"Namaste"

After a week off, and boy did I miss it (!), LOST returned with a pretty cool episode. But we are now officially more than halfway through this short penultimate season. I love where things are going, but it's going to be over all too soon! We must all enjoy this ride while it lasts!

STOP READING NOW TO AVOID SPOILERS!!!!!

I liked how the episode started, taking us back and showing us the crash of Ajira 316. It was especially interesting to see that after the flash that took Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid from the plane, it changed from night to day as Frank Lapidus piloted the plane to near safety. I was very excited when he spotted the runway that he would use for the crash landing! It confirmed they crashed the plane in the present or possibly even future since this is the runway that Sawyer and Kate were helping to build during their captivity in Season 3. Pity about the co-pilot though. And why didn't Sun, Frank and Ben vanish with the rest of the Oceanic 4 (?). I think that Ben didn't because he wasn't supposed to return to the Island, Frank didn't because he was supposed to land the plane and Sun...I don't know for sure but I think it might have something to do with the fact that she didn't bring Ji Yeon with her. I know, Kate didn't bring Aaron, but maybe Aaron is where he is supposed to be. After all, Claire told Kate not to bring him back. Ji Yeon was concieved on the Island and I think that is important.

The reunion of Sawyer with Hurley, Jack and Kate was nice. It was about what you'd expect from each character after three years, even his reunion with Kate. I'm sure most fans of the Kate/Sawyer coupling would have preferred to see a kiss or something, but it's been three years and they have both gone through some pretty big character changes in that time. It was sad for Sawyer to hear that Locke had died. He seemed very struck by it. Little do they all know, that somewhere in the future, Locke is living again on the small Island.

It was no surprise that Jin was very determined to find Sun after he learned that she and Sayid were also on the plane. And so we got to meet Radzinsky, the man who used to monitor communications at the Flame and will someday kill himself in the Swan, or so we were told by Kelvin Inman. It was interesting to see that he was building a model of the Swan when Jin arrived to find out if anyone had seen a plane land on the Island. Of course, while Radzinsky was checking, in comes a report of a Hostile inside the perimeter fence and I knew it could be none other than Sayid. Jin did a great job of playing the part of Dharma security for Radzinsky and boy was Sayid confused.

Sawyer was also very good at playing the part as is evidenced by how well he and Juliet worked together to get Jack, Kate and Hurley integrated into the new Dharma recruits who had just arrived on the Island. And he made a nice jab at Jack by getting him assigned as a Workman. Snap! It was also interesting to learn that Horace and Amy's baby born in the last episode is Ethan. When Juliet found out, she seemed to mentally shudder while holding him.

I like the determined Sun. I loved how she followed Ben into the woods and then clobbered him with the paddle when she had all the info she and Frank needed to get back to the main Island. Ben is such a bastard. I would really hate to find out that he is a good guy in the end because I just love to hate him so much!

I loved Miles' reaction to seeing Jack, Kate and Hurley. And then there was the conversation between Hurley and Sawyer about the future of the Dharma Initiative. Hurley spoke for all of us in asking if they should warn the DI about the Purge. Saywer said that they weren't supposed to "play Nostradamus" to them and that Faraday has some intersting theories about what they can and can't do. And then he gave an intriguing answer to Jack's question of Faraday's presence when he says that Faraday is not around anymore. So where is he? Did he die, was he taken by the Others or did he time travel in some way? I lean to him time traveling as a result of his meddling with the Frozen Donkey Wheel during construction of the Orchid that was shown in "Because You Left."

I loved the way that Sayid played along so well when he was being questioned by Sawyer. I especially liked the way he said, "We don't refer to ourselves as Hostile." Knowing what they know about the future of the Island didn't hurt their little game, but it does seem more and more like the Losties are becoming the Others in a way. To other people, it would seem that they all know so much about the future and are manipulting it. I have a feeling that if the Losties are still stuck in the past by the time the Purge happens, they will be part of the Others' camp and be responsible. The ony thing that I wonder about though is Sayid. When he met young Ben at the end of the episode, I felt like he wanted nothing more than to kill the boy that would make his life so terrible in the future. I don't know how he could get over that unless Sawyer and company could somehow convice him that they can't change the past like that.

Everything about Sun and Frank's arrival at the barracks was very creepy. The shaking trees could have only been the Smoke Monster. I'm pretty sure I heard it's tell-tale sounds beneath the sounds of rustling leaves. As I said earlier, I have a suspicion that Ajira 316 crashed in the present (2007?) or possibly even further in the future as is evidenced by how run down the barracks appeared. Of course the last time we say anyone there, the Smoke Monster was attacking Keamy and his commandos. And then a light came on in a building! I was wondering if was Jacob, Claire or Christian. It turned out to be Christian, but he gave me a bad feeling, like maybe he isn't as benevolent as I have been thinking all this time. When Sun asked where Jin was, he showed he a picture of the 1977 Dharma recruits and said that she had a bit of a journey ahead of her. One thing I noticed that was extra creepy was when the door creaked and slowly opened it as if a ghost was coming through while they were talking to Christian. I thought it was nothing more than a bit of ambiance for the scene until I saw this on the web this morning. I went back and checked and sure enough you can see this woman moving around in the background. So who is it? I'm guessing it's Claire. After all, we know she has been hanging around with Christian since the end of Season 4.

But the absolute best part about this episode was Sawyer's verbal smackdown of Jack about good leadership. It was beautiful and it couldn't have been more true! Sawyer appears to be a great leader and seems to have the respect of everyone in the Dharma Initiative. He was so eloquent and succicinct in his dismissal of Jack's past leadership and its shortcomings. In the end, I think that Jack might be questioning if his decision to return to the Island was such a good idea. He has been ousted when I'm sure he thought that he was the one who would lead when he returned. The scene was magnificent!

This was a pretty great episode and it seems that the pace will continue to be amped up. I hope we see Locke next week. I am intrigued by so much of his last appearance and am looking forward to seeing if he will be having any meetings with Christian and/or Jacob soon.