So maybe Ben's man on the boat is Ethan? Convoluted, I know, but the coming attractions teaser took me there.

We shall see....

It's Michael. It has to be.....

It's Michael. It has to be.....

You're probably right. Harrold Perrineau has been listed in the core credits since the beginning of this season. Michael has to redeem himself somehow, and opening the door for Sayid and Desmond is a wee beginning.

But where's Walt?

Huzzah! I was right about Widmore. And it looks like I'm right about Widmore racing his daughter to the Island for completely different reasons. Damn, it's nice to finally figure SOMETHING out on that show.

[SIZE="3"]One major problem with that Mags -- it's based on something Ben said. If he tells you the sun rises in the east, better get a compass and set your alarm early to verify it. [/SIZE]

[SIZE="3"]Does anyone have a clue why there's so much poison gas stored on the island? To kill things, yeah, but who put it there and what's the doomsday scenario that would make it necessary?[/SIZE]

[SIZE="3"]One major problem with that Mags -- it's based on something Ben said. If he tells you the sun rises in the east, better get a compass and set your alarm early to verify it. [/SIZE]

That would be true if I were basing my thoughts on what Ben said, but I'm not. I've always felt, ever since the characters were introduced, that Widmore would wind up being a major player and behind or seriously connected to DHARMA and that he and his daughter would be at odds with one another trying to find the Island. I've felt that for years now and have posted about it many times.

I posted this, below, a while back. For me, it's a serious clue for a Widmore-DHARMA connection.

[SIZE="3"]I always thought Penny's father, the head of Widmore Industries and full fledged meanie, is the power behind the Dharma Initiative. I'd never seen proof, until I caught an Easter egg in the 3rd season. The Easter egg is on screen just a few seconds. Of course, what I consider proof will probably be turned on its ear during this new season.

It's in the scene where Desmond goes to meet Penny's father in his big, fancy office to ask for Penny's hand in marriage. Desmond is feeling trippy, having been blown into the past by the implosion of the hatch, or so it seems. Desmond is seated in the office and turns to look at a huge painting on the wall. Across the top, written in large black letters is the word "ETSAMAN," which is, of course, "NAMASTE" spelled backwards. A few minutes later, in a reflection, you can read "Namaste." The painting features a huge polar bear standing on his hind legs in front of a white mountain range, with a bust of buddha next to it, inverted. It's painted in tropical colors that give it a jungle feel.

I've seen that episode a few times but never caught the full meaning of that painting.

Very cool....

I can't wait until January 31st. I'm ready for all the curves to be thrown so that I'll never be able to figure anything out ahead of time.[/SIZE]

Also:

Back to the last episode.....

2342....those numbers appeared over and over again throughout the episode.

[SIZE="3"]How great is it that at the auction (Lot #2342) Penny's father bought the journal of the first mate of the Black Rock which had been owned by the founder and/or financial backer of DHARMA, Tovard Hanso. The contents of the journal were never made public and were known only to Hanso. If we connect the dots, we can extrapolate the genesis of the DHARMA Initiative on the Island.

If it's 2004 on the Island, and Ben's Purge of the Dharma Initiative was 16 years before that, the Purge happened in 1988. Widmore gets his hands on the journal in 1996. If Widmore is connected to Dharma, and I think he is, then he may have needed that journal to help him and his people find the Island again. If nothing else, this latest episode has shown how hard it is to come and go, safely, from the Island.[/SIZE]

One thing I want to do tonight is go back and watch the opening of season three's first episode and see if the husband's wife is actually in it. I'm going to guess she isn't but I'm curious.

One thing I want to do tonight is go back and watch the opening of season three's first episode and see if the husband's wife is actually in it. I'm going to guess she isn't but I'm curious.

Great minds think alike. I've got the disc on now and I'm watching again. I saw the entire season, for the 3rd time or thereabouts, this past weekend. I don't recall seeing that actress anywhere, but I'm looking now specifically for her.

What I really like about the 3rd season is the relationship between Jack and Juliet. There's a lovely scene on the boat which is taking the entire Other camp back to the larger island. Juliet, now branded, literally, and an outcast of sorts for having killed Pickett, is standing alone near the prow of the boat. The night is coal black with stars blazing overhead. Jack appears and joins Juliet. They are shot in profile staring towards the unseen island ahead. It's clear they are moving emotionally closer to one another. I found it touching.

Great minds think alike. I've got the disc on now and I'm watching again. I saw the entire season, for the 3rd time or thereabouts, this past weekend. I don't recall seeing that actress anywhere, but I'm looking now specifically for her.

Let us know if she's there. If she is, that should put to rest any arguments the LOST writers didn't know where they were going with the show.

Although I believe it's a decent possibility that Widmore is behind Dharma, I still think it may turn out that he is a newer player. In other words, Dharma could have been going for years before he got involved with it - assuming of course that he is.

I do think it's hard to trust that video that Ben showed. Assuming that's all there was to it, there was nothing concrete in it saying that the freighter was Widmore's. All we know for sure is that Widmore was taped where some guy was getting beaten up (or killed I guess). Not that it still couldn't be Widmore's freighter - it's just hard to trust what Ben says. In fact, when Locke asks Ben how Widmore knows about the island, Ben says "I don't know. But he does." I would think if Widmore is behind Dharma, that a) Ben would know that, and therefore, b) Ben would know how Widmore knows about the island. If Ben is telling the truth about Widmore's knowledge of the island then that would almost make me believe Widmore isn't involved with Dharma. If Ben is lying, then his statement that the freighter is Widmore's is just as easily a lie. The problem with Ben is that he mixes up lies with the truth so easily you never have any idea what to believe.

One thing that may point to Widmore being involved with Dharma is that the freighter people know that Ben used that gas once before to wipe out the Dharma people on the island. Of course, it's always possible he found out about it somehow without necessarily being involved with Dharma. But honestly it wouldn't surprise me either way.

Did anybody catch the book that Ben was reading when Locke brought him that food? Valis by Phillip K. Dick. One I haven't read but I looked up the summary on Amazon.com and it said this: "Known as science fiction only for lack of a better category, "Valis" takes place in our world and may even be semi-autobiographical. It is a fool's search for God, who turns out to be a virus, a joke, and a mental hologram transmitted from an orbiting satellite."

The book Ben was reading is "Valis" by Philip K. Dick. The synopsis:

"Valis takes place in our world and may even be semi-autobiographical. It is a fool's search for God, who turns out to be a virus, a joke, and a mental hologram transmitted from an orbiting satellite.

The proponent of the novel, Horselover Fat, is thrust into a theological quest when he receives communion in a burst of pink laser light. From the cancer ward of a bay area hospital to the ranch of a fraudulent charismatic religious figure who turns out to have a direct com link with God, Dick leads us down the twisted paths of Gnostic belief, mixed with his own bizarre and compelling philosophy. Truly an eye opening look at the nature of consciousness and divinity."