Lost - "Follow the Leader"

Hello all. After last week's mind-bender (and Faraday-killer!) episode, "The Variable," the action and drama have been ratcheted up. Tonight's episode of Lost is entitled "Follow the Leader," and it is the last episode before the two-hour finale next week. Here's what I'm looking for tonight:

*I foresee four possibilities for who may be the "leader" referenced in the title: Jack, Sawyer, Locke, and...wait for it...Jacob. The first three are obvious, but I think Jacob is a distinct possibility. I have no idea whose flashback episode this is going to be (I'm trying to stay 100% spoiler free the last couple weeks), but it wouldn't surprise me if we finally get some backstory on the head spook on the Island. However, I also wouldn't be surprised if some version of "following the leader" is uttered by Sawyer in a sarcastic fashion toward Jack tonight.

*As I referenced in last week's thoughts, I think I saw Ellie (v. 1977) with Jack and Kate in or around the Temple in the "next week on Lost" segment. Was she convinced by Faraday's dying words that he was from the future and needs to help the Lostaways? How do Jack and Kate approach the Hostile without being taken themselves?

*I hope we get some 2007 action and find out more about what the heck Ilana and Bram are up to, who sent them, and what they intend to do. Further, I'm getting a little Ben-deficient, so a Ben-Locke-Sun update would be great as well.

*Sayid appears to be back tonight as well. How does he reconcile with the rest of his friends after trying to kill Little Ben?

*Is Faraday really dead? All signs point to yes (thanks to Erika for directing me to this).

*I don't think we'll see the explosion of Jughead or anything like that tonight. I expect all of tonight's action to take place within in the four hours before The Incident. I'm looking for the actual Incident to occur during the finale (of course!).

That's it for tonight. As I said, I'm trying to stay as spoiler free as possible, and just getting on for the ride of the final three hours of the season. I expect a lot to happen tonight, so my comments probably won't be up until the weekend so I can rewatch the episode and take some notes. First time through is just for pure, jaw-dropping enjoyment. Please feel free to ask some questions below in the Comments; discussion is always encouraged. If you need a refresher on last week, as always, check out Doc Jensen and Erika's recaps. See you over the weekend. As far as tonight...

Enjoy.