So Dogen had some "power" to keep TSM out?

I though the look on Locke's face as Kate came out to join them at the end was interesting. I guess since she didn't really choose to join them.

And when Kate was trying to get away from TSM, I though Claire was going to drag her down off that rope ladder and strangle her or something.

And where was Jin? Back at Claire's camp? I thought he was going to go with them but we never saw him around the temple anywhere.

And . . . where is Richard???? Still hiding in the jungle?

So Dogen had some "power" to keep TSM out?

I though the look on Locke's face as Kate came out to join them at the end was interesting. I guess since she didn't really choose to join them.

And when Kate was trying to get away from TSM, I though Claire was going to drag her down off that rope ladder and strangle her or something.

And where was Jin? Back at Claire's camp? I thought he was going to go with them but we never saw him around the temple anywhere.

And . . . where is Richard???? Still hiding in the jungle?

LOL, yes, great questions. Answers to come all in good time, my precious, all in good time.

At a quick glance, it looks like Locke/TSM's followers from the Oceanic group consist of those who have murdered, so they may already have darkness in their hearts. Claire (at least on the Island she's gone renegade), Sawyer, Sayid, Kate (though she seems not to have actually chosen, as you say, but is more following Claire than anything else). Nevertheless, that's how I see it at the moment.

More to come later....

At a quick glance, it looks like Locke/TSM's followers from the Oceanic group consist of those who have murdered, so they may already have darkness in their hearts.

That makes sense. Another battle between good and evil it seems. Another thing that bothers me though. Sayed was dead, and is now resurrected. Is he still Sayed, or someone else? He can't be Jacob as I first thought. If he's still Sayed, he may have given in to all that he has done in the past, resigned himself to being a killer as it were. For a time, Sayed resisted doing what he does so well, violence. I almost feel sorry for him.

Here's something I read in another forum. Jacob and The Man in Black were promising characters things that they wanted. The flash-sideways are everyone getting what they wanted.

Kate is free (in a way) and is involved with Claire and Aaron's life.
Claire didn't give Aaron up for adoption.
Sayid has Nadia again (in a way).
Locke is getting married, has a good relationship with his father and doesn't have his terrible job.
Hurley has good luck.
Dogen has his son back.

I'm not too sure of Jack though. He still can't stay in a relationship but he isn't becoming his father. (In his relationship with David and in drinking less and declining drinks.)

Has Boone washed his hands of Shannon?

Ethan and Keamy? I don't think we knew enough about them to know what they wanted. Ethan is still a doctor and Keamy is a loanshark instead of a mercenary.

I'll wait for saying anything about Sawyer, Ben, Sun and Jin until they have their own centric episodes.

This one will be interesting (from TVGuide.com):

As we've reported before, Richard will get an episode focused on him. Nestor Carbonell said the script for the episode told him "who the hell I am." Lindelof added, "For the record, I'm 36 years old and I would love to get a script that tells me who the hell I am."

I'm getting the same feeling about Lost that I get thinking about the last RJ book. I want them both now but I don't ever want either of them.

Here's something I read in another forum. Jacob and The Man in Black were promising characters things that they wanted. The flash-sideways are everyone getting what they wanted.

Jacob and the MIB are like a good and evil Jinn then? The wish "comes true"...it's just not exactly what you wanted? I could see the writers doing this.

Hey! I'm almost caught up with the rest of you.

I've done some mini-marathons and watched an episode or three whenever I had time and I've now watched the first five seasons completely plus the 2-part opening of season 6. Talk about being hooked by a show!

Is anyone as tired of Kate as I am? She runs, she punches, she pulls a gun, she runs some more. She has no real depth as a character.

However, she does climb like a spunky little monkey. There is no tree or cage or pylon that she cannot mount to the tippy top with ease. But excellence on the monkey bars does not an interesting character make.

Yes. Sawyer pegged her right when he told her she was still running and couldn't make up her mind (when Locke banished her from Dharmaville just after the freighties arrived). Still, I was kind of surprised to find that I was actually very happy to see Sawyer and Juliet together in Dharmaville, 1977.

And seeing Sawyer lose Juliet not just once, but twice, was almost too much to take. I watched the end of season 5 and start of season 6 back-to-back so it was really painful to watch.

I also love that when Hurley finally picks up a gun to protect himself and Sayid from what eventually turns out to be Jacob's ghost, he can't work it. Everyone else on that Island who has touched a gun has worked magic with it. They check, they click, they lock, they load, all smoothly and effortlessly, and that's no matter the gun, rifle, or automatic weapon. But Hurley just can't do it. It's a bit of almost unnoticed comedy, and that's another thing I like about the show.

That was funny. But he bluffed pretty well.

Nope, I'm talking about the characters as we have seen them grow and mature FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE SERIES.

To hell with timelines and past and future and alternate realities. These individuals have been tossed around in time and now, seemingly, space, and they are growing and maturing and becoming the people they've always wanted to be but never knew they could be. THAT IS THE POINT OF THIS WHOLE SERIES, in my opinion.

It's about emotional growth and maturity, and my god, it's taken alot for these guys to get whatever messages they needed to get.

Like Kate needed to stop running and think about others (through her life with Aaron), and yes, she apparently is still running in her alternate life, but we don't have the information yet to comment cogently on the new story lines.

Jack is calming down and losing his need to control everything.

Hurley is manning up and growing up and seems to be willing to take charge now and again.

Forget where and when you see the characters, just watch how they have blossomed since the first episode.

This whole series is about RELATIONSHIPS. They are all connected. We've known that since the beginning. Little by little the interconnections have been revealed, and probably more will come. This show is not just about sci-fi fantasy stuff. It's about people living through and surviving those crazy sci-fi fantasy situations and growing and maturing and becoming better human beings as a result.

Most of these characters have grown and matured, some more than others. I think Sawyer has grown the most. In their first weeks on the beach he was a complete butt-head. And just look at him now. His whole pre-island life was driven by the need for revenge and taking whatever he could get his hands on. Now, when anyone would be able to understand why he'd want to kill Jack, he steps off and leaves Jack to live with the results of his choices.

And up until the very end of season 5 I really couldn't stand Jack. This new, more humble Jack is far more likeable.

That's it for now - I have a few more episodes to catch up on before I can read anymore of this thread. Back soon!

Don't forget Juliet's "It worked." If it worked, she traversed from two planes of time into one. However, Jacob is still traversing planes, I guess, in an effort to unify them into the one plane that the season will end with. Desmond was pulled back into another plane, Christian too, and Juliet, upon her death, entered the final plane.

AC

On Juliet, I think her coming back just to die is why I think there is key info in what she says as shes dying. Also the actress has said she will still show up on lost eventually(no doubt the flash sideways)

It's sort of how I saw Juliet as seeing a future time where she was seeing herself talking to Sawyer about coffee, as it would be sometime in the future cause at the time they were just getting off the plane. That is sort of just guessing but im pretty sure we are still seeing a three year devide from on and off the island.(even though it is two different universes)

I think what Juliet said about going for coffee is going to turn out to be very important to the outcome. And it is nothing to do with her and Sawyer (at least I don't think so).

Remember the flashback to Rose and Bernard first meeting? After he helped get her car out of the snow, she asked him if he wanted to go for coffee - and said they could go dutch...

Jacob has foreseen a helluva lot. He gave young Sawyer his pen at Sawyer's parents' funeral. He paid for young Katie's stolen lunch box. Those things happened years ago.

Jacob sees a helluva lot.

Sayid certainly could be Jacob. Richard may or may not be dead. Either way, it's an awesome way for Sayid to come back to The Island.

I'd like to know the role Ben is going to play this season. He's been so key for so long, he seemed so ... diminished in the season opening. And somehow, god help me, that seemed so sad. Could I possibly be routing for BEN?????

I'm thinking Ben is just pretending to be so humbled and just following along instead of taking the lead. What did he say to Locke on several occaisions ...

"How many times do I have to tell you, John. I ALWAYS have a plan."

Ben is playing possum right now and maybe Jacob and Richard are as well. I think the three of them are playing Un-Locke, letting him think he has everybody right where he wants them.

(PS - I watched two more episodes last night so I'm now just two episodes behind. I'll watch those two tonight and tonight's new episode tomorrow and then I'll be all caught up.)

Letting Ben live...was a big mistake. I don't care how repentant and sorry he says he is. I don't trust his deviousness.

Richard's longevity is now explained... he received a gift from Jacob. Eternal youth. I suppose Richard was imprisoned in those chains he was looking at on the Black Rock.

Now the sub coming to the island... I wonder which side they will align with. Or will they have their own agenda?

And just where is Desmond? He disappeared from the plane. Is he on the island?

I'm loving the new Hurley. He's comical and profound.

And Ben got the thing he wanted in his flash sideways- Alex.

I'm happy that after two years Miles finally mentioned Nikki and Paolo being buried alive.

(PS - I watched two more episodes last night so I'm now just two episodes behind. I'll watch those two tonight and tonight's new episode tomorrow and then I'll be all caught up.)

One of us! One of us!