The episode suggests there might be some supernatural significance to the coffin being empty... but it occured to me last night when discussing with a friend that the body may never have been on the flight. The airline was very reluctant to put it aboard the plane.

So Jack and Bennie? are the only people out of 47 who can swim??? Isn't swimming generally taught in schools, so most people know it?

Didn't they collect rainwater in the last ep.? What happened to that? Also, Sawyer says it'll rain sooner or later. If this is in the tropics, I'd expect a short shower of rain about noon every day...

They still aren't organized - why the heck not? Why haven't they started fishing, so when pig runs out, they'll still have sth. to eat? Why is Locke the only one to search for water - wouldn't five or ten people have a much better chance?

What a convienent coincidence that Locke happens along the cliff Jack is dangling from.... esp. since he wanted to look for water....

Strangely, most beach scenes the sky seems to be overcast, but when Jack's in the jungle, the sun is very visible.

I don't get the behaviour of these people. Most of them are fair-skinned whites with limited supply (including water and suncream). Yet they spend all their time at the beach in the open, where they run the high risk of sunburn plus sunstroke plus loosing a lot of water to sweating. Why not establish camp in the shade of the trees at the edge of the jungle? (They all want to be tanned when they're rescued?)

Why do they let Sawyer get away with keeping his extra cache? Shouldn't everything be put into one big pool for everybody? (Or is that too un-american? )

I don't understand why Jack - even if he's reluctant to be the leader himself - doesn't tell them about organizing and getting of their backsides instead of waiting for help earlier. Once they are one big group instead of small factions, they can still vote for a leader they trust most. (And un-elect him again, too.) It doesn't have to be him.

Is Jack really that ignorant of customs and regulations that he expects to simply show up with a coffin and put in on the next plane? For that matter, if he organized the hearse at the destination, and the coffin in Australia, did nobody of the funeral people tell him about the regulations, what papers to fill etc.?

I don't think the coffin was empty - Jack would've known that and would've no reason to smash it. Besides, what use would it be to transport an empty coffin and leave the body behind??

++++
General question: They were flying from Australia to USA, and at some point, they changed course towards Fidshi, because their radio was broken down. (Right?) Now, they're 1000 miles off course (I consider that more an estimate). Since they managed to find an island, they should be in the vicinity of several islands. So, they should survey the whole island, prepare smoked food and build a raft if they want to get help.

LOL! Oh Constanze, I could answer more than half of your question right away, but I wouldn't want to spoil future episodes for you. Suffice it to say, life on the island goes on... you'll enjoy what's in store for the rest of the season!

Thanks for not spoiling, Dan...

Maybe you can answer one question: when Jack is talking to Locke about his hallucinations, he mentions dehydration and lack of sleep "only 2 hours each night". Now why did Jack get so little sleep? Are the nights that short? One night was interrupted by the pigs, but what about the other nights? Or are the mysterious things in the jungle making noises every night? (But if that's the case, everybody should be sleepy, and take a nap during the day..)
Or did Jack sleep badly - nightmares or such? (I didn't see evidence of this...)

To answer one thign though. A lot of schools don't teach swimming. I know mine didn't and neither did the neighboring high schools. There wasn't even a YMCA in my hometown until about 3 years ago so the only way to learn how to swim was to get a friend or family member to teach you or do it yourself.

Wow... *shakes head* It's difficult to get used to the different way things are done over there...

but if that's the case, the woman who went swimming, esp. if she's a diver!!!, violated elementary safety rules, that is, she didn't tell anybody to watch while she went, and she went out too far, considering she didn't know anything about possible currents. (Never swim alone at unknown waters is an elementary safety rule I learned as child.)

constanze: Isn't swimming generally taught in schools, so most people know it?
Luigi Novi: It was never taught to me.

constanze: Is Jack really that ignorant of customs and regulations that he expects to simply show up with a coffin and put in on the next plane?
Luigi Novi: Better that than a screaming kid.

Or someone taking up half your seat.

Or someone who can't tell you about ever miscellaneous detail about their last trip abroad.

Bring on the corpse, I say.

Luigi,

I was going by my own experience. Since R's post, I have to accept that things are done differently in your country.

As for the corpse ... a screaming kid, or someone who talks you (almost) to death isn't against the law. Transporting a corpse ... well, I'd expect to run into trouble with customs. Same if I brought a dog, or dangerous biological samples. (When I flew from Europe to the US, the customs questionare asked about fruits and vegetables because of possible dangers to the Californian fruit growing industry.)

(I guess we know the reason the plane crashed - there was a corpse on board! And no, I'm not superstitious.)

I was joking, constanze. Sorry I left out a smiley.

Dan,

Oh Constanze, I could answer more than half of your question right away, but I wouldn't want to spoil future episodes for you....

So there's a reason why they are behaving so stopid?? (The island is projecting a stopidity field? )
Or is it just general Hollywood bad movie writing?

Another question: there's only a board for the first season. Does this mean that the show ended proper after one season, or that it was scrapped in the middle of the cliffhanger, with half of the questions unanswered?
In other words, is it worth to continue watching the show because the scripts get better and more intelligent, or do TPTB not know where they're going with it?

costanze: So there's a reason why they are behaving so stopid??
I wouldn't say that. But they do later address some of your questions.

Actually, Constanze, it's one of the most popular series on television right now, and it has been picked up for a second season.

Another question: there's only a board for the first season. Does this mean that the show ended proper after one season, or that it was scrapped in the middle of the cliffhanger, with half of the questions unanswered?

They're currently in the first season, which has not yet ended. There are 3 (or is it 4) episodes left to go. It has already been renewed for next year.

In other words, is it worth to continue watching the show because the scripts get better and more intelligent, or do TPTB not know where they're going with it?

They don't know every little detail, but they have the basic ideas and are fleshing it out as they go. It's very much worth continuing watching, IMO.

Wow. You mean they're still airing the first season over there??? Usually, it's one year delay before an US series is shown over here (not only translation + dubbing, but also cheaper rights, I believe.) This is fast!

Yep.

The last four episodes (The Greater Good, Born to Run, Exodus Pt 1, Exodus Pt 2) air on 4, 11, 18, and 25 May respectively.

This is fast!

Don't jinx it, or they'll make you wait longer for season two!

Don't jinx it, or they'll make you wait longer for season two!

AArrgghhh, I didn't think of that!

The funny thing is that - according to my recent TV guide - the TV program, with serials and everything, was soooo baaaaddd the last half year or so (and it was!), that the advertisers were fed up and said to the TV stations "Better programms or else!", so they went and spent some millions buying the newest, sparkling, quality TV series (and a lot of brand-new Hollywood movies, too.) One of these deals was Pro7 buying "Desperate housewives" and "Lost".

If this is right, we'll get the 2nd season if the advertisers make enough pressure... Maybe we shouldn't write to the stations anymore, but directly to the advertisers which series they should force the stations to buy?

Writing to the advertisers of a show is actually a good idea -- that way they know that their advertising dollars were well spent on that time slot.

When Jack is telling Hurley and Charlie he doesn't want to make decisions, the same extras pass behind him twice as the camera changes back and forth between viewpoints.

Wow - this really is an island that heals fast. Not only can Locke now walk, but Jack's poorly stitched-up wound has completely disappeared, or at the very least, doesn't apparently bother him at all when he's hanging off the cliff. It's strange that Doctor Jack hasn't noticed this ...

Josh, since you're putting Time Notes in the Announcement section of each ep (good idea, btw, I thought of doing that myself in my posts), this ep takes place on the sixth day, as established by Jack's dialogue in the final Act, as well as Sayid's eulogy for Boone in the teaser of The Greater Good.

costanze: So Jack and Bennie? are the only people out of 47 who can swim??? Isn't swimming generally taught in schools, so most people know it?

You're right, it's odd that only 2 out of the 47 people even attempt to get to her. Later episodes do show others can. Then again, it takes one to rescue, though having more than one person to help out isn't bad either.