Meet Kevin Johnson

In the last episode filmed before the writer's strike, "Meet Kevin Johnson," Lost gives us a little back story on how/why Michael ends up working for Ben on the freighter. It was a good episode and I felt that it provides a sufficient break in the action leading up to the second half of the season.

So Michael can't die
On the freighter, Sayid and Desmond confront Kevin Johnson (Michael) in the engine room and want answers. Michael begins to fill them in how he ended up leaving the island and ending up on the freighter.

It turns out that no matter what Michael would do -- slamming his car head first into a dumpster, putting a gun to his head, attempting to set off a bomb on the boat -- the island won't let him die...at least not until his work is finished.

Michael is haunted by visions of Libby and the guilt he feels for killer her and Ana Lucia, as well as leaving the other 815 survivors on the island. Now, he has a mission to protect the island from the freighter folk. He and Walt had a falling out, since Mike decided to share the haunting information that he killed the two tail-sectioners. What was he thinking?

So what is up with the island's ability to keep Michael alive? Is his mission simply to keep the island safe from Widmore and his freighter or is there more to it? Does his actually mission involve Walt? Did the island not want Walt and his special powers to ever leave?

I found it hard to believe that Michael wanted to die. His whole time on the island was spent either trying to get Walt back/trying to get off the island. Even with Walt not wanting to talk to him, why would he want to just kill himself? I understand the guilt is a huge burden, but he and his son are safe. Like the Oceanic 6, life off the island isn't as great as Michael thought it would be.

The real Mr. Friendly
So Mr. Friendly is a little too friendly. We finally get confirmation that Tom is Lost's gay character. The producers have hinted that we may see a gay character and with Tom's line to Kate earlier in the series about her not being his type, many fans speculated on Tom's sexual orientation.

With that out the way, I found his conversation with Michael more interesting than the other man in the hotel. Tom told Michael that they've been watching him. Of course they let him go, but they never really let him go. The Others (especially Ben) always have a plan. Now, Ben needs Michael to do some dirty work for him...to redeem himself to his boy and make all that guilt go away.

The Others got Michael a job on the freighter and his mission is to kill everyone on it. So how'd they get Michael that job? If Widmore really is their enemy, how can they just position someone on his boat without the captain or crew even meeting him? Do they have someone else on the inside, ie working for Widmore?

Who really faked the 815 wreckage?
Tom provides all the documentation needed to prove that Widmore staged the wreckage of Flight 815. He produced receipts for the plane and showed Michael where the dead bodies were recovered from. So who's telling the truth? The captain told Sayid and Desmond that Ben had planted the wreckage and The Others say it was Widmore. It could be either or neither.

Tom could have simply shown Michael the information that they used to staged the wreckage and changed the receipt to say it was Widmore, but when Ben says that they are the good guys, I think there's something to that. With the way Ben operates, is staging the wreckage something he could do...would the island let him? Widmore seems capable of doing it, but what if there's a third party who has pitted the two groups against each other, like maybe The Economist or whoever Abbadon is really working for (if its not Widmore). More to this tale, there is.

Everyone's lying about something
Michael makes it to the freighter and is greeted by Minkowski and Naomi. When he boards the boat, he meets up with Miles, who is on to him. So what does Miles really know about Michael? He knows that he isn't really Kevin Johnson, but does he know anything else? He's mentions that everyone on the boat is lying about something. So what's everyone's story? What's really going on with the freighter folks?

Later in the episode, Frank is talking with Kevin Johnson about Flight 815. He mentions how cool it would be to find survivors. Does he know Michael was part of the survivors? We already know that he is on to the staged wreckage, but what more is he on to? How much was the crew let in on, Ben staging the wreckage, possible survivors, about the island, etc.? It's interesting that both Frank and Naomi have mentioned the possibility of finding 815 survivors, when the general public is left to believe that they're all dead.

What happens to Kevin Johnson now?
Once Michael finished his story, Sayid grabs him and drags him into the captain's quarters. he reveals Michael's true identity and says that he's been sabotaging the freighter's mission. Sayid was quick to turn Michael in. Does he really think the captain is telling the truth, despite Michael's message not to trust the captain? He is really holding a grudge against Michael to take the word of someone he's known for a short period of time (who also let's his crew kill themselves and throws down with them if they try to leave the freighter). It will be interesting to see what happens to Michael now that he's been caught.

Two down, who's pulling the trigger?
The war is starting on the island. Ben wants to make sure Alex is safe (or does he?) since she's his daughter and would be a target, so he sends her, Karl and Danielle off to find the rest of The Others at the Temple. While looking for it, they are ambushed and Karl and Danielle are shot. Alex gets up and let's it be known that she is Ben's daughter, in hopes that this will spare her life. With that, Lost is on a 5-week hiatus, and we are left with new questions to ponder.

So who is shooting at them? It looked to be darts and not bullets coming at them. Was it the rest of The Others, who perhaps were told by Ben to take out Karl and Danielle? Was it another group from the freighter or someone never before seen group? There's been rumors of a good set of Others and a bad group. Is this the bad set? I'm not sure which way I'm leaning here, but I think it's going to be a surprise group...the real bad guys of the island.

The promos teased that someone would die and that turned out to be Karl. My thinking is that the audience is supposed to think that both Danielle and Karl are goners, but Danielle has too much backstory to tell. She'll be around for a while. The producers have said that they'd like give more of her backstory in the future, so why would they kill her off now?

Well, now Lost takes a break to film the rest of the season. I am digging the fast-paced action of season 4 and with three episodes being cut, the rest of the season will be even more fast-paced. Lost has been providing answers this year and isn't holding back on the entertainment.

*Photos from Lost-Media.com

Lost: Solved Mysteries

On the Blu-Ray version of the Season 3 DVDs, the producers clear up some of the mysteries that have been solved thus far on the show. Lostpedia has a transcript of Access: Granted and it's a really interesting read for any fans of the show. DarkUFO has a summary of the important information, if you don't want to read the entire transcript.

Mark Brunell Signs with the Saints

Ji Yeon

Lost gave us our first episode with a flashforward and flashback in the same show with last night's Ji Yeon. There were a couple of big reveals toward the end and overall it was a solid episode.

Oceanic 6...fooled ya
Our flashback starts off with a pregnant Sun experiencing labor pains and calling for help. She feels that something is wrong with the baby, and it's later confirmed that the baby is in distress. We learn that Sun is indeed part of the Oceanic 6 when she is admitted and the nurses discuss her celebrity status. The doctor visits her, and throughout labor, her only request is to get her husband there. The doctor says that they are trying to reach him and even after the child is born, Sun thinks she sees Jin in the hallway.

These flashbacks are intertwined with Jin running an errand to pick up a giant stuffed panda for what we assume is his baby on the way. Right away, I felt something wasn't right with these sequences. If Sun is in labor and there a chance something is wrong with the baby, why would Jin even bother to get a gift? All along, Jin's cell keeps ringing, and we assume he's speaking with the hospital about Sun. The twist is thrown in when he finally delivers the panda. Jin is told that the baby was born and it was a boy (Sun had a girl). Then we learn that he is on an errand for Sun's dad to congratulate the Ambassador for becoming a grandfather. Then a nurse talks to Jin about having a baby one day, and he says that he's only been married for two months.

I knew something was different with the Jin storyline here. Lost has been throwing twists at us all season, so I figured there would be one here. It was a fun twist, and makes the show even harder to figure out because not only do we have flashforwards and flashbacks, but we get both in one episode.

So, who's call is it?
Sun confronted Daniel about their mission and if they were there to rescue them. We know now that they are there for Ben, but Daniel and Charlotte seem to have other missions too. Last week, they deposed of the killer gas at The Tempest, but there seems to be more to them. They are on the island for a reason and it has to do with their pasts and their research. Daniel tells Sun that rescuing them is not his call. So who makes that call? The Captain? Charles Widmore? This information makes Sun want to leave Jack's group and head for Locke's camp. She doesn't trust the freighter crew, nor does she trust that Juliette is being truthful about pregnant women dying on the island.

Jin's English
On the island, Jin is picking up English rather quickly. He goes from not understanding anything to making complete sentences in the span of a few episodes. It feels rushed to me, but I like that his character has evolved so much.

The ending was touching when he brought Sun dinner. After Juliette had spilled the beans about Sun's affair to keep the Kwon's from going to Locke's camp, it looked like their marriage was over. Jin realized that he was the reason that Sun cheated. He was a bad person and didn't show his affection for her. He has changed so much since being on the island. He loves Sun so much and isn't afraid to show it. His fishing trip with Bernard helped solidify that Jin was a changed man. Karma was on his side and despite all the bad stuff he'd done in the past, he was a good person.

The Freighter Crew & The Captain
Something has been going on with the freighter crew. We knew there was a saboteur on board (Ben's spy) who had already knocked out the communications system. Now someone has disabled the engines. The spy left a note for Desmond and Sayid saying not to trust the captain. When they ask to meet with the captain, they are repeatedly told they don't want to do that. But once we meet him, he doesn't seem so bad.

We are introduced to the captain just after witnessing Regina, wrapped in chains, jumping overboard. Desmond and Sayid try to help, but no one else jumps into action. The captain appears on deck and puts his men back to work. Desmond and Sayid can't believe that no one helped, but the captain simply shrugs it off, saying the crew has been getting cabin fever from being couped up in this location. The captain wants to move the ship to safer waters but can't do so with the engines out.

The captain brings Sayid and Desmond to his room and shows them the black box from their flight. He explains that the wreckage of 815 was staged (another confirmation of something that everyone knew) and said this is the reason they are after Benjamin Linus. So did Ben really stage the wrecked 815, along with 300+ bodies, or is Widmore really behind that too? Where would Ben get a plane and the dead bodies to pull this off? We don't know that much about Ben's off island life, so if he could pull together $3.2 million in a week, he's probably capable of this too.

Back to Regina. What's up with her and the rest of the crew? Early in the episode, she is guarding Desmond/Sayid's room. She seems out of it and is even holding her book upside down. Then she jumps overboard with no explanation other than experiencing cabin fever. Lastly, Desmond and Sayid are brought to their room, and we see that someone committed suicide in there with blood spattered on the wall. What is up with this freighter?

Kevin Johnson
Lost's worst kept secret was finally revealed when Ben's man on the boat stepped forward as Kevin Johnson. Oh, you don't recognize that name? Well, you probably know him as Michael Dawson, aka Walt's dad. Sayid and Desmond playing it cool and don't let on that they recognize Michael, but it had to come as a shock to them to see him again. Next week, we should get more story on how Michael come to be part of the freighter crew, but it was cool to see him again.

Not Jin!?!
The big reveal/twist of the episode is that Sun is part of the Oceanic 6, and Jin is not. After Ji Yeon was born, Hurley came to see Sun and the baby. Hurley's dressed in his best suit, and they set off to go see Jin. You knew this meant that something had happened to Jin. They arrive at a cemetery, and we see Jin's headstone. Sun talks to him and tells him that she wishes he would have been there. She named the baby Ji Yeon, just as he wanted. The moment is somber and both she and Hurley are mournful with their body language. So the question now becomes, is Jin really dead?

The thought never crossed my mind while watching the show that he might still be alive. Just the way they acted and the language they used (Hurley saying they should go see Jin) made it feel like that really was his grave sight. People online has examined the tombstone and the date of death is listed as 9/22/2004, the date of the plane crash. We all know Jin didn't die that day, so did they have to say that he died in the crash and couldn't give details of his real death? Is he still on the island and they are just using the grave as a front to show that he is dead? If he isn't in that grave, then why did Hurley and Sun go there to mourn him? Couldn't they have just talked in Sun's apartment? I just think they would have acted differently at the cemetary if the tombstone was just a symbol or a cover up for people being left on the island.

With this in mind, I think that Jin did die and despite the date being the day of the plane crash, he is in that grave. I think sometimes fans of Lost looked into and analyze everything too much. As the producers said in a recent podcast, sometimes a bracelet is just a bracelet. I think we are meant to question if Jin really died, and with the tease next week that someone will die, could Jin's life be on the line?

Not to end on such a somber note, I'll leave you with a fun Easter Egg that I did not catch in Ji Yeon, but lots of people online did. Check out who was on Sun's TV in her flashforward. Yep, Sun was watching Expose, featuring Flight 815's own Niki.

Next on Lost: Meet Kevin Johnson


*Photos from Lost-Media.com

Saints' Steve Gleason Retires

After battling for a roster spot year-after-year and becoming a fan favorite in the process, Steve Gleason has decided to retire from the NFL after seven seasons with the Saints. Gleason is a special teams ace and has cemented his place in Saints history with his blocked punt against the Falcons in the opening moments of the first game back at the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina.

Gleason was a great special teams player for the Black and Gold, but he was a better person for the community. He grew his hair out and donated it to Locks of Love and was always eager to give back to the New Orleans area. He and his future wife plan to have a house in New Orleans, so he will still be around, but fans will miss watch #37 break through the line and dive at opposing punters.

I for one enjoyed watching Gleason play. He never got much of a chance on defense, but he gave it 100 percent every time the special teams unit ran on the field. An injury to his knee forced him to miss last season and that injury and recover process was part of his decision to hang 'em up now. Steve, good luck in your future endeavors and thanks for playing hard for the Black and Gold.

The Constant Revisited

Doc Jenson at EW.com does a great Lost preview and recap. I thought I'd pass along some of his comments about "The Constant," since he clears up a lot of information on what happened and confirms his theories with producer Damon Lindelof.

Here's an excerpt from his article on "The Constant":

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO DESMOND?
In ''The Constant,'' Desmond became ''unstuck in time'' after flying through a thundercloud crackling with strange electricity. He experienced something like time travel, though not bodily time travel; instead, his consciousness shuttled between two different time periods, Island present 2004 and Desmond's past 1996. But here's the tricky twist: Desmond's Island-present mind wasn't the one doing the time traveling. When Desmond got hit with Island magic, his consciousness got knocked off-line and was replaced by his 1996 self. It was this older Desmond consciousness that toggled between present and past throughout the episode. Once Desmond '96 completed the errand of getting Penny's phone number so he could call her on Christmas Eve 2004, Desmond's present-day mind came back online, but rebooted with the new memories created by his time-travel adventure. I know: tricky stuff. But I had the chance to run all this by Damon Lindelof — and he says this interpretation is correct.

THE MINKOWSKI EXCEPTION
Desmond had the time-warp blues, but freighter freak Minkowski had Marty McFly Mania: Due to his own exposure to electromagnetic magic, he began psychically commuting back to a pleasant day on a Ferris wheel. He died desperately trying to zip-line back to this happy day one more time. Coldly poignant, I thought. Notice: Unlike Desmond's time-travel story, Minkowski's present day consciousness was making the trip. Lindelof says this difference was designed to make a very important point: ''As Faraday explains in the episode, the effect is random. Sometimes a person can be displaced by minutes, other times, years. And the direction of the effect is equally unpredictable. Our way of demonstrating this was to give Minkowski a wildly different experience than Desmond was having.'' Lindelof says none of this is arbitrary; exposure to electromagnetism or radiation plays a role. But he adds: ''Looking for specific rules for how all this works will lead you down the path of insanity.''

PARADOX R/X, or ''HOW COURSE CORRECTION WORKS'' To be clear, Desmond's past was different before ''The Constant.'' Before his time-travel adventure, Desmond never met Faraday at Oxford, never got Penelope's digits. As a consequence of changing the past, Desmond's personal history has been ''course corrected'' by The Powers That Be, beginning from the moment he walked away from Penny's apartment. Lindelof says this interpretation is also correct. But here's a Big Question: since scoring Penelope's phone number, has Course-Corrected Desmond lived his life knowing that on Christmas Eve 2004, he MUST be on a freighter in the South Pacific in order to make a call to Penelope if he wants any chance of having a future with her? Lindelof says this is indeed a matter we should be mulling. Perhaps in the future, Lost will give us an episode that replays Desmond's backstory (getting the boat from Libby; killing Kelvin; meeting the castaways) from the point of view of this knowingness.

The Other Woman

So it looks like we got to this season's "Stranger in a Strange Land." You remember that one, the episode devoted to Jack's tattoos. Well, "The Other Woman" might not be as much a filler episode as that one, but it didn't seem to fit with the fast-paced, intense pattern we've seen thus far in season 4.

While it did provide a bit of new information and filled in some blanks, it was one of those episodes were the audience is left wanting more...and it looks like we'll get that next week when Ben's mole is revealed. Could the tease have been any more obvious in the previews? If it isn't Michael, then that will be more of a surprise than when Harold Perrineau shows up on screen. More on that in a bit. Here's my thoughts on "The Other Woman."

The Whispers are Back
We are introduced to a new Other in this episode with Goodwin's wife, Harper, who was Juliette's therapist. In present isand time, Harper shows up to give Juliette a message from Ben, who despite being Locke's prisoner is still running the show. Just before Harper appears, Juliette hears the mysterious whispers. There's been no explantion of these whispers and little has been discussed about them. Does everyone hear them or just one character? Are they from the Others or another group? Lots of people online have broken down the whispers and figured out what they are saying and it is always something interesting. I can't wait until they check out the ones here.

After Harper gives the message, Jack shows up and questions her. As soon as Jack and Juliette look away, she disappears. Did she really just disappear or is she just that fast?

Harper and Juliette have a history. Besides being Juliette's therapist, she was married to Juliette's lover, Goodwin. Harper knew about their affair and warned them that Ben would do something bad to them if he found out. Well, Goodwin was sent to scope out the tailsection Losties and once Ana Lucia caught on to him, he was done for. Did Ben know that Goodwin would be killed before he sent him off?

New Love Triangle
Ben was jealous of Juliette and Goodwin's relationship, so he sent Goodwin off to be killed. He then told Juliette that she was his. Now in present island time, Jack and Juliette are hitting things off and Juliette warns him that Ben won't be happy. Jack's reply is somthing like "He knows where to find me," and they kiss. As if we need another love triangle on the island, especially another one involving Dr. Jack Sheppard.

In the flashforwards, we know that Jack still has feelings for Kate. So are we to assume that something happens between Jack and Juliette on the island that hurts their relationship? How will Ben be involved? He already knows that they are close, will he seek revenge and try to get his girl back? These are all questions that I don't really care about. Give me island mysteries, give me the smoke monster and more Dharma stations. I don't want anymore love triangles.

Not Penny's Boat, but...
It does belong to her dad, Charles Widmore. It was finally confirmed that Mr. Widmore is behind all this mess. Ben shows Locke a video of Widmore beating up one of the Others and tells him that Widmore has been looking for the island for a while. It is his freigter and he sent the freighter crew to the island. I don't buy Ben's explantion, though, for why Widmore wants to find the island. Ben says that he wants to explote it to make money. While money may be at the root of this, I don't think he wants to find the island to open up a resort or anything like that. He knows more about the island's powers than Ben lets on and there's more to this mystery than what has been laid out so far.

The Tempest
We are introduced to yet another Dharma station on the island. How many of these are there anyway? After being on the island for three months, there's still stuff that the Losties haven't found. The Tempest is the power station for the island. It makes sense that there would be a power station since there is electricity on the island, and we've never been given an explanation for how that is possible.

The reason for the visit to The Tempest isn't to check the power meters though. Daniel and Charlotte venture there to render the poisonous gas inert, so Ben can't use it to kill everyone on the island. So why did Daniel and Charlotte have to sneak off to the station and after encountering Kate, they knock her out and leave her in the jungle? It seems resonable that if they told Jack and the crew about the possibility of poisonous gas being leaked across the island, that Jack would be all for helping them disable it or at least would let them do it. So was there more to this mission than they lead on? Did they do more than disable the gas? The likely answer is Yes.

Freebird
Ben makes a deal with Locke and uses his last barginning chip, the tape and file on Penny's dad. Locke wants just one more bit of information before truly trusing Ben, he wants to know who's Ben's man on the boat. Without letting the audience in on the secret just yet, we are left with Ben telling Locke that he might want to sit down, so apparently the person's identity will be a shocker *coughMichaelcough*.

The only way its a more of a shocker than Michael is if its someone who we think is dead (ie, Patchy, Boone, Ethan, etc.) or it turns out to be grown up Walt. But pretty much all speculation and teasers lead to Michael being the mole. It is an awesome twist, but one that won't be much of a surprise. For one, Harold Perrineau was announced at Comic Con last summer to be back on the show. His name is in all the opening credits so far for season 4. There's only two pre-strike episodes left to air and episode 7 is said to have a huge cliff-hanger. Could it be Michael walking on screen for the first time? Then there was the previews of next week's episode with the voice over saying that you'll see somone you never thought you'd see again. All signs point to Michael.

The more interesting story will be how he came to work for and trust Ben. We know Sayid ends up working for Ben, so how does he get Michael to help him as well. Does Michael want to help everyone else get rescued and this is his opportunity? What happened after he and Walt left the island? Ben said they'd find rescue. Did they find the freighter and Michael has been with them ever since?

Some interesting episodes are up ahead. There's two more pre-strike episodes to air, then Lost takes a month break from TV to wrap up filming the rest of the season. The show will return in April in a new timeslot (9:00 p.m CT).

Next on Lost: Ji Yeon

*Photos from Lost-Media.com

Brett Favre Walks Away

Brett Favre, one of the top quarterbacks I'll ever see play, has decided to retire from the NFL.

I was surprised to see the breaking news blurb on ESPN.com this morning announcing Favre's decision. He had a great year last year and led his team to the NFC Championship. He played like mid-90s Favre and seemed to enjoy playing with all the young guys on the Packers.

Favre threw for 4,155 yards and 28 TDs in what will be his last NFL season. He's been hinting at retirement for the past few years, but it'll will still be weird watching the Packers play without #4 behind center. This is like Michael Jordan calling it quits. Favre is the biggest name in the game today, despite the presence of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. He's had a great career, including a Superbowl victory, and left his imprint on the game forever.

I'll definately miss watching the gunslinger, and there will never be another Brett Favre. He played hurt, took chances and thoroughly enjoyed playing the game. He appreciated the opportunity he was given and stayed loyal to the Packers ever since he suited up for the cheeseheads.

I've gotten the privilege to watch some great QBs in the past -- Montana, Elway, Marino, Aikman, Young -- but watching Favre on television playing at Lambeau field was something special. Favre is the last QB of that era (the era when I got into pro football) to call it quits. Now the NFL is in the hands of the Mannings, Brady, Roethlisberger, Romo, etc. Kids will grow up watching those guys play and hear about legends like Brett Favre, and how he played the game. Too bad they won't get to watch him play for a few more years.

Enjoy the rest of your life Brett and thanks for all the memories.

The Constant

This is one of the episode's of Lost that will be pointed out when the series is over. It's one that the producers will look to and say, see we always knew what was going on. It had a big picture feel to it and with each passing season, it will become more clear.

Time
While the series has hinted for a while that something is going on with time, this year they are coming right out and letting us know each week. First it was the 31 minute differential with Daniel's experiment in The Economist. Now Daniel tells Jack that his perception of how long the chopper has been gone, is not necessarily how long it has been gone. Then a bit later in the episode, Sayid asks Frank, maybe you can tell me how we took off at dusk and then landed in the middle of the day. I hope this whole time shift/movement gets explained because it is cool and is something that fans have been wondering about for a while now.

I'm not really sure what this will mean for the Losties when they return to civilization. Will they have aged differently? How much time has passed for them, compared to the rest of the world since the crash? According to the calendar on the ship, it's approaching Christmas 2004, but is this accurate? If its December 24th on the freighter, what is the date on the island? How does the 31 minute differential factor into this and how can the satellite phones work instantly if there's this time gap? Way too many questions in the time area.

Desmond, Daniel. Daniel, Desmond
Desmond is one of my favorite characters on the show and now that he seems to be paired with new fan-favorite Daniel Faraday, we should get even more interesting and exciting episodes. Remember, if anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant...awesome. So did Daniel remember meeting Desmond in 1996 or does he now? I think the line that Desmond tells Daniel in the past, maybe you forgot, is true. It does seem like Daniel has experienced memory loss or has trouble remembering stuff. Remember the 3 card memory game he played with Charlotte.

Then there's the question of Penny remembering that Desmond would call her on Christmas Eve 2004. Did she know about this call when she met up with Desmond at the stadium, prior to his sailing trip around the world? Did she know he would call when she stationed a team in the arctic to monitor electromagnetic anomalies? The producers addressed this in their latest podcast (available at ABC.com or iTunes) and said to go back and watch the Ms. Hawking scene from Season 3's "Flashes Before Your Eyes." She told Desmond about fate and the universe "course correcting" so I'm not really sure how that applies, but I'm sure it will become clearer in the future...or the past.

Minkowski
We found out who the mystery voice that answered the phone is from the season finale last year, and he's suffering from the same time travel jumping that Desmond is experiencing. He was the communications man on the boat, but once he starting losing it, they stuck him in sick bay. The communications equipment has been sabotaged (by Ben's mole presumably) and Minkowski is strapped to a bed. But I still wonder why Frank told Daniel to hang up if Minkowski answered in The Economist. They wouldn't have known about his sickness, would they? Also, we still haven't met Regina, who seems to have taken over the communications post and answered the phone a few times.

Minkowski also tells the doctor that the sickness will happen to everyone once they start heading to the island again. So have they all been there before? We know that they've been looking for the island, but the way he said this, it seems like they are going back, not going for the first time.

Black Rock/Find 815
Penny's dad is shown buying a log from the Black Rock at an auction in Desmond's flash(back?). In the Find 815 online game, they were using a log to find the location of Black Rock's wreckage. The salvage vessel eventually finds wreckage of Flight 815, along with all the passengers' bodies. This is believed to be some sort of cover-up done by a powerful organization (Hanso Foundation, The Maxwell Group, Whidmore...) Since Penny's dad buys the log book, is he behind the cover-up? Is he the boss of all those on the freighter? Ben knows who Miles is working for, but why would Mr. Whidmore be looking for Ben? Naomi did have Desmond and Penny's photo when she landed on the island. How is this all tied together?

Next on Lost: "The Other Woman"

*Photos from Lost-Media.com