"Meet Kevin Johnson" (Season 4, Episode 8)

We've had episodes with flashbacks. We've had episodes with flash forwards. We've even had flashbacks and flash forwards in one episode. But last night's "Meet Kevin Johnson" gave us a show made up almost entirely of one long flashback with events on the island bookending Michael's story. This episode continues the practice of giving actors airtime even after their characters have died. Libby, Tom, George Minkowski, and Naomi all made appearances.

Best Line

• "We kinda like knew that forever ago." Hurley response to Miles' statement that the freighter folk were here for Ben.
  

Did You Notice?

• Was "heightened cabin fever" again to blame for the freighter crew trying to steal an inflatable raft and the captain's harsh reaction?
  
• Did my fellow Star Wars fans notice a similarity between Michael in his hoodie and the Emperor? Decide for yourself.
  

• The map Ben provided to Alex had a Dharma logo where the temple was located.
• The song playing on Michael's car radio (and again in the freighter's engine room) was "It's Getting Better" by Mama Cass. Desmond was listening to Mama Cass in the hatch when he was first introduced.
• Michael waking up in the hospital featured another of the show's recurring shot of a close-up of an eye.
• Some on-line theorists believe the unconscious man in the hospital bed next to Michael was Alvar Hanso.
• It was appropriate that "Dr. Libby" be carrying blankets since she had come to get one for her and Hurley's picnic when Michael shot her in the hatch.
• The watch Michael pawned belonged to Jin.
• I know the bottle Michael picked up in the alley has to be significant. It's either the brand the monks made when Desmond was one of them or what Charles Widmore had in his office when Desmond came to ask for Penny's hand in marriage.
• Tom tells Michael that "the island won't let you" referring to killing himself. Does this mean the car accident that stopped future Jack from jumping off the bridge was the work of the island? Does this mean future Sayid would have survived the gunshot whether Ben removed the bullet or not? And was there no fear of Sun dying while giving birth?
• The game show playing on Michael's television featured the question "Who was the author of the book Slaughter House Five?" with the contestant correctly answering "Kurt Vonnegut". The host then asks if she can name the book's protagonist before the news bulletin interrupts. Slaughterhouse Five tells the story of Billy Pilgrim who has become "unstuck in time" and features time travel as a plot device. Faraday had used the term "unstuck in time" when explaining his experiments with Eloise the rat to Desmond at Oxford.
  
• Tom was staying in the Penthouse Suite of the Hotel Earle. A real place in New York, it is now called The Washington Square Hotel and was home to Bob Dylan. In the movie "Barton Fink", the fictional Hotel Earle symbolized Hell.
• Now we know why Tom had no interest in Kate in the shower in Season 3. He had told her she wasn't his type. Kate and Arturo don't seem to have much in common.
• Charles Widmore really wanted to find the island! Buying an airliner, digging up over 300 graves in Thailand. What won't this guy do? The really question is what's the reason for his obsession?
• The freighter was docked at the Port of Suva, the largest and busiest port in Fiji.
• The activation code to the explosion device was 71776. As in July 1776? Significant?
• Did you hear the ghostly whispering before Libby appeared in the engine room?
• Karl's comment "I just have a bad feeling about this" was no doubt the writers tip of the hat to the Star Wars films, in all of which a variation of this line appears.
• I think it's a good bet that Karl is dead but what about Rousseau? I don't think we've seen the last of the crazy French lady. And who is the shooter or shooters? The freighter folk? Is this why we saw them practice shooting in Michael's flashbacks? Or is it Ben's people? Or could it be the island's original, never aging inhabitants?
  

The Numbers - 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 15 16 23 42 108

• Locke tells the neighborhood watch meeting that Miles and 3 of his people came to the island.
• The freighter captain reminds the crew to remember what happened to the last 2 men who took off.
  
• Sawyer questions Locke about his failure to mention Miles' $3 million offer to Ben.
• Michael's mother (no, that wasn't Martin Lawrence in "Big Momma's House 3") wanted to know where he was for the last 2 months.
• The pawn broker offers Michael $3 hundred for the watch.
• Tom mentions that Walt is 10 years old when confronting Michael in the alley.
• On the phone, Tom suggests that Michael wait a day or 2 before opening the "care package".
• We see the demolition countdown clock with 10 seconds remaining, then again when it counts down from 4 to 3 to 2.
• Rousseau allows Alex and Karl to stop for 2 minutes on their journey to the temple.
• Rousseau tells Alex to run on the count of 3.
  

Previews - Any doubt as to who makes up the Oceanic Six was removed as Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun, and yes, baby Aaron were shown to be the ones in last night's previews. Good news is it looks like things come to a head between the islanders and the freighter folk on the next episode. The bad news is that show is four weeks away. After the mini-hiatus, "Lost" returns on Thursday, April 24, but in a new time slot at 10:00 p.m. EST.

While you're waiting for the return, check out a fan's amazing website theorizing about how time travel is at the heart of "Lost". It has the show's events in chronological order and a very well thought-out theory of where in time the island exists. I found it incredible. See for yourself at http://www.timelooptheory.com/

"The Other Woman" (Season 4, Episode 6)

First off, a few follow-up notes to last week's "The Constant". From the 8 p.m. enhanced version, the purple light from Faraday's device which bathed over Eloise was meant to parallel the purple sky from the Season 2 finale when the hatch imploded. Also, the Black Rock was captained by Magnus Hanso, a relative of both the journal's owner and the founder of the Dharma Initiative. After re-watching the obvious love between Desmond and Penny, I now believe the "Adam and Eve" skeletons from season 1 will turn out to be them. Somehow they will travel into the island's past to escape her father's manipulations where they will live happily ever after until Jack stumbles upon their bones in the cave.

Tonight's episode's title "The Other Woman" makes you wonder to whom it refers. Juliet in regards to Goodwin and Harper? Harper herself? Juliet in regards to Jack and Kate? Juliet as the woman from the Others? Ben's past love?

Best Lines

• "She's my wife." Goodwin responding to Juliet's assessment that Harper is a mean and spiteful person.
• "This didn't have a number on it, did it?" Ben to Locke when served a cooked rabbit, referring to his Number 8 bunny from last season.
  

Did You Notice?

• My initial reaction to therapist Harper Stanhope was that she is one of the island's long-lived natives like Dr. Richard Alpert. In other words, Harper's bizarre. This feeling was even stronger when she appeared out of the blue right after the ghostly whispers and introduced herself to Jack as an "old" friend of Juliet's. I believe Ben used Harper to get to know more about Juliet.
• Add Tom to the list of characters with daddy issues.
• Coincidence that it started raining as the foursome began searching for Faraday and Charlotte?
  
• Okay, I just tried listening to the ghostly whispering audio from a website that had it as it aired and in reverse. I couldn't hear anything distinct and only managed to scare myself!
  
• The new Dharma electrical station, The Tempest, shares the same name as a play by Shakespeare, which features a group of characters stranded on an island. The logo for the station is a stylized tidal wave, possibly foreshadowing the tsunami?
• Henrietta is mentioned as the latest pregnant woman to be lost.
• Faraday's map features three areas marked "Unknown".
• Who is it that Juliet looks like that has Ben "You're Mine!" Linus so obsessed? I don't believe it's his mother since we saw her last season in his flashback. I think it's a long lost love and the same woman featured in the portrait in Ben's house. Seen last season and again last night when Ben opened the door for Juliet, the woman bears a striking resemblance to her, is seated in a wicker chair, and is holding a small furry animal in her lap (a bunny?).
• As Locked walked Ben down the hallway, there is a collage picture frame of photos of what looks like parents and children.
• Is the video tape of the taped-over Boston Red Sox the same one Ben showed to Jack in the Hydra Station to prove the Others had contact with the outside world? If so, then the incident with Charles Widmore occurred after the crash of Flight 815. Who was the videographer - Ben? Widmore's knowledge of the island no doubt comes from his purchase of the Black Rock's journal in 1996.
• Ben and Juliet discussed the two tail section children, Zack and Emma. Ben comments that were on the list, apparently referring to Jacob's list.
• The Tempest computer monitor that Faraday was looking at had the message "CROSS FEED ASS 16 OVERPRESSURE ALERT". Ass? Overpressure? Well, it did have to do with gas.
• Were the writers thinking of the old saying "close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades" by showing Hurley and Sawyer playing the game while Miles, we assume, remains with his explosive mouthful nearby?
  

The Numbers - 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 15 16 23 42 108

• Ben points out to Juliet that her new living arrangements include 2 bedrooms and 2 baths.
• Juliet believes she will only be on the island for 6 months.
• The Tempest Dharma station brings the count to 8.
• The pregnancy problems occur in the 2nd trimester.
• Juliet tells Goodwin she has an appointment with his wife in 10 minutes.
• The combination to Ben's wall safe is 36-15-28.
• Ben mentions that the Virgin Mary mold story happened 3 months ago and that 5 thousand people came to see it.
• Juliet comments that Goodwin has been undercover with the Tailies for 3 weeks.
• The Tempest computer announces that contamination will occur in 10 seconds.
• The countdown is 5, 4, 3, and 2 before it stops.
  

Previews - Next week's "Ji Yeon" features a number of scenes with Sun and Jin, a note that reads "DON'T TRUST THE CAPTAIN", a woman (Regina?) wrapped in chains thrown off the freighter, and promises the revelation of the last of the Oceanic 6. Now if you doubt that baby Aaron is one of them, then this leaves the door open for two people. Will it be Sun and/or Jin and/or their baby? Will it be Michael? Or could it be an adult Walt? Is this why Ben told Locke he might want to sit down before revealing his man on the boat this week?

How Season 4 Will Play Out

The latest schedule is as follows:

Episode 6: March 6
Episode 7: March 13
Episode 8: March 20
(4-week break)
Episode 9: April 24
Episode 10: May 1
Episode 11: May 8
Episode 12: May 15
Episode 13: May 22 (season finale)