Little Louder Omar, maybe then she'll hear you!

THE GREATER GOOD

For once I have very little to say about this and the next episode. Doesn't mean I am going to cheat you out of some quality screen caps from each episode.



The first thing you have to ask yourself is why did it take Locke so damn long to change that bloody shirt? I don't think he should have gone and talked to Shannon with Boone's blood still soaked on his shirt. Not the most couth move that Locke has ever made.



Just when you think we are getting over the trust issues with Kate she goes and drugs Jack. Admittedly he needed sleep but I think she might have crossed a little bit over into a gray area there.



In the flashbacks I learned that the CIA plays dirty. Who knew?



Locke admits to Sayid that is was him that knocked out Sayid and destroyed the tranceiver.



When Shannon shoots Locke was there a little but of divine intervention there? Sure looked like the shot should have been an easy kill but it only grazed him. The island needs him and it ends up costing Shannon.



In the grand scheme of things Sayid was not supposed to be on flight 815. He may be as yet another wild card.



I couldn't let a post go by without a Sawyer pic now could I?



Sayid choosing free will over fate?



BORN TO RUN



The opening scene is a clear reference to Psycho. The movie, by Alfred Hitchcock, is about a blonde woman on the run who drives into a motel. The motel room and the shower scene in the episode resembles the movie very much and even the music is similar to music in the horror movie. Kate's alias, Joan Hart, is the name of the actress that played the title character in the series Sabrina, The Teenage Witch. Beth Broderick, who plays Kate's mother, played Sabrina's aunt in the show.



In Kate's flashback we find out about Tom, the plane, and her mother. In the present we see that Sun can be more hardcore than Jin when she tries to poison him in order to get him to give up his spot on the raft.



Hurley lets Locke in on Kate's past by accident. Hurley complains there are too many secrets among the survivors: "How am I supposed to keep straight who knows what around here?"



The tape Kate and Tom made is dated 8/15.



The most interesting part of the episode is when Walt touches Locke. Walt suddenly knows about the hatch and tells Locke not to open it. Seems Walt has more powers than just being able to talk to the animals. What did Walt see happening if Locke did open the hatch? Did he see what actually ended up happening?



Don't know if this means anything but when Kate goes to see her mother in the hospital the sign on the door reads Magnetic Resonance Imagining. That's not what MRI stands for, it should be Imaging. Is this just a screw up or is it a subtle clue that means some if not all of the flashes are fake.



Sayid tells Jack that a hatch without a handle was perhaps "never meant to be opened from the outside". He wanted Jack to talk Locke out of trying to open it. Tee hee, silly Iraqi.



Walt decides to leave on the raft instead of staying even though Michael tells him that they can stay if he wants. Walt tells him "we need to go". Did Michael and Walt leaving change what Walt saw happening after Locke opens the hatch? Will we even know?



Poisoning Jin was Kate's idea. She has a history of this doesn't she!



Who was the letter from that Kate picked up at the hotel front desk? On the tape that her and Tom made Kate says she wants to run away and that Tom knows why. Is there more to the story of Kate and her father that we haven't seen? She said that he never did anything to her, only to her mother. Although I believe we have seen all of the flashbacks we are ever going to be seeing as pertains to the people we have already seen flachbacks of.

You sure know how to butter a man up Stay-Puff

DEUS EX MACHINA

We hear Locke say "This was supposed to work.", this either points to that he has done this before or he was shown visions of it working. We do know however, that Locke has had trouble interpretating the visions he receives.



He also says "Don't tell me what I can't do." again. This time to Boone.

He tells Boone; "The island will tell us what to do.". Then Locke has a vision/island communication and it "replays" Yemi's plane crashing. This is similar to how it showed Horace chopping down the tree.



The island is good, as it even knows how Locke can get to Boone and make him realize Locke is getting some sort of secret information from the island. "Theresa falls up the stairs. Theresa falls down the stairs." is all Boone needs to know to continue following Locke into the jungle. Notice Locke did not tell Boone the condition he saw Boone in during the vision.



I still don't know the reason Locke's mother appears in the vision the island shows him.



So, um, I wonder exactly which of the STD's Sawyer has because from his reaction it looks like he has at least one of them. Wonder if Kate has one as well now and therefore Jack. Hmmm, I also wonder if TPTB have just forgotten this little point of information. Interesting though that it was Jack who conned Sawyer into revealing his sexual past. Right in front of Kate.




When Locke begins to loose the use of his legs, it was the island protecting him and it showed that the island can give and the island can take away. With Locke's legs not working properly, Boone decides to make the climb up the cliff to the plane. Ironically, when Boone tells Locke that he should see Jack about his failing legs, Locke says that "Jack wouldn't know the first things about what's wrong with him". As a spinal surgeon, Jack would in fact be the most qualified person on the island to understand Locke's back injury.



In the flashbacks the Locke/Cooper saga begins. Notice the footballs are in aisle 8 for regulation and 15 for nurf.

We also know the Boone/Bernard radio transmission story as well.

Is the nurse both Locke and Michael have in the hospital the same woman playing two parts or is it the same nurse? See, I'm still not convinced the flashbacks are really flashbacks that happened to the survivors but rather implanted memories by the island/others/Dharma as part of a brainwashing technique used a la Room 23.



The writers sure do have a way of making us feel sorry for Locke, or is that pity? Locke has a moment of weak faith and despair at the hatch. Desmond, who is inside the hatch, but we wouldn't know that until next season, turns on the light that gives Locke his inspiration to go on.



We find out Locke's mother was in the same mental institute as Hurley but probably not at the same time.



Deus Ex Machina (pronounced as "Deh-oos ecks mah-kee-nah") originated as a theatrical device in ancient Greek theatre. This device consisted of a physical crane that lowered a character down onto the stage, the character representing a god. This god would help the characters with a sudden twist in plot. This term would come to mean any device within a plot that provided a sudden change, or solution, in plot.



Deus Ex Machina literally translates into "God from the machine" in Latin. In script writing, the term Deus Ex Machina is often used to refer to a solution to the story, a means to an end that comes out of nowhere and has nothing to do with the story, sometimes leaving the audience feeling cheated.



DO NO HARM

Jack promises Boone that he will save him.

Jin has super hearing.

Sun is Molly Pitcher.



One of the most gruesome things I have seen on this show is the cutting off of the leg idea that Jack comes up with.



Jack confides in Chrsitian that he may have only decided to marry Sarah because of his commitment to her; on the Island, Jack puts himself in danger in order to follow through on his commitment to save Boone's life.



This time it is Jack that screams Locke's line "Don't tell me what I can't do." to Sun.

Listen real close to when Kate falls and breaks some of the bottles of alcohol she has in the backpack. Do you hear the "f" word like I do?



Boone, like Rose before him, offers to let Jack "off the hook". Boone tells Jack to let him go, something Jack admits to not being good at in his flashback. In the flashbacks we also see Jack with a half empty bottle of alcohol as he dips his feet in a pool. Christian joins him and tells him; "Commitment is what makes you tick, Jack. The problem is that you're just not good at letting go."



One life ends as another life, elsewhere on the island, begins. Kate tells Claire, "This baby is all of ours" during the delivery of Aaron. In Eggtown we find that Kate has apparently taken responsibility for Aaron, making good on her statement.



There are theories that the statement made by Locke that Boone was a sacrifice the island demanded meant that in order for Claire to have her baby and for it to be born alive someone had to die. A sort of island imposed population control.

The ending montage was very nicely filmed.



"Primum non nocere" - "Do No Harm", refers to a phrase widely assumed to be a part of the Hippocratic Oath, while it actually does not appear there. It refers to an important rule for physicians: to always consider whether any sort of treatment could harm a patient.




It notably applies to Jack's disregard for this rule in general; he tends to try to save his patients, no matter the cost.

Helluva book ... it's about bunnies.

IN TRANSLATION

I think I can make this one short and sweet. Let’s see, Jin lies about his father being dead. Sun rocks in a bikini. Walt sets the raft on fire. Jin gets burned trying to put the fire out causing everyone to believe he set the fire.



We see Hurley on the television in Korea. Jin gets a puppy (some of this looks familiar because we saw this from Sun's point a view a few episodes ago) from the guy he is supposed to give “a message” to.

Locke takes a break from skinning a bat(?) to give Shannon some of his old philosophers wisdom. Guess he is named John Locke for a reason. He tells her that everyone gets a new life on the island.



Turns out Jin is not as hard core as we thought or he would like others to believe. Sun speaks English to everyone now. Here’s a very obscure cultural reference; when Sawyer asks Sun “You’re going to lecture us about lying now Betty?” he is referencing a game show from the early 70’s called “Liar’s Club”. Betty White was a regular guest celebrity on the show. On it the celebrities were given an object and they had to tell the contestants what it was. Only one celebrity was actually telling the truth about the object. The rest were lying.



Jin tells his father he is ashamed of him.

Locke knows that Walt burnt the raft. Walt wants to stay on the island.



Lots of people said “son of a bitch” this episode.



Locke delivers his “We’re not the only one’s on this island and we all know it.” speech.



This is the final "musical slow-motion" scene at the end of an episode as Hurley's CD player skips and ceases to function. This serves to remind the viewer that they are on a deserted island and that life will only get more difficult as time goes on.



NUMBERS

We all know about Hurley’s numbers. What did Lenny mean when he asks Hurley; “You opened the box?” and then saying that he must get away from those numbers or it “won‘t stop“. The numbers originally were repeated over and over again on a radio transmission. We see the numbers written on a piece of paper mixed in with Danielle's maps.



Where did Rousseau go after she left her shelter?

Who made the transmission of the numbers and what were they used for? Were they just a running reminder for whoever was in the hatch punching them into the computer every 108 minutes?



Hurley and Danielle agree that the numbers are cursed and then Hurley gets a battery.



We find out Hurley owns the box company that Locke works for. Just to set the record straight - even though Locke was pushed from a building, that is not him falling past the window when Hurley is talking to his accountant/financial planner guy. After the episode "The Man From Tallahassee" some say it was Locke that is seen falling since we see him pushed from a window. They were in Cooper's apartment/hotel room Hurley was in an office building.



Best line of the episode: “I can make it. I’m spry.” said by Hurley when he steps on the pressure trigger trap. And yes, "pressure trigger trap" is as much fun to say over and over as it looks.



Claire and Locke bond as he builds a cradle for her unborn bay-be.




Hurley learns that aside from himself there is someone else that was brought to the island by the numbers: Danielle.