Impressive. Any episode focusing on Locke is a good episode, and this was no exception. I don't think any episode has shown such a wide variety of timelines. We see from John's birth to his childhood, his time in highschool, and some time during his therapy after falling from the building. Most interesting though are the people who visited him.

First off - we see Richard again, who appears to be ageless. It is strongly implied that Richard was Locke's father. Why? When Locke's grandmother sees him, I swear I saw a look of contempt on her face. She definitely seemed to recognize him. If he is the father, then Richard is certainly more than a ghost.

Later on in Locke's life, we see him interact with the black man. Ok, the 'black man' is not a great name, but I'm not aware of his name on the show. (At least I've finally remembered Richard's name.) He offers Locke some helpful advice - and that's what's really eating at me.

Earlier in the show Richard visits Locke and seems disappointed when Locke didn't pass a test. The African American gentleman - who works for Widmore - seemed to be happy with Locke. If Richard represents the Island - this seems... odd.

More and more we seem to have the Island being represented as a sentient force. Locke asks Christopher at the cabin what he should do to protect the Island. And the answer - move the Island - implies some sense of self-protection.

So let's think about it. The Island has drawn an old slave ship. It drew in the Dharma Initiative. It drew in the airplane. It's certainly drawing Widmore. The Island then is obviously very special. Very powerful. And it wants to protect itself. It slaughtered Dharma. It brought down the airplane to help defend itself against Widmore. It's alive. I just know it.

Anyway I'm rambling now. Next week looks to be great.

25 years after the original, we get this masterpiece straight to DVD. Enjoy.

IMDB Link

Smoke Monster for the win! And not just the normal Smoke Monster, but the big giant one. Sweet. Ok, so as always, here are my observations in no particular order.

1) It was nice to see how Ben "snatched" Sayed.

2) It was also nice to see Ben kick some major butt. He not only has the psychological skills down he can also fight well.

3) When Ben went into the "other" room, not the first hidden room, but the other room, did anyone get a good screen grab of the door? It almost seemed Mayan.

4) The Smoke Monster has been described as a security system and it looks like it can indeed be controlled, somewhat. Ben seems to be able to call it, but he did seem to be worried about it as well. So maybe its almost like an animal - they can summon it and let it go wild, but they to be careful with it.

So the big thing I want to discuss is the Widmore/Linus conversation. Widmore said a few interesting things.

First - Ben couldn't kill him.

Second - He said he knew 'what' Ben was. Ok, that may not mean anything ominous (like Ben is a vampire) but that Ben is more than he seems.

Third - Widmore said Ben got everything from him.

Also - Ben made mention of 'rules'.

So what is the game? Ben has the Island, and Widmore wants it. We kinda new that already. But apparently the 'fight' has been going on for some time. I almost had the impression of two old business rivals.

Don't forget that Lost returns to TV tonight. The episode looks to be pretty darn exciting. I'll have my review up as soon as the episode ends.