The episode could have aired at a different time and it would have fit better, I agree, but don't you think it gives a bit of insight into the Smokey/MIB character? Perhaps it's meant to explain or justify his reason behind killing candidates.

Dharma was cool and mysterious.
Hey I bet the hundreds of other groups that visited the island during it's long lifetime were also cool and mysterious! Too bad we didn't get to find out everything about everyone to ever visit this magical island.

Yup, I got that too.

I assumed the Dharma story ended after 'the incident.'
The women and children had been evacuated and then some years later Ben helped gas the rest.

Double post. Ack!

ring pop
I saw the image of the ring pop on the Wendy Williams' show and I thought it was a joke. Now I just can't believe it's real.
Why would anyone want a ring pop they couldn't eat?

ring pop
I saw the image of the ring pop on the Wendy Williams' show and I thought it was a joke. Now I just can't believe it's real.
Why would anyone want a ring pop they couldn't eat?

She planned on killing the woman the moment the met, is my guess.

How dare someone have an opinion different than mine! And on the internet, no less!

Widmore.

Sure, she named him. They just didn't feel obligated to tell us the name.

They also showed Locke and Walt playing backgammon very early on in S1, which is a game closely related to Senet, the one Jacob and his brother played.

Thank you for catching this.

The fake mom also being a smoke monster is an interesting and plausible theory.
Could it be that she was appearing to MIB as his mother in order to pull the siblings further apart?

"this is the real story we're about to get back to"
Noel, that's a nice way of looking at it.
I still think they could have showed us about half of that flashback and still accomplished the same effect.

I really like the idea in the last sentence, about Jacob's purity.

Exactly, TLAA.
I do understand it not living up to people's expectations but to that I would add: What did they expect?

The wheel appeared to be metal to me. He even had a fire going for the purpose of shaping it.

Re: November.
I just think it makes it seem more realistic or sad. Here are these characters we're presented, some of whom believe they are destined for a great purpose.
Turns out maybe that to which they aspire is not so great.

"The motivations for Jacob and Smokey, that apparently have determined the game they play for eternity, are incredibly weak."