Poor tree frog. Never hurt anyone.

They finally addressed the issue of Hurley's weight.

Henry Gale travelling by balloon from the Mid-West?? (I'm surprised that it was Minnesota instead of Kansas, but that might have been too much.) I guess he assumed that Sayid never heard of L. Frank Baum or Judy Garland.

Was that soldier (the one with the photo) in the final flashback Kate's father?

It's a good thing they emptied the armory last week. It would have been hard for Sayid to torture Uncle Henry if he could grab a gun to defend himself.

Smallest island cast in a long time. No Kate, no Eko, no Jin and Sun, no Claire, no Rose and Bernard, no Libby. Ana-Lucia and Rousseau only minor walk-ons. Only one tiny sub-plot.

I missed Sayid. It's about time he gets some screentime again. The episode was a bit melodramatic in some spots, but I still really liked it.

There are some huge ruptures forming between the Lostaways, with the constant Jack/Locke conflict, Sawyer trying his hardest to be a complete a$$, and now Sayid setting himself apart from Jack and Locke. It's getting pretty interesting.

I was so happy to see Clancy Brown's name pop up in the credits. He's a great actor, IMHO, and he didn't disappoint. I liked Rousseau's brief return and the introduction of Henry. I wonder if Sayid's right about him. They should try to march him out to the balloon to see if he's telling the truth. Then again, if he is an Other, he could just lead the Lostaways into a trap. Or they could be picked up by the monster. Or any number of other things.

They really are making Sawyer look bad. And I mean bad guy bad. Killing the tree frog, after he was kind of apologetic to Hurley. Where are they going with this? Taking him back to his pre-Outlaw pre-raft days? Would Mike's return change him at all? I wonder.

Like I said, I missed Sayid. And the darkness he brings with him.

TomM: Henry Gale travelling by balloon from the Mid-West?? (I'm surprised that it was Minnesota instead of Kansas, but that might have been too much.)
He said he was from the midwest. Did he say he launched the balloon from the midwest? Even if he did launch from Minnesota, other rich guys have tried to balloon around the world. I think he said he was just trying to get over the Pacific. I don't think it's that implausible.

TomM: Was that soldier (the one with the photo) in the final flashback Kate's father?
Yes. He makes an appearance in What Kate Did.

TomM: Smallest island cast in a long time. No Kate, no Eko, no Jin and Sun
Actually, Jin makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the episode.

Re: "from the Mid-West": Sorry, I guess I was a little unclear. I meant that Uncle Henry was from the Mid-West, not that he necessarily had ballooned from there.

Re: Kate's father: I knew that he was in the Kate episode, I was asking if it was the same character/actor.

Re: Jin: His appearance was even briefer than A-L's and Rouseau's. I guess I blinked and missed him.

The red hieroglyphs in the countdown clock are for the sounds S-(not shown)-Ahdj-Ah-(does not appear to be a proper hieroglyph). Heiroglyphs could be read either right-to-left or left-to right, so they would seem to spell out either S_aja_ or _a'aj_s

Does anyone know ancient Egyptian? Where's Daniel Jackson when you need him?

TomM, Sawyer asks Jin if he hears the frog. Jin glares at him and walk away.

Nit: The initial shot of not-Baghdad (since they never say what Iraqi city it is) look fake.

Re: Kate's father: I knew that he was in the Kate episode, I was asking if it was the same character/actor.

According to the credits, yes.

At first, I thought the CIA guy was "Zeke", but apparently they're played by different actors.

So, is there only one tree frog on the entire island? Seems like Sawyer had to travel quite a ways to find it, considering he came across Hurley and his hiding place, which must have been at some distance from the beach camp.

C'mon, who thought they were going to have Sawyer keep the little bugger as a pet, or give it to Hurley to take care of?

Sawyer asks Jin if he hears the frog. Jin glares at him and walk away.

Yeah, Jin was obviously pissed over what happened to Sun last week, since now it's clear Sawyer was the root cause of it.

Nit: The initial shot of not-Baghdad (since they never say what Iraqi city it is) look fake.

Yeah, but what do you expect, its not like they're gonna find something convincing to shoot in Hawaii. So it was either stock footage (which is always jarring, IMO) or CGI things up (which looks fake, IMO).

Sawyer is a bastard. Killin that frog, and you know he only did it to •••• off Hurley. Contrast that with that boar that he let live when Kate was there.


I've gotta say, Sayid is a ••••-poor interrogator. Jack Bauer would've had "Henry" spilling his guts like the creepy little Other he is.

Of course, if Jack Bauer was on the island, he would've found a way off in under 24 hours. ;)

(wtf, you can say pissed but not •••• or ••••-poor? is there a rolleyes icon here?)

I actually wound up missing this one. Looks like it was an interesting one. Oh well, I'll catch it on the flip side.

The censor software here is a bit wonky as it has to have the words manually entered from what i understand. At least that is better than some of the ones that supposedly learn

I was surprised and disappointed by the characters in this ep.

I'm disappointed in Hurley, not only because of his stealing food, but because it made him vulnerable to Sawyer.

I was also surprised that Sawyer just got up out of his tent and starting talking to Jin, surprised that he wasn't talking to him. You got to hand it to him, he conspired to have Jin's wife attacked, and yet he has the stones to talk to him like that? Sure, Jin doesn't know that Sawyer was behind it (though he may suspect), but it still took a lot of temerity on Sawyer's part.

I was also surprised that when Hurley got ticked off at Sawyer for the digs at his weight, Sawyer not only apologized, but actually appeared sincere (emphasis on “appeared”). I figure he may have just acted that way to keep Hurley around, but then I wonder why he really valued Hurley’s help in the first place. Is Hurley known as some kind of “frog whisperer”, or something?

And what is it with Sawyer and his personal animosity towards animals? First it’s him and the board in Outlaws, and now the tree frog. Like Influx, I too wanted to ask him, “Hey, Sawyer, don’t ya think that frog has brothers and sisters on the island?”

And then there's Sayid and John. I would've thought that after Confidence Man, Sayid had sworn off torture, particularly after what he told (IIRC) Kate. But now, he jumps at the chance to torture Henry, even though there's far less of an appearance of justification. And as far as both he and Locke, I would've hoped that after the end of the previous episode, Jack, Locke and Sayid would've realized the importance of not keeping secrets from one another, and working together on important decisions. Instead, they still go around Jack's back to torture what could be an innocent man.

Locke talks about Jack's decision to raise an army without asking him to help. But who said he wasn't going to? He asks Ana Lucia one question, which appeared to be just the beginnings of things, and it doesn't occur to Locke that Jack was naturally going to include the group's best tracker and hunter in the "army"? What a bunch of pig-headed a-holes.

At the end of Sayid’s soliloquy to Henry in the closing scene of Act 3, Sayid says “Do you want to know who I am?” At first I thought this was Henry, but in the shot, Henry’s lips aren’t moving, and it appears to be Sayid saying this, which is confirmed by his final line of the scene. But that scene didn’t sound at all like Naveen Andrews. If it was, was it recorded in a studio after principle photography?

Although the episode itself was okay, and I’m curious as to where it will go as far as Henry, I didn’t see much value in the Sawyer/Hurley subplot. Compared to the quality of Lost’s usual plots, this one felt like the writers’ phoned it in. But the aspect of this episode about which I’m most disappointed overall is the lack of what has been Lost’s most consistent, ongoing character trait:

Moral ambiguity.

At the end of Confidence Man, we could feel both anger toward Sayid and Jack for torturing an innocent man, but also have this feeling a bit tempered because he had the decency to feel guilt at the end. Now, he’s not only done it again, but admits that he feels no guilt at all about it, and even has the nerve to use this as “proof” that Henry is indeed one of them.

TomM: They finally addressed the issue of Hurley's weight.
Luigi Novi: If you mean why he hasn’t lost weight, I don’t think that cuts it. For one thing, it only accounts for his weight after they gained access to the hatch. For another, I don’t think that even hording that stuff would maintain that type of weight when you’re on an island.

TomM: Smallest island cast in a long time. No Kate, no Eko, no Jin and Sun, no Claire, no Rose and Bernard, no Libby. Ana-Lucia and Rousseau only minor walk-ons…I guess I blinked and missed him.
Luigi Novi: Jin was there too, although also in a walk-on, when Sawyer tried to talk to him.

TomM: Does anyone know ancient Egyptian? Where's Daniel Jackson when you need him?
Luigi Novi: So there’s a stargate behind those blast doors?

R: I actually wound up missing this one.
Luigi Novi: Let me know if you want me to mail you a copy.

Luigi Novi: Locke talks about Jack's decision to raise an army without asking him to help. But who said he wasn't going to? He asks Ana Lucia one question, which appeared to be just the beginnings of things
That, and they started recruiting in the last episode.

So there’s a stargate behind those blast doors? Luigi Novi

I hadn't considered the possibility, but that would probably make more sense than whatever the writers decide to show us

Hmmm. Makes me wonder if the lack of cooperation and infighting is the beginings of whatever the infection or changes that rosseau's people had went through when they got on the island.

Karma will come back and bite Sawyer for his actions I'm sure.

Luigi, Thanks but its not that big a deal I had managed to get my ex(the one I'm paying childsupport to not the one that is CT, I think I'll refer to her as A and the CT one as K, yes my life is too complex for words.) and our son hooked on the show so she taped it as they where going to be out and they are coming over (its my weekend) so I'll get to see it then.

A stargate? Might be interesting. Might blow the show over every shark on the planet though.

Someone I know suggested a few months ago that they should find a stargate in the hatch so they could have Daniel Jackson on the show. Crazy people.

Luigi Novi: I would've thought that after Confidence Man, Sayid had sworn off torture, particularly after what he told (IIRC) Kate. But now, he jumps at the chance to torture Henry, even though there's far less of an appearance of justification.
Maybe he did. Maybe at the time, he believed he would never torture again. Much like he thought he would never do it again at the end of the flashback. But a lot has changed since that episode. Now they're under constant threat from the Others. And the woman that he was falling for was killed right in front of him. Old habits die hard. It doesn't surprise me that he fell back on what he knew.

Or as the CIA guy said (not exact quote) "One day you will need to get some informtion. Now you know how to".

Putting aside the fact that torture, from what I've heard, is not effective at getting torture (though I've heard psychological techniques may be), I was talking about Sayid's supposed experience at the end of Confidence Man, when he felt so guilty at torturing an innocent man, that he'd never do so again. I also thought that this was somewhat confirmed at the end of The Long Con, when Sawyer told Sayid that he'd never talk, even if he was tortured again, as the creators' way of explaining why they wouldn't have Sayid do that.

I do find Josh's explanation of his grief over Shannont to be slightly more explanatory, as if he was projecting his anger of her death by lashing out at Henry, but even that doesn't ring true to me. His anger should have rightfully been toward Ana-Lucia, and the end of Collission would have seemed to explain his position toward her; He even is shown having no problem being around her in the beginning of this episode.

Luigi Novi: Putting aside the fact that torture, from what I've heard, is not effective at getting torture
What? You mean, information? I don't see how that makes sense.

Luigi Novi: I was talking about Sayid's supposed experience at the end of Confidence Man, when he felt so guilty at torturing an innocent man, that he'd never do so again.
So was I. I think that some things have changed since that episode.

Not a bad episode. Not an outstanding one for plot. I still wonder whats going on and if people are starting to get the infection or rage or whatever that rosseau's people got.

Torture is not effective at getting torture....Um I always thought violence begat violence...;-)

But as for getting information it all depends. Some people respond to differnt stimulai better than others.

Still though looking forward to things coming up.

Such honesty...when Sayid confesses that he was a good man until America invaded his country. Bush senior and junior have created many monsters. That is what being invaded can do. I don't blame Sayid. I blame Bush.

Uh, N.O. (or should I say Rona?) the flashbacks appear to be from Gulf War I, which was a completely justified war.

aaaaaaand further discussion of whether either war was justified should go to Political Musings, shouldn't it?

Putting aside the fact that ... from what I've heard

Well, if it's just what you've heard, then it's not necessarily a fact, is it?

If you mean why he hasn’t lost weight, I don’t think that cuts it.

Howabout he's fat enough that by the time he noticibly would be losing weight, everyone else would be skeletal and/or dead. They don't need to explain it to people who understand that fat people aren't just fat because they eat a lot. Many people are fat because they're just predisposed to being fat. Take two people, feed them the exact same food, give them the exact same excercise, and guess what, it's entirely possible that one will be fat and the other fit. Hurley's fat, that's just how it is, desert island or loony bin.

when Sayid confesses that he was a good man until America invaded his country. Bush senior and junior have created many monsters.

Sayid didn't torture the guy until he'd seen footage of how the village (where his relatives lived) was slaughtered, BY OTHER IRAQIS, including the guy he tortured. So who created a monster there? (Mark, I hope that's not political musings stuff, if so, I apologize. I just wanted to mention how, IMO, the ep didn't support the hypothesis, not get into whether real life supposts it.)

Er.. "supports it."

J: Well, if it's just what you've heard, then it's not necessarily a fact, is it?
Luigi Novi: Well, it depends on how credible and accurate you see the source. I read that the creators enlisted experts from Amnesty International when creating the torture scenes in Chain of Command part II(TNG), so I'd be at least willing to grant the benefit of the doubt. I could be wrong, though. Should every piece of data that I refer to be called a "notion" or "assertion" until I personally corroborate it?

J: Howabout he's fat enough that by the time he noticibly would be losing weight, everyone else would be skeletal and/or dead.
Luigi Novi: Not true. You're on an island living as they are for 50 or more days, you're going to see signs of weight loss on all the castaways, including Hurley. Again, just look at Survivor. Those guys spend only 30-something days like that, and they definitely show weight loss, so much so that it's the basis for one of the challenges in which they participate, which involves them guessing how much weight they've lost.

J: Many people are fat because they're just predisposed to being fat.....Hurley's fat, that's just how it is, desert island or loony bin.
Luigi Novi: Well it's not "just how it is", because it's never been established, but I suppose it's a valid possible anti-nit. But then I have to ask: What happens to those people when even they are in such circumstances? Do such people not lose weight even when they're stranded on an island with limited food?

There's a hugely unbelievable element everyone ignores. Realistically, most of the survivors would demand to be allowed to live in that hatch complex. Electricity, lights and entertainment, would be an overwelming lure. Everytime the electricity goes out anywhere, people know what I'm talking about. After living with electricity all their lives, I think most of the survivors would almost revolt and demand to be allowed to live in the hatch...there's also doors to keep out all the mosquitos and other bugs!

Good point. The only one who's specifically objected to living in the hatch is Rose, yet we never see anyone else living in there.

Should every piece of data that I refer to be called a "notion" or "assertion" until I personally corroborate it?

No, but neither should it be called a fact.

I could be wrong, though.

That right there shows it's not a fact. A fact is always right. That's what makes it a fact.

Do such people not lose weight even when they're stranded on an island with limited food?

How is food limited? They have fish, boar, Sun's garden, etc. They have plenty of food. Why should anyone be wasting away, hidden stash or not? Yes, there were times early on when food was a problem, but it was a pretty short term thing, and not an ongoing one from what they presented. Hurley likely has a slow metabolism, and if that's the case, he's just not going to lose weight without plenty of actual effort and a good plan, not just being thrown on an island where he has to move a little more and eat boar and fish instead of hamburger and cheetos.

The only one who's specifically objected to living in the hatch is Rose, yet we never see anyone else living in there.

I think they kind of gave a reason a few eps ago, when Claire wanted to move Aaron into the hatch for safety and Locke nixed it -- the alarm goes off every 180 minutes. That's gotta be pretty annoying. Plus, people like beaches. How many people just want to go lay on the beach all day? Well, the losties can!

J: No, but neither should it be called a fact.
Luigi Novi: True, I suppose, but I admit that when speaking in shorthand, I may not always choose the more correct term ("notion" instead of "fact"). Or perhaps I should've structured that passage differently by prefacing it with an open question about whether that line in Chain of Command part II was accurate.

J: A fact is always right.
Luigi Novi: Nope. Facts are provisional.

J: How is food limited? They have fish, boar, Sun's garden, etc.
Luigi Novi: We don't know that they have boar, as Locke stopped hunting it a while ago. While this occurred partially because of his jaunts with Boone, we don't know for certain if he's resumed his hunting. How big is Sun's garden, and how much time has it had to grow for it to yield results, given that they've only been on the island for about 50 days, and she only began planting it well into that? Is Jin catching fish to feed the entire group? I hope so, but in any case, there is no evidence that their food problem was "short-term". I wouldn't say that it represents an ongoing "problem", but it would represent an ongoing fact of life of living on the island. Even if we grant that they're yielding stuff from the garden (and Hurley did mention eating a lot of fruits to Jack in the first season, when he wasn't eating meat, and before Jin gave him fish, and he was still the same size), being on a diet of fish and vegetables/fruit, plus the activity of pitching in to maintain life on the island, you don't think he'd lose weight? As for "wasting away", well, I don't think I ever said "wasting away". I mentioned only losing weight.

Hurley may have a slow metabolism. But being on an island where he is consuming a lot of fish and fruits/vegetables instead of burgers and cheetos will most certainly make him lose weight. As for whether he is moving "a little bit more", well, you didn't establish that; you're simply assuming it, and treating the assumption as.....dare I say it......a fact? Without vehicles, they have to walk everywhere they go, they likely do not sit around and watch TV or surf the web, so I think it's highly possible, even likely, that in contributing to the group as he has (creating the golf course, going to each person to create his census in Raised by Another, etc.), that he is engaging in more physical activity than he was prior to the crash.

According to Dr. Aidan Dodson of the University of Bristol's Archaeology and Anthropology Department, the four symbols seen on the time index readout when the alarm went off spell out the ancient Egyptian word swdja, which is a command to "die." Of the five digits of the readout, they could only read four, as we never saw the second one from the left, but oddly enough, the screencap seen on page 12 of the March 6 TV Guide shows the time index indicator from an angle that we didn't see in the episode. The episode only showed it from a frontal view, but the shot of it in the magazine was taken from the left. Moreover, we never saw that second digit flip to a symbol at all, but in the mag's pic, it has; it's just not legible. Hmmmmmmmm....

Maybe it says "Time to Die!"

You know, I remember thiking up of a point in a recent episode that tried to make a mental note of, but by the time I found myself in front of my computer, I forgot what it was. I think this was it, as reading it on Wikipedia has jogged my memory: Henry Gale says he arrived on the island in a balloon. Gale was Dorothy's last name in The Wizard of Oz, which also featured an attempt to get home with a balloon. What I didn't know, however, was that Henry was the name of Dorothy's uncle.

Amazing that Sawyer didn't want any of Hurley's food when he discovered him eating it, especially given that Sawyer wasn't around when the food was discovered or when they had the big bash.

And while having that food *helps* explain Hurley's weight, I find his hoarding of it completely at odds with his desire to dynamite it.