Guys, I KNOW. I’m so 4 days ago with this stuff. Moving and unpacking has allowed me zero time to blog about LOST. P.S., if you’re so not into LOST, skip this post. I’ll be back tomorrow with regularly scheduled beauty reviews. Analyzing LOST on this blog is the only time I use my French Literature degree.

I have to say, you KNOW I love this show… but the new format, flashforwards, diminished amount of literary/cinematic references, and new characters hastily thrown in makes me feel like I’m now in a Remedial Math class that I’m failing… when I used to be scoring A’s in AP English. It’s still interesting and I’d never stop watching… but I have few predictions and much less insight. It’s v. frustrating. I found a couple of things by googling the names of the newcomers, who in my humble O, were folded in with the same care and subtley as Nikki and Paulo were, i.e., none. Here’s what I thought about the Nikki/Paulo sitch, FYI.

Some things to note:
Charlotte Staples Lewis is a nod to Clive Staples Lewis, or C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia series.

Faraday: Michael Faraday was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to electromagnetism as a field of study. From Wikipedia: “He established that magnetism could affect rays of light and that there was an underlying relationship between the two phenomena.” In this episode, Daniel Faraday comments on abnormalities in the light rays on the Island and defines himself as a physicist.

Apocalypse Now: Sawyer calls Locke “Colonel Kurtz” after Marlon Brando’s character in this movie (1979). In the movie (but not in the original book, Heart of Darkness), Colonel Kurtz is a great man who leads his followers out into the jungle where he subsequently goes insane. The reference is also to Locke’s baldness (Brando was shaved bald in the film.)

Why does Miles plug in a dustbuster and have the capability to speak with the dead? And then steal their money? He’s clearly clairvoyant when it comes to the dead. When he went up to the late Naomi, I actually thought I was watching another ABC show, Pushing Daisies, for a hot second. I learned later that the machine he used is some kind of fan that makes the room cold so he can conjure spirits of the dead, much like in The Sixth Sense. Remember how in the presence of the dead, a room will get much colder?

I think Charlotte is a member of a rogue sect of the Dharma Initiative. Maybe she’s the child of one of the original members whom Ben killed in The Purge? The rest of the motley crew I’m not too sure about. Why is Naomi sent to go with them? Her discovery of the polar bear skeleton gave me the chills.

I think the Oceanic 815 plane that was found at the bottom of the Sunda in the Sunda Trench of the South Pacific indicates that we’re dealing with an alternate reality, as I’ve mentioned before. It could mean that powerful forces are trying to hide the existence of the castaways, but my gut tells me that’s not the case.

And I’m torn between thinking Ben’s mole on the freighter is Michael (press about this season confirms that Harold Perrineau, who plays him, will be returning to the show) or could it be Charlotte, whom Jeff Jensen explains in his Entertainment Weekly column looks suspiciously like his former Dharma days pal Annie? I’m leaning more toward Michael. What do you think? Also, instead of coming to get Ben, I’m thinking perhaps the “Freighter Four” came to save Ben. Similar plot structures were used in Alias… perhaps in Ben’s genius master plan, he’s arranged for this entire thing, complete with a staged shooting of Charlotte.

What do you think?