And wow, there’s a lot here, but I guess that tends to happen with a two hour season finale. I’ll touch on some of your numbers:

4. Yeah, it was clear who Ben would choose to sing like a canary and dumbass Bernard fell right into it. You know, I forgot to mention R&B made their return last week. I wish they somehow never came back from their layoff. I have never liked either character. I’m all for strong female characters, but Rose is way to over-the-top and condescending, especially to her own husband, that someone needs to tell her to shut the heck up.

5. I was thinking the same thing with that same shot, especially when the camera focused on the group’s front looking on to the beach. The lighting was amazing and I wonder how much a regular TV would pick up off in the distance. Best $2500 I have ever spent.

7. I’m on record for not enjoying the original V-dub bus ep, but I do like how it has come back into play twice already. It was kind of cool to see Hugo come to the rescue and make Sawyer eat it a little. However, what’s with that bus anyway? You’re telling me they didn’t joyride that thing until it ran out of gas the first time? It can speed thru a dense jungle and then over sand like they were a superhighway? I guess that’s why we need suspension of disbelief sometimes.

8. I didn’t really get, or enjoy, Sawyer shooting Tom like that. I realize that he’s raging inside because he killed Cooper and still hasn’t come to terms with it. We see that with his interaction with Kate — “since when do you call me Kate?” However, killing another man in cold blood, who as far as Sawyer knows hasn’t killed anyone (and they didn’t kill or torture Walt), is ridiculous. Sure, he knows he is bug-eyes’ puppy, but still… I guess I just liked Tom and didn’t want to see him killed. Maybe he’ll survive it like Mikhail. Holloway does a good job, I just have never liked Sawyer (maybe it’s a theme with guy’s that really or fictionally get to do it with Kate).

9. Charlie really did find some brass balls. I truly enjoyed his interrogation, both to see him get whacked around, but also because of the ‘tude he popped. “I die.” I loved it.

11. Just like Locke, I don’t believe he’s dead either. The smirk on his face as he pulled that pin was all I needed.

12. I’ll admit, I don’t like him, but the scene was so well done that I started to well up, but no tears were shed. Of course, the same thing happened at the end of Heroes when Nathan flew Peter away and that sucked. I’m a chick.

13. Agreed. I believe Charlie thought that was the way it had to play out. Also, by virtue of him closing that door, we’ll still get to find out if that station does something special… c’mon teleporter! You can also buy into his belief that he really had to do it as he was the musician and thus able to tap out Good Vibrations on a keypad. It was his destiny to be there and do that.

14. It is possible the station pulled that transmission once the jamming stopped, hence Pen’s question, but you figure she had something transmitting to those coordinates based on last season’s finale.

15. It was cool, but I did notice it move at one point because of his real eye underneath.

17. I think they want us to wonder on that, especially with their meeting at the end. I think Jack does love her, in the I’m in love with you way, but believes she’s into Sawyer, so he says it matter of factly out of resignation to his belief.

18. Thought it was good and bad. Danielle is a nutbag and thought she played it well and I’m sure Alex was just plain in shock, so again, played well. Ben’s intro was well played. The bad was that it did all seem awkward. I can’t quite put my finger on it either. Maybe it is just because we expected more from the reunion/revelation to Alex. Speaking of that, did we even see Carl and Alex together after Ben was in *custody?*

19. Yeah, still can’t quite read Ben’s real motivations. He seems to still profess a lot about the Island’s needs, but we also believe he’s lying a lot about Jacob, so I’m looking forward to this playing out more next season.

20. Yup, not dead, but almost. I felt a little bad for him here, but only a little. So, is it really Walt or Smokey? Kid is growing like a weed. They’d do well to interject some sci-fi-ish explanation of his rapid aging. You’d think they would know better than to cast a young kid about to hit puberty in a show that runs in this kind of timeline.

21. Locke would have done well to explain things a little better there… Jack might have listened (or someone else). It is clear that the island doesn’t want Naomi’s people coming there as it communicated seemingly thru both Ben and Locke. As for whether or not Naomi was a representative of the Dharma project trying to get back what they perceive as theirs, we’ll find out next season I bet.

22. First scene on the plane, as soon as I saw Oceanic’s logo, I thought this is either the *future* or an alternate timeline, but definitely not a flashback like the others (outside of Desmond’s of course, which was what I was sorta thinking along the lines of). By the second one, I determined it was present day because of the mobile Jack had. I’m with you, I think the story has taken place in the present day. It has all been flashbacks within a big flashback.

23. Based on my earlier guess, I was thinking his pappy refs were red herrings by the writers and the delusions of a man that had clearly been slowly losing it.

24. His beard was well done except for one scene where it seemed very slapdash, although instead of going with bad makeup job, I thought maybe they did it on purpose as if he were oddly losing that growth because of the stress.

25-26. I’m going to go with Sawyer for now. Who’d show up for his funeral other than Jack, Kate and Cassidy? Okay, maybe Hugo, but he may be goners too or still back on the island for fear of bringing more havoc to the mainland. I think the mention of Kate having to go back to someone makes you believe it isn’t Sawyer, but it would seem that something did happen between her and Jack after they were *rescued,* although that could have been behind Sawyer’s back.

27. Ben’s words to Jack totally ring true. All he had to get back to was the hospital.

28. It is haunting that that is how Jack spends his weekends. I’m not sure I’m buying into the original good and evil or Garden of Eden type theories anymore, but it is obvious that things are different there.

29. I think you are right from both angles. I wonder why Kate isn’t so bent up about it, but then, she didn’t complete the call…

30. Yeah he did.

31. It will be a longer wait than last year (and not just because it is really a longer wait).