"Confirmed Dead"

The latest episode of LOST is not at all was I was expecting, but it was very interesting indeed. I didn't quite know what to make of it for about the first half but became more and more intrigued as the episode drew to a close.

STOP READING NOW TO AVOID SPOILERS!!!!!!

I was ready to see another flash forward of one of the other Oceanic 6 and was frankly very surprised to start out with a flashback from the newest characters on the show. I also found it very interesting that subtitles were used throughout the flashbacks to give locations. Perhaps it is yet another wrinkle to the new way that the LOST story will be told. In any event it was nice to see that the "Find 815" alternate reality game actually directly connects to the opening of this episode with respect to the underwater cameras finding the wreckage of Oceanic Flight 815.

I was very surprised to get information on these new characters so quickly, but I suppose that too is part of the new way in which LOST will be told, at a more accelerated pace. I don't know why these four people were picked, but Matthew Abaddon seemed to think that they were the ones who must go on this mission. But not the mission to find the survivors of Flight 815.

I loved the scene where Locke asked Ben point blank (pun definitely intended) what the monster is. When Ben said he didn't know, I was cracking up. But the big reveal in the episode is that this team is not here to rescue the Oceanic survivors but rather they have come for Ben Linus. What I found interesting is that the photo of Ben looks like it was taken off of the island. To me, it looked like he was going through a metal detector at airport security.

Of course the biggest surprise was saved for the final moments of the episode. Ben revealed that he knew everything about the team that came to the island. And how does he know this? He has someone working for him on the freighter. So for about ten minutes after the episode, I was thinking about who it could be and it just dawned on me: it has to be Michael. We know that he is coming back to show, and not just in flashbacks or flash forwards; he's coming back to the island. It makes perect sense that it would be Michael in the freighter. We still don't know everything that happened to Michael when he was captured by the Others. When Ben gave Michael and Walt the boat, he told them to follow bearing 325 and they would "find rescue." I think that part of the deal for Michael to get the boat was to be a mole on the freighter. Roxi added to the theory by including Walt. We believe that Walt can project himself as was seen in several episodes in Season 2. So Roxi thinks that Walt projected himself to Locke to warn him about the people on the freighter.

So another good episode is over and we only have six to go unless the writers strike is resolved in the next week. I'm already looking forward to next Thursday!

UPDATE: Michael Eisner announced that a deal has been made to end the writers strike. It should be completed by this weekend and shows should return to production very soon. It is not a done deal until the papers are signed, but any news like this is good news!