Observations: Episode 3.20-The Man Behind the Curtain

As I said in the live posting post, the digital tower for my ABC affiliate might not have been at full power so I watched via Dish Network and thus will not have screenshots for Episode 3.20, "The Man Behind the Curtain". Just watched the episode again via ABC.com so I'm ready to go...

1) What killed Ben's mom? Is her death what fueled Ben's desire to help pregnant women on the island?

2) What was with the visions of his mom? Why was Richard not so surprised but more interested? Is that a common occurence?

3) Does Richard not age? Ben said at the beginning "today's my birthday, do you remember those?" kind of like Richard hasn't had a birthday in a long time. Approximately, he should be 30 years older than Ben yet he looks younger than Ben in present time.

4) What were the problems between the Hostiles and Dharma? How did the Hostiles get the deadly gas? Did Ben get it for them? How involved was Ben? We're going to need another flashback for that and to explain Richard since he seems to be indigenous to the island...

5) Even though I don't really like present-time Ben, gotta feel for him with his father issues (a common LOST theme of course).

6) What is Jacob? How did all that work? What was with the painting of the dog? What was in those jars? What did he mean when he asked Locke to help him?

7) Why did Alex say Locke would need a gun? Did she anticipate Ben shooting Locke? Has this happened before? Did one of the Others, perhaps Richard, know of Ben's plan and sent Alex as to not be considered a mole?

8) What happened to Annie? Is she still alive? Did she die in the purge or before? How could Ben kill her?

9) How did Ben overcome his silence? After his meeting with Richard as a kid was he more talkative knowing he would turn out fine and things would be good?

10) Who really is calling the shots as "the man behind the curtain"? Ben said that everyone answers to someone, who does Jacob answer to?

11) Will Locke die? I have my doubts...

Great episode. Enjoyed it in both viewings. Would watch it again, and probably will when it's on DVD.

Any other questions or comments about my questions? Comment below!

Episode 3.21, "Greatest Hits", airs tonight at 10/9c on ABC. It is the last episode before the two-hour season finale which airs next week, May 23, at 9/8c.

There will also be a recap of LOST so far airing tomorrow, Thursday, at around 10/9c after Grey's Anatomy. The same recap will air again at 8/7c next Wednesday before the finale. I suggest that you watch it or record it and watch it later, always a good refresher...

Tonight's episode airs in 6 hours from this writing! Only two episodes left in 2007!

Observations: Episode 3.18-"D.O.C."

Great episode. Wasn't a simple plot being worked out but threw in some surprises such as Mikhail and Naomi (the girl from the sky) declaring that no one survived the crash of Flight 815.

You can see HD screenshots at the new home of my screen captures, Webshots, or by clicking the thumbnails below (to view full resolution on Webshots, click the Zoom icon, second from the left, below the picture)...

1. How did Mikhail survive and/or come back from the dead? Kate felt his pulse didn't she? Maybe the sonic fence only paralyzes for awhile? Maybe Jacob healed him?

2. Is Sun doomed to die?

3. What kind of sample is Juliet getting and what's it for?

4. What was Naomi really saying? Can we trust what Mikhail said? From what I've read, he didn't translate correctly after his “operation”...She didn't say “thank you”, she said ???

5. Did the Others, or those above the Others, fake the Flight 815 crash? Is it to prevent people from searching for the island?

6. Was Mikhail expecting Naomi? Or just looking for whoever fell from the sky?

As I said, I liked this episode a lot. Not one that I loved but good. I believe next week's will be one I love. I probably should lower my expectations...

Next week's episode, Episode 3.19, titled “The Brig”, will air at 10/9c on Wednesday, May 2. Only three episodes remain before the two hour season finale on May 23.

To watch “D.O.C.” for free, go to ABC.com.

Did I miss something? Get something wrong? Didn't clarify? Comment below!

Observations: Episode 3.17-"Catch-22"

On the eve of tonight's episode, I figured I'd finally post the observations for last week.

Some HD screenshots and, unfortunately, some non-HD screenshots: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevincburns/tags/catch22/

I'll keep it short this week...

1) Who is the girl that crashed on the island? Does she speak English? Is she related to the Portuguese guys in the lab at the end of season 2?

2) What happened to the helicopter/jet? Why did the girl need high altitude gear for a helicopter? Was it a helicopter or was it a jet?

3) Did Desmond mess something up by saving Charlie? What will be the ramifications of that decision?

4) How does the flashback head monk know the lady from Desmond's past flashback? Are they in it together? Are they with Dharma? Is there a large plot against or for Desmond?

That's all for this week. Live posting begins in a few hours for this week's episode "D.O.C." which airs at 10/9c only on ABC...

Observations: Episode 3.16-One of Us

I sound like a broken record but great episode last night. I'm a true fan, I love almost every episode. Let's jump in...

Before we do, you can check out HD screenshots from this episode on this Flickr tag page and HD screenshots from a few of this season's episodes on this Flickr set page. To view full HD resolution, click a thumbnail to go to the Flickr photo page and click All Sizes on that page for 1280x720 screenshots (full HD).

1) I don't know how I missed it or how Jack missed it but Juliet basically told him she wasn't gassed when she said she dragged Kate into the jungle, handcuffed herself to her, and lied about it. I guess I wasn't thinking but that's almost an outright confession to being involved in the gassing plan...

2) The Mittelos guy didn't keep any secrets telling Juliet flat out that he put tranquilizer in the drink...Where do they fly to? Do they go to a commercial airport or have their own strip on another island? How far does the submarine travel? How long does the trip take? Is Herarat Airlines an important name to remember like Widmore was/is?

3) I'm not convinced that Rachel had the cancer come back. I think it was a bluff to get Juliet to stay. But if she did, how can Jacob cure cancer? If he can cure it, why does he hold back? Who is Jacob?

4) So did Juliet save Claire with her serum? Or perhaps the whole thing with the implant was to have a back-up plan for when they needed it like when Juliet came to the camp. If Claire was fine, then it must happen at conception. So what does that mean for Sun? Is she doomed to die without help from Juliet?

5)So how did Ben get cancer? Is it possibly related to when Locke temporarily lost his ability to walk in season 1?

6) Night turned into day and I don't see a time when any of the survivors (main ones at least) went to sleep...

7) Knowing Sawyer killed the man in cold blood seems beyond the reach of watching newscasts unless Australian police solved the crime and the news broke because he was missing...

8) It's hard to find a scene more beautiful in high definition than Oceanic Flight 815 breaking apart in mid-air. So pretty...

9) Loved seeing The Flame in its working beauty. That would be a fun job. And it was cool to see all the news reports. The stations broadcasted it quickly, did they get tipped off when the plane went off course? And how did they get the video of Rachel. Is Rachel at one of their facilities? Did Ben call Richard and tell him to follow her so Ben could prove it to Juliet? Did Rachel really have cancer?

10) Poor Jack with his misplaced trust. If or when the survivors find out Juliet was part of a plan, they're going to have a hard time trusting him...

11) How does the implant in Claire work? They must be able to activate it wirelessly or something. They couldn't have planned every single thing out weeks in advance and they haven't had any contact that we know of.

12) What's the purpose of Juliet infiltrating? More information to gather? Someone to kill or setup for someone else to kill?

13) How will the Others meet Juliet in a week? Will she run away or will they land on the beach? I'm thinking an Others landing on the beach and waging a battle with the survivors would be a good plot for the "cataclysmic" season finale...

That's all for me this week. Got some more or something I missed? Comment below.

Watch the episode again for free at ABC.com...

View more screenshots (25 from this episode): Flickr Tag Page

Next week's episode, Episode 3.17 (of 23), titled "Catch-22", will air at 10/9c. Only 6 episodes and 7 hours of LOST left in the season. I think it's been great so far...

Observations: Episode 3.14-Exposé

Sorry for the lateness again. I was in Alabama on the beach and my HD tuner didn't record LOST so I had to wait until I got home to watch it online (ABC.com's new player is very good). And I didn't find too much that interesting. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the episode. But there wasn't anything too shocking or worth watching again.

1) So the folks that complained about Nikki and Paolo got their wish: they were axed. But not until we found out what they had done on the island. I personally enjoyed their appearance in major island moments. And it did shed a little light on Ben and Juliet and their plan. Anyways, they're gone now and I like how it ended. Buried alive...

2) It was good to see Arzt again. One of my background favorites. And we saw Boone and Shannon too.

3) I liked the show in the flashback, kind of funny with how it tied in to LOST.

I guess that's it. No screenshots this week due to the failure to record. I believe I have my problems resolved though and this week's storyline seems more inviting for screenshots.

Episode 3.15, "Left Behind" airs tonight, March 4, at 10/9c only on ABC. Catch it again tomorrow on ABC.com.

-There will be no "live" posting tonight. But I will post my thoughts as I watch later tonight or early tomorrow followed by observations and screenshots later this week. I hope to be posting live again next week...

If you have missed any episodes from the past four weeks or would like to watch them again, ABC.com offers free viewings with a new player that supports full screen (yay)! Or you can buy them on iTunes for $1.99.

Observations: Episode 3.13-The Man From Tallahassee

Sorry for the tardiness, I actually haven't had a chance to watch the episode again so no screenshots yet. I'll try to add those later.

*edit: screenshots added. Click any of the pictures for their Flickr page. Click All Sizes above the picture on Flickr to view full HD resolution. Also, view 18 more at the Flickr album: click here

First, this was a great episode. Locke is probably the most intriguing character (after Eko was killed) and his flashbacks are always interesting. Loved the little twists and the conversations of Ben and Locke.

1) Just when you think you know Locke and think that he wants to stay on the island to keep his legs, a twist comes and announces he wants to stay to be safe from his father. Good twist.

2) How on earth did Anthony Cooper end up on the island? Did the Others intentionally get him? Did he crash there by boat or plane? Did he try to find the island? Is it just a hallucination?

3) The mystery of how Locke ended up in a wheelchair is finally resolved. The mystery of how he's walking now is not, and maybe it never will be...

4) Will the survivors and Others be forgiving of Locke for blowing up their possible escape because of his fear or hate his guts for ruining a chance to go back home?

5) What happens to Jack and Juliet now that their way home has been blown up?

6) How did Locke come out of the water wet? There's gotta be a story there. Maybe he submerged the sub and blew up the dock. If he was trying to make it look like he blew up the sub, how would he know when the people were coming?

That's all I've got for now. When I go back and watch it again to get screenshots, I may add some more...

If you missed the episode or would like to see it again, watch it for free on ABC.com!

Next week's episode, Episode 3.14, titled Exposé, airs at 10/9c only on ABC.

There will be no live posting for the next episode on The LOST Observations as I'll be on vacation. Observations will follow on Friday or Saturday though.

More than halfway through Season 3 and it's looking great!
-Kevin C. Burns

Observations: Episode 3.12-Par Avion

Due to a lack of time and a trip to Texas, I don't have too many observations on top of the live posting below (click here for that post).

For more HD screenshots of this episode, check out the Flickr album for this episode, Par Avion. And for HD sizes of the screenshots below, just click on the picture.

1) As speculated, Claire's father is Christian who is Jack's father but will they find out?

2) How tall were those security poles? They seemed very tall until Kate dropped off the limb without too much trouble.

3) What exactly happened to Mikhail? That was strange. Any ideas of your own or that you've found? Comment below...

4) What's going on with Locke? Is he for the survivors or has he been compromised by the Others? I think he's still on the good side.

5) When Claire said she said that she wanted her mom dead (in the last flashback when she's pregnant), maybe she has powers and it happened. Or maybe it's all part of Dharma's plan. I like the idea that there is someone or some corporation is running all the "accidents" in the flashbacks. Maybe it's just wishful thinking or maybe it's not...

That's all for me. What did I leave out? Comment!

Next week's episode, The Man From Tallahassee, airs next Wednesday, March 21, at 10/9c on ABC and it looks quite promising as Locke episodes are often the best.

Until next week...
-Kevin C. Burns

Observations: 3.11-Enter 77

After a week off, because I didn't really have anything to say last week, we're back, a day late, with this episode's observations. Before you go on, if you haven't seen this week's episode, watch it, before you read these, for free, at abc.com or buy and download it from iTunes.

For full, high-definition, screenshots, click on the pictures or go to this album on Flickr: Enter 77


1) Good flashback. I liked that it had a point, tied in well with the continuing story, and taught a lesson. That Sami guy was brutal but I understand where he's coming from. Still, it wasn't too cool to see Sayid being beat up though you knew he would survive.

2) Is the cat's name and appearance a coincidence? Maybe the survivors crashed on the island because people wanted them there and sent them there (the tortured lady sent Sayid) so Dharma or whoever knew about the cat and put that in. Or maybe it is just a coincidence. But the writers don't seem to have many coincidences. Everything happens for a reason.

3) The sky turning purple was brought up twice in this episode. Are the writers just taunting us or will this be explained soon? If the dish hasn't been operable for years, how did Dharma send the food drop? Does Dharma know the plane crash? Will Dharma respond to the "77" entered by Locke? Maybe send a small army or something to secure the project though it's long failed.

4) How much of what Mikhail said is true? You can't really trust him. But if he is telling the truth, why did a group of scientists take one The Others? Why are The Others on the island? How long have they been there? How did Ethan and Juliet get merged in if they were Dharma people?

5) How did Mikhail lose his eye? Maybe while he was in the army?

6) I loved the action this week. I think LOST is getting back to its roots. Gripping characters growing while interacting with new characters and the action that ensues. Great episode.

7) Did Sayid take the whole Dharma manual or just the map? I think it would be cool if ABC put some pages from the manual on the website to make it interactive (like The LOST Experience this past summer)

8) I liked the ping pong game. Ping pong on a beach sounds fun.

Overall, this was a great episode. One of my favorites this season. Too much was given away in the previews last week though. I hope ABC tones it down a little now that they're not grabbing as many new viewers. I don't want to know a whole lot from the previews, just a little to whet my appetite. If you go reading episode descriptions, be warned. The episode after next week's (3.13) has a description that gives away too much. Very disappointed but I guess it's my fault for looking at next week's description.

For more HD screenshots, visit the Flickr album for this episode: Enter 77

Next week's episode, titled "Par Avion", airs at 10/9c only on ABC.

Got something to say or errors that we've made that you'd like to point out? Comment below...

Observations: Episode 3.09-Stranger in a Strange Land

This week's observations will be short. There isn't much to observe. Nothing too crazy or mysterious. Just a lame flashback and some story movement.

1) We are now off of Alcatraz as the producers promised we would be. I personally liked Alcatraz but I'm glad we're leaving it behind. But now it reminds me of something, if the polar bears were in the bear cages, how did they get to the mainland?

2) Will Kate and Sawyer find The Others' houses? Are we going to see more of the community?

3) If Ethan was a great surgeon, why would Ben send him to the survivors' camp as a spy?

4) What exactly did Cindy mean when she said "it's not that simple" when Jack asked if she was kidnapped? Perhaps she's one of them? And the kids are indeed alive, but what do The Others do to give them a better life?

5) What was the point of the flashback? I didn't like it.

6) What is that symbol branded on Juliet's back? If it's covered by her clothes, what's the point? Why not put it on her arm or ankle?

That's all I've got, got anything to add or theories for the above? Comment below.

Link to MSNBC's LOST Revelations: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6867118/

Until next week
-Kevin C. Burns

Observations: Episode 3.08-Flashes Before Your Eyes

The response to last night's episode seems to be mixed. More positive than negative, from what I've read, but people either hated it or they loved it. As for myself, I loved it. If this is the kind of story and flashback that every character will have this season, I think it will be the best overall. The first six episodes (the fall pod) were good but they weren't up to LOST standards. But these last two (last week's and this week's) were great, in my opinion. Action and weirdness in last week's, storytelling and deep weirdness in this week's. Anyways, let's get to the observations...

**edit 6:20PM: after watching the episode again, I added two observations and more screenshots

1) One of the big questions: Is Desmond seeing the future or re-living the past? How does it work? Is real time paused when he re-lives the past? Is he really just delaying fate's course by saving Charlie or is he changing Charlie's destiny? Some deep theories abound but I don't think it's time to figure that out yet.

2) Another big question: Is Charlie doomed to die? I think that would be too easy and expected. Usually the deaths are more unexpected (unless they're spoiled as I've read Shannon's death was last season). Perhaps this is a test for Desmond. Maybe he can really amount to something great by saving lives instead of just postponing death.

3) Didn't notice this but one commenter on USA Today found that Charlie's lyrics outside of the Widmore building were "I said maybe / You're gonna be the one that saves me..". While I think it's just an Easter egg, I thought it was interesting.

4) In the flashback, Penny asks "Where are you?". In the context of the flashback, this meant "What are you thinking? How are you?" but perhaps, Penny has lived the moment before and was asking the location of the island. Unlikely, yes, but possible.

5) Is Desmond's flashback to re-living the past tied to his experience in the hatch. "They" (whoever) told Desmond to push the button, save the world. It's all you'll ever be good for. Don't try to change the future, that's futile because "we" say so. Is this a big Dharma experiment?

6) What does Desmond walking past the military recruitment office mean? In a previous flashback (season 2 finale), he was in the military and was dishonorably discharged. Does his walking by mean that in the "new" past, he doesn't join the service?

7) Has Desmond possibly gone back to the past and told Penny that he was on an island with a large electromagnetic anomaly? How else would she know to look for electromagnetic anomalies?

8) The lady in the flashback (who knew the future too, perhaps Desmond's sub-conscious?) pointed out the red shoes. Perhaps this is another reference to the Wizard of Oz (like Ben's fake name: Henry Gale). In the Wizard of Oz, it was all a dream. Perhaps Desmond's post-hatch flashbacks is all a dream too.

9) Did you notice the painting in Mr. Widmore's office? The screenshot is to the left (click for full resolution). Notice the letters at the top reversed spell "Namaste", the greeting used by the Dharma Initiative in their hatch orientation. There's a polar bear, a skeleton, and mountains. Reminds me of the episode earlier this season where Locke is in the cave trying to find Mr. Eko. Any significance? (Click here for more screenshots, including the close-up shot of the painting)

10) After the photo was taken in the flashback, when Desmond is breaking up with Penny, she says "don't try to rewrite the future". I don't know how I missed it yesterday but perhaps, she has seen the future and is re-living the past too?

11) What exactly did the hatch do? I think it was Locke who said it imploded but how do things get out of the hatch if it imploded (it would have to explode)? Maybe it exploded then imploded within seconds? How did the door get blown onto the beach in last season's finale if it just imploded?

You can see more screenshots I took on Flickr, click here

If you missed last night's episode or want to see it again, you can watch it for free at ABC.com or you can buy it to watch anytime on your computer or iPod on iTunes.

For MSNBC's "Revelations", click here.

Got something to say? Comment below.

"Only fools are enslaved by time and space"

In the brainwashing scene of Episode 3.07 Not In Portland there is a hidden message. When you play the scene backwards you can faintly hear a womens voice saying "Only fools are enslaved by time and space." You can look it up on youtube or something and record the sound and play it backwards if you want.

Click Here for a link to a page where you can listen to the scene in reverse or watch it in reverse. This person has isolated the frequency that voice is in so it is easier to here.

On another note last week's episode, Not in Portland, will be showing again at 8pm on Wednesday right before the new episode.

Observations: Episode 3.07-Not In Portland

The Observations posts will typically be posted the day after the episode after I've had a chance to watch the episode again. It will feature my thoughts about the episode and some observations and theories gathered from all over the web.

Thoughts: This is my favorite episode of Season Three thus far. Thrilling action. Some more questions raised. Some surprises (I know some people weren't surprised at the bus hitting Edmond but that shocked me. On a lesser size of surprise, I was surprised Jack hit an artery. And room 23 was crazy).

Observations (not all are original, some are gathered for comments and forums):

1) Mittelos Bioscience is an anagram for "lost time". The producers mentioned there would be an anagram so is that significant to the show?

2) Mr. Alpert (the employer of Mittelos) said they think Juliet is "special". Is this the same kind of special as Walt? Walt read a comic about a polar bear and a polar bear was found on the island. Juliet wishes her ex-husband would be hit by a bus and lo and behold he gets hit by a bus. Is it coincidence or does she have a power like Walt?

3) What is Room 23 all about? I do like the number tie-in with Hurley's numbers. What do all the phrases mean? "God loves you as He loved Jacob". Does that have anything to do with Jacob, the Others' boss, mentioned earlier this season? Jacob had a son named...Ben. And was married to...Rachel, the name of Juliet's sister. Are they all connected?

4) Juliet's time on the island began on September 5, 2001 according to the time given.

5) Will Ben be back to 100% this season?

6) What are the repercussions of Juliet killing Danny? I'm sure there will be a few unhappy Others. They're losing people at a pretty fast rate (Ethan, Goodwin, Colleen (killed by Sun), Carl (leaving the island, is he an Other?), and now Danny). How many are left?

7) What was Tom saying to Jack when Jack asked why they didn't take Ben to a hospital and Tom talked about the sky turning purple? Will we find out what he was going to say?

8) Now Juliet and Jack are promised that they'll be able to leave the island and go home. What are the chances of that happening?

9) Back to the bus, you can hear some cars honking right before the bus leaves and hits Edmond. Perhaps the bus driver was waiting for him to step out.

10) How many Others actually want to be on the island? Juliet wants off. Do any others?

Here's an interesting theory I read: The island is about timeshifting. That's why the 27 year old woman had the womb of a 70 year old (in Juliet's interview). We'll see how it all turns out.

For more high definition screenshots, visit my LOST Screenshots Album on Flickr

Got something to add? Comment!

Next week's episode is titled "Flashes Before Your Eyes" and will air at 10/9c on ABC.

Good source of information: MSNBC's LOST Revelations