I don't think I said other viewers "just don't understand." I personally hate that kind of response when I say I didn't like something and I get told "well, you just didn't understand it then." I said that people who peruse spoilers can't complain about something seeming ho-hum because they weren't surprised by…

He had a part written for him in Darabont's first draft though.

Dark overlord!

I also like that it suggested that the idea of being "claimed" is much more a choice than some kind of "infection." Clearly Sayid isn't on the dark side completely. I predict he dies sacrificing himself for something good.

Totally agree. It was damn near perfect for what kind of episode it was, and again, I love where they've put us. I was upset when it ended knowing I'd be waiting two weeks; that's pretty great.

I think when Keamy came to their hotel room he said the money was due the night before. And before that scene, they were checking in to the hotel, and Sun said it'd be too late to deliver the watch.

Hmm, but didn't Locke see Walt after that event? In the outside world, I mean. Would they not have referenced it then? Maybe not; and Walt did tell Locke he saw him on the beach, and people were trying to hurt him. Clearly seeing the future.

I felt the same was last year too. There are a few episode that at the time felt inconsistent with others from the vantage point of weekly watching. Watching S5 in a big chunk, it worked much better (though there are, of course, some poorly executed moments).

Awesome. Hadn't thought of that. Obviously Locke's final line was written the way it was so suggest Locke was trying to "claim" Jack. Good catch.

I was expecting them to die before getting to embrace; a bullet killing Sun or the pylons etc. I'm glad they reunited. I'd be very surprised if they make it to the end.

I figured some of it was MIB, but also Jack having Hurley moments. Like in the hospital when Jack saw his Dad. Which was interrupted. And then he started taking pills, presumably to slow his mind down enough that he wouldn't have "visions" or whatever.

Also, people complained about last week's reveal of the whispers as being badly done. I thought it was fine, but I will say that the way they handled the answering conversation about who/what Christian was was very well done, and much better to the similar way (conversationally) a mystery was solved last week.

I've always been a Jack fan. I like the way the character has been done. I think his descent and now his ascension has been done well, and they firmly established Jack's obsessive personality that his pill-popping phase was logical, and it makes his recent transformation rather affecting.

I thought she recognized him and his badness.

I feel the same way. Strangely, this episode is getting slammed on other comment threads on Lost sites.

I thought they had something in the air at first, but when one guy referred to having Locke in their sight-line, I then assumed they're coming from the ground somewhere.

Holy fucking typos: peruse, they've

SOLID
While I wait for this review to go up (and I know this gets said a lot, but Noel's review is the best around, and the comment threads for Lost are also the best I've come across), I puruse a couple of Lost threads and this episode is getting a lot of cries of "filler." Two responses to that:

I noticed that too. I guess I'm glad it stopped.

*Summer Glau sprays you with mace*