He walks among us, but he is not one of us.

The latter. Kevin wasn't going to stand for that.

I'm not sure why this episode was seen as a "detour." Kevin needed to go through this experience to "level up" for whatever's coming up ahead.

I don't, either. Mary isn't dead, and she showed up in the "other place."

They were in the same "room" in The Other Place, whatever that was.

The "weakening" part reminds me of that character in Dr. Strangelove who "denied women his essence." It wasn't so long ago that 19th century Brits and Americans had similar views.

Ugh, that sounds pretty bad. I think these kinds of stories are going to be grim-dark just by their nature.

Thanks; I haven't run into that one. I did like Fatherland (well, maybe "like" isn't the right word: it's well-written but very bleak.) In that one, we didn't get into the war, either.

*Is* she imaginary, though….? (OK, I kid, mostly. Even if she is imaginary, you've got to give Kevin credit for such a thoroughly obnoxious but fascinating hallucination.)

Oh, yeah, I think somebody upthread mentioned that TMITHC novel was probably the earliest post-WW II "the Nazis win" stories, and that it was pretty over the top in a lot of regards. I read it so long ago that (to be honest) most of it's gone clear out of my head; decided not to re-read it because the show is…

To me, the FSW is largely Jack's perspective on things. As you say, the FSW is very much open to interpretation, but to me it makes most sense if it's largely Jack's bardo. That doesn't contradict what Christian says: it *is* very possible for "you all" to have made the FSW, and yet it still be mostly Jack's…

Oh, no doubt that Sayid was lost at that point. For one thing, he was the only one who was dragged; everyone else (even if grudgingly) joined voluntarily.

It didn't seem that plausible to me that in 1962, American Nazis would be so openly and casually advertising an American version of Aktion T-4. Even in Germany the Nazis couldn't completely suppress opposition to the program.

It was disappointing to see Sayid embrace the darkness…

That scene where Jack and Hugo encounter Kate on their way to the lighthouse carries a lot of freight, and does it well. I agree that S6 is closely paralleling S1 in its structure, and that S6 is showing how everyone has changed since S1.

No, there weren't any film reels in the book. Making it film reels is more manageable for a TV show, but it really changes the nature of what those reels are. A novel is easy to write and publish (being paper), but how do you fake-film a whole alternate WW II under a totalitarian regime, especially without computer…

I had read that he was into a whole host of mind-altering substances, which was one reason he was so interested in the reality-bending themes.

I guess this is my issue with the premise. The Nazis winning the war seems enough of an operational theme in and of itself (as in the novel Fatherland.) But the "fragility of reality" aspect probably won't work in a TV adaptation, and my guess is that most of it won't be included.

Agreed, different books. But I'd argue there are particular challenges in adapting books to visual media like film or TV, when the books include wildly oscillating philosophical tangents.

Philosophy is all fine and good, especially in novels, because the reader's mind can "take a break" and follow the writer in his flight of fancy. In film/TV, though, the viewer is always intently involved with what's on the screen, and no matter what flight of fancy there is, you still have to *film* it. You can put…