*Bonus Post* - A look back at the DHARMA videos

I just thought it would be interesting to post the two Orientation videos that we have seen so far, so we can watch them side by side for comparison.

The SWAN Orientation video is the first video that we saw. This was on the 8mm film reel that Desmond kept hidden behind the hatch bookshelf. This was the very first glimpse we got into the Dharma Initiative. We learn about their psychological, zoological and electromagnetic experimentation. Also notice the reference to the "Utopian" society. It is explained that this hatch was a former laboratory for electromagnetic functions on "this sector of the island" and that not long after the experiments began, there was an "incident." Since that happened, they now have to push a button every 108 minutes. That is their sole purpose.

Swan Orientation Video


The PEARL Orientation video is the second video we see, when Locke discovers the second hatch on the island.The Pearl Station is number 5 of 6 on the island. Inside this hatch is a monitoring station, where the activities of other Dharma participants are observed, though they are not aware they are being monitored or that they are the subjects of an experiment. Notice that he references the Pala Ferry (which we first saw in "The Glass Ballerina" episode). He tells them to take the Pala Ferry back to the barracks after their 8 hour shift. This would imply that the dock is where the Dharma group goes to and from the islands (one island where they live, one island where they "work"). Also notice that this video is on a VCR tape (as opposed to the previous film which was on an 8mm film reel).

Pearl Orientation Video


The interesting thing about these two videos is that they are conducted by the same man, however he gives two different names. In the SWAN video, he introduces himself as Dr. Marvin Candle. In the PEARL video, he says he is Dr. Mark Wickman. Why the two names? (Candle-WICK?) Also, in the SWAN video, notice that his left arm is fake. It just hangs there the whole time and you can tell it is not his real arm. However, in the PEARL video, he clearly has the use of both arms. This would imply that the Pearl video was actually made first, before he lost the use of his arm. What happened to him that he lost his arm? And why would the Pearl video be made on a VCR tape and then the Swan video made on an 8mm film? BOTH videos show a copyright date at the end that says 1980. If they were both filmed at the same time, why would they be filmed on two different formats? It appears that they were not filmed at the same time because of the doctor's "arm." Was the Dharma group trying to trick the viewer into believing the "Pearl" video was made at the same time as the Swan Orientation? Or perhaps the Pearl video was re-made at a later date (remember how Desmond's first "partner" cut out bits and pieces of the film reel - though we still don't know why he did this - maybe he also did something to the VCR tape. There is something they are trying to hide.

**On another note: I do NOT think that the group who we know as "The OTHERS" is the same group as the Dharma Initiative. We obviously know that the presence of the Dharma group is all over the island (the Orientation videos, the food supplies, the hatches, the logos everywhere) - but from what we have seen of the OTHERS, I really do not think they are part of Dharma. The Others appeared to truly not know much about Desmond and the hatch, or what happened when the hatch imploded ("when the sky turned purple"), and they did not even know about Desmond's sailboat. Also, from Ben's repeated statement that "we are the good ones" implies there is another group on the island (the "bad" ones). I think that we might not have even seen the real Dharma group yet. Because the Others do not wear clothes with Dharma logos (but Desmond did). Clearly there are different "groups" all over the island. I think that maybe the Others may have been part of that group (a long time ago) but somehow separated themselves into two group (of the "good" ones and the "bad" ones). They also could be the children of the original Dharma group, born into a life of "experiments." It may be that the OTHERS are telling the truth, maybe they really are the good ones, and are trying to help the rest of the survivors from being taken into the Dharma group's experiments. They only want the good ones, though. I also still think that Jack's dad is a part of Dharma and that he had to "fake" his own death so he could disappear and go live on the island permanently. I think I've mentioned this in the past, but he could even be Alvar Hanso (who they showed from behind the window in the Swan video).

Season 3, Episode 4: "Every Man for Himself"

The title of this episode was EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF. This is what Sawyer tells Kate when she tries to escape and he refused to go with her. She then comes back with "Live Together Die Alone," which has been quoted several times by her and Jack, and was also the title of the season 2 finale. Sawyer is trying to say that he doesn't care and they should only look out for themselves, but Kate shows him by getting back into the cage that she does care about him, and that they are in this together.

NOT WHAT THEY SEEM TO BE:
One thing I have noticed so far in this season, is that in each episode we have learned that these characters aren't at all what we thought they were. Last season devoted so much to Good vs. Evil....the idea of who is "good" and showing that the Others only wanted "the good ones." Now we are learning, deep down, who is really good and who is not.

The first three episodes we have seen people who we thought were so good, turns out they are not so perfect after all. First we learn that Jack, who comes across as this noble doctor, the "hero" who everyone looks up to, is in fact obsessive-compulsive. Secondly, we learned that Sun is actually very conniving. She has been lying all her life, to her father, her husband, she learned English without her husband knowing, committed adultery, and now murder. Sun is not at all the innocent little housewife that we thought she was. Then last week we learn that Locke, who we've thought of as this wise, all-knowing man, was involved in a pot-growing scheme. Not at all what we would think of him. Just goes to show that these people are very different than what we think they are. So here are three people who we've thought of as GOOD, but we find out that they have flaws too...and they are not necessarily as good as we thought.

In this episode we see the opposite...Sawyer -- who we typically thought was so evil -- is actually "good" inside. He truly cares about Kate, he doesn't want her to get hurt. The OTHERS knew this and used it against him. They made up the story about the pacemaker to keep him quiet and so he wouldn't try to escape. He believed them and this is why he was so against Kate's escape plan, because he didn't want them to hurt her. Ben made a comment that he tries so hard to make it seem like he doesn't care about her, but they know that he does. This was also similar to his feelings with Cassidy, the woman he conned who ultimately put him in jail. Although he makes it seem like he doesn't care that he has a daughter, we find out that he really does, when he anonymously gives the money to her. Once again, Sawyer conned someone (the other prisoner) although he was working WITH the warden to bust the new guy in exchange for his own freedom. When he is given his share of the money for his help, he has the warden put it all in an account in Albuquerque for his daughter, though he wants it to be anonymous. We discover that Sawyer truly does care, but for some reason he doesn't want her to know. Just like Ben said, he tries so hard to play this evil, conman, but deep down he really is a good person and has good intentions. Just another example of how each person appears a certain way on the outside, but in fact is just the opposite.

OF MICE AND MEN:
Along with that same subject, we would not think that Sawyer is so well-read. In fact we have seen him reading quite a lot on the island. Funny that he and Ben both quote the same book, Of Mice and Men, which we saw Sawyer reading while he was in prison. We also know that Ben used to be part of a book club.

This classic novel, by John Steinbeck, is essentially about the nature of human existence and in dealing with the sense of loneliness and isolation. In fact, at the end of this episode, Ben quotes "A guy needs somebody to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long as he's with you. A guy gets too lonely and he gets SICK." Notice the usage of the word "sick" at the end of this quote. Is this the "sickness" that Danielle has been speaking of? She has been living alone for 16 years, maybe the idea of isolation and loneliess is what causes people to get "sick." This is also similar to Desmond in the hatch. This could be some kind of psychological experiment that the Others are performing, testing man's ability to live in isolation, and seeing if "he goes nuts if he ain't got nobody."

As we also see in this novel, Lennie, who is mentally retarded, has a physical strength that is like no other. He ends up killing both people and animals by accident, though he never meant to do it. His child-like heart was in the right place, but he commits murder unwittingly. Just like alot of the survivors. Deep down they are good people, but sometimes they do bad things.

Another thought, the very title "Of Mice and Men" deals with two very different groups, the all-powerful MEN vs. the trapped, experimental MICE. This is very similar to the Others and those they have captured. The Others (Men) are performing psychological and experimental testing on Sawyer, Kate and Jack (mice). They also showed that they do lab experiments on animals (rabbits) as we have also seen with the bears and the sharks. In this situation, they are treating their captors as lab mice (keeping them in cages, performing experiments on them).

COMS ARE DOWN
We hear Tom/Zeke telling Ben that "in the two days since the sky turned purple we've been blind, our coms are all down, and I can't get them back up again." Apparently they are not as certain about what happened as they would appear to be. It seems they don't know fully what happened when the hatch imploded (the sky turned purple) and that they are unable to figure out why their intercoms are no longer working. Interesting because the intercoms in Jack's cell suddenly ARE working. Juliet previously told him that they haven't worked in a long time, after he appeared to be hallucinating and hearing voices over the intercom. Now he is clearly hearing Sawyer being tortured. Also, later on he hears voices talking and tries to make out what they are saying..."It's under conrol...do you know what he's doing? It was a mistake bringing them here..."


WHO AM I HERE TO SAVE?
After the woman dies on the operating table, Juliet tells him that she is "not used to death," that she is a fertility doctor. He tells her she was dead before they even put her on the table, and Juliet asks if he's just saying that to make her feel better. He responds that he doesn't care how she feels. Jack then responds that he saw the X-rays on the wall and that there is a man with a very large tumor. He realizes at that point he was brought there for a reason. Now we finally know why they wanted Jack. Not because he is one of the "good ones" as they seemed to emphasize by whose names were on "the list," but because he is a spinal surgeon and they know that he has a need to "fix" things. They want Jack for his medical expertise. The question is, WHO has the tumor? Ben told Jack earlier that he wants him to do something, in exchange for his freedom. He said he could go home if he does this thing for them. Is this what they wanted from him all along? Now it's going to be a matter of whether Jack is willing to help them or not. He has already emphasized to Juliet that he really does not care about them or how they feel. I think that the reason they brought Sawyer and Kate was strategically for blackmail. They know that Jack cares for Kate and they could use her as a hostage if he does not agree to perform the surgery. We have already seen last season that when confronted in the woods, Jack had an opportunity to shoot them but put his gun down when they came out with Kate as a hostage. So this would give us reasons for why they wanted Jack, and possibly Kate. But what about Sawyer? We still don't know WHY they took him as well. Ben tells him that "danny" wants him dead. (Danny is the husband of the woman who Sun shot). But Ben says "Danny will have to wait. He is still needed."

I also think it's interesting that Juliet is a "fertility" doctor what with all the experiments they do and their kidnapping of children. Obviously there is something about children and babies that they want. A fertility doctor is someone who is needed when someone can't have children. What could she possibly be doing on the island? Also we know that Ben has been on the island his entire life. What about Juliet? If she was also on the island her whole life, she can't possibly be a "real" and accredited doctor. Where did she learn to be a doctor? I noticed that while they seem to have a full operating room and modern amenities (XRays, etc.), yet they don't seem to know much about actual surgery (she said she had never done this before.) Also the chest pumps "were not working." Is this because of the hatch implosion? Maybe the electromagnetic force being down somehow caused those not to work and therefore were unable to save the woman they were operating on.

DESMOND'S PSYCHIC POWERS
So now we have seen twice that Desmond does in fact have some kind of psychic ability. Last week he predicted Locke's speech before he made it, and now we see that he knew about the lightning storm before it happened. He knew that lightning was going to strike and hit the roof of the tent where Claire and Aaron were, so he made a lightning rod to defer it and help save her and her baby's life. I still think that something with the electromagnetic force and the implosion of the hatch somehow transferred this psychic power to him when he was thrown from the hatch. I also think something similar happened with the other "incident" that the Dharma videos talk about, which is why they want the people who have these "special" powers (such as Walt). So far we have seen that Locke, Eko and Desmond, all who were in the hatch at the time of implosion, have now come out with the ability to have these "visions."

NOWHERE TO RUN
At the end of this episode, Ben shows Sawyer that there are two islands. One island where their plane crashed and where the survivors are living, and the other island which they are now on. He tells Sawyer not to bother trying to escape because there is nowhere to run. Interesting that Ben refers to it like Alcatrez, using that against Sawyer since he knows he was formerly in prison. It appears that the Others have camps on both islands, as we saw that when the plane crashed they were able to run to the site of the plane crash from their "village" - but their medical station and the cages where they keep their captors are on this different island. Remember when we first saw Kate, Jack and Sawyer captured they were on a dock (Pala Ferry). They get back and forth by submarine. This is confirmed at the beginning of the episode when Ben interrupts Juliet while talking to Jack in his cell and tells her that "the sub is back." Also the wires that Sayid found going into the ocean could have something to do with their submarine. Maybe the sub is attached to their underwater station (where they were keeping Jack).

THE EYE PATCH
In the scenes for next week, we see a man with an eyepatch peering into the video monitor in one of the hatch stations. Could this be the same guy who had the glass eye? Remember when Eko found the box in the hatch, it had a bible...and a glass eye!



PS - If you are reading this, please post on the "Comments" link below and just let me know you are here! I am REALLY curious to know who reads this. Otherwise I feel like I am just wasting my time, because it takes a very long time to compile everything, go back to my Tivo, look up stuff online, etc. - so I would atleast like to know that I am doing this all for a purpose and that people out there are actually reading it! I forward it to a few friends, but from what I hear this is forwarded to a bunch of other people as well (and according to my mother-in-law, the whole town of Syracuse). So I'm just really curious to know who reads this. Because apparently people that I don't even know are wondering if I am okay if I don't post by noon the next day!!! :)

Season 3, Episode 3: "Further Instructions"

The title of this episode is FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. This refers to when Locke went into the "sweat shack" and induced himself with drugs so the island could give him further instructions about what he was supposed to do.

DEJA VU
The opening sequence of this episode is very similar to the first shot we see of Locke in the Pilot episode. He is lying in the grass, unsure of where he is. The camera is over him and slowly pans out from above and we see his whereabouts. In the Pilot episode, Locke wiggles his toes which is the first time he realizes he is no longer paralyzed. However in this episode he grabs his throat, and instead of GAINING something, he realizes he has lost the ability to speak. Very interesting that the opening sequence has this sort of "deja vu" for something we have seen before with Locke, and then the episode ends with Hurley's comment about having deja vu.


SWEAT SHACK
Locke enlists Charlie to help him (when typically Locke is the one helping Charlie) - as he needs to "speak" to the island. He makes a sweat shack and gives himself some sort of drug to help "induce" these visions (remember he did the same thing with Boone when he had the vision about Shannon dying). This was strange to see Locke taking drugs because we think of him as such an honest, straight-laced guy. Little do we know about him. Anyway, during this "vision" he sees Boone, who tells him that someone on the island needs his help. Locke goes on to see all the other survivors in a vision from the airport. We see Henry Gale (Ben) as the security checker, bringing Kate, Jack and Sawyer through the security gate. We see Desmond as a pilot, Hurley as an Oceanic ticket attendant punching the numbers into the computer, and we see Sun, Jin, and Sayid waiting in line. Then we see Boone again all bloodied and ghost-like, just before Locke is thrown out of the tent with the vision of a fierce animal snapping at him. This is the point where Locke is able to speak again. He finally knows what he has to do. The question, however, is that all the other times when Locke had a "vision" or the island told him what to do, he ended up being wrong. How do we know this is the real thing?

POLAR BEARS
We finally see the polar bear again. We first saw one in the Pilot episode, and then it was not mentioned again until last week when the Others tell Sawyer that they used to keep the bears in the cage where Sawyer and Kate are now being kept. Why are they not kept in the cages anymore? Did the Others let them go, or did they escape? It appears that the bears have killed many people, from all of the skeleton bones that we see in his cave. We also see a bag or an item of clothing with the Dharma-logo. This would imply that the bear killed some of the Dharma members. We also see a child's toy truck, which suggests that children were in there. Were these the children that were taken by the Others??



YOU'RE A HUNTER, JOHN
Through Locke's flashbacks, we find out that he was living on a commune, prior to his paralysis, and that he was involved in a pot-growing scheme. He picked up a hitchhiker and brought him to live there, little did he know it was actually a cop who targeted him so he could bust them. Once again, Locke was "conned." This is not the first time he has been used because people know they can get him (his father conned him into giving him a kidney, Henry Gale used him in the hatch by getting him to go against Jack). It seems that John has always wanted to be the Hunter, the man in charge, but he just does not have it in him. When he finally realizes that Eddie is a cop, he has the opportunity to shoot him, but backs down. Eddie tells him, "you're a good man." Also remember the leaders of his commune commented that "John is a special man." - both of these are quotes that we have heard many times before. It seems that in his previous life, John WANTED to be a hunter but didn't have it in him. However, on the island he has become the hunter that he always wanted to be. He feels it was FATE that brought him there, allowed him to walk again, and he is supposed to be a hunter. Eko even tells him in his "vision" - you're a hunter, John. He feels like this is what he is supposed to be doing, and it is up to him now to get Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Notice also, that now that Jack is gone, Locke is finally able to step up and take charge (whereas they had that power struggle between them last season) - but Locke is finally able to take charge. At his "speech" at the end, everyone listens to him and trusts in him. This is also when Hurley realizes that Desmond had already spoken of this speech before.

ANOTHER ROUND OF DEJA VU
Desmond tells Hurley in the jungle that Locke is going to rescue them, because "he said so in his speech." What speech? Desmond seems confused, like he doesn't know himself that he was "predicting" something. Perhaps the implosion of the hatch caused some kind of psychedelic powers allowing him to see the future? Maybe this was the "incident" that happened in the hatch years ago, causing others on the island to gain this same psychic ability (hence why the Others have kidnapped them).

Season 3, Episode 2: "The Glass Ballerina"

THE GLASS BALLERINA
The title of this episode is "The Glass Ballerina."
We learn a lot about Sun in this episode. She is definitely not the person she appears to be.

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER
Sun did in fact have an affair with Jae. He could possibly be the father of her baby? We were previously led to believe that it was a "miracle" because Jin could not have children, but this changes a lot now that we know for certain she did have an affair (whereas in the flashbacks from last season it appeared they never had an affair).

We also learn that Jae was really in love with Sun and wanted her to come to America with him. (The flashbacks we had previously seen of them, he tells Sun that he is in love with a girl in America and he is moving there to marry her...obviously that changed. But I still think that we will find out in some future episode that this "American" girl is one of our survivors, there has got to be some connection there.)

DECOY VILLAGE
The Others find out about the sailboat, which apparently they knew nothing about. They also discover that Sayid has found the "decoy" village. Ben seems scared as soon as he finds this out and for once seems caught off guard and is unsure what to do at first. When the plane crashed he was calm and collected and had a plan immediately. In the hatch he was always calm and knew what he was doing. But he found out about the sailboat and he seemed very disturbed about it. How did they not know about the sailboat? Didn't they know that Desmond crashed there and that he was in the hatch that whole time? Also Ben definitely seems to be afraid of Sayid, moreso than any of the other survivors they have dealt with. (And he should be... he knows how he "tortures" people!)

NO SOUP FOR YOU
So, it turns out that Ben and Juliet did in fact have some sort of a previous relationship. To what extent, we don't know. But there is obviously still some animousity between them. "You never made ME soup before."

THE NUMBERS
Notice that the hotel room number was #1516. Two of the numbers in sequence. Once again, we see the numbers bringing bad luck. (Jae ended up dead as a result of staying in #1516.)

PALA FERRY
We see that there is a sign over the dock that reads "Pala Ferry" - which was mentioned in the second Orientation video we saw last season (in the Pearl station). The doctor in the video says that "after your 8-hour shift, proceed to the Pala Ferry which will take you back to the barracks."

"Pala" - The Greek goddess Athena was called Pallas Athena (could be some connection to the giant Greek "foot" statue we saw at the end of last season). We have seen a lot of references to Greek mythology.

"Pala" is also a utopian island in a book called "Island" by Aldous Huxley. The theme of the book is that "Nothing happens by accident. There's a great plan for each and every once of us." This is very similar to the theme of Lost relating to Fate and that they are all there for a reason.

WORKING ON THE CHAIN GANG
One thing I noticed is that Kate and Sawyer are kept in animal cages and are forced to work hard labor and are treated badly, while Jack is kept inside, given hot meals, and treated nicely. Why the difference in treatment? Also why are they allowing Kate and Sawyer to interact with eachother, but not allowing them to see Jack?

Also we see another appearance from Alex (Rousseau's daughter) who sneaks up to talk to Kate. We find out it was her dress that they gave Kate. Maybe they did the same thing to her that they are going to be doing to Kate (the "unpleasant" two weeks) and made her wear that dress too. Alex always seems to appear out of nowhere (like she is on the run) and is always trying to help the other women who are captured (Claire, Kate). She is one of the "good" ones and obviously does not side with the Others and what they are doing. She seems genuinely concerned about "Carl" (the other guy from the cage who tried to escape).

YOU WON'T SHOOT ME
The woman on the boat tells Sun she won't shoot her because she knows her and she is a good person. Sun does in fact shoot her. And looking at Sun's past, we come to realize she is not really a "good" person after all. Starting as a little girl, she lies to her father about who broke the glass ballerina knowing the maid would be fired anyway. Then she has an affair even though she was married. Even after her father found out, she did not tell Jin. She basically lives her life getting away with everything and letting others suffer the consequences. She is a liar. Even now on the island, she continues to lie to him.

Also, we can finally connect Sun with the rest of the survivors who have killed a person. Actually, we see that she has killed a person both DIRECTLY (the woman on the boat) as well as INDIRECTLY (Jae - who would not be dead if it weren't for her). We've seen in the previous two seasons, through flashbacks, that pretty much all of the survivors have killed someone (whether directly or indirectly). It seems that the Others are determining who is good and who is not good, and that is their motivation for who they want. They only want the good ones. (and apparently they did not want Sun??)

GOOD VS. EVIL
Jin, who we always assumed was the "bad" mob guy...actually has not killed anyone (atleast that we have seen). We know that he "delivers messages" as part of his job for Sun's father. But in the past we saw him beat up the guy at his house (but didn't kill him) and again the same thing with Jae. He doesn't kill him, he lets him go. He really suffers with the guilt of his job, but we find out that he only does it because of his love for Sun. So Jin is not really a "bad" person as we are led to believe in the past. He becomes more of a bad person once getting involved with Sun (he mentions, "this is the price I have to pay to be married to you.") But, interestingly enough it was Sun who was the "bad" one, lying, betrayal, adultery, killing. She does not take the blame for things she has done wrong and despite her guilt over her affair, she still never fesses up to Jin. She also lied to him the whole first month on the island about speaking english. Basically she has been lying to him the whole time.) She also lied to him about the baby, and after revealing that she was pregnant she told him "I swear I have never been with another man." I also think it's interesting that Sayid calls her out on her "lying" - he is always able to tell who is lying! I also think that when Jin says he can understand english and he knows she is lying, that he was just calling her out as well. He did not understand a word they were saying, he was just able to sense her betrayal.

Another reference to good vs. evil... The woman on the boat indicates they are NOT the enemy (just like Ben told Michael "we're the good guys") - It seems they are trying to convince them they are good. She tells Sun that if she shoots her, then they will become the enemy. And now that Sun DID shoot her, it will be interesting to see what happens because of that. Will the Others retaliate and start a real "war?" After she fell from the boat and swam to Jin, the boat did not appear to come back for her and try to catch her. It could be that they truly just don't want her. She was not on "the list."

THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN
We learn that Henry Gale's real name is Benjamin Linus. He tells Jack that he has lived on the island his entire life. (Possibly his parents were part of the "original" Dharma group, as I mentioned last week?)

We also see more Wizard of Oz references. I wrote alot about this last season (Henry Gale, the balloon, dreams...) Anyway, at the end, Ben tells Jack that he will take him home. He says "I'll take you there myself." This is the exact ending of the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard tells Dorothy that he will take her home himself (in the balloon!) And just like the "Wizard," Ben is the "man behind the curtain" - watching and listening to everyone else through the video monitors. We see that he is listening to Kate and Sawyers conversation about their "plan" to ambush the Others.



THAT'S WHY THE SOX WILL NEVER WIN THE WORLD SERIES
This is the quote that both Jack and has father have said several times. Ben knows enough about Jack to use this against him to make him "believe" which is why he just happens to have the videotape of the Red Sox winning the World Series, because he knows Jack won't believe him. Apparently there is something that he wants Jack to do - "when the time comes" - in order to send him home. He is trying to gain Jack's trust (first with Juliet, then introducing himself and shaking his hand) and is trying to force him into changing his "perception" of things. Ben was able to get Michael to betray Jack, Kate and Sawyer by leading them to being captured, in exchange for Walt. Perhaps he is going to try and get Jack to betray his friends in exchange for something as well. The question, is what does Ben want from Jack? What does he want him to do? (In some small way, I almost think it could have something to do with his father? I still think that Jack's dad was somehow connected to Dharma, and I think the fact that we've seen so much about the two of them in Jack's flashbacks is for a reason. Maybe Ben and Jack's father are working together, and they are going to try and bring Jack in? Just a thought.)

Season 3, Episode 1: "A Tale of Two Cities"

TITLE
The title is "A Tale of Two Cities" - in reference to the fact that there is a whole other "city" or neighborhood on the island that we knew nothing about. The Others have their own modern day civilization...they are not the "savages" that we first thought them to be. This is also the name of one of the most famous novels of all time.

DOWNTOWN
The episode starts out almost identical to the Season 2 opener. We have a new character (Juliet) who takes out a CD (last year it was Desmond taking out the record) and playing a song which has a very similar style to Desmond's song. We assume she is in a house back amongst civilization (we assume it's in someone's flashback) but are shocked to discover she is in a house right there on the island. Just like last season, Desmond was in the hatch with most 70s-era decor and amenities, which we assumed was a flashback until we discovered he was someone actually living in the hatch. Very similar openings. Also, notice that every season opener has taken place on the day of the crash, as seen from different perspectives (season 1, the survivors; season 2, desmond; season 3, the others). Very interesting. So this episode is actually the Others perspective of the plane crash, which took place nearly two months ago on the island.

We see Juliet is living in a suburbia-esque house with all modern amenities. With Desmond we heard the beeping of the computer, with Juliet we hear the beeping of the....oven! You would think she was a modern day Stepford Wife, baking her muffins in her cute little house. They are in this neighborhood full of houses, complete with a white picket gazebo at the end of the street. Modern decor, electricity, plumbing, etc. - the Others have their own little "neighborhood" right there on the island. (However when Michael spyed on them they were living in a "primitive" camp with huts and everything, which they obviously staged to get him to bring his friends back to start a "war" with them, since it appeared they were savages with no weapons or belongings.)

THE BOOK CLUB
The "book club" meeting opened a lot of doors and taught us some new things. We learn that Juliet picked her favorite book, a Stephen King book, and the other members are concerned that "Ben" would not like it. She bites back that she wasn't aware they had to conform, or that they no longer had their own free will. It is obvious she has some issues with Ben (who we later find out is our fake "Henry Gale").

The book they are reading is "Carrie" by Stephen King. (Carrie is about an outcasted girl with telekinetic powers who gets revenge on everyone she hates.) A little side note - if you remember back when Ben/Henry was captured in the hatch and Locke gives him a book to read, he says "What, you haven't got any Stephen King?"

You can see in the pictures below that Juliet is reading the hardcover copy (after all, she said it was her favorite book and likely owns the hard copy) where you can just make out the letters "C A R..." at the bottom. In the picture of the book club members, you can see that they are reading the paperback version, which has a different cover, as shown below.




The "earthquake" which hits during the book club meeting we have to assume is actually the effects of Desmond not entering the numbers in the hatch. Last season he informed the survivors that by not pushing the button on that day, the electromagnetic force on the island was set off and caused their plane to crash. Immediately after the plane crashes, Ben (Henry Gale) takes charge and sends Goodwin and Ethan off, tells them to live amongst them and "make up a story." He wants lists within three days. Then he looks at Juliet, looks down at her book, and says "I guess I'm not in the book club anymore?" There is obviously some animosity between them, and something about their past that I'm sure we will get into in future episodes about their previous relationship and why they no longer like eachother.

Also, did you notice at the book club meeting that the black woman sitting around with all of them is the same woman who we saw on the dock at the end of Season 2 when the Others captured Jack, Sawyer and Kate. Here she is at the dock (and inset she is shown from the book club meeting):


ETHAN WAS HIS REAL NAME
Even though Ben told him to make up a name and a story, "Ethan" gave his real name...and so did "Goodwin." It seems that Ben was the only one who actually made up a fake name to the survivors, which was "Henry Gale." Also, we see that Ethan is working on the plumbing at Juliet's house. So far we have seen him working on the plumbing as well as being a "doctor" in the maternity lab where Claire was taken? Just who is he exactly? Too bad he is dead now so we will probably never find out.

Now we are back in the present time, about two months after the day of the plane crash, when Jack, Kate and Sawyer have all been captured by the Others.

PRISONERS
When we see Jack, Sawyer and Kate, they each wake up in separate places. They also each have a bandaid on them from where their blood was taken. The Others did the same thing to Walt and Michael after capturing them. They seem very concerned with testing people's blood to find out something about them. Are they looking for some kind of disease (the "sickness") or are they doing it to see if they have the same special powers that Walt had? Whatever the case, they are very adament about WHO they want and who they don't want. Why did the only want Jack, Kate and Sawyer but no one else? Why also did they let them go when they came across them in the woods last season. They had the opportunity to capture them back then but didn't.

(JACK) - Jack wakes up in a glass room, with chains and a steel table, very reminiscent of psychological experiments and suggests he is being watched. He is being stubborn and won't allow Juliet to bring him food. She informs him that he was given "drugs" when he was captured which will make him hallucinate if he doesn't eat. He does in fact hallucinate as he hears the voice of his father saying "Let it Go" through the intercom. Juliet tells him that intercom hasn't worked in years. At other times when Jack has been stressed on the island, he has hallucinated about his father, hearing voices and seeing his image (remember when he was chasing him through the woods). He is still bent out of shape about his father's death. I think that what we learned about Jack in this episode (how he had obsessive behavior), it is becoming more clear that he was not necessarily distraught over losing his father, but moreso in the fact that he was unable to "fix" him.

(SAWYER) - Sawyer wakes up in an animal cage. There is also another young male kept in the cage across from him, who doesn't seem to want to talk. He manages to escape and lets Sawyer out too, telling him exactly where to run. This could have been a plot by the Others (just as they first used Ana Lucia to "pose" as a prisoner in order to get information from their captors). He gets caught by Juliet and is thrown back into the cage. He is told that the "bears" figured out how to get the food in two hours. This would imply they were testing animals' psychological behavior (how fast they learn certain behaviors like figuring out how to get food) and observing them. These were most likely the polar bears that the survivors saw in the woods, so that explains how the polar bears were on the island! Question is, why is Dharma testing animals? (polar bears, sharks??) The "aquarium" where Jack was kept is underground, under the water. He asks if there are sharks there, and Juliet says yes, in addition to dolphins. Remember last season when Sawyer and Jin were on the raft and spotted the shark (the one with the DHARMA logo on its tail) - now we know where it came from! (Also when Sawyer is in the cage, you can spot a mechanical shark with the dharma symbol on it off to the side of where he is being kept). They are treating and observing their captors just as they are the animals.

(KATE) - While Jack and Sawyer were treated like prisoners/animals, chained up in cages/jails, Kate was given a shower, new clothes, food, etc. - Ben told her "he wanted her to have something to hold onto, because the next two weeks are going to be very unpleasant." That was a very strange comment. Also, notice that when Tom (who now is not wearing the fake beard anymore) brings her to the cage across from Sawyer, he comments on her wrists and how roughed up they are. Something had to have happened for her wrists to get that cut up and bloody. She was just sitting pretty at the breakfast, her wrists would not have gotten so bloodied unless something happened. Did they start the "unpleasantness" before bringing her to the cage? Also I found it strange that they brought her to the same place where Sawyer was. Are they doing this as some kind of experiment putting them together again? They put each of them in separate places at first to keep them apart from one another, yet now they have brought two of them to the same place. Could they have brought her there because she said Sawyer's name first when asking about them. Ben/Henry responded with "Why Sawyer" when she used his name first?

TRUST ME, JACK
Juliet was sent in to talk to Jack. Ben/Henry is using her to get close to Jack. He wants Juliet to gain Jack's trust. Notice that when she first comes in, she asks him questions like what does he do for a living, if he was married, etc. (and we find out later that she already knows everything about him such as where he went to school and how he contested his divorce, plus she knows his ex-wife's name...things that he has never discussed with anyone on the island). He lies about the first two questions. Then she tells him he can trust her, and seems genuine about it. Then she asks why he was on the plane, and he tells her the truth about his dad, and she realizes that he is beginning to trust her (because she already knows the answers so she knows at that point he is finally telling her the truth). However he attacks her when she does come in with the food. He tries to open the door and she says they'll die if they open it. Ben/Henry shows up and Jack threatens to kill her. Ben either plays it very cool or he truly doesn't care if she dies. Notice that when Jack does open the door and the water rushes out, Ben closes the vault door locking Juliet out in the water with Jack, yet Ben manages to get back into the hatch safely. Once Jack is back in the glass cell, Ben/Henry uses Juliet once again to attempt to gain his trust. Juliet uses his weak points (his ex-wife, Sarah) to get in with him (Kind of like what Henry was doing with Locke, in the hatch). Ben/Henry is smart, he knows how to get to people. He also knows that Jack will never trust him, which is why he is using Juliet. He praises her at the end for a job well done, once she has gained his trust after she is able to get him to finally go sit against the wall. She seems disturbed and angry at Ben for "using" her to get to Jack. She seems like a genuine person, but we also see that she will use force (stunning Sawyer and knocking out Jack) when she has to. But it seems like at one time, she was a "good" person but Ben/Henry has turned her into something else. She made the comment to Jack about it doesn't matter anymore who they "were" but it matters who they are. Like she is a completely different person now. This quote is also similar to what Sarah told Jack, in the flashback, telling him that "it doesn't matter who he is, it just matters who you're not."

THE OTHERS
We also learn that the others are not necessarily the original Dharma group. Juliet acknowledges that they are "what's left over of them" and that "it was a long time ago." Maybe they are the children of the original Dharma group (who started it circa 1980, according to the film reel.) The Others would have been just children, or teenagers, back then. They could possibly be the children of the original group, or maybe THEY were taken too?

On another note, did you spot the WANTED poster in the jail (in Jack's flashback) with Kate's picture on it?