman said 'your not a killer' maybe the others dont know everything?

There seems to be a little theme with 'Pearl'
1, Bernard wanted to give Rose some pearls.
2, The Pearl station
3, Mr Clean holding the pearls

I thought this was a good episode, No one seems to be talking about when Sun was young, she showed she is not to be trusted,

1. She cheated on her husband,
2. The baby is not Jin's
3. She learnt to speak english...

she is not a good person!

[Joni]

I have lots of questions! Any thoughts?

Anyone think that an offer was made to Kate, one similar to the one made to Jack? --Maybe she knows she is going to have to betray Jack and Sawyer. Could explain why she acting so weird.

Either Jin doesn't know about the affair or the affair was a while before the crash. Otherwords, he wouldn't be so happy about the baby.

And is Sawyer so dumb that he thinks they aren't monitoring them??? Or is it all part of the con?

Any ideas on what is going on with Alex and Karl?

[Mark B]

Bad episode, very little happened, very very slow…. I can’t believe that people are saying this was a good episode but I bet people are wondering how I think it is a bad one. I think it was probably one of the worst episodes ever. This was the inverse of last week’s episode very little happened at all until the last 5 mins. Lost has lost 5 million viewers and I think most left cause Lost was too complex. Now I think people will leave because it’s too slow and too dull. They have six episodes before the 13 week break and they serve up this ....?

What happened/ what we learnt;
1. Sun lies. But we knew that already.
2. Sun slept with Mr Lee. But we suspected that already.
3. Jin has some conscience, there is a line he won’t cross. He won’t kill someone he thinks shamed Mr Paik and by implication Jin himself. I seem to remember finding out Jin was not all bad before. I don't think Jin knows Mr Lee slept with Jin, if he did I think he would have killed him.
4. Mr Lee killed himself. Or did he ? I think he did – the pearl necklace indicates to me that he did. Why would someone else put the necklace in his hand ? And how would they know it’s significance.
5. Sayid is rubbish at special ops, he didn’t think that the Others would go to the boat first. Duh ? The Others probably thought all three were on the boat or had been watching/seen Jin/Sayid hiding in the trees. But then he wasn’t exactly a great commando in the fake village.
6. Jin understands more English than we thought and he can handle a gun. Surprise surprise. He been hanging about with English speaking people for two months and Sayid and Suns expressions and body language shouted that they were hiding something.
7. Sun will shoot someone (though perhaps it was an accident). Though Colleen’s not dead and Jack will save her. Jack will probably use this to get something – to get to see Sawyer/Kate I’m guessing.
8. The Others know Sun’s name. So we are to assume they know everyone.
9. There are some other people who do the same tedious rock moving job as Kate and Sawyer. Who are they ? Where are they from ? Why are the Others getting people to move the rocks ? Just to break them (K-S not the rocks) ? Looks like some pointless mind numbing task to me. I bet later the Others will get them to move the rocks back.
10. Sawyer doesn’t think ahead and realized he should have given the water to Kate.
11. The tazers have a safety on or could they have no effect on the Others. More Superhuman stuff ?
12. Sawyer can handle himself in a fight. Some of the Others can’t. Sawyer is smart and is planning an escape.
13. Kate is useless in a fight. She must have done nothing other than let Juliet pull a gun on her. Very un-Kate like. I would have expected her to get stuck in. Unless of course she’s been turned already.
14. Sawyer and Kate are a couple, or as good as.
15. They have been on the island 69 days. It’s Nov 29th 2004. If Ben is to be believed.
16. The Red Sox won the World Series in 2004. If Ben is to be believed. Perhaps Dharma staged the Red Sox win 8-)))
17. The Others DO have contact with the outside world or at least get satellite tv.
18. Jack can last an entire episode without crying. But Mr Lee cried so I guess that’s ok.
19. Ben watches and hears everything.
20. Benjamin Linus (or Lynus) has lived on the island all his life. Is there anything in this name ?
21. If Jack does something he can go home, if we believe Ben. Ben appears to be a man of his word, he let Micheal and Walt go (or did he ?) But what does Jack have to do and will he do it ? I don’t think he’ll leave without the rest of the Losties.

According to the official podcast which I think contained quite a few ….. SPOILERS FOLLOW ……
1. Karl is an Other and the attempt escape was real. We’ll find out more about him before the end of the sixth episode.
2. They implied we would get Others flashbacks, but not for a long while.
3. They implied Sun and Mr Lee were seriously involved and had ‘done the business’.
4. There are other Others in other places but they are all the same group.

Sorry to have gone on soooo long.

Mark B

[Mark B]

Oooops item 3 should read

I don't think Jin knows Mr Lee slept with SUN, if he did I think he would have killed him.

Mind you Mr Lee sleeping with Jin would have added something.

[I_Love_Sayid]

So it looks like the map I used last weekend is upside down...but I think it should still make sense (as soon as I get a chance I'll redo it and see if it works.) Either way, we now have an exact location for the Pala Ferry. Thanks for drawing right onto the map Sayid!
http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage.php?album=1181&pos=14

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

Not sure if any of you are Buffy fans, but there was a nice reference in there. Sawyer says "You taste like strawberries," which is from a Buffy episode in Season 6. A warlock says it to Willow I believe.

[Mr_Hurley's Food Stash]

19. Ben watches and hears everything. Only where he is?!

How come Ben had no idea about the sail boat? Desmond had been on the Island a while and the boat was being repaired by Inman (This would have taken some time). However, the 'Others' must have known about Desmond, but they couldn't know where he came from.

This opens up a question about past information on characters, like with Jack last week. Do they pretend to know his life, or just use what they know from things they find on the Island? i.e. Things they find on the plane, from conversations ect? They are obviously trying to manipulate Jack now, and they'll use whatever to do it, last week his life, this week TV.

We have fractions in the others, and from this (Desmond's sail boat) we know now that the others don't know EVERYTHING that is happening on the Island.

Okay episode, but it's just the start, plus when I saw next weeks preview!!!!

Mr_Hurley's Food Stash

[kitten]

I have a feeling Michael got the same pitch as Jack got in this episode -- do what we tell you, and you'll get to go home. Probably saw the same Sox video and everything (the game was on Oct. 27). Seems to me that Jack may take the bait and turn against everyone the way Michael did -- or at least make the Others think that he's turned. We'll see.

[Trevor]

I may be way off but I believe I detected a trend in the names of the Others last week after the bookclub opening. Do the Others' names have some sort of alphabetical order? We typically only hear their first names and they seem to be primarily from the first part of the alphabet (perhaps ala Adam & Eve) and don't repeat. Here are the names I've noticed so far:
- Adam (bookclub creep)
- Ben
- Colleen (shot by Sun)
- Danny (guy who beat Sawyer)
- Ethan
- Goodwin
- Juliet
- Karl (cell escapee)

We don't know Ms. Klue's first name as yet and Alex Rousseau wasn't originally an Other. Of course there's also Tom.

It may be nothing but thought it was worth a mention. It seems a bit creepy and could be part of the whole cult-like community they have going.

[Helena]

http://green-queen.livejournal.com/587899.html

[I_Love_Sayid]

Mrs. Klugh's 1st name is Beatrice

[I_Love_Sayid]

Remember when Benry acted all scared and confused while the blast door was going down. He was locked in the armory, out of site, and still pretending. We were all thinking that he couldn’t be a higher-up other because he doesn't know what's going on... but he did ;)

I think a man like Benry, with the possibility of having allot of enemies, would prefer to stay aloof. Maybe he’s afraid to let his own crew what he knows and doesn’t know…especially if there’s descent within the ranks. My bet is that he knew about Desmond and his sailboat and possibly set up the whole senario.

[Matthew Denham]

Great episode, changed my perspective on Sun big time. Also, because of this will we see an others funeral, because this might give us an opertunity to see the full scale of how many others there are.
Did anyone else find Colleens comments very interesting before she got shot. Simular to Ben's, but she is just the muscles of the operation so I'm starting to believe that there is a bigger enermy on the island, maybe the smoke monster, and that they are recruiting from the losties. They are currently testing their resolve and strength I think.
Also, Alex is quite obviously dating Karl, whether he's an other or not. Sawyers a bloody genious, tests out the enermy and gets a kiss in one motion. Also, is Tom the front man because they won't miss him. He's an awful shot and isn't to good at hiding his emotions.
Ben is a legend, that actor needs a raise. Sorry all these comments are randomally put together. I'm thinking as I type.

Thats all for now,

Denzy

[Katerina]

Haven't contributed in a long time. Am wondering last year there was a place you could go where they had detailed screencaps of all the episodes. I can't seem to be able to find the link. Can anyone help me? Trying to see if one of the two men Sarah was seen with in S03E01 is her ex-fiance from S02E01. Tx a bunch.

[I_Love_Sayid]

@Katerina
I know of 2 great places for screen caps - lost-tv.com and lost-media.com.

[daviboy]

Hey guys, try googling "benjamin lynus" and see what you get. At the top of the page will be a link to "Hansoadoptions.org". Pretty interesting clue.

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

Do you think that maybe they made Kate the opposite offer? She seemed pretty freaked when we saw her being put in the cage. Maybe they said help us or we'll take you back and give you right over to the feds.

Also, another reference I noticed as Ben teasing Juliet about the soup the exact same way Cyper teased Trinity in the Matrix.

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

Davidboy:

At the bottom of the main page, did you click on the empty space where it says Copyright by HansoAdoptions.org (____)-2006 - All rights reserved?

Creepy....

[daviboy]

Wow! Kathy aka Fangirl. I totally missed that. A Dharma logo with two fetuses. Maybe the "others" are trying to create their own "special baby" like Walt. The others failed at kidnapping baby Aaron and now Kate maybe their only option at a new baby.

[Drynn_03]

I am going to agree with Mark B, which is good because it saved me typing most of that.

I will say I was not as disappointed with this episode as I was with last weeks but it is still just any other drama on tv at the moment. I am hoping next weeks episode brings back the Island as a character. I am jones'n for the paranormal that has been glaringly lacking these last 2 episodes.

A couple things on this episode I thought stood out.
1) Benry looks more and more like a Ratman every week..
2) I think the others have Sawyer and Kate figured out, and are using the tactic that Sayid was planning for the others..
3) I don't think they are sure on how to handle Jack, I believe that they think he is a country club doctor and are trying to break him with intellect and thinking he wants back to his way of life. I have a feeling that Jack is going to suprise them in how little he resembles a Smart Doctor who misses the material things and I think they are going to do this with his thailand flashback...
4) I am really liking Juliets charactor, Sawyers comment on her was just more icing on the cake..

That being said, we are a third of the way through the mini-season, overall it has been lack luster at best and can confirm 2 people I know who have now stopped watching lost because of it. I know it is going to get better, I just hope it gets better before they start showing Daylight in it's place.

[Jack+Sayid=DurtyIslandLuv]

Wow a great episode again. Even better than last week.

A few observations.

-Sun has mysteriously lost her Korean accent when speaking English.

-Lee definitly killed himself. That's why he had the necklance in his hand. End of story.

-It looks like Jack will cut a deal with the Others, and I think Kate already has.

-I don't think the Kate/Sawyer love story is happening. This kiss is a misdirection. "Where is Jack?" she asks. Kate will choose Jack.

-I think the most significant part of the epi was the short Alex cameo.

What was up with Alex? She looked like she had gotten a perm, a facial, and a spa treatment. She was better dressed and better groomed than the Others. If she's left the Others camp -as seems likely- how is that possible? Has she defected to the other Others? Is there a group of renegade Others? Where do they live? Another village? Another Hatch? Did she visit the real world?

Alex has always been different from the other Others, now I think representitive of a whole different group (so far consisting of her and carl) The two groups of Others theory lives on.

-Anybody else think Sun's transformation into a lying, murdering, bi#ch was a little too hard and fast? I loved the flashback scenes, but on the Island Yun Jin seemed a little too eagar to get out of her submissive role. Totally an acting thing and totally forgiveable, but a little funny.

-Red Sox moment, funnist moment in Lost ever.

-Why can't the Others leave the Island? Is this like Star Trek where holodeck charecters can't leave the holodeck?

[John]

Speaking of not commenting in forever...that be me as well. I didn't listen over the summer, so if the story has already been mentioned, my advance apologies for requested repeat. But what happened to Brian? And why the hell do we have to listen to Matt Jones in every single podcast now? This sucks!

[ursinha]

hi, i agree with mark b. i love the show, but it is moving too slow...especially with all the hype about answers. i am not giving up, but i just want that great magic that was present in the earlier episodes. i promise not to complain about this anymore! i did love when sun shot trixie from deadwood.

[Blake]

A note to 'Kathy aka FanGirl' and others - the line "tasts like strawberries" was also uttered by Sean Bean's character in GoldenEye, Trevelyan a.k.a Janus, the two-faced Greek God. Since there have been quite a few references to mythology in Lost so far I thought that was quite interesting. Here's a link on the attributes of the God:

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/j/janus.html

I particularly paid attention to this quote: "Janus also represents the transition between primitive life and civilization."

Also on the subject of the same quote, I seem to remember a quote in Willy Wonka (the original film) which stuck in my mind after I saw 'Super Troopers' - he says something like "strawberries taste like strawberries, snozzberries taste like snozzberries." Probably even less relevant, but amusing to me ;)

[Rob van den Berg]

The picture under " Copyright by HansoAdoptions.org (____)-2006 - All rights reserved " is called 'Fate.jpg"

[Symbha]

The pic under 'article of the week' at hansoadoptions.org is titled "f1.jpg".

Pretty sure in genetics circles F1 is the first generation result of cross breeding.

I have more thoughts, but for now have to go to the dentist. :(

[Art_Vandelei]

HI
I liked the episode, but i liked the s premiere better.
All the Sun revelations shocked me. She did became a lying murdering B%&tch.
Abou the others, i don't think they can't leave the island.
I think Ben meant they just didn't want/had not intention on leaving the island, and I believe him (the only thing I'm buying for now)
What do u guys think??

[Mark B]

Jack+Sayid=DirtyLoveIsland,

Its not the kiss that makes me think Sawyer and Kate are a couple that was at least in part a deliberate diversion. It may have been Sawyers way of showing Kate he cares. It's the looks and comments, the whole 'tastes like strawberries' moment that makes me think we are on the way to an island romance.

I still think Kate could choose Jack but it won't be out of love it will be because it's the best thing to do for everyone. If Kates choice is a simple which man she's going to chose to walk around hand-in-hand with I'll be a tad disappointed.

Mark B

[Sawyer's right hook]

I think this was an OK episode. After hearing the offer to Jack, it does seem to me that something was also offered to Kate, besides just the nice breakfast. Perhaps in a harsher way since they know her background? I just don't understand all of the games the Other's are playing. Why do all this to the losties? Why do they keep using their past against them, verbally or otherwise? its getting way too confusing, the questions are piling up faster than they are being answered.

[Cee Rubin]

I don't think Coleen is dead. I think I heard a spoiler somehwere that Jack will be asked to scrub up to save someones life ... thats probably gonna be coleeen.

[Mark B]

Sorry meant to add.....

Sun didn't suddenly become a lying, scheming murderer. She's been lying and scheming for ages and we've known it. We know she's learned English and planned an escape, we suspected she had an affair but it was only just proved. I don't think she's a murderer. Colleens may not be dead, in fact I'm sure she isn't. I was surprised when Sun shot her but I think it may have been an accident. Sun showed very little remorse though.

[Joni]

Just a note on that Hansoadoption.org site. . this was brought up on www.4815162342.com's forum and the census there is that it is a fansite.

http://www.4815162342.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28445&highlight=benjamin+lynus

[Scott]

Great episode:

1. again we've confirmed that the Others are completely reactive and not proactive. They had no idea about the boat and are trying to figure it out - but they are good at following orders and benry is good at giving orders

2. the Hydra is on another island - "let the sail around for a while" "they might run into us"

3. Sawyer HAS to know he's being spied on in the cages... he's pretty smart with that kind of stuff

[Chris Mavis-UK]

Hey all great episode didnt see much point in the opening scene with little Sun might have missed something in it. My thoughts on the whole the others being in contact with the outside world thing is not that they actually can get of the island I think there stuck there but they use a more simpler invention that we all have called the internet.

-Also its good that the writers have given us a reference as to the whole have they gone back in time or foward in time by giving us the current date on the island and also telling Jack a few events that were acurring at that time in the outside world.

-Also is just me or are Sun and Jin flashbacks the most sleep induceing parts of Lost personally Id like to see more Claire flashbacks I think theres more to her than we know.

Stay Lost.

[Cameron]

I thought that this was a fantastic episode.

1. From Wikipedia: Linus (in Greek, Linos) may refer to any of three sons of Apollo from Greek mythology:

...

Son of Apollo and Psamathe, whose father was the King of Argos. She feared her father and gave the infant Linus to shepherds to raise. He was torn apart by dogs after reaching adulthood and Psamathe was killed by her father, for which Apollo sent a child-killing plague to Argos.

...

Argos was the dog from Bad Twin, Jack is a Shepherd, and despite all the making out and flirting that the Others seem to do while running their prison camp (what's up with that?), the only children they seem ever to have had contact with are those that they stole. A child killing plague (or a wave of infertility) could easily fit into the story of the Others.

2. Mr Paik wanted Jin to restore the family honour [US: honor]. Desmond went on the race around the world to 'claim back his honour'. Arguably Jack went to Sydney to do likewise viz a viz his father, his father seemed to be doing the same thing re a child in Sydney that we can guess was his. Sawyer could have been said to be doing the same in hunting down the conman. Maybe Locke's desire to go on the outback walkabout had something to do with restoring some honour to what he describes himself as his 'pathetic little life'.

Were the DHARMA breakaways (assuming this is what happened) seeking to restore honour to the work that was being undertaken on the island?

S1: fate/destiny; S2: faith, S3: honour; S4: ????

3. You guys were completely on the money in the last podcast with the Planet of the Apes theory. I would bet anything that Ben was once in one of those cages as a child or young adult, being studied by the original DHARMA scientists. Now he is the one who sits at the TV monitors ...

[Joop]

Chris, I think the glass ballerina falling & breaking in the opening scene is a metaphor for her lover falling to his death.

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

Blake: That could very well be, but considering Drew Godard co-wrote the episode and was a writer on Buffy as well, a strawberry might just be a strawberry. He might just like that line.

[OpalMoore]

I didn't see any reference, but I wonder if the numbers are on that boat somewhere--and that doomed Sayid's plan--because Sayid is not stupid. The numbers or maybe he's clued into something else, too. Like not wanting to trust anyone any longer.

As for Sun's becoming a "bad" person as revealed in the affair/lying flashbacks? Isn't one of the purposes of the flashbacks to show how complicated life is, that human beings cannot be reduced to simple definitions of good and bad? I can't be shocked by the fact somebody made a serious mistake or two. That's just life. Sorry Dharma.

However, the show seems to boil it all down to an even simpler cause/effect relationship. They should change the acronym to read: Daddy Hatred And Revenge Metaphors Associated. The "we all had evil fathers" stuff is starting to get ludicrous.

[Midnight]

"Chris, I think the glass ballerina falling & breaking in the opening scene is a metaphor for her lover falling to his death."

There's another parallel between what happened between little Sun and her father in the start, and in the rest of the flashbacks. It shows some of how her father thinks and how Sun's actions incite him to do bad things (firing the maid/ordering an assasination) for which he holds Sun responsible. It also shows that Sun understands this, yet is willing to make the morally wrong choices. Either that or she is unable/unwilling to take responsibility and tell the truth. We already knew she is very quick to lie.

I wonder if at the end of these flashbacks we will still be able to consider any of the Losties as "a good person". Usually the flashbacks focus on something bad that happened to them, or something bad that they did. Very few good deeds here. ;)

P.s: Is it just me, or was that scene involving Ben extremely creepy? Even if he's "friendly" he's still really scary. Or maybe he's especially scary when he's friendly. Kudos to the actor who plays him!

[TTD]

Hey guys, long time listener, first time poster. Firstly I'd like to say thanks for the great podcast each week, really appreciate it guys!

Great episode I think. I can understand why some people are saying about it being slow regarding the events on the island. But I really liked how strong the emotions portrayed in it were. Gave me almost a strong desire for the losties to rebel in a sense, and was pretty gripped when Sawyer was fighting the guys and Sun shot Colleen. So I think it was really good in that sense.

Few things I found interesting; was the breaking of rocks purely a pointless task they were given, to try and break them down? Seems like it, but at first I thought, maybe they were going to be building something.. until we saw Sawyer just had to move the broken rocks from one side of the area they were working at to the other.

Then maybe they were digging for something, but it looked like construction to me..

Ben's reaction of the boat, he was worried they would find them.. I wonder if he meant they may find the jetty, which they did, and be able to find either the Hydra (if it's in a seperate location to the village) or something else near to there. Or is there something else they would find if they had kept sailing around the island?

Sayid's plan was odd. Good in principle, due to the fact he wouldn't know they were after the boat. And as Tom/Zeke shot at Sun, I guess it shows itr doesn't matter if she was taken back with them or not. To me it looked like if Colleen could take Sun back it would be a bonus, they could use her to force Jin to co-operate with them. Aka Mike and WAAAAAALLT!!! (How many times did he say that.. :P) Prehaps it was ok for him to shoot at her because she is not a good person? That seems one of the main themes in that episode.

But yeh, you think Sayid, or Jin in paticular wouldn't want to leave her alone like that, or would realise how good at sneaking around the others are?? Part of a bigger plan from Sayid? I guess not, but it's something to speculate nonetheless.

Also at the end when Sawyer was talking about the others to Kate, it was one of the moments where I just wanted to shout at the tv that of coruse they'll be watching and listening to you. Then Sawyer is an expert conman, all part of the plan..?

And the part between Alex and Kate, if I hadn't seen Alex helpign Claire escape, I would have figured maybe her and Karl's roles are to try and get the Losties to trust them, as Juliet appeared to be doing with Jack. But as we saw the whoel Claire thing, prehaps they are really not believing in what the other Others believe. I would have thought the guys watching K & S would have noticed how Kate's kneeling there looking at the rocks, instead of standing there breaking them?

Anyway, that;s all for now, appologies for the length and

Stay Lost.

[Matt Lafferty]

I personally enjoyed this episode quite a bit. I know, there wasn't anything especially mappable (although, didja notice that the Pala dock is north of the fake hatch? That's consistent with adam!'s map!). Nonetheless, I've always enjoyed the Sun and Jin episodes. While watching the episode, I was struck by how out of place the opening glass ballerina scene, and I started to say outloud, "Sun cheated on Jin because she's self centered and"... and then the flashback started. Do I get partial credit for calling it anyway? lol

For anyone who thinks nothing happened in this episode, the inclusion of not only the Red Sox reference, but the footage itself, was monumental. If they're getting TV (and all the data that can come with it, satellite and cable internet included), then indeed the files on Jack et al could be very real.

Lastly, the Kate/Sawyer scenes were nice. Not especially deep or mysterious, but definitely enjoyable: Kate for her lovely dress and Sawyer for his awesome butt kickin' scene!

It's nice to hear we'll get a visit from Brian for the podcast!

[Jason Flum]

We've all been led to believe that the island has mysterious healing powers, right? Locke's legs, Rose's cancer...why then is it taking so damn long for Ben's lips to heal??? I don't remember when he got those cuts, but they've been there a while -- at LEAST as long as his escape which we know to be a couple of days ago. An island that can restore bones and cure cancer - well, how long could it take to heal a couple of cuts? I can't imagine this is a production issue seeing as they have to apply those cuts with makeup, so why are they there for so long?

[biolite]

I think this was a pretty decent episode. I have to say, I believed that Sun was being sincere with Jin about Korean Mr. Clean and I was shocked to find out what a lying hussy she actually is. She has no problem telling outright lies and seems to be able to live with the reprecussions. I do, however, think her shooting Colleen was an accident. I think she was spooked by the engine starting up or something and pulled the trigger.

I think the others have the ability to leave the island, I don't think they want to though. Ben seemed proud to be a lifelong resident of the island. And yes, he always seems creepy, even when he's trying to be friendly.

Will Jack help the others? Well being a surgeon I can't see him NOT helping in a medical capacity (ie if colleen is brought in needing surgery). But, if they can convince Jack that by helping them they are saving the world, he just might turn...he does have this thing about fixing people, why not fix the whole world.

I wonder if the Dharma orientation video from the lost experience will show up in this season...

To all the people who have stopped watching Lost because this season is slow...good riddance. The first season was slower then these first two episodes have been. We can't have season 2 finales for every episode. Be patient, we all know lost, they're building to something.

[Loren]

Hey, great comments so far. I really liked this episode, but I understand the complaints of those who didn't.

One thing I wanted to point out was Sun's father's eyes. One is always very squinty while another is very wide. Perhaps this is just the actor's natural eye-formation, but after the Marvin Candle glass eye ordeal, I've been looking at characters' body parts' oddities a bit more closely. I highly doubt it means that he's related to the Others in any manner, but it may arouse some more mysteries concerning his life.

I know the glass ballerina bit in the beginning showed Sun lying from a very early age, but that in itself doesnt seem important enough to merit the ballerina earning the episode title. Is there anything more to that which i just missed?

Also, there are a lot of relationships going on with the others. This makes me think that it's very possible that many of them have been here most, if not all, of their lives. To be so rooted on the island that there is local-love-drama leads me to believe they've been waiting around there for awhile.

I'm looking forward to the podcast!

[Art_Vandelei]

Jason, about Ben's Cuts, I don't think the island's healing powers apply to everyone and everything at any time. Remember thisi is not the first longlasting cut we see on the show (remember Locke's cut in the eye from season 1)

Theres something that has been bothering me today: If Ben and the others can see and hear everything, how is it that Alex has been able to interfere with their actions in more than one time and still be around with them? For all her actions she fairly deserves a cage alngside Karl's.

[Mark B]

Biolite,

I'm not going to stop watching because the worst hour of Lost is still better than the best hour of anything else. However, the more people who do stop watching means the sooner companies look elsewhere to spend their advertising dollars and then ABC will start to look elsewhere to spend their programming dollars, Lost will get worse as they won't be able to afford such impressive sets, effects etc, more people will stop watching. Before you know it Lost will change time and/or day and than it will all go West Wing. I don't know the breakdown of cost per hour for many tv shows but I heard Lost is $10m per episode, I would guess with a rate of return of 1.8 million viewers per $1m invested Lost has one of the lower ratios. Junk food shows like Deal or No Deal, Dancing with the Stars and American Idol must have way higher ratios.

Can't wait for the podcast, it will be interesting to see which side of the loved it/hated it the 'casters stand.

Long live LOST.

Mark B

[Art_Vandelei]

Hey Midnight, I realy liked your interpretation on the ballerina thing. That incident realy ilustrates sun's attitude over the consecuences of her lies.

[Jason Flum]

I thought about Locke's scar also -- but that doesn't answer the question of why those things take so long to heal -- unless the island healing theory is complete BS which I've suspected all along. In fact, the constant scars that we're seeing -- Locke and Ben -- definitely contradict the theory that the island heals. Remember, both Locke and Rose (I still don't count Jin being healed as one because he may still very well be impotent) had pre-existing conditions. Could it be that the island can't heal what's created there (hence Boone's death)?

[clutch203]

We learned that Ben has been on the island his whole life, suggesting that he is a descendant of a prior generation on the island. Juliet doesn't seem to be much older than Ben, if not younger, but I don't think she was born on the island. Assuming she is in fact a doctor, how could she have attended medical school on the island? I know there are medical fascilities (Claire's prior capture), but I highly doubt there's an actual medical school. I realize it hasn't been confirmed that she's a doctor, but I personally believe she is. Probably not a surgeon, possibly a psychiatrist/psychologist or something.

Also, this might support the whole planet of the apes theory, and that as Cameron posted "I would bet anything that Ben was once in one of those cages as a child or young adult, being studied by the original DHARMA scientists."

--Which might explain why Ben says to Juliet, "You never made me soup" possibly when he was at one point interrogated by Juliet.

[biolite]

Mark B,

I think we're both making the same point in a way: The worst hour of Lost is better then anything else on TV. People may be discouraged by two slow episdoes, but as someone who watches WAY too much TV, I feel safe in saying that there isn't much else out there. Lost has a pretty crazy following for the start of it's third season. NBC's big fall show, Heroes (which is one of the Lost-esque dramas) just dosen't cut it. I think there's only one (non-HBO) drama that is on TV today that is Battlestar Galactica, which is sci-fi ( a deterrant to a lot of people). People can leave if they want, fine. But they'll come back. Honestly, there isn't anything better then Lost on. Especially on a Wednesday. All the deserters will be back, there's no way off the island!!! ;)

[Symbha]

Pretty good episode, I do feel like they are building, but they are certainy taking their time. Some thoughts:

- Sayid seem pretty tactically stupid this week. And he is overconfident in his strategizing.
- I love that Jin caught his wife lying to him.
- We got another example of Ben's quick thinking, re: the boat. I get the feeling that new people/genetics is a recurring problem or resource for the Others. Ben immediately saw an opportunity for new people when the plane was crashing, but I don't think he knew it was gonna crash.
- Also, Ben clearly did press the button, when he was held capture in the swan, we know this is a given. And yet, he was trying to get Locke to not press the button? Ben had an opportunity to allow/create another incident, but chose not too, why? Just fear of bodily harm? Or is there some other reason he doesn't want to be responsible (or wants someone else TO be responsible) for the outcome?
- We can infer that Ben/Others are not watching the Swan, else they would have been aware of the boat. So, how can Ben be on the island all his life, know a ton about the Swan, but not know about Desmond or the boat? I very much want to know the limits of the Others awareness.
- Sun really is untrustworthy. I haven't watched it a second time yet, but didn't Sun stop her affair before it 'went too far'? This could be Matt's reason Sun has reason to think the baby is not Jin's. But I'm not sure.
- Sawyer was great this week. I definitely think he knows he's being watched. Is this another long con? It seems like it may be a way for him to get the Others to stop using Kate & Sawyer against each other, or some other indirect effect.
- Jack is pissing me off. I'm not sure yet whether Jack's difficult choice will be to save Trixie/Colleen, or help Kate and Sawyer.
- I think Alex has escaped. I think Karl is trying to escape to be with her.

On the timeslip theories: This could be related to the numbers-fight-back theory. If the numbers are expressed by the Vanzetti equation, which is used to predict WHEN humanity will be destroyed (and lets assume that time is unchangeable as the fight back theory suggests,) it seems possible way the numbers could fight back would be to alter time. Maybe this is lame... BUT: When Jack was sitting in his car spying on his ex, the Glen Miller song on the radio is the one Sayid and Hurley picked up on the shortwave.

And Finally... I have to get validated on something! I love the little tips of the hat to other directors, stories, scenes, etc. Like Ethan underneath the house, and so forth.

Did anyone notice, way back when Michael and Jin were building the raft, the tip of the hat to Empire Strikes Back? Michael barks at Jin, "No, this one goes here, that one goes there." The scene looks exactly like Han barking at Chewie as he's trying to get the Millenium Falcon off of Hoth. Are there more of these, sort of scene recreations?

More if I can think of it, can't wait for the podcast.

[Art_Vandelei]

Symbha, the star wars tip was good. That's why Sawyer called them Han and Chewie for a while..

[Matt H]

Will our guys ever get a break. They keep loosing everything. People, guns, lives, boats, a hatch. Every time they attempt something they keep loosing. I want to see them kick some butt.

I don't normally get to theoretical or anything but my money on "Ben's" name is that it is related to "Been lying to us." Ha, ha.

Waiting for the next episode.

[Jason Flum]

biolite -- Heroes is a pretty good show - best new show of the season as far as I've seen (had hopes for The Nine but last night's episode pretty much smashed that for me). Battlestar Galactica is AMAZING - but nothing matches Lost for the intrigue, mystery, characters, and excitement. (BG is the closest, but still doesn't beat Lost!)

[Joop]

Jason, good call about Bens cuts.
I think you caught the writers w/ their pants down.
(especially Lindeloff)

[riverfr0zen]

From the things exposed last night, I increasingly feel like the island is a self-imposed 'independent' sovereign state - something similar to the real life 'Sealand', which claims sovereignty on a vacated British 'sea fortress'.

http://www.sealandgov.org/index.html
http://www.fruitsofthesea.demon.co.uk/sealand/gallery.html

So - like Sealand, just more obscrure and secret. And larger. Consequently, it is not hard to imagine that the residents are individuals who have cut themselves off from the more 'official' polities around the world, at least politically. This does not mean that they cannot have communication with the rest of the world, that they cannot have internet connections and television - it just means that they consider themselves separate. Sealand, for example, houses an Internet hosting company, HavenCo, that caters to those who don't want their services controlled by other nation states.

http://www.havenco.com/

In that vein, it makes a lot of sense for them to be suspicious of newcomers and take the measures we have seen. Furthermore, from last night, we get the impression from Kate & Sawyer's conversation that many of the 'Others' are lacking in the experience of the 'real world', having been kept inside their little bubble of an Island for most of their lives. There are of course, exceptions, such as Ben and Juliette - but if you think about it, even they seem a little, um, 'naive' in terms of their conduct.

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

I have a feeling the Others are pretending they know more than they do. If there were really able to watch their every move and learn more about them, I don't think Ben would have been so shocked that Sayid dug up the grave. I think they have a list of names which lead them to their permanent files so to speak and they have their observations from dealing with them.

I'm still torn on whether or not Ben intentionally got caught in that trap or not. I think he went out there with a cover story, but he may have been headed somewhere else. It seems awfully risky for him to be the one who got caught. Seems like if they wanted someone more sympathetic to get answers they would have sent Juliet.

[riverfr0zen]

Incidentally, someone suggested searching for 'Benjamin Lynus' - on my search, the first link was to a blog by someone called Mack Thompson, highlighting an article: 'Mack Thompson sues Hanso Foundation'.

http://www.mackthompsonlaw.com/hansoair.html

For those not in the know, 'Mack Thompson' appears to be a mockery or satire of Florida attorney Jack Thompson, much disliked in the video gaming community for his idiotic claims against the industry.

[mooze]

Ben's last name being Linus is obviously connected to the Peanuts comic strip - he's just setting up the island so it'll be ready for the Great Pumpkin to arrive. Or something.

At one point in the episode, Colleen mentions a "galaga" - what the heck is a galaga?! The only information about it that I could find is that Galaga was an arcade game with spaceships. So unless they're getting the spaceship ready, it's gotta be something else.

[Matt Lafferty]

Ouch... this hurts: For the 9 p.m. hour, Lost tallied 16.9 million viewers which is 200,000 more than "Criminal Minds," which I've never heard of. I'm officially going to bed grumpy.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20061013/en_tv_eo/20224;_ylt=AmSRaCiFH31QeQ_t9Tk7u1ZpMhkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--

[Mark B]

Biolite -- yes we agree it's just I think Lost can be so much better than it has been the last two weeks. These two episodes should have been really 'in your face' and should have grabbed you by the bollocks and not let go until the end of the sixth episode.. That mini-series cliffhanger better kick-ar$e or I can see that 13 week break being the start of the end, not for me but for another significant number of people. They should have gone for a 6 week mini-series followed by a three week break then a three week set of episodes and so on. Problem is ABC want to 'use' Lost to introduce a new series, they may well 'kill the goose that lays the golden eggs'.

Jason Flum -- I agree Heroes is good and I think Lost has a lot to do with a sci-fi show getting mainstream prime time. I notice nbc make it avaliable to download, wonder where they got that idea ?

Mooze -- I think Danny (or was it Ben) says to Colleen to "take Galaga" when they were talking about going to get the sailboat which I can only assume is either a boat or another form of transport. Of course it could be a person.

Mark B

[Drynn_03]

I will be sticking with Lost to the bitter end, but these first couple of shows have been disappointing for the most part.

For the person that said season 1 was Slow and worse than these episodes, I must have watched a different season, The Pilot is by far one of the best episodes to date as was many of the episodes of season 1. Season 2 was sliding off quite a bit in comparisson, my hope is that season 3 isn't going down the same path.

There are many good shows on this season - Jericho, Heroes, Dexter,CSI, Numb3rs to name just a couple. I watch Lost because it is a sci-fi drama. The past 2 weeks it has just been a drama, and a mediocre drama at that. They put Jack in a light that was at odds with how they portrayed him in the first season so they are tearing down his character. Sun's character in the second episode was not much different than what they had shown before and Jin actually got a little boost by not going through with the murder. But all of this is just standard fare. I personally expect more out of a season premier, the shows we have seen so far have felt like mid-season filler shows and on top of that have seemed extremely short. An hour of Jericho seems twice as long as an hour of Lost.
Maybe it is their new aproach of 6 weeks on then 13 weeks (or however many) off then the real season begins. Personally after a summer off I expect a little more to get me fired up for a full season.

To all of those beating up on Sayid and his "Trap", c'mon, he is under the impression that the "others" are some other bunch of stranded people, not well off. There is no way that he could have known that they have survellance and even knew about the boat. His plan was to start a big fire/smoke column and wait for someone to come investigate that. So it is kinda unfair to say that it was a poor plan on his part because some commando team in black camo stealths onto the boat instead of some grubby half starved vagabonds stumbling into a clearing wondering whats on fire.

[ursinha]

does anyone read:

http://trent.blogspot.com/2006/10/strawberries-fish-biscuits.html

check it out!

[badger_moldy]

Hey Lostcasts crew...long time listener (since the beginning), first time poster. I noticed that on the Lostpedia site that there is a translated version of Rousseau's map:

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Image:Rousseaus-map-translated.jpg

I noticed that on the left side of the map the label "Mosquito Coast". Random wikipedia-ing brought me to a movie entitled "The Mosquito Coast" starring Harrison Ford:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito_Coast

I thought there were some interesting parallels between the plot synopsis and the happenings on the island. In my opinion it's probably just a shoutout from the writers, but with Lost, you never know. Keep up the amazing work with the podcasts.

Stay Lost, and ON WISCONSIN!

[badger_moldy]

P.S. I think that because we are seeing more of Alex this year (so far), we will learn a little more about both her story and Danielle's backstory as well.

[Vaibhav]

Firstly... the episode I saw ends with the Jack and Ben scene... not with Ben watching Kate & Sawyer on the monitor (like lostpedia says)

Whats the deal with that?

The mos enjoyable part of the eoisode was the kate and Sawyer scenes... man, I was laughing!

You know... the problem isn't that the show was pointless, its more that the viewers NEED a shock of some kind...
dammit! how hard is it to to come up with something new/sensational in a show this complicated without jumping the shark?!

have Ben start referring to home as "Wisteria Lane"... (you know whats scary... with Lost, thats not impossible.. they'll call it the ABC experience and merge all the shows)...

Hahaha.... the writers are in a jam I am sure... but what the hell... thats what they are paid for... ain't it?

There is a lot of romance in this one aye? Kate + Sawyer... and clues regarding
Juliette + Ben + Colleen
Colleen + Danny
Alex + Karl

Heres an idea... some of the Others seem like siblings...
Ethan and Juliette for eg. you'd think someone fixing the plumbing for you is either close or paid...
But Ethan is a doctor of some sort so can't really be the super for Othersville/Wisteria Lane

and Juliette (or Julie as I like to call of her) almost certainly has some kinda romantic tension vis-a-vis Ben Lynus so where did Ethan fit in? COuld be her brother if you ask me!

Then there's Colleen and Ben... I'd have bet that Julie was Ben's ex-wife and Colleen was his second wife... but then there was the little peck that she got from Danny (Pickett?)... something in the kiss suggests non-brotherly love...
so maybe Colleen and Ben are siblings...

or maybe the Others are "Hippies from Dimension X"... maybe they are very... er... open-minded...

Make Love...also War...

or something...

ok... I am off

[Vaibhav]

come to think of it...

They never do specify where "Wisteria Lane" is do they??
Now I am scared I'll turn out to be right!

as long as I am posting again...
I am glad Sun shot Colleen (who ain't dead and will be the Other that Jack has to scrub up and operate on)... anyway, I am glad Sun shot Colleen and Sawyer punched Danny... can't help but get pissed off at the Others... they may be polite but if they were holding me against my wishes... i'd have aimed my punches a bit lower!

[foganaropa]

repost...but am still interested if anyone has heard about this.

Hey, I am a great capoeira enthusiast (brazilian martial art; see www.abada.org). I heard that Rodrigo Santoro, the brazilian actor, is going to do some capoeira in some of the fight scenes.

I am wondering if this is true. I couldn't imagine anything better than merging Rodrigo, capoeira, and lost.

Obrigada!

[Cameron]

Matt H: I agree. When I saw that boat sailing off all I could think of is, well, basically that's exactly what happens on every single episode of Prison Break ...

[Jamie C]

loved this episode, better than the opener.(i might be about to repeat what others have said but i dont have time to read them all) theres no-way jae committed suicide, he looked so desperate when he had the gun to his head theres something not quite right. im thinking it might be sun that killed her and the symbolic nature of"you're not a killer sun.." that Colleeen said just before sun shot her,maybe the others dont know she killed jae(if she did).I also think jack is going to 'sell-out' and join the others.

on another note, im the guy that got ridiculed for my incorrect philosophical facts after the finalle, well (i got an A) during more research this year i found out that a certain Rousseau struck up quite a friendship with hume, until they later fell out, could this be significant?

[Cihan]

Great episode, I thought. People have to understand how hard it is for writers to stretch out a season over 26 episodes. You cant expect 'in your face' stuff all the time, it has to be spaced out, like with this season we're aware of a cliffhanger around episode 6. If Lost was 13 episodes a season like on HBO, man it would be INTENSE all the way.

Anyway, lots of revelations to keep us busy. When Ben explained Bush's re-election, I laughed, oh how I laughed. Jack must have been thinking "No way, you MUST be kidding!". Sorry Jack, life is that strange.

Sun. Lying hussy indeed, so disappointed with her. If Jin ever finds out, and I dont think he does know, he will be absolutely crushed. Hard to tell what his reaction would be, initially abandon her I guess, but they're on a wacky island so I'm sure he'd return to her in some capacity, until they get back to the real world anyway, then he can dump her lying, cheating, murdering ass properly. The title of the episode is pretty obvious, the opening scene basically sums up her character, impulsive and selfish. Can she (and the other Losties) change by becoming soft like water, or will she remain hard and ultimately end up shattering to pieces? This is a Tao reference for you geeks out there.

The Others, if they do have contact with the outside world, probably DO have all the info they need on the Losties and are not just playing it by ear, Juliet probably did have all of Jack's info in the folder. News reports of the crash would have made headlines, then from there they would have done their own detective work on the identities of the surivovrs (via internet or their real-world contacts, or hired PI's to do it for them.)

Its very disturbing indeed, to think that a bunch of crazy strangers know almost everything about your past. But thats all they know, just words on paper. The Losties can still surprise and overcome their captors by changing and not remaining like their past selves, that is their only way out of their situation. They must change.

[sam]

on the monitoring thing when Sawyer is waslking to Kate and Ben was "watching/listening." Sawyer's little video camera was on slot 5, Kates was in slot six, and those numbers were both red, which means it's "on." But also, number 3 was red and "on," and it wasn't Jacks because he was in number 1 or 2 i'm pretty sure. There was nothing that I could see in number 3. Did anyelse notice this? Does anyoneelse think that something else is being taped/listened to in box #3? Am I going crazy over a minor detail? Come on people, i need some answers.

-Sam

[Seth]

I really enjoyed the episode. I agree that not a whole lot happened, plot-wise, but several split seconds stole the show. The reappearance of Alex was exciting enough to make me cheer. I'm so glad we're going to see more of her story, and hopefully an Alex/Rousseau reunion is eventually in the works. And of course the ending with Ben and Jack was brilliant.

I also think we're starting to see the weaknesses in Sayid's character a little bit. I'd argue that keeping quiet about Michael's deceit at the end of last season was a bad move, in hindsight, and now he made a mess of this "hostage" operation. He's still a very strong character, but now we're beginning to see that he has his limits.

LOST's major strength is the intense human interaction between its characters, and I feel like this season we're making a return to that. Last season definitely had some good character development, but it was definitely more mythological in nature. Luckily we're not losing that mythological element entirely this season, but I think we're returning to a more holistic organic approach to the show and to the island, which I think got lost last year.

I also think that the season will take a couple of episodes to get rolling. The dynamics of last season didn't really get introduced until "Orientation" and the subsequent arrival of the Tailies through the next few episodes. Right now we're almost in what you could call a season two epilogue, where characters' storylines from last season are wrapped up and things for this season are being set into motion. But starting with episode four we'll be entirely caught up with everyone and then the adventure can begin in earnest. I have a feeling that even next week's episode may be season-setting in several ways. We shall see.

[Art_Vandelei]

Hey all,
So, maybe this wasn't the best episode ever, but I agree it had its moments. Good ones.
But right now I'm really looking forward to next week's episode. It's Locke centered,and he usually have good flashback moments. aldo, for what I saw in thew preview, I think the Locke character is gonna come back to what it was. The Season finale was bad for him, and I hated him there. I hope he returns..

[Challabuck]

Dunno why exactly, but this episode really got to me. Really was a fine, unexpected emotional ride. And not just the Sun/Jin stuff, but those SKate moments were almost effervescent.

Seems like there's a lot of Sun-hating out there, but my take is it's easy for all of us to point fingers since we're not the children of loveless Korean tycoon-mobsters.

Plus the Red Sox thing was brilliant -- you almost wonder if they set the story in 2004 just so they could fit that bit in.

[ninety-nine]

"I will ambush them. I will take two hostages and kill the rest."

I missed Sayid.

[Arik Astrobomb]

Here's some things I noticed in this week's show:

1) The pearl necklace "appears" to have 108 pearls in it. (yes, I did pause the show to count) However, I don't have HD... so if someone does and wanted to recount, since some of them were blurry and I lost count around 80ish and guessed there might be around 20ish left? If my count is correct it links right into the numbers being bad luck for people, ie: Jae is dead.

2) Sayid's plan to "Keep two and kill the rest, so one makes the other co-operate" Pretty much explained the same logic the "others" are using with Sawyer and Kate. Putting Kate in the dress is Obviously a ploy to keep Sawyer "motivated" and concerned about Kate and keep his focus from reverting to a "taking care of #1" attitude. Which, if they DO know about the losties could be something they know to exploit about him.

3) When Jin was threatening Jae, he told him to leave to country, that he shouldn't ever come back, and that he "doesn't exist." Kinda funny, these are all terms that could be used to describe Sun and Jin's current situation.

Good 'cast last week, the Planet of the Apes idea has a lot going for it! I agree with Scott's comment/idea that Hydra might be on another island. I suspect that part of the hydra is an off-shore oil-rig type station, and highly visable, which is why Ben was concerned.

Stay Lost!

[Cihan]

Arik: Jae's door number (which Jae's head happened to smash into) was 1516, I think. "The numbers are bad!!!"

Challabuck: I dont hate Sun, but I dont like cheaters, and she IS a hussy. Loveless Korean tycoon-mobsters need love too... *sniff*

[Bob from Chicago]

Here are some ideas about what we are learning about the others.

1) There are at least two factions.
2) The faction we see is heavily armed and afraid of something. What is it that they fear?
3) There is conflict between the two groups in what is supposed to be done. For example, Alex said that Kate was not supposed to be in that cage.
4) Another group is located elsewhere on the island. Producers said this.
5) Ben is the leader of the group we see, but is he the leader of all of them? He mentioned in the hatch that he worked for someone else.
6) They need Jack for something, possibly to resolve a conflict between the two groups.
7) Karl is in trouble with this group of others and Alex cares about him.

Speculation:
I think that the second group may be much larger than this group. Ben's group is the rebel group with the secret agenda. For whatever reason the secret agenda drives the capture of Jack, Kate and Sawyer and is the reason that Ben says they are the good guys. This could be related to Hanso and Dharma. Jack said that Ben's group is trapped on the island just like the survivors are. This may be true. Ben said yes, why would we stay here if could leave? Maybe it is that they prefer to stay there? Maybe, they are trapped and need a plan to escape? This doesn't seem to make sense if Michael and Walt were told how they could leave. Maybe they want to leave but feel like they have a responsibility to stay? This to protect the world from something on the island. This may be the conflict between the factions. The island is hidden and has a secret. All of the others have believed that this secret must stay hidden. However, one group now thinks that the island should be revealed and the other that it stay hidden. The good guys might be the ones that think that the island stay hidden or not? Depends on what the secret is.

[Andre]

Hey just wanted to point out for all you guys who were looking for more movie references:

Yeah Star Wars had a nice little tip of the hat, but i felt the biggest one, or the one I personally noticed the most, was "Cool Hand Luke" Im a big fan of that movie and Sawyer's constant "Ok Boss" and "Sure thing Boss" was a great impersonation of Paul Newman. Also, Cool Hand Luke has the theme of a man who wont break no matter how much punishment they give him, so it seemed like a perfectly clever nod to throw in there.

-Andre

[I_Love_Sayid]

@OpalMoore

"They should change the acronym to read: Daddy Hatred And Revenge Metaphors Associated. The "we all had evil fathers" stuff is starting to get ludicrous. "

hillarious

[Symbha]

@Bob from Chicago, interesting thoughts.
It maybe be that the others we haven't seen yet are the original dharma folks, and Ben et al. are their descendants/subjects, who eventually overthrew Dharma (or Dharma simply abandoned their project at some point.)

Some other thoughts I've had:

I think we are all forgetting one of the most interesting points of the premier, which is Juliette's emotional breakdown at the beginning. And the most propostorous theory of the week award goes to me, with: Juliette brought down the plane with Carrie like telekinesis. Seriously though, she's got some stuff bottled up that has just gotta get out!

When do we get the podcast again?

[Symbha]

Also... just for the record, I like the stream of consciousness that is the thread free system we have now. Threads just mean peeps can post stuff over again without reading. :)

[I_Love_Sayid]

@badger_moldy
I read The Mosquito Coast book when I was in Jr High. I remember it being wonderfully creepy and the movie being pretty lame (with the exeption of River Pheonix who I had a major crush on). The only things I remember which could be significant would be that the younger siblings were twins and that they spent some time on a raft. I remember the girl in the book (played by the super cool Martha Plimpton) told River's character that she would think about him every time she went to the bathroom. I told a guy that in Jr. High and it didn't go over as well. lol :P

[Cihan]

The first official audio podcast from our beloved Damon and Carlton confirms Karl is an Other who wanted to escape but got beat up instead, and I personally got the impression that episode 6 would have pre-planecrash island flashbacks...

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

Interesting. The Canadian trailer for next week's episode is completely different from the one the US got. They tend to give more away then normal. So watch at your own risk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z90syUPjEHc

[Rob van den Berg]

I've got a few questions. Perhaps there are already some discussions going on about this, but I can't find them,.
1) Why is Juliet so upset in the first show of episode 1. Does it has something to do with Benjamin? Becaus he states later on in that openingsscene' .. "so I guess I'm out of the bookclub". Did they have an affair? Are they brother and sisiter and got into a fight?

2) Why doesn't it be made clear that the man that's taking Sara home, after she bailes out Jack is her new boyfriend. Could it be she just arranged an old schoolfriend or something to pick her up. If the writers wanted to make sure we had to believe that man is Sara's new boyfriend they could have kissed. Now we only see a friendly arm.

3) are there any clues out there that connect Benjamin to Sara?
I got this feeling Ben could be the guy Sara's been dating. Meaning Ben is lying about his time on the Island. So the 'thing' jack's gonna have to do is ;.. give Sara up.

4) The Others have connection to the 'outside world'. Benjamin speaks of: "I will take you back home" Meaning he is comming along with Jack back to the 'normal' world
Could it be the others take strips to the outside world and select people for their community? As they perhaps did with the current losties.

5) Benjamin said in the last episode of season 2, "there's no turning back after you've left the Island". Does this emply Benjamin is planning to leave the Island with Jack?

Looking forward to your new podcast guys.

[girlyalias99]

I may be far off base here, but does anyone else think that the Benry others may all be brothers and sisters ?

From test tubes ?

That could be why they steal kids. As mentioned by some posters above, Benry & Juliet's actions could be interpreted as sibling rivalry.

Could this also tie-in with the Hanso Adoptions ?

Love the podcasts !

[Fish Biscuit]

Does anyone know when the Official ABC Lost Podcasts are going to be available? Last season they were available every Tuesday. I haven't seen anything since the Vidcast from Kuse/Lindleof.

[Alex S.]

OK, so this doesn't really pertain to the Glass Ballerina episode, but I had an interesting theory to share. Here goes:

So, at the end of season 2, Michael and Walt sail off into the big, blue ocean in a tiny lil' sailboat. Earlier, Shannon saw an apparition of Walt with water streaming out of his mouth and speaking in a garbled voice.

Could this have been a premonition that Michael and Walt's boat will capsize and Walt will drown?

Someone may want to verify this, but a buddy of mine went back and confirmed that the shirt Walt was wearing as he sailed off with Michael is identical to the one his water-dripping phantasm had on.

Any ideas on this one?

Thanks,
Alex in Dallas

[anthony]

hey guys. i left an audio comment asking for your input concerning ben's offer to jack. what do you think he'll want from him down the road?

stay lost.

[anthony]

hey guys. i left an audio comment asking for your input concerning ben's offer to jack. what do you think he'll want from him down the road?

stay lost.

[Rey]

to cihan

any ideas y mr eko was not in the canadian promo???

[KGM]

Sawyer's wheelbarrow seems to read: "Nato's Back". Any thoughts?????? AND when he pours out Juliette's water - what is that Dharma logo of?

[delilah]

Hey,
I've been thinking about this whole "my name is Benjamin Linus and i've lived on this island my whole life thing"...perhaps the others are the children of the original dharma employees? It kinda makes sense with Juilet's "it doesnt matter who we were" comment. (wasnt it her mother who came to her door when the book club started?) just throwing that out there....

[Nash]

Has anyone seen this spoiler picks of Kate's flashback sequence in Episode 6? They look like they could be real and we've heard that we learn something about her marriage/x this season.

http://www.thetailsection.com/kate_flashback_photos.php

[Calypso]

Does anybody has a screenshot of the ring of Zeke?

[Justin]

Calypso: no, he's not really my type.