Why I hate John Locke

Last night as Locke was going through his almost suicide and then murder, I was having a really hard time feeling bad for him. I'm sure I was supposed to. His situation was, after all, rather piteous; no friends, no family, no ability to complete his task, the only woman he loved was "dead." Basically, he had no reason to live. But something about Locke just drives me crazy. Maybe it's because he's a know-it-all, and those types of peeps drive me crazy. Or maybe it's because Locke just really isn't a very likable character. Even though I knew Locke would emerge from the plane in tact, I found myself quite disappointed to see him alive and kicking. Do you think we're supposed to dislike Locke? Am I in the minority here? If you do like him, why?

On another note: What's with Ceasar? Do you think he knows something about the island already, or is he just a naturally suspicious kind of person?

ben-the-murderer and helen

Mems how Ben killed Locke in last night's episode? WOW. That was totally unexpected. J and I are wondering if Ben believed that Locke would come back to life on the island. When he shut the door to John's hotel room, he said, "Goodbye, John. I'm going to miss you." Hmm.

I also don't think that Helen is dead. I think that Whidmore planted that tombstone so that Locke would believe that she died. That way, Whidmore could make sure that Locke was focusing on gathering the Oceanic 6 together. Plus, Whidmore is all about staging the deaths of individuals - remember when he did it with a whole airplane at the bottom of the ocean?

What do people think? Any other reactions from last night?

Kat pregnant?

I have decided that Kat is pregnant, the whore... I bet she slept with Jack the night before they got on the plane, "knowing" that it was a sacrifice that she needed to make. Weird... and what happened to Ben's face? And how come no one even bothered to say something about it?

Benjamin Linus

Ben is an enigma. He can trick all the other characters and the viewers into thinking he's helping someone out but in the end, it's all about self-interest. He will use people as long as they are useful and then kill them or whatever, without having any visible remorse. And maybe that's just what is so compelling about him: he is cold, emotionless, and quite machiavellian in his approach to just about everything and everyone.

However, on rare occasions it would seem a glimmer of humanity does indeed exist in those steely, dead eyes of his.

In previous seasons I have really disliked Ben but in this season I find him to be a little endearing, in an odd sort of way. The best moment of the last episode was the exchange between Ben and Jack on the plane:

Jack (exasperatingly): How can you read?!
Ben (calmly, in monotone): My mother taught me.

I still chuckle at it.

LOST and Caravaggio

Hooray for a Caravaggio painting on this week's LOST episode! That was definitely my favorite part of the show.

For a while, J and I were thinking that perhaps the medusa spider (mems how it bit Paolo and Nikki?) might be associated with Locke's "death." However, they mentioned this week that Locke hung himself, so I guess that isn't the case.

I don't like Locke all that much, and all of the hinted comparisons between him and Christ (through themes like sacrifice and resurrection) bother me. I'd rather have someone else be the savior of the island - like Hurley!

A Few Questions.

Wow, that whole scene with Rousseau's peeps getting eaten/taken by the smoke monster (typing "smoke monster" makes me feel a little silly) was nuts! I wonder what the explanation is for the effects the monster has on people: the guy with the arm ripped off calling out "innocently" for help to lure the other men down the hole and then Alex's father claiming his innocence to Rousseau when he really has malevolent intentions. Are there any other examples of the smoke monster using people like this instead of just killing them outright?

I do think it's interesting to learn how Rousseau became alone on the island and why she tends to be suspicious of most everyone.

Also, anyone have guesses as to why Enlightenment philosopher names are used in this show?*
-Desmond David Hume
-John Locke
-Danielle Rousseau-- could just be a coincidence, if it's a really common French last name?
Juliet Burke-- maybe also just a coincidence?

Other names of interest:
-Charlotte Staples Lewis-- same middle name, last name, and initials as C.S. Lewis
-Faraday was a 19th century physicist and chemist who worked with electromagnetic fields and radiation

*I see I should probably check out lostipedia more often:
http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Philosophy

"You just disappeared!"

That's what Danielle said to Jin when she saw him again. I guess that means they really do just disappear when the island skips. I know there's no real way to get around that, but it seems kinda lame. They really just POOF - disappear? Also lame that, if that's the case, no one - not even crazy Russo - mentioned people disappearing on the island before. 

I wrote a while back about the whole "the past hasn't changed yet" idea (which would explain why Russo wouldn't recognize Jin when she met him again when 815 crashed, because he hadn't been in her past yet...), the fact that Charlotte remembers Farraday means that even though he hasn't travelled to her past yet, she already remembers him. Unless her Desmond-like-'consciousness'-time-traveling (assuming that was what was happening to her) has something to do with that.

Along those lines, since M is out of town, I thought I'd mention her theory that I think is really great. Some people are speculating that Daniel is going to become some kind of a villain soon, and the fact that Charlotte says she was scared of him when she was a girl would tend to feed that idea. However, M wondered if Daniel is going to go to her past, and because he loves her (unconvincing confessions/poor acting aside), he's going to do all he can to convince her not to come back because she'll die if she does. He'll no doubt be desperate to change the future, even though he is pretty sure that can't happen. His efforts would, no doubt, be pretty scary to a young girl.

Am I right to say that we have no reason to believe anyone has ever time-travelled to the future (besides going forward from the past to the time they initially left)?