I don't know about you all, but even just reading this recap and looking at some of the screenshots is making me tear up at work. :(

I didn't know that! Is there an article or a commentary with that info somewhere? I'd love to read more about it (if in fact there is more). I would have loved that; Ben was my favorite character and more Ben flashbacks and centric episodes would have always been welcome.

It's especially creepy because Ben makes a point to Jack about Juliet looking like Sarah (which I don't think she does, other than them both being blonde).

I assumed she got pregnant and died, honestly.

I do think they intended Richard to be ageless even in this episode (hence the "you do remember birthdays" line), and that Richard and the Others he lived with probably just wore fake beards and wigs and rags like the Others of the current time did when they were jungle-trekking and intimidating the 815ers.

The fact that they cast Michael Emerson's wife as his mom is super Freudian, but I assumed it had do do with the fact that she looked so much like Juliet with the blonde hair. When Juliet's therapist (Harper?) mentions Juliet looking "just like" someone with regards to Ben's crush on Juliet, I always thought she meant…

Huh. I guess I always took Dave at what that episode suggested was face value: a hallucination that Hurley conjured up in times of stress/being afraid of moving on and moving forward in life. I never made the connection to Libby!

I agree; however, I think Ben thought that because he'd had to kill his father to be "chosen", so too should Locke.

Disney World still has the PeopleMover/Tomorrowland Transit Authority, but Disneyland doesn't anymore. When Disneyland Paris opened, they didn't have "Tomorrowland", because Disney saw how the Tomorrowlands of WDW and Disneyland had aged (badly). Instead, they had "Discoveryland", which was like a Jules Verne scifi…

No — just Disney World got the New Fantasyland upgrade. Disneyland's California Adventure got a very involved Cars Land put in, though.

Also the hours!

Fair enough! I can see why you'd feel that way. I think all the original character beats were similarly broad and that they worked it around pretty well, that's all!

"I appreciate how much authority Sun has in her flashback here—it’s hard to remember that we met her as a submissive wife, and one senses the show would like to redo that if they had the chance."

And THAT reminds me of the running "you can get poo from food!" joke!

In addition to the ones you've listed (the old ladies doing ghost noises!!!) I used to love the Three Headed Broadway Star skit. Back in the days of Napster, I'd downloaded a version of "You Are My Butterstick" and I still sing it to myself sometimes.

I remember there being speculation that Annie (the little girl that gives him the carved doll) died because she got pregnant, which also would have contributed to him being obsessed by the fertility issues. That would have been an easy plot thread to tie in if they'd had the time/wanted to.

I help those who help themselves!

First of all, I just really love this comment. Kudos!

That's another good point - they were introduced being jerks, and in their backstory episode they turn out to be…even jerkier than we imagined. It's almost the opposite of the progression for the other characters.

I've never actually seen 300 (I know, I know) but I just googled the character and WHAAAAAT. All that eye makeup and eyebrow plucking really does transform a person!