Well, here we are, May sweeps. It’s a bittersweet time. On the one hand, we get four to five solid eps in a row with no interruption and each show typically pulls out its big guns to close the season/series out in some grand, climactic fashion. On the minus side, 5 weeks from now and we’re stuck Dancing with the Stars, Skating with Celebrities and Breakin’ with Bird Flu. Or we could actually go play outdoors.

Anyway – if you are gonna’ kick start May sweeps, I can’t think of a better way than what Lindelof and Cuse offered up in the final moments of last night’s episode.

1. So Ana Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez) gets her second flashback in one season – putting her in the upper echelon of Jack, Kate, Locke, Sawyer and Sayid. Pretty lofty digs for a lowly Tailie who has been bitched about on Internet forums everywhere as pure poison. What seems completely unnecessary, ends up making perfect sense by the end of the episode. 

2. Before I write anymore – I’m just gonna’ come right out and highlight a major jaw-dropper of a conclusion.

3. MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT
In the final moments, Michael talks to Ana Lucia about the prisoner, Henry. She mentions that she tried to kill him for his earlier attempt at murdering her, but she couldn’t do it. (We know she’s capable – so this crisis of conscience is some genuine character growth.) Michael then states that he’ll do it for her. She gives him the gun and the combination to Henry’s cell. Michael looks down at the gun, says “I’m sorry“, and then fires a shot right into her chest. Libby (Cynthia Watros), who had gone to the hatch looking for some blankets, startles Michael who turns and fires three shots at her bringing her down. He then walks over to the storage closet and opens the lock. As he walks in, Henry stands up and Michael gives him a nod before firing a shot into his own arm.

4. My theory, Michael is suffering from the ‘sickness’ that Danielle claims her crew suffered. Now – I don’t believe it is an actual pathogen – but more of an infection of a ‘way of life’. Witness Henry referring to his leader in such reverent tones, as a “great man… but not a forgiving man.” When Locke confronts Henry early on over his attempted murder of Ana-Lucia, he asks why Henry attacked Ana-Lucia but not him when he was pinned beneath the blast doors. Henry tells Locke that he didn’t attack him because he is one of the “good ones.” This is another reference to “good people” and lends a lot of credence to the idea that The Others are fostering a Utopia that rewards people with good hearts and punishes those that are tainted.

5. The other theory is that Michael was offered a deal – rescue Henry and in exchange, they’ll give him back Walt. I’m not sure I buy into that. If Michael wanted to rescue Henry (against his will) and he felt he’d have trouble with Ana-Lucia, then he could easily shoot her in the leg. His killing was a cold-blooded assassination, implying something more sinister at work.

6. Another theory is mind-control. Michael did look a little shaky before the act – of course, that could have been pure nervousness. He also says he was sorry, implying he had control over his actions. Still – we know Walt has psychic abilities – so it stands to reason that Michael could have been controlled by someone similar to Walt to carry out this assault and rescue mission.

7. The hole in that argument is Michael shooting himself. Essentially, he did that to frame Henry. Henry is free to go. When Jack and company return, they find Libby and An-Lucia dead and Michael wounded – thereby inferring that Henry took them all out and escaped. That leaves Michael out of suspicion and embedded within the group – where he can strike and undermine them. We already know there are other bad people there – some with guns. Sawyer ought to watch his back.

8. The one curious real-world note to this whole thing is the DUI arrest of Rodriguez and Watros in December 2005. The two were leaving a cast party at their location shoot in Hawaii and were arrested (in separate incidents) and booked for drunk driving. Watros plead guilty and got probation. Rodriguez opted for 5 days in jail. Both have completed their service. So, with the double murder of their two characters, it would appear Lindelof and Cuse were taking a hard-line approach on drunk driving (as I saw somewhere, Robert Downey Jr. wouldn’t make it to lunch on this show.) There is an article on TVGuide.com today where they dispute this notion and actually talk about how the event was planned and when the arrests occurred, they contemplated changing the storyline to avoid that speculation. Ultimately, they decided that real-life should not dictate the story, and they wisely went forward with a bold development.

9. Is JJ Abrams production company – Bad Robot – a group of He Man Woman Haters. In the same night that Lost whacked two female cast members, Alias offed Nadia (Mia Maestro) and Renne Rianne. To add to the strange coincidence, on Alias both women died of slit throats while on Lost, the two died of gunshot wounds.

10. I keep hearing about a commercial that ran for the Dharma Initiative. I missed it. Did it run during the show? If so, sight unseen, I declare it Brilliant!!!!