Thank You for this. Just by default I assume they go back to 2004 before the plane crashed and that the only thing up until that point that differed was the plane crash NOT that they went all the way back to 1977 with differences in their lives.

Woot Woot, a spot of clarity!

He's def sexy! I want him to be good, but he def looked evil in the last couple of minutes of the episode!

Claire is craaaaazy!

I don't want this to come off sounding mean or insulting or anything, but... isn't this obvious?

I've been thinking this all along. Because the bomb went off in the 70s, everything after that would have to be different.

Oh my God. If this is correct, I might have actually understood something without having to even think about it! Go me :D

^^^
I've thought the same thing. I just know they're going to reveal some things where I'm wondering "was that the case the entire time?"

I'll have to go back and watch to be sure.

ETA: It wasn't obvious to me. I assumed they went back to the plane crash since that's what they were trying to stop. There had been so much time traveling that it didn't really occur to me.

I like it!!

The one thing I still don't understand, however, is how Juliette knew that "it worked" but no one else does...

^^^ Do you remember when Charlotte died? She said something like, "I'm not allowed to have chocolate before dinner." It made absolutely no sense in the context we were hearing it. Similarly, just before Juliette died, she said something about "going Dutch for coffee." Again, made no sense. I'm thinking that, if you die when you are in two different timelines, it is possible to become aware of the two different realities. So, when Miles heard Juliette say, "It worked," it was because she was aware of the alternate timeline. In order for others to know that "it worked," they would have to be dying (or dead).

That could be completely way off base, but that's what I'm leaning towards right now, anyway.

*like*

The only reason I'm not inclined to believe this is that based on pre-cash situations, Christian could only make it to the island dead, in which case MIB would be able to "take on his form" and manipulate those that knew (of) him: Jack and Claire. I can't see Jacob bringing him to the island to only be used as a wrinkle in his plan.

Wow, I don't remember either of them making these statements! But that makes sense.

And since they were seeing themselves as the people they were that year in the 70s (if our assumptions are correct), Charlotte's statement makes perfect sense, as she obviously would have been a young child then.

Is Juliette much older than Charlotte? Because her statement makes her sound older... at least like she is a young adult.

Unless you are watching "Fringe," in which case, if your two separate lives meet, your head will end up growing out of your stomach and you'll both die - about a minute apart....but back to LOST...

I did catch Juliette saying both those things. Good memory with Charlotte. I'm one of those in-betweener fans...I've seen almost all the episodes, but some out of order and have to be reminded "what year is this now?" every now and then. My husband and I do, however, catch random things and make sure to say them out loud, so that if something does become of it, we don't have to smack ourselves for not putting it out there. (I hate when that happens!!!)

I don't *think* Juliet was supposed to be significantly older than Charlotte, and I definitely don't think she was old enough to be going dutch on a coffee date in 1977.

I tried to find out how old she was from lostopedia, but it doesn't say. However, I am about 1000x more confused after reading all the Juliet theories. Ugh.

Actually, thinking about it now, it doesn't seem to make sense at all. Physically, Juliette looks like she could be SLIGHTLY older than Charlotte. However, I would think she'd have to be significantly older in order for her to be making a statement such as, "Going Dutch for coffee," unless she liked to drink coffee at 10 years old.

Assuming, for a moment, that she was 18 in 1977, that would make her 48 when she died. She definitely didn't look 48.

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Charlotte_Lewis

And according to this site, she would have been 6 when she spoke to Daniel in 1977.

This is where it gets tricky, and I'm not sure that, after the day I've had, I'll be able to get my thoughts across in any kind of coherent manner, but here goes...

I don't think Juliet's comment about having coffee was necessarily made in 1977. She detonated the bomb in 1977, but she could have "flashed" (or whatever) to 2007, or 2004, or some other random time line. I think it's just the fact that she saw a different reality - one where she wasn't on the island with Sawyer - that led her to thinking "it" worked.

So, although Charlotte flashed back to 1977, I don't think that means Juliet had to as well.

I don't know. I probably shouldn't've posted this. I might think it's complete nonsense when I'm fresh.

I'm glad you posted this!

This theory makes sense to me, which probably means I'm way off base, but whatever.

On another note, I was really sad to see Sayid become evil last week. After seeing him struggle with whether or not he was a good person for so long, I was really hoping he would triumph over the "infection" from Locke/Smokey.

Ahhh soo excited for tomorrow's episode!

so just saw the first 5 minutes (west coast)...all I will say is NICE and I will probably have more later....

LOVED the nod to "real"-sawyer's past with Alt-sawyer

Mmmm me love shirtless Sawyer :)))

I think this video really sums up a lot of the mysteries so far.

OMMMMGG LMFAO I lost (pun intended) when Linus talked LOL!!!

Michael Emerson has really mastered the art of creepy-face.

I'm going to be so mad if we get to the finale and they're just like "surprise! this entire show has been a 6 year practical joke!"

Hahahhaahhahahahah ditto about Ben talking! I feel like I was just groped or something. So creepy/inappropriate!! Dirty!!! Why does that seem dirty?!

I totally forgot what I came here to say. Umm...I feel like we will never know all of the answers to Lost!

I'm pretty sure the producers have said we won't. I'm ok with having a few unanswered questions, but I sure hope they address the biggies.

I'm really looking forward to tonight's episode. It's our first Richard-centric one. :D

ohhh Richard Alpert...you intrigue me so...I can't wait either

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I love Richard.....He has been the one character that I have really always wondered about....so many unanswered questions....

I LOVED tonight's episode, one of the BEST IMO.

I won't go into a lot since I know a lot of you are west coasters and I have to go get my beauty sleep as 6am comes rather early!

I will come back tomorrow for what I hope will be a rather awesome discussion!

Oh I will say this....tonight's title was "Ab Aeterno"...which according to a online Spanish/English dictionary means "For all Eternity"....

WoooHooo! Somebody just watched the same episode I just did! :eek:

I like episodes that answer things, but I kinds of miss going "WTF" every five minutes, because usually I like the answers I speculate better.

I guess as the season winds down I get used to it.

I was right! I'm so rarely right when it comes to this show.

Best episode of the season, imo. LOVED it!

Ooooh...I haven't watched yet. It's my bedtime. Should I go for it? hmmm

ETA: I watched. It had a Ghost Whisperer move at the end. It was very good but I'm still as clueless as I was before :)
Richard only knew what the MIB told him (via Isabella). I don't think they're dead or that the island is hell.

So cool! Ok, so is the whole island about a big battle between good (Jacob) and evil (smokey/Locke/man in black) and the other people are just pawns? I never know who to believe on this show!

Don't jump to conclusions. The Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindeloff both said that don't be fooled by the whole black/white thing because it doesn't necessarily represent who's good or evil.

Which is what I keep thinking...

If you look at Locke/smoke monster, he hasn't killed any of the main characters. And his goal at the moment is to get people off the island.

And Richard was the only one spared on the Black Rock. The entire crew was killed, but Richard was left alone and freed by the MIB.

And let's face it... Jacob was the one who brought everyone to the island in the first place.

So... I'm not entirely convinced that Jacob is the good guy in this entire scenario...

I'm just too confused by this whole thing....this is all smoke and mirrors. Is it purgatory? is it hell? but they wouldn't be that obvious would they? OR would they be that obvious and throw other things at us just to confuse.....

No more speculation from me.

But I do have to say the best scene of the night for me was Hurley telling Jack to back off!....LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not convinced that there IS a good guy in the entire scenario.

LOL @ smoke & mirrors (smoke monster + Jacob's lighthouse mirrors = LOST mystery #6479).

I don't think the island is purgatory or hell. I don't know what I think it is (although I really liked Jacob's cork analogy), but I'll be disappointed if it's really purgatory or hell.

I wish they'd tell us MIB's name already. I'm hoping that'll be our clue to what the island is.

Finale Ad Costs
 

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=143012

Pretty interesting article. Basically, it states that ABC is asking for advertisers to fork over upwards of $900,000.00 for a 30 second spot during the finale!

Agreed.

I would also be a little disappointed if the island was purgatory or hell. Not that I don't appreciate a good religious analogy in literature, but... I want it to be more creative? I think I'm gearing myself up for a more sci fi situation than literary.

Spoiler-ish: there was a recap on E!online where they stated ABC released that the island was a 4-letter word with no "a" or "e".... CORK makes sense, but seems too obvious. I hate it when the answers are obvious/easily guessable.

^^To the "hidden" message...

Maybe it's called "Lost" :p

@ hidden: it said no "a" and one "e". I was thinking hell but that's kind of obvious.