Responding to Comments

I've gotten some great comments to my recap of the "the Brig", and I wanted to respond to them here:

Zach said...
not sure about the future angle...afterall when Naomi was talking to them she remembered the crash pretty quickly, as if it happened a few months ago. If she was really from the future or something she probably would have guessed it so quickly

Zach, I tend to agree that it would be unlikely for a visitor from the future to remember a random plane crash from years before. But in Naomi's case, let's recall: 1) she claims to work for a search and rescue company, which arguably means her memory for such events would be sharper than the yours or mine; and 2) with Mrs. Hawking, we've already been introduced to at least one time-hopping character in the outside world who seems to have a vested interest in certain people and things happening "as they should" on the island. As Mrs. Hawking is linked to Brother Campbell (photo on his desk), who is linked to Penny Widmore (he introduced her to Desmond), who hired Naomi, and as this group seems to have some heightened degree of knowledge of the island, there may yet be something there...

Carl said...
One thing I thought of after reading your post was the similarity between Juliet soliciting Jack to kill Ben - and his subsequent refusal - and Ben/Richard’s demand that Locke kill Cooper - and his semi-refusal... Anyway, perhaps Jack fully passed “the test” by not killing Ben when he easily could, and was carefully and directly asked to. It will be interesting to see if Locke passed the similar test. He was well on his way by refusing to sacrifice Cooper in front of everyone at the ruins, but alas, he caved and found a way to have his father killed. I wonder if returning with his father in a bag will ultimately lead to Locke’s dismissal from the Others, rather than his ascension.

This is an excellent point! I also see the ever-present comparisons between Locke and Jack and between Locke and Eko. Think about last season's "faith in the hatch" in which Locke gleefully jumped at the idea of being "special" by pushing that button, and just as quickly let his pseudo-faith disappear once he saw the Pearl video (whereas Eko's reinvigorated faith turned out to be "correct.") Here, both Jack and Locke have been given what may be a test - kill someone who is totally vulnerable. Jack refused, and was accepted into Othersville; Locke found a loophole to get "in" with Ben's crew, but it remains to be seen if he will be equally accepted.

I tend to agree with Hurley, Desmond, Charlie, et al that Jack might now be an Other based on his time spent with them. Running around playing football isn’t really the behavior one would engage in after being locked up, forced to perform emergency spinal surgery, then given a liar’s word that he would be free to leave. There’s more there, and I think we’ll probably get a Jack flashback like we did for Locke, where we get to see what else happened during those 10 days Jack was a prisoner.

I wonder what it means to "be an Other?" Is Cindy one now? Don't we need a better definition of what an Other "is"? Hopefully, that will be provided by tonight's Ben-Centric episode, "The Man Behind the Curtain."

As for Jack's on-island flashback, I do hope that's what the finale will bring. Two hours of Jack flashback is not something I relish after his last lame, tattoo-affixing outing.

Anyway, folks, thanks for the comments. Can't wait to see tonight's outing!