[Thee Alex]

So here are the episode 11 spoilers. Richie, DON'T READ UNTIL YOU'VE SEEN IT!!!!

Spoiler: A Locke centric episode this week, with no flash-forwards at all. A few thoughts - Is Richard Alpert Locke's father? Richard is the Other who never seems to age, who brought Juliette to the island, who was a 'Hostile' back in the days of the Dharma Initiative. Also, anyone else notice that Ben's mother has the same name as Locke's? Emily? Could it be that they're half brothers?? Or, if Roger wasn't Ben's real father, full brothers?? The ramifications of that would be immense! And Richard.....never ages?? We've seen him looking exactly the same in flashbacks and 'real' time over a period of in excess of 50 years now...and he always looks exactly the same. Also, when he visits Locke as a young boy, he sees a picture that John has drawn....of a column of smoke seemingly killing someone! Locke talking to a dead Dharma dude in his dream leads him to the cabin (which, I noticed, Hurley discovered) where Christian (Jack and Claire's father) is waiting for him....with Claire! She seemed really peaceful, not at all worried about Aaron, and like she knew what's going on. Christian isn't Jacob (or so he claims) but is can 'speak on his behalf'. And (ULTRA SPOILER) he tells Locke that, to save the island, they must MOVE IT!! On the boat Keamy (who's name might be a reference to CIMI in mayan astrology - meaning Death) tries to kill Michael, by firing his gun at him at point blank range, several times. Seemingly the island is still protecting him, as the gun fails to fire. Then he takes the key to the ship's safe from the Captain and opens up a Dharma logo'd folder from Widmore telling him what to do next, explaining to the Captain that Widmore is 'a very clever' man', when asked how he could possibly know where Ben is going. Is the Dharma logo indicating that Widmore has something to do with the original Initiative? When the helicopter with the wounded marines returns we hear the morsecode message Daniel sent bleeping through one of their phones....the one asking what's happened to the Dr after the survivors found him washed up on the beach.... the Dr is fine though....for now. I was wrong about Sayid staying on the boat, with the Captain's help he takes the motorboat and heads back to the island - but Desmond stays behind....to witness Keamy cut the throat of the Dr and toss him overboard when Frank refuses to fly the marines and their arsenal of weapons to the island. Then he shoots the Captain when he tries to stop him!! And what is that strapped to Keamy's arm? I'm guessing a trigger for a nuke or something. So - Is Richard Locke's father? Is Ben Locke's brother? Is Christian dead? And if so is Claire dead? After all, Locke does have a habit of seeing the dead.... Who is Jacob? Is Ben right when he practically tells John the island is his now? After the beach-heavy recent weeks, it was nice to see only a tiny bit of Jack and the rest (and no Sawyer at all). Anyone else think that Frank throwing the phone out of the helicopter as it passed was a warning to stay away from the marines? Did Jack get it wrong when he said 'I think they want us to follow them'? Or does he think that Jack and the rest can stop the marines from completing their plan? And what was Jacob's 'Help me' all about at the end of season three? Is Jacob the island itself?? Finally - Locke, in the hospital back after he was thrown out of a window, being wheeled to his room by....RICHARD ABADDON!! The same man who recruited Miles, Charlotte, Frank, Naomi and Daniel! The same man who visited Hurley in the hospital claiming to be from the airline!!!! And he tells Locke that he really should go to Australia for a 'Walkabout'....explaining where John got the idea to go to Oz from AND why he was on the plane. If John was 'meant' to be on the plane, does that mean that everyone else was? Has the island gathered them all there?

An astonishing episode, cranking up the tension. Almost as good as the Desmond one.