duey

First...I too was a bit disappointed in the ending to the Gunslinger. Second...the creators of the show have indicated that the story has been written to last three seasons.

See, I thought that was the invisible beast's footfalls.

The more and more I think and read (here) about this, the more I think the island may be a remanant of a world that, in the words of Stephen King's Gunslinger, has "moved on." That would support the nuclear shelter theory. I also like FanfromAlbany's observation about the rope around Locke's ankle. I saw the same thing, and you're right, it probably is more like a snare trap than the monster itself.

Yeah...with this show, if emphasis is given to anything, you know it has to tie in somehow. On a very simplistic level, could it have been another part of the security system?

Dude...nice. Well done.

And then the evil TD is going to take the best parts of each of them and make a Frankenstein-like Uberguard.

Yeah...I agree. In fact, it represented a confrontation of philosphy that has been building between those two characters since the first episode.

Yeah...that was the gun that Jack gave him and the others didn't know about.

I vote for choice #2 (caught in between).

Very true..,.but I also think she used that whole story to set up her coming back and taking the baby for herself.

They way it was done was great. You figured he had dodged the bullet because he had wrapped that piece of dynamite up, and then BOOM!!! "Dude."

I agree...Henry will be gone by August 1, and we WILL get that 3rd for him. Jeez...honestly...a 3rd round pick for TH is still a good deal for the team getting him.

Dude...those are some good ideas. I like the nuclear fallout survivor idea.

Wow...some nice discussion already, this early in the morning. I'll try to dovetail my observations into those already raised so as to be redundent... Overall...a very good episode that didn't really answer all that many questions, and as previously mentioned, didn't really leave us hanging that much. Sure, Walt has been taken, and we are left to wonder what's down the hatch, but I'm not going to be dying over the summer like I thought I might be. First, regarding Danielle...I think she concocted the entire "Others coming" story just so that she could draw the strong members of the survivor away from the rest of the group so that she could go back and take the baby. And I'm surprised that they would actually follow her all the way to the Black Rock with this impending threat of attack. I think the writers kind of let this one get away from them...there was no real sense of urgency for them to get the explosives and then get to the hatch. By the time they got to the hatch, it was night time (when supposedly the Others were going to attack). A little disconnect in the story there, IMHO. The people that took Walt were def the Others. If you look at their boat, it was a light motor craft, something appropriate for landing on islands from a larger boat (i.e. Danielle's research vessel). This makes me believe the Others are actually from Danielle party, and that while she may not be one of them per say, she is allowed to exist by them. For the Others to be able to have a functioning motor boat 16 years after coming to the island makes me think that they have access to a hell of a lot more supplies than our surivors do. Maybe this is from the research vessel...or maybe from other resources found on the island. Which brings me to the Danielle - Claire tie in. We now know that Claire is the one who scratched Danielle during some kind of struggle. My theory is that Ethan was one of the others, and that Danielle had some how helped Claire escape from them for the purpose of ulitmately getting the baby for herself and taking it back to exchange for Alex. The person on the Others boat who threw the explosive appeared to be a young, blonde woman. She certainly looked older than 16, but I agree that it was probably Alex. The Beast...so we were able to see that this thing can be invisible, is most certainly mechanical, and can essentially disappear in a puff of smoke. I'm having trouble putting all those things together...but I def think that the fact it was retracting into an underground location is tied to the stairs leading down from the hatch. I thought the whole Artz thing was great. His discussion with Hugo (I like that better than Hurley ) was def a tip of the hat to bulletin board discussions about the show. And his blowing up like that was a complete surprise...well done. I liked when he called Kate "Princess." I recognize the comment from Jack about having a Locke problem, but I can't believe that Jack won't want to go down those stairs as much as Locke does. I think the problem will be more philosophical rather than a physical separation of the survivors into opposing camps. Maybe I'm wrong though. The rafters...so, Walt has been taken, obviously because of his "powers." But what of the other three? Sawyer was shot, though the way he flew off the raft leads me to think it was in the shoulder...non-fatal. Jin went in after him, and Michael is just floating by the wreackage of the raft. There's enough left of the raft for them to grab on and evenually make their way back to the island (unless the sharks get them!). I think what we're looking at for next season is the following: Why did the Others want Walt? Are his powers needed to help them battle the island, or are they trying to in some way appease the island. Will Danielle come into the fold with the survivors? I think so. Because the survivors are now going to have to try to get Walt back, I think she will join them because they have Alex. Jack and Locke...I just don't see a big fight here. I think they will continue to disagree on the way things should be done, but I think they will both unite in the efforts to get Walt back. I think the Walt storyline and the hatch storyline will at some point merge. The hatch, in some way, probably leads to something critical about the island, how it works, and why it is doing what it is doing. And I think this wil tie into why Walt was taken. Lastly, remember that this show is designed to last three seasons, so we may not get a quick resolution to any of the issues that remain at the end of Season 1. There...my longest post EVER. I've preordered Season 1 on DVD, and will spend the rest of the summer thinking about what has been, and what will be.

Amazing...absolutely amazing. My thoughts in the morning. Enjoy going to bed thinking about everything we saw tonight...EVERYTHING.

T minus 55 minutes and counting. Why the hell am I so freaking nervous?!?!

Amen to that brother. The Olympics would be more trouble then they are worth. And !@#$ the Jets!

If anyone is in the position to look out a window and see this, an aircraft carrier is just passing by the Statue of Liberty.

On that 20/20 interview, the creaters indicated that some questions would be answered tonight, but they were also going to leave us hanging for next season.

Yeah..nasty day to be standing on the deck of a ship. But, I'm sure it beats being in the Gulf.

I have a window cubicle on the 30th floor of an office building in Jersey City, right across from lower Manhattan. I just saw a couple of NYFD fire boats spraying red, white and blue water as they escorted a couple of Navy ships into the harbor. Kinda got the patriotic feelings going. Regardless of my feelings for Bush...I will always support our troops. God Bless America.

Now, I just heard a radio promo for tonights show in which it seems that I heard the guys on the raft cheering, as if they saw a ship. Unfortunately, if that is indeed the case, it is probably a ship that is being drawn into the island. Oooh...maybe it's a ghost ship...and that's where that skeleton is that we say in the previews last week.

A woman here at work tried for almost the entire four hours and could not get through. What's up with that?!?!

Dude...that's exactly what I thought too. I had no idea it was that long.

I thought Bo might have had a very very slight edge over Carrie, but it was extremely even. I don't think what the "judges" had to say will factor at all into the vote. People already have their favorite, and only a huge mistake last night could have altered that. Did you here Ryan say that only 2% separated the two last week? It's going to be VERY close tonight. Bo gets my vote.