Lost: The Brig

This was the episode I have been eagerly anticipating for almost a month now, and it was definitely worth the wait. Locke took me on a roller coaster ride of intensity and revelation, while keeping me guessing from start to finish.

Let's start off with a major theme that's been prominent lately on "Lost" — I have NO idea who is good and who is evil anymore. It seems like everyone has secrets and everyone is out for themselves entirely at this point.

Locke is growing to be more and more like Henry Gale with each episode. They both oscillate between trying to keep their cool, eerie exterior and exposing their inner anguish. There's a yin and yang type situation between them (e.g. at the beginning of the episode Henry is in the wheelchair). It's hard to tell who is manipulating whom, and I love how they expose weakness in each other.

I'm not sure if I believe any of this hell/purgatory stuff. It sounds like a theory the Others want to plant into the minds of the Losties, and I'm wondering if the Others got to Naomi and brainwashed or bribed her before the Losties found her. This would explain why Desmond never saw the actual helicopter she fell from.

Why would the Others leave their cozy little community to camp out in tents?

I love that Henry tells Locke that the Others need a gesture of "free will," and then promptly demands that Locke kill his father.

It makes no sense that Locke's father would egg both Locke and Sawyer on. In Locke's flashbacks, we always see his father begging for Locke's help whenever he needs it. This makes me even more sure that the Others are pulling all the strings, and are behind the purgatory theory.

I don't believe a single word Naomi said. I think she's entirely full of crap and not to be trusted.

I'd like to know how Locke managed to get his father into the Black Rock, what with his father's razor sharp teeth and all.

What is the deal with Rousseau? She used to be super suspicious and paranoid, and now she just strolls into the Black Rock, gets some dynamite, and heads out? What is she going to blow up? I really hope I get some more information about her character before this season is over.

I find it interesting that the Others think Locke is "extremely special," and that Richard the doctor wants to spend more time with him. Didn't they also say the same thing about Walt, and then let him leave the island entirely?

As you know, I don't really like Kate, mainly because she always fails to use common sense. The scene where she runs and tells Jack that nobody trusts him was a cringe-worthy, desperate attempt to get him to like her again. Also, I'm not sure about Juliet. I know that all those manipulative side glances at Jack are designed to make the audience hate her, but I haven't got a gut feeling yet.

When all is said and done, the last few minutes of the episode gave me the chills and made really excited to check out the rest of the season, which is all I can ask for from a show like "Lost."