Jughead

Lost season 5 continued to move along, although not at the same lightning quick pace established last week, in episode three, "Jughead." While the pace slowed a bit, the answers are still coming strong. We are starting to see characters in a different way, and the time travel elements of the show, while still a little confusing, are helping to flesh out the history of the island.

Charlie (Hume?)

We begin the episode with the birth of Desmond and Penny's son. They don't refer to him by name for most of the episode, but later reveal that his name is Charlie. This is a sweet gesture to remember the Drive Shaft rocker who sacrificed himself to save Desmond and everyone else on the island. But the way Lost fans are, theories are starting to develop over baby Hume. Who does baby Charlie grow up to be? I've read everything from Charlie Pace to Charles Widmore to Charlotte. Let's just let this one play out people. This is probably a case of the fans looking for something that just isn't there.

The Others

We learned a lot about the history of The Others during this episode. Last week, we had seen members of a military group capture Sawyer and Juliette and then get taken down by Locke. This week, another fraction of that group captures Miles, Daniel and Charlotte, after more red shirts are killed from a trip wire by the creek. They are brought to the Others main camp. During the capture, Ellie (more on her later) asked Daniel, You just couldn't stay away, could you?, making the audience wonder how many times has Daniel been on the island? But it turned out to just be that she assumes they were part of the American military, not that she recognized Daniel.

Meanwhile, Juliette, Sawyer and Locke learn that the military guys speak Latin, alerting Juliette that they are indeed Others. Juliette breaks out some Latin herself and lets us know that all Others can speak it. When one of the captives starts giving too much info, "Jones" snaps his neck and makes a run for it. Locke doesn't shoot at him because he's one of his people.

Lots of information to digest in these scenes. How do all the Others learn Latin? Does this have anything to do with Room 23 or are we looking into this too much? Also even though they are in the past, Locke feels like he is the leader of the Others.

Richard Alpert

During Juliette's dialogue in Latin, she asks the Others about Richard Alpert. We later see that he is the leader at the campsite. Locke asks Juliette how she knew Richard would be here, and she says that he's always been here. They confirm that he's really old. So Juliette and the rest of the Others know about Richard's agelessness. And he's always been there? That's a generic statement, but it may also mean a lot. Has he been there since the island was created? What's his connection to the island and why isn't he the permanent leader of the Others? Why does he take a backseat to Ben, Locke or whoever else?

Jughead

At the Others camp, we learn why this episode it titled "Jughead." Jughead is the name of a hydrogen bomb that the U.S. military had brought to the island. They had been testing these types of weapons in this area. The Others killed the soldiers and now have the bomb. Richard says that they were force to do this, but it looks like it wasn't his decision. He tells Daniel that we all answer to somebody.

Daniel convicnces Richard that he needs to disarm the bomb or they're all in danger. It turns out there's a crack in the casing and the way to solve that issue is to cover it with lead or concrete and bury it. Hmm, where have we seen a thick wall of concrete with some radiation and other weird properties going on behind it? Maybe the Swan hatch?

How does the bomb play out in the future of the island? Is it indeed buried in/near the Swan Hatch location? Does the radiation from the bomb have anything to do with the incident or the inability of women to conceive on the island? Also, how did the U.S. military know the location of the island? Did they just happen upon it? If they did know the location, have they tried to go back too?

Wow, would you look at that, more questions after watching a Lost episode. Who would have thunk it?

So we meet again, again, again ...

Last time Locke and Richard spoke, Richard gave him the compass and told him that the next time they meet, he won't recognize Locke. Well, here we see the next time they meet. Locke walks right into camp and to prove to Richard that he needs to listen to him, he says that Jacob sent him. This gets Richard's trust right away. So we learn that Jacob is a force even during this time on the island.

Locke gives Richard the compass, but Richard doesn't seem to know why. Locke tries to convince him that he's the Others' leader, but Richard mentions the selection process starts when the person is young. We learn that the year is 1954 and that Locke is born two years later. Richard seems to believe Locke, but he won't give him the piece of information that he needs, how to get off the island. Richard says that's privelaged information. We see the flash coming, and boom Locke's off to another time.

We learned a ton from this meeting. We now know why Richard was present at Locke's birth. Locke himself told him when and where he'd be born. We also know why Richard was so insistent on Locke picking the compass when he visited him as a boy. There's a big circle thoughout time forming with this compass. Don't even try to wrap your brain around how this compass can even exist. Future Richard gives it to Locke, Locke gives it to past Richard, who gives it to future Locke. It's just one big circle.

We also learn why the Others are so thrilled to see Locke and why they've been waiting for him. The Others first meet John Locke in 1954 and he tells them he's their leader, then he disappears. For years, they've heard about this man and then in 2004 he appears on their island again. Of course they are going to think he's special, they've known about him for 50+ years.

Jones = Widmore

Fans have long assumed that Charles Widmore had been on the island in the past, based on his and Ben's conversation last season. But what capacity he held on the island was an unknown. There was speculation that he was part of Black Rock or Rousseau's group, but we now know that he was part of the Others long before Ben was even a thought.

Locke's line was funny when he realized that he was Charles Widmore. So how did Charles leave the island and why? Was he banished? Did he have to move it? Why is he so eager to get back now? How long was he there? Questions, questions, questions.

Ellie

We were introduced to a new Other (or were we?) in this episode. Part of the Others group that captured Daniel and company was a young woman, who we later learn is named Ellie. Daniel is caught staring at her and mentions that she resembles someone, but doesn't say who.

With everything pointing toward Ms. Hawking as Daniel's mom (Widmore gives Desmond her address in Los Angeles, where we saw Ms. Hawking and Ben las week), does Ellie remind Desmond of his mother? In the enhanced replay of "The Lie," it was revealed that Ms. Hawking's name is Eloise. This has yet to be revealed on the show, so we'll have to see if it is true, but could Ellie be short for Eloise? Also, remember Daniel's mouse from "The Constant" was named Eloise too.

It would fit that Ms. Hawking was a member of the Others in the 1950s, but what role does she play now? Is she also trying to get back to the island or just protect it? What is her relationship with Charles Widmore? Theories are starting to form that Widmore is Daniel's father. I'm not sure if I buy that one, but we'll see.

Other Thoughts

The episode ends with Charlotte experiencing a major nosebleed and collapsing. Daniel tries to revive her and holds her in his arms. What will be her fate? Why hasn't Daniel told her what's happening to her? Does she need a constant or is this sickness something totally different, since we know/assume she was born on the island?

It seems as though Daniel knows exactly what's happening to Charlotte. Could it be because he saw the same thing happen to Theresa Spencer? We see Theresa in a vegetive state and her sister informs us that she's out right now. When she comes to, she'll think she's 3 or that she's talking to their father. Sounds a lot like the consciousness jumping that Desmond did in "The Constant." Two surprising things from this scene: Daniel left her like this and fleed to the states and Charles Widmore has been funding her care.

Not sure why Daniel would have left her like this, but obviously something serious happend. His lab is all packed up and basically hidden away and Oxford erased him from their history. We learn that Widmore had funded Daniel's research, so he knows all about time travel ... maybe from encountering Locke on the island or has he time jumped himself?

Another thing that we learn is that Daniel knows about Miles' ability to talk to the dead. When they walk over a fresh grave of U.S. soldiers, Miles tells Daniel. Not a big reveal, but an answer nonetheless.

Lastly, here's something that I wonder if they'll address. We've seen what happens when Locke and the group flash, but what is it like from the other people's (Ethan, Richard, the Others) perspective? Richard was talking to Locke one second, the next, does he just disappear right in front of him?

Next on Lost: The Little Prince

*Photos from Lost-Media.com