What peaked my interest about their conversation was the mention of a “loophole”. Jacob’s unnamed enemy wanted to kill him, but he couldn’t for some reason. This question was never really answered in this big two-hour episode, but I believe it will be next year.

Mark Pellegrino as Jacob

Jack’s mission of detonating that bomb wasn’t nearly as easy as I thought it might be. Not only did he have to contend with the Dharma people, but even his own friends weren’t so sure of the idea. Sawyer and Juliet weren’t too keen on the idea and Sawyer gave Jack one hell of a beat-down.

I think Jack may be right about screwing the pooch on the relationship with Kate. I’m sure Kate still likes him, but things would never be quite the same after all of Jack’s drinking and drug abuse. It’s easy to forgive people, but not forget things like that.

Bernard and Rose finally appeared on Lost in God knows how long. Where have they been? Retired and trying to enjoy some peace and quiet in the jungle. They seemed innocent and everything, but the music that played at the end of their scene made me wonder if there was something funny at work… like maybe they’re up to something nefarious. They don’t seem the type, but you never can know with Lost.

Since coming back to life, Locke has seemed more confident and almost cocky. This isn’t that big of a change from the old one, but it is noticeable. He’s a lot more driven and until this week, I never knew why.

Thanks to the revelations from Illana and what went on in Jacob’s home, we now know that Locke wasn’t really alive again. As it turns out, once you die, you really do die. John didn’t come back to life, but Jacob’s enemy does seem to have found a way to assume John’s likeness and memories and used Ben to kill Jacob.

The way this went about was truly fascinating. I can’t wait to learn more about this loophole that Jacob’s enemy managed to get around.

While the Jacob/Locke story was interesting, there was a lot of drama over at the Swan Station. When the bomb was dropped, it didn’t detonate so the strong electromagnetism went into full effect after the pocket was breached and everything metallic was sucked down the hole, and that inadvertently included the lovely Juliet.

Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet Burke

I felt bad for both Juliet and Sawyer. It was one of the most heart-wrenching scenes ever on Lost. It actually reminded me of a terrific scene from the Stallone movie Cliffhanger. Juliet miraculously didn’t die of the fall and she managed to detonate the nuclear bomb and end the season, all at the same time.

The one criticism I feel is needed has to do with the fact that Christian Shepherd and Claire weren’t involved in this episode. Well, I suppose once could say that Christian was in the flashbacks, but I mean the ‘dead’ one. Where was he when all of this stuff was going on?

Lost’s writers once again did a great job of answering questions, while making us ask more. They only have one season to answer those now and I have complete confidence in them. Lost remains one of the most fascinating shows on all of television.

Rating: 9.8

With Daniel Faraday dead (for now, at least), it was up to Kate and Jack to explain to Daniel’s mother what on Earth is going on. Jack bought into Faraday’s plan instantly, which put him at odds with Kate who wanted nothing to do with the hydrogen bomb. She didn’t want to get blown up and wasn’t particularly fond of seeing the last few years become meaningless.

Evangeline Lilly as Kate Austen, Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard

The resolution to Sawyer and Juliet’s situation didn’t go quite as I thought it would. I never would have thought the two of them would end up leaving the island on the submarine, but they both seemed happy to do it.

Speaking of leaving the island, it may not have happened if Dr. Pierre Chang hadn’t had that conversation with Hurley and Miles. I also appreciated seeing Miles look on as Chang ordered his wife and the younger Miles off the island.

Lost is one of those few shows which does a great setup episode and I enjoyed this one right to the end. There was a LOT of information brought forth, little of it new, but nontheless, this episode covered portions of nearly every aspect of the story and even ended with a surprise plan of Locke’s.

I don’t know how this “killing Jacob” plan will work. It’s not entirely evident that Jacob exists… or if John is supposed to become Jacob. Whatever happens, I would like to think that Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof have a sound plan and don’t make this a disappointing story. I’m confident in them, however.

Rating: 8.6

Faraday came up with an interesting idea about how to prevent everything from happening: blow up the hydrogen bomb that the US Army left behind and this will take care of a lot of the problems surrounding the electromagnetism that is in the island. This came as quite a shock to me and I immediately had doubts about this working.

Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday, Ken Leung as Miles Straume

For quite some time I’ve been aware that Daniel Faraday was the child of Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore, but it wasn’t until this week that show finally acknowledged the relationship that these three had. And furthermore, we got to see how the three interacted. Faraday was never around both of his parents at the same time. Charles would encourage him from a distance, while Eloise would encourage him in a closer, motherly way. She always seemed to know what Daniel would become and what he would do on the island. It’s strange to think that she seemed to plan on shooting her own son on the island.

The shooting at the end wasn’t surprising whatsoever. Anyone thinking they can waltz right into a camp with a gun and not get shot is out of his/her mind. I don’t believe Faraday will die, but I am interested in seeing just what happens next.

The jig is up for Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, and Hurley. They were found out, Phil was located, and now they’re in trouble.

“The Variable” was a solid episode. There weren’t any comedic moments – it was all action and intrigue. With just a few episodes to go, this looks to be another excellent season finale.

Rating: 8.5

The biggest shock was that Miles’ father was none other than Pierre Chang (also known as Dr. Marvin Candle, Dr. Mark Wickmund and Dr. Edgar Halliwax). And the way Miles delivered this news to his bud Hurley was surprisingly nonchalantly.

Ken Leung as Miles Straume

While Miles and Hurley drove people and “packages” around the island, there was something else in the works and it had to do with young Ben. Since he was missing from the infirmary, there was great concern over where he had gone. Was he kidnapped?

Kate did something really dumb by talking to Roger. She needs to keep her distance. If it weren’t for Jack talking Roger down, I think the situation could have easily gotten out of hand this week. Instead, it seems to be delaying it for a week or so.

“Daddy issues” are a common theme on Lost and “Some Like it Hoth” was no different. Instead of the usual cast of characters, it was really all about Miles and the father he never really got the chance to know. I really liked seeing Miles start to break down towards the end of the episode, just as his father came out of his house.

The ending of this episode was something I wasn’t expecting… Daniel Faraday arriving on the sub. Holy crap! Where he hell has he been all this time? Since seeing Charlotte as a mere child, Faraday has been missing and now all of a sudden, he’s back and he recognizes Miles. I can’t wait to find out more about what Daniel Faraday has been up to…

This was an episode which had several scenes of levity, but there were still a few tense moments that kept me interested throughout. I can sense we’re gearing up for the season finale and I like the pacing of it all.

Rating: 8.8

Since I write previews of this series for IGN, I have an idea of what’s going to happen in each episode. This can sometimes ruin the experience of watching Lost and I suppose if I didn’t write for IGN, I may enjoy this series a little more, but I’m perfectly happy with the way things are.

Michael Emerson as Benjamin Linus

Going after Penny in the fashion that Ben did was surprising because it seems a bit brazen to do it in broad daylight like that and Ben is not usually that careless. He left himself open to be caught by just about anyone, but it was a nearby Desmond and young Charlie that kept Penny alive.

This was reminiscent of how he took Alex from his mother some time ago. It was interesting to see that happen for the first time. It was Charles Widmore who wanted the french woman dead and he was disappointed when Ben let her and her baby live. This caused a rift in their group and Ben sent Charles packing.

I thought this episode did a very thorough job of filling in parts of some of those Ben/Charles story holes. There isn’t often left to the imagination; every detail is provided.

With Ilana and a group of guys taking over at the plane, it doesn’t look good for Frank. I don’t exactly know what they’re up to, but I am intrigued about what is going on over on that other beach.

The conclusion to the episode was phenomenal. Ben got to see Alex again and she threatened to kill Ben if he didn’t follow John Locke’s every order. I never thought I would see Alex again and after this, now I’m wondering if she’ll be back like Claire sometimes drops in to spend time with Christian.

Rating: 9.7

On the island, everyone was reeling from the fact that Ben was shot, but surprisingly, the only people who seemed to be affected were Ben and his father, along with the main cast. There weren’t many background characters shown in this episode.

Evangeline Lilly as Kate Austen

Since there haven’t been any campfire chats about why everyone came back to the island, everyone is still piecing this stuff together. Why Jack came back isn’t entirely clear. He told Juliet he had to, but didn’t say anything beyond that. He’s starting to sound an awful lot like John Locke nowadays.

I really liked seeing Cassidy again. Wow, we haven’t seen her in ages, not really since all of the Sawyer-centric episodes from the first few seasons. I thought she nailed it when she called Sawyer on why he jumped out of the chopper. Kate was floored by the fact that she was right about Sawyer’s staying behind.

I can’t say as though I blame Jack for not wanting to help Ben, but at the same time, I agree with Juliet and Sawyer here; regardless of what Ben will become, he is just a child and I’d hate to have a kid’s death hanging over my head all the time.

Speaking of death and its impact, who else enjoyed the conversation between Miles and Hurley? Time travel and what is and isn’t possible. I absolutely loved that, especially when Hurley totally blew Miles’ mind by mentioning Ben would recognize Sayid in the future as being the one who shot him when he was a kid.

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Lost is really on a roll this season. The producers and writers have their you know what together and it’s making for some of the most entertaining television.

Rating: 9.0

What has Sayid been up to? As it turns out, he was caught by a bounty hunter. Ilana is finally identified as a bounty hunter, hired by the family of Peter Avellino. She was to take him to Guam, which is of course where Ajira Flight 316 was headed.

On the island, Young Ben continued to form a relationship with Sayid with the intention of running off into the jungle to join up with Richard. I kind of felt sorry for the kid when his father noticed how Ben was so nice to Sayid.

I was somewhat surprised when it was apparent that Kate was clueless as to the relationship between Sawyer and Juliet. Kate is too smart in my estimation for this to have been believable.

The big shock of this episode came when Sayid killed Young Ben. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw that happen. I wasn’t expecting it by a longshot!

Now that we know what Ilana does for a living, I’m not interested in learning more about how she was contacted. With so many characters on this show, there’s never time to delve into everyone’s character right away. Still, she seems like an intriguing woman.

If I had to choose a favorite scene, I would have to go with the interrogation scene with Oldham doing to Sayid what Sayid would be doing to someone else. I was surprised Sawyer didn’t put an end to it before DHARMA caught on to the fact that LaFleur is Sawyer.

Rating: 8.5

With all three of them integrated into DHARMA, there was a problem with hostiles, specifically Sayid. Sure he isn’t with The Others, but he may as well be because Jin and Sawyer can’t do a whole lot about saving him because one of the other DHARMAs also saw Sayid. The only move was to bring Sayid in as a hostile and lock him up.

Jorge Garcia as Hugo “Hurley” Reyes, Evangeline Lilly as Kate Austen, Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard

As for the rest of the people who landed on the island, they seem to be okay. Ben, Sun, and Frank took off in a boat to reach the main island, but it wasn’t without its bumps. Ben got whacked pretty good by Sun who obviously doesn’t trust him. I was glad to see Christian again. He appeared with perfect timing, giving Sun and Frank some information about where Jin was.

Seeing a young Ben again was nice, as was the return of Dr. Pierre Chang a.k.a. Dr. Marvin Candle, Dr. Mark Wickmund and Dr. Edgar Halliwax.

I’m not so sure I like Sayid’s chances of surviving on the island at this point. The preview for next week didn’t show much promise for him.

I have to say the biggest surprise in this episode was the little discussion between Jack and Sawyer. It wasn’t about why Sawyer was now with Juliet or any of that, it was about leadership style. And all of a sudden Sawyer is comparing himself to Winston Churchill and everything. The guy, out of the blue, grows an ego and smacks Jack around with it. I guess people do change, but until now, there was never any indication that Sawyer was going to be like this. It’s like he had a Jekyll and Hyde moment and changed personalities in the middle of a discussion. I can’t say that I like Sawyer’s new attitude.

Rating: 8.2

In a recent Lost podcast, producer Carlton Cuse claimed that the word LaFleur would be someone’s name, but they didn’t drop any clues as to who it would be. As it turns out, it’s Sawyer’s alias.

Three years have passed and it seems Sawyer and Juliet have become an item. It makes perfect sense to me and I’m starting to like Juliet again. I like the sweet side of her over the manipulative, “Other” side of her.

Well during this time, the island stopped moving thanks to Locke and Dharma is back on the island because we’re now back in the 70s or 80s, when they still inhabited the island, before Benjamin Linus wiped them all out with the gas.

Horace Goodspeed is leading the group when Sawyer and his people are brought in after getting hurt by the sonic fence. I was surprised to see Mr. Goodspeed, but I’m hoping one mystery surrounding him will be solved. In Locke’s dream in “Cabin Fever”, Goodspeed was shown with a bloody nose. Why?

I won’t rehash everything that happened, but in order to explain their presence on the island Sawyer, or LaFleur, as he called himself, was the captain of a salvage ship that ran aground and he and his friends are looking for the rest of the crew.

There was definitely some tension when Richard Alpert arrived. It wasn’t clear what was going to happen, but Sawyer managed to keep the peace and really surprised Richard by telling him strange things, such as how Locke appeared in his camp quite some time ago and vanished into thin air. I really enjoyed that scene, but I wish Richard Alpert would have shown more surprise or wonder. His facial expressions didn’t really change during that entire scene.

Over time, Sawyer and his people became trusted by Goodspeed and the rest of Dharma and now Sawyer is Dharma’s head of security. He sends Jin and a few others out to look for Jack, Kate, etc every day in hopes of them showing up… and they do, of course.

We saw this a few weeks ago… Jack, Kate, and Hurley were in the pond and Jin came across them. Now what?

There’s definitely going to be an emotional reunion here. “LaFleur” was a great lead for this. Despite what Sawyer may have said about three years being enough to get over someone, it’s not likely. He’ll always have a soft spot for Kate, regardless of what he and Juliet may have today.

After the reunion, I suspect there will be chaos. They can’t suddenly announce the arrival of Jack, Kate, and Hurley. We saw in the previews that there will be a lot of chaos and threats being made when Sayid is located. It’s not clear where the plane went down in relation to the Dharma camp or in relation to where Jack, Kate, and Hurley landed.

It would have been nice to see Daniel Faraday a little more clued in. He was completely out of it following Charlotte’s death and her body’s disappearance. But everything changed a little when it appeared that Charlotte is alive again, but as a little girl, maybe four or five years old. That was shocking to see.

“LaFleur” was a great lead-in and I can’t wait for the next episode to air in two weeks. It’s nice go have everyone back on the island.

Rating: 9.3

One of the issues I have been interested in seeing resolved is why not everyone must come back. Jack, Kate, Sayid, Hurley, and Sun were those who reported to the plane, yet Walt is still alive. Why isn’t he required to return?

Terry O’Quinn as John Locke

This still didn’t get answered in my opinion even though we finally got to see Walt. That character, for whatever reason, has been largely ignored. It’s nice to see that he’s doing well, however.

The island return answered a few questions about whether or not the plane really crashed and how many survived. The plane did crash, but the pilot (presumably Frank Lapidus) and a woman took off in one of the boats found on the beach. Cesar (Sad Taghmaoui) stated they also took the passenger manifest. It’s unclear who the pilot took off with, but I bet they’re taking the manifest to the Oceanic 815 survivors elsewhere on the island.

John was resurrected just like Christian Shepherd was on Oceanic 815. This came as no surprise to be as it just sort of made sense that this would happen. Still, he’s going to have a difficult time to convince everyone of the idea that he was murdered (by Ben, no less), put on a plane, and brought back to the island. People are going to think he’s crazy.

It’s still unclear about who is being more truthful: Benjamin Linus or Charles Widmore. Both characters have been made out to be evil liars, but one of them must be telling the truth and my money is on Widmore at this moment. Still, I’m not certain of it. I just wish I knew more about this “war” he was referring to.

“The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” was no doubt a very good episode, but two issues weren’t resolved for me. The first is why Walt doesn’t have to come back. And the second is what was Matthew Abaddon (Lance Reddick) going to ask of John Locke. In “Cabin Fever”, Abaddon stated Locke would owe him one if he went on the walkabout.

Rating: 8.0