Season 4, Episode 2: "Confirmed Dead"

"Confirmed Dead" - This is in reference to the fact that the Oceanic 815 Plane was "found" at the bottom of the ocean, and all of its passengers were confirmed dead. We know this can't be true, because we have seen that the two parts of the plane are right there ON the island. So there is no way they could have discovered the full plane at the bottom of the ocean. Obviously there is some ulterior motive, and someone is lying to the world and trying to keep everyone from knowing the truth. Clearly someone "planted" that plane down there, as well as the bodies. Why would they "confirm" that everyone is dead when they clearly did not find the real plane, or the bodies? What are they trying to cover up, and WHO is behind all this? (more on that later...)

So we are introduced to four new characters tonight - a physicist (Dan), a ghost buster (Miles), an archeologist (Charlotte), and a drunk (the pilot). So this crew in fact is NOT there to rescue the survivors, but for some other reason. We later come to find out they were actually coming for Ben. Why do they want him? I think they are part of the original Dharma group, and they have discovered that it was Ben who killed off all of the Dharma members on the island, and took over. Now they are back for revenge (notice the gas masks they brought along) - maybe they are planning the same kind of attack on him and anyone of his followers. Through the flashbacks we saw tonight, we learned that Dharma is in fact a real presence in other places away from the island. Charlotte was involved in a dig in the middle of a Tunisian desert, and unearthed a polar bear with a Dharma collar. So clearly Dharma is doing its research elsewhere around the world, not just on the island. So if there are Dharma people other places, and most likely capable of "watching" - they are likely aware of Ben's attack on their people years ago. They have probably been trying to find him for years, but up until this point Ben was able to block any signals so that the island could never be located, but ever since the survivors blew up the hatch and turned off the magnetic signals, plus Charlie turning off the jamming equipment, the island was able to be found and hence they can come after Ben.

We also learn that the African-American man who visited Hurley in the mental institution (in his flash-forward) had something to do with assembling the "team" of Naomi and these four others to come to the island. Obviously he is not who he said he was (he told Hurley he was a lawyer for Oceanic, we knew he was lying though). So why is he so interested in knowing if there were others they left behind? When he and Naomi are discussing their mission, he seems convinced that there are no 815 survivors on the island. Naomi keeps asking "what if there are survivors" and he says there aren't. Here is my question...How do they know that there could even be any survivors on that island? How do they know that is where the plane crashed? According to everyone in the "real world," the plane was found at the bottom of the ocean and all passengers were confirmed dead. How could they possibly know the plane crashed there? UNLESS...Dharma actually had something to do with them crashing there. Okay, so, we know that the helicopter pilot was supposed to be the pilot of that plane. We also know that the pilot they showed on tv who they confirmed dead, was not who they said it was. Suppose that Dharma somehow got their own "pilots" on the plane, had them conveniently go 1000 miles off course so that they were "lost" and off course, and then crashed on the island - on purpose! Dharma obviously has been trying to find this island - maybe they meant to crash the plane there. Otherwise, how could they possibly know the TRUE whereabouts of the plane? This would also explain why they would have "planted" a fake plane at the bottom of the ocean, so that no one would ever suspect that the real Oceanic 815 could actually be out there somewhere.

Another question to raise - why are each of these four people so disillusioned when it comes to learning the true fate of the plane? We see that Dan is visibly shaken and upset when he sees the crash site on tv, he seemed very upset and cries when he learns the plane had been "found." Also, Charlotte, on her archeological dig, did not seem to believe that it was true. And of course, the pilot, who was supposed to be flying the plane that day (Was it FATE that he was not on the plane? Or Coincidence?) - that he does not believe that the pilot they showed is really him. So what is the REAL story?

Okay, now a couple of random observations. Let's see who else picked up on these...

- In Miles' flashback, he goes to visit a woman whose grandson was murdered. In the picture, we see a young black boy, who looks an awful lot like Eko. I think there is some connection there. Although I am a bit confused because Miles said he was murdered, and since Eko was on the plane that would suggest it is not him, although it could have been his brother Yemi. Remember Yemi was shot right before he got on that little small plane with the drug smugglers, so maybe it was him? Miles did find drugs hidden in his room, which as we saw Eko was using his brother to help him smuggle drugs. I don't know - I'm sure it is not super important to the plot but just one of those little connections between characters that they tend to throw in there.

- Ben reveals that the woman who parachuted out of the helicopter is Charlotte Staples Lewis. This is a reference to the writer C.S. Lewis (full name Clive Staples Lewis - also referred to as "Jack") - best known as the author who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia. Now, I did not read this, but a quick search reveals that there is something to do with a portal between two worlds. Also something where all the characters split up into two sides and go to battle - each going with a different "leader" - apparently one side lives and the other side dies. Like I said, I've never read it, so I don't know anything else about the plot, but obviously it was put in there for a reason. The reference to CS Lewis (especially the middle name of Staples) is not just a coincidence (and as we see with Lost, nothing ever is!) Anyone else actually read this that can offer more insight?

- So, finally, our big cliffhanger at the end is that Ben has "a man" on the boat who is helping him. This is how he knows all of the information about the four people on the helicopter, and how he knew they were coming for him. I am going to guess that it is Michael. (Plus we already know that Michael is scheduled to "return" this season). Remember when Ben let Michael go...he gave him a small boat and told him some coordinates where he said he would find "safety." I think that at that time, because remember back then Ben could still communicate with the outside world, and they also had the submarine to travel to/from the island, so he quite possibly knew that this freighter was out there and trying to find the island. As we have seen with Ben and his people, they can find out pretty much anything they want to know, and quickly. So if they were able to find out about this ship, Ben could have made a deal with Michael (he is pretty good at making deals in exchange for promising people they can go home) - he offered to let Michael leave the island, but sent him to this ship instead, and in exchange Michael is "helping" him by acting as his spy and giving him information about these people. As we have seen, Ben also promised Jack and Juliet both they could go home if they helped him. I am sure that Michael was willing to do anything to get off the island if it would help him and Walt get home.

PS - I also have to give huge props to the person last week who posted the comment about thinking that Naomi's "tell my sister I love her" was a code - you were right!!! :)