This Place is Death, Ctd

Wow. After my non-love for "Jughead," the last two episodes of Lost have been incredible. As always, be sure to check out Doc Jensen's recap today, and Erika's recap next week for a full discussion. Below are some of my thoughts. These will be a bit spolier-y, so stop here if you haven't seen the episode yet. Let's go on-island, then off-island:

*Very cool interactions between Jin, Danielle and the rest of her group. Poor Montand and his arm! What exactly is it about The Temple (I will assume this is the same Temple Ben sent the Others to) and Smokey that made the French Folk crazy? Why would Robert turn on his love Danielle and their child, Alex?

*I'm sorry to see Charlotte die. I was really digging her character, and more, how Faraday was interacting with her. I think in the scenes for next week's episode, Charlotte was pictured, so maybe she'll be brought back. However, she kind of gave up the goose by explaining everything about her being born on the Island, leaving, etc. What was most interesting to me though, was her assertion that Faraday had told her when she was a child that she would die if she returned to the Island. He appeared to have no recollection of this. Desmond only remembered Faraday telling him to find Faraday's mother once Faraday saw him on the Island. How could Faraday tell young Charlotte not to come back if he didn't know she would die until that moment, assumedly before he ever went back to the 70's (as seen in the season premiere)? Maybe he was just hiding the fact he knew she was going to die, but I don't think so.

*Did Locke stop the time jumping when he realigned the Frozen Donkey Wheel? And if so, WHEN did they stop? I will assume the 70's so Daniel can go see the construction of the Orchid, we can get more info on the Dharma Initiative, and we can confirm Miles is the son of Dr. Chang. If the Island is in the 70's, how do the O6 get to the Island? When they do get there, does that mean our on-island folks will have aged 30 years waiting for the O6? Seems unlikely.

*I enjoyed the whole "Locke-down-the-well" scene, especially Sawyer's desire to keep Locke safe. I'm sure it was selfishly motivated (want to get off the Island/see Kate), but something struck me about his digging around the rope. I tell ya, Josh Holloway is firing on all cylinders this season.

*Off-island, it has been confirmed that Sun was after Ben, and not Jack. Not surprising, but I'm still curious as to how she knows Ben was partially responsible, unless, again, it is just a Ben is Evil kind of thing.

*I didn't want to see a dispersal of the O6 just to complicate/stall them getting back to the Island, but it felt organic. I remember thinking while watching last week's episode, "Man, Kate is going to be pissed when she finds out Jack was just trying to get her back to the Island!" Lo and behold, she was! Same for Sayid. Will it be sufficient that only a few of them go back? Will they get everyone together in the end?

*I had completely forgotten about Desmond trying to get to Mrs. Hawking. Very cool that he showed up at the end. Ben's reaction was great too.

*Glad to see Ji Yeon was alive and well. It had entered my mind that Sun's daughter had died, thereby activating further rage in Sun. Oh, and despite my concerns, Yunjin Kim is back to the great actress we know she is.

OK, that's all for now. Remember to check out Doc at EW.com and Erika at Long Live Locke. And please leave some Comments so we can further discuss the episode and throw some ideas back and forth.

Namaste.