Get Ready: The Cost of Living

We got another great episode last night, with the airing of season 3, episode 5 of LOST, The Cost of Living. We'll be podcasting this Sunday afternoon, so send us your thoughts by posting a comment here, sending us an email or leaving an audio comment by calling our automated audio comment voicemail at: 206-666-2278.

This Sunday in the podcast, we'll also have the results of our message board poll. There's a clear winner, although it's closer than we expected!

Comments

[Taylor]

Wow, not sure I've ever been the first comment before! :D Anyway, I am sooooo bummed that Eko was the one to die. I love his character and I really wanted to see him do more this season. But alas. I read somewhere that AAA's parents had actually passed away and he'd asked to be written out of the show. So, I can understand that. Wasn't as blown away by the ep as I was last week, but I think the real nugget of joy was eye-patch-guy and who/where he might be.

The background looked a lot like the Swan Station, but my guess is that it's the Flame which I've heard will be the next station discovered this year.

[Jeremy]

How many people tonight noticed that Juliet made the video that she showed Jack in her house? You can see the background clearly in the first shot of the video. Here is the screencap:
http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage.php?album=1191&pos=512

[Black Eyed Dog]

Does the Smoke Monster scan people (as it did Eko last season), then wait to see if they redeem themselves? Perhaps Eko's abandoning of the church he built and letting the computer button become his "god"--coupled with his refusal to ask forgiveness when his ghostly brother demanded it--led the monster to decide Eko could not be saved and must die.

(I'm assuming the ghostly brother was the Smoke Monster: "You speak to me as though I am your brother.")

Personally, I would rather see the Smoke Monster play "hit the tree" with Charlie...

Thanks.

[Nathan]

WOW want an episode we got this week, first things first DONT TRUST JULIET she is the scamming one its a classic double bluff I rekon she wants Ben dead for her own reasons. Ekos dead im a little gutted but at least is wasnt a kop out they killed him good. The main question is why the smoke monster killed him now and not before. What had changed about him? The eye patch guy hmmmmmmm anyone remember the glass eye in the arrow great tie in I think. Dont know who he is but I heard the guy who plays him was on alias so Id imagine he is going to be someone important, maybe rudzinski? Anyway lots to talk about looking forward to the podcats. Peace Nathan

[Art_Vandelei]

Hey, I'm reposting what I wrote in last week's comment section.
Great episode, but it felt a lil weird to me.
I'm gonna miss Eko, he was my favourite. I hope he comes back in some way.
This whole episode was weird on the timing, as if they had too much to show and lil time to explain how things happened. Sayid's sudden return is an example.

Something happened to me that didn't happen in a looong time. I realy liked Jack in this episode, especially in the conversation he has with Ben. His attitude is just great.
I'm not sure at all about Juliet's thing.
There's something bothering me about that.
In one of the cue cards, Jack is told Ben is a liar. This very same message has been coming to us in different since ben's character appeared on the show last season. As in "Do not believe anything he has to say" So why to believe him now? Is this the same guy that has been shown to us as a mastermind, as a better connman than Sawyer, as the king of mindgames?
Are we to believe his plan has been just blown by Jack and he just exposed himself in this weakness?
Even if it is true, and Julie is really trying to get rid of him, there is no way he won't see that coming, or he won't take any precautions. Specially when he knows Jack wasn't turned as he was intended to, and if he does operate, he won't do it convinced.

Art_Vandelei

[Mark B]

There are loads of comments on this episode under the previous podcast comments section. People started to post within minutes of the end of the episode. This level of activity suggests to me that some message boards may be needed. Just so people don't have to flick back and forth or repost everything.

Does anyone have a screen cap of the background of Mr Patch's hatch before he stuck his head in the way ?

Mark B

[Matt Jones]

So the message of this episode was:

The producers do not tolerate traffic violations.

Man, that tail section sure can party.

[frankwit]

Lost is really starting to lose me. I want this show to be great, but after last nights episode I've all but completely lost hope.

[Mr_Hurley's Food Stash]

Okay, a quick comment and I hope someone else maybe noticed this. When Juliet showed Jack the video, was the camera Ben was watching on behind Juliet? The TV had to be positioned so the camera couldn't pick up the images obviously. However, we can see Juliet's reflection in the glass wall so why not a reflection of the TV images for the camera? Ben would see that it's not TKAMB? Maybe we'll see next week...plus Ben must have been watching.

Also, I'm going to check, but the lady that told Mr.Eko he would be judged for what he did after the church killings, I'm sure she was one of the pictures in the smoke monster in the second season when Mr.Eko was confronted by it.

Glad the smoke monster was back, everytime the smoke monster is in a episode it always feel darker and more like a horror movie. Yemi seemed evil at the end, when Mr.Eko saw the 3 guys he killed they were very much like zombies coming at him (Another shout out to Romero?). I like a darker evil feel in Lost.

Stay Lost.

[Jeremy]

Here is a screenshot of Patch's hatch.

http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage.php?album=1191&pos=477

[Jeremy]

It does resemble the Swan with the computer and old main-frame looking systems, but it seemed more cramped - more like the place the Tailies found last season (where the found the glass eye and bible).

[daviboy]

This was a great episode in my opinion. I don't know about the rest of you guys but I love the smoke monster and it was one of the main reasons I got into the show during the first season. I hate that Eko died, but I think he wanted to be written off the show.

The only other thing I would change would be the existence of Nikki and Paulo. I'm sorry but when they speak on camera...the show loses it's greatness and becomes like any other regular tv show. I would much rather see Bernard and Rose tag along on Locke's adventures. Also, with Eko gone...Bernard is the last of the tail section still alive.

I can't wait for the mini-season cliffhanger next week!

Stay Lost!!!

[Taylor]

Re: the smoke monster...did anyone notice what Locke said about it? That is was a bright, shining, beautiful light? I definitely think the monster responds to different people in different ways and I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that any hallucinations the LOSTies have seen has been the monster.

Now, does anyone know where one could buy a cross like Eko's?

[Mark B]

The TV guide web site at www.TVGuide.com has a feature on Lost. The Ausiello Report has an interview about last night's episode.

Makes Adewale sound like a bit of an onset pain and implies that he was basically booted off the show. The DL and CC go down the 'other projects' route.

BTW: Adelwale was not charged with any traffic offence.

[Art_Vandelei]

Hey Daviboy,
I too feel the presence of Paolo and Nikki doesn't fit at all so far. I can't picture them addin soemthing of value. Nevertheless, I still have faith on the writers, and i want to believe they've been put there for a reason. So, I htink I'll just give the new boys some more time to proove their value

[Courtney]

So, I did shed a tear for Eko's death. But I think last night's episode was great. I have mixed feelings about whether or not to trust Juliet. Whoever it was that posted on last week's thread about having Jack operate on a patient without ever seeing that patient's face - brilliant! That would be so like Lost. That would mean that Ben and Juliet could be testing Jack. I also think that Ben's little talk about breaking Jack was all part of the plan to break him. Next week look's like it's gonna be a nail biter!

[Chris in Jackson MS]

Wow. Wow. Wow. This has been a great block of epi's, the last two have just been great.

@Jeremy- I did notice that Juliette made the video at her house, but I'm not sure I thought it through. That means she left the Hydra island and went to O-Town to make the video. I can buy that, but I wonder how she pulled that off without Ben knowing. Is there any significance in the fact that the movie was supposed to be "To kill a mockingbird"?

What up with Ben's comment about Jack being "invested" and that Juliette bears a resemblance to Sarah? So is Juliette related to Sarah or perhaps even her daughter? If so, there is a serious time issue going on with this island.

Smoke Monster- wow, where to start. Two very important take-away lines, one of which is the monster itself speaking. "Why do you speak to me like I'm your brother". Wow. So it isn't aware that the Losties are projecting or imagining that it is an important figure or person from their past? In other words, it's a shapeshifter, but isn't really aware of how it is being viewed. I think it at least confirms that it was not aware it was appearing to Ecko as Yemi.

Smoke Monster Part 2- The second big line here was Locke's revelation that the smoke monster (via dying Ecko) said "we're next". I'm beginning to believe that the smoke monster is out to get them all. If not that, then at least the bad people. But I'm leaning towards it just wants everyone off it's island. I think it planned on Ecko and Locke dying in the hatch implosion. Remember, Yemi appeared to Locke in Season 2 with the church nearly complete and tells him to go to the Pearl. I think it wanted Ecko in that hatch along with Locke, and planned on both dying. I think this also fits with Locke's line last night, "two birds with one stone". He was talking about going to the Pearl and finding Ecko, but I think it parallels the Smoke Monster's plans for Locke and Ecko.

Ecko's Death- somehow, I was convinced that AAA's appearance on the talk shows was just a red herring. I was so into the show last night, I finally remembered at the end of the show that someone was supposed to die. So, I still managed to be somewhat surprised when it started using Ecko as a rag doll. I think the flashback last night confirmed that Ecko was not a good guy. I mean, I can justify some of the things he did based on his circumstances, but the deal with the vaccine and brutally murdering the rival warlord was bad, bad, bad. Someone else mentioned it, but this really does set up the Gilgamesh/Ediku parallel.

Others Funeral- a great glimpse here of another facet of the other's lives. What song did they play at the funeral? I loved the scene, and the music made it very surreal.

Pearl Station- some awful, awful lines here, most notably, Locke's "I feel stupid" line. My one big complaint this year is how these new characters are being set up and introduced. Paulo is HORRIBLE. Smokey, where are you when we need you? But, the scene with the patch guy was really, really good. Hopefully Nikki will remind everyone after they're done checking out Ecko'd corpse that they need to go back into the Pearl and check out more monitors.

Patch Man- so, did he see Locke and Sayid and others in the Pearl watching him, or did he just maybe notice the red light turn on on the camera in his hatch. Maybe the red light has not turned on in a really long time, so it immediately caught his eye. Also, the room we saw him in seemed pretty small, but it could just be one room in a bigger hatch. Whoever he is, it appears that he is in another hatch and is not aware that Dharma has failed/disbanded.

OK, this is getting long and I still have so much more I'm thinking through. What was the result of the message board poll? Have to say the comments are getting a bit long to go through. Later guys.

[Mr. B]

Who is judging Eko, the Others, the Island, the Other Others?

Eko was one of the people the Others tried to take the first night on the beach, but he killed two of them with a rock. Ana was told “good people were taken” by the Other before she killed him.

Eko finds his brothers plane and body on the island, and how exactly did it get there? And didn’t he burn it with his brother inside last season??? He remembers his past and starts to build a church to replace the one he destroyed in Africa. Meets the smoke monster with Charlie and it lets him live. He tries to save the Hatched/Island, fails and ends up being kidnapped by the polar bear. Saved by Locke, the Island starts to talk to him to see if he will ask for forgiveness. He is not sorry for his past in Africa, so he is bad and the Island kills him.

Need some answers soon on how the Island, Darma, the Others and any other groups are related before any of this starts to make sense.

[susie]

Loved the episode and I can't wait til next week. I was really sad to see eko die but he was the most obvious. What really got me curious is when eko told locke that "they're next". Is smokey going on a killing spree soon???

And i'm not sure what juilet is try to do but she's pretty naive to think that ben won't catch on to her plan. personally i think there is more going on then meets the eye with that because i can't see ben giving up so easily with trying to win over jack. there is detfinately something else going on with ben and possibly juliet.

Also, patchy in the hatch scared me senseless when he appeared on the screen and i knew he was coming too. hahahaha

[David]

I thought this episode was very well done. Good job killing off Ecko. They really did a great job making his death worth it for Locke. As for those goddamn expositional characters, I want to kill them. Bathroom works?! What the fuck? I was so frustrated with them I wanted to shoot them in the head.

[Chris B in Jackson MS]

Paulo's "bathroom works" line- not that it makes it much better, but was this a parallel to Charlie going to the bathroom in the front/cock-pit section of the plane in season 1 when Kate, Jack and Charlie find the pilot? When Charlie goes into the bathroom to look for his drugs, doesn't he make a similar comment when he comes out, like, "bathroom works". I could be wrong about that, but it struck me during the scene, and the writers seem to be really keen on setting up these parallel scenes and lines this season.

[Sobaika]

So are we to assume that when Smokey was trying to carry off Locke during the Season 1 finale that it wanted to bang him against trees and kill him as well? Both has similar paths with Smokey - facing it square in the eye (seeing different things, however) and succeeding and then coming across it again only to have it be violent.

[Kris]

Hey guys,
Love the podcast. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone here knows of a good site to watch the previews (especially the CTV ones) since it seems like lostlinks.net is now defunct and the Fuselage is always too busy after new episodes. Thanks and stay lost.

[Art_Vandelei]

Hey, about the monster's shape shifting abylities, what fake Yemi says to eko at the end - "You speak to me as if I were your brother" - I don't think it means he is not aware of whose shape he took. Considering the tone and the look of determination on his face (he doesn't look confused), I think after seeing Eko refusing to ask for forgiveness, the monster decides to reveal itself before him. I mean, it's gonna kill him, he is not gonna go tell...

Art_Vandelei

[Scott]

1st – let’s stop being surprised by benry saying a spinal surgeon “fell out of the sky” – let’s stop asking the question “does this mean the others DIDN’T bring them here on purpose?!?!” We all know that one to be true – the Others reacted to the crash – they didn’t make it happen & they didn’t bring a spinal surgeon to the island on purpose.

2nd – I was a little disappointed that Eko died. We all knew it was going to be him when we heard someone will die. It’s predicitable because it was HIS episode. Even though some said “we don’t know all his backstory” that’s because we get the rest of it in his final episode. I was just kind of left with a “so what? Big effin deal” about Eko. He did what he had to all his life and he was killed for it – I liked his character but didn’t bring a whole lot to the Island since he first meet our losties and told the story about king Josiah. I’m glad a polar bear didn’t kill him though.

3rd – I agree that the appearance of Sayid was a bit “WTF” moment…as the introduction of the Brazillians… as was the interaction with them in the hatch. I guess the writers just have to take liberties with some of that stuff and feel they can now that we’re in season 3 and have created a world in which we don’t see everything that goes on.

4th – I love “the New Jack”!!! when he said “anyone want to come along?” I felt like that was the first realistic beach conversation I’ve heard on Lost in 3 seasons!

5th – cool misdirection by Juliet… though now we’re just as confused as ever if we can trust these people or not. But my big beef was that, c’mon… you could have used half the cue cards and just written more on each one – there was like a line per card… what a waste of time making all those cue cards!

6th- Bathroom works! – is Paulo the new Charlie?

[Art_Vandelei]

About the monster revealing itself in different shapes to different people, this shape is stiil visible to others. Remember Charlie saw the column of black smoke the Ecko saw. An Sawyer saw the horse kate saw (assuming the horse was the monster too

[RD]

It seems like everybody buys into Benjamin Linus' claim that "we're not killers". I'm thinking of comments you all made during the podcast episode that came after "Every Man for Himself", where somebody said that the Others don't kill directly but don't have any problem setting up the losties to do in themselves. Does anybody remember season 1 when Ethan came back to the losties' camp to recover Claire? I haven't seen the episode in a long while, but didn't he kill one of the crash survivors in cold blood (not self-defense) and threaten to keep doing so until the losties surrendered Claire to him? We know now that Ethan was sent to the losties' camp and that he was definitely part of Ben's group of others, so it seems like it's no stretch to assume none of the rest of the others have a fundamental problem with killing. Certainly none of them have apologized to the losties the way that Eko apologized to Ben last season.

[Johnny Oswego]

Great ep!

Some questions:
Are there TWO monsters? Locke says he saw something like a bright white light. "This is not what I saw."-Ecko.
Or is the "bright white light" just what locke wants to see?

Another thing. Assuming Locke's vision of Boone was the monster, the monster seemed aware it was taking the form of Boone, while it did not seem aware that it was taking the form of Yemi when it appeared to Ecko.

Are there two monsters? Or perhaps something happened to it after the hatch implosion and the purple sky.

One thing I'm struck by the attributes the monster takes with Ecko and Locke are the stark divisions in the way faith to the monster is demanded. Ecko's view of the monster/island is a very old testament veiw. Ecko's monster is a vengeful demanding God, sitting up in the sky judging its subjects below. On the other hand, Locke's view of the Island is a very new testament kind of god. There is an Idea of the union of divine and human in Lockes faith. We see him become "one with the island". God/the island/the monster for Locke is not something to be subjegated by, but to join in union with, to recieve the graces of the holy(i.e. healing of legs)to work to the betterment of all.

But what is controlling the monster(s)?
I have this lovely vision of Ben all suited up in a wierd sci/fi VR suit controlling the smoke monster. But thats probably way off.

Maybe it is some type of AI?

I have the beginnings of a theory I'm calling the Neuromancer theory. Its based on the novel by William Gibson. I won't spoil too much for anyone who hasn't read it. One of the main plot points concerns an AI system that becomes self aware. Now the system is split and the reach the full potential of the AI the two systems must be joined. One of the systems is basically pure computer logic, lacking any sort of personality, while the second is basically a personality construct. What is interesting is that the system without personality must scan the mind of those that it wishes to communicate with. This allows the AI to create a construct based on people from the mind of whoever it is scanning. This is almost exactly what the monster seems to be doing with yemi/boone.

Perhaps there was one monster before the incident. whatever happened in the incident split it in two. A black monster, and a white monster. a good monster and an evil monster. It sure would fit with the theme of opposites.

[Bryan from the Dena]

Oh my gosh - did anyone else see in the smoke monster an image of a shark jumping over a water tank that had the fonz swimming in it?

OK so I was thinking of that amazingly pathetic joke my entire drive to work.

Anyways, while not my favorite episode it did bring up some questions that I think are important. First, in regards to the video julliete showed something occured to me that doesn't feel right. The Video deck they are using is a Broadcast level Beta Cam deck. This may not seem strange to anyone else so let me explain. She didn't film this on a small camera that she could hide or have stashed somewhere in her place. Beta Cam's are generally pretty hefty pieces of equipment. Also if we are using the average age of technolgy on the island as an example it won't be the most currant model either. My point with all of this is that it seems very unlikely that she could have done with this without others (no pun intended) knowing. But beyond that, why did she just happened to have the camera in her house, not likely. It just doesn't feel right. If anyone else out there noticed this or disagrees let me know.

Secondly, related to the camera equipment is why have it. What use could the Dharma initiative had for this equipment? What use do the others have for it? We have to assume that it is not for sending video off of the island since the plan was only for the radio broadcast of the numbers, so why? I don't know, nothing makes sense to me. I mean they didn't have an emergency crash cart yet they have this equipment. Only one possibility is that it is related to one of the stations.

In regards to Jack Killing Ben during the operation, I don't see how Jack will do this. For two reasons. One, Ben is the guy who made the offer of getting him home. No where in Julliete's message did she say that Jack would still be sent home if he did this. Two, Jack is a doctor, so he has taken the hippocratic oath (maybe).

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

I just don't think he will kill him. Besides Ben is such a cool character, the Others just wouldn't seem as dangerous or mysterious without him.

I also agree with some of the comments above, Sayid just being there at the start of the episode was a little weak. I had hoped that they would Sayid, Sun, and Jin being gone as an excuse to get some island exploration done.

Anyways, I will post more as I think about it.

[Mr_Hurley's Food Stash]

Hope it's not been posted but some info on AAA. Mentions his parents death and the new movie he is directing so he asked to to written out of the show.

It's going to happen, Lost has put a lot of unknowns out there, offers will come in and some will ask to leave. Hopefully, Linderhof and co can work out losing people who might have been important to the story later on as I feel Eko would have been.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-11-01-eko-lost_x.htm?csp=34

[ursinha]

eko was my fav. character. wish i knew what happened to him.

[Aaron]

Two thoughts.

I can't help but keep thinking about Sawyer's assesment of Juliet when Juliet had a gun to Kate's back. "She would have shot you freckles." I tend to trust Sawyer's ability to judge Juliet's character better than Jack given Jack's current situation (captive of a woman who looks like his wife) and that fact that Sawyer is a career con man. I keep thinking about this because I am not so sure Juliet being in charge is a good thing for our losties. If it even comes to that. Someone is getting worked here. Either Jack is manipulating Juliet and Juliet is messing with Jack. Personally I think Juliet is the one with the upper hand here. I think she is intentionally appearing vulnerable to Jack because she knows the effect it will have on him.

Secondly - We know the Island (the big one at least) has healing powers. Therefore when Ben leaves the Island his tumor grows back? Or is he immune to its healing powers since he has 'been there all his life?' I am not convinced he even has a tumor... I believe it may be a hoax on Jack as they know its his identity to be the one to 'fix' someone. But if in fact Ben does have a tumor, I am very interested to see how it plays out and how they explain how the Island didn't heal him. My first thought was whenever he leaves the island he does the exrays to monitor the tumors growth and it helps him know when he needs to return for a whle. Here is another thought... If Locke leaves the Island to attempt a rescue, will he be able to walk?

I liked the reveal of now knowing people's visions (horse, Jack Sheppard, ect..) have been the black smoke. It explains the creators notion of 'you have seen it more than we think.' Very clever.

[Zuul]

have you noticed that they're getting rid of most black people from the show ?

[Mrs. Hurley]

Here's my two cents on the poor Brazilians. I can see why people don't like them, but they really don't deserve getting so slated.

The integration of Paolo and Nikki are totally realistic when you really think about it. They are people who stayed in background for 60+ days while the "cool" dudes dealt with exploring the island, dealing with threats and making leadership decisions. Now they are trying to play with the big boys and they look out of place while doing it. And that is exactly what would happen in real life. They would look and feel awkward hanging out with the popular kids, which in itself is a tight group of people who have learned to trust and care for each other the hard way and in situations like that is never easy to be the new guy(s).

The line about the bathroom working shows the awkwardness of them hanging out with these people who have been in charge but are not really their friends and probably wouldn't have even remembered their names a few days ago.

I really liked the comment Nikki makes about Paolo whining about never being asked to go with our favorite losties. Remember this is not like when Artz joined them to go look for dynamite. Back then they were all still strangers trying to figure things out. But by now they have formed a sort of established 'society' with a certain hierarchy. Whoever stayed in the background is out of the higher ranks and changing that is going to take time. Making it any different would have been highly unrealistic and we would have moaned just the same.

Plus I’m sure they’ll grow on all of us eventually.

[Mr_Hurley's Food Stash]

@Aaron

To me it does seem like this is Ben's tumour. Remember the episode when Bernard takes Rose to Austraila to the healing place/guy, he tells her that some places work for some people but not others. I'm guessing that Ben maybe is not affected by the Island?

@Zuul

We still have Rose and Bea (Was that her name?) and the black smoke of course!

I'm sure they can add something somewhere, either with the 'others' or 'other others'

Stay Lost

[Rachel]

I'm surprised no one else noticed the Jesus reference in this episode. When Eko went to look for his brother in the plane, he and Locke had to move a rather large boulder. When they got inside, the body/bodies were gone. Not sure what it meant, but interesting nonetheless.

[Drynn_03]

I watched the show a couple times and I will say it was a good show. But it seems that the writing is getting progessivly worse. It is not over analysing the show that is the problem (though that does not help the matter) it is the fact that they are trying to tell way to much story (which makes the episode disjointed and unconnected or they spend way to much time on a simple scene which tends to make an episode slow) This is writing and production flaws. The writers set this show up to be looked at under a microscope by adding easter eggs and all the foreshadowing they do. But if your foreshadowing is gonna make the story anticlimatic then you did a poor job on the script. That is the fault of the producers and not that the viewers are to clever.

While I was glad that the smoke monster made its appearance this season, and that we have a new mystery with One Eye Man, and the resolution of "you have seen the smoke monster but just didn't recognize it" here is a couple of general problems I have with the show and this episode in particular.

I understand that this is a little mini season, but with the exception of an out of focus spin around Desmond. we have not really seen the beach. Most the shots look like stage shots. I am missing seeing all the losties on the beach. The scenes we do see are not that great due to the obvious ommision of people that should be there. Case in point... The next best doctor the losties have after Jack is Sun.. Why would Sun not be in the tent looking over Eko with Sayid. When the fire on the beach breaks out, why is there no Sun and Jin and where the hell is Rose and Bernard this is a quick 2 second shot. This is production. This is telling a story. Instead we get scenes that have unclear plotting, we get storylines that jump and twist and then means nothing at best or completly wrong at worst.

Case in point..

Ok they killed Eko.

Why would you spend the whole episode building up that he is not repentitent for his actions only to end on him praying to God??? That scene does not work on any level at all. Sorry no amount of suppose this or imagine that fixes that simple point.

Here is how it should of ended based on how they have built Eko's charactor on his 2 flashbacks and how he has handled himself on the island.

As he is handing the cross to Yemi, the appirition should have not acknowleged it's importantance. After Yemi delivered the line "You speak to me as if I were your brother" Eko should have struck him. Yemi then should have popped into black smoke that darts away across the field joining the swelling greater mass. Eko should have looked straight at the cloud and said "I do not fear you" and run to meet his attacker. MOST IMPORTANTLY as the cloud was killing him he should have been struggling and fighting back. Picture the scene of Quint getting eaten by Jaws.

It would not have been any harder to film that and you would have had a fullfilling resolution to Eko's death. As it was the scene felt like Hey we gave them(the viewers) the smoke monster lets just kill him and move on.

There is a glaring hole in Continuity so far this season. That is poor writing or poor production. I don't need direct exposistion. I like to think we might be clever enough to expound on things that might explain why people are not where they should be or not asking questions they should be asking.

Again, I will give the writers and producers the benifit of doubt that maybe because of the short 6 series season they did not have their full crews in Hawaii. But if that is the case then their new 6 on 13 off and 17 on is not what the viewers want if it means less production just so they can save on some salaries for 3 or 4 weeks.

Drynn_03

[HELPIMLOST!]

Did anyone notice how Locke seems to be a completely different person in this episode. The writers seem to be playing him as a very strong leader. In the situations we've seen he is leading better than Jack. They also emphasized how the Losties with less action were glad to be included.

I didn't really like how Ben was made to look so helpless and act like he completely gave up on his "plan" to get medical treatment. If they really have contact with the outside world wouldn't he be able to go to a hospital?
I bet that this is part of a larger plan to trick Jack and "break him".

Also, has anyone noticed how whenever the smoke monster is shown, there is this rattling sound? If someone can find audio of it that would be interesting.

Can't wait to listen to your podcast!

[Daffs]

I kinda thought the clicking sounded like... maybe someone typing or the whirring of the Hatch Countdown?

Also, it made the mechanical sounds that made me think the monster was some huge kind of robotic thing (the creaking and grinding.) Which, as far as I'm aware, is the first time we've heard these sounds and seen the Monster as Smoke.

I always held out that there were 2 'monsters': Ol' Smokey and Truckasaurus. Apparently not.

Been thinking about my WTF reaction the start of the episode (with the reintroduction of Sayid) and... does it seem to anyone else that they've jumped ahead in time all of a sudden?

Locke's suddenly developed as a leader, Sayid's back, people seem to be better informed about what's going on... It almost feels like we're missing an episode.

[Michael Daul]

"Posted by: Aaron | November 02, 2006 at 11:47 AM
First, in regards to the video julliete showed something occured to me that doesn't feel right. The Video deck they are using is a Broadcast level Beta Cam deck."

Actually, it was a Sony umatic deck, possibly a vo5800 (I'm trying to rewatch on abc.com right now to verify). This is the same format of tape that the pearl hatch training video was on.

What is important to note here is that when recording onto umatic, the tape cassette does not go into the video camera as with betacam and the like; instead you hook the video camera (something like a DXC-1600) up to a umatic vtr. Sony did offer "portable" field units, like the vo3800.

Here are some links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umatic
http://www.labguysworld.com/Museum009_J.htm
http://www.labguysworld.com/Sony_VO-3800.htm

[matt]

I think it is obvious that Ben and Juliet are setting Jack up to see if he truly is a GOOD person. Ben has nothing to lose since he will die soon with no surgery.

[Justin - AKA John Locke Jnr]

I thought this episode is heads and tails as one of the finest episodes of Lost EVER! It has it's moments of genius, especially the TV set with cue cards. I think Benry would have seen the reflection of the TV set in the glass, even if it was reversed he could still read it!! God if Benry finds the tape (and there's a chance he will) he will become psycho Benry (Psybenry). I was more shocked to see this scene, than Eko's brutal smoke monster ordeal. I knew that thing was EVIL! I'm quite sure that Captain Hatch Arrow* has something to do with the smoke monster - the evil side of the island. We won't know who they are until the latter end of Season 3. Keep up the good work team!!

*because of the glass eye in the Arrow hatch.

[Tyler J]

Over all I didn't really care for this episode. I'm not the kind to knock Lost for not giving me a "Holy Shoot" moment in every episode and I don't even thing that's what bothered me. This episode was strikingly similar in my mind to last season's 'Abandoned' episode in which Shannon died. You knew about 5 minutes in that Shannon was a goner because they tried so hard to wrap her up. While I still picked up that this episode was our farewell to Eko, the writers did a much better job of leaving loose ends in Eko's story line ie the unfinished church that he owes his brother, why Smokey decided to kill him this time as opposed to in 'The 23rd Psalm'. Does it judge based on repentance, courage? I loved the sinister turn that Smokey(Can we just call it Cerebus, please?) took. I like that we haven't even remotely figured it out. I'll say this ; I didn't like the actual episode, but I loved the possibilities it opened up.

[Cihan]

I FUCKING GOT SPOILED. At Dailykos of all places.

Fuck's sake. I hate the internet.

[Brian]

Jack said something like "you did all of this...to get me to save your life..." to Ben. I'm confused about this. What does "all of this" mean? Did Ben (and The Others) take Walt in order to manipulate Michael to bring Jack?

Did Ben look at the list of losties and figure out the only way he'd get Jack was by capturing Walt?

Just wondering how far back the plan goes.

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

@ Rachel - I was going to post that as well about moving the boulder to find an empty tomb.

So what is up with the missing corpses? That's now two missing bodies. Jack's dad and Ekko's brother.

I think we should keep a running tab on all the actors we think the Patchy looked like because I thought he looked like Michael Ironsides. I think he noticed the red light go or maybe it made a clicking noise when it happened. Did those computers look trashed to you guys?

I think its funny that Locke sees a bright white light and Ekko see black smoke just goes with my JOKING about the racism on the island. Still funny coincidences about that.

I would love to see Bernard have a freak out moment like Guy did in Galaxy Quest.

It makes sense that Sayid showed up when he did. It doesn't take more than 2 days to get from Pala Docks to the camp. It took Hurley that long. That didn't really bother me.

I liked the episode overall. I was surprised about the commericals actually being accurate with what was going on. Normally, they are misleading. Bastages. Now we can't even count on the commericals.

Just a general question out to the other people who post here. Do you guys sometimes find it hard to talk about Lost to the people who just causally watch it? I point stuff out to them like what we discuss here and they look at me funny like how much time do you spend on the internet?

[Bryan from the Dena]

Kathy I am right there with you. My friends who are casual watchers consider it to be my addiction (one they think i need help with). One of my friends actually got me the Lost board game as a house warming present/joke. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried an intervention soon.

[Mark B]

I firmly believe that Juliet is trying to get Jack to kill Ben so she can take over. It's her coup attempt. I think Ben led the original coup to overthrow DHARMA and now Juliet is making her move.

Also is Juliet actually working with other Others in Othersville or completely independently ?

No way that Juliet is in with Ben trying to play Jack with the video deal. She saw her chance and put the x-rays up so Jack could see them now she's taking another chance to get Jack to kill Ben. Juliet is not conning Jack with the cards on the video -- why would she ? Why ask Jack to kill Ben as part of a con ? Is this some kind of test ? Seems somewhat dangerous to ask Jack to kill someone with the slip of a knife (esp. as they clearly have very limited medical knowledge so would not know if Jack was about to do the deed) as part of a con (esp. if Ben is really HIM) but perhaps when Jack says he'll do it she come clean but then what do the Others gain from getting Jack to show them he'll kill Ben. It's not like they are going to run off to the medical council and get them to revoke his license. I think Juliet is for real and wants Ben out of the way, but is she badder than Ben ? At least Ben has never asked Jack to kill someone for him. Is Ben to be trusted when he says he'll get Jack off the island ? What's in it for Jack if he kills Ben ? What will Juliet do for Jack ? Will she offer him some power sharing deal or to help the other Losties ? Given her current request she's not exactly trustworthy.

Personally I think Jack will do the operation and at least try to save Ben as he (Jack) is an ethical person.

An idea is that Ben somehow finds out about the deal Juliet has offered and tells Jack he knows but let's Jack do the surgery anyway to prove how much he trusts Jack and how much Jack should trust Ben.

I guess it would be a clever twist to have Ben and Juliet involved in it and then get Ben telling Jack he knows about the offer but Jack thinking it's all an internal conflict. That would be so LOST but what would be the point ? What would anyone gain from that ?

This Juliet vs Ben is the factions in the Others that CC and DL refered to in the official podcast a few weeks ago.

What I don't understand why Ben didn't just walk over to the Losties after they'd crashed and say "Hey Jack you're a spinal surgeon. I've got a tumour and a bunch of nice houses and food and stuff. Say why don't we do a deal and you operate on me save my life and we'll help you guys out ?"

Perhaps it's cause Ben is so into that "I must be in total control" deal that he simply can't work like that. If he has really lived on the island his entire life and been used by Dharma then perhaps he doesn't even realise he could have done that and Jack would have helped him.

That and it would not have made for a very good tv show .....

Sorry that was way too long a post

Mark B

[Nash]

@Rachel,

I totally didn't think of the boulder/Jesus reference. Good catch.

About the question as to whether or not Juliet is playing Jack, I was searching digg for Lost articles and stumbled onto this quote in an interview with Elizabeth Mitchell. "[Elizabeth Mitchell] does say that she doesn't believe her character Juliet 'is a liar,' and that she believes Juliet is 'very complex.' She wouldn't give an opinion on if Juliet was 'good or evil.'"

the article is here although the subject is not safe for work:
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27269074.shtml

I wonder what makes Juliet "very complex". So far she seems pretty straightforward and if she isn't a liar, then she really doesn't like the way Ben is doing things and simply wants change. Why they can't impeach him and elect a new mayor of Othersville, I don't know. Maybe Ben is heir to the thrown and that can't be changed w/o his death, but that seems pretty drastic. I think there may be a dark side to Juliet (or a REALLY dark side to Ben) and we'll get some of her flashbacks soon to explain her reasoning. I'm not betting on Jack to go through with it, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out. I'm sure the cliffhanger will end in the middle of the operation with something bad happening that won't be resolved until the next episodes start.

[Esquire]

Is vincent the smoke monster? Think about it. They are never in the same place at the same time... and where is vincent?

on a side note, what is he eating? I have yet to see Dharma dog food

[Nash]

@Kathy and Bryan,

I would one step further and actually admit I have a Lost addition. My productivity definitely slows to a trickle most Thursdays trying to dissect what just happened and what other people think of it..

[Drynn_03]

Juliette is not the little miss suzy homeaker she is trying to lead Jack to think she is, She shot Sawyer in the throat without a seconds hesitation, she knocked Jack clean the F@*& out in one shot, She stepped in and grabbed kate and put a gun to her to make Sawyer stop. This is not a woman who is feeling bad about the losties. She is playing Jack biggtime. The question remains who is the greater evil Juliette or Benry. I prefer a story that shows Julliette as great or worse than Benry. But have a feeling it will just be something simple.

Drynn_03

[addictedtoLOST]

guys. it's EKO. not Ekko, not Echo and not Ecko!! aye! lol sorry just bugging me.

[Mark B]

@Kathy and Bryan and Nash
If people think you are odd looking at LOST forums and podcasts etc on the internet just don't tell them and make yourself look really smart by stealing everyone elses ideas !

@Drynn_03
Juliet is just making her move to become the power in Othersville. Just like all regimes which have a powerful pseudo-dictator leader the underlings always want to take over eventually and make thier own little utopia.

Sometimes even with LOST the most obvious answer is the right one.

Mark B.

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

I definately wouldn't want to be Jack right now. Who do you trust? The devil you know?

I still would like to point out that maybe the others aren't super strong, maybe Jack is just an incredible wuss. I mean no one else seems to have any overpowerment issues with them. Sawyer got the upperhand physically on a few of them.

[Dark Hurley]

The bees in my bonnet:

- Still no mention of Michael's betrayal.
- Why didn't Desmond "see" Eko's death coming?
- Following the tail-enders' stories was a waste of time.

Episodes like this throw me off. As a viewer, you come away unfufilled because a character's potential is cut short (and I do feel this was due more to offscreen conflicts and never "the story as it was always intended").

But even with these gripes, I CAN'T WAIT for next week's show!

[Anna]

I really liked this past episode (the cost of living) and found the Juliet flash card part of the episode the most intriguing, although everything was...

- Is Juliet really trying to off Benry, or (like the past episode with conning Sawyer) have Benry and Juliet actually found a way to crack Jack by being "up front" and "responsible" and "coming clean" (i.e. more Jack than Jack is)? They are appealing to his "something to fix" complex.
- Is this their new plan since Jack saw Benry's x-rays too soon? Benry does need surgery for his tumor, that part is real, as the writers showed us by having Juliet and Benry talking about why she showed Jack his x-rays. So, he does need Jack's expertise, and more than Jack trust them, Benry needs to be able to trust Jack. Benry observing Jack as Juliet poses him this choice would be the PERFECT way to test if Jack would try to kill him under the knife (which coincidently, would seem to be Benry's biggest concern about the surgery to me), by seeing how he responds to this seemingly rebel request by Juliet.

I have the following problems with believing Juliet's request is really coming from her:

- All the rebel faction would have to do is NOTHING. It's that simple. No elaborate, risky appeal to Jack in front of a camera the "dangerous man" can see through. Benry's going to die of his own account.

- If having Jack perform surgery and save Benry's life throws a kink into the "do NOTHING" plan, why don't the rebels just kill Benry themselves. Juliet seems to have plenty of opportunity.

- A third option would be to kill Jack. All of these seem less risky than the route Juliet supposedly took.

Also interesting, the fact that Jack asks her to turn off the video like she requested seems to be a sort of decision in itself.

Jack was finally thrown when Benry "confessed" to him, and then they throw this Juliet video at him, keeping him off his feet and agitated and his mind occupied by choices.

I think by asking Juliet to turn the video off, he just asked for a whole new world of trouble. What, like she can't just turn it off herself???

[Frank Morris]

Best episode this season!!! Brilliant conclusion to the 23 Psalm (best episode last season) & a good job job of ramping up the overall story. I'm starting to believe that the events on "Alcatraz" Island are actually leading somewhere.

Someone posted before that they heard the "smoke monster sound" when Ben formally introduced himself to Jack. I tossed that into my crackpot file but in this episode I definitely heard it right before Ben asked Jack if he believed in God.

Obviously there will great discussion on the black smoke this weekend. I can't wait.

~EKO~
~HE WALKED SOFTLY AND CARRIED A BIG STICK~
~REST IN PEACE~

[static]

Great episode.
However, it is forever stained cause Eko died.
Probably the worst/saddest moment in LOST ever, in my opinion. :(

I'm putting together my own little team like the losties always have for their jungle expeditions, and then I'm going to the island to destroy Smokey. >.<

Got nothing else clever to say.
Can't wait til the podcast.
Stay LOST.

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

What - you weren't upset when Shannon died?

*dead silence from the lost fans not even the crickets chirp*

[Conor]

Just a small lost link for you guys here. The Chicago Tribune ran an article last sunday with one of the Directors of Photography. The article itself was pretty interesting, but one of the things he mentioned was that they are currently shooting a flashback set in florida. I thought it was interesting because as you guys stated in the last podcast both kate and sawyer had flashbacks set in florida, and I believe Sayid had one as well.

Anyway thanks for the great podcasts.

Stay Lost.

--Conor

[Joni]

I was wrong wrong wrong. Oh well!

I was disappointed at first that the tumor is actually Ben's. I love the Juliet video thing. Of course she has her own reasons for wanting Ben dead. Jack just has to figure out which group of others he sides with. No matter what, she is still ONE OF THEM!

Now with the better look at the eye patch man, it is definitely not Candle/Wickman. Not too disappointed about that.

Anyone miss Sun and Jin this episode? Sayid is back so where are they.

I found it very interesting that the smoke monster has had several run ins with Eko and only after Eko says he is not sorry, the monster kills him.

Locke has a great deal of regret in him and he saw the white light. What can we make of that?

And what about what Eko told Locke? At first I thought it meant the other losties would be killed next, but perhaps it means they are next to 'scanned/read/whatever the monster does'. I think it means they are next in facing their sins/pasts.

All in all, I really enjoyed this episode. I don't want to watch next week with the previews of Sawyer. I just keep thinking they never show us what we think they show us.

AND LAST OF ALL! I am so tired of people saying the show has lost something. If they don't like the show, just stop watching.

Yes, I loved the early episodes when everything was a mystery but we have to get answers at some point. Plus, this show is clearly not realistic. If you didn't get that from the first episode, it's your own fault.

Patiently waiting for the podcast!!!

[biolite]

Wow, another interesting episode, and a sad good-bye to Eko and his Jesus stick. I have to say, I agree with all the complaining about our two new characters. Paulo and Nikki (??) I understand that they want to have new characters involved, and I can accept that they are part of a larger soceity on the beach so they know all the big characters. Their whole introduction seems really forced though. If they had taken an episode and focused on those characters and maybe shown flashbacks of their introductions with the other Losties...it wouldn't of been so bad. Right now, it seems forced.

Smoke monster was great. I always dig the smoke monster. It seemed ticked off this time. I wonder why smokey was so interested in the button. It really seemed that Eko's faliure to ensure the button was still pushed was the motivaton for Smokey to kill Eko. If that's the case, I ask again, Why did the smoke monster want the button pushed?

Jack. He's screwed. I think Juliet and Ben are playing him. If I've learned anything watching lost...don't trust the others...every. I think the division in the others is between the Alex/Carl group. Ben and Juliet are working together. Besides which, Jack wouldn't kill Ben on the table, he's too ethical for that. He struggled with the Boon situation in season 1, there's no way he could kill anyone he was operating on.

[Sarah]

So… the episode was okay. The death was really predictable. Seriously—Eko being blown up, an episode called “The Cost of Living” and Eko-centric… (Although I’ve already talked about this on the Podcast 39 comment section.) A few things…

-What the heck was up with the white funeral clothes? I thought at funerals you were supposed to where black.
-What was going on in with Eko’s closed eyes at the very first when he was remembering when Yemi died?
-Who can we trust? Yes, Juliet’s video said to kill Ben, but what if Jack messes up Ben, but doesn’t kill him, and Jack is exposed to giving up all his morals and deliberately messing up a patient?
-So now we know why Eko is building the church… because he owed Yemi one.
-I’m sad Eko died… but glad it wasn’t Charlie or Jin!
-So the Others are planning an uprising… interesting. I wonder what Ben was doing wrong…
-Was Ben really coming for Locke in Season 2? At that point, he knew he had a tumor so do you think Ben just told that to Locke to mess with his mind? Ben already messed with Locke’s mind when he told them the timer went down to 0 and nothing happened. He may be lying.
-The smoke monster!!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!! We FINALLY saw the smoke monster in action! MAN that thing beat Eko UP! But why? What did Eko do to it? I know that sounds so fifth grade but seriously what kind of smoke monster just ups and decided a kill a black priest-type guy?? And Yemi—I think that was the smoke monster messing with Eko’s mind.
-Who set the fire in the medical tent? If Yemi was a hallucination, then why was there a random fire? It’s like Jack’s dad… maybe Yemi is walking the island! I know Jack found his dad’s coffin but it was empty. Did LOST ever reveal why it was empty or if Jack was just hallucinating?
-Locke says the eye patch man is expecting a visit to him. How does Locke know where to go? The map, I guess… but does he even remember it? And does he even know which hatch it is? (Did anybody else notice the striking resemble between the eye patch man and Hugh Laurie?)

SPOILERISH:

So Kate chooses Sawyer. I saw them both topless in the promo. And one of those E! Online or TV Guide people said Kate would choose within the first “sex” episodes. So yeah. I really wish they hadn’t had shown that in the promo. I mean I basically figured it out because one of the descriptions of Juliet’s character was “possibly a love interest for Jack” so then Jack wouldn’t be with Kate but still… I’m really excited for Alex’s character in the next episode. I really like her character—and can’t wait for the Alex/Danielle reunion. It’ll be so sweet.

Question: Could yall give us a time for when you add the episode post? Like you’ll add it at 9:30 or 10 after each episode? I have my entry all written out on Microsoft Word and now I’m just waiting around updating the site every few minutes to see if the new post is up so I can add this under that episode’s post…

Can’t wait for the results of the survey & podcast!
Stay LOST.
Sarah

[Matt Beale]

@ Daffs
"Which, as far as I'm aware, is the first time we've heard these sounds and seen the Monster as Smoke."

Urrrhhhh - Did you watch Season 1 and 2 ?!

[Nash]

Key Points from "The Cost of Living":
http://www.filmfodder.com/tv/lost/archives/003333.shtml

Mac makes some excellent points:

1) Nikki/Paulo awkwardness: Nikki and Paulo are, to this point at least, nothing more than writing devices. The writers are using them to fill in the gaps for folks who haven't been watching.

2) Smokey: It initially seems that the smoke monster darts away like a big wussie when Eko spins and confronts it, but if you listen carefully, you can hear the oncoming footsteps of Locke and the rescue crew. The monster actually retreats when the rescuers draw near. I'm not sure what this means, but I thought it was noteworthy.

3) Yemi's body: Even if Yemi's remains weren't vaporized by fire, perhaps his remnants were hauled off by animals (like, say, a polar bear).

4) Patchy: He's wearing a Dharma jumpsuit.

5) Insanity Alert: "No," Ben snaps. "I want you to want to save my life," he says. "But we're beyond that now. So, all I can ask is that you think about it."

6) The return of Locke: "Don't mistake coincidence for fate," he says. OBI-LOCKE HAS ENTERED THE BUILDING.

7) J&J Joke: Jack squints. He sees small type at the bottom of the final piece of posterboard: "Will you go out with me? Yes. No. Maybe"

[Bune]

I posted this in the other comments, but I'll post it here where it belongs, now:

"I have a theory!

The smoke monster reanimates dead bodies and appears as those people. It would explain why Christian Shepherd's body and Yemi's were gone.

About Eko's death, I was hoping it wouldn't be him, though I pretty much knew it would be. He had so much more to give to the show, than, say, Charlie, who is just annoying throughout every episode and has stupid flashbacks. Maybe I just hate hobbits, I dunno.

I loved the episode on the whole, though. I thought everything worked, unlike last episode, where nothing worked. It's like they saved up all their awesome energies and superconcentrated this episode into being awesome. Eko's death was kind of disappointing, but expected, and they did well with it, I suppose."

I also have thoughts on Nikki and Paulo - everyone wants them to go away as soon as possible, and I can see why. They're misusing the characters. I didn't find it as "offensive" as some people people found it in this episode. I thought it was fine in this episode, they were kind of entertaining. Paulo was kind of funny in his one or two lines.

[Nash]

I thought Juliet's comment when she knew she was on camera was very telling. "But you do, Jack. Free will is all we've really got." If we are to believe that Juliet is worried that Ben is watching then this statement is very important to the Others' current leadership. It's been mentioned several times this season. Could it be intertwined with their distinction between good and bad? Are you "good" if you allow others to have "free will"? Does that make Locke "better" than Jack? And if so, maybe Ben really was coming for Locke in season 2 and he didn't know that the Lostaways had a spinal surgeon in their ranks.

I guess "free will" is supreme unless someone doesn't want to give you there baby and then it's OK for you to pulverize one Lostaway a day into a boneless corpse until they do?

[Drynn_03]

Smokey becomes what you want to see, that which you are torn up about. It is clear Locke is looking for something, thats why he went to Australia to begin with. It is clear he thinks the the Island has mystical powers because he can walk. It is clear that Locke cannot make decisions on his own throughout his life so he falls back on the crutch of Fate. So it is clear that what Locke would see and what Smokey would present itself as for Locke is somekind of divine presence ie a white light. When it didn't care what Locke thought, it was just plain ole smokey dragging him through the forest.

Drynn_03

[Mr. B]

I don’t think we learned much more about Mr. Eko as a person this week, and if he wanted off the show they should have had him die in the hatch implosion. Skip the lame polar bear/Locke quest and move on to other characters. This was the first episode that was hard for me to watch, it just didn’t make sense or flow, and the new acting is horrible.

However with most of the tail section gone, I think it is an attempt by the Island to cover up what happened to Cindy. Where is Cindy and why is no one talking about her? And what is the French Lady doing? And why was Libby in a mental hospital? And why do the Others dress up? And why am I posting on the message board?

[Kai Olav Ellefsen]

Nice Episode, really nice actually,

Lots of good beach-people-action and also nice stuff from the hydra station.
But I agree the new caracters are kind of annoying. But I think I've figured out why they brought the new guy in. He's going to be the silly dude who always has to try out the different hatches sanitary facilities. I'm really looking forward to them rescuing Jack and them, and he asks: "Hey, Jack, where's the toilet around this station?" :D

--Kai Olav Ellefsen

[Eliza B]

While I find Niki and Paulo to be kind of annoying. There was a point to Paulo's bathroom antics.
Remember the first time Locke and Eko went into the Pearl? There was a burning cigarette between the chairs. (Confirmed by DL & CC in the Official podcast.) So my guess is whoever left the cigarette was hiding in the bathroom the whole time Locke & Eko were in the Pearl. Perhaps it's Mr. Patch Man! Creepy.
Even more creepy-two bodies missing and making walking appearances. Notice in Yemi's final appearance the suit was all dusty and dirty, which means Smokey stole his clothes at the very least.

@Sarah: many eastern cultures wear white for funerals. It certainly gives the Others a New-Agey Dharma feel.
Stay Lost!

[Matt Lafferty]

A semi-repost for me, but I absolutely loved this episode! All my grumblings about the previous episodes were washed away: this episode had a pertinent back story, enjoyable tension, and a sense of absolute momentum that hasn't been seen since last season. Until Eko's death, I didn't see the point in killing him; afterwards, the way the story was crafted by the now-potent writers, I metaphorically wiped away a tear for Eko and realized that his story had run its course, and I was dramatically satisfied.

I loved what Eko's backstory did for the character; I loved that it showed him as someone who was essentailly unable to resolve his lofty desires and his bloodlust, be it his brief priesthood in Africa, or on his time on the island.

I also absolutely went bonkers of Jack's handling of the x-ray issue. I think it's meant to be a sly reference to Jack's card playing background that he went all-in and said to Ben that Ben had a tumor; Jack had decided that if he was right, then he would be in control, and if he was wrong then he certainly couldn't lose anything. Pardon me for not having the exact dialogue, but after he confronts Ben, his line of questioning echoed the various interrogations that we've seen: how wonderful it was to see Jack interrogate the head baddie from inside his prison cell.

Simply put, after a bit of Lockian doubt, I'm a Lost believer again!

[Joni]

My opinion on BEN AND JULIET. . .

Their private conversations are sincere. They may be conning each other, but what they are saying is not rehearsed or deliberate.

Ben asks why Juliet showed the X-rays to Jack.
This is in private. Ben genuinely was not ready for Jack to see them. He did not ask Juliet to set it up for Jack to see them.

Is Juliet the good guy? That is yet to be seen.

I sincerely think she is against Ben. She mentions freewill at the book club when her choice of books is judged by "ben's standards". And there are more others unhappy with the conditions (Karl and Alex at least).

Another question . . does Jack even know that Ben is 'listening'? He sees the camera, but that only confirms visual. So Juliet could have simply said, "Listen, Ben is watching us, but he can't hear us. This is what I want you to do."

But she knows that Ben CAN hear her, so she whips out the video. Makes me think she really doesn't want Ben to hear.

[Chris B in Jackson MS]

@ Eliza B- I'm not so sure that Damon's bit about the burning cigarette wasn't a joke. The question they answered was if it was wacky weed that was seen on the trays next to the chairs in the Pearl; Damon responded, "no, but I can confirm it was a burning cigarette." I went back and looked at the HD version of that episode after the offical podcast, but there was nothing burning or even anything that looked like a cigarette. I think it was just dirt or something that was used to make the place look deserted. You may be right, I certainly believed them initially, but the more I listen to those guys, the more I take with a grain of salt.

[MagnumVP]

Over all it was a good episode. I think they killed off Eko too soon, but there is still plenty of story lines to follow and create. Eko wasn’t really playing a role in any of the major ones plot lines.

My Thoughts about this episode:

@Esquire

When it comes to Vincent as being the Smoke Monster, not a chance. Here is why. If you watch the DVD of the finally when Michael and Walt get on the boat, they make a point of showing Vincent getting in the boat as well. It wasn't part of the episode when it originally broadcast, but they put it into the DVD. It was almost as if they forgot about the dog and then had to add it after post.

New Losties:

I think they are bringing in Nikki as a "Sex Symbol". Not because Kate doesn’t do it, but because Kate is the only "Sex Symbol" on Lost. You bring in other characters that offer the same type of role and then you might not have that tough of time killing off the original (Kate) when you have a replacement.

Paulo (add him to the cast for sex appeal as well) should be an interesting character. I’m not sure if he or Nikki will work because we are so comfortable with everyone else, but we’ll see where the writers take it.

Ok the toilets work. We knew they had running water (showers) but where does the sewage go?

Juliet/Benery:

I have two theories;

1. I think that Juliet is playing Jack (without Benery knowing) and wants to see how Jack would handle his ethical dilemma. Kill someone to save yourself, or do what you have been trained to do your entire life. Kill or be killed. Fight or Flight.

2. This one is out there. What if the x-rays weren't of Benery, but of Sawyer or someone else in that age range (40ish)? What if Jack goes into a surgical room thinking to operate on Benery but it is actually Sawyer laying there. But because it is a surgery on the spin, the patient is lying face down and Jack doesn't know that it is Sawyer, with all the cloth covering him, all that is exposed is the spin area.

I know #2 is out there but you never know. Just a thought.

Jack:

I believe that when Jack was doing the pull-ups, which was the writer’s way of showing us that Jack is back to Mr. Toughguy. All you needed to add was an 80's montage and you have a Rocky training moment. And we all know who wins at the end of ever Rocky movie.

Locke:

I do agree with numerous other post that Locke was diffidently more aggressive and shoed more of a leadership role than previous episodes. I do believe that the writers are bringing Locke back to his hunting/tracking/providing roots. “I know where I’m going when I get there” That’s just vague enough to work.

Eko:

Poor Mr. Eko. Your world was so “Columbia Drugload-ish) that we can’t decide to love you or hate you. I personally love his story line. I enjoy watching how he makes the right decision for the wrong reasons. I’ll kill these drug guys, so I can save the village and possible sell it myself.

The Smoke Monster:

I still haven’t made up my mind when it comes to what/who it is. It does sound mechanical, so then again a bunch of flamingos talking sound like a cocktail party. Sounds can be deceiving and I’m not quite convinced that the smoke monster is working for the Others.

I do have a theory that the Smoke Monster is part of the animal population and along with the Polar Bear were part of an elaborate experiment. To do what…not sure yet. Every theory that I can think of doesn’t add up (then again that is what a theory is). Perhaps cross breading, gene manipulation or perhaps since some people believe that your SOUL turns into energy after you die and since your body is comprised of energy, it has to go somewhere, perhaps the Smoke lives off the energy of people.

It also could be Judge, Jury and Executioner. It haunts you and bring you to your past, judges you on it and if you repent, then you are saved (didn’t kill Locke in the first season), but if you fail to repent then it decides to be Executioner.

[Lost1]

My Next Survey for S3E5. Please check it out!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/Users/13652181/Surveys/254542818397/D80380EA-5956-42AE-9FDB-CFBD5B31345F.asp?U=254542818397&DO_NOT_COPY_THIS_LINK

[Frank Morris]

Ben is already dead!

Reasons:
* As Bune points out (Bune in here, not from the show)the smoke monster seems to be reanimating dead bodies i.e. Jacks Dad & Yemi.
* CC & DL say we've seen the smoke monster w/out knowing it.
* As Frank Morris points out (that's really me, I accidently posted under my pseudonym) you can hear the smoke monster sounds when Ben is talking to Jack.

[Cameron]

@ Sarah: re the white clothes: they are approximations of traditional Hindu garments. The ceremony (minus the ridiculous music) was close to what happens at a Hindu funeral (I have been to one) except that in the one I went to the women were not allowed to be present for the lighting of the pyre (not even the widow of the person who had died). This eastern religious link is an interesting artefact from the DHARMA philosophy – as opposed to turning cows into cheeseburgers, which has a slightly more Western connection ...

Here is my rather modest contribution since the comments so far have brought out the best of the speculation/theorising already:

- So what is the ‘cost of living’? That you have to do terrible things in order to survive? I can see Ben parroting Mr Eko’s speech to the letter.

- Wasn’t Locke fibbing when he acted surprised about the TVs being wired to other hatches? I am sure he saw Jack on the Swan hatch monitor the first time that he was down there?

- Juliet saying ‘Bye Jack’ was a massive clue. She didn’t say it because she was walking a few steps down to the water, which would have been stupid. She was saying: ‘you are not going to be seeing any more of the Juliet that you thought you knew. From now on you will be dealing with a different Juliet – the real Juliet.’

- Talk about tension on the set! The look the faces of Locke, Sayid and Desmond when Paulo comes out of the toilet was totally: ‘why the f**k did they write this tool into the show, this is our little DHARMA mystery detective club and this Hatch ain't big enough for five people’.

[Archives]

"Wasn’t Locke fibbing when he acted surprised about the TVs being wired to other hatches? I am sure he saw Jack on the Swan hatch monitor the first time that he was down there?"

Locke would have been surprised. Because he thought that the purpose of The Pearl was for people to watch and record everything that happened in The Swan. He had no idea that all the hatches were monitored from The Pearl. In fact, The Pearl's orientation video only talks about the Swan hatch being under surveillance.

[Black Lodge]

The conversation between Ecko and Locke reminded me of the balck and white marbles that Jack found back in the caves back in Series 1 and the Balck and White eyes of Locke in Claire's nightmares back in Series 1. Could these relate to how people see the "Monster" on the island. White for the good, innocent and pure then Black for the evil, corrut. This could tie in as well with the White worn by the Others at the funeral are they "really" the good people while the Peter Pan kids dragging the teddy bears living with the polar bears and One Eyed Jack in the other hatch the bad guys?

Just a thought, what do you all think?

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

Poor Locke was a bit overwhelmed the last time he was there. I mean he basically he was told he had been duped again.

I did think the "Goodbye Jack" line seemed weird for her to say. It felt out of place. Haven't figured out if that was intentionally out of place or not.

Also, Ekko said to Locke that don't confuse fate and coincidence, right? Or am I losing my mind?

[johnathon]

just wanted to point out a parallel between ekos backstory and his meeting w/ smokey. In his back story he was afraid to confront the faceless priest that would judge him and on the island he appears terrified of the faceless smoke monster who is judging him and is killed. Also the monster appears to have an ego. "you talk to me like im your brother" smokey thinks he/she/it is morally higher than all the other losties and is the righteous in judging them. Maybe smokey was once a powerful child like walt and the others built up its ego and somehow turned the child physic into smokey.

[Drynn_03]

Locke's statement in the pearl hatch was given only as a tool for the writers to give credibilty to Nikki. What she did was smart and they used Lockes line to underscore that. Paulo on the other hand is even more annoying than ever, kill him and I will forgive all past transgressions from the writers. Kill him in the most bloody manner and I might forgive future transgressions.

Drynn_03

[Disney Source]

Press Release from ABC I thought you guys might like to know:

Lost won its time period and ranked as the No. 1 TV program of the night in Adults 18-49 for the 5th straight week (on each of its telecasts this season), defeating second-place CBS Criminal Minds in the slot by 35% (6.6/16 vs. 4.9/12). The winning advantage for ABCs Lost over CBS older skewing Criminal Minds was 56% with Adults 18-34 (5.6/15 vs. 3.6/10). In fact the difference between the audiences for the ABC and CBS dramas is quite pronounced. Premiere to date, the median age for the Criminal Minds viewer is over 10 years older than the Lost viewer (53.5 years vs. 43.2 years). Furthermore CBS Criminal Minds is heavily dependent on viewers 50+ to drive up its Total Viewer count, as 58% of its overall viewership this season is concentrated in that age group.

[Matt Lafferty]

By the way, it looks to me like Patch is wearing something that covers his good eye too (on our right, his left)--I happened to notice this as I've made the screencap my wallpaper. If it really is there, it's probably just worn "by the actor" to prevent us from seeing his good eye and add to the drama, as opposed to being worn "by the character." What do you think?

http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage.php?pid=78804&fullsize=1

[Bryan from the Dena]

About the music being played at the funeral...Was it the sam song that Sayid and Hugo were able to pick up that night they were on the beach? I honestly don't remember. But if it is, and it does have some special meaning for Ben and the Others then maybe something significant was going on at that time (did someone else die around that time, obviously besides shanon). Just a thought, can anyone verify this?

[Bryan from the Dena]

@Matt I think you are right about something over his other eye, but it looks like it is part of a his glasses. Like he cut them in half since he wears the eye patch.

[Matt Lafferty]

Interesting data, Kath... er... DisneySource, but fair's fair: another way to look at the data is as the Studio Briefing in IMDB did, saying "Always a strong challenger, CBS's Criminal Minds edged out an original episode of ABC's hit series Lost for the first time Wednesday night, scoring an 11.6 rating and a 17 share in the overnight ratings to Lost's 11.1/16."

All the bigger reason that we'll have one helluva zinger next week!

[Drynn_03]

Hmmm Last year I was in the right age group for Lost, this season I'm not. Maybe thats why I am not liking it LOL...

Drynn_03

[a girl named michael]

it seems to me like juliette is playing jack. ben goes and gives jack this big speech about the mindgames they had planned for him, and how it was going to seem like jack wanted to help ben in the end. now juliette is telling him he has to make a decision about whether or not he wants to help ben. i don't know exactly what her motives are (is jack a good guy?) but i'm sure ben knows about her video.

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

*smacks Matt Laffery on the back of the head* Hush you!

I also thought Disney Source's info was interesting. *glares at Matt L* I read that Criminal Mind's ratings were higher overall, but that is because they are going after an over 50 audience this season to help boost their numbers.

[Cihan]

1] The logo on the vaccines resembled one of the Dharma bunkers, does this tie in with the Lost experience and Hanso's vaccination thingies?

2] It was obvious the writers took Sayid and co out, to give the actors time off, did anyone really expect island exploration, c'mon!

3] It was an ok episode, some parts were great, some were jarring, Locke's change back into how he was in season 1 is so fan-pandering its mildly annoying, let us not forget at the end of season 2 just when he thought he was doing the right thing by breaking the computer, he messed up again, but instead of being devastated, all his confidence is back.

4] Nice to see the monster finally (why are there chain sounds?), I'm really glad that all the hallucinations are the cause of it, I also agree with someone's comment above about it being like a sentient AI, I thought of this last season too, it would be cool.

5] I guess the Others funeral was meant to show us how they've developed their own culture, more proof that Ben really was born on the island and lived there this whole time.

6] Let us not forget that the only reason Jack is in his current superior position is because of Sayid's 'worst ambush in the history of ambushes'. Even on seperate islands, our Losties still help each other out. Losties UNITE!

[Nasher]

So i guess we can take it that the Monster not only can take different forms, but that it tailors them to the person(s) to which it appears.

Locke saw a bright and beautiful light. Eko saw the The Smoke Monster and possibly Yemi Kate would therefore see the horse but strangely so did Sawyer, who saw it before her.

So it might well take on a general 'physical' form rather than tapping into the mind of the viewer and just altering their perception of it. But this is by no means proved by the facts.

On top of this the Monster might be masquerading as a member of the losties... first thought this when Desmond was wandering around in the forest and then became suspicious of Hurley's appearance in the same episode.. now magically laden with supplied he didn't leave the Dock with and also his appearance we proceeded with that errie noise which prompted Locke's attack with the knife.

I think Desmond could now be excluded as he was with the team in the Pearl when the attack on Eko took place... So where does that leave Hurley.. we are supposed to be suspicious of him now coz of Locke's dream... :S

And as just a thought.. is the monster acting as a 'Hand of God'? Striking down the bad and saving the good? Thats a bit of dodgy ground that i think that US tv would stay well away from ;)

a quick add to this.. Ben mentions God bringing a spinal surgeon to him in his hour of need.. if the monster is the hand of god.. did it have a hand in the break up of the plane and safe arrival of the sections to the island, maybe saving whole sections for the 'good' people on board.. which would be Bernard and Jack it seems :)

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

I'm really curious what skeltons the Pilot had in his closet to be skinned the way he was. I mean Ekko just got beaten to death and he killed many men.

[Challabuck]

Eko, Eko, Eko. We hardly knew ye. Honestly, whether or not he was aufed for the actor's personal reasons or whatever, losing Eko is a serious loss and blow. I couldn't wait for him to get back into his righteous anger, Other-smashing mode, but that was not his destiny. Like with Libby, there's more I wanted to know about him. What happened in London? How'd he get to Australia? This was truly a tip-top episode, though. The Nigeria flashbacks were stunning like last year's. Here's hoping we get more flashback Eko in the years to come to tie up the lose ends.

[Cihan]

Nasher, what an awesome thought: one of our Losties has been the monster all along! (or at some point died unbeknownst to everyone, and the monster took his/her place) That would be a great twist. Reminds me of Soderbergh's Solaris. Infact, the more I think about it the more Solaris and Lost seem tied thematically...

[Matt Lafferty]

Kathy,
Ow! Yikes, it was just a typo! Don't forget, these are the feeble fingers that typed the crazy theory that the Pearl isn't the question mark... these are the eyes that saw a circle in the dirt... these are the ears that heard our lately departed Eko say, "Look, Lost viewers, they have salted the earth in a circle. I will now use this perfect circle to calculate pi!"

Other whacky Matt Lafferty theories:
--Planet of the Humans
--No one will die in episodes 5 or 6 of season 3
--Charlie is the best character
--The Others are a metaphorical representation of Western powers like America, and the ills and/or percieved ills of those powers.

Apologies for my mistake. 0:-)

[AVDJ]

Lostlinks is down.

"LOST LINKS IS NO LONGER IN OPERATION
THE FOLLOWING IS ARCHIVED CONTENT"

http://www.lostlinks.net/

Maybe Sayid disconnected it when he was hooking up the cable.

[Nash]

@Drynn,

Amen. Paulo definitely deserves a couple swings on Smokey's wild ride for his bathroom comment.

@Matt,

It does sort of look like something's covering his other eye, but think it's just our eyes interpreting patterns in the grain/noise. I took a screenshot of him before Nikki shreeks and you can easily see his other eye. No glasses or anything. Sorry, no HD capture card yet...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38129940@N00/287263253/