What's New?

• To TPTB- You have no idea how much grief I have taken from fans over the last five years because I have been so adamant about LOST being a video game. There are two things that I would love after LOST ends- the first is that I would love to meet you. The second is that I would love to have the tiara that Claire found in the luggage in S1E5. Maybe asking for the tiara is a bit much- but how about the meeting?

• First, sorry to all of you, I had initially wanted to get this update done early this morning. But I just couldn't finish before I started falling asleep at the computer. So I waited until I had enough time today to write this

• Okay, initial reaction to the Finale, I give it a 8 out of 10. Mainly because there seem to be so many fans that are confused by what they saw last night. Rather than giving the answers that many fans were looking for, it left many fans scratching their heads and wondering what the hell they had just seen. I have been deluged with emails asking me for some help understanding what we were shown

• As for me, no confusion whatsoever. GAME OVER. Let's tackle the game requirements first. The Flash Sideways is covered down below this section

Here's a review of the requirements for a Level change and what was required for Level 6 and, ultimately, the game to be over. And make no mistake, the game did end. These comments are all related to the on-island activities

1) All the LOSTies needed to be in good roles - Both Jack and Hurley taking over Jacob's role as Leader and Protector of the island. Kate as Sheriff, shooting FLocke. Kate and Sawyer as Sailors getting over to Alcatraz via the Elizabeth. Lapidus as the Leader of Miles, Richard and then Sawyer, Kate and Claire getting off the island on the Ajira plane. Lapidus, Richard and Miles as a Construction Workers rebuilding the plane (Miles also said he used to work in construction). Ben taking over Richard's role of Advisor (Hurley's Number 2). Claire first Crazy, then a Mom. And finally Jack offering himself as a Sacrifice to keep the island safe. I'll fill in all the other roles we saw everybody cycling through when I do the complete updates

2) All of the LOSTies had to be acting for the Greater Good- Yup, had them all acting together for the Greater Good. We had Jack, Hurley, Desmond and Ben all on one team, working to get down into "The Light of Life". And yes, FLocke was with them, but for his own purpose. Jack was convinced he was right about what the effects would be of Desmond's actions; that he could save the island as its Leader/Protector. And then there was FLocke who was convinced that through Desmond's actions, that FLocke could destroy the island and that he would be able to finally leave the island. There was no question that FLocke was doomed to die as he was acting for purely selfish reasons and looking to destroy the island

3) Someone needed to be in the role of Leader of the LOSTies- Started with Jack as the new Jacob, as Protector/Leader of the island. Lapidus acting as Leader of the group on the plane. And then my man Hurley taking over Jacob's role from Jack, as the Protector/Leader on the island

4) The Fail Safe needed to be identified and used- We already knew that Desmond was the Fail Safe, as identified by Charles Widmore in S6E16. So Desmond went down and did his job. He removed the stone cork, which allowed both Jack and FLocke to become mortal and allowed FLocke to be killed. But then, we also had Jack going into the underground cave to replace the stone cork to save the island. I think that Jack also acted as a Fail Safe when he replaced the stone cork

5) The Hurley Bird needed to appear- There was clearly a very large bird that flew over Jack and FLocke when they were standing on the rock cliff face, just before they lunged towards each other. For those of you who missed it, I'll get a picture of it posted as soon as possible

6) Someone had to be in the role of White Rabbit go down a hole- We had two White Rabbits, both Desmond and Jack

7) The very last scene we saw was of the crash site of a plane. Flight 815 or another plane? Maybe it was just indicative of the start of a new game

8) I also had stated earlier that I thought that as a special requirement for the game to end that all of the LOSTies in the Alterverse needed to remember the crash of Flight 815 as a special requirement to ultimately reach the end of Level 6 and the end of the game. And that Desmond being in the role of Advisor was simply to get them to remember what it is that they need to remember about the crash. Desmond accomplished that goal and also got Hurley to act as an Advisor as well in helping everyone remember

• Loved Richard getting a grey hair and stating that he wanted to live. Loved Jack kicking FLocke over the cliff to die right near the cave with the names and scales. Although I doubt anyone ever bothered to go into it and replaced the black stone on the scale with a white one. Loved Ben winding up as a good guy and as my man Hurley's Number 2 on the island. And loved the fact that leaving the island was Jacob's rule and that Hurley could run the island as he pleased. Makes you wonder just how my man Hurley did run the island

• Glad I was right about Richard being alive. Ditto for Lapidus. But I am so sorry that Jin didn't live. I guess Bad Daddy/Star Crossed Lover did him in. Funny thing, last night on Jimmy Kimmel, Daniel Dae Kim said everyone he meets ignores the acting in that scene and just says "What about the baby?"

• Yeah, what about the babies/kids? Especially Emma and Zack. We never saw them die. So, it's fair to assume that Emma, Zack and Cindy are still alive on the island with Hurley. The same goes for the rest of Widmore's people that were not all killed by the smoke monster when it attacked the Hydra Station. Also, we know that Rose and Bernard were still alive. So my man Hurley was not left with just Ben and Desmond. He had other people with him. And Vincent!

• Who did Hurley let leave the island? I'm thinking that Desmond got to leave to get back to Penny. But, did he ever come back with Penny and Little Charlie? What about Emma and Zack, does Hurley let them finally go home to their mother? Probably. Would Rose and Bernard leave? Nah, I think they would have decided to stay on the island where Rose is cancer free and they can live out their "retirement". By the way, while it wasn't the "We came out of retirement" statement I had anticipated below, I was thrilled when Rose said they broke rules to save Desmond from the well

• Who did Hurley bring to the island afterwards? And how? I'm pretty sure Hurley would invite people and give them the information needed about how to find the island rather than killing people in crashes or bringing them there against their will

• What kind of Leader/Protector would Hurley be? Probably someone who provided lots of fun. Think of the golf game and the ride in the van. My man Hurley likes to keep people happy and entertained

• Who did my man Hurley pick as his successor? If I had to guess, I would say it was still one of the kids- Emma, Zack, Walt, Ji Yeon, Little Charlie, Aaron or Clementine. But, we'll never know...

Now, on to the Flash Sideways:

• So what was the Flash Sideways/Alternate timeline all about? Turns out the Flash Sideways was the ultimate Long Con by TPTB. The Flash Sideways was actually a Flash Forward to an unspecified point in time after Jack and everyone else had died. As Christian said, some of them had died before Jack did, some died after Jack died. And as for Christian Shepard, well, it turns out he was an Advisor all along, just getting everyone to where they needed to be. A good guy

• The brilliant White Light outside the doors of the church, what did that mean? My interpretation is that in death, they all join together and become a part of the "Light of Life" on the island

• As for Jack's son David- poof! Just like that, he never existed. Out of everything we saw last night, that was a bit tough to swallow. Plus, Jack and Juliet did not need to have been married and divorced. Juliet could have just been a doctor at the hospital. Sawyer would still have gone to the hospital and met her, and have them both remember. So why bother even introducing David this season?

• Ben always claimed to be one of the Good Guys and that finally came true. But his not joining everyone in the church makes sense. He himself said that he still had some things to do. I would imagine he had a whole lot of bridges to mend

• Eloise Widmore, all she wanted was for Desmond to leave Daniel with her, not to take Daniel with him. Desmond did that. Why? Seems like Daniel simply wasn't ready yet. Maybe he needed an opportunity to actually be the Rock God he always wanted to be, but was stopped by his mother. Picture this, Daniel replaces Charlie and joins Drive Shaft

• One final thought. Why wasn't Lapidus in the church? Or Miles and Richard for that matter? What if that plane crash we saw as the very last scene was the crash of the plane that Lapidus, Miles, Richard, Sawyer, Kate and Claire were on? Sawyer, Kate and Claire could have died that way. Lapidus, Miles and Richard could have survived. What if Frank Lapidus wound up being Hurley's replacement?

• To my many supporters over the years- thank you, thank you, thank you. I thought I would try and list you all here, but it is such a long list and I was afraid I'd miss some names

• To the nay sayers who have been so critical of me and my theory over the years- watch all 6 seasons again. You have missed so much

GAME OVER

• The volcano in Iceland behaved and I arrived home late Friday night from my long trek through 5 states and 3 countries in the past few weeks

Okay guys, here we go. My last few thoughts before the Finale tonight

• Here's a review of all requirements for a Level change and what is still left to be accomplished for Level 6 and the game to be over:

1) All the LOSTies need to be in good roles

2) All of the LOSTies have to be acting for the Greater Good

3) Someone must be in the role of Leader of the LOSTies- Jack has now stepped up to take over not only as the Leader of the LOSTies , but also as Jacob's replacement

4) The Fail Safe needs to be identified and used- Desmond has been identified as the Fail Safe

5) The Hurley Bird needs to appear

6) Someone has to be in the role of White Rabbit has to go down a hole

7) I also had stated earlier that I think all of the LOSTies in the Alterverse need to remember the crash of Flight 815 as a special requirement to ultimately reach the end of Level 6 and the end of the game. And that Desmond being in the role of Advisor is simply to get them to remember what it is that they need to remember about the crash. Looks like most of our LOSTies will all be together tonight at David's concert

• As I had stated in my May 3rd update- anyone can die. That re-appearing red gash on Jack's neck does not bode well for Jack. It could be an indication that he is going to get a throat injury on the island tonight. Perhaps a fatal one. So who would that leave in Jacob's stead? Well, I still think the kids are important (Emma, Zack, Ji Yeon, Clementine, Little Charlie and Walt) and that we may see them tonight . And wouldn't my man Hurley be an excellent replacement for Jacob? He could be left to take care of the kids and bring them up to be his replacement

• Who is Jack's wife and David's mother? We know it's not Kate. So who else might it be? Remember that TPTB like huge twists. So, while most fans believe it will be Juliet, I think we're in for a big surprise. Yeah, it could be Sarah. But that would be too predictable as well. Or maybe Shannon, but she would be too young to be David's mother. But what about someone like Nikki? Or Harper Stanhope- Goodwin's wife? Or Olivia Goodspeed? Whomever it is, I think it will be a big surprise for all of us

• Who is left alive? Obviously Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sawyer. But Claire is still alive somewhere. Ditto for Miles. I firmly believe that Jin and Lapidus are alive and could very well be the ones who pulled Desmond out of the well. I also think that despite the fact that the smoke monster threw Richard into the trees, that Richard is probably still alive as well. Why? Because he is too important a character to just be literally tossed aside. And we still have Bernard and Rose unaccounted for. However, they did announce that they were retired back in S5E16, so we would need to hear them say something like "We came out of retirement". So look for a whole bunch of people tonight to be alive, only to die somewhere in the Finale

• Kudos to TPTB for finally covering the theory that drinking water on the island was somehow key. Turns out it is, but only if it is blessed by Jacob or Evil Step Mom Alison Janey before you drink it. Glad to have that theory tossed aside as well as several others that have been eliminated this season

• I will be watching everything from 7:00pm on, until Jimmy Kimmel's show is over. No, I didn't get tickets. Woe is me. So it's just me alone, down in my husband's Man Cave, with the 55" TV tonight

• I will be posting an update sometime after Jimmy Kimmel ends- hope to be done sometime about 3:00am EST

• And yes, I still believe I am right. And I would like to thank the hundreds of thousands of LOST fans who have been so supportive of me since early in Season 1. You've kept me going

The list of people to thank is going to be long tonight. But I do have to single out one very special person- LISE. Besides being so helpful over the years, she has become a very dear friend

• And finally, why I know there was a tiara in S1E5. I happened to be at my mother's house the night that S1E5 first aired. We were watching it together and joked about the tiara, for a very good reason. Then my Mom went down into the basement of her house and pulled out my headpiece from my wedding in 1991. I hadn't seen it in a number of years. It was a tiara

And no, it isn't the one pictured above. The one in the picture above was purchased by me during my trip to Florida a week and a half ago. Quite appropriate as I was in Orlando and I bought it at Downtown Disney. So it is a Disney Princess Crown and is only 3" in diameter!

I need the real one from S1E5, so I can place it on my head, take a picture and finally show you guys what I look like

Enjoy!

• To TPTB- You have no idea how much grief I have taken from fans over the last five years because I have been so adamant about LOST being a video game. There are two things that I would love after LOST ends- the first is that I would love to meet you. The second is that I would love to have the tiara that Claire found in the luggage in S1E5. Maybe asking for the tiara is a bit much- but how about the meeting?

By the way, I can be available the weekend of May 21st-23rd for the Finale! And I'd love tickets for the Jimmy Kimmel show. Please, Please, Please...

• Yeah, I know, I'm way behind on getting all the facts filled in for both S6E14 "The Candidate" and also for S6E15 "Across the Sea". Hopefully, you'll accept my apology. But I have been on an extended business trip- first DC, then last week in Delaware and then Florida, and now in Denmark. And, of course, the volcano in Iceland wound up making my trip to Denmark a very, very long and complicated journey

• Obviously, being in Denmark is going to make watching this week's episode S6E16 "What They Died For" a bit different for me

While I will be back in NJ on Friday- assuming the volcano permits me to get home- I am still hoping to be traveling to California for the Jimmy Kimmel Aloha LOST special- I am just not going to be able to catch up with all the lists of Duplicates, Games, etc before the Finale on Sunday night.

• Just a few notes on where we are in the game. Alison Janey did an absolutely wonderful job in the role of the Evil Step Mother in S6E15 "Across The Sea" . First killing Jacob and MIB/Esau's Mother when she was a Murderer, then as an Artist weaving, a Leader, a Chucklehead preparing food, a Mother to the boys, a Tracker leading the boys to the "Light of Life", and ultimately as a Con Man pulling a Long Con on Jacob and MIB/Esau

• Loved the fact that the game of Senet was so heavily featured in this episode and that it was ultimately the source of the black and white stones that Jack found in S1E5

• Since we all know that "Dead is Dead" on the island, we now know that every time we have seen MIB previous to him taking on Locke's form, to become FLocke, that he was dead. I have to admit that I wasn't thrilled that Evil Step Mom and MIB turned out to be Adam and Eve. Oh well, someone had to be and I guess they were just as good as any other characters being Adam and Eve

• And yes, I still believe that FLocke and smokey are two different entities. That Jacob pushing his brother into the "Light of Life" allowed Smokey to escape

• Therein lies the conundrum. Jacob, the so called good son believes the Evil Step Mother, while MIB does not. Yet, the good son beats his brother, twice! A bit of role changing happening there. I see it as meaning that no one is always totally good or bad. As Hurley said "you can always bring them back, like Anakin". And the long con of all long cons was what the brothers have been taught. Which one is right? Which one is wrong?

• Here's a review of all requirements for a Level change and what is still left to be accomplished:

1) All the LOSTies need to be in good roles

2) All of the LOSTies have to be acting for the Greater Good

3) Someone must be in the role of Leader of the LOSTies

4) The Fail Safe needs to be identified and used

5) The Hurley Bird needs to appear

6) Someone has to be in the role of White Rabbit has to go down a hole

7) I also had stated earlier that I think all of the LOSTies in the Alterverse need to remember the crash of Flight 815 as a special requirement to ultimately reach the end of Level 6 and the end of the game. And that Desmond being in the role of Advisor is simply to get them to remember what it is that they need to remember about the crash

• I won't have the updates for S6E14 "The Candidate" done until later.. But I just wanted to get some important information posted.

Sayid, dead.       Sun, dead.      Lapidus, may be alive!      Jin, definitely alive!

Twice, the audience has been led to believe that Jin has drowned. Once when the raft was blown up at the end of Season 1. Only to have him wash up alive on the TAILies beach. And then at the end of Season 4 when the Kahana was blown up. Only to wash up alive on the beach where young Danielle and her science team landed. And now we have the heartbreaking scene with Sun and Jin holding hands as they drown

My money is on Jin being alive - that's why we saw his hand leave Sun's - and that he will wind up alive on the beach. But I don't think we'll actually see him until the Finale when we'll see some surprise entrance by Jin. Maybe a surprise ambush to save the remaining LOSTies from FLocke or Widmore? Besides, someone needs to be alive to take care of Ji Yeon

As an added bonus, although I don't think that Lapidus will survive to the end of the show, because as I noted on 5/3/10, Pilots don't usually survive on the island. But it could be possible that Lapidus survived being knocked down by the door. He was standing right next to the First Aid box that Hurley couldn't find, putting Lapidus in the role of Lifeguard. He could have actually pulled Jin to safety. And that would be two characters that could perform a surprise ambush!

Why did Sun die? The only reason I can think for Sun's death is that she was so single minded in the Role of Star Crossed Lover (a bad role) throughout all of Season 6. She was never really acting for 'The Greater Good'. All she was interested in was finding Jin. I mean com'on, how much more selfish can you get than a Mom of a small child wanting her husband, her baby's father, to stay and die with her? What, she had no thoughts of Ji Yeon at all?

• The updates for S6E13 "The Recruit" are finished. Sorry it took so long. Not a whole lot to comment on as the episode was mainly aimed at getting the LOSTies into place and set up for things to come

• Sawyer's comment to Kate that the car accident was "Almost like someone's trying to put us together" got me thinking. I have been referring to the alterverse as another game. But perhaps it is just a special requirement for Level 6 to end. Maybe this eighth requirement is that all of the LOSTies have to be brought together in one place and remember the crash of Flight 815 and being on the island. In that case, the role that Desmond has been in of Advisor, is very important to concluding Level 6 and winning the game

• Things I firmly believe: 1) The kids are the real Candidates and 2) FLocke and the smoke monster are two separate entities with FLocke having control over the smoke monster. And something else that I am starting to think- that Adam and Eve are going to wind up having their deaths being the result of a battle between Jacob and MIB. Hence, the bag with one black stone and one white stone. The stones represent a draw in whatever the battle was

• Special thanks to Lise, Darlene, Frank, Joy and Cathie for their help with Duplicates for S6E13. There are so many in the recent episodes that it is taking longer and longer to get my updates done. You guys have been a huge help

• And thanks to Glen for his emails back and forth with me about the Mistakes in the timeline of the Flash Sideways/Alternate Game and to spudmaniii who has been watching Season 3 again and has pointed out a few things I missed back then

• No, I didn't finish the updates for S3E16 "The Last Recruit" completely. Still working on them. But I wanted to get a few thoughts up before the new episode airs. I will get as much posted before the episode as possible.

• To TPTB- You have no idea how much grief I have taken from fans over the last five years because I have been so adamant about LOST being a video game. There are two things that I would love after LOST ends- the first is that I would love to meet you. The second is that I would love to have the tiara that Claire found in the luggage in S1E5. Maybe asking for the tiara is a bit much- but how about the meeting?

By the way, I can be available the weekend of May 21st-23rd for the Finale! And I'd love tickets for the Jimmy Kimmel show. Please, Please, Please...

• Who was the last recruit? Was it Claire joining the LOSTies on the Elizabeth? Or Jack returning to the island to find out what FLocke is up to? Good question. Not sure, but my money is on it being Jack's return. Especially since we have so many Long Cons going on right now. Widmore's, Sawyer's, FLocke's, Sayid's. Why not just add another Long Con being pulled by Jack on FLocke?

• Yes, I still think that the kids are the true Candidates

• Also, I had put a timeline on getting all seven requirements done by 4:00pm. After thinking about it, I was wrong to write that, as long as Day 108 is completed, they can complete the requirements later than 4:00pm. The key is completing Day 108. The main thing about that is that I no longer think that Desmond's being down the well is the correct White Rabbit needed for the requirements to be met. My money is that someone else will go down a hole in the role of White Rabbit and actually do something while down that hole

• And yes, I still believe that Widmore has more people locked up on that sub. I think the package consisted of more that just Desmond. Besides, that sub is winding up to be a rich man's version of Mary Poppins' carpet bag. You never know what will come off the sub next. And, I honestly can't see the entire show ending without Walt making at least one last appearance

Also, another possibility is Penny arriving by boat with Little Charlie. Especially if she has any inkling that her father kidnapped Desmond

• I'll start this section by saying- THIS IS LOST, ANYONE CAN DIE. The next six bullets contain info on who I think we may see die in the next few episodes. Sorry, but it's just my personal opinion. So skip over them if you don't want to learn who I think may die and why. Just stop reading here

• Yes, we all held our collective breaths as Jin and Sun started to head toward the sonic fence, hoping that they wouldn't get zapped. Surprise! It was obviously turned off. But don't get your hopes up. No Star Crossed Lovers get a 'happy ever after' endingon this show, except possibly for Rose and Bernard who announced they were "Retired" in S5E16. My bet, one of them is going to end up Dead. Which one? Not sure.

• As for Sayid, if Sayid had killed Desmond, I'm sure we would have seen it. So, yes, I believe that Desmond is still alive. But I differ in the thoughts of many fans in that Sayid was showing a good side by letting him live. I truly believe that Sayid is still in a bad role and that his reasons for leaving Desmond alive are not purely good. I think Sayid has a plan of his own. And I also think he is probably another likely Candidate to die before the show ends. I don't believe that he can ever possibly redeem himself from being such a bad ass and facilitating the deaths of the Others at the Temple

• Now, Kate and Claire. Only one of them can be Aaron's Mom in the end. Who lives? Who dies?

While Kate came back to the island to reunite Claire with Aaron, that may occur anyway since Aaron could be on the sub. And that could make Kate obsolete, no longer needed by the island or anyone else. And please don't anyone hope for any kind of rekindling of the romance between either Jack and Kate or Sawyer and Kate. I think TPTB finally got the fans' message that they don't give a damn about who Kate sleeps with. And if Kate's "mission" is accomplished, then maybe the island will no longer have a use for her and the role of "Useless" could come into play. Let's just watch and see if there is evidence of that happening three times.

As for Claire, well, I remind everyone that Crazy is actually a good role. So she can be absolutely wacko and still be good. So what happens if she winds up reunited with Aaron. What a screwed up kid Aaron would be, especially when she says "Oh by the way ,I'm your Mommy and your other Mommy is dead". My bet is that it's possible that Kate and Claire could both wind up Dead. So, who raises Aaron in that case? Whomever finally takes over Jacob's job

• Not sure why I think it, maybe just because I love him so, but I think my man Hurley will survive. Hurley just always seems to do what's right. And I believe there is a reason why TPTB have had him step up and be the Leader of the LOSTies. I think he's going to wind up in Richard's role as an Advisor to whomever is left alive on the island. So yes, that means bye, bye Richard! But at least Richard would be reunited with Isabella in death

• That leaves Jack, Sawyer and Desmond, Miles and Lapidus:

Desmond, I'd hate to see Desmond bite the dust. But as I noted earlier no Star Crossed Lovers get a "happy ever after" life. So who dies, Desmond or Penny? We all assume he's still alive, so yes, we'll be gratified to see him again. But this is TPTB and they like twists. Wouldn't it be a shock to find out he is alive, just to see him get killed? On the other hand, if Penny shows up with Little Charlie, we could have Charles Widmore being the ultimate bad Daddy and causing her death. Leaving Desmond trapped on the island once again, but this time with Little Charlie

To our knowledge, no pilot has ever survived the island for too long. I think Lapidus' days could be numbered. It's too attractive to have both a pilot and a airplane that can be flown. If the airplane is blown up, Lapidus could be left alive. But if the airplane doesn't get blown up, Lapidus looks like a likely person for death

Miles, hmmm. Of course, he could be useful and discover how the rest of the survivors of Flight 316 were killed and by whom. But, I'm thinking he could be the ultimate red shirt. Just a feeling since Hurley can also speak to the dead. Why would Miles be a valuable asset with Hurley alive?

Sawyer, I don't think his story is over yet. He's never met his daughter Clementine. And if I'm right about the kids being the true Candidates, then we'll need to see Clementine again. And then Sawyer might be useful to raise Clementine. Also, like my man Hurley, he's one of my favorites. So it is a personal wish to see him survive

That leaves Jack. You could argue that Jack has completely taken over for Locke in being the ultimate Man of Faith, and is thereby somewhat necessary to the island. But real fans of the show know that Jack was originally supposed to die in the pilot episode. Wouldn't it be a twist to have him survive all 6 seasons just to have him die in the Finale?

• I'll post my thanks to the folks who sent me info that I use in the updates once they are completed

• The updates for S6E13 "The Last Recruit" will be posted later in the week. I had an out of town business trip last week and then spent the weekend touring a few college campuses with my niece before she makes her final decision by May 1st about where to go. So, this week I got to focus on family for a change. And that's rare when LOST is on.

And to tell you the truth, between work being so hectic lately and LOST containing so many Duplicates this season, I'm actually enjoying a few calm days where I don't have to race to get the updates done, especially since tomorrow night is a repeat.

So enjoy Ab Aeterno again, in my opinion it's the best episode of LOST ever!

• The updates for S6E12 "Everybody Loves Hugo" are done. This is a long discussion as there is much to cover this week

• To TPTB- You have no idea how much grief I have taken from fans over the last five years because I have been so adamant about LOST being a video game. There are two things that I would love after LOST ends- the first is that I would love to meet you. The second is that I would love to have the tiara that Claire found in the luggage in S1E5. Maybe asking for the tiara is a bit much- but how about the meeting?

By the way, I can be available the weekend of May 21st-23rd for the Finale! And I'd love tickets for the Jimmy Kimmel show. Please, Please, Please...

• The most frequently asked question I received this week was "Where are we in the timeline?" By my count, after the next sunrise, the LOSTies will have until approximately 4:00pm, the approximate time of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, to complete all objectives to reach the end of Level 6 and the end of the game. See Playing for more details

• The next most frequently asked question was "Why didn't Desmond know that Locke is dead and that he was actually talking to FLocke?" Desmond was only briefly reunited with the LOSTies who had left the island with him. This occurred at the Lamp Post Station when they met with Eloise Hawking. At no time was Desmond told that Locke had died. Therefore, when Desmond talks to FLocke, he is assuming that Locke is still alive and Desmond has no reason to fear FLocke

• And finally another frequent question this week was "Was Desmond the White Rabbit going down the hole that we need for Level 6 and the game to end?" Yes, I absolutely believe he was

• Here's a review of all requirements for a Level change and what is still left to be accomplished:

1) All the LOSTies need to be in good roles- they aren't, yet. Sayid is in the bad role of Guard, Claire is apparently still harboring thoughts of killing Kate as soon as FLocke gives her the okay, and Kate and Sawyer are a situation unto themselves. As is usually her typical behavior, Kate should have gone into Fugitive mode and run from FLocke, but she has stayed and has actually been seen in the role of Guard, walking around with a gun as a protection of the FLockettes. Not very Kate-like behavior. As for Sawyer, he had told Kate that he is pretending to believe in FLocke, which puts him in the role of Con Man. And finally, we have Sun, in the role of Star Crossed Lover looking for Jin. So we need some definite role changes to occur to get them all into good roles

2) All of the LOSTies have to be acting for the Greater Good- again, not yet. But since almost all of them are together now, except for Jin, hopefully Hurley and the rest of the LOSTies will come up with a plan to combat FLocke. Especially since it seems like Sawyer may already be on a path to planning something

3) Someone must be in the role of Leader of the LOSTies- we have Hurley as the leader of the LOSTies that have just arrived at FLocke's camp, Richard as the Leader of Miles and Ben, Widmore as a Leader of his people and it is assumed that Jin is still with him, and FLocke is still the Leader of the FLockettes which currently includes Sawyer, Claire, Sayid and Kate. As noted above, some allegiances will have to change to get all of the LOSTies into good roles and all acting for the Greater Good

4) The Fail Safe needs to be identified and used, my bet is that it may be some giant version of the Solenoids that Desmond was submitted to by Widmore. But who knows, maybe TPTB have another great device planned for the Fail Safe

5) The Hurley Bird needs to appear - there have been birds in S6E5-S6E10, and in S6E12 there were birds all over the walls of Spanish Johnny's restaurant where Hurley met Libby. Could they be the Hurley birds? Maybe. For my money, the birds on the walls of the restaurant were just way too conveniently placed in proximity to Hurley not to be the Hurley Bird needed for the Level and game to end

6) Someone has to be in the role of White Rabbit has to go down a hole- We've got that with Desmond being pushed by FLocke and falling into the well

7) We need to see Flight 815, either the outside of the plane or the actual crash of it. With most of the alternate timeline LOSTies now recalling events from their time on the island, there is a pretty sure bet that events are leading up to them remembering the crash and that we'll see the plane

• Now, on to a topic that I am sure I will get lots of emails about, the Whispers. I have always listed the Whispers as a form of the monster and will continue to do so. I simply do not believe all of Michael's explanation of the Whispers, and here's why. Yes, I can accept that the Whispers are voices of the dead that are trapped and can not move on. However, there were at least three instances of Whispers that did not come from people who have died on the island, so why would they be trapped there? The first one was when Sawyer heard Frank Druckett, who Sawyer killed in Australia in S1E16, say "It will come back around". While Druckett did die, he did not die on the island.

Secondly, Shannon saw and heard Walt whispering to her just before she was shot by Ana Lucia. Although we don't currently know Walt's alive vs. dead status at this point, he was absolutely alive and off the island when Shannon saw him on the island. Ditto for Walt appearing to Locke when Locke was lying in the pit with all the dead Dharma people's skeletons.

But, even more importantly, at the beginning of this episode, FLocke is sitting and waiting for the LOSTies to show up. He tells Kate and Sawyer that he knows they will come. How does he know this? FLocke could only know this if he is somehow responsible for Michael appearing to Hurley and convincing him that he shouldn't blow up the plane. Therefore, I believe that Michael was a form of the monster, acting as a Con Man, and somehow under the control of FLocke, not that he was an independent soul "stuck on the island"

• I also found it odd that Michael appears to have a head injury when he visits Hurley. I can't recall any other dead person that has visited Hurley that has had a visible injury. If you can think of one, please let me know

• Thanks to misslaura for sending me photos of the Eloise Hawking (Widmore) and the Jack look-alikes that can be found under Similar Appearances on my Duplicates page. While I caught the Eloise look-alike, Laura's pictures were much better than mine, and I completely missed Jack's look-alike

• My thoughts on why Desmond hit Locke with the car- I think he was in the role of Advisor, just getting Locke where he needs to be. I think it was to get Locke to the hospital to meet up with Jack; with Claire who may still be there because of her pregnancy; and with Jin and Sun, as Jin brings Sun in for her gunshot wound. The more the merrier to have flashbacks to the island and of the crash, just like Hurley had flashbacks when he kissed Libby. For those of you who didn't catch all of Hurley's flashes as he was kissing Libby, here they are, the first and fifth ones are white flashes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

• Speaking of my man Hurley, I loved seeing him go through all the role changes so rapidly during the slide show. As I always tell everybody- watch the props, they often indicate roles. Hurley was a Farmer, Dog Walker, Construction Worker, Box Man, Chucklehead, Millionaire and Hero (Man of the Year). And then, outside the awards dinner, a Star Crossed Lover when his Mom tells him about his blind date with Rosalita. But did you catch Hurley as a Cowboy? Visit Roles to see him in his Cowboy hat and to learn what other roles he was in during this episode

I loved seeing him in the role of Con Man. Of all the characters, Hurley rarely lies, and it is usually done by him to try and get someone to do something good. So it was nice seeing him in that role and how awkward he was when lying. It was reminiscent of how horrible he is whenever he picks up a gun, like when he shot off the flare gun by mistake, or when he tried to bluff that he had a gun and knew how to use it when Jacob appeared by the van to tell Hurley to get Sayid to the Temple

And I am thrilled that my man Hurley finally got to go on that beach picnic with Libby!

• Which brings us to the next topic. Richard says that "Jacob doesn't tell people what to do". But that is not true. Jacob told Hurley that Jin would know where the wall with the hole is, so that Sayid could be saved. So Jacob has told Hurley what to do. What does it mean? Is Hurley the only one that Jacob tells what to do? Does that mean he is special amongst the candidates? Or did the writers just slip up on this one? See Mistakes

• As for Ilana's death, I am leaning heavily toward her being Useless three times. First, she couldn't convince everyone that blowing up the plane was a good idea; second, she had "been training my whole life for this" which was to protect the candidates, and yet she brought the dangerous dynamite into their midst; and then, as Ben said, Ilana had already told the candidates who they were and "the island was done with her". I had also considered that Ilana might have been in the role of Sacrifice. That she died so that none of the candidates would be harmed by the dynamite. But she is the one who put them in harms way by bringing back the dynamite, and it's too hard to ignore the strong statements by Ilana herself and by Ben about what Ilana's purpose was. So, I'm sticking with Useless

• I've also gotten some emails from folks wondering why FLocke can't simply turn the Frozen Donkey Wheel to leave the island. Jacob referred to the island as being a cork that holds MIB/FLocke on the island. It seems that as long as there is still a viable candidate on the island to take over for Jacob, that FLocke can't leave. But why not just kill them? Maybe when Jacob touched each of them he instilled immortality on the island just as he did for Richard. If that is the case, then they can't be killed on the island. So, perhaps he has to take them off the island to kill them, just as Ben was able to kill Locke off the island. Also, if that is the case, then perhaps Richard just doesn't realize that suicide off-island is a way for him to finally die and be reunited with his wife

However, I am still convinced that it is the kids (Aaron, Walt, Ji Yeon, Charlie Hume and Emma & Zack) that are the likely candidates. So unless FLocke gets Emma and Zack on that plane, well, it probably just won't take off. And I am still hoping that Widmore may have one or more of the kids who have been off-island held captive on the sub

• I also got emails from several people asking what Hurley found in the bag with Ilana's things. At first I thought it might have been the diamonds Miles had dug up from Nikki and Paolo's grave, or the black and white stones that Jack found in S1E5. Mainly because I thought I heard a tinkling noise indicating things bumping together. But after re-watching several times, there was no tinkling sound, and I am sure that it is the same grey bag that Ilana placed Jacob's ashes into

• A few people wrote to me about Desmond telling Ben in the alternate timeline (second game) that he has a son named Charlie. According to the alternate timeline, yes, he is single and searching for Penny. But let's not forget that Desmond is obviously remembering his "other life" and knows that he has Penny and Charlie in that other life. No wonder he is going to such great lengths to get everyone to remember their "other life" as well as he is remembering it

• The April 15th Podcast with Lindelof and Cuse discusses the fact that even though Daniel Faraday is Widmore's son in the original timeline, he was given the name of Daniel Faraday by Eloise to hide the fact that he was Widmore's son. And in the alterverse, Penny's last name of Milton is most likely due to her having a different father than Widmore

• For those of you who also watch eye color, as I do, Hurley has many, many scenes in this episode in which his eyes are blue, see Eyes

• Many thanks to Lise, spudmaniii and Frank for their help with this episode. Lise did an absolutely superb job this week helping with Duplicates and Roles. A special thanks to my sister Barbara who I watched this episode with, a first, and who pointed out Ilana being Useless, as I was considering Sacrifice. Also a shout out to Paolo and LMO3 who I had lost touch with for way too long. Glad to be back in touch with you both!

• The updates for S6E11 "Happily Ever After" are done

• Duplicates, Duplicates, Duplicates... These last few episodes have just been chock full of Duplicates, so many so that it it is taking forever for me to get the updates done. And of course this episode was so reminiscent of S3E8 "Flashes Before Your Eyes". For those of you who couldn't catch all of Desmond's flashes during his MRI, here they are (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)

• My favorite thing in the whole episode was catching what I assume was a mistake, Mrs. Eloise Widmore dressed to the nines, yet wearing a pair of flip flops

• To TPTB- You have no idea how much grief I have taken from fans over the last five years because I have been so adamant about LOST being a video game. There are two things that I would love after LOST ends- the first is that I would love to meet you, the second is that I would love to have the tiara that Claire found in the luggage in S1E5. Maybe asking for the tiara is a bit much- but how about the meeting?

• S6E11 takes places on the night of 107. So we need to start looking for all of the requirements for the end of Level 6: 1) All the LOSTies need to be in good roles- they aren't yet, 2) All of the LOSTies have to be acting for the Greater Good- again, not yet, as Sayid is in the bad role of Guard, 3) Someone must be in the role of Leader of the LOSTies- we have Richard as the leader of the LOSTies on the beach, but FLocke is still the Leader of the FLockettes and to complicate matters, we have Widmore as a third Leader of his people, 4) the Fail Safe needs to be identified and used, not sure if we've seen it yet, 5) The Hurley Bird needs to appear - there have been birds in S6E5-S6E10 6) Someone in the role of White Rabbit has to go down a hole- while we had Angstrom the White Rabbit, he was locked in his cage and isprobably not the needed White Rabit

• Okay, so the big question is- Is the box that Desmond is placed inside of "The Magic Box" that Ben first told Locke about in S313? At first I was inclined to think yes, but this one looks like it is brand new and as if it was built by Widmore's people. And by the way- how the heck did that stuff fit through the hatch door on the submarine?

• Was the box with the solenoids the Fail Safe? It could be, but in general, we usually see the Fail Safe being employed on the last day of the Level. So I think maybe we will see something else that will actually be the Fail Safe

• Widmore says "...if you won't help me Desmond, all of it will be for nothing. Penny, your son and everyone else will be gone forever" and "That man is the only person I'm aware of in the world who has survived a catastrophic electromagnetic event. I need to know that he can do it again or we will all die". Looks like Desmond is vital to finishing Level 6 and winning the game. I guess that's what is so special about him. On the flip side, don't the LOSTies who survived the sky turning purple when Desmond turned the Fail Safe key, and those who survived Juliet setting off Jughead, count?

Any way, since Desmond's experience in the box obviously isn't the event that Widmore references when he says "I need to know that he can do it again", it seems that Widmore has something much larger in mind. Maybe whatever Widmore is talking about is the real Fail Safe

• Flashes, flashes and more flashes in this episode. The flashing lights in the generator room; the red light flashing on the piece of equipment Simmons uses; the white flashes in the box when Simmons is killed that can also be seen outside the box; there are several blue flashes as Zoe and Jin walk past the box, as Zoe and Seamus enter the box, and there is a peculiar blue oval flash that appears on Seamus; there are flashing lights inside as Desmond is exposed to the electromagnetic pulses; and of course the white flashes that Desmond experiences between visions of Penny and both Charlie Pace and his son Charlie when he is in the MRI; the white flash Desmond experiences when he is trying to get Charlie out of the car and the doctor flashing a flashlight into Desmond's eyes .

• Did you catch that there were two paintings of scales in Widmore's office? Both have black objects on one side and white on the other. But one painting is framed in white and one is framed in black

• Just to remind everybody- a MacCutcheon is a chess move known as the French Defense

• Desmond says "Slainte" as a toast to Widmore. It is a Scottish toast meaning "to health". It was also used as a Jacobite toast in England. Jacobites were a political movement dedicated to the return of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland. Jacobite can also refer to a follower of particular churches and Widmore and Desmond have just referred to themselves as being blessed (Men of Faith). Of course, it might also be an indication that they are both on Jacob's side

• Charlie screams "None of this matters", twice, as he is running down the hospital hallway, and then says it to Desmond again. I do hope that this is not an indication that all of these flash sideways are inconsequential. I'm actually hoping that there is going to be some grand moment when the LOSTies in the flash sideways have all realized they have 'Another Life'. And with Desmond sending Minkowski off to locate the manifest from Flight 815, it looks like that is Desmond's goal. Perhaps that will be enough to resolve the two timelines (games). But who knows?

• So it's looking like setting off jughead is responsible for the flash sideways, Daniel says to Desmond "what if all this, what if it wasn't supposed to be our life? What if we had some other life and for some reason, we changed things?"

• Eloise Widmore's star shaped pins match the star shaped scar that was scar on Juliet's back in S3E16 and is the same symbol as the symbol seen on the marked tree by the stash of serum

• Eloise is back in the Role of Advisor, giving Desmond some rules: Eloise tells Desmond "Someone has clearly affected the way you see things. This is a serious problem. In fact, it's a violation. So whatever you're doing, whatever it is you think you're looking for... You need to stop looking for it?" and then tells Desmond that he is not ready to see the list yet. Looks like someone is losing some points here as a violation for not following the rules correctly

• Anyone else notice that the view of the marina is the exact same view that we saw in the background of Desmond and Penny's picture taken at the marina? Also, that Charlotte is working at a museum just like Miles' father?

• So why is Penny's last name Milton in the alternate timeline? Is that her mother's last name? Or was she married at some point?

• Thanks to Lise, Cathie and Bob, spudmaniii, RobN and Darlene for help with Duplicates, Mistakes and Roles this week

• WARNING SPOILER - WARNING SPOILER - WARNING SPOILER - WARNING SPOILER - WARNING SPOILER - WARNING SPOILER
What happens if you're ABC and the game of LOST ends? What do you do next?
Well last Wednesday night I decided to refresh my memory about what had happened on the ABC show Flash Forward, so I could catch up and start watching it again, since I had missed several episodes last Fall. So I started with the re-cap show that aired just before the new episodes started- and low and behold- what is in one of the very first scenes? A billboard with an Oceanic logo. Well, I pulled almost an all-nighter watching every single episode of Flash Forward from start to finish. So, was the billboard just an Easter Egg? NO! ABSOLUTLY NOT! It is a hint at what FLASH FORWARD is. Watch this show as carefully as you watch LOST, you are watching another VIDEO GAME/TV SHOW. It's all there. The roles, the game references, the flashes, timelines to achieve objectives, etc., etc. ABC has created their next game!

• The updates for S6E10 "The Package" are done

• Thanks to those of you who waited so patiently for me to return emails this week. I had to go on a business trip that took a big chunk out of last week

• all_games does the happy dance now that Desmond is back. Still wondering if there is anyone else on the submarine

• FLocke tells Jin "the only way we can leave the island is if all the names that haven't been crossed off go together" So, if I am right about the kids being the real six candidates, then FLocke won't be able to leave no matter what he does. I also have to say that I am still leaning toward the possibility that my man Hurley could still be the only one of the LOSTies besides the kids that is still a candidate. I also realized this week that Charlie Hume, Desmond and Penny's son, might also be a candidate since he is Widmore's grandson

• We finally got the first indication that FLocke is lying and pulling a long con when he tells everyone he is going to talk care of them. He practically gives Claire the green light to kill Kate when he says he needs Kate to get off the island but that after that, " then whatever happens, happens". And after that statement, why would Claire ever believe his statement "I need you"?

• There was also a good indication that FLocke doesn't know about the Lighthouse, because while Kate's name is crossed off in the cave, it is not crossed off in the Lighthouse. So she could very well still be a candidate if the cave was just a con that Jacob pulled on FLocke. See the Candidates List

• FLocke says he needs three more people, presumably he is talking about Jack Shepard, Sun Kwon and Hugo Reyes, since he has James Ford and Sayid Jarrah and had Jin Kwon

• Yes, Sayid did have a brief turn at being both a Lumberjack (a good role) and a Spectator (a neutral role), but I still think he is simply doomed to die soon for killing all of the Others at the Temple, including Dogen and Lennon. Plus, Sayid says to FLocke "I don't feel anything"

• Glad to see that Sawyer, who has several times stated that "I ain't listening to nobody" or made other statements that he is on his own, tells Jin about his plan with Widmore for the LOSTies' safety. That puts Sawyer into the category of acting for the "Greater Good" and not just acting to save himself

• Did you catch the eyes in the brainwashing video? There were four eye references in them. For those of you who weren't able to see the slides in the brainwashing video in Room 23, here they are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

• When FLocke asks Widmore "Do you know who I am?", Widmore replies "Obviously you're not John Locke. Everything else I know is a combination of myth, ghost stories and jungle noises in the night". I still think that FLocke and the smoke monster are two different entities

• Why the heck did Keamy stop to clean off Jin's head after he was injured? He was planning on killing him. Was it just so we could see Keamy in the role of nurse, doing something nice for a change?

• It's been a long time since we have had someone in the Role of Dog Walker, since the nun in Santo Domingo in S5E7. But Ji Yeon finally filled that role in this episode

• We now can add Sun to the list if LOSTies who have looked in a mirror and seemed confused. We have also seen Jack, Kate and Sawyer do this as well

• S6E10 Starts on the evening of Day 106 in the FLockettes camp and ends the night of Day 107 in both the beach camp and in the FLockettes camp

• To TPTB- You have no idea how much grief I have taken from fans over the last five years because I have been so adamant about LOST being a video game. There are two things that I would love after LOST ends- the first is that I would love to meet you, the second is that I would love to have the tiara that Claire found in the luggage in S1E5. Maybe asking for the tiara is a bit much- but how about the meeting?

• A special note to the students at Watchung Hills High School, and to all of John's friends. You will be in our thoughts and hearts this week. John's family asks that you do something fun this coming Saturday. Something that John would have enjoyed. And think of him smiling and his big blue eyes filled with happiness

• Thanks to Lise, spudmaniii, Joy and Darlene with some help on Duplicates this week. And to spudmaniii and Joy for finding some things I had missed in past episodes

• The updates for S6E9 "Ab Aeterno" are done. Cudos to Nestor Carbonell for his wonderful acting this week. And in my opinion, for giving us the best episode so far this season and one of the best of the entire 6 seasons of LOST. It took a long time for TPTB to give Richard something to do besides walking a round with a torch in his hand. But damn it was worth the wait

• Let's get this straight, because there still seems to be some confusion after all these years. I am not some geeky 20 something guy who lives in his parents' basement. I am a 53 year old professional woman. My first name is Doreen. And I own the basement

• What was different about this episode than most other episodes that we have see since the beginning of LOST? The fact that there were so few Game references in this episode. However, the basic plot line of this entire episode was Essau/MIB running a long con on Ricardo/Richard. On the contrary, we had more forms of the Monster than usual

• Where are we in the game? S6E9 took place on the night of Day 106 and the morning of Day 107

• For those of you who still doubt that eye color changes occur. Please note that Hurley and Richard's eyes are normally brown, not blue as they were in parts of this episode. You can find the screen caps on the Eyes page along with the Season 6 poster that shows many of the charcaters with strange eye colors

• Well, TPTB finally eliminated the "They're in Hell" theory that some fans insisted on holding on to until now. Amen

• I have stated before that a Man of Faith can face down the smoke monster, as Eko did during his first encounter with it. Richard does the same thing by praying as the Black Smoke Monster "reads" him with flashes of light. As a result, Richard is spared and the Black Smoke Monster leaves

• In S6E6 Dogen tells Sayid "Do not let him say a word " as he is sending him to kill FLocke. In S6E9 Essau/MIB tells this to Richard as he is sending him to kill Jacob. Coincidentally, both appear to have the same knife

• For those of you who did not participate in any of the online LOST activties, it was revealed in these that Magnus Hanso, the Capatain of the Black Rock was also the greeat-granfather of Alvar Hanso. Alvar Hanso founded the Hanso Foundation which financed the Dhanrna Initiative. There was also information on the map on the Swan Hatch blast door that indicated that Magnus Hanso was buried on the island

• Lots of people emailed asking if I had a screen cap of the page of the Bible that Richard is reading when Father Suarez takes the Bible from him. It is Luke 4:37 and it is the story of Jesus ordering the devil from a possessed man's body

• Father Suarez committed three offensess while in the Role of Man of Faith: he refused Richard absolution, he stole his Bible and then he sold him into slavery. So he probaly qualifies for a quick death. Too bad we won't get to see it

• To those of you who doubt that a 200 foot wave could carry a ship inland and still leave it fairly intact and without causing more damage in the area where it ended up, it can happen. As a volunteer in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, I saw many ships that were larger than the Black Rock that had been picked up and carried over a mile inland by a 50 foot wave without doing major damage to the surrounding area near the grounded ships. Ditto for the damage than can be done by a 200 foot wave, knocking down the statue of Taweret is entirely feasible, rather than just the Black Rock crashing into Taweret's head (1, 2)

• Put in info on Matt's email re: knives and killing FLocke

• I will have delay answering my emails this week. Sorry, but I have a very busy week ahead and won't get to email until at least Friday, maybe Saturday. But I promise that I will answer them as always, just a few days later than usual

• I will be puting this at the end of every update from now to the end of LOST- To TPTB- You have no idea how much grief I have taken from fans over the last five years because I have been so adamant about LOST being a video game. There are two things that I would love after LOST ends- the first is that I would love to meet you, the second is that I would love to have the tiara that Claire found in the luggage in S1E5. Maybe asking for the tiara is a bit much- but how about the meeting?

• Thanks to Lise for all of her help with Duplicates and Roles this week. She comes through every week! Thanks to Joy for finding a "Go back" quote that I missed for S3E20

• The updates on S6E8 "Recon" are done. Sorry, I had hoped to get these posted before the new episode aired tonight. But a root canal over the weekend put a stop to reaching that goal

• Whew, lots of Roles and Duplicates in this episode. My favorite Role? FLocke as the Daddy, slapping Claire and calling her behavior"inappropriate". Also loved Sayid as Crazy just sitting there watching Claire trying to kill Kate

• Did you hear the bells ringing as Sawyer found the drag line (1, 2) and followed it to the bodies? It was very similar to the bells ringing in S5E2 that was brought to my attention by Bob and Cathie.

Listen very carefully when the flaming arrows are being shot at the LOSTies in S5E2. There is a "ding, ding, ding" type of noise that occurs as the arrows hit certain targets. The noise is very similar to what happens in an arcade or video game. Bob's comment to Cathie was "That sounds like an arcade, when someone is shooting at ducks!" Sounds like the LOSTies are earning points for avoiding being hit by the flaming arrows since the noise seems to occur when they avoid being hit rather than when they are hit. And in S6E8 it sounds like Sawyer is earning points as he follows the trail to the dead bodies.

• Once a con man always a con man. Sawyer is running a con on both Charles Widmore and FLocke. And he has both of them believing he is working for them. As Sawyer said earlier in this episode "I ain't with anybody". FLocke seems to take Sawyer's word without question but Widmore asks Sawyer "How do I know I can trust you?" and Sawyer replies "Same way I know I can trust you" Talk about trust issues, this one episode had lots of them do to all the con games going on. And Sawyer's plan may not include anybody but himself

• I had posted the following on 3/18/10 and decided to incorporate it into this section on the entire episode-

Just a few more thoughts to support the idea that the final 6 candidates are Ji Yeon Kwon, Clementine Ford, Aaron (Shepard), Emma and Zack (last name unknown) and Walt (whatever last name he is going by to hide his true identity as a LOSTie)

Claire and Walt were both kidnapped for protection because Aaron and Walt are candidates. Emma and Zack were kidnapped along with several other TAILies because they were all candidates. Remember that the Others were working off a list when they took Emma, Zack and the TAILies. It was probably one of Jacob's lists

Why would the adults with the same last names be eliminated at this point? Probably because they have all shown a dark side at one point or another. However,the kids are still good (pure, innocent, whatever you want to call it)

And who does Charles Widmore have locked up on the submarine? And, whoever it is requires a guard outside the door? My money is on it being Walt. Remember that the Others had a tough time keeping control over him when they had him. But I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Widmore also has Clementine and Ji Yeon locked in there as well

• I had also written this below on 3/16/10

So, why haven't we actually seen the smoke monster morph into FLocke? Is it possible that the smoke monster is just FLocke's ride? And not actually FLocke himself? And that FLocke has somehow taken the smoke monster as a sort of pet? And that he may be pulling a long con on the FLockettes.

And then we get this episode where Kate is crying in the banyan trees. And FLocke approaches her and puts his hand out to her to help her. If he is the smoke monster, shouldn't hiding in the Banyan trees protect her from him? It has in every other episode where Kate has hidden in Banyan trees.

Are there different rules now? Or is FLocke just lying about being the smoke monster to frighten people into following him? It obviously didn't work on Sawyer. He didn't even flinch when FLocke said "I'm the smoke thing"

• I get lots of emails asking me why we see so many scenes of people giving each other a drink or water; and have been asked if it is somehow related to Role changes in the character that drinks it. The answer is no. I haven't seen any evidence that it causes role changes in the person that drinks it. So why do we see it so many times?

First, it actually places the person offering the drink of water into the Role of Waiter, so the character changing Roles is the person offering it, not the drinker. Second, and I think more importantly, it has been a popular fan theory from Season 1 on that the water plays an important role in LOST. I think TPTB are having some fun with the fans and have just incorporated it into LOST to keep up the mystique with fans who are convinced that drinking the water has a meaning. I also think it is one of the reasons why we are seeing so many mirrors this season

• I also get lots of emails asking me about the Alternate Reality in the Flash Sideways and how they fit into the game. Actually, I think the Alternate Reality is actually another game being played. That is, two games are being played simultaneously. In the Alternate Reality/Second Game the plane crash didn't occur on September 22, 2004. Will it occur? I assume it is still an option in the game and that a plane crash will occur at another point in time. Or, perhaps in this game, a crash on the island isn't required

• Sawyer has also put himself in danger of dying by not acting for the Greater Good. In S6E3 Sawyer claims he is on his own. But at the beginning of S6E8 he tells Jin "We ain't leaving without her" about Sun. Then, in S6E8 he tells Kate "I ain't with anybody". I am hoping that his plans to steal the sub and get off the island with at least Kate means that he really is cooperating and negates his statements about being on his own

And Claire gets the first strike against her when she tries to kill Kate, while Claire is in the role of Mom. Mom's shouldn't kill. As FLocke (in the role of Daddy) indicates when he slaps Claire across the face and says "This is completely inappropriate"

• Where are we in the game? The end of S6E8 was during the dinner hour for the FLockettes on Day 106

• Since Charles (Pa) Ingalls told Laura (Half-pint) Ingalls "People aren't really gone when they die" when Sawyer was watching "Little House on the Prairie". Makes you wonder who else is coming back before the end of the show?

• The updates for S6E7 "Dr. Linus" are done

• Lots to discuss this week as the episode was written by Kitsis and Horowitz. While episodes written by Lindelof and Cuse take hours to catalogue, episodes written by Kitsis and Horowitz always contain lots of Games, Duplicates and Role changes, and sometimes take even longer to document

• I thought that there was a big mistake in this episode when Miles said "Nikki and Paolo, who got buried alive with $8 million in diamonds". How does Miles know they were buried alive? No one is supposed to know that. But then I realized that now that he is near their dead bodies, he knows the truth about their deaths. See Mistakes

• Could someone please tell me when Miles got the tattoo on the back of his neck? It was never there before

• A few fans have written to me worried that Hurley is wearing a red shirt and that they are hoping that this doesn't mean he'll be the next to die. While I can't say for sure who will die next, it is time to at least review who is in danger of dying. This information can always be found under the Deaths section of my Playing page. Here's a brief synopsis of where certain characters stand at this point in the game

I honestly feel that no one is safe from dying this season. To date, Sayid, Jack, Kate and Sawyer each have two strikes against them. I haven't seen any evidence that Sun, Jin or Hurley have done anything to put them in danger of dying. BUT, Frogurt was Useless three times in rapid succession in the same episode and died in that very same episode. So who knows?

• And, as an added note on Deaths, I have long felt that the reason that Arzt died was because he wasn't acting for the "Greater Good'. Now this week, we get Arzt in the role of Useless. Not sure what's up with that, but I doubt we'll get to see Arzt as Useless two more times in the 10 episodes left to get to the required three times Useless and your dead rule

• I have been thinking a lot about Ilana saying that there are only 6 Candidates left. See Candidates for a compete list of the names seen at the cave and the Lighthouse. I had a very strange thought. Bear with me as I lead up to it.

Besides the 4-Locke, 8- Reyes, 15-Ford, 16-Jarrah, 23-Shepard and 42- Kwon names not being crossed off in the cave in S6E4, in S6E5 there are also other names in the Lighthouse that were not crossed off. Kate's name appears at the Lighthouse and it is not crossed off, it is next to the number 51. The other names that are not crossed off at the Lighthouse are: 56- Haasra, 57- Grimwault and 60- Kysea. This probably indicates that they are candidates in addition to the names seen in the cave, but Ilana says there are only six candidates left

While the podcasts are usually not that important to understanding the show, Lindelof and Cuse did discuss something interesting in the March 11, 2010 podcast. They indicated that the cave may have been a deliberate set-up by Jacob, so FLocke would find it. And that perhaps FLocke doesn't know about the Lighthouse and the names there. If that is the case, then Kate is still in the running. Logic would lead us all to believe that the obvious candidates are our LOSTies Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, and possibly both of the Kwons. I am assuming that Sayid is definitely off the list at this point and Locke is dead

And while I have been hoping that the actual person who winds up with Jacob's job is my man Hurley because, of all of the LOSTies, he is the purest of heart, the kindest and at times the most logical. And we have been seeing him more and more often step up and make decisions. BUT I have this nagging feeling that TPTB still have a few zingers left for us

So, I started thinking about the three names from the Lighthouse that we do not know- Haasra, Grimwault and Kysea. Who are these people? It's a bit late in the game to start introducing three new people and their stories. Then I realized it's got to be people that we already know by their first names, but don't know their last names. So who could they be? And as I have said many times, I also kept thinking about the fact that I truly feel in my gut that the kids need to come back

So here it is my thought- what if we are being misled as to who the real candidates are? What if they aren't our LOSTies, but have the same names as some of them?

What if Kwon refers to Ji Yeon? What if Shepard refers to Aaron since Claire is Christian's daughter? What if Ford actually refers to Sawyer's daughter Clementine? What last name is Walt going by since he got back home, so no one links him to the crash of Flight 815? What is the last name of Emma and Zack (the two kids the Others took off of the TAILies beach in Season 2) and who have been seen sporadically over the years for no apparent reason?

Add them up, that gives me 6 possible candidates. I could be way off, but once again remember that TPTB love to throw us curve balls. I guess we just have to wait and see

• Here are the logistics in the game. We are on Day 106 as of the end of S6E7

The group on LOSTies beach consists of Ilana, Sun, Lapidus, Miles, Jack, Hurley, Richard, and Ben. However, it was curious that both Richard and Ben were standing on opposite sides of the main group of LOSTies as Widmore's sub watched them

FLocke and his FLockettes (I couldn't resist - I was born and raised in NYC) consist of several Others, Sawyer, Kate, Jin, Sayid, Claire, Cindy, Zack and Emma (see what I meant above- why was it so important to show us that the kids were saved?)

• I also got a few interesting emails this week from loyal fans of my theory. Long time fans of this site will remember discussions about the video game Black & White and its extreme similarities to LOST. And I understand that there is currently a discussion going on in one of the LOST discussion forums where there is a thread that is discussing the idea that LOST is simply TPTB playing the Black & White video game

While there is no doubt that Black & White has been the primary influence in the creation of LOST, as there are many, many similarities to the game of Black & White, there are also many differences. The biggest differences are the time limits to the Levels in LOST; the rules of LOST; the requirements for Levels to change in LOST; that the LOSTies and Others eyes' change colors, not the monsters; that while construction goes on in LOST, no skyscrapers are built in LOST, etc., etc. etc. So while the principles are very close- LOST is ultimately a much more complex game than Black & White or Black & White 2. If you are interested in learning more about Black & White, you can find them on the internet or on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_&_White_(video_game) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_&_White_2

• Just another wild thought here. We all agree, the graphics of the smoke monster just keep getting better and better. So, why haven't we actually seen the smoke monster morph into FLocke? Is it possible that the smoke monster is just FLocke's ride? And not actually FLocke himself? And that FLocke has somehow taken the smoke monster as a sort of pet?

• Is Widmore the man that Jacob told Hurley was coming to the island? I guess we all knew he would probably get there sooner or later. But if he is welcome by Jacob, then is he good? Or does Jacob know something about Widmore that could make him capable of destroying FLocke? Does Widmore have someone 'special' on board? Like Walt? It's not past Widmore to kidnap a kid. Keep in mind that Widmore wanted Ben to kill Alex

I made comments below under 3/13/10 regarding FLocke pulling a Long Con on the FLockettes. I mentioned that Shannon, like Nadia, died in Sayid's arms. And that FLocke could wind up bringing Shannon back instead of Nadia? Let's take that a step further. What if Sawyer doesn't get Juliet, but gets another love of his life- Cassidy and Clementine? What if Claire gets reunited with Aaron, and Jin gets reunited with Sun and Ji Yeon, but it means bringing Aaron and Ji Yeon to the island? It would put all of the kids (candidates) on the island!

• I can't pass up the opportunity to mention certain Roles this week- Arzt as the Man of Science/ Entomologist with his insect chart again and Miles becoming a Millionaire by digging up dead bodies (see Duplicates)

• We were reminded of course correction again when Lapidus says "Imagine how different my life would have been had the alarm gone off" and Ben replies "How different would it have been? The island still got you in the end"

• Was anybody able to get a clear enough screen cap of the patches on the back of Alex's backpack to identify them? Let me know

• To TPTB- What is the signifgicance of Nurse Kim Kondraki and Principal Don Reynolds having sex in the room where they give hearing tests? Maybe it's nothing, but it seemed like something to me

• Also to TPTB- You have no idea how much grief I have taken from fans over the last five years because I have been so adamant about LOST being a video game. There are two things that I would love after LOST ends- the first is that I would love to meet you, the second is that I would love to have the tiara that Claire found in the luggage in S1E5. Maybe asking for the tiara is a bit much- but how about the meeting?

• There were several red flares visible in the scene where Ben meets up with Ilana, Miles, Sun and Lapidus (1, 2) However, if you watch carefully you can see that these are being caused by the torches effects on the camera lens

• Anybody notice that in S6E4 Ben and Arzt taught at a junior high school and now they are teaching at a senior high school? See Mistakes, there were lots of them in this episode

•Thanks to Lise and Joy, who each found one more example of Banished. And as always, to Lise for her unending help with Duplicates, typos and for always being supportive of me. Especially on those days after I've been up past 3:00am working on updates

• The updates for S6E6 "Sundown" are done

• Dogen tells Sayid "For every man there is a scale. On one side of the scale, there is good. On the other side, evil. This machine tells us how the machine is balanced. And yours tipped the wrong way". Dogen later refers to FLocke as "evil incarnate". Which obviously means that there is no good in FLocke at all. So shouldn't everyone be a little concerned about the promises he is making them? See Opposites for a discussion of the 'good' and 'bad' side of each main character

• Speaking of promises, FLocke's promise to Sayid is to allow him to see the woman he loved who died in his arms. So, sounds like Nadia, right? Let's not forget that Shannon also died in Sayid's arms

• Who's on FLocke's side as of S6E6? Claire asks FLocke why he doesn't send Sawyer or Jin into the Temple. So, like it or not, that means that they are with FLocke. Making FLocke's group Sayid and Claire, who have obviously drunk the koolaid, and Sawyer, Jin and Kate. We have no idea if Sawyer, Jin and Kate will remain with FLocke. What will FLocke promise Sawyer? Probably Juliet. Jin? Probably being reunited with Sun. But what does FLocke have to offer Kate? To get Claire home to Aaron?

• What are the chances that FLocke is running a Long Con on the Others and the LOSTies with him? Probably 100%

• Sundown was the end of the first day after Jughead. That means 6 full episodes to cover just one day. So where are we time wise? At the end of day 105 for all LOSTies to be on the island. However, we are still missing Desmond, Aaron, Walt and possibly Ji Yeon. Other than Desmond who was told by Mrs. Hawking that "the island isn't done with you", I'm still not sure if the rest need to come back

• Well, at least we now know why such a big deal was made over Dogen cutting his hand to see if the spring's waters would heal him. Which it didn't. It's pretty obvious that he and Lennon are dead and are going to stay that way. No miracle cure for them

• I added the Role of Banished, since this is now the second time that someone has been banished. It happened to Charles Widmore in S5E12 when he was forced to leave the island, and now to Sayid. Although Sayid didn't stay in the role of Banished for very long

• Anybody catch that Keamy was wearing Mr. Paik's watch?

• Another nod to our friendly neighbors to the north when Sayid says that he has "to go to work in Toronto". See Duplicates for other references to Canada. And thanks again to my favorite Canadian, Lise, who is always so helpful with Duplicates and typos

• Thanks to senorsock8 for identifying the baseball stadium seen on David's wall in S6E5 as Dodger Stadium in LA. See Games

• The updates for S6E5 "The Lighthouse" are done. Sorry it's taken so long. Please see the bullet below.

• As you know I have been adamantly saying that we haven't had the change from Level 5 to Level 6 because we haven't seen the crash of Flight 815. I've gone back and I've watched every episode from this season again.

Especially since we have had so many indicators this season that the level has changed (new locations, a new group of Others, resets to the roles required at the beginning of each new level, etc etc.). And I've re-watched every single episode from past seasons when a level has changed

I kept looking at the episodes where levels changed and the scenes of the plane crash; and instead of concentrating on what was similar, I was concentrating on what was missing. It finally dawned on me and I had a eureka moment

What S6E1 had in common with these other episodes where Levels changed was one simple fact, not that we saw the crash of Flight 815, BUT THAT WE SAW THE OUTSIDE OF THE PLANE. So I also went back and checked other episodes from past seasons

And damned if wasn't true, we only see the outside of the plane in episodes where Levels change. Oceanic Flight 815 doesn't need to crash after all, we just need to see the outside of the plane

So here it is, I am officially stating that Level 6 began in S6E1. Therefore I have gone back and removed the section on the Playing page named What Happened to Level 6?; and have revised the information that was previously in that section and added it to the pertinent info in the Level 6 section

So, I humbly apologize to all of you that I had been so stubborn and insistent on a view of the crash of Flight 815. I was wrong. It now appears as if simply seeing the outside of the plane was enough

• When they reach the Lighthouse, Jack says to Hurley "I don't understand. How is it that we've never seen it before?" and Hurley replies "I guess we weren't looking for it" That could be it, they didn't find it because it was never a requirement to locate it in another Level, or maybe it just never existed until Level 6.

• See Candidates List for a complete list of names in the cave and in the Lighthouse. Besides the 4-Locke, 8- Reyes, 15-Ford, 16-Jarrah, 23-Shepard and 42- Kwon names not being crossed off in the cave in S6E4, in S6E5 there are also names that were not crossed off. This probably indicates that they are candidates in addition to the names seen in the cave. Kate's name appears at the Lighthouse and it is not crossed off, it is next to the number 51. There are other names that are not crossed off at the Lighthouse as well: 56- Haasra, 57- Grimwault and 60- Kysea

• A special note to the students at Watchung Hills High School, and to all of John's friends. You were in my family's thoughts and in our hearts on Saturday the 6th. And a huge THANK YOU to those of you who came

• Don't know how I missed this mistake, but caught it when I was re-watching episodes. The base of the giant foot changes from when Jin, Sun and Sayid first see it where the base is crumbled, to when the Others arrive at the foot and the base is securely made of blocks of stone. See Mistakes for all of the other mistakes in this episode

• Jacob tells Hurley "Someone is coming to the island. I need you to help him find it". We don't know yet who "he" is. Widmore? Walt? Desmond? Aaron? Somebody else?

• There is a picture of a baseball diamond on David's bedroom wall. I am not sure if this is Fenway Park, but I'm sure someone will email me and let me know

• A note on red flashes- about every two months or so I'll get an email from some photographer or another who argues that the red flashes we sometimes see on LOST are simple camera flares. S6E5 gave us an excellent of a red flash that was deliberately placed. It is well known that only the first floor of the lighthouse was built as a prop, the rest of it was computer generated. Yet, as the camera pans to the top of the lighthouse, there is a red flash at the top. It was obviously placed there deliberately

What do they mean? Well in some cases they appear on found objects and could indicate points being earned for finding the object. In one instance, there was a red spot that appeared on Sayid's cheek as he was standing on the Freighter's deck. Even though the camera stayed still and Sayid moved around in the shot, the red dot stayed on his face. I have no idea what it meant, maybe it was marking him for something in the future? A third example of red flashes appearing seems to be centered around an upcoming Level change. For now, I'll keep cataloguing when and where they occur and hope we'll get an explanation when LOST ends

• Just a bit of trivia, the type of animal trap that Jin's leg was caught in is actually called a "gin trap"

• Thanks to Carlos for reminding me of this again, unlike my thought that the last episode of LOST will end with "Game Over", being written on the screen, he feels that instead of saying LOST, as it always does, it will simply say "WON"

• Many thanks to Lise, Barbmom, Frank, Cathie and Bob, and Joy for your emails.

• Okay, my trip to hell and back due to moving my website seems to be over. At least for now. Thank you for being so patient with me.

• Updates for S6E4 "The Substitute " are done. Still working on S6E5 "The Lighthouse" but I promise to have them done before Tuesday's new episode

• Where are we in the game? We are still on Day 1 after Jacob was killed and Juliet set off Jughead. Still no crash of 815 to indicate level change from Level 5 to Level 6. Read more on the Playing page under What Happened to Level 6?

• Candidate has been added as a good, extraordinary role on the Roles page. According to FLocke, these are the candidates for taking over Jacob's role of protecting the island. Names being crossed off do not necessarily mean that the candidate is dead. Littleton is crossed off, but both Claire and Aaron are still alive. And Straume is also crossed off, but Miles is still alive as well.

For a complete list of names listed on the walls of the cave and on the dial at the lighthouse see Candidates List. Although I am still working on updates for S6E5 "The Lighthouse" I have gone ahead and included names listed on the dial at the Lighthouse. If you have any information on names that I may have missed on the lists, please let me know and please send pictures to document any names you locate. While this is the mother of all lists, you may also want to visit Lists on the Duplicates page for other lists that have been featured

• The big questions from S6E4 are why does FLocke need Sawyer to help him "go home"? Now that FLocke has a body, why can't he simply use the Frozen Donkey Wheel to transport himself off the island? And is there another way off the island that Jacob always used? Is FLocke just running a long con on Sawyer? What are Flocke's true motives? And exactly where or what is his home?

• And this always drives me crazy. in S3E9 the Others used a Large Boat to take the Others plus Jack, etc to leave Alcatraz and go back to the main island. Why has this boat never been mentioned again when people talk about leaving the island?

• Ilana's crying seems to indicate a strong relationship with Jacob. Could she be related to him somehow?

•A return to "Boone Hill" to bury Locke ends up with one of the funniest lines of the show when Lapidus says "Weirdest damn funeral I've ever been to" after Ben admits to murdering Locke while giving his eulogy. I couldn't stop laughing

• Did you see the picture of Desmond? He's in the poster on the wall in the temp agency. It was tough to get a good screen cap of this, but it was clearly him. Thanks to RobN for pointing it out to me

• Did you catch the small stuffed bear inside Locke's cardboard box? Although colored like a teddy bear, it looks more like a polar bear's face. See Games for the other games and toys in this episode

• Many people emailed to mention the animal seen darting across dead Locke's face as he was lying dead on the beach. Lots of fans were excited thinking it could be a Medusa spider like the one that paralyzed Nikki and Paolo; and that it could indicate that Locke wasn't dead. It is not a spider, as many people thought, sorry, it's just a crab.

• There were lots and lots of flashes in this episode. There are three white flashes as the smoke monster is traveling. The first is as it leaves New Otherton, the second is as it is moving through the jungle and the third is just when it stops moving near the machete. There are also several red flashes. There are two in New Otherton as the smoke monster travels through. The first appears in the lower center of the screen and the second appears in the lower right of the screen. There are also two red flashes as the smoke monster travels through the jungle toward Richard (1, 2). And a final red flash can be seen in the cave

• Didn't you just love it when FLocke saw the bloody boy? I love this game, even monsters have monsters!!!! See Monster page. I am assuming he's dead since Richard couldn't see him. Which makes FLocke, and then FLocke and Sawyer both Psychics, see Roles

• Did you notice the big white rock by the fire pit? There is also a smaller white rock next to it. This is the first time we have seen a big white rock featured, usually they are black. See Black Rocks on the Duplicates page. And of course there are the black and white rocks on the scale in the cave

• Just a bit of trivia. Flocke tells Sawyer that "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck was published "after my time". Which means that FLocke was trapped sometime prior to 1937 when the book was published

• Thanks to Frances for identifying the silver object around Dogen's neck. It is a prayer box pendant called a “Ghau”. These ghau are mostly made of silver, however the Tibetan artisans also use brass, copper, gold and other metals. Ghau often have intricate designs, auspicious symbols and mantras inscribed on their outer surface..The Ghau opens to a concealed inner space, and is traditionally used by Tibetan Buddhists to hold a picture of their favorite deity or Lama, a folded up scroll of sacred mantras, special herbs or sacred relics. The Ghau is used as an amulet to help the wearer to ward off negative energy and attract blessings. Ghau are also used as a portable shrine and are worn on a cord around the neck and hung close to the heart

•Thanks to Lise for her help with duplications and to Frank for always being so quick to email me after an episode

Just two pieces of news that I want to share with you.

• There are some people reporting that they are having some problems accessing the site. Sorry if you are having problems. I hate my hosting company and the site will be migrating to a new platform on or about February 22nd

The second reason may be that several of the pages have become so copy intensive and large that they take forever to load. Try entering the site from my home page, it is the smallest file and should load readily

I am doing everything I can to make it more accessible, including trying to reduce the file sizes for some of the pages by making some changes to the html copy. Please bear with me

• The second item I wanted to let you know about concerns Vossek, he posts his episode recaps over at DarkUFO.com. Sadly, Vossek's home burnt down last week and he and his family are living out of a trailer on their lawn. Fortunately, no one was hurt

As you know, I do not allow any advertising on my site. But Vossek was quite kind to me recently when he published his new book "Things You Never Noticed About Lost". It includes a wonderful description of my theory, as well as detailed information on many other theories. And I want to return his kindness to me

If you are interested in purchasing Vossek's book to help support him and his family you can go to thingsinoticed.com and buy the book directly from him. All money goes directly to Vossek, I will not receive a penny from this

• The updates for S6E3 "What Kate Does" are complete

• Dogen tells Jack that Claire has been claimed and they believe that Sayid has been too. For now, I am not going to make this a new role, as it may just be that the dark player now has complete control over their characters. And that these characters can no longer be accessed by the light player.

• Are we seeing signs of recognition of Another Life in 2004? Jack and Kate exchange glances at each other as if they recognize each other is some way other than bumping into each other on the plane. And Kate gets a strange look on her face when she finds the stuffed whale.

• The date on Claire's sonogram is 10-22-2004. There has been a lot of discussion on the boards about a post by Greg Nations who works for the show and sometimes answers fan questions. He would not say if the date was correct or if it should have read 09-22- 2004, which was the date of the crash of Flight 815. But he did say that there was some kind of clue in the sonogram. If the date is correct, is Claire actually having a girl instead of a boy in the alternate reality?

• What the heck is the silver thing that Dogen wears around his neck and keeps touching when there is a problem? Anyone have any ideas?

• What was the indication that Sayid had failed the test that Dogen gave him? Was it because when the ashes were blown across Sayid's chest, they didn't settle on him?

• Thanks to Lise for her help with some of the Duplicates and for finding some typos, to RobN for help with identifying some of the cars in this episode and to Joy for reminding me that several of the characters can understand morse code (Translator)

• The updates from S6E1 & S6E2 "LA X" are finally done. Still working on the updates for S6E3 "What Kate Does". Work and several feet of snow took up a big portion of my time during the last few weeks.

• Since S6E1 and S6E2 aired as one episode here in the states, and to save myself some time, I have referred to the S6E1 & S6E2 updates as just S6E1 wherever they are cited. Obviously, "What Kate Does" will be referred to as episode S6E3.

• A bit of background information on the "X" in the title of this episode which is "LA X". The "X" is deliberately separated from the LA by a space. If "LA X" were simply being used to refer to the three letter designation for the airport, there wouldn't be a space between LA and X. But there is a space. What does it mean? Well, "X" is commonly used in comics and other media to denote an alternate universe or alternate reality

• Okay, so where are we as far as the game levels go? At the end of Season 5 we had met all of the criteria for the change from Level 5 to Level 6, except for seeing the scene of the crash of Flight 815. Back in May, I had said that I hoped to see the crash at the beginning of this season, but we haven't seen it yet. So, no Level change yet. Throughout Season 5, I kept saying that I thought that Desmond, Aaron, Walt and Ji Yeon needed to return to the island for the Level to change. Well, they haven't returned. So maybe I was right about that being a requirement.

Normally, I would just put most of these notes on the Playing page, but I'm getting lots of emails asking me what is going on. So I will put the info here and also include an expanded version on the Playing page under What Happened to Level 6?.

So what is happening? It appears that using the Failsafe Jughead did not result in completely un-doing the entire string of events leading up to the original crash of Flight 815, but actually resulted in the creation of two alternate realities. It is also entirely possible that the use of Jughead may have caused a complete replay of Level 5. Why? Up until then all the criteria were being met, but once Jughead was used, there was no plane crash seen. The plane crash is always the last indicator of a Level change. Maybe Jughead wasn't the Failsafe they were supposed to use.

Before she died, Juliet said "It didn't work" but when Miles puts his ear to the ground, he says that he heard "It worked". I have serious doubts that what Miles heard actually came from Juliet, as he is trying to listen you can actually hear some of the sounds that the smoke monster makes. I think it was the smoke monster that Miles heard and not Juliet. In that case, Juliet would be right in that it didn't work.

And now, we have the introduction of the Flash Sideways which many fans are finding very confusing. All I can say is that while there were lots of fans that didn't like the two timelines, I have a feeling that there will be as many, if not more, that strongly dislike the alternate realities. Hang in there with me and I'll explain what is happening in the two different realities.

The first is the reality of the original story line which continues to take place on the island. In this reality, all detonating Jughead appears to have accomplished was to fatally injure Juliet, blow up the Swan Hatch site and jump them through time once more to get Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Jin, Sayid and the dying Juliet to 2008.

In the second reality, we have Flight 815 safely landing in LA. But there are some odd things in this reality that are very different than what we saw on the original Flight 815. Most obviously, the plane doesn't crash. However, there are some more subtle differences as well. And to truly appreciate these differences, you really need to know LOST.

What's different? Here are some examples for starters. Their seat assignments have been switched around. Boone is traveling without Shannon. Desmond is on the plane on this trip. As evidenced by his passport, Sayid is an Iranian, not an Iraqi and he is five years younger than we had been told he is. Sun and Jin aren't married, as she is not wearing a wedding ring and is called Ms. Paik. Rose calms Jack down instead of the other way around. And Hurley the Millionaire says he is the luckiest guy alive. On top of all of these and many others, we have Jack who seems a little befuddled that they didn't crash, he then asks Desmond if they have met before, and then we see Jack staring into the mirror in the bathroom as if he is trying to figure out what is happening.

Okay, so back to the question, when will the level change occur? I am starting to think that it may be some time before it happens as there appears to be a major dilemma which must be resolved before it can occur. In Season 5 we had two timelines that needed to be resolved; in Season 6 we have two story lines. Somehow, I believe, the two alternate realities will have to merge. I have no idea how it will occur. I just think that it will have to happen before the level changes. Perhaps it will be something as simple as the vague feelings that something isn't quite right in the non-crash reality increasing in frequency. Feelings that grow stronger and stronger until the crash is recalled by one or more of them, thus merging the realities. Who knows?

The other question I keep getting emails about is what my opinion is of the alternate realities. Back in May, I had proposed a few possible scenarios as to how TPTB might handle this season due to the fact that there would have only been four on-island days left in the game if the level had changed. Yes, they could have handled it "Jack Bauer style" as on "24" and made four days last an entire season. But I had a feeling they wouldn't do it that way as it has been so well done by "24". So that meant something else had to happen. I also proposed that we might see some sort of alternate reality where they needed to meet each other and somehow get back to the island. I didn't like this last idea because I felt that too had already been at least partially done in Season 5.

And there is also the possibility that we may actually be replaying Level 5 and actually have the 8 days from Level 5 plus the 4 days from Level 6 to get through. As usual, I will count the on-island days that pass and watch to see if we have the Level change indicators occurring and when they occur.

For now, I have to say that I trust in TPTB to deliver us a fantastic final season. And no matter how they handle it, I'm sure it will be worth every moment.

• Regarding roles in the alternate reality, it is entirely possible that some of the roles in the alternate reality that had been good roles are now bad ones and vice versa. For instance Hurley tells Sawyer that "Nothing bad ever happens to me, I'm the luckiest guy alive". It could mean that the role of millionaire in the alternate reality is now a good one, not a bad one. Just be aware that I will continue to catalogue roles according to the way I have been doing it all along. It would be a logistical nightmare for me to try and re-catorgorize good and bad roles in the alternate reality.

• Regarding roles in the on-island reality, the Dharma logos seen on the jumpsuits no longer indicate roles after Jughead is detonated.

• I have also been getting lots of emails from people who are convinced that Sayid is alive again because Jacob has taken over his body. Somehow that just seems like too simple an answer, as TPTB like to surprise us and that seems too predictable. I'll cover it more when I do the updates for S6E3, but for now, I'll just say that I think that what will happen with Sayid is that he was "healed" the same way that young Ben was. And that all of the good in Sayid will be gone.

• Yeah, the Lumberjack is back in this episode! Rose shows the front cover of the "Weekly Woodsman" when she is the Lumberjack but flips the magazine over to show "The Truth Is Out There..." on the back cover when she slips into the role of Star Crossed Lover. See Roles page. "The truth is out there..." was the motto used for the "X-Files" TV show which often had episodes based on alternate realities

• Double yeah for the fact that Arzt is back as the Man of Science (an entomologist carrying a book about insects). I love Arzt in this role. For those of you who don't know this, I have an MS degree in Medical Entomology- the transmission of diseases by insects- for instance, Malaria, Lyme Disease and West Nile Virus. Yeah, I know, it's an odd background and there are very few of us around. So it makes Arzt all the more special to me

• As everyone else seems to have adopted it, I have decided to use the term FLocke when referring to the Fake Locke/ Man in Black/Esau/etc

• Just thinking out loud here.... Anyone notice that so far, with the exception of Sun, everyone that we were shown that Jacob touched has at one time or another been taken prisoner by the Others? First it was Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley at the end of Season Two (although Hurley wound up being let go) and now Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Jin and Sayid. Hmmmm... I wonder if Jacob ever touched Miles? If so, does it also mean that Sun is doomed to be captured by the Others at some point?

• I have added the role of Translator to the Roles page. I have been keeping track of instances when someone suddenly speaks another language on the Duplicates page since I started this site. But Joy (springday) and the character of Lennon, Dogen's translator, finally convinced me that I should add this role new

• Well, we have another Philosopher to add to the Duplicates page. Dogen, the head of the Others at the Temple, shares his name with Dogen who was the prominent Buddhist Philosopher that founded the Soto Zen tradition. The historical Dogen died on September 22, 1253. Yup, the same month and day of the crash of Flight 815.

• And don't you just love the fact that Dogen's translator was named Lennon? His granny glasses, love beads and bare feet were all done to perfection.

• The shark with the Dharma logo on its tail is back. See Duplicates, but I apologize, some of the screen caps of the island under water (shark, swing set, 4-toed foot, New Otherton houses, etc.) are all very dark. I got a few emails asking me what I thought the sunken island meant. It simply means that in the alternate reality the island sank sometime after New Otherton was built. What I did find significant is that part of the ankh is visible near the 4-toed foot. This is not the case in the continuing reality on the island, no part of the ankh is visible in 2008.

• Congrats to LMO3 on the birth of her new son in September. I just found out about it.

• Sorry, I didn't finish the updates from S6E1 yet. It's been a nutty week around here.

• I've been getting lots of emails about the new Flash Sideways (Lindelof and Cuse named them that in their 2/4/10 podcast) and have been asked if we got the Level change to Level 6. I don't think so. Although we met almost all of the criteria, we did not see Flight 815 crash. More on where I think we are in the game when I get the updates done.

• Many thanks to all of you who have written to ask if I will be back updating again for Season 6. ABSOLUTELY! Can't wait for tonight. Don't want to post any spoilers, but, as usual, Lindelof and Cuse have some big twists in store for us tonight. And as usual, Lindelof and Cuse are writing the Season 6 premiere, so that always means lots of facts for me to catalog. I'm hoping to have the updates done for tonight's episode by Friday.

• The only updates that I am posting today are the updates to the Episodes page. It now lists the titles of upcoming episodes that have been released to date.

• To all of you who have emailed me regularly during the past four Seasons, and to those of you that I had been sending notices to when I complete my updates: My website hosting firm has been doing some changes to my email account and, unfortunately, my entire address book was lost in the process. Please email me so I can add you to my address book. Lise, Frank, Barb, I have your addresses.

• Comic Con was great. While I didn't camp out overnight, I waited in line for 4 hours for the LOST Panel, got a great seat and it was fantastic.

Besides Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we were treated to appearances by Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Michael Emerson (Ben), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Dominic Monahan (Charlie) and Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert).

It was worth every second that I waited in line just to see my man Hurley and Sawyer on the stage

• What did fans learn from the panel? Not a whole lot, as Lindelof and Cuse were as evasive as ever

But there were a few tidbits revealed:

There was a strong indication that Jack's plan of altering the time line was somehow accomplished when Juliet set off Jughead. This was directly releated to three of the videos shown at the panel. See the links below to the youtube videos of Hurley's Mr. Cluck's Commercial, Kate's America's Most Wanted Video and the Oceanic Airlines Commercial. All three videos show alternate story lines that differ from the facts that we already know from the last 5 seasons

Jacob has never appeared in any other form on the show other than as the Jacob we saw in the Season 5 Finale. They said that Jacob always looks like Jacob

Charlie and several other departed LOST characters will be back in Season 6. As an added teaser, Dominic Monahan had a cryptic message written on his hand asking "Am I alive?" when he came onto stage at the end of the panel

Juliet and Daniel Faraday will both definitely be back in Season 6

The mystery of the pallet drops will be revealed in Season 6

We will get Richard Alpert's flashback in Season 6

Season 6 won't rely solely on either flashbacks or flash forwards, but on another story telling device

The Dharma Initiative storyline has been played out and probably won't be re-visited in Season 6

LOST University will be launched on September 22, 2209, the website for it is currently showing a film clip shown at the LOST Panel that ends with the words "coming soon to Blu-ray Hi Def", giving the impression that some form of this interactive feature will appear on the Season 5 Blu-ray Hi-Def set

• Since the videos of the panel are so large, instead of putting them up here, I have decided to post some youtube links if you want to watch parts of the LOST Panel

Panel Discussion Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Hurley's Mr. Cluck's Commercial
Oceanic Airlines Commercial
Kate's America's Most Wanted Video
Spoof consisting of Michael Emerson Auditioning for Hurley's part

and two fan videos that were shown at the panel
LOST Babies
Brokeback Island (Don't miss this one of Sawyer and Jack)

• Thanks to all of you for being so patient, I have finished the details for the updates for S5E16 & S5E17 "The Incident Parts 1 & 2". Since they aired as one episode, I have referenced most of the details throughout the updates as S5E16

• The Finale gave us lots of references that are directly related to how the game works. For instance: Sawyer says "Let me get this straight, Jack sets off the nuke, which somehow resets everything". This is an indication that we were coming up on a Level change, that Jughead's core will be the Fail Safe, and it also reinforces what I have been saying about a reset of all characters occurring at the beginning of each Level.

We now know that there is a loophole in the rules, the one that the man in the dark shirt (who I refer to below as Esau) uses that enables him to have Jacob killed by tricking Ben into doing it. It could also explain the reason why Keamy could kill Alex for Widmore.

For other rules, see the Playing page

• I have added the role of 'Retired' since Rose announced that she and Bernard were "retired". It appears to have taken them out of active play in the game. We'll have to wait and see if they will be able to come out of retirement to rejoin the game at some point. Especially since it doesn't make much sense to reintroduce them at the end of Season 5 if they won't be actively participating any longer. It also raises the question as to whether or not any additional LOSTies may have survived the Flaming Arrow attack on the camp three years earlier. If they did, where are they?

• A special not of thanks to Lliw for pointing out an oversight on my part that has since been corrected

Yup, I was right, LOCKE IS DEAD, DEAD, DEAD. It's funny but as soon as Lapidus looked into the silver crate I knew what we were going to see later on, Locke's body in the box. I feel so vindicated. And to all the fans who kept telling me that I was wrong and that he had been reincarnated, I just have to say, damn it feels so good to have been right on this one.

Of course I need to watch it again, but here are my initial thoughts...

Yes, I do believe we had a level change. Here are the requirements

1) All of the LOSTies have to be in 'good' roles (Juliet as Sacrifice; Sawyer and Kate as Lifeguards trying to save Juliet from falling; Jack as Man of Faith; Hurley, Miles and Jin as Nurses taking care of Sayid; Sayid as Patient; etc)

2) They have to be cooperating with each other for "The Greater Good" (All of them were doing what they thought was best for the LOSTies)

3) Someone has to take on the role of the Leader (Several people were leaders, including Juliet and Jack, but I think Jack gets the distinction as the Leader needed for the level change)

4) The Fail Safe has to be identified and utilized (Good old Jughead's core)

5) The Hurley Bird needs to appear (Listen to how loud the birds are when they are standing by the van as they are getting ready to bring Jughead to the Swan Hatch site, the birds were incredibly loud, even I couldn't believe how obvious they were. By the way we saw birds at two other times during this episode, once at the very beginning when there were birds flying around the statue's head and then there was a dove featured on the cover of the book that Jacob was reading as he was sitting on the bench when Locke fell from the window.)

6) the White Rabbit needs to go down the hole (Juliet falls into the hole at the drill site just like Kate fell into the Swan Hatch at the end of Level 1)

7) We need to see the plane crash again which most often occurs at the very beginning of the new Level after all other requirements are met (Expect to see it at the beginning of Season 6)

Moving on to other topics, Jacob and his companion/nemesis were a fantastic illustration of the concepts of light and dark, good and bad, two sides playing the game. We even had a discussion between the two of them about the rules. I am not taking credit for the name Esau because I have already seen several other fans refer to Jacob’s companion/nemesis as Esau. Especially since their relationship so closely resembles the biblical story. So for this discussion, I'll call “Mr. Who Knows What His Name Is?” by the name of Esau.

Esau is obviously vying with Jacob for the role of Leader. And their relationship resembles the relationship between Ben and Widmore. Does that mean that Ben and Widmore represent the two people playing this game? Or that Jacob and Esau are the players? With one being light and one being dark? I don’t think so. I don’t think that anyone inside the game is actually a player. I have always believed that the actual game players are outside of the game. I think it is more likely that the battle between Jacob and Esau and the battle between Ben and Widmore are just examples of the underlying theme within the game of the struggle between good and bad.

One thing I’ll throw out here that has been going through my mind since last night is that whatever the Smoke Monster is, that its essence or whatever you want to call it, is actually Esau. After all, the Smoke Monster/Alex incarnation told Ben to do exactly what Locke wanted. And Locke wanted Jacob to die.

Didn't you just love the fact that Ben finally got tricked into doing something that he probably shouldn't have done? He's been such a master manipulator that it was good to see this tactic being turned around and used on Ben. And Ben fully admits that he has never seen Jacob.

I also think that it was Esau who was being held in that cabin by the ash circle. Once the circle was broken, Esau could escape. The last person who left that cabin was the real Locke after he was told by Esau (who was pretending to be Jacob) that Locke had to die. Locke could have easily broken the ash circle and allowed Esau to escape because he thought it was something Jacob wanted. Then Esau gets out of the cabin and simply waits for Locke's dead body to be returned to the island so he can take on Locke's persona.

Here are my final thoughts at this time about Jacob and Esau. Does Jacob actually die as a result of being stabbed and thrown into the fire? Or if Esau can be the Smoke Monster, can Jacob actually wind up having his core essence still being active in some other form. Way back in the early Seasons of LOST there were a lot of discussions by a bunch of fans about not only black smoke, but about scenes where there were clouds of white smoke that appeared in the background. I was never really convinced by the screen caps they used to support these claims of a white smoke entity. Maybe it’s time to go back and think about that possibility again.

Another possibility if Jacob isn't completely dead and gone is that his "good" essence will still be around leading to the possibility of him taking on another form. Since there are so many dead LOSTies buried on the island, maybe he can easily appear as someone else. Personally, I'd love to see Arzt again!!! Let me know what you think.

And lastly, who the heck was Jacob referring to when he said “They’re coming” just before he supposedly died? Was he talking about the rest of our LOSTies who were trapped in 1977 actually coming to join Sun, Lapidus and Ben in 2008? Or is someone else coming to the island in Level 6? Each Level always introduces a new group that needs to be dealt with. When Ben called Widmore from the dock before he was going to shoot Penny, he said he was going back to the island. And Widmore is now in touch with Eloise Hawking. Will Eloise tell Widmore how to get back to the island?

Let me start my discussion of the possible results of the Level change from Level 5 to Level 6 by saying that I viewed this Level change as resembling, if not identical to, the Level change from Level 2 to Level 3 when Desmond used the Failsafe key in S4E24 and the sky turned purple when the Swan Hatch imploded. The good news could be that everyone will survive the use of Jughead’s core, including Juliet. And for Juliet fans there could be a huge bonus coming, maybe Juliet will wind up running around naked in the jungle, just like Desmond did at the beginning of Season 3 after he had turned the Failsafe key.

What happens at the start of season 6? Ooh, there are lots of options here depending on who was right about what the bomb would do. But most importantly, we will need to see the crash of Flight 815. I'm including a few thoughts here on possible outcomes, but as consistent as I have been about predicting events and deaths, the TPTB always surprise me with storylines. But let me throw out a few ideas of what could possibly happen in Season 6

Will we see the first crash of Flight 815 happen just as we have seen it every other time? In that case Miles would have been right when he said that using Jughead might have been the incident that causes the need for the numbers to be entered on the Swan Hatch computer. Keep in mind that the Finale was named "The Incident Parts1 & 2". If that’s the case then the timeline could just stay on track and we will see our LOSTies still on the island but post-Jughead and picking up the pieces of their lives. With this scenario, they could also use the flash that occurred as Juliet was banging on Jughead's core with a black rock to bring everyone on the island into the same timeline of early 2008. That means reuniting our LOSTies and we would get a big Sun and Jin reunion. Yeah!!

Or will Jack and Daniel be right and we'll see that using the Failsafe turns back time and they are all happily on their way to LA with all indications being that they will land? According to Jack’s thinking, Desmond will not be in the Swan Hatch since it would never have been built. So Desmond won't miss entering the numbers and the plane won't be affected.

But I don't think Jack was right in thinking that Flight 815 will land in LA. Let's not forget Whatever Happened, Happened and Course Correction. Flight 815 will need to crash on the island. If the Swan Hatch was never built because of Jughead, then I would expect to see that something else will cause it to crash. Who knows what will happen? Maybe a flock of Hurley birds will fly into the engines of Flight 815 and cause the plane to crash.

If that happens then what would it mean for the folks who survived the first crash of Flight 815 but died post-crash on the island? I'm talking about survivors of the crash of Flight 815 like Charlie, Joanna, Boone, Libby, Shannon, Mr. Eko, Nikki, Paolo, Michael, Ana Lucia, Frogurt, etc? It would probably be next to impossible to assemble them all again into the cast for Season 6. Instead, I would expect that a more likely scenario would be that instead of there being 42 survivors of this so-called second crash of Flight 815, that maybe there would be a smaller number of survivors of the crash (15, 16, 23 could be possible options).

Now let’s look at these two Season 6 scenarios from the standpoint of some of the characters. And let’s keep in mind that there are only 17 hours of LOST left to complete all the story lines.

If Jack was right, and the plane lands safely in 2004 in LA, then the LOSTies are off the island, they don’t know each other and we won’t get any more scenes of our LOSTies on the island unless they all start having dreams or flashbacks about what happened on the island. Or if they all somehow decide they need to find their way to this island that they are dreaming about.

I think its way too much story to handle in just 17 hours of episodes. And let’s face it, who really wants to see another season focused on off-island efforts to meet up with each other to get back. Besides what does this scenario mean for Walt? His growing up in real life would be problematic for a return to a 2004 timeline.

TPTB have promised us answers and they have been great at giving us lots of answers so far. But there is still so much left to answer for fans. Why would TPTB ever devote so much time to storylines that have already been done? So I’m betting on some version of scenario number two.

In scenario two, if Miles was right, all of the characters seen on the island or even off-island at the end of Season 5 can remain viable characters in Season 6.

What about Desmond, Walt, Aaron and Ji Yeon? I have been adamant about saying that they still need to go back to the island. I thought that they would need to return before a level change could occur. Was I wrong and they didn’t need to return to the island for the Level change to occur? Are these four characters so special that they don’t need to return? Maybe. But we know that Eloise Hawking told Desmond that the island isn’t done with him yet. And that in a discussion between Locke and Abaddon in S5E7 that Abaddon asks Locke why he didn’t tell Walt about going back because Locke had said they all needed to go back. Was Locke wrong about who needed to go back?

The last possibility is one that needs to be considered. Was I right that Desmond, Walt, Aaron and Ji Yeon needed to return for a level change to occur and that, in fact, we didn’t see a Level change from Level 5 to Level 6? Seeing the crash of Flight 815 at the beginning of Season 6 will give us that answer.

That’s it for now. I need to get back to doing the updates. By the way, thanks to Frank who sent me a great email asking a lot of questions, he inspired me to post this info today.

• The updates for S5E15 "Follow the Leader" are done.

• I get asked over and over again if I don't agree with the assumption by many fans that Locke is somehow more special than any other character on LOST. First of all, my answer is no. After answering the same question so many times, I decided to add this question and my answer to my FAQ page. You can use this link to go directly to my answer.

• The handwriting in the inscription by Eloise Hawking in Daniel's journal is different that what was seen in S5E14 when she gave him the book. This is another of the many mistakes in a prop that is the primary prop associated with a character. See Mistakes That May Be Important on the Mistakes page and see the other mistakes in this episode toward the bottom of the Mistakes page

• Once again, Richard is seen wearing reading glasses, so apparently the island still can't seem to heal eyesight problems. See Eyes for other eye references

• I have added a new neutral role of 'Advisor' to the Roles page now that we have had the explanation from Ben about Richard that "He's a kind of advisor and he's had that job for a very, very long time". It reminded me of the statement by Abaddon in S5E7 that his job was to get Locke where he needed to be and of Eloise Hawkings' actions in S3E8 when she tells Desmond about Course Correction. I debated with myself about whether or not these three instances might simply be that they were in the role of the 'Teacher', but they didn't quite fit. I decided to give 'Advisor' it's own role once I thought about it for a while. Especially since the actions of Eloise Hawking in S3E8 and of Abaddon in S5E7 were so hard to place without this role being added

• And we got to see the amazing changing picture again when Sun showed it to Richard. See Mistakes

• A few fans wrote to tell me that the scene of the Galaga submerging were so obviously computer generated that they felt they were watching a video game. See what Games were in this episode

• The updates for S5E14 "The Variable" are done.

• Don't miss the White Rabbit that was hidden in S5E14 on Daniel's wine glass at the restaurant. And be sure to see Duplicates and Roles for the other White Rabbits in this episode

• So why did Daniel die? See Deaths on the Playing page

• What the heck is in that Guitar Case that my man Hurley keeps hauling around with him? Is it just a way to put Hurley in the Rock God role, or is there some greater significance to it. Since we learned in the Finale that it was given to Hurley by Jacob, my best bet is that there's something really good inside of that guitar case, I'd hate to think that Hurley just had some fruit roll-ups in there

• The writers amaze me, they have taken Radzinsky from being the sympathetic character he was back when we first learned about him from Kelvin Inman (in regard to the dark stain on the ceiling in the Swan Hatch) to making Radzinsky into a total jerk that all fans are learning to despise. I can't wait to see what it is that finally puts Radzinsky over the edge. On the other hand, I must admit that I was a bit suspicious back when we first learned about Radzinsky in S2E23. I thought back then that perhaps Kelvin had actually killed Radzinsky. And now, after learning more about Radzinsky, I think a good case could be made for justifiable homicide if Kelvin had to spend any amount of time locked inside the Swan Hatch with him

• Ooh, I loved the fact that Charles Widmore is Daniel's father, making Penny and Daniel half-siblings. The big question now is just who the heck is Penny's mother? Since we know that Charles was banished in part for having a child with a woman who wasn't an Other, it looks like Penny's Mom isn't secretly Eloise Hawking. Are we going to find out that there are more half-siblings out there? For my thoughts on how these Connections may be generated in the game, see Connections on the Playing page

• Desmond's repeated promises to Penny that he will never leave her make it pretty clear that if Desmond does come back to the island, he will have Penny and Little Charlie with him. Why else would they bother including his promises again and again? See other promises on the Duplicates page in the Same Dialogue section

• At least three Mistakes in this episode appear to be the direct result of integrating footage from previous episodes into this episode. But there were additional mistakes, that are particular to this episode alone

• While I am still working on the updates for S5E14 "The Variable" and S5E15 "Follow the Leader", I thought it was important to let you all know that we may be headed for a LEVEL CHANGE from Level 5 to Level 6. I have been going back over the last few episodes carefully and I firmly believe that we may be headed for the Level Change when we see the Season Finale this week.

What's needed for a Level Change, first, the correct number of days in the Level must be met.

We were two days shy of a Level Change from 5 to 6 when we went into the Time Out (when the Oceanic 6 left the island). I have been saying all along that I thought it wouldn't occur until Desmond, Walt and possibly Aaron and Ji Yeon were back on the island. But if you look the fact that Jack, Kate, Sayid, Sun, Hurley and Locke have been back a few days, we may have had the two days needed and we may be headed toward the long awaited Level Change.

What else is needed?

1) All of the LOSTies have to be in 'good' roles
2) They have to be cooperating with each other for "The Greater Good"
3) Someone has to take on the role of the Leader
4) The Fail Safe has to be identified and utilized
5) The Hurley Bird needs to appear
6) and the White Rabbit needs to go down the hole
7 ) We need to see the plane crash again (often occurs at the very beginning of the new Level after all other requirements are met)

The facts are that Sayid is now back working with Jack for "The Greater Good", we've had a few white rabbits (Jack and Sayid going down into the pool of water to enter the tunnel), and lots of possible Hurley Birds, and Jughead may be the "Failsafe". But, we may not see the Plane crash until the beginning of Season 6. So that may make it difficult to call the Level Change.

But you can bet that I'll be watching the Finale carefully. And re-watching it many, many times!

• I finally had a chance to catch up on some things that I had fallen behind on and the Podcasts page is now up to date.

• The updates for S5E13 "Some Like It Hoth" are done. I'm still working on S5E14 "The Variable"

• We now have a "Circle of Trust". See the Playing page for other instances of people trusting each other and what importance it may have in earning points

• This episode had one of the most original methods for a character to die that has been seen on LOST to date. Alvarez is killed when one of his dental fillings is dislodged and passes through his head. For other unusual ways that characters have died see both Roles (under Dead) and Duplicates (under Same Manner of Death)

• Well, we now know why Miles had asked Ben for $3.2 million dollars, it is double what Charles Widmore had offered him through Naomi ($1.6 million) to find Ben. In this episode, Miles tells Bram that $3.2 is his asking price to leave Ben and the island alone

• There were a large number of Mistakes in this episode

• I loved seeing the "No Lifeguard On Duty" sign on the pool fence just before Young Miles found Mr. Vonner dead. See Roles

• I have added new sections on the Duplicates page for Duplicate Dialogue (quotes dealing with Circles and What Lies in the Shadow of the Statue) and under Similar Fates, Circumstances & Props (Sharks and Dental Problems)

• I had fallen behind during the later part of April on the Podcast page updates. But since the podcasts are only posted here as a convenience and because the S2-S5 podcasts can be found elsewhere, I decided to concentrate on the episode updates first. I'll get to the podcasts asap.

• Thanks again to Lise, Barbmom and Frank for their emails of support. Unfortunately, the last few episodes have included an awful lot of deaths in them and I have been finding it difficult at times to do the updates. I'm trying, but some days are really tough. Please bear with me.

• The updates for S5E12 "Dead is Dead" are done. I am still working on the updates for S5E13 "Some Like It Hoth".

• Since we have now seen a Young Ben, a Young Ethan and a Young Charles Widmore, we know that, unlike Richard, these three do age. Also, if Amy's baby Ethan and this young boy are the same person, then, like Ben, Ethan must have also defected to the Others at a very young age.

• I have been keeping my eye on the ax located on the outside wall of the Processing Center. Sooner or later someone is going to grab that in the role of the Lumberjack

• Charles Widmore is shown to have been banished sometime after the Purge, circa 1992, however, both he and Miles have stated that Widmore's been looking for the Island for about 20 years. See Mistakes This is further complicated by the fact that Alex looks to be about 5 or 6 years old when Widmore is banished. That would mean that only about 10 years had passed before Miles, et al arrived on the island when Alex was 16. One possible answer might be that when Charles returned to the outside world that he was sent back a number of years into the past.

• Well, I was right about Locke being dead. Ben tells Sun "Dead is Dead" and "You don't get to come back from that, not even here"

• Just how old is the Smoke Monster? Well, since we see a picture of what looks like the Egyptian God Anubis knelling before it, it looks like old smokey has been around for a very long time.

• What are the similarities and differences between the scenes where Ben is being judged by the Smoke Monster and when we saw Mr. Eko in S3E5 being judged by the Smoke Monster? Both are in the role of 'Man of Faith' as they are being judged and both see Flashes of their lives in the smoke. The big difference is that Ben is repentant for his sins and is allowed to live, while Mr. Eko was not repentant and was killed.

• See the Monster page for screen caps and a video clip of the scene where Ben is judged by the Smoke Monster

• For a good example of a role change, pay attention as Lapidus puts down the oar (Sailor). It happens just an instant before Jed runs up to him and Lapidus changes into the role of 'Leader' (Captain Lapidus)

• Thank you to those of you who sent condolences regarding the recent death of my wonderful nephew John. And very special thanks to Lise and Barbmom, your emails and messages of love and support have given me some of the strength I needed to get through the last few weeks. They also provided the added incentive to gather my determination to complete this update and to keep this website going. I will forever miss John's excited calls each and every week as soon as as a new episode ended and the many long talks with him year round about the show. I just want to let you all know that this website will be dedicated to John and I am now more determined than ever to keep it going until the end of LOST.

• My family has been dealt a terrible blow and we are now coping with the second death in our family in less than 1 month. For those of you who knew my very special nephew John, please know that my family deeply appreciates the love and support that we have received from all of you who have reached out to us.

We know that many of his friends are devastated and hurting and our hearts go out to you. We hope that you will turn to your family, friends and the support systems that have been put in place to help you cope with the loss of John, a most unique and remarkable young man.

This website would not have even been started if it weren't for John. If I can, I hope to have the updates for S5E12 and S5E13 completed sometime prior to the next new episode on 4/29/09. If only because that is what he would have wanted me to do.

• The updates for S5E11 "Whatever Happened, Happened" are done.

For an episode that was written by Lindelof and Cuse, I have to say that it didn't take me quite as long to complete the updates for this episode as some of their other episodes have taken me in the past. I always try to take extra care when they write an episode as they often include either Level changes or indicators of Level changes that are coming soon.

So are we getting close to the Level change? No, no Level change yet, but we did get to hear a Hurley Bird. (Crank up the volume as you Listen)

We've also just had another White Rabbit (Richard taking Young Ben into the Temple) and whatever is in the Temple may be our next Failsafe. However, the LOSTies are not all cooperating for "The Greater Good. " First, Sayid has gone rogue. And second, Jack seems to have just given himself another major notch on the old in 'danger of dying' list for refusing to operate on Young Ben while in the Role of "Doctor". For more discussion see the "Time Out" and "Deaths" sections on the Playing page.

BUT, by far, the biggest thing hindering the Level change from 5 to 6 remains the fact that we don't have all the required LOSTies back yet.

• The most obvious mistake in this episode occurred with Young Ben's bullet wound. In S5E10 when Sayid shot Young Ben, he shot him on the left side of his chest, near his heart. Yet, in S5E11 when Jin picks up Young Ben, and in all subsequent scenes in this episode, the bullet wound is now on Young Ben's right side

• Many of you have emailed me about the increasing number of scenes where a character is shown with one eye in light and one eye in shadow. I have added some additional notes on the Eyes page under the section "All Characters Have Had Eye Color Changes". While many fans seemed to have missed the eye color changes that were so obvious in Seasons 1-3, there is no denying that other than props, the use of light and shadow is now one of the primary methods to indicate a role change. In fact, now that we are more than half way through Season 5, it has become one of the most common indicators used with eyes, rather than color changes. However, eye color changes are still being seen in some episodes this season

• YES, I STILL THINK LOCKE IS DEAD. I don't care what we saw and heard from Locke at the end of the episode when Ben woke up and saw him at his bedside. Remember that this next episode's title is "Dead is Dead". What if Locke says "Welcome back to the land of the living" and Ben is the one to burst his bubble and tell him "John you're dead". Plus, they have been leading fans all along with all the blatant references to reincarnation. We even saw the Canton Rainier anagram this week (see Games). If TPTB are true to form, they will follow through on their methods of getting fans to think one thing and then, BOOM, they'll do something else.

• What a great way to give us some of the rules for Time Travel on LOST, I loved both the "Back to the Future" discussion and the discussion about time travel between Miles and Hurley. The time travel discussion could go down as one of my top 10 favorite scenes ever. As you all know, I frequently refer to Hurley as my man Hurley, so most of the scenes on that list would probably include him anyway! Don't miss the podcast from 4/2/09. It includes some of the footage from the actual filming of that scene and also a behind the scenes discussion between Jorge Garcia (Hurley) and Ken Leung (Miles) about just how confusing that scene was for them to do. See the Playing page for some of the other rules that we've been given to date

• I find it interesting that so many fans are having a hard time understanding why Juliet works in the Motor Pool when she isn't taking care of patients. The fact is, it's simply due to the fact that she is in different roles when she is performing those diverse duties. No one ever seemed to think it was weird when a man who sat behind a desk in a wheel chair all day could suddenly hunt boar, so why is this any different? It's not, they simply don't understand Roles and how important they are to LOST.

• What's gonna happen to Young Ben at the Temple? Richard says "If I take him, he's not ever gonna be the same again" and "What I mean is, that he'll forget this ever happened and that his innocence will be gone". So what will Ben forget, just that he helped Sayid escape to help little Ben join the Others?

We know that Ben will return to Dharma and he will grow up to kill his father and that as an adult he will still have Annie's doll and obviously remember her. And obviously he remembers his father's bad treatment of him as a child since it all plays a major part in why he kills his Dad. So he can't forget everything, and you could make the argument that the beatings as a child and memories of Annie are part of his innocence. So maybe Richard is referring to his innocence being wiped out in that Ben will begin to plot long-term revenge against his father and that is what Richard is aware of. That the good that was in little Ben will be wiped out.

So what does happen in the Temple. Will it be some sort of proverbial pact with the devil for his soul. He lives for now, but his soul belongs to the Others?

And what about the fact that Ben later claims he was born on the island. I can think of three possible reasons for that statement. 1) He is Ben, he lies. 2) He honestly doesn't remember that he wasn't born there, or more than likely, 3) He is referring to some sort of "rebirth " that will occur to him in the Temple.

If it's a case of some sort of rebirth, is that what all the reincarnation hints have really been about instead of being about Locke?

• I lost a bet with Lise this week. She'd been sure all along that Kate had left Aaron with Carole Littleton. I was sure that she left him with Cassidy. I nearly jumped out of my seat when Cassidy opened that door. Only to be proved wrong a little later when Lise won. Oh well.

• Thanks to Sally S for her donation to help keep this site going. It was most appreciated

• Thanks to Frank for some great emails this week. He's been a big help this week helping me sort through some of my thoughts. Frank and Lise are usually two of the first few people who email me after a new episode and I look forward to reading their emails

• I'm just gonna toss out a few thoughts here. I have been thinking a lot about all of the kids and their various connections to the island and our LOSTies. Just thinking out loud here. Maybe Clementine will come to the island, just like I think that Aaron, Walt and Ji Yeon will be back. They could be part of the whole next generation that will take over the island. Throw in Desmond's little boy Charlie and along with Emma and Zack who are still there somewhere, we are starting to get quite a collection of kids.

Now, one thing I did find curious is that Erik the Other said to Richard that Ellie and Charles aren't going to like what he plans to do with Ben. That means that Ellie and Charles are still on the island in 1977. We know that Charles is Charles Widmore. And it hasn't been confirmed yet, but we have been led to believe that Ellie is Mrs. Eloise Hawking. That also means that Penny and Daniel may have been born on the island. It also still leaves open the possibility that I had posted before that Daniel and Penny may be siblings. I can't wait to see how that all works out.

One more thing, in my opinion, I have all but ruled out Miles being Dr. Pierre Chang's son. I just don't think that two versions of the same person can be on the island at the same time. Now, you could argue that since we haven't seen their baby boy again that maybe he left as a baby with his mother. It's possible, but maybe the baby we saw that was identified as his son isn't important.

Maybe the Chang's actually have another child who is a girl. And that little girl could be Sun. It would explain two things, one that she couldn't wind up in 1977 on the main island since another little girl version of her is already there. And two, that her mother was once married to Dr. Chang and somehow took her off the island as a child and wound up raising Sun with Mr. Paik who is really her step father. That would make Sun another example of being "Raised By Another".

Maybe Paik's money came from Dharma. We know on this show that being a "Millionaire" is bad. Bad things happen to people around them. Maybe he was paid off to keep her safe and that is why he was so opposed to her marrying Jin. So maybe Mr. Paik really was just trying to protect Sun and keep his end of the bargain. Maybe the island had other plans for Sun, such as marrying her off to someone else. May be a bit of a stretch, but I keep looking for reasons why Sun didn't wind up in 1977.

And I still think that Ji Yeon has to wind up coming back. If Sun winds up leaving to get Ji Yeon and then comes back, maybe she then winds up reunited with the LOSTies and Jin in some time frame where there isn't a chance of two versions of her being in the same place.

• The updates for S5E10 "He's Our You" are done.

• I took a lot of grief when I said that Walt might have to die if he doesn't get back to the island early enough. See the Playing page. Many fans emailed me saying TPTB would never kill a kid. Well, we just saw Sayid shoot Young Ben. And although I don't think Young Ben will die from the gun shot wound, I do think it is an excellent way to introduce the fans to the idea that any character may be in danger of dying. Even if the idea of hurting a child may not agree with some fans

• We are now starting to see some very curious blue flashes occurring and there were three different scenes in this episode where they were visible. See "Time Out" on the Playing page

• So who is Ilana really working for? I'm thinking Ben is behind it, even if she thinks she is working for Avellino's family. Especially since Ben went to such elaborate lengths to work a con on Kate in order to convince her to come back

• Didn't you just love it when it looked like Horace was going to torture Sayid with those wire cutters instead of cutting off the handcuffs? See Roles for the use of other props to indicate roles. And be sure to take a look at how carefully Horace covers over word "Mathematician" on his jumpsuit when he slips into the role of "Sheriff" and starts to question Sayid

• Another broken neck this week, this time it was Sayid killing the chicken. See Duplicates for other instances of broken necks

• In the 3/26/09 podcast TPTB apologized to Rebecca Mader (Charlotte) for blaming the age discrepancy in S5E8 on her and said that is was their fault that it occurred, not hers

• The name above the door on the apartment building says "Oldham Pharmaceuticals" in Cyrillic. Another Duplicate name this week was Ivan

• Thanks to sensorsock for pointing out that while I did notice one mistake in the picture of the recruits seen in S5E9, I missed the fact that a male recruit in the picture was missing from the scene when the photo was taken

• Thanks to Caroline, Frank, misslaura, Lise, Jeff and Frances for being so supportive during this past week

I would like to thank many of you for helping me with a recent problem

Every six months or so I wind up having problems with people who post information from this website in various forums and make claims that my theory is in fact theirs.

I am in the midst of just such a problem.

There is a poster named itsagame, who located this website about two months ago. I had repeatedly asked him, on several occasions, to stop posting word for word excerpts of the copyrighted content of this website and to stop laying claim to parts of my theory.

To those of you who responded to my request for assistance in this matter, I thank you very much.

While it has not been completely resolved, much progress has been made with the third parties involved toward ending this unfortunate situation. They have been most cooperative and are moving to resolve the issues in as timely a manner as possible.

I appreciate their attention and assistance and I look forward to this being over in the very near future.

I also want to make my intentions clear here.

It is not my desire to stop other fans from discussing the fact that LOST is a game. I encourage that and always have.

Nor have I ever claimed that I own what has been created by TPTB and is being slowly revealed to fans over time. I have stated over and over again that I am in awe of their genius and that I have nothing but the utmost respect for TPTB.

However, it is my intention to protect my copyrights regarding my own original thoughts and interpretations included on this site.

all_games

• The updates are done for S5E8 "La Fleur"

• I would like to thank the many people who emailed me because they were concerned about the notice I posted on 3/9/09 regarding the delay in the updates due to an urgent family matter. Sadly, there was a death in my family. Many of you have become good friends of mine over the years and know that I try to be as timely as possible when it comes to responding to emails, so please do not be upset if I am unable to reply to some of your recent emails. And please know that I am very grateful for your support.

• For a wonderful example of the use of props when a character is changing Roles, look at Rosie as she goes from "Rock God" to "Spectator". As a "Rock God", her Geronimo Jackson t-shirt is clearly visible, and when she changes to "Spectator" both her hand and her hair are suddenly covering up the name on the t-shirt. This is a deliberate action as it occurs rapidly between shots, and it is also listed on the Mistakes? page since it is so noticeable

• There are some very blatant Mistakes related to the presence of certain props and the timeline in this episode.

• Well, we finally got to see the giant statue, even if it was from the back. There has been a lot of discussion regarding just which Egyptian God the statue may represent. While many people believe it could be Anubis, there are others who think that the presence of an ankh in each hand, the fact that it has four toes as we have previously seen and the headgear is more like Taweret, the Goddess of Fertility. Personally, I think that the statue is simply a construct of TPTB and is meant to represent a God that is completely unique to the island

• Lots of folks have emailed me over the past few years with comments about the concept of rewards being granted for certain accomplishments. I have always believed that there are rewards granted or points earned in the game for certain tasks being accomplished. One good example of this is the fact that Sawyer et. al. are allowed to stay in New Otherton as a result of Sawyer having negotiated a continuation of the truce with Richard and the Others. Examples of possible rewards have been numerous, they range from simply locating various needed food sources to locating weapons. What is not always evident is exactly which action is responsible for the reward or whether the 'game players' are actually purchasing the items with earned points. But if you look over the Playing page under the Earning Points section, you will see a very long list of activities that may very well have allowed the 'game players' to purchase certain items with points. The bottom line is that it is very difficult to tell if we are dealing with a reward or a purchase.

• Probably the most intriguing mystery that we haven't gotten any answers to yet is where are Vincent, Rose & Bernard? What about any other LOSTies that may have survived the flaming arrow attack on the beach camp? It is entirely possible that Rose and Bernard could not make their way to New Otherton since they have never been there. But, if Jin has been searching the island for three years why hasn't he discovered where they are?

• Once again we had a number of the criteria needed for a Level change to occur appear in this episode. Especially the scene with Jerry starting the tape player in the security center at the Barracks that was so similar to the beginning of Level 2 with Desmond putting on the record, or the start of Level 3 with Juliet putting in the CD. Heck, we even had a Hurley Bird calling out as Amy sits by dead Paul. See "Time Out" on the Playing page.

But I am still holding strong to my beliefs that the folks on Flight 316 wound up in different time frames depending on where they ended up; that Locke is dead; that Walt, Desmond, Ji Yeon and Aaron need to return to the island; that the Level hasn't changed from 5 to 6 yet, and will not change until two days after everyone that is required to come back actually gets back, and that they are all on the same timeline.

It seems very likely to me that there is going to be someone, or perhaps even one of the polar bears, move the wheel again which will mean another flash and possibly more time jumps. It's going to be interesting to see how they actually do wind up back together.

• Finally, I rushed to do these updates and it is entirely possible that I have missed a few Duplicates, Roles , Mistakes, etc. Please let me know if you notice anything that I may have missed so I can add it to the appropriate category.

• The updates are done for S5E7. Sorry, they took a little longer this week, but episodes written by Lindelof and Cuse always take more time due to the large number of Duplicates and Role changes. And, as with any episode written by Lindelof and Cuse, there are a lot of Games in this episode

• For those of you who are regular visitors to this site, you'll notice a few changes to the layout on the Playing page. Previously, there was just one long section on Instructions/Rules. The information that was in that section has now been split up and moved into the information for each Level. So you will now see headings such as Level 1 Instructions//Rules, Level 2 Instruction/Rules, etc. It may take a little time to get used to but it seemed to make more sense to change it so that all information for each Level is now together in one place

• Did we get a Level change? No. And since Lindelof and Cuse wrote this episode I was expecting that we would see one since they usually write episodes where Level changes occur. But, and this is a big but, not everyone is back and we did not see the plane crash of Flight 815, And although it was probably pretty darn bumpy, the pilot landed Flight 316, he did not crash it. To see what else is missing before we can have a LEVEL change from Level 5 to Level 6, see "Time Out" on the Playing page

• When are the LOSTies and the Oceanic 6? TPTB keep telling us that we should be wondering not just where certain people are, but when they are. Is it possible that the passengers on Flight 316 not only didn't wind up in the same place as each other after the flash on Flight 316, but that they may have wound up in very different time frames? After all Mrs. Hawking did warn that it could be tricky to return to the island. Again, see "Time Out" on the Playing page for more information.

• I will probably get more email about this than anything else that I write this week. But I think, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Locke is Dead. Please do not write and tell me that he can't be dead because he ate the mango on the beach. I've already gotten plenty of those emails this week. We have seen a dead Charlie slap Hurley across the face at Santa Rosa, we have seen that a dead Eko was supposedly playing chess with Hurley, we saw that a dead Yemi was able to sit in a wheel chair and that a dead Christian was able to use a match and light a lantern. So there is no reason why a dead Locke can't eat a mango. And I am sorry to disappoint fans who think that he has miraculously risen from the dead, especially after all the hints about resurrection in the last few episodes, but I think he is dead. So how are the passengers from Flight 316 seeing Locke? Simple, I think that he is just like Christian, a manifestation of the Monster. And that is also why Ilana talks about them finding a man in a suit standing in the water just as Christian was seen in S1E5. If Locke really is dead, then why did he die? See Deaths on the Playing page.

• There is one other way that Locke could possibly be alive, it would have to involve someone (perhaps one of Widmore's people) coming into his room as soon as Ben leaves and then have them miraculously revive Locke, just like Jack revived Charlie after Ethan had hung him. But then it would also entail a Con Game to keep Locke appearing dead until he is placed on the plane. I guess we may find out how it was done in S5E8 tomorrow night. Or they may keep us waiting for answers just a bit longer

• Is the guy standing near the fire actually Sayid? I don't think so. He looks an awful like him but he appears thinner than Sayid and his beard is much fuller than Sayid's stubble was on Flight 316. Also, I think Sayid would have acknowledged Locke on the beach if he saw him there. I think this man could just be another person to add to the Similar Appearance section on the Duplicates page. So I am placing him in Similar Appearances until we know where Sayid wound up

• Although Ilana tells Locke that the pilot and some woman took one of the outriggers, we do not know for sure that it is actually Frank Lapidus vs. a co-pilot who took the boat. And while most people assume that the woman was Sun, we do not know that for sure either. So, just like Sayid, both Sun and Frank are not accounted for either and we do not know if they landed on Alcatraz with Locke, Ben and some of the passengers of Flight 316. Or if they have landed on the main island

• There are an unusually large number of Mistakes in this episode, especially in the NYC scenes

• Poor Helen, it seems as if brain aneurysms are quickly becoming as popular a way to die as a broken neck and being blown up have been. See other lists of injuries and Same Manner of Death on the Duplicates page. But is Helen really dead? At first, Abaddon seemed to be reluctant to find Helen for Locke, as if he knew she would be a deterrent to Locke going back to the island. Did Abaddon and Widmore work a Con Game on Locke? If Helen is still alive, this wouldn't be the first time we've seen an empty grave. See Empty Coffins/Missing Bodies on the Duplicates page

• Just a reminder: For anyone who is on Facebook, you might be interested in a group there named LOST IS A GAME. It's for fans of my theory and website. The group has been growing since January and is always looking for new fans to join. Jen is the new group admin for it and is doing a great job.

• Thanks to Lise and LM03 for finding a few Duplicates that I missed in S5E6

• The updates for S5E6 are done and have been combined with updates that were posted on 2/19/09 regarding the possibility of a Level change

• Is Mrs. Hawking really Daniel's mother? Her reaction was curious when Desmond said he came to find Daniel's mother and she says "I am helping you" and then he specifically states "Consider the message delivered". But why didn't she ask how Daniel was? And after Jack heard what Desmond said, he still asks Ben "Who is she?" It makes me question if she really is Daniel's mother? Or if this may be another case of undelivered message? See Duplicates for a list of Undelivered Messages

• Mrs. Hawking's instructions that "If you want to return, you need to recreate as best you can, the circumstances that brought you there in the first place" probably produced one of the best scenes ever to show just how important props and the Roles are on this show. All we have to do, is see the prop they are carrying or see what they are doing and we know who they are attempting to recreate. Locke is wearing Christian's shoes to act as his proxy. Hurley carries a guitar case, like Charlie did. Hurley comforts Caesar, just as Jack comforted Rose. Jack is carrying a letter just as Sawyer did. They are all transporting another body to the island, just as Jack transported his father's body. Sayid is in handcuffs and has a Marshall extraditing him, just as as Kate did. Sun is touching Jin's wedding ring, just as Rose touched Bernard's ring. Ben gets up and moves around just as Charlie and Bernard did. Ben was late boarding, just as Hurley was. Caesar is of Middle Eastern descent, just like Sayid and, based on his condolences to Jack in the airport, may be a priest and therefore a proxy for Mr. Eko. They are all now millionaires thanks to the generous settlements they got from Oceanic Air, just as Hurley was a millionaire. Lapidus is the proxy for Seth Norris the pilot. Ben's injured arm represents Locke's injured legs. The stewardesses are proxies for Cindy. There are kids on board that are proxies for Emma and Zack.

Which raises the final question- who is Claire's proxy? Is it the blonde who was in the airport that looked so much like Claire? Or does it mean that one of the females on Flight 316 is pregnant? Is it Kate? Or could Ilana, the Marshall who is a law enforcement officer just like Ana Lucia, or one of the stewardesses, also be pregnant? I have been trying to decide if Kate's sunglasses were trying to recreate Nikki being a TV star, or if Shannon had sunglasses on her head when she boarded the plane. And although I think I remember someone wearing a sleep mask on Flight 815 like Hurley is wearing, I can't for the life of me remember who it was. Let me know if you can think of anything I've missed.

• I started keeping track of the role of "Saint" after Sawyer referred to Jack as "St. Jack" in S1E7, I have eliminated the role of "Saint" on the Roles page and these instances are now found under the "Man of Faith" listing

I also have been thinking about moving all of the instances of the role of the "Evil Step Mother" listed on the Roles page into the role of "Daddy". It has dawned on me that I may be being a bit sexist by just listing men under "Daddy". Besides, these jump out as being the only two roles that I have listed on the Roles page that are really gender specific. I am beginning to think that instead of being an "Evil Step Mother", that we may just have occasions where a female is in the role of "Daddy". Will let you know what I decide to do about "Evil Step Mother"

• Lots of people emailed me to say that they are sure that Caesar, the man who spoke to Jack in the airport and who gets on Flight 316 and sits near Hurley, is probably working for Ben. Could be, or it could just be a way to introduce us to someone else who is going to wind up on the island

• SPOILER ALERT-- DO NOT READ THIS BULLET IF YOU WANT TO AVOID A POSSIBLE SPOILER: Several people have written to me in regard to the fact that in the upcoming scenes for S5E7 that were shown at the end of S5E6 that it appears as if Locke is alive on the island. I got into some long exchanges this week with folks about what it could mean. The most obvious answer is that if Locke is alive, it could indicate that he and at least one accomplice have pulled a very good "LONG CON". Several suggestions were sent to me including one that I think is brilliant and it was sent by annie_doll, she suggested that it is possible that the Others are most likely aware of the Medusa Spiders on the island (remember the ones that stung Nikki and Paolo and induced a death-like coma that caused them to be buried alive) and that if Richard told Locke about the spiders when he told him "you're going to have to die", then Locke could have used one to fake his death. The reason I say that one other person would have to be involved off island is that someone would have to be sure that no one did an autopsy on him or buried him alive like Nikki and Paolo. That means that perhaps Ben and his people helped to orchestrate the entire thing. I love this idea.

• Many thanks to Brad, RobN, Lise, Frances, Frank and Barbmom for helping me locate so many of the Duplicates and Games for this episode. They were a big help this week

• This last portion of the update was originally posted here on 2/19/09 and only concerns where we are in relation to the anticipated change from Level 5 to Level 6

My answer is I don't think we're there just yet. The explanation is long and has several components, so please bear with me

1. While Hurley, Jack and Kate have made it back to the island, we do not know where Ben, Lapidus, Sayid, and Sun are. Plus, what about the other folks on Ajira Airways Flight 316? The logical assumption would be that just as with Oceanic Flight 815, some of the people on Flight 316 will land on a different part of the island just like the TAILies did. But keep in mind that Mrs. Hawking said that the return could be "tricky". So I am betting that not everyone was able to get back during this attempt.

I think that the man with the mustache who spoke to Jack while he was in the airport, and who was so noticeable on the flight, is somehow going to wind up on the island. Just my opinion since he was so prominently featured. As for the woman Sayid was handcuffed to, maybe she will get to the island, maybe she won't. I just think it would be hilarious if only one of them arrives on the island and the other is missing (i.e.: the other handcuff is empty)

2. I had some discussions this past week over the curious fact that when Montand is listening to the numbers transmission in S5E5, it is actually Hurley's voice that is transmitting the numbers. Crank up the volume and listen carefully- it's Hurley. No doubt about it.

In S5E6 we see that Hurley has made it back to the island. Let's say that only a few of the Oceanic 6 arrive on this first attempt, and the ones who have arrived want to send a message to the outside world that they have gotten there. What better way than to send the numbers transmission in a familiar voice? Since we saw that the Dharma initiative is alive and active on the island and that Jin is somehow working for them, then it makes sense that this is sometime in the late 70's or early 80's. This leaves plenty of time for Hurley to record a message that Danielle's team can hear in 1988. The next obstacle to overcome is obviously related to the fact that when Danielle records her message in 1988, she will erase Hurley's message. But remember that back in S2E13 we had this conversation between Sayid and Hurley as they listen to the radio

Sayid: I want to show you something
Hurley: Cool, you fixed it
Sayid: We'll see. Hold on to this. Don't expect anything. The chances of getting a signal are slim at best
Hurley Static's good, right?
Sayid: No, reception is good
Hurley: Wait, what's that?!
Sayid: It's Rousseau's signal
Hurley: Oh, crap
Sayid: But this radio has a wider bandwidth
Hurley: Hold it, stop! Do you hear that!
DJ on radio: That was the... Duke Ellington... orchestra featuring... up next on WXO, the Glen Miller Orchestra with Moonlight Serenade
Hurley: Whoa, you hear how clear that is? It's got to be close, right?
Sayid: Radio waves at this frequency bounce off the ionosphere. They can travel thousands of miles. It could be coming from anywhere
Hurley: Or, any time. Just kidding, dude

What if Hurley remembers this conversation and assumes that his transmission will remain "available" for the rest of the Oceanic 6 to hear, even if Danielle tapes and transmits her own message at a later point in time?

3. In S5E6 Mrs. Hawking told Desmond that "...the island isn't done with you yet". It's looking more and more like Desmond has to go back. So maybe it is just as important for Desmond to return as it is for the Oceanic 6. And that opens up a raft of other possibilities that Aaron, Ji Yeon and Walt will need to return as well. Further, we know that Desmond is Daniel's constant. So far, we haven't seen a situation where Daniel needs Desmond to be his constant. But I'm thinking that somehow Desmond is going to be summoned back to the island to help Daniel.

4. We saw a flash occurring on Ajira Airways Flight 316, not the crash of Flight 316. I think we need to see the crash of a plane, and further, I think the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 needs to be seen, not the crash of Ajira Airways Flight 316.

5. Have the flashes really stopped? Or have they just slowed down? In S1E6, when Jack and Kate find Adam and Eve (the skeletons in the cave), Jack states that the bodies were laid to rest in the cave 40 to 50 years ago, based on the degradation of the bodies and clothing. That means that Adam and Eve had to have traveled back in time since Dharma arrived in the 70's since they are wearing 40 to 50 year old degraded Dharma jumpsuits in 2004.

Since the LOSTies and BOATies are apparently the only people on the island who are experiencing the on-island time travel flashes, it is logical that the only people who could wind up being Adam and Eve are two people (either LOSTies or BOATies or a combination) who have gained access to Dharma after the Dharma Initiative arrived on the island and then traveled back in time. Who they are, or when that flash occurred are open questions. But my bet is that they traveled back in time during a flash that occurred after Locke left.

6. Where is Aaron? My best guess is that Kate left him with Sawyer's ex-girlfriend Cassidy and Clementine (Sawyer's daughter with Cassidy). Sawyer whispered something in Kate's ear just before he jumped from the helicopter. The only people Sawyer left behind that he seemed to care about when he got on Flight 815 are Cassidy and Clementine. And, for months there have been postings all over the internet that report that Sawyer whispered something about Cassidy to Kate. And we know Kate was caught by Jack doing a favor for Sawyer. If Kate did contact Cassidy, Kate would have realized that she already knew Cassidy from S3E15 when Cassidy had helped Kate. And let's face it, Kate doesn't have a whole lot of people that she trusts. So I think Kate left Aaron with someone she thought she could trust. And I think it was Cassidy. I also like this idea because it opens up the possibility that Cassidy will wind up bringing both Aaron and Clementine to the island!

The bottom line, my answer is that I am not ready to say that the "Time Out" period is over. Or, that we are back to counting the days to complete the two days we need for the change from Level 5 to Level 6. And I won't say that until we get a little more information. We need to see that all of the Oceanic 6 made it back, we need to be sure that the on-island time flashes have stopped and we need to know if Desmond, Aaron, Jin Yeon and Walt need to come back to the island.

•The biggest question I got in emails this week after S5E5 was whether or not Locke climbing down the well in the Role of the "White Rabbit" and turning the wheel (using a Fail Safe) constituted a change from Level 5 to Level 6, especially in light of the fact that it does seem as if at least two more days have occurred on the island since Ben left. Also, how could the timing of Locke's leaving answer a question about the obituary that was published for Jeremy Bentham? Read my answer here on the Playing page.

• Why does Brennan need to carry the violin to the radio tower? Because he's in the role of "Rock God"

• See the screen cap of what Montand says about Nadine. I'm thrilled to see another "Man of Science" who is an Entomologist in addition to Arzt occupying that Role

• Want to know what that red star on the back of Jin's shirt means? See S5E5 on the Games page.

• Up until now, the implication has been that being on the island for longer than the LOSTies have, has rendered people prone to getting nose bleeds. See Head Injuries on the Duplicates page. What does it mean for Miles? TPTB are still strongly hinting that he may be Dr. Pierre Chang/Dr. Marvin Candle's baby. But in S5E5 Sawyer gets a bloody nose. Does that mean that he has been on the island before? Or does it simply mean that the LOSTies have now been there long enough to be as affected as Juliet, and people who have been on the island before?

• In the 2/12/09 Official Audio podcast Lindelof and Cuse state that the TPTB had originally intended to show "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" prior to "316". They decided that it made more sense to show "316" as S5E6 and then show "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" as S5E7. The list of episodes has been adjusted on the Episodes page

• Thanks to Lise for help with some of the Duplicates that I missed in S5E4 and for also noticing a few typos.

• Thanks to Barbmom for her continued support and for her great emails that always make me think "hmmmm....."

• Thanks to Mike for finding a Mistake that I missed regarding the many locations of Goodwin's body. See Mistakes for S4E6 to see the various locations that Goodwin's body has been found in

• Thanks to misslaura for letting me know that I was missing "Why are you telling me this?' and "What are you hoping to find?" in the Same Dialogue section on the Duplicates page. I've gone back through transcripts, but please let me know if I have missed any others.

• The S5E4 updates are done

• Sawyer, Locke, Juliet, Daniel, Charlotte and Miles came across the deserted beach camp. However, no indication was given as to when it had actually occurred. My money is on the idea of this being sometime in the future and that the people in the second outrigger canoe may actually be the Oceanic 6 after they have returned to the island. Also, that Ajira Airlines is somehow involved in their return to the island.

• Don't miss the great game reference hidden in the report that Sun was reading

• Here is the English translation of the conversations in French between Danielle and her team. I have included links throughout the website to the translation when it is quoted

• Thanks to J Wood for the information regarding the game references in the hidden source code of the third LOST alternate reality game during the 2008 hiatus. See Games on Official Websites on the Games page.

• Yeah, I was right about Jin still being alive. THANK YOU, THANK YOU to TPTB. I have been hoping and posting for months that the scene with the Kahana blowing up was so similar to the raft blowing up in the S1 Finale, that it might be a Duplicate Scene and that Jin could show up unexpectedly in Season 5 just as he showed up alive on the TAILies beach.

• Many fans have written to me to ask if I think that the Oceanic 6 will return to the exact day that they left on. That is, that time is not really passing on the island. My answer is and has always been no. What is important is the total number of days that all of the LOSTies must be on the island, which is 108. And that the day count toward the completion of Level 5 (2 more days) and all of Level 6 (4 days) will start up again once when the Oceanic 6 return.

DO NOT READ THIS BULLET ANY FURTHER IF WANT TO AVOID READING A SPOILER. Here is evidence to support the passage of time being identical on-island and off. In an interview in this week's TV guide, Daniel Dae Kim talks about how much Jin's English will improve in Season 5 and how much easier it will be for him to have meaningful scenes with LOSTies other than Sun. There is only one way for his English to improve that much, and that is if the same three years pass by on the island as they have for the Oceanic 6 who are off the island.

• Thanks to Jen for her wonderful donation to help keep my site operating

• Matt wrote to me again this week regarding the 2 day issue and posed a question to me about the possibility of a direct link between the monster and the 2 day issue. The following quote has always been at the top of my Monster page

"The monster is actually much more versatile than most people recognize it to be. The monster comes in many, many different forms and its purpose is simply to serve as an obstacle for the LOSTies to overcome in order to achieve their objectives."

If you look at it from the point of view that the Monster comes in many forms and represents an obstacle to be overcome, then yes, it is possible that the 2 day difference is a form of the Monster.

• Food For Thought: Since Daniel indicated that maybe Miles' nose bleed was a result of Miles having spent more time on the island than he thinks. Is it possible that Miles is the son of Dr. and Mrs. Chang, the baby we saw in S5E1? So then, whose child might Charlotte be? Some fans are speculating that perhaps she could be the daughter of Ben and Annie. Or could she be the Goodspeed's baby? Or perhaps Charlotte is actually Danielle's baby and Alex really was Ben's daughter after all.

• The updates for S5E3 are done.

• I have added the role of Diplomat in the list of "good" Roles. I am currently working on going back and locating other instances where someone is directly involved in trying to stop a confrontation

• Many thanks to RobN for supplying an annotated view of Kate's map from S5E2. There were lots of Duplicates and references to Games hidden in the map.

• A big thanks to Bob and Cathie E. for finding a game reference that I had completely missed. Listen very carefully when the flaming arrows are being shot at the LOSTies in S5E2. There is a "ding, ding, ding" type of noise that occurs as the arrows hit certain targets. The noise is very similar to what happens in an arcade or video game. Bob's comment to Cathie was "That sounds like an arcade, when someone is shooting at ducks!" Sounds like the LOSTies are earning points for avoiding being hit by the flaming arrows since the noise seems to occur when they avoid being hit rather than when they are hit.

• Regarding the "Useless" three times and you're dead rule, I watched S5E2 for a fourth time and noticed that Neil aka Frogurt is actually chastised three different times in S5E2. It's possible that he was actually "Useless" three times in rapid succession in the same episode.

• I've gotten lots of email related to the "time travel" aspects of the show possibly being related to the 2 day issue that keeps coming up. Simão suggested that Desmond turning the Fail Safe Key at the end of Season 2, and the resulting Flash may have caused a jump forward of two days. While I agree that the implosion could have represented a jump of two days, there is a problem with that idea based on what we are now seeing with the time travel. If that is the case, then we should have seen a corresponding white flash and a jump back just a short time afterwards. We haven't seen that. But it doesn't mean it couldn't have happened.

I received another email from Matt who suggested that perhaps Richard serves as a constant for the island. And that when he is off the island, that it could cause the island to jump in time. It's possible, he has been off the island at least twice that we know of. Once to be at the hospital at Locke's birth and then again to visit Locke when he was a kid. But again, why wouldn't the island simply return back to the timeline when he returned to the island?

• For anyone who is on Facebook, you might be interested in a group there named LOST IS A GAME. It's for fans of my theory and website, The group hasn't been too active during the last few months, but it is now looking to get active again. Jen is the new group admin for it

•Thanks to Barbmom for pointing out that Richard's eyes were almost black when he first met Locke at the military camp. See the Eyes page for some of the curious lighting effects used in S5E3

•Thanks to Lise for finding two typos on the Duplicates page. If you find any, please let me know so I can correct them.

• Lise and I have been emailing each other back and forth about some of the answers that we are getting in Season 5. So I thought I would list some of them here:
-Locke's inability to move his legs near the Nigerian Drug Plane when he was there with Boone and then with Eko was due to being shot by Ethan
- The ship the Black Rock probably wound up in the middle of the island because the island moved back in time and as a result it was wrecked on the middle of the island
-Charles Widmore is an Other
-Others can age, maybe it's only if they leave the island (Charles Widmore)
- Richard is given the compass by Locke two years before Locke is born. That is why Richard brings the compass to young Locke and is so upset that Locke doesn't recognize it.
- The Others speak Latin (is this a clue that they built the four toed statue)
- Charles Widmore funded Daniel's research

• Food for thought: Is Ellie, the woman with the gun on Faraday in S5E3, actually a young Mrs. Eloise Hawking? Is it possible that Mrs. Eloise Hawking is Penny's mother, not Daniel's mother as TPTB seem to have led us to believe? Or is it possible that Penny and Daniel are siblings? Is Theresa Spencer the woman whose face we did not see in Daniel's apartment in S4E2?

• Trivia: Efren is a variation of Ephraim and means "fruitful, fertile, productive" and there is a recreational park in the Democratic Republic of Congo named Salonga. Dr. Efren Salonga's name seems to be quite appropriate.

• The updates for S5E2 are done. Don't miss the comments about S5E1 that I posted yesterday.

• Now that Aaron can talk, we can expect to see him go through some more Role changes. In S5E2 he actually pushes a button, making him a "Man of Faith", just like everyone else who has pushed buttons.

• Thanks to Frances F. for our emails back and forth discussing the role of "Useless" as the possibly reason for Frogurt's death. You can read about his death on the Playing page

• What does the "Useless" role have to do with Locke's death? He's been in the role of "Useless" twice, even before Season 3 began. See Deaths on the Playing page. Has Locke been "Useless" again after the Oceanic 6 left? We are learning more this season about what happened since the Oceanic 6 left and we know he will have at least one more on-island flashback to meet up with Richard. Maybe they'll be a 'Useless" reference in that, or maybe we'll see it in one of the meetings he has with the Oceanic 6 off the island.

• And of course, a burning question for lots of fans is - is Locke really dead? Ben tells Jack "John's casket is outside in a carpet van. I need to move it somewhere safe" Jack says 'Safe? He's dead isn't he?" See Dead/Not Dead on the Duplicates page for other instances where a character's actual death may have been questioned.

• The updates for S5E1 are done. Lindelof and Cuse wrote S5E1 and it always takes me forever to do the updates for their episodes. There are always tons of Duplicates. Kitsis and Horowitz wrote S5E2 and their episodes take almost as long to document. I am still working on the updates for S5E2 and I promise will have then done before tomorrow night.

• It looks like we'll be getting to see more of the Arrow Station since in S5E1 Dr. Pierre Chang says "The Arrow's station's primary purpose is to develop defensive strategies and gather intelligence on the island's hostile indigenous..." and because of the fact that we got to meet a new group of military men in S5E2. See Roles

• Are we in a "Time Out"? See this new section on the Playing page for what is going on with the Levels and for some new objectives. Also, see it for Rules and Instructions for some of the new information we got in S5E1

• Just posing a question here. If the island can heal, why can't it heal eye sight? Richard uses a pair of glasses in S5E1 when he takes the bullet out of Locke's leg, Sawyer wears glasses when he reads and Ben has been seen any number of times wearing his glasses? Does wearing a pair of glasses indicate a character's role change the way that many other props have been used? Or is healing eyes somehow off limits?

• I have added the role of "Constant" to the Roles page

• Remember that the monster comes in many, many different forms and its purpose is simply to serve as an obstacle for the LOSTies to overcome in order to achieve their objectives. I have added a new Monster, the flashes that the LOSTies are experiencing.

• What is going to happen with Walt? Will he return to the island?

• Here's some food for thought. I have always thought that there is much more to Charles Widmore's story than we have been told to date. The fact that Miles told us in S5E1 that Widmore has been looking for the island for 20 years made me think quite a bit. What if Widmore's claim that the island is his stems from Ben having taken over as Leader after the purge? Was Charles the leader of the Others before Ben? If so, why was he disposed? And if so, could he possibly be ageless like Richard and actually be the Captain of the Black Rock since he seem so preoccupied with the ship? And horror of all possible horrors, is Penny actually working for her father? Has she been conning Desmond all along? Just thinking out loud.

• All Season 4 updates are finally done.

• Sorry, I know, I just disappeared for a while without an explanation. I decided to take a break after the final episode of Season 4. I never dreamt that it would take me this long to get back to working on the site. I guess, I needed a break more than I realized. I would like to thank you all for visiting the site during the past 7 months. I am amazed by just how many loyal fans kept visiting each and every day during the hiatus.

• I am also sorry that it took me so long to get caught up on my email. I promise to get back to a regular schedule and reply as promptly as possible.

• Okay, the big question here is, did we see the end of Level 5 in S4E13 when Ben moved the island? See my answer here. Please email me and tell me what you think about my conclusions.

• By the way, I still don't think that Jin is dead. I know, as I had said below months ago, it may just be wishful thinking on my part. But, I'm rooting for Jin to be alive. Did anyone else think that the Kahana blowing up was somewhat reminiscent of the scene when the raft blew up at the end of Season 1 and Jin was missing and presumed dead until he came running along the TAILies beach? We can only hope he's going to show up just as unexpectedly again.

• The Podcast page has been updated to include the July 2008 audio podcast from the Comic Con LOST panel, the August 2008 podcast from Comic Con with an interview with Matthew Fox and the December 2008 podcast with Lindelof and Cuse.

• A big thank you to Jennifer C, Sascha F, Jonell N and Denise G, for their generous donations to the site. I am still ad free and intend to remain that way.

• Thanks to Denise G. for pointing out a mistake I made on the Playing page. I always appreciate it when fans write and let me know if I have stated something incorrectly. I had mistaken one of Ben's quotes as having been a reference about the Dharma bodies in the pit, instead of Ben referring to when he shot Locke. I have corrected it.

• Thanks to Steve N. for noting an oversight on my Mistakes page. He realized that Jack slipped during his testimony at Kate's trial in S4E4 and stated that the plane crashed in the South Pacific, while Oceanic Airlines and the rest of the Oceanic 6 were claiming the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean. Anyone who owes the S4 DVD set will also want to watch "The Oceanic Six: A Conspiracy of Lies" which mentions the lack of weight loss, the age of Aaron vs. his size, the fact that Jack had a haircut and many other facts that would make most people watching a news story of the Oceanic 6 say "hmmm....". What it does not mention, is Jack's obvious mistake during the trial. I wonder if this was intentional on the part of TPTB and will come back to haunt Jack and the rest of the Oceanic 6. in fact, one of the previews for S5E1 shows Kate being questioned about Aaron's parentage. So obviously, someone is starting to ask questions. Here are some other Season 5 previews (1, 2, 3)

• I'm still not finished with the finale (S4E13) but I am posting the updates from S4E12. I should have the finale updates done in a few days. Sorry for the wait, but I have been having problems with the server and I have had to reconfigure some of my files to load them properly. I still need a few days to finish reconfiguring some of the files from the finale.

• Once again we have Jack saying in S4E12 "That helicopter is our only way off this island" has every one completely forgotten the sailboat "the Elizabeth" and also the boat that the Others took from Alcatraz back to New Otherton?"

• Thanks to Frank for noticing that when we first see Jack on the plane in S4E12 , his eyes are closed and then he opens them. See Eyes.

• I have changed all of the references re: Otherville to New Otherton. While TPTB have used New Otherton in podcasts, I had continued to use Otherville, as many fans continued to refer to it that way. But, since Sawyer made a reference to New Otherton in S4E12, well, I decided it was time to make the change over. So all Otherville references have now been changed to New Otherton.

• Thanks to Bill for finding a Mistake in S4E1 that I had missed. When Jack and Hurley are finished playing horse, someone's head appears and disappears very quickly above the back board.

• Thanks to Lise for her great support of me and this site, especially since her own life has been so hectic lately.

• The updates for S4E11 are done

• Looks like Jack is once again getting a chance to be lousy as a Tracker. See Roles

• The scene with Horace Goodspeed is a great one to watch for Role changes. Pay close attention to the props and listen carefully to what he says as he moves through the Roles of Lumberjack, Construction Worker, Dead and Man of Science

• Thanks to barbmom and Karen for emailing me so quickly to identify the "Get Back in the Game" poster on the wall as Abbadon and Locke are waiting for the elevator. See Games for a list of all the Games & Toys that appeared in S4E11

• Thanks to Cathie for pointing out that the artwork on the refrigerator in S4E10 and the artwork on the walls of the Day Room in Santa Rosa in S4E1 consist of the exact same cutouts of flowers, butterflies and the lady bug. See Same Artwork on the Duplicates page. Cathie also identified the octagonal box on Aaron's headboard as a control box for the mobile.

• Thanks to Steven for noticing a Mistake in S4E9 that I missed. When Alex is forced to enter the code for the fence- there is a brief moment after the blindfold comes off, and then it is back on again.

• Great news for the fans of the LOSTies who are not part of the Oceanic 6. It looks like some folks are still alive on the island since Jack told Kate about Sawyer "He made his choice. He chose to stay". Hopefully, that means that Sawyer, Jin, Locke and several other LOSTies are alive as well. See Playing

• There were lots of Games & Toys in this episode and, as usual, lots of Duplicates

• Thank you to Jen for her wonderful donation.

• The updates for S4E9 are done.

• Watch all the eyes in this episode. Lots of eye color changes, most notably Alex is back to having blue eyes in this episode after having been brown for so long. For those of you who may doubt that the eye color changes are real, see the comparison of Alex's eye colors in S4E8 and S4E9 on the Eyes page. There was a discussion that was rampant on various forums about Alex's eyes in S4E8 and I have included pictures from S4E9 where they are absolutely blue. Also, lots of characters who had one eye in light and one in shadow during many scenes in this episode.

• There is a discussion about Alex's Death and The Rules in the section on Level 5 Instructions on the Playing page. I'd love to get some feedback on what I have written there.

• Many thanks to Anne Dawson who generously donated some copies of her new book LOST Mind Games to me and to several of the regular contributors to this site.

If you haven't gotten LOST Mind Games yet, it's great and I highly recommend it to all LOST fans. Many of the fan podcasts featured interviews with Anne during the hiatus and they all recommend it as much as I do. Here's the link to Anne's website and a link to LOST Mind Games on Amazon.

• ABC has launched a new game called LOSTscape as part of a contest to win a trip to Comic Con

• Don't miss the great videos of duplicate dialogue on the Duplicates page: "What?", "Lost" and Sawyer saying "Son of a Bitch". I did not make the videos, I just posted them here.

• A special thank you to Michael for his very generous and repeated donations and to SunnyB, a UK fan, for her wonderful donation. It's fans like you guys who make it possible for me to keep my promise to maintain this site without any advertisements.

• A huge thank you to all the fans of this site who came to my defense on April 10th by posting comments over on DarkUFO (and on a certain blogger's site) in support of my theory being the original game theory vs. the 12 paragraph game theory that was recently posted by the blogger on his site. Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery. Which may be true. Unless, of course, you have spent over three years working on detailing every aspect of LOST being a game, only to have someone else start getting credit for all your hard work. Many thanks to all of you.

• The updates for S4E8 are done.

• all_games does the happy dance! I have finally identified the Level 3 to Level 4 Hurley Bird and the Failsafe. It took me some time and I have been wracking my brains over it, but Duh, I finally located them. They were hidden in plain site all the time. See Level 3 Objectives on the Playing page.

• While I did list Karl as dead on the Roles page, I did not include Danielle. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but I don't think she's dead. And as I had written below in my update notes for 3/16/08, I'm still holding out for Jin being alive.

• I am still waiting for someone to grab that axe that has been so visible on the Kahana since S4E5 so we get a confirmed Lumberjack. I don't think that just standing near it is enough. But I am watching it carefully.

• A huge thanks to Anne Dawson the author of LOST Mind Games for mentioning this website in one of her recent National interviews. She was asked what some of her favorite LOST websites were and she listed this site as a good resource for facts. If you haven't seen her book yet, it's great. There are more details below in the 3/16/08 update notes.

• Welcome to all the new visitors to this site. There has been a huge bump in traffic to this site during the past week and a half due to Anne Dawson's interview and due to the fact that there was a direct link to my Eyes page in Ausiello's TVGuide.com column. The link was also directly copied onto SpoilerFix.com. I have been delayed in getting my updates done because I have been attempting to answer the huge amount of mail that I received. If I haven't answered you back yet, bear with me, I am slowly making my way through all of them.

• Thanks, as always, to John and Lise for their help with Roles and Duplicates and to RobN who is currently overcoming some obstacles that have interfered with him being as regular of a contributor as he has been in the past. John and I also discussed the Course Correction issues seen in this episode.

• Thanks to Sean who has been after me to collect all the info I had scattered across the Playing page and update the section on Winning. Its all been there, but it hasn't been as organized and in one place as it is now.

• Thanks to Frank for spotting two game references I had missed. Both are soccer references, one is in S1E13 and the other is in S3E4.

• A big thank you goes out to Laura for her generous donation

• Thanks to christiejay for pointing out that I had left out Hurley firing the flare gun in S3E18 on my Duplicates page

• A special thanks to dmarie for pointing out a politically incorrect description that I had on the Duplicates page. "Oriental Couple" has been corrected to read "Asian Couple"

• Thanks to Samantha for discovering a few places where I had mistakenly used the name Miles instead of Daniel

• Thanks to Nate for pointing out a few problems with links on my Search and Donate pages. They have been fixed. At this point, there are over 6000 links in this website, and occasionally my software program inadvertently "fixes" something when I do automatic checks on my code, which only causes headaches for me. But, if you notice something wrong, please let me know so I can resolve it.

• The updates for S4E7 are done

• I'm going to stick my neck out here and state that I do not believe that Jin is really dead, for several reasons. First, the date on his gravestone says that he died on September 22, 2004 and could simply be a gravestone that was placed there after the fake wreckage was found. Second, we know that there are still LOSTies alive on the island after the Oceanic 6 get back. Third, Jin told Sun in this episode "I will do all that I can to protect you and the baby, I promise". Fourth, watch the scene carefully when Sun is speaking at the grave, it almost appears as if she is speaking to a live Jin that can somehow hear her and see her. Fifth, and this is just personal feelings on my part, I love Jin and I hate the thought of his dying. So I would much prefer to think that somehow there is some sort of communication device hidden in the gravestone that allows Sun to communicate with Jin on the island.

For the above reasons, I have placed Jin in the Dead/Not Dead category on the Duplicates page. I'm hoping that Jin sacrificed his own rescue to be sure that Sun and the baby would be safe. And, he could serve as the reason that Sun decides that she needs to go back to the island with the rest of the Oceanic 6. We'll see.

Of course, I was also one of the few fans who hoped that Vincent was going to dig up Nikki and Paolo after they had been buried alive. Not because I liked their characters, but because it would have made for great drama for the LOSTies to discover they had buried them alive, only to have them die all over again from the consequences of having been buried for too long. Oh well, I didn't get that wish. So I'll just hope for Jin's survival on the island.

• I got a number of emails about trying to figure out what was with the curious comment by Dr. Ray in response to Desmond saying "This ship isn't moving". Does Dr. Ray's "Well, if you say so" indicate that the ship is actually moving, or is Dr. Ray starting to lose it? Who knows, but it will be interesting to find out.

• S4E7 finally gave fans positive confirmation that there are people on the show who resemble each other and that it is not just in the minds of fans. See Similar Appearances on the Duplicates page for other characters who have had look-alikes.

• I usually don't mention LOST merchandise on this site other than on the FAQ page and of course in the list of Official LOST Games & Toys on the Games page. But I bought two new LOST items this past week, the new Via Domus video game and the new book LOST Mind Games by Anne Dawson. And since I've had some emails from fans about both of these, I thought I would comment on them here.

First my thoughts on Via Domus. Many of you wrote and asked if I saw any conflict between my theory and the new video game. My answer is no. I haven't had a whole lot of time to play the game yet, and I hope to get to play with it a bit more during the upcoming break between S4E8 and S4E9, but so far, I do like it and would recommend it for any LOST fan. While it is different than the show, it actually has several activities in it that are similar to the types of game activities that I have detailed on this site. So no, it doesn't present any problem for my theory. There's a good description of the game on Lostpedia that also discusses how it is similar to the show and how it differs.

The second item is the new book LOST Mind Games by Anne Dawson. It was recommended to me by another LOST fan who thought it would interest me. And I have to tell you that I love this book.

It is not a traditional type of LOST book that goes into detail about the show. It is filled with really interesting puzzles and trivia quizzes that let you test what you know about LOST, but you also have to use a bit of brain power to figure them all out . There are over 200 hundred mind games divided into six chapters. No matter how much you know about the show, or even if you are a novice when it comes to LOST facts, you'll find this book a lot of fun. And be prepared to spend some time working on it, I've spent many hours on it already and I have only worked through about half of the mind games. Like I said, I love this book and I would highly recommend it to any LOST fan.

• Due to all the recent references to sabotage, I have added a new role, the Saboteur. I took some of the people/situations that had previously been listed under Arsonist and moved them to the new role. The saboteur is now defined as someone who does something that keeps the LOSTies from accomplishing a goal, while the Arsonist is now just for someone setting fire to something. I debated over which category to place Walt in when he set the first raft on fire and I decided to put in into Saboteur. Let me know what you think.

• A mistake from S4E6 has been added to the Mistakes page. It involves the painting in Ben's living room, and it's a big one. So I have placed it in the category of Mistakes That Are Important.

• Thanks to Steven for noticing a Mistake in S4E2. when Locke shows Sawyer the exit wound on his back from Ben shooting him

• The updates for S4E6 are done

• Just as I predicted, we got the change from Level 4 to 5 on the morning of Day 97. All of the requirements were met. See Playing Level 4.

• Be sure to see the Reset section on the Playing page. This Level change is the first Level change that has actually shown us that a reset of the characters has begun. The word RESET is shown in several places on the computer screens that Daniel was working on and on the Tempest system map.

• A few people reported that they had some trouble getting emails to me this week. Sorry about that. I have checked with my hosting company and they seem to have fixed the problem.

• I have added in the role of Laundress. Up until now, anyone seen doing the laundry had been included in the Role of Mom. Anyone who has been seen doing laundry or carrying laundry has been moved to this new role.

• I usually don't include too many predictions of what will happen, but S4E7 will be a Sun and Jin episode and they were last seen in S4E6 heading off into the jungle with Vincent. Poor Vincent, he'll need to reset to the White Rabbit for the beginning of Level 5. So we can probably expect that Vincent will wind up lost again, or perhaps he'll wander into some kind of hole.

• Thanks to Elizabeth for emailing me about an article in the NY POST where Lindelof and Cuse make the following statement " Season 4 is about who gets off the island and the fact that they need to get back. Season 5 is about why they need to get back, and Season 6 is about what happens when they get back." Which ties in nicely with what I have said. That the Oceanic 6 will need to return to the island to complete their full 108 days on the island.

• Thanks to John and Lise once again for help with Duplicates, Roles and Games references.

• A big thanks to Elaine for pointing out that we always see the plane crash shortly before a Level change. Elaine and I had discussed this before but I have finally added this to the list of things that need to happen for the Level changes to occur. See Playing

• A new link has been added to the International section of the Links page for weLOST.it   These are the same people that the old LostPod icon used to link to. They asked me to replace the old link with this one, so all of the Italian speaking fans out there can find them at their new site.

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