Oh, I just love the Locke flashbacks! And this one is especially cool because it begins before Locke is even born, which I thought was awesome. There are so many clues and connections between Locke and the island that started way before he got to the island — before he even ended up in the wheelchair.

This episode of Lost [1] also gave me flashbacks to when I used to watch that Nickelodeon show Are You Afraid of the Dark? Mostly that part with Locke carrying the lantern in the cabin. . . creepy! To talk more about this and other aspects of this week's episode (there be spoilers ahead, brotha), .

• I loved the beginning of this episode. The young Locke's mom putting "Everyday" on the record player, bopping around, getting ready for her date with a man who her mother scolds her about for being "twice your age, Emily." ("So what, Mother? Jealous?") Such a good setup.
• Starting with Locke's birth we can see from the start that he's a fighter, a special person. Throughout his life it seems that he was being drawn to the island, one way or another (Richard Alpert going to his house, the high school teacher pushing him to go to science camp at Mittelos Laboratories, where Juliet was recruited to do reserach) but that he never accepted his "destiny" — until he got to the cabin.
• So, Ben understands that where he once was "the chosen one," now it's Locke's time. He watches Locke as he dreams about Horace, and later tells him, "I used to have dreams."



• I originally thought Horace's nose is bleeding because that's something that happened when he died. But here's another theory: maybe his nose is bleeding because he's traveling through time, and his nose bleeds just like Desmond's did in "The Constant."
• The scene in which Alpert asks Locke to choose the items that belong to him "already" is so tense and interesting, but it baffles me. "You sure the knife belongs to you John? You sure of that? Well, it doesn't." Why do you think Alpert rushes away after Locke chooses the knife?
• There is an idea [2] that this process Alpert utilizes with Locke is "very similar to how the new Dalai Lama is selected."
• Sayid: "The only way to save our lives is to get those people off the island."
  Hmm. . .
• Ewwwwwww corpses make me so nauseated.
• "You can't be the prom king. You can't be the quarterback. You can't be a superhero." The superhero line is funny because, as Lostpedia [3] points out, Alpert's introduction to the little kid John is almost word-for-word from The X-Men: I'm Richard, John. I run a school for kids who are. . . extremely special, and I have reason to believe that you might be one them."
• I love that Frank Lupidas and his lively, bushy eyebrows.
• Best line of the night goes to Ben: "Those things had to happen to me. That was my destiny. But you'll understand soon enough that there are consequences to being chosen. Because destiny, John, is a fickle bitch."
• I knew the guy pushing the chair was going to be Matthew Abbadon. I just knew it. He tells Locke that he should go on a walkabout, and ends things with, "When you and I run into each other again? You'll owe me one."
• Eeeek, this time bending thing — with the doctor showing up on the shore with his throat slit "before" he's killed on the boat — is hurting my brain a little bit.
• Love the part when Ben says, with his eyes all creepy, "The island wanted me to get sick. It wanted you to get well. My time is over. It's yours now."
  Hurley: "Yeah, I'm cool with you going in alone, too."
• Even though we've known for a while that it's probably Christian Shepard sitting in that cabin, I was still afraid of the creepy shadowy guy sitting in the dark. And then Claire's calm, smiling face! Aaack! Now we know that Christian isn't Jacob but he "can speak on his behalf." He confirms that Locke was "chosen" to be there, and says that Aaron is "where he's supposed to be, and that's not here." This makes me think of Hurley's comment to Jack in the future that Jack "isn't supposed to raise Aaron."
• The one question that matters: "How do I save the island?"
• OK, I laughed out loud at the Hurley-shares-a-candy-bar-with-Ben bit.
• Finally: Move the island?

What are your thoughts on this week's Lost?

Photos courtesy of ABC, Inc. [4]