Word Play

Tonight's episode is called "Recon," which according to the dictionary means:

re·con ¹ (rkn)

n.

The smallest genetic unit capable of recombination.

Huh. As a biologist (albeit not a geneticist), I've actually never heard recon used in that way before. But it also naturally means:

re·con ² (rkn)

n. Informal

Reconnaissance.

i.e., the definition most of us are familiar with meaning "to scout." But what if the title is actually a pun? Given we haven't had a Sawyer episode yet this season, the title could actually stand for "re-con," to con again. Sawyer's already pulled the Long Con on Kate and Locke once, perhaps tonight we'll get to see him do it again.

Enjoy the show! Review up tomorrow morning! :)

Top 108 Moments in Lost...

A few weeks ago, I posted a link to what I thought was a fairly poor list of the Top 25 moments in Lost. The top of the list isn't terrible, but some of the inclusions are kinda weird, given all the great moments we've seen.

With that being said, I'm currently compiling a list of the Top 108 moments (scenes) the show has to offer. I've gone through every episode summary on Lostpedia and my tally is up to 99 favorites with ten episodes to go.

The way I'm structuring the list is as follows - the top of the list will be for iconic moments only, the ones you'll think of immediately when thinking back over the series. Shannon translating Danielle's message, Locke and his wheelchair, "We've got to go back," Jacob and Smokey on the beach, Desmond and Penny, etc.

As the list progresses it gets less exclusionary. One of my favorite scenes from Lost is Eko telling Michael a parable as they wipe up Libby's blood in the Swan (starts at the end of the clip, goes right into Part II). Is it one of the absolute best moments from the show? No, but it is probably one of the best character moments the show has to offer. Most of the humorous scenes fall into this category too: Hurley and Ben with the candy bar (and with the burrito), Miles and Hurley talking Star Wars, Jack spiking the football. Great scenes all, but I don't think they belong at the absolute top of the list.

I'm not going to start counting things down until the series ends (since there certainly will be more between now and the end of the season), although I'm starting to write up the ones I do have in the meantime.

My question to y'all is what is your favorite lesser-known scene from Lost? I think most of us can come to consensus on the top of the list, but is there a personal favorite scene you love like Eko parable - something not as momentous, but a great scene nonetheless? Put it in the comments - I'll start counting down shortly after the show ends. :)

Link Dump 3/10/2010

This is more of a random thought post than a true link dump, but eh, what can you do. :)

- I'm sure y'all have heard about the Lost Promo Contest ABC is running for the finale. I might try fiddling around with it if I have the time. Anyone tried ABC's editing tool yet?

- We'll probably get an answer to this once Jin gets a sideways flash, but Dark UFO noticed Keamy was wearing a watch when Sayid shot him. Was Jin supposed to be delivering it to Keamy himself?

- An interesting point from Doc Jensen:

THE BEN/WIDMORE CONFLICT OVER ALEX
Shortly after Rousseau had finished off the rest of her fellow French scientists and given birth to Baby Alex, Chief Executive Other Widmore ordered Ben to ''exterminate'' both of them from the Island. He coldly dismissed baby Alex as an ''it,'' as if she were an animal that would just be a drain on Island resources that needed to be devoted elsewhere. Yep: definitely sounds like a guy that ain't about ''taking care of the kids.'' So Ben balked. He couldn't bring himself to murder. Ben clearly had developed a different vision for how the Others should be managing the Island and living their lives. Widmore dismissed Ben's ''idealism'' as sentimental and self-serving — about him needing to feel needed. But he didn't stop Ben from taking on the project of raising Alex alone. Ben's victory inspired him to dream bigger. And when he uncovered the truth about Widmore's off-Island slick willying, he staged his coup and forced him into exile. He also moved the nomadic Others out of the wild and into Dharmaville. But Ben's dream of settling down and playing house — modifying Others culture in such a way to service and fulfill his own desires and needs — was surely antithetical to the Others' true purpose, and was most likely what earned the Others' their baby-making curse from the Island/Jacob. Richard Alpert said as much when he encouraged Locke to make a play for Ben's job. ''Ben has been wasting our time with novelties like fertility problems,'' Richard said. ''We're looking for someone to remind us that we're here for more important reasons.''

Emphasis mine. Really interesting idea behind the Island baby issues and kind of ironic that Ben spent so much time looking for answer to them when he might have been the cause all along. I also forgot to comment in my review on how weird it is how Ben refused to kill Alex because he didn't want to murder, but then turned around and Purged DHARMA just a few years later. Yeah, you can talk about the Island and the greater good there, but Ben's character (at least his on Island character) has always been murderous except in Alex's case.

- And one more thought on Ben and Richard - how much of Jacob's plan do you think they knew? Ilana seems to be the only one who knows about the candidates (I guess Dogen and Lennon did to before Sayid got to them), but Ben and Richard to me seem completely in the dark about all this. Doesn't that seem weird? Seems they'd have to know something about random people becoming the new Jacob, right?

- So we have nine episodes left before the big finale and the question is what centricity will they be? First off, of the "normal" main characters left we still haven't gotten episodes on Sawyer, Jin/Sun and Hurley, so you have to imagine each of them will get one, plus Desmond, who we've only seen a glimpse of this season (but I can't imagine him not getting an episode and the longer we go without seeing him, the more I think he's really, really important. That's four, and I imagine they'll all have Alt flashes (though Desmond's might be weird ala Flashes Before Your Eyes or The Constant).

But then we have Ilana and Richard, both of whom it would probably be more interesting to get a full flashback from rather than an Alt Flash, but let's say they both get an episode to themselves. That brings us to six. We could also conceivably get a Claire episode, though we did get quite a bit of her Alt story with Kate. Her Island story would probably be more interesting anyway though. Frank and Miles are also candidates (HA!) for episodes, as well as (I hope) Charles Widmore.

There's also the possibility that someone, like Jack and Locke, could get a second episode, but let's discount that for now given all our options. Here's my best guess (and I know I could probably look this up somewhere online, but no spoilers here, please):

6.08: Sawyer
6.09: Jin/Sun
6.10: Ilana
6.11: Claire
6.12: Frank
6.13: Charles Widmore
6.14: Hurley
6.15: Richard
6.16: Desmond

What then for the finale? How about Jacob and Smokey flashbacks where we learn 1) How Smokey orchestrated the loophole and 2) the history between these two on the Island. Now that would be cool. Guess we'll know in a little under three months! :)

Lost Episode Review 6.07: "Dr. Linus"

"Right up until the second the knife went through his heart, Jacob was hoping he was wrong about you. Guess he wasn't."

(Thanks to Dark UFO for all the screencaps).

Looks like I hit either two or three of my fearless predictions yesterday, depending on whether you consider this episode to be the best of the season or not. I think if it's not, it's really really close behind "The Substitute." Michael Emerson was simply fabulous and I think he likely will be in the running for another Emmy next year for his work here. The scene with him and Ilana in the jungle was awesome, but I think the shot of Ben on the beach, standing alone miserable and broken while everyone embraced, was even better.

I actually feel a bit sorry for Ben, despite all he's done.

Other likes loves:

- Jack's leap of faith
- Learning Richard's "chains" were from the Black Rock
- Miles with the diamonds
- Smokey giving Ben an option
- Alt Alex and Alt Roger
- Pencil Neck as Ben's principal! Could that casting have been more perfect?
- Charles! And he brought a sub!

This episode seemed to have just about the right mix of everything and I liked that we got a bit of everyone except for Sawyer, Jin and the rest of Smokey's crew (which it looks like we'll get next week). I really liked Ben's Alt story too, despite the fact Alt Locke wasn't featured more prominently.

Was Alt Ben happier than he would have been on the Island? Seems both of Ben's possible lives are rather bittersweet. On one hand, on the Island Ben enjoyed a position of power for years, got to raise Alex himself and certainly has had a more exciting life than that of his Alt (and even now, at his lowest point in his Island life, he still claims to have a network of people and influence in the outside world).

But consider that Alt Ben 1) appears to have a better relationship with his father, given that Alt Roger isn't rotting inside a 70's era DHARMA van and 2) has a better relationship with Alex, given that she's not rotting in the Barracks and appears to be on her way to Yale. Would Alt Ben have traded his life for his Island life, knowing everything that would happen? It's essentially the same choice he had when he weighed being a principal vs. Alex's future and I was heartened and touched when he chose the latter. I have to think he would do so again weighing the two options.

Of course, if we're talking about Ben's choices here, he really has no one to blame but himself. In some ways, he was more of a pawn than Locke was. Think about all the things he did - the Purge, stealing Alex, getting Widmore exiled, kidnapping Walt, getting Sayid to kill for him, killing Locke, killing Jacob - to put himself in the miserable predicament he's in right now. Is it really any wonder why Jacob let Alex die? In some ways, her life was the price for all the horrible things Ben's done.

So what happens now for Island Ben? When Ilana forgave him and allowed him to stay, he still did have a choice to go with Smokey - tempting, given the Island has nothing left for him and he still probably could have cobbled together a nice life in the outside world, not to mention no one on the beach would have cared if he'd gone. But the fact he chose to stay, I think, gives him one last chance at redemption, one I hope he gets before the series comes to a close.

Five Questions:

1) What is Charles' plan?

So it looks like I was right that Charles was the person Jacob said was coming to the Island. But what's his plan? Considering that Jacob seemed to want Charles to arrive safely, I think it's safe to conclude he'll be working with Team Good.

But what can he really do? If he's knows what he's up against in Smokey, he's got his work cut out for him. Smokey could kill everyone on board that sub in the blink of an eye, so I imagine Charles knows something that can either stop him or slow him down.

It was curious that he didn't stop to pick up any of the beach dwellers - you would think he would have needed them unless he was carrying out a mission for Jacob himself (which very well might be the case).

I'd love to get a Charles Widmore episode before the series ends.

2) Is everyone Jacob touched immortal?

It doesn't seem that way, given that Locke is dead, but that fact alone begs another question: Why did the Island allow Ben to kill Locke in the first place? You would think that if everyone Jacob touched lived "charmed" lives that didn't allow them to die, Ben wouldn't have been able to strangle Locke at all (all the more reason I think the six candidates are NOT the six Numbered candidates on Smokey's wall and the lighthouse had the true list - see #3).

But this episode we found out that Richard came to the Island on the Black Rock and the "chains" Smokey referred to in the season opener appeared to be the ones Richard was examining in the ship. Since the Black Rock disappeared in 1845 and presumably Richard was an adult back then, that makes Richard around 180-200 years old. Richard's another one who needs a full flashback - be nice to see him arrive on the Island, eh?

Richard doesn't seem to age at all, but the two candidates Jacob touched in childhood - Kate and Sawyer - certainly did. Interesting to think that perhaps all the candidates would have lived forever had they not come to the Island. But really I think Jacob's touch merely offered them all a bit of death protection up until the point where they could fulfill their destiny on the Island.

3) Who exactly were the six candidates Ilana was referring to?

This, to me, was the most interesting question of the show. The simple answer is that we take the six names from the cave at face value - Locke, Reyes, Shepherd, Jarrah, Ford, and Kwon - and assume that Smokey was right (for more on the idea that Smokey lived in the cave, check out Bigmouth here). But three things puzzle me:

1) Ilana called Frank a candidate last season
2) "AUSTEN" wasn't crossed off the lighthouse list.
3) If the six cave names were the six candidates Ilana was referring to, she should know there aren't six candidates left now, since Locke and Sayid are gone.

This makes me think that the true candidate list really is the lighthouse list and that Frank and Kate are both on it (Lapidus isn't on either the wall or the lighthouse list, Miles is crossed off the wall, but isn't seen on the lighthouse either). Interestingly too, Locke's name is NOT shown on screen on the lighthouse list (neither is Hurley's), meaning Jacob could have already eliminated them as candidates. Smokey was probably trying to work out for himself who the true candidates were and, while he was certainly right on a few, also got a few wrong. Personally I think Frank would make a great new Jacob. :)

So who would the real six candidates be then if we assume the lighthouse list is the true list? Shepherd, Jarrah, Ford, Kwon and Austen were all seen not crossed off the lighthouse, meaning these five were likely five of the six. This leaves one unseen candidate - possibly Hurley, but I definitely think Frank could be one as well.

4) Why is Smokey on Hydra Island? Is there something there that will help him leave?

My first thought when I heard Smokey was going to Hydra Island was "is he going to fix the plane and fly away? How boring." But I wonder if there's something else there - maybe underwater - that he can use to escape. Of course, Smokey could know that Charles is coming to the Island and is merely bringing his troops to an easily defended location.

Maybe Smokey just had a hankering for fish biscuits. :)

5) So when was the Island destroyed in the Alt?

The fact Roger and Ben actually went to the Island to join the DI then left was a really interesting bit of info as well. It means the Island existed in the Alt up until the mid seventies at least, increasing the possibility it existed right up until the Incident itself. And the fact that Alex is alive and well in the real world means Danielle never crashed on the Island in 1988, suggesting it was almost certainly destroyed by then.

This also suggests that Ben's birth happened pretty much the same way as it did in the present day timeline, given that Horace seemed to at least offer Roger a position in the DI that Roger checked out before returning to LA.

Tidbits:

- The book that Ben appeared to pick out of Sawyer's stash seemed to be a biography of Benjamin Disraeli titled "Justice and Truth in Action." I'm not entirely sure if it's a real book or not, given that Google doesn't come up with much, but one of Disraeli's most famous quotes was "Justice is truth in action."

Sawyer's magazine is pretty hilarious too:



- The other book Ben found was "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok.

- I liked how Ben was eating sushi for lunch. Brave keeping it in the community fridge.

- Also liked how Ben was quizzing Alex on the East India Trading Company, an obvious reference to the Black Rock, and his personal parable on Napoleon losing his power.

- Did Nikki and Paolo "tell" Miles about the diamonds themselves? Loved the reference.

- I loved the reunion montage at the end, as I always do on LOST. And even though the show is to the point where it's seems a bit cheesy now given how many times they've done it before, I still find it touching because I love all these characters. Nice to see Richard joining up with Team Good as well, which has now gathered together four possible candidates if you include Frank.

- The importance of Jack's leap of faith can't be understated and while I would have liked to see a less metaphysical resolution to the show, I really loved that scene with him and Richard in the Black Rock. More good Jackface there too - New Age Jack is a lot more likable than Determined Hero Jack, though both would make excellent band names.

Summary:

Even though not a whole lot happened this episode - really most of the plot movement was just in getting Jack, Richard and Hurley to the beach - I loved it, largely thanks to Michael Emerson's performance. If that was the last Ben episode of the show, it was a terrific one to go out on. 4.5/5.

Fearless Predictions

1) Tonight's Ben-centric episode will be the best of the season so far

2) Alt Locke will make another appearance in Ben's sideways flashes

3) We'll see Sawyer and Jin again

4) We'll find out who's coming to the Island

5) Smokey, Claire and Sayid will kill Kate and feast upon her heart

I feel very confident that all these things shall come to pass tonight.

Maybe.

Enjoy the show! Review up tomorrow! :)

Greed, For Lack Of A Better Word, Sucks

It seems I'm now officially caught in the crossfire of yet another Cablevision dispute, only this time it's unfortunately with ABC, meaning I may not be able to watch LOST on Tuesday night if this isn't resolved between now and then. Anyone know how soon after a show airs it goes up on either ABC.com or Hulu? If it's right afterward, I might be able to get my review done my the next day, if not it won't be going up until Thursday this week.

Can't we all just get along? :P

Edit: Crisis averted. ABC back on my airwaves. *phew*

Too Awesome For Words

Michael Emerson in a 1992 Prison Training video. Hilarious. Via New York Mag.

Lost Episode Review 6.06: "Sundown"

"For every man there is a scale. On one side - good, the other - evil. This machine tells us how the scale is balanced... Yours tipped the wrong way."

(Thanks to Dark UFO for all the screencaps).

Several years ago when Harrison Ford made "Air Force One," he went on David Letterman to promote the film and throughout the show Dave made a running gag about Ford being the "Kick-Ass President." So seeing Sayid as the "Kick-Ass Infected Candidate" this week made me laugh.

This was probably the most action LOST has ever packed into an episode. The last fifteen minutes with Smokey's rampage through the Temple and Jacob's intrepid band of rebels trying to save everyone was simply fabulous. So much happened in that short space of time, Infected Sayid goes completely over to the Dark Side, killing Dogan and Lennon in the process, Miles joins the rebels while Kate ends up with the evil recruits, Sun finds out Jin is alive somewhere and Ben discovers Sayid is lost to them. The chaos of the scene was very well done, I thought, and the aftereffects of everything look to be very, very interesting.

Lots to like this episode, including the Alt which is becoming very interesting. We're building to the climax now. I imagine things are only going to get crazier from here.

Five questions:

1) So what's Smokey's overall plan and what will happen to all his recruits?

Now that the Temple dwellers have either been recruited or killed, one would imagine that the only thing left for Smokey to do is to go home, wherever that is. But how simple is that going to be? I imagine there's probably only one way Smokey is allowed to leave and I strongly suspect it involves killing more people. Dogan said Smokey once killed every living thing on the Island which certainly doesn't bode well for his recruits and I'm sure he has no intention whatsoever in granting them "anything they ever wanted."

My guess is if there is a literal "magic box" on the Island, Smokey's going to want to use it to go home. But I also suspect that he can't use it directly - he needs one of his recruits to use it for him. Now this is a scenario where I can see Sawyer totally pulling the Long Con on him.

2) How did Dogan's presence in the Temple keep Smokey out? Wasn't that the ash ring's job?

So what exactly kept Smokey out of the Temple? In LA X, we saw the Temple dwellers pouring ash around the Temple perimeter, but Lennon said that Dogan himself was the only thing that was keeping Smokey out.

I really liked Dogan's backstory that he told to Evil Sayid (right before ES drowned him). I imagine the bargain Jacob made Dogan went something like this:

"I will save your son's life by taking him to a sacred place, a Temple, after which he will be returned to his life in Japan just as before. In return, you must agree to never leave the place where he is healed and, yes, this means you will never see your son again. By agreeing to this, you become the protector of the Temple - it is your presence and your presence alone that prevents evil from taking it over. As long as you are inside, evil cannot enter."

It explains why we've never seen Dogan before - he had to stay inside the Temple to keep Smokey out (Lennon probably just came along for the ride). The ash ring, easily broken by any of his followers, was probably just a second (ineffective) layer of protection. It's interesting that Jacob always seems to ask people to sacrifice something in return for something - you can't use the spring without being "changed," I'll heal your son but you have to help me in return. Smokey doesn't do that at all - it's follow me or be killed, but if you follow me I'll make your wildest dreams come true. Smokey's offer is probably more persuasive (if not seductive), but most Faustian deals are, right?

3) Is Dogan's "scale" the same one used in the Weighing of the Heart ceremony?

I've long thought that the Island's purpose was the ground for the Weighing of the Heart ceremony in Eygptian Mythology, with Jacob as Osiris, the Nemesis as Set and Smokey as Ammit. I discarded this theory after Smokey and the Nemesis were revealed to be one and the same, but Dogan's scale analogy makes me rethink this. The reason I discarded the theory is that Ammit really isn't on the same level as Osiris, more of a servant (or a pet) to the gods rather than a god himself. Take a look at this Wikipedia entry on Ammit and tell me if this sounds familiar:

In Egyptian mythology, Ammit (also spelt Ammut and Ahemait, meaning Devourer or Bone Eater) was a female demon with a body that was part lion, hippopotamus and crocodile. A funerary deity, her titles included “Devourer of the Dead,” “Eater of Hearts,” and “Great of Death.”

Ammit lived near the scales of justice in Duat, the Egyptian underworld. In the Hall of Two Truths, Anubis weighed the heart of a person against Ma'at, the goddess of truth, who was sometimes depicted symbolically as an ostrich feather. If the heart was judged to be not pure, Ammit would devour it, and the person undergoing judgement was not allowed to continue their voyage towards Osiris and immortality. Once Ammut swallowed the heart, the soul was believed to become restless forever; this was called "to die a second time". Ammit was also sometimes said to stand by a lake of fire. In some traditions, the unworthy hearts were cast into the fiery lake to be destroyed. Some scholars believe Ammit and the lake represent the same concept of destruction.

Ammit was not worshipped, and was never regarded as a goddess; instead she embodied all that the Egyptians feared, threatening to bind them to eternal restlessness if they did not follow the principal of Ma'at.

Ammit has been linked with the goddess Tawaret, who has a similar physical appearance and, as a companion of Bes, also protected others from evil.

Didn't Dogan say that once Sayid's infection reaches his heart he will be gone? Perhaps the reason Smokey is trapped on the Island is that he's a servant of Jacob rather than a true rival. That's why he could be summoned to protect the Island and that's why he judged people - it was his job when Jacob was around. But now that Jacob's gone, he's free to devour all the hearts his little black heart desires. And I imagine in the Alt verse he's been feasting for decades.

4) Where the heck were Sawyer and Jin during all this?

Claire mentioned Sawyer and Jin before she went into the Temple, but where were they? Off on some super-secret Smokey mission? I'm looking forward to Kate's reaction when she sees Sawyer again, provided Sayid or Claire don't kill her first. Assuming she survives though, I do wonder if she'll pick up on the fact that Sawyer's probably conning Smokey and play along.

The fact Jin is with Smokey and Sun is with the rebels makes me think Smokey's going to eventually use him as leverage to recruit her. After all, you have to think Smokey will be taking out every potential candidate he can - would be a shame to have his jailbreak ruined by a Jacob resurrection, right?

5) Are all the Alt storylines starting to converge?

Given the cliffhanger for this week's Alt installment (Sayid finding Jin in his brother's restaurant's cold room), I have to imagine we'll be seeing some of the Alt storylines come together since I can't imagine they'd leave this one dangling. And if next week's episode is as Ben-centric as the preview suggested, I have to imagine we'll see some more of Alt Locke in his flashes.

But now it seems to me that outside of Flight 815, the lives of all the people on the flight would have been connected even if they hadn't crashed on the Island. Here's a list of the familiar faces we've seen in the Alt verse storylines so far:

Kate - Claire, Sawyer, Ethan
Locke - Jack, Hurley, Rose, Ben
Jack - Dogan, and likely Jack's mystery wife
Sayid - Jack (in a background cameo), Keamy, Jin

So should we have an Alt Jin episode, we'll probably get more of Alt Sayid. Alt Sawyer might bring more of Alt Kate, Alt Hurley might bring us more Alt Locke, etc. And the fact the lives of these people are so involved without Jacob's influcence makes me think that might be the reason he chose them - since they were all going to be linked anyway, why not just bring them all along? Regardless I'm greatly looking forward to next week - I just hope present day Ben doesn't die - we really haven't seen much of him this season and his absence is felt.

Tidbits:

- When last we saw Sayid's brother, Omer, he was refusing to cut off the head of a chicken.

- Miles said Sayid was dead for two hours. Really? I don't remember that much time passing in the opener - seemed like he died then came back two minutes later.

- Speaking of Miles, he was great this episode. More please. Sayid's fight with Dogan was awesome too. Looks like it was probably fun to film. In fact, I imagine all the people playing infected characters are having a blast this season.

- Another theory on what the symbol on the Temple wall was, the one marking the secret door: Ouroboros. I don't quite see it personally, but we have seen Ouroboros in LOST before.

- From Matt, via e-mail: "That look between Smokey Locke and Claire augurs ill for Kate." Agreed. But was anyone else a little disappointed Claire didn't attack Kate right away? Seemed a bit out of place when she just kinda let it slide - I suppose she can savor it this way.

- Nice that Cindy, Zack and Emma went with Smokey. That way we get to see more of them this season.

- I LOVED how Claire's creepy lullaby was softly playing as we were shown the Smokey's carnage from the Temple. Also I loved the entire scene with Keamy - best cameo ever. "I make good eggs" was awesome.

- Sayid once again said he's "a good man." Not anymore. Also really like the parallels between the Alt verse and the present day verse this season. Thought Sayid's was very well done.

- Guess Jin still doesn't learn English in the Alt (unless he's pulling a Sun and faking it).

- I really, really hope Evil Sayid wishes for Nadia to be alive again, not Shannon.

Summary:

Seems Act I of the final season is done. The Temple is destroyed and factions have been created. On one side, we have Smokey, Sayid, Claire and his recruits. On the other, we have Ilana, Frank, Miles, Sun and Ben. And then there are the wildcards: Kate and Sawyer with Team Evil and Jack, Hurley and Ghost Jacob for Team Good. I imagine Act II is going to involve Team Good trying to keep Smokey from escaping the Island. Loved this episode from start to finish - 4.5/5.0. Better than "The Substitute?" - if not, it comes really, really close. :)

Action-Packed Review...

...coming soon. Got to get something quickly started in lab first. Last night was a fun episode, eh? :)

TV Fest Musings

*minor spoiler alert*

In case you haven't seen it yet, there was some nice Lost info revealed at the Paley TV Fest over the weekend. The key dirt:

On the filming status of the series:

The Lost writers are in the process of breaking the series finale, which will be penned by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and directed by Jack Bender. The penultimate episode will be written by producer/writers (and fellow panelists) Elizabeth Sarnoff, Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Meanwhile, on the island, Bender has just wrapped episode 14 and is currently shooting 15. After being bombarded with questions about the show for six years, Cuse said they do not plan on commenting on the series finale after it airs.

The answer is “yes” to the following:

Will Richard and Ilana exchange some words soon? Will we see another painting by Bender? Do some of the characters’ last names have significance, particularly Jack’s? Is Jack married to someone we’ve met before? Was Jacob telling the truth when he said someone was coming to the island? Will we learn more about Hurley and Libby’s connection? Will we see Vincent and Charlie again? Will we learn if Desmond was really on the plane?

(emphasis mine)

The answer is “no” to the following:

Will we get a conclusion to the story of Ben’s love, Annie? Do the purple circles in Bender’s mural mean anything? Did Juliet’s ex-husband get killed by a smoke bus? Will there be a DVD release of the show in chronological order?

The answer is “maybe” to the following:

Will the Hurley bird be explained? Will we see Walt again?

The answer is “no comment” to the following:

Will we learn why women can’t have babies on the island?

Final spoiler from Lindelof:

“Water.”

Some general thoughts on all of this:

First off, the fact we know Alt Jack's wife makes me think that it's Juliet even more. Again there aren't that many choices floating around out there since it wasn't anyone we saw on the plane (which definitely eliminates Kate and Cindy). Libby and Ana-Lucia are still possibilities since we didn't see them on the plane, though they were supposed to be there (and theoretically could have been).

And speaking of Libby, I am dying to see more of her, even if it's only in the Alt (BTW, did anyone else know her last name was Smith)? I imagine she might be rich, lucky Alt Hurley's significant other (pun intended). But more than her relationship with Hurley, I really want to know who hired her to give Desmond the Elizabeth - I really don't think their meeting in the coffee shop was coincidence or fate. I think probably Eloise or someone similar hired her to make sure that Desmond enters the race and ends up on the Island.

I figured Desmond's appearance on Alt Flight 815 was important, but I never thought about the possibility that Desmond was merely a figment of Jack's imagination. That would explain his sudden disappearance and it does kinda make sense, since we've been given the impression so far that Jack is the only person outside of the disappearing Desmond who seems to have any sort of connection to the present day timeline.

A little disappointed that Annie won't be appearing in the Alt at all, but not entirely surprised. Likewise it's no surprise they won't comment on the pregnancy issues, given what a big reveal that would be.

As for the final clue, I have no idea. Maybe Alt Jack will have to dive down to the sunken Island? Maybe Smokey's only real weakness is water from Jacob's spring that's now been polluted? Maybe there will be a drought on the Island and everyone will get really, really thirsty? I guess we'll see!

"Sundown" tomorrow! Review up Wednesday morning! :)

Oh, one more thing. This has been mentioned elsewhere, but I do like how the episodes this season have paralleled Season One:

Tabula Rasa ---> What Kate Does (Kate)
Walkabout ----> The Substitute (Locke)
White Rabbit ----> Lighthouse (Jack)
House of the Rising Sun ----> Sundown (Sun, ????)

I do know for a fact that this week is NOT a Sun episode, though I do still like the parallel with the episode title. Of course, that doesn't mean something significant won't happen to Sun in the episode, does it? :)