This episode was pointless. During all of the flashbacks that happened on the island, I kept thinking "Damn, this show used to be amazing."

Yeah this episode was pretty pointless, but I liked all of Sawyer's "Who the hell are you's" heh...
I was hoping someone would see them move though... being buried alive.. damn.. that's a terrible way to go. Actually I was more hoping they'd see Paulo move and not Nikki....

several things:
- from the beginning, and on through this episode, I can barely keep myself from yelling at the tv when paolo and nikki are on... who ARE they? this was their flashback show and I STILL don't have any idea.
- How great were Sayid and Shannon together back in the day? awww.
- I'm with Abby, every flashback made me want to go re-watch the first season. And I loved all the Boone/Shannon/Artz participation... so have nikki and paolo been hangin' out this whole time, like did they shoot those during season 1? Or bring shannon back? or just photoshop them in? Hmmm.
- Ethan probably told them to go inland so they could get taken (but probably not because they are def. bad people and so probably are not on "the list"), or, perhaps, so they could find the pilot in the plane, but maybe that already happened... my timeline is fuzzy.
- The first episode was so good. I'm just repeating.
- getting buried alive would suck.
- so there must be a point... which, besides the weirdness of them knowing about all this stuff (plane, hatch, etc) before anyone else and not telling, I can't figure out. Buuuut lando calrissian is a traitor, turn in luke and han to darth, maybe we're supposed to be matching these people up here. I mean... Jack is Luke and Sawyer is Han, right? With Kate as Leia? Am I digging too deep? Because it pretty much works, with the triangle and the attitudes... so we gotta figure out who the new lando is. bad guy masquerading as a good guy, obvi there's another other in the midst, I think we all suspected that... unless it's juliet, who's turning all good. ooh, I kind of like that.
- where ARE Rose and Bernard? I keep asking that and everyone's just like "oh they're not important anymore".. but they're important to me!

Remember all the cigarettes Locke and the others found in that hatch later on...was Paulo spending a lot of time there watching Jack, Locke, etc? And then who provided the cigarettes? It seems that Paulo would have told the group about the hatch/walkie talkie if he did not have any other agenda. Nikki, however, didn't want to be rescued until she found the diamonds. With the whole Ethan interchange, I think Paulo, if not both of them, were working with the Others.

LOVED seeing Sawyer dig that grave. Very out of character though that he would have thrown those diamonds in the grave. They most certainly will be dug up by someone. Also, wasn't he introduced to Nikki and Paulo in the last episode or two? He keeps asking who they are, but with only 40 or so people and having been there over 80 days, you would think everyone would know everyone. A little far fetched in that aspect.

Great review and I love the side notes/ reminders.

Ethan was probably trying to lure them into the jungle to make them easier to kidnap. The Others were big on the kidnapping in the beginning.

I agree that Sawyer's "Who are you?" comments towards Nikki & Paolo are very fourth wall & that's what makes them funny. But I don't think any of the other things are fourth wall at all. Everyone (well, at least the main characters) knows that there's more than 1 hatch & that the Others did weird (possibly pointless) things when they took Kate & Sawyer - so I don't think either of those comments would be weird for him to say.

I think the writers have already confirmed that the swooping black smoke was just a CGI mistake during one of their podcasts.

I wish the writers didn't introduce Sun's pregnancy so early. It's been about 2 weeks island time (someone else can do the exact math, I'm too lazy) since she discovered she was pregnant, so she's probably about 6 weeks along. She won't be showing for a while & it kind of makes you forget she's even pregnant. One or two little morning sickness comments isn't holding my interest in that storyline.

I think the spider (which Lostpedia says is fictional, by the way) is going to end up playing a bigger role in the show. Maybe one of the main characters will be bitten by one or something. Otherwise Nikki & Paolo seem absolutely pointless. Yes, this episode was entertaining & the buried alive thing is shocking - but they didn't introduce any new info.. except for the spider. The Lost writers have maintained that Nikki & Paolo do play an important role in the Lost story & that's the only connection I can think of.

But with no coffin for air, it may be a little too late...

I did feel bad for those two as I realized that they were in fact having the flashbacks themselves, and therefore were aware that everyone thought they were dead and that they were being buried. How traumatic is that!?!

air hell! the weight of all that sand is bound to crush them. it had better.

i like the idea that all of the cigarettes in the hatch might have belonged to paolo.

did we only see him get the walkie talkie to explain why the losties now have it? i'd like to think this was important to the plot. i'm still a little perturbed about the seemingly pointless backstories of shannon and boone. i'm sure they'll come into play...

great job, greybishop! i now look forward to reading your recap more than actually watching the show.

Let's not be such whiners, hmm? If the sidenotes and other comments are so bothersome to you, don't read these recaps! As far as calling them "pompous," dude, this is a glorified BLOG. All blogs are self-important, indulgent, and to an extent, yes, pompous. I think you're just being mean though!

And GreyBishop, don't you dare change for one narrow-minded reader. I spend every Thursday impatiently waiting for my Lost recap, and I appreciate the extra time you spend researching facts and theories.

Wow...I didn't realize this comment section was only for ass-kissing and sucking up comments. If you're gonna be putting your work out there for everyone to see, you should be able to take some criticism no? I didn't follow this dude here like most others commenting and have been a fan of this site for a couple years now. I'm bitter that all of my favorite recappers are basically gone, it sucks.

And Mrs Shepard - the world is a mean place in case you haven't noticed. You don't know me, yet you've called me a whiner, mean and narrow minded, I guess you just proved MY point.

That said, I'm afraid my time at TVGasm has come to an end with this recap. There has to be other sites that don't annoy me so much. Until now I have just been too lazy to search.

Save the "good riddance" comments and keep dishing out praise for Graybishop's AMAZING recaps so his ego gets fed.

TVJUNKIE

i thought this episode was GREAT! very "memento"-esque. even though it didn't seem to advance the plot by much, i'm sure these events will have some significance about 1.5 seasons from now.

GB, loving your recaps, and i actually do agree with you and also picked up on the "fourth wall" references. but...please scale back on the direct side notes and commentary as they kind of come off as patronizing.

this is a pretty intelligent bunch, and subtle digs and quips really do go a long way in getting your point across (as well as being entertaining). ;-)

thanks for getting the recap up so fast!

The reason Nikki and Paolo are important and buried in the same grave is they are the skeltons Adam and Eve that are found in the caves from season one. Some how time and space is shifted on the island.

SIGH. For someone who is so "over" this site, it's interesting how quickly you came back and checked this comment section. And wrote such an...emotionally heated response.

And yes, you're 100% right, the world is a mean, shitty, shitty place, but, um, does that mean you really have to contribute? Especially on such a light-hearted website like this one? And how am I being mean by saying that you're being mean? Errr...?

I will agree with you on another point: I have followed this site for years and really miss some of the other recappers.

One more thing: this is a place for ass-kissers. It's also a place for people like you, who want to critique. It's for everyone. Just like you said, if you're gonna put something out there, you gotta be able to handle the criticism, no?

Yeah, the episode was a little pointless, but it was certainly fun to watch. I got goosebumps at the end. And next week, catfight! I hope Kate kicks Juliet's ass.

Also, while do enjoy GB's recaps very much, I agree with Gillian - not all of that stuff was fourth-wall breaking. Even if it had been, the "knocking" was really annoying. I felt the exact same way about the shark circling comments in a previous recap. The side notes are informative and funny but are a little distracting so maybe if there were fewer of them I would like them better. Eh, everyone's a critic, huh? It was a better recap than I could write.

Wow.

A writer can only hope that his writing can stir up discussion and fire people up. This week's 'cap seems to be doing just that.

To those saying the nice stuff, thanks, I appreciate it.

To those giving honest criticism of the recaps, I appreciate that too. Really.

These 8 weeks have given me a much better ability to accept and embrace criticism. An important skill for a writer to learn.

I'll be honest and tell you that my writing style won't change dramatically one way or the other because of the praise or criticism. I write the way I write and Lost just lends itself to a detailed and overanalysed style.

I do take both criticism and compliments into consideration at least a little though. I wouldn't be human if I didn't.

I'm sorry if some of you feel that my "side notes" are pompous or annoying, but as I stated before, I put them in brackets and italics so you can see them coming and skip them without missing anything directly important to the recap.

I do try to keep the side notes to informative things, like "the fourth wall". The concept is something I'd been aware of but never had heard formally defined until recently. I thought that there might well be others who would appreciate the reference and information.

I suspect that was the one "side note" that people found most "pompous".

As for the folks who are saying they just plain don't like my writing, that's their absolute right and I have no problem with them telling me.

I wish those who are unhappy with my recaps all the best and hope that you will find your way back here one day.

And you're right. The world IS a mean place. If you can't take a knock, knock joke...

What a freakin pointless ass episode. Who else wnats to band together, find the producers and smack 'em across the head? Ooooh, or even better, tie them up and force feed them raw squid until they answer some of my questions like: 1) What the eff happened to Michael and Walt?? What, you think if you completely obliterate any mention of them in any episode we will just forget they existed? Uh-huh, not gonna happen. 2) What. The. Crap. Is. THE SMOKE MONSTER???
3) And what is...aww screw it. I have about a billion questions.

Oh, and yes, the sidenotes and gleeful screenshot captions are a tad out of place at times, but I like that GB has put them in italics so we can skip them if we want. What cleverness!! I guess, if I want something different, I better go write my own damn recap, right? :)

Oh, and TVJUNKIE and Mrs. Shephard, you guys are great. Keep it coming. I definetely hear the next round bell dinging. In this corner, we have the angry tvjunkie who is putting his foot down and never returning...and in the other corner we have the "don't be mean!" chick...:) It's all in fun, people! Isn't that what this section is for ANYWAYS??

Hey liked the review GB. Side notes are great fun and amusing.

Personally, loved this episode. Yes, maybe it didn't answer much of the main characters story lines but it added bits and pieces and was very entertaining. Buried alive. How can you not love it.

greybishop, please stop being so damn diplomatic. it's exactly what doesn't make you human.

that being said, good recap. i like the "fourth wall" reference. i, too, was positive that sawyer was going to look right into the camera and flash his pearlies.

Boyman -
Sorry dude, just my nature. I believe in survival of the fairest.
But, just for you, I'll restate:
I'll continue being diplomatic, boyman, and if you don't like it, life's a bitch, wear a fuckin' helmet.
;o)

i was reading on a website that rose and bernard are still on the island but that the people who play them are doing other things and that they will be back(maybe?) next season. same thing goes for Michael and Walt, i guess the producers were thinking about bringing michael and walt back for the season finale but harold par(dont know how to spell his last name) didnt want to do it this season.

other than that, your recaps are really good!! i enjoy reading them and i tend to find the sidenotes informative!! keep up the good work and i look forward to reading more from you!!

While this episode won't end up in the Lost hall of fame, I think it had some good qualities-nod to the past, explanation of inexplicable developments (ie who the f*ck ar nicki and paolo) and some central character intrigue-after ages w/o their regular presence, I appreciate sun, jin, sawyer, hurley and even charlie.

..... thus the controversy continues...

I enjoyed this episode in that it was like an old "Alfred Hitchcock presents" nasty funny little nugget, with that ending. Just like I enjoyed the straight "monster" episodes of the X-Files while I couldn't give less of a crap about the "mythology" ones. But it bothered me because I feel like we are being jerked around by the writers. They decided this island didn't have enough pretty people so they threw in a few new ones, and when viewers started getting tired of the new, crowded, apparently directionless Lost, then they started killing them off without having given them anything of note to do in the whole time they were there in the first place (really, what did Ana Lucia and Libby contribute to the show anyway except for the way they died?) It sucks. But then again, I'm all for getting back to the original cast and sticking with them, because this island is getting fucking crowded.

This is GREAT.

The first two or three weeks I found myself really dreading a negative post here, but now I see that either way, its a reaction.

Technically, that's a tick in the plus column on the webmaster's hit counter.

I think I'm going to open a new blog and invite all the negative posters over to fill it up. I'll post some defensive retorts, and a good time will be had by all. Maybe a flash game of Drop the Anvil on GB.

Now where was that Ads by Yahoo sign up page...

Hey, Greybishop! Another great recap this week. I have to agree that the whole Nikki & Paulo storyline was, ahem, pointless.....

Yes, we did glean a little bit of new information. Yes, it was pretty cool seeing Sawyer drop those diamonds into the grave. Yes, we are finally rid of two characters that most of us didn't like!

But, this episode left me scratching my head. It's the only Lost episode that has come close to disappointing me. Why didn't the writers just send them off for a swim and let their bodies wash up on the beach.....? Done! Talk about something else for an hour..... It was just, um, strange!

Now, will somebody please keep Vincent from digging them back up!

When the comments are more about the recapper and his fans (cult) there's something definitely wrong.

I don't think this show lends itself to arrogant recapping. I think that would rest squarely on your ego. I'll step back now and let your friends continue to stroke it for you.

I feel like the writers decided to mess with the audience, and this was their episode to do so. They were like, "ok, you guys don't like Niki and Paolo? We're going to write them both as despicable pieces of shit and then we're going to bury them alive. But at least they were hot, hot people. And look, you got backstory, a mystery, and a conclusion all in the same episode. Now shut the fuck up. But keep wondering if/how this is all going to fit in later... IF it has ANYTHING to do with ANYTHING."

I thought this episode was hard to watch. I felt tested by the writers. FINE, crazy Lost writers, YOU WIN, I'll keep watching. Obviously.

To be honest, for those who are posting about my "fans", up until Lady in Gray posted, I'm sorry to say I didn't recognise a single handle. None of the previous posters "followed" me here, to the best of my knowledge.

Anyhow, if you can't beat 'em, let 'em beat you.

For those who feel the need:

http://ihategb.blogspot.com/

You'll find a nice, free flash game I knocked together at a "create your own flash" site. It's basically "whack-a-mole" but you get to "Smack-a-GB" instead. I haven't even had time to add any ad support, so you can click away without benefitting me at all.

It seemed to me that some of the posters really took a personal dislike to me, so this is for them.

You can also leave all the anonymous nasty comments you like. I'll try to bask in the negativity at least once a day.

Have fun.

Anonimous
Do I perceive a tad of jealousy of GB's recapping abilities? The only thing you do is whine and bitch about how you miss J-Unit, B-side,etc. Get over it, they are gone, and on their place are very funny, witty writers. If you don't enjoy this side, then don't come here. Believe, we won't miss you.

greybishop,
enjoyed your recap again. i, for one, DO appreciate all your side notes. The fourth wall theme didn't click as well for me, but i fully appreciate your effort in putting together a tight and detailed recap.
your asides are what make the recap unique, and not just a boring retelling.

i just think it's highly entertaining to read and comment (wish i put this much energy and enthusiasm into my day job!)

google found me the Sydney Funnel Web (atrax robustus) spider as well as the brown recluse (loxosceles reclusa) and black widow (latrodectus mactans) spiders which can all cause paralysis, among other problems. but none seems to specify the "8 hr and then back to normal" window.

i agree that the alleged medusa spider may have a role in a future episode...

i find it highly amusing how there are enless extras who are suddenly being featured on the show.

anyone else notice that following the cute sun dress and hot bikini, Nikki seemed to wear the same skimpy tank top and hot pants for the rest of her time on the island?

OOO since everyone is on a lets give the recap crits...

I do have some complaints.
When talking about the flashbacks.. I wish you would say...that it's the flashback you're talking about.
Instead you just sort of run right into it.
You really don't write for the folks that missed the episode, so they won't know exactly when a flashback is taking place.

Am I making any sense? lol

I actually do like most of your sidenotes though. Very informative.
I did however find the whole "knock knock" thing very annoying in this recap.

Really other than that.. good job!

I loved the "Lando the Lost" comment. Clever.

I'm not sure, but I think you forgot to mention the fact that Charlie admitted to kidnapping Sun. I haven't read it a second time, but when you brought up that she confronted Sawyer, I was thinking, "he never mentioned the whole Charlie thing. Oh well.

And either they are going somewhere with a reason behind this episode, or they just killed off the characters because people didn't care for them. But I think since we got such a HUGE reveal last week (Locke losing his legs), we should cut them some slack.

The side notes are what make each recappers take on the show unique. Anyone can do a dry recap of this show but to throw research and extra theories are what keeps people coming back.

Knock knock!!!

A very odd episode, but enjoyable I thought. It's nice to finally know why the plane was in a different place. It's nice to see Arzt, Shannon, Boone, and Ethan again.
What's not nice is reading endless fan theories about Desmond changing the past and N+P weren't there originally. Guess what, the producers didn't hire every actor to appear on the show in time for the first episode, get over it. And shutup about Jack's dad being alive because he must have gotten bit by a Medusa Spider, I don't know where to begin with that one.
I don't mind so much that N+P may not play a huge role in the island mystery, it was a fun ride. I do hope they are alive though, I don't want Hurley and Sawyer to accidently kill two people.

I've enjoyed your recaps a lot. Add one more happy customer.

Anyway, I actually liked this episode as a stand alone episode. It didnt move the story along but it put me in mind of a Stephen King short story or something. Just a creepy side story that entertained me for an hour. After the last two eps I'm satisfied that the show is going somewhere again so I didnt mind.

I really do miss Rose and Bernard.

some side notes ARE informative, and i’m sure GB’s intentions are to be informative (not so much patronizing). but it’s not necessary to spoon-feed the readers every little thing. i guess it’s a fine line between being witty enough but not having your remarks go over everyone’s head. it reminds me of how in every early laguna beach recap b-side used to always include an explanation of why he called kristin’s sidekick “roz” instead of her real name.

after about the fifth recap, it got really annoying and we had to tell him “we GET it already. now knock it off and get back to making snarky comments that we can laugh at!”.

i think we all could benefit from a little constructive criticism from time to time, but the anonymous, nasty comments aren’t exactly going to encourage a recapper to make the suggested changes. this recapping thing looks a lot easier than it is. hell, sometimes just writing a comment that captures clearly what i’m trying to say is hard enough!

changing subjects, up till this point i think the lost writers have shown us over and over again that they have some kind of brilliant master plan for this show…..so, even though they frequently throw us for a loop, i’m going to hold onto the belief that somewhere down the line there’s going to be an episode that puts this one into perspective. then once again, we’re all going to be like, whoa this show is freaking BRILLIANT!

hopefully this will happen sometime soon. (does anyone else think that the diamonds and the guy that nikki and paulo killed might tie in to the widmores or the hanso foundation somehow?)

babeblue

i thought i was going to HATE this episode since it centered around nikki & paulo, but i actually liked it.

during season 1 i was wondering what the other survivors were doing while jack and locke were leading. one guy was looking for bugs, others were looking for diamonds, blah, blah, blah... and that a-hole found the hatch, saw the others, and didn't tell anyone??? that makes no sense -- and i hope will be addressed again.

anyway, i liked seeing their point-of-view, not the best ep, but entertaining, as usual.

i like the side notes.

if jack is luke, sawyer is han, and kate is princess leia . . . who the f&*% is darth vader?

(i suppose charlie and hurley must be c3po and r2-d2.)

greybishop, i think your recaps are fine. you do yourself no service by responding to the criticism. it makes you look pompous and petulant. this is a freakin' tv-show recap--it's just not that big a deal either way. i appreciate that you and others are willing to do it, and even after the 'retirement' of b-side and j-unit, tvgasm is still the sharpest, most clever tv site around that i know of.

most of the complaints you are getting derive from the knee-jerk reaction of folks who are used to b-side/j-unit or, for lost, edhill, who was writing the recaps when there was still a lot of weird stuff and clues to be dissected (maps, literary references, dharma/hanso websites, etc.), so a lot of the bitching you are getting i think just comes from the fact that 'lost' has sort of hit a plateau in terms of the number of clues and hints that are being disseminated. also, now that tvgasm has really become established, it's been discovered by trolls who just like to be assholes and don't comprehend irony or subtlety or the pleasures of snark.

i've been disappointed with the show this year, but i think they've been holding out on us and it's going to finish strong. i have much more confidence that 'lost' will regain its momentum now that the producers have announced that they'll be bringing the series to a close (i.e., they can finally stop beating around the bush and pull back all the proverbial curtains).

a couple of points:

if paulo and nikki's paralysis slowed their breathing down such that their pulses were undetectable, they can probably live without oxygen for quite a while (like those stories you occasionally see about someone being drowned in icy water and then resuscitated after 15 or 20 minutes w/o brain damage). ditto the pressure of the sand--they won't need to breathe immediately; thus it's possible (however unlikely) that they could be saved (although i doubt even vincent the wonderdog could dig them up in time by himself). i think they're probably done for, but what if, say, half an hour later, sawyer changes his mind and comes back to dig up the diamonds . . .

secondly: it seemed to me that the big points in this episode were:

a) people on the island other than our core group of survivors have encountered the others, the hatches, and other stuff that we've thus far been led to believe is only known by jack, locke, sayid, kate, etc.

b) sun now knows about sawyer and charlie's dirty trick.

c) sawyer and charlie--both of whom have since experienced personal growth that has made them less alienated and self-interested--were forced to confess their past deeds, which could later impact the level of trust placed in them and/or their willingness to continue to be 'good guys.'

i liked the episode, chiefly because most of it took place on the island. while i was annoyed that nikki and paolo's story didn't really advance the larger plot much, at least it wasn't yet another repetitive episode with flashbacks that merely restate what we already know about jack, sayid, kate, etc. i also think the '4th wall' stuff was kind of cool, as i can imagine the writers sitting around wondering how on earth they're going to live up to the unrealistic expectations of this show's fanatical core audience.

Loved the Hamlet reference.

#15 lostboy

I don't think they are the skeletons adam and eve, because the skeletons weren't found buried in sand. Moving them wouldn't fit either, since no one cared enough to do that.

I just thought of something else to. If paulo was the first one to get bitten shouldn't he be the first one to wake up, yet nikki ended up being the first one.

And just to throw my opinion of the episode, I didn't like it, but now I regret the writers killing of Nikki, she would have been the hottest on the show.

Paolo was bitten on the neck closer to the core of his nervous system. Nikki was bitten on the ankle. Plus I think being bitten by the female spider probably has longer lasting more powerful venum? Just a guess really.

Those who think Jack's Dad didnt' die cuz he was bit by this spider - are we to conclude those spiders also live in Australia? Seems to be a stretch to me. Then again it's a stretch to think Artz would know everything there is to know about "UNDISCOVERED" spiders.

As for going to some blog site to criticize GB. I dont' care about your own site. I come to TVGasm because I like TVGasm. I critisize because I am not impressed with the way you behave towards your readers in your recaps and in your comments.

B-Side and J-Unit were funny without putting down their readers. That's why they have such loyal and devoted fans.

Razzle freakin' dazzle great recap, GB!

***sidebar: Can't wait to visit the hatin'-on-GB site (rough crowd here...sheesh, what a bunch of player haters!)-NOT!***

Thanks for the info on the 4th wall and knocking on that-I never heard of it before. Pretty funny!

All I know is while being buried alive has to be the FREAKIN' scariest thing ever, I couldn't stop blinking when the sand hit Nikki's eyes...holy retina scratch going on there!

i was annoyed, too, that artz seemed to know quite a lot about "undiscovered" spiders. my husband suggested perhaps artz' spiders were similar in appearance to "discovered" varieties that artz was familiar with. i think that's probably reaching a bit. who knows? maybe artz wished he knew all about the islands fauna. :p

i feel you, hirotalksalot- the writers totally pulled a "there! you happy now!" with this episode. The truth is, they really ARE just too soap-opera-esque in thier looks... when i look at them i just keep feeling like i'm watching Days of our Lives or the OC or something, and it wierds me out.

Someone probably will go and dig up those diamonds during the night and end up ressusitating (sp?) one or both of them, although i honestly don't want them to survive. thier death gave me a good, creepy story to think about and that's really all i want to know about them. I hated Ana Lucia and practically applauded when she got her ass shot. And the fact that they hired Bai Ling for an episode dissapoints me to an astounding level. It's just so L.A./gross! They have so many quality characters already around, and they should focus more on them! (but no more jack/kate/sayid stories!)

I have to admit, though, that these past three episodes have suprised me. For the first time since the beginning of the third season, I haven't been pissed off by the storyline! It almost scares me- I'm not ready to give my trust back to the show just yet, after the dissapointment they put me through for so long, but oh how i want to.

i was thinking that paolo probably really is dead during the burial scene b/c he would have gotten bitten numerous times when the male spiders came, versus nikki who hauled ass after getting bitten by only one spider.

Wow.

A girl takes a sabattical for a bit and look what she misses!

I ain't gonna lie...I love it. LostBean, I see some things never change. There is a section when you are making a myspace profile where you are supposed to list your "heroes" and my neice who is 15 years old wrote something along these lines:

"I don't have any heroes right now because to me a hero is someone that learns from their mistakes and I don't see anyone in my life doing that and they just make the same mistakes over and over"

Ponder that.

Anyway, I am grateful that my most favoritest Lost recapper is taking care of bid-ness elsewhere. No offense GB, but while endearing to some, your writing stylings don't do it for me at all.

And really, some of your "groupies" really make you look bad (I'm talkin to you LostBean)

Jinger writes (or her niece writes):

"I don't have any heroes right now because to me a hero is someone that learns from their mistakes and I don't see anyone in my life doing that and they just make the same mistakes over and over"

whaaaaaaaaaaaat? she didn't list you as her hero? hmmm-odd.

GB - I didn't "follow" you over, but did always love your insightful comments on another site, so I too am a "fan". :) I don't understand the bashing. If you've already seen the show, and don't want any extra info, why are you even reading the recap?

I also think there is a lot more to this episode than a wrap up of these characters. I doubt they brought back Shannon, Boone, Artz, etc, just to kill them off. Like the commenter above, there probably is a tie to Widmore. Again, I think there is a significance to the cigarettes in the hatch and Paulo's nicotine gum. The walkie talkie and how Paulo may have used it. The list goes on. There's a lot more to this episode than many are giving the writers credit for.

Love the show. I haven't been this interested in the details of a show since X-files. What other show on television gets everyone so worked up and has you begging for another episode every week? How can you even complain??

Oh boy, someone's off their meds (again, I'm talkin to YOU lostbean)

About Arzt knowing all about an undiscovered spider- He said he discovered several new spiders. He then started talking about the Medusa Spider. He never claimed to have discovered it.

A much, much larger leap of faith is that the specimen spider survived in a tiny plastic bottle or whatever it was for several weeks without anyone taking care of it. It seems unlikely someone else started taking care of Arzt's insects after his demise.

isthisawkward: I'm glad you are with me on both the writers messing with us and the awkward hotness of Niki and Paolo. I agree that the last 3 episodes have been different, which does make me want to keep watching.

Do you wonder, though, if the last few storylines aren't pissing us off because we're not getting very many "new" mysteries? If that is the case, where is this show headed? I'm going to keep watching, though, that's for sure.

I miss the old recappers too, and am not a big fan of a lot of the changes that have occured here. That being said, I still enjoy GB's recaps and don't think that it's too hard to poke around the site for the recaps that I like and try to avoid TB posts as best I can (especially since the site is ... you know ... free!).

I thought that this episode stunk. I've always thought that a bad episode of Lost was better than a good hour of almost anything else, but that's sure not true here ... this would have been bad as an episode of Lost, an episode of CSI, or an episode of 'According to Jim'. If you look at it as a throwaway, timefiller episode, which i normally don't mind if it's entertaining, this was still a stinker. I mean, the plot was straight out of a cheesy B-movie. If you enjoy that, more power to you, but that's not why I watch Lost. The meta, 4th wall stuff, is not that big a deal to me, but in this case, it just seemed to emphasize the pointlessness of the episode. And a character-driven episode is fine, if it's someone we're interested in, but who really cares about N&P, aside from Nikki's smoking hotness? And this episode didn't make me care about them in any way (especially Nikki, who just looks like a manipulative, gold-digging murdering bitch). And let's not even mention that Paolo seeing Ben & Juliet in the pearl hatch in no way fit's in with the show's established continuity.

And really, what was the point of Nikki and Paolo anyway? They were introduced totally clumsily, were given nothing to do except take screen time away from the characters that we really want to see. I still think that the show is great, but I see a disturbing trend of plot arcs that just seem to be dropped for no reason. Example 1: Nikki and Paolo. Example 2: Libby's backstory. They introduce her, set up all these hints through backstories that she's somehow incredibly important, and then kill her off, no explanation of her past. Example 3: Sawyer and Charlie kidnapping Sun. They set up this elaborate con where Sawyer grabs power among the Losties, and Charlie starts to head down a very dark, maybe even villainous, path. And that goes ... nowhere. Within 3 or 4 weeks, Sawyer's back to being the wisecracking redneck, Charlie's back to being all schmoopy with Claire. Sun's discovery this week looks to me to be a tieup of that dangling plot thread. So, what was the point? Final example: Walt's powers. Throughout the first season, we're given suggestions that Walt has some sort of special abilities, that made the Others want to take him (they even touched on it at the end of last season). But on Wednesday, Ben and juliet's conversation makes it seem like Walt was taken only so they could manipulate Michael ... so he was never special all along? WTF?

I know that I'm really be reading a lot into some of this stuff, and that they may come back to these plot threads in the future. But I just find it to be a little bit worrisome, is all; for a show that prides itself on having everything planned out, it's concerning that maybe they're making it up as they go along...

BTW, some of the old recappers can still be found at a website that, if I mention, might get my post strikken from the record. Sounds like squid reason refacements not pom...