Lost 4x02: "Confirmed Dead"

I watched it on my computer this week, so we're back to the stream of consciousness set-up.

I'm really, really confused right now. Is Dan the parachute guy, and this is a flash forward/back episode about him...?

That actor playing Dan looks familiar. I kinda like him, he's flustered and kind of endearing. Unless he turns out to be some kind of psycho, which he probably will.

Locke is crazy. How does he know all this random stuff about the island? Is it just instinct or did someone tell him?

I was all excited about Sawyer using another nickname finally (Colonel Kurtz? Is that what it was?) and then Locke says he got his orders from Walt. WHAT!!! Oh wait. Never mind, we already knew that, I just forgot what he was talking about. That was at the end of last season.

Whoa, a box of gas masks. Hmm. Jack and Kate look a little worried right now.

I bet these boat people came to kill all the Others. That's my guess.

I do not like this other crazy parachute guy, Miles, pointing a gun at Jack. Also, WHY would Kate kill Naomi. He randomly assumes that...? I don't really understand where that came from.

Okay so the flash forwards are the parachute people, who are all off the island by now. And the radio guy just said that all the people on the plane they found were confirmed dead...

Miles is a douche. Apparently he's going to do some ghostbusting in this old lady's house. He's a psychic or something weird. And he just stole money from her.

I'm thinking that at the end of the show, Locke is going to probably be dead.

Ben is getting kind of reckless with his harassing of people. It's pretty funny - what does he have to lose though? He's already their favorite punching bag... I mean seriously, who hasn't beaten him up yet.

I feel bad for Sawyer. I don't blame him for wailing on Ben after he was taunting him about Kate with Jack.

OH HAHA! Sayid and Juliette really were in the jungle holding guns to the parachute guys' heads. That was probably the most awesome thing ever. I totally thought Jack was making it up.

Wait, I thought this was Lost... not Jurassic Park. They found a polar bear skeleton...? Wait, HOW OLD IS THAT? That was one of those Dharma Initiative collar things... I'm so confused.

Okay Miles, taunting Sayid? Not a good idea. Seriously.

Locke's group of people don't look very convinced by Charlotte.

How sick do you think these actors are of the clothes they're wearing? They've had to recycle the same five outfits since three years ago.

Hey! Seth Norris! Greg Grunberg! Long time no see!

Wait, what are those hands in the water? I am pretty sure the pilot got murdered on the island. Something WEIRD is going on with that wreckage. (Obviously.)

Parachute Guy #3 crawls up a hill and sees... a cow. Um... okay. Why doesn't he have parachute gear on anyway? He's obviously with those other guys, he has the satellite phone...

"Sure, who are we to argue with Taller Ghost Walt." Sawyer, I really, really love you.

Miles: "Where's the chopper?"
Frank: "...I saw a cow."
HAHA, oh Frank. I like you.

Don't let Locke know about that helicopter. He will so blow that thing up.

Ohhhhhhhh.... so this is a flashback episode about the parachute people, saying they were selected to go to the island by the guy who went to Hurley's mental hospital and interrogated him. And apparently Naomi was the one who was supposed to prevent anything bad from happening. So much for that.

OH COME ON BEN WHAT IS THE SMOKE MONSTER! Seriously!!! When are we going to find out about that!!!!

How does Ben know all this stuff about these random people who JUST showed up onto the island? He has a man on their boat?! WHAT? How does he have so much influence?!

AHHHH!

EDIT: I was talking to my friend Ben this morning (2/9) about this episode, and he brought up something I totally missed the first time around - the parachute girl, Charlotte? When Island Ben starts listing off all the things he knows about her, he says her full name, which is apparently Charlotte Staples Lewis. C.S. LEWIS. AWESOME.

EDIT AGAIN, LATER ON 2/9: Here are some tidbits taken from the conversations I had this weekend with various members of our college group at the church retreat I went on.

1. Maybe Abaddon (the black guy's name, the one who harassed Hurley and sent the parachute people to the island - although I missed this being mentioned) is the smoke monster. Not totally sure how that would work. (Theory courtesy of Ian's friends.)
2. Already mentioned the C.S. Lewis thing but then there's Abaddon, which as all viewers of Torchwood know, is the name of the monster that was trapped underneath the Cardiff rift. Also, another name for the devil. So I'm getting kind of a "not a good guy" vibe from this new character.
3. The polar bear in the desert was a result of a time travel experiment that the Dharma Initiative was working on. (Theory courtesy of Ian.)
4. Ben's box analogy: "The show started out just as a show about castaways, just some people on an island. They had a box, and they had all these things they wanted to do to fill up the box. But then they realized that the show isn't about what's in the box - it's about what's outside of the box."
5. Everyone agreed that the second season premiere (the one that starts out with Desmond working out in the hatch, listening to the Mamas and the Papas) was exceedingly awesome.

If I think of anything else I will let you know.

Also, thank you Jessica for reading my sci-fi blog. It makes me feel loved.