Helen! Rose! Ben Linus as a teacher! Answers!!!!!

Well, I liked last week’s ep, but there really is no comparing it to this week’s superlative entry.

Terry O’Quinn elevates just about every scene he’s in, no matter what character he is playing and who is acting opposite him. When he happens to share scenes with actors like Josh Holloway and Michael Emerson, however, it really doesn’t matter what’s going on, because it’s bound to be awesome.

Anyway, onto my episode notes:

Locke’s dad is going to the wedding? Locke is still in a wheelchair, so either he hurt himself in some other fashion or he’s lying about his relationship with his dad to Helen. They seem to be in a much better place (obviously) and even when he confesses to lying about the walkabout, she doesn’t seem to care about the lie, so I have to think that he’s being more open with her. I wonder if we’ll revisit his relationship with his dad in the sideways world.

That Smokey POV shot was pretty awesome.

Rose! I love no-nonsense Rose. Too bad she still has cancer.

Ben is a teacher!!

“He’s recruiting.” Is MIB recruiting so that none of the candidates say yes to Jacob or because there will be some battle between light and dark? Because I feel like the easiest way to eliminate the candidates is to kill them. Or let them choose to die, if that falls within the ‘rules.”

The little kid says something to MIB about the “rules,” referenced by Ben in the past. He also says to MIB: “You can’t kill him.” Is this Kid Jacob and is the “him” Sawyer?

Source of the ash to keep Smokey out = Jacob’s ashes. How many times has he died? Is that what he means by “It only ends once.” He can die multiple times, but it only ends when a worthy candidate takes his place.

So MIB was human? Jacob too? Maybe the rules were set when they were kids. MIB says to Sawyer that he has loved. Maybe he’s referring to Jacob: MIB loved Jacob and Jacob loved MIB. But they had different outlooks on life and humanity. So they placed a bet on humanity to prove who is actually right.

Ilana says that MIB is stuck with Locke’s visage and can’t change his face. Did something similar happen with Christian? Then how to explain Kate’s horse/Yemi? Maybe it’s more permanent now because of the loophole?

Great Ben reaction shot when Ilana asks if anyone wants to say anything when they buried Locke.

Also great eulogy by Ben and reaction from Lapidus.

When MIB and Sawyer were climbing down the cliff, for a very brief second, I thought Sawyer was a goner.

Black & white stones on scale. (Inside Joke!) Could Adam and Eve be incarnations of Jacob and MIB?

All the names in cave had numbers: 4 = Locke; 8 = Hurley; 15 = Sawyer; 16 = Sayid; 23 = Jack; 42 = Jin/Sun. What about Kate? Could she be 108? Is she not one of the numbers? Is it a gender thing? Can a candidate only be a man? (Then 42 = Jin)

Jacob has been pushing these people to the Island throughout their lives, but I’m guessing the choice will play a big part in how each of their stories end.