I’m just jumping right in. I mostly liked this episode, though I grow increasingly tired of the way our group comes together and splits up, comes together and splits up, and all anybody ever seems to do is wander around the island. It’s a wonder they ever got off the island in the first place.

Island timeline

* I knew this would be a decent episode from the opening scene between Jack and Smokey, in which Jack asks an indirect question (“Who else have you looked like?”) and Smokey says, essentially, “You wanna rephrase that into something a bit less circuitous?” So Jack asks, “Have you looked like my dad” and Smokey says, “Yep.” And he did it so that Jack would find water, so that they could leave the island — even though at the time moving to the cave felt like everyone was giving up on the idea of rescue and settling in. I’m still hung up on the moment just before the freighter blows up and Christian Shephard appears to Michael and says “You can go now.” If Smokey can’t leave the island, then how’d he get to the freighter, well out of island range? How’d he appear in LA? Smokey could be lying (shocker) but that then leaves the question of how Ghost-Christian exists — what did he do on the island that makes it not possible for him to move on? (The theory that Christian has been to the island before has been floating around for a while, I think.)

* Then Smokey tells Jack that he can’t leave without everybody and Jack fails to ask why. Maybe because he suspects that it’s BS, or that leaving the island would be bad? He tells Sawyer as much on the boat. Not sure how I feel about that confrontation.

* Hurley’s “You can always bring people back from the dark side” was this episode’s obligatory Star Wars reference, but I’ll give it a pass because I think we’re all hoping that it’s true.

* I liked this exchange better:

Claire: What’s going on?
Hurley: People trying to kill us again.

* Zoe shows up (ugh) and threatens Smokey if he doesn’t return Desmond. Two things:

1) Like grenades or whatever are going to stop Smokey? They should know better. Though perhaps what they’re threatening him with is killing the people he’s with, which, if he’s telling the truth about needing everyone to get off the island, then he would want to protect them until at least then.

2) Why doesn’t he respond with “Yeah, well, you took something of ours” — meaning Jin?

* Another blip of logic: Smokey tells Sawyer to get the boat, Sawyer asks why they all don’t go for it together, Smokey answers that a bigger group moves slower. Like two people make a difference. That was dumb.

* Speaking of Jin, so he and Sun are finally back together. And even though they’d been separated for-freaking-ever, I didn’t think that this reunion packed the same emotional wallop as the one from Season 2 — even though it pops Sun’s voice back and her first word is “Jin.” (I mean, that did get to me, as anivilicious as it was. I am a sap. You know this). But they both knew that the other was alive, whereas back in S2 Sun wasn’t sure if Jin had gone down with the raft. Also, the S2 reunion was just after they’d reestablished their love for each other, so the emotional stakes were super high. Plus you had Rose and Bernard reuniting right next to them. Alls I know is, I got more teared up by Ben comforting Locke in the ambulance.

* The confrontation between Sayid and Desmond was also anti-climactic. Sayid hesitates, like all supervillains hesitate when they’re pointing a gun or death ray at a potential victim, because instead of doing the job they’d rather talk about their feelings. Even though Sayid’s a zombie and no longer has feelings. (“The woman I love”? Oh, Sayid. Like you know what that is anymore.) Desmond’s question to Sayid, though, “What will you tell her you did,” made me think of Michael’s guilt over what he did to get off the island. And I think it’s pretty clear that Sayid did not kill Desmond. Does this mean he’s been swayed from the dark side? Did he leave Des down the well or did he help him out of it?

Sideways timeline

I think things are coming together nicely.

* Sun’s gunshot wound allows her to see the other timeline, so she recognizes Locke — but considering how freaked out she is by this, I’m guessing she sees him as Smokey? Either that or she’s weirded out by the bizarre coincidence.

* And speaking of Locke: If we assume that his accident caused him to see the real timeline, then do we interpret his giving Helen’s name as more than providing his emergency contact person? If he saw the real timeline then he would know that he and Helen don’t make it — which gives Locke a motive for keeping the sideways timeline intact. Interesting that we don’t see his flashes, so we still don’t know whether he sees himself as Smokey or if he sees nothing because he’s dead in the real timeline. Or if he sees both of these things — that he died, and that Smokey took over his body.

* Ford and Straum’s takedown of Sayid was pretty awesome. It’s surprising to me how little I care for this character now. Not sure if it’s because he’s a zombie on the island or if it’s because of the writing or the acting. I’m thinking it’s not so much about the acting because Naveen Andrews has always been good. He can’t help it if he gets crap lines and then his one direction note is “be devoid of emotion.”

* What also surprises me? How much I like Jack this season. Leaving aside that he’s about to operate on Locke specifically, he’s about to operate on someone with a several spinal injury and an obliterated dural sac (callback to the very first episode!), and he’s all, “I got this.”

* And we knew he’d be the one to operate on Locke, but I liked that it actually happened. People are congregating at the hospital. Plot! Moving forward! (I wonder if something will Go Wrong and Locke will die on the operating table? Course correction?)

* Ilana is the lawyer in charge of Christian Shephard’s will. Though it did feel a little like the writers said, “What cast member can we just plug into this role?” I did like how this led to Jack and Claire meeting properly. Did Desmond know? Is he hoping that this will create the jolt for Claire?

* About Claire: in “What Kate Does,” Claire’s named the baby Aaron and, while she’s not ready for him to be born, I was left with the sense that she would try to keep him. But now she’s approaching an adoption service. Make up your mind, Claire.

* On the island, though, I got the sense that she was also getting pulled back from the dark side by going with Sawyer and Kate, even though she knows that Smokey is gonna be pissed. But, you know, Kate makes a big show of disarming Claire before she gets on the boat, yet when they arrive on the other island Claire’s got her shotgun again. I guess safety in armed numbers? But still.

* Which brings me to the end of the episode, which felt less like a cliffhanger and more like a placeholder. We’ve got Sawyer’s group held at gunpoint by Widmore’s group and Zoe (ugh) telling Sawyer that there is no more deal. Even though they were all then instructed to get on their knees, supposedly to prepare for execution, my only reaction to this is “Whatever.” I would bet money that I’d have a different reaction had it been Widmore himself giving the orders. Alan Dale’s simply a much better actor. MUCH BETTER.

* And finally, Smokey’s “you’re with me now” felt like neither the truth nor a threat.

So, yeah. Decent episode, but nothing happened that really blew my mind.

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