Lost Rewatch: Week 27

As the Lost Rewatch winds down to the end of season 5, the anticipation for season 6 continues to build. There are rumors of new promos coming to ABC (remember that the Lost producers aren't planning to show any season 6 footage, so these promos have to be creative, as Doc Jensen blogged about this week). And speaking of Doc Jensen, I'm not sure when this was posted, but it ties into the Lost Rewatch: Doc Jensen's season 5 report card.

Now onto this week in the Rewatch:

Dead is Dead (Zap2It Recap)

• GulfCoastOffense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashback focuses on Ben just after he was healed by the Others in 1977, stealing Alex in 1989 and banishing Widmore from the island.
• Ben is surprised to see the 815ers in the DHARMA Initiative photo. How much of his memory was lost when Richard healed him? He doesn't remember any of them in DHARMA (or is he lying again), what else doesn't he remember?
• Christian told Sun that Locke would help her get to Jin. How is this going to happen. With Locke being the Man in Black, has Christian been working for him all this time? Is Christian Smokey or is Locke/Man in Black Smokey? Locke always seemed to be off somewhere else when Smokey was appearing.
• How does Ethan join the Others? When he goes with Ben to kill Rousseau, DHARMA is still active on the island. Also, Ben tells Rousseau to run the other way whenever she hears whispers, is this confirmation that the whispers are the Others?
  

Some Like It Hoth (Zap2It Recap)

• GulfCoastOffense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashback focuses on Miles, first learning of his ability as a child, when his mom was ill, being recruited by Naomi, using his con-skills on a father and being recruited by Bram.
  
• Hurley and Miles can both talk to the dead, but in different ways. Miles is able to read their last thoughts, while Hurley interacts with them. All along, I thought Hurley's ability was just part of his mental state, but it may very well be an ability. So how are they both able to talk to the dead? How did Miles get this ability (being born on the island or an experiment by his father)?
• Shadow of the Statue group ... how do they know so much? Bram knew where Miles was headed, knew about Miles' father and his ability. He told him that he's playing for the wrong team. So are their three fractions battling over the island (Bram's group, Ben and Widmore)? This group has ties to Jacob, but how and why are yet unknown.
• How long was Daniel in Michigan and what has he been doing all that time?
  

The Variable (Zap2It Recap)

• GulfCoastOffense's original recap. LongLiveLocke's original recap.
• Flashback focuses on Faraday and his relationship with his mother. We also get to see Widmore pay him a visit and invite him to join the freighter group.
• Little Daniel is good at piano, could he have been the one who set the code in The Looking Glass station to the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." Many fans speculate that it was Daniel, but when would he have done this?
  
• Remember a few episodes ago when Charlotte was testing Daniel's memory with playing cards? This is explained in this episode because Widmore told him that his memory would be fixed on the island.
  
• Did Daniel know that his mom would shoot him? He was defiant when he walked into the Others camp and didn't back down when confronting Richard. Perhaps he knew it had to play out this way, even though he does seem surprised when he puts the pieces together that his mom knew that she knew his entire life that she kills him in 1977.
• Why didn't Hawking try to change things? Why not push Daniel toward music instead of pushing him so hard toward his destiny in science and math? Was she ultimately protecting the island or does she still know something that we don't?
  
• We learn in a few episodes that Ellie was actually the leader of the Others and not Widmore. When did she leave the island and why? She tells Penny that for the first time in a while, she doesn't know what happens next. How did she know how everything would play out anyway?