Like this:

Again, if you’re not using Lost Easter Eggs, you oughta be. Also, the science/physics for this episode is getting its own post, in which I attempt to explain to y’all the mysteries of relativity and quantum mechanics!

Best episode, I think, in a really long time (Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof wrote this one themselves — man, I wish they could write ‘em all) — I love how they FINALLY seem to have found the balance between giving us answers in an episode AND having that episode have a thrilling/compelling standalone story with some good character development. Exactly what the X-Files was always missing — you could never get a great mythology ep that was ALSO great as a standalone ep. The stuff with Penny/Desmond at the end had EXACTLY the right tone (Henry Ian Cusick pulls off chemistry-with-a-VOICE in a way that Matthew Fox can’t even do with a flesh-and-blood actress) — and it was almost, like, MORE romantic the way Desmond shook Sayid’s hand and thanked him so sincerely — really, all Desmond and Sayid have been looking for is a LITTLE RESPECT. And I also really liked the way they managed to strike an emotion with Daniel realizing that he had “instructed” himself to rely on Desmond. The other great thing about that little touch, though, is that it now means Faraday has a compelling reason to stay on Desmond’s “side” in whatever is to come.

Time freakiness: hands down, the WEIRDEST thing about time in this episode is that at one point, on the phones, Sayid & Jack have a conversation in “real time” . . . . ABOUT A DAY APART. The show glosses over that because Jack is like, “WTF HAPPENED?” and Sayid mentions what’s gone wrong with Desmond — so they never get to the point where Jack goes, “OK, so Desmond is so screwed up you couldn’t call for 24 hours?” and Sayid replies, “Jack, what are you talking about, it’s been 45 minutes.”

Also, in regards to the light that Faraday used to time-shift his rat? It was apparently a mercury-vapor lamp. Which just so happens to give off a purpleish violetish light. Sort of light when the hatch blew up a couple of years ago, turning the sky violet and causing Desmond’s consciousness to scoot around in time. Plus, Faraday asked about radiation/electromagnetic fields — even though Minkowski, on the boat, seems to think the time weirdness has to do with location/the Island, Faraday seems to think it has to do with more than just that.

Now, the question is, can Daniel not remember things because his own timeline is screwed up, and meeting Desmond is going to help him fix that? Or can Daniel not remember things because he just can’t (he’s a ‘headcase’ and/or he overexposed himself to radiation)? The bigger question, though, is why does DESMOND not remember this whole experience with Daniel in 1996? You wouldn’t just forget the time you met Doc Brown. It must have happened in Not-Desmond’s-Normal-Timeline. It’s definitely clear this time around that Desmond’s consciousness, not his physical body, was traveling through time.

But, that aside, there’s a LOT MORE time freakiness to worry about. I think the best we can do right now is conclude that there’s enough evidence that the island doesn’t need to be “in synch” with the off-island world, but I don’t think we have enough to work with to try to figure it all out. There are just too many inconsistencies. Some of the theories include an idea that everyone now on the island is “lost in time” because of their exposure to the hatch/radiation, and also an idea that there’s no “offset” between Island time and “real” time, but rather a “bubble” around the island that screws things up.

I wonder if this idea of consciousness being able to move through time will explain Miles’ “gift.” That seemed kind of totally insane and out of left field at the time, but maybe it relates to this now?

AMAZING theory: this time stuff is the “sickness” that made Rousseau kill, you know, her entire crew. And what about them knocking out Juliet when they brought her to the Island? At the time, it seemed to be that they did this because they were, you know . . . kidnapping her, and not to Portland. But who knows. We also have to think about what all of this implies about the Others’ seemingly copious off-island travel. What about Richard, the dude who doesn’t age and kinda seems to have once-in-young-Ben’s-life been dressed like, hmm, a Black Rock pirate? I guarantee you something’s going to come of the fact that Widmore bought the Black Rock’s ledger — as in, some entry in there is going to be “Richard Alpert.”

So I think with the call to Penny, her father’s involvement with the Island/Black Rock/Hanso memorabilia as well as being the reason that Desmond ends up on the Island, and the craziness with the freighter — we’re looking for some conflict before anyone leaves the vicinity of the island safely . . . which is maybe what ends up buying Kate the time necessary to claim Aaron is her kid? Maybe I was very, very wrong about the time difference thing — assuming that, then Kate needs to stay on the island at least a LITTLE while longer. By the time Aaron’s a toddler, she could fudge the dates a little — oh, I was 5 months pregnant when I got to the island; oh, yeah, he’s only 1.5, and is just big for his age . . .

S and I were predicting that Desmond’s “flashes” are what gets him in trouble with the military — thrown into jail. When he ran off to look for Penny, he was on military leave, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this time-skipping thing leaves him AWOL for something important at some point.

Oh, and about their “friend” on the freighter! Who would simultaneously be doing Ben’s dirty work (keeping the freighter from being able to communicate) AND trying to help out Sayid & Desmond? MICHAEL. Here’s a pic of an extra dude hanging out on the freighter, maybe our guy?

What is up with the different colored Xes on the calendar?

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