These were great. They had a couple of laugh out loud moments for me.

"What is this?"
"A compass."
"What does it do?"
"...It points north."

And poor Neil Frogurt. I think about that episode of The Simpsons at his name.
"The monkey paw is cursed."
"That's bad."
"But it comes with a free frogurt."
"That's good."
"The frogurt is also cursed."
"That's bad."
"But it comes with your choice of toppings."
"That's good."
"The toppings contain potassium bensuate."
"..."
"That's bad."

Anyone else expect Ana Lucia to ask about John Conner?

Neil reminded me of Artz (or whatever the hell his name was).

Loved both eps. Have loved the series since the start, especially when they mentioned Locke's name and then presented Rousseau as an antagonist. I suspected the writers/producers might be pretty up on their political philosophy, and THEN they brought in Desmond DAVID HUME, and the codename they gave to Locke back on the mainland, Jeremy Bentham! Sooo good. As a libertarian, seeing either Lockean libertarianism or utiltarianism even implied is like lightning.

Of course, for a while there I was getting frustrated, because it seemed that in order to facilitate character conflict, they were making some of the characters do things that were uncharacteristic. Examples of this occurred often with Locke. They needed to have him explain why he blew up the sub, because otherwise it didn't jibe with his helpful and kind character (even though he, personally wanted to stay on the island, one could not imagine why he would prevent the others from leaving) that needed about one line of dialogue to give us a better understanding of why he was so rash. He also treated Hurley in an un-Locke way when the groups split towards the end of last season. He was usually very kind and instructive towards Hurley, and would not have really coerced him like that, or at least he would have stated at the outset why he needed Hurley to lead them to Jacob's cabin.

But that said, I wonder if the writers/producers are sending the viewer a philosophical message:

John Locke (the real philosopher) is dead (as are his noble ideas). We must revive him if we are to survive.

IE, the US must return to a proper understanding of natural rights and locke's philosophy. Could be a biiiiiiiiig stretch, but it was fun considering the possibility of such a message coming from the show.*

Neat program! My favorite next to "The Prisoner", most of "Dr. Who" through to Tom Baker's run, and "Heroes, Season 1".

Be Seeing You!

* Disclaimer! Locke's Second Treatise contained in it a tautology, wherein he states that man has natural rights to his life, liberty and property, no man should be deprived or a portion of the fruits of his labor without his consent, and that the only legitimate government creation is that which protects his life, liberty and property. Trouble is that in order to create the government police force which will "protect" his property, the "majority" will take a portion of his property (the fruits of his labor), whether he likes it or not... Which runs counter to the stated purpose of why government is created! I used to love Locke, and was a small gubment guy, but now I realize that the complete absence of government is the only consistent political philosophy that is also moral at its core. I hope they name a character after Lysander Spooner on the show!

okay, really reaching here, and probably wrong, but what the hell. Maybe the "ghosts" of people (ie: Christian Shephard, Charlie, etc.) that pop up occasionally aren't really ghosts at all, but just characters jumping through time? I know they have referred to themselves as dead (at least i think Charlie did) but maybe thats just easier than explaining the time travel thing.

since there is a time difference on the island from not on the island I wonder if when the O6 get back to the island how much time will have passed for those on the island? I dont think it will have been 3 years to them, I think it will have been less time because the island isnt stable it is jumping around in time.
I wonder if the time jumps will continue until those that left return.

Why did they show the Dharma Scientists baby? I think there is significance there. That baby is going to turn out to be someone we know.

anyone notice that the Scientist in the Dharma video said his name on camera then the guy ran in and called him a different name?

And Sun ... I think she is pissed off and blames Kate, Jack, Ben, Lapidus, and Widmore for Jin's (supposed) death. I think she would kill any of them if she has a chance. I dont think we can trust her.

but really so much happened that I need to watch it again.

Well this is just my opinion of the first episode (Because You Left) and I've only watched a portion of The Lie.

Honestly...I hate to say this, I wasn't really impressed. While there were a few "surprises" i.e. Faraday telling Desmond to go to Oxford, Ana Lucia (until we realized she was a ghost)...everything else was pretty obvious.

We knew that it was next to impossible for a character as important as Faraday to be left out in the ocean when the Island moved. So we knew he'd be back.

We already knew there was some sort of time travel and electromagnetism paradoxes happening on the Island from Season 4...so the whole reveal with Marvin Candle/Edgar Halliwax/Perry Chang and the Orchid Station wasn't really a reveal at all. But I will agree with Aprilis that his baby may prove to be important some time later in this season or next.

It was already stated that Season 5 would be the Dharma season, so seeing them back on the Island wasn't a reveal either.

I'm not surprised that Sun wants to kill Ben. Her conversation with Whidmore at the end of Season 4 about "common interests" was pretty clear. However, what Sun doesn't know is that Whidmore cannot kill Ben (something to do with the rules) or may not even want to. I used to like Sun's character in Season 1, but now...not so much anymore.

I did notice that when Ben and Jack were talking about getting everyone back to the Island, Ben left out any mention of Aaron. This may have just been a dialogue issue, but I picked up on it and wondered on one hand if it was significant but on the other hand Ben would know that Aaron was with Kate so by getting her back they would have Aaron as well.

The only thing I am curious about is what was in the box that Ben took out of the air duct in the hotel room. Like I said, I haven't finished all of The Lie, so I don't know if it is revealed later in the episode. I cannot imagine it is anything FROM the Island since we saw he left with little more than the clothes on his back and his baton.

And for the record, I do not read spoilers. All this information I gathered from the previous seasons, the ComicCon video (which when released was no longer considered a spoiler and is canon), and commercials on television.

The only thing I am curious about is what was in the box that Ben took out of the air duct in the hotel room.

For some reason in thinking about everything else I completely forgot about this. It was never revealed but I am definitely curious. What would be valuable or worth hiding in an airduct? Who would be after ben that he would have to hide it? Im guessing its something important to either finding or getting back on the island.

Well I just finished watching The Lie and while it took some going it finally caught up to my expectations at the end.

I do not understand why Hurley ran from Ben. I know its because Sayid told him to, but I just don't really trust Sayid that much either. So what did Sayid tell Hurley about Ben that made him run?

The ending in the church was perfect. Was the old woman the same woman that Desmond tried to buy the ring from in The Constant? It was weird, but I kind of got the impression that Ben was working for her as opposed to her working for Ben, which is how we've come to know Linus thus far.

Its clear to me that Ben's interest is in the Island and I'm not so sure his desire to return is completely self-centered anymore. The look on his face at the very end and the way he spoke to the old woman led me to that line of thinking.

Like I've said since Season 2...Ben IS one of the good guys!

Locke's return to Juliette and Sawyer was cool as well. As soon as I saw the knife in the soldier's gut I knew it was Locke. Very cool, but now there is a time frame (obviously the past from the rifles) that British Soldiers were on the Island?

Oh...and I hate Sun LOL

So what did Sayid tell Hurley about Ben that made him run?

I think in this case it's really just because Sayid told him always to do the exact opposite of what Ben tells him. I don't think there is much more behind this special case, but who knows...

I think you're right Jamo. Sayed told Hurley to do the opposite of whatever Ben said to do. Plus, Hurley didn't trust Ben from his previous encounters with him.
I don't know about Ben being a good guy. He might have some good motives...but those motives serve Ben only.
I had forgotten about the item in the air duct. I agree...it might be something that will allow Ben and the others back onto the island.