Ok...it's Jack. Now what? Do Kate and Sawyer and Hurley have to die as well?

What of Richard? I think he's still alive...as well as Widmore. Widmore probably had a vest on.

I'm hating Ben......more and more. You can see he's afraid of the MIB/anti-Locke...whatever....especially in the smoke monster form. But Ben just wants the island...he'll kill anyone to get it. Now I'm thinking it's going to be Ben and Jack sitting there on the log at the beach.

Awesome episode. I'm gonna have to watch that again. I felt like we just went into a sprint to the finish line. I want to know how it all turns out, but I don't want it to end!

Ok...it's Jack. Now what? Do Kate and Sawyer and Hurley have to die as well?

I don't think UnLocke will care whether they live or die once he finds out Jacob initiated his replacement. He might kill them out of spite, but he doesn't have any "practical" reason anymore.

What of Richard? I think he's still alive...as well as Widmore. Widmore probably had a vest on.

I think Richard has a chance of still being alive. Kinda like Lapidus. We didn't actually see them die so all hope is not lost.

Widmore, I don't know. Sure seems like it would be a waste of all that build-up just have him killed off so casually like that. But I'm leaning more toward him being dead anyway.

I'm hating Ben......more and more. You can see he's afraid of the MIB/anti-Locke...whatever....especially in the smoke monster form. But Ben just wants the island...he'll kill anyone to get it. Now I'm thinking it's going to be Ben and Jack sitting there on the log at the beach.

You weren't even moved by the budding romance with sideways Ben and Rousseau? LOL.

Ben had a specific grudge against Widmore, one that is even understandable. Other than that, I think his talk of helping UnLocke is just more of his lies.

These last few days I've convinced myself that we're going to get a huge shock in the finale when Ben is revealed to truly have been with the "good guys" all along, just in a very twisted way. You know why I think that? Two words... Severus Snape. Try that on for size.

I also liked the implication in the sideways that Hurley knows the whole deal now. Nice little cameo for Ana-Lucia too.

And I LOVED that knowing little smirk of Desmond's. When Ben smirks it just looks smug and evil. Desmond's was the exact opposite. And it looks like he's trying to get the whole group together somehow in the sideways time. Wonder what he's planning.

Loved the episode. I liked that it really went fast. Des and Hurley running things in sideways was hilarious. I would really hate if Widmore is dead, really seems like they wasted a lot of time to bring him back to kill him that quickly without doing anything. Bring Widmore to the island just for a way to get Desmond there? Doesn't make sence so I am hoping he's still alive. Great episode and great set up for the final 2.5 hours. Can't wait for sunday, but I really dont want it to end.

You weren't even moved by the budding romance with sideways Ben and Rousseau? LOL.

I just don't like Ben. He says one thing and does another. He's sneaky, he lies and he's all for himself...he cares only about having the island...he'll kill whom ever gets in his way. So his wimpy existence in the flash sideways doesn't do a thing for me.

The more I think about it...Desmond will be the hero somehow. I just hope he doesn't have to sacrifice himself in the process.

I think that Ben is operating on multiple levels of craftiness. I think he is attempting to outwit MIB and may well suceed, perhaps at the cost of his life. I suspect that Ben will turn out to give his life for his beloved Island.

I think that Ben will do on the Island as he did in the flash-sideways with Alex and the school principal. If you remember, there was a build up to make us think that Ben would take the payoff offered by the school principal, and that payoff was power - power for Ben rather than allow Alex to get into the school she hoped for. But Ben did not take the power payoff. He did the right thing for the good of Alex.

I think Ben will do the same for the Island. I think that, while MIB offered Ben the Island to himself (power), Ben has learned that living solely for yourself is no good thing, and only when you live for others does your life have meaning.

So I think that Ben will ultimately assist in conquering MIB. I'm not sure he'll do it himself, I don't think any one of them can. I think they must all live together or die alone.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Jack will die. I have a sneaking suspicion that Hurley will take over the lead, and that's based on Hurley's saying out loud that he was glad he wasn't picked. Words like that often come back to haunt folks on this Island, or, to put it another way, they foreshadow what is to come.

Much of what is occuring in the flash-sideways is a sort of foreshadowing of what is to come on the Island, or what has already happened on the Island.

I have faith in Ben, though he appears to be the ulitmate in self-serving narcissism, as he always has appeared. However, I think Alex's death has changed him deeply in ways that we are only getting glimpses of and have not yet seen full blown.

I don't think that anyone whose death we have seen is necessarily dead. I suspect that Zoe is. But I think that Widmore may have been wearing a vest. He sent his Freighties and science crew to the Island equipped with vests because they were going there to deal with Ben. Wouldn't he do the same for himself.

I think to simply shoot him, so undramatically, is not Widmore's due. There is something more coming for him.

Jacob told Jack that he will have the position of Island Protector as long as he can do it. That doesn't necessarily mean for a long time. It could be just until MIB is done away with, which also might mean doing away with Jack, and then Hurley will step in. But what about the passing of the cup?

Or, will the Island be obliterated, as I've always suspected, via the volcano mentioned only once way back in Season 3? I am holding on to that, and I do think the volcano will play a part in the finale.

I was wrong about my guess on a second smoke monster, though that would have been fun to see. I thought Jacob would throw his ashes into the tunnel of light and become a second smokey in order to properly comabt MIB, but no, Jacob did something quite different with his ashes.

But, I am buoyed by what is happening with Desmond and the Oceanic Survivors in the flash-sideways. I suspect that through Desmond's machinations the entire bunch will be reunited is some way that I cannot yet comprehend. And they will survive....most of them, anyway.

So, we have Richard, who may or may not be smashed to bits by Smokey. We have Claire running around by herself and sort of dedicated to Smokey but maybe not. We have Myles also running around by himself and dedicated to surviving, which I surely hope he does. We have Lapidus whose death we did not see clearly; he could have escaped and washed up elsewhere on shore. We have Rose and Bernard, who won't help anyone fight but would give succor where needed. And there are assorted Others still roaming around after have scurried back into the forest when Zoe and Widmore started bombing MIB.

And there is always Eloise!

So, we shall see, and I cannot wait.

Reading a recap of this episode brought up that there was a lot of 'HUH?' moments. Widmore for one which I think was frustrating. Like he alienated Penny, faked an entire plane crash and sent a freighter to kill everyone on the island, and the rule breaking that Ben has brought up was sort of all thrown out the window in saying that he came to the island cause Jacob told him to kill smokey? So what was all the stuff before for?

The explanation to Kate for the candidates was fine. But the kwons came to the island broken and rekindled everything and even had a kid, but still one of them was a candidate? Also Hurley was only damaged and alone because of the bad luck of the numbers. So he was pretty much damaged by the island.

I somewhat think theyre just trying to throw simple explanations for things out there. Especcially the Widmore one if theyre just killing him off so easily.

Also on a side note I think it's all but obvious Juliet is Jack's ex and will meet Sawyer at the ball they are all going to and most likely will say the line from the first episode.

I think that Ben is operating on multiple levels of craftiness. I think he is attempting to outwit MIB and may well suceed, perhaps at the cost of his life. I suspect that Ben will turn out to give his life for his beloved Island.

I think that Ben will do on the Island as he did in the flash-sideways with Alex and the school principal. If you remember, there was a build up to make us think that Ben would take the payoff offered by the school principal, and that payoff was power - power for Ben rather than allow Alex to get into the school she hoped for. But Ben did not take the power payoff. He did the right thing for the good of Alex.

I think Ben will do the same for the Island. I think that, while MIB offered Ben the Island to himself (power), Ben has learned that living solely for yourself is no good thing, and only when you live for others does your life have meaning.

So I think that Ben will ultimately assist in conquering MIB. I'm not sure he'll do it himself, I don't think any one of them can. I think they must all live together or die alone.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Jack will die. I have a sneaking suspicion that Hurley will take over the lead, and that's based on Hurley's saying out loud that he was glad he wasn't picked. Words like that often come back to haunt folks on this Island, or, to put it another way, they foreshadow what is to come.

Much of what is occuring in the flash-sideways is a sort of foreshadowing of what is to come on the Island, or what has already happened on the Island.

I have faith in Ben, though he appears to be the ulitmate in self-serving narcissism, as he always has appeared. However, I think Alex's death has changed him deeply in ways that we are only getting glimpses of and have not yet seen full blown.

I don't think that anyone whose death we have seen is necessarily dead. I suspect that Zoe is. But I think that Widmore may have been wearing a vest. He sent his Freighties and science crew to the Island equipped with vests because they were going there to deal with Ben. Wouldn't he do the same for himself.

I think to simply shoot him, so undramatically, is not Widmore's due. There is something more coming for him.

Jacob told Jack that he will have the position of Island Protector as long as he can do it. That doesn't necessarily mean for a long time. It could be just until MIB is done away with, which also might mean doing away with Jack, and then Hurley will step in. But what about the passing of the cup?

Or, will the Island be obliterated, as I've always suspected, via the volcano mentioned only once way back in Season 3? I am holding on to that, and I do think the volcano will play a part in the finale.

I was wrong about my guess on a second smoke monster, though that would have been fun to see. I thought Jacob would throw his ashes into the tunnel of light and become a second smokey in order to properly comabt MIB, but no, Jacob did something quite different with his ashes.

But, I am buoyed by what is happening with Desmond and the Oceanic Survivors in the flash-sideways. I suspect that through Desmond's machinations the entire bunch will be reunited is some way that I cannot yet comprehend. And they will survive....most of them, anyway.

So, we have Richard, who may or may not be smashed to bits by Smokey. We have Claire running around by herself and sort of dedicated to Smokey but maybe not. We have Myles also running around by himself and dedicated to surviving, which I surely hope he does. We have Lapidus whose death we did not see clearly; he could have escaped and washed up elsewhere on shore. We have Rose and Bernard, who won't help anyone fight but would give succor where needed. And there are assorted Others still roaming around after have scurried back into the forest when Zoe and Widmore started bombing MIB.

And there is always Eloise!

So, we shall see, and I cannot wait.

I think you are right about Ben. I'm hoping Widmore isn't dead(and Lapidus too) but I think they are. I actually think Bernard and Rose are the ones who got Desmond out of the well(would be funny).

I think it's time to let go of the volcano lol Just saying.... But hey i'll be first to say you're right if it actually happends.

I think you are right about Ben. I'm hoping Widmore isn't dead(and Lapidus too) but I think they are. I actually think Bernard and Rose are the ones who got Desmond out of the well(would be funny).

That's a great thought about Rose and Ben! But weren't Sawyer and Jack on their way to get Desmond out? Then the next we see is a rope down the well, so you could be right.

I think it's time to let go of the volcano lol Just saying.... But hey i'll be first to say you're right if it actually happends.

Oh, you know I'm foolishly fixated on the volcano. :p I don't think electromagnetism is enough to demolish the Island. I think it needs a combination of volcanic energy and electromagnetic energy to do the job.

However, I also think Desmond and his flash-sideways crew are going to step in an save the day, or at least, save one another. While the goings-on on the Island must result in the demise of Smokey and perhaps some of those we love, well, the flash-sideways will make it all right somehow. I hope.....

Reading a recap of this episode brought up that there was a lot of 'HUH?' moments. Widmore for one which I think was frustrating. Like he alienated Penny, faked an entire plane crash and sent a freighter to kill everyone on the island, and the rule breaking that Ben has brought up was sort of all thrown out the window in saying that he came to the island cause Jacob told him to kill smokey? So what was all the stuff before for?

All good points, for which I have no good answer. Not that I have any answers.

Also on a side note I think it's all but obvious Juliet is Jack's ex and will meet Sawyer at the ball they are all going to and most likely will say the line from the first episode.

Yes! and Yes!

That's a great thought about Rose and Ben! But weren't Sawyer and Jack on their way to get Desmond out? Then the next we see is a rope down the well, so you could be right.

Main reason I'm thinking it is I was thinking the Jack and Jacob thing was taking longer then it took Ben and Flocke to get to well and that maybe them seeing the well empty happened before Jack and Sawyer get there. Also two episodes ago Bernard seemed to know more then he was saying sort of like Des, and thinking maybe if he does in one timeline maybe he knows in both times just like des. Thought it would be odd to make it seem like he knows more for no reason other then he would be back soon for some reason.