Wow. Well it was certainly an emotional episode. All the buttons where kinda pushed on this one. Lets see Jack's wedding, claire's birth, boone's death, sayid & shannon's date, the entire ending.

Very interesting setup for the last few episodes before the season finale. Which if PAL isnt true then Locke could be in for some deep trouble and better hope he gets that hatch open.

Oops I just realized I dropped a word I should have said Claires giving birth. Not the way I said it which sounded like claire was born which would be an entirely different and strange even for this show episode.

Wow, that was pretty grueling. I'll miss Boone, if not only for his striking good looks. ;) I wonder if Claire will name her baby "Boone".

I honestly thought that Jack was going to leave his bride at the altar, so kudos to the writers for not taking the cliche way (as if they ever did). I'm also glad they didn't wrap up the backstory right away in that we don't know what followed -- maybe he's still married?

Whatever happened to Rose? I hope they don't just trot her out when it's convenient. Other than "hypochondriac guy", she's about the only other non-regular-cast islander to be featured in a speaking role.

Locke, you got some 'splainin' to do!!

For all the mucking about in the woods, no one seems to be concerned much about the "monster" anymore.

Boone talks in this Entertainment Weekly interview.
http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1045702_3_0_,00.html

Wow. So it was (Spoiler Warning) Boone. (Highlight to read.)

I thought it was too obvious to be him, and that the death would occur at the end of the season, like in the finale.

And vis a vis Josh Holloway's comment, I thought Boone's character HAD developed. It certainly had in that he shrugged of his attachment to Shannon, realized that Locke had an insight into the island's true nature, and became his Padawan of sorts. But a really powerful episode.

And is my imagination, or does Sun look way hotter in this ep? Maybe it's because she's now available.

It was nice that Jin actually talked to Sun, if only for translation purposes...

This sentence posted here just to make sure no spoilers show up in the "last day" thing for people checking the board that way.

Oh my gosh! They killed Boone! You jerkwads!

Though if they had to kill someone, Boone or Shannon were the best choices, and I'd much rather look at Shannon given the choice! ;)

No Locke at all this ep? Is he in the hatch now? Why did it glow? ARRGHGH!! Answer one question and leave 20 more in it's place! It's torture, but it's fun torture!

I don't know how Jack goes from "it wasn't a cliff it was in a plane" to "he was murdered" but then again, Jack's kinda losing it there, so I guess it works.

I too am wondering if Claire will name the kid "Boone". I don't know if she was really that close to him to do something like that, but I'm fairly sure of one thing. She won't name the boy "Ethan".

Regarding that EW article (or maybe it was in the article linked at the end). The writer makes snarky comments about Claire's baby not being covered with all sorts of nasty fluids. While this is certainly a legitimate nit, the way it was phrased (as if this were the first time something like this was portrayed in such a manner) had my eyes rolling. Where has this writer been? As someone else on the Movies board commented, the abscence of fluid nastiness covering new born babies is common in movies and TV shows. You can probably count the instances otherwise on the fingers of one hand.

Anonymous,

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I don't know how Jack goes from "it wasn't a cliff it was in a plane" to "he was murdered" but then again, Jack's kinda losing it there, so I guess it works.
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I think he (Jack) ignored what Boone said about "falling from the plane", since that didn't really make any sense to him and the kid was delirious at the time. It was like, "That's right, buddy, we all fell from the plane. Take it easy, ok?"

I think the "murdered" part comes from the fact that Jack figured out that Boone's leg was crushed, and he couldn’t have gotten that injury from a fall, as Locke claimed. Also, it seemed like Jack determined that it was the leg injury that really killed him (what did he call it? "Compartment Syndrome" or something?)

I don't think it's crazy that he made that jump...especially since Locke ran off into the woods without another word.

I agree with Jason on Jack's leap in logic.

One thing Jack should think about, though: if Locke deliberately tried to kill Boone, then why would he bring him to Jack in the first place?

Maybe jack isn't thinking premeditated murder but more of a murder of negligence like what jack's dad did?

Jason and R, interesting points I hadn't really considered. Thanks.

I finally got around to watching my tape of the episode. Despite being spoiled (stupid TV Guide), that ending was still pretty powerful. I really felt for Shannon when she was crying over Boone. Poor kid. I will kind of miss him, though I did expect him to be the one.

On another note, I loved the Charlie/Jin interaction in this one. You can do so much without words.

POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING:

I know that PAL, so I really really hope that Sayid didn't really shoot Locke. And apparently Jack doesn't find Locke and gives up after a while since he's back on the beach when Locke returns.

R: Maybe jack isn't thinking premeditated murder but more of a murder of negligence like what jack's dad did?
Isn't there a term for murder of negligence? Isn't it manslaughter?

I forgot to mention that I liked hearing Jack say Walkabout's catchphrase ("Don't tell me what I can't do!"). Are they trying to show us parallels between the two conflicted characters?

BTW, it may be a while before I take Boone off of the main characters list.

Josh, since the list is a reference list to help people remember names, perhaps you should simply create a secondary list beneath the main one for Recurring Characters (Danielle Rousseau, etc.), and one beneath that for Deceased Characters (Boone, Ethan Rom, etc.)?

As far as Locke's responsibility for Boone's death, it was his idea for Boone to climb the cliff to the plane, and Boone was pretty impressionable, but still, Boone had the power to make his own choices (moreseo since Hearts and Minds, when he came into his own), and even was able to confront Locke in the previous episode. Irresponsible as Locke was, Boone was just as irresponsible in choosing to enter the plane without considering how precariously it was perched, and in general, they were both irresponsible in not getting aid from the others. The two of them willingly chose to keep the nature of their excursions secret from the others, and Boone ended up paying the price for it. That's not murder, or even manslaughter. Murder requires deliberately killing someone, and manslaugthter requires one person negligently causing the death of another, not the dead person freely choosing to do something unwise and dangerous that results in their death.

Also, one thing I forgot to mention above---Jack noticed that the blood was pooling in Boone's right leg, which was keeping it from circulating properly. Putting aside the fact that Boone was "messed up inside" (Boone's words?), and might have died anyway, wouldn't elevating the leg have kept the blood from pooling there? Isn't elevation one of the basic things taught in First Aid classes? (It was when I took a First Aid course when I was 13.)

What Luigi said about the murder/manslaughter thing. I was goign more poetic I guess as in a general way Jack sees Locke's responsibility for Boone's death by from his father/son jedi/padawan style relationship with boone.

From what i recall of my first aid classes (security officer training) yeah elevating the leg would have helped until the subject could get to an er.In their situation a tourniqet and amputation would probably be the best bet. Sorta harsh but.....

wouldn't elevating the leg have kept the blood from pooling there?

I've never taken any first aid classes or anything of the sort, but that was the first thing that sprung to my mind when Jack said that.

Great episode.

How could Jack go chasing after Locke after the blood transfusion? You're not supposed to engage in physical exercise within 24 hours after giving one unit of blood, Jack looked to have given at least twice that, if not more. Add that to the exhausting night he had and I'm surprised he hadn't collapsed. He certainly shouldn't be fit for a hike through the jungle.