Day after "Lost" ramblings

I love "Lost." You love "Lost." Let's dive right in to the weekly tradition of paying too much attention to things like Hurley's eskimo drawing or what's scribbled on Charlie's hand.

This was one of those episodes where so much was happening, so much was new, it's almost impossible to digest everything on first viewing. For that reason alone, I'm feeling thoroughly confused right now. The first thing that grabbed me, again, was the pacing. Placing an end date on the show seems to have forced the creators to cut the plot-draining fat, and remembering how badly they botched the arrival of the "Tallies" in Season Two, it's great to know that like baby bear's porridge, the arrival of the Freighter Four was done just right. Christ, it would have taken eight episodes and three flashbacks in seasons past for Miles (Ken Leung) just to utter the words, "You wanna know why we're here? We're here for Benjamin Linus!" Loved it.

Yes, it's only one episode, but I think it's safe to say that Daniel Faraday is the best island addition since Desmond David Hume. Jeremy Davies OWNED "Saving Private Ryan" as the out-of-his-environment Cpl. Upham, so it's hardly surprising that his twitchy, awkward, "I feel like curling up in a fetal position all the time" personality would come out in Physicist Faraday. His uncomfortable response to Jack's query on why he's holding a gun was brilliant and hilarious. Matthew Abaddon's mission might have evil intent, but it's going to be hard not to root for Faraday.

Miles Straume, on the other hand, is a total hothead -- and a riveting character because of it. It's great to have another loose cannon on the island now that the show has managed over time to soften the likes of Sayid and Sawyer, though Mr. Ford still has a thirst for blood judging by his "el snappo" act on Ben when he baited him with Kate. "Sopranos" fans will recognize Leung as the scene-stealing mental patient who befriended Uncle Junior in Season Six. The guy can act.

It's confirmed that Abaddon is responsible for the freighter mission. His scene with Naomi didn't reveal a whole lot, except that the four picked to crash the island aren't militarily prepared to hold their own if disaster strikes. And obviously we know that Naomi is dead, so, um, hello disaster?

A Dharma Initiative: Hydra collar was discovered on Charlotte Lewis' archaelogical dig in Tunisia. Her smile was pretty telling, as if she knew the connection. Does this indicate that Abaddon's crew is somehow associated with original Dharma, which is why they want exterminator Ben? Plenty of gas masks were packed, after all.

And where is Ben in that photo? Off the island? At Kinko's? It looks like Kinko's.

So Miles is a ghost buster? Dammit, now I have Ray Parker Jr.'s song in my head.

Locke and Ben's reaction when Hurley mentioned Jacob's cabin is a bigger deal than anyone probably realizes. It's apparent that only certain people are supposed to "see." Hurley can, which may make him a tremendous asset, but also a threat to Ben, and also Locke, who let's face it, kind of enjoys being an all-knowing spiritual island guru. Regardless, Hurley's importance on the show cannot be underestimated, which is great news for Jorge Garcia fans. He's deserved an Emmy nod for awhile.

Locke asking Ben about the monster was a nice nod to question-happy fans. The creators clearly have a sense of humor about the frustration and exhilaration of watching such an enigmatic show, and how it'd occasionally be nice if some of the island dwellers asked obvious questions of ol' Purple Face. (By the way, my wife actually yelled "His face is going to fall apart!" as Sawyer continued to wail on Ben. Seriously, kick him in the groin or something. The dude's face NEEDS TO HEAL!)

Which brings us to the big question from tonight's episode -- and one I'm going to seriously stew over. Is the Oceanic plane footage real or fake? Faraday has an emotional reaction to it, and he can't explain why. This is classic "Lost" manipulation, because the whole sense of time from that scene is unknown. Either way, the first thought that ran through my head is that Faraday was experiencing deja vu. Either he had been on the island with the Oceanic survivors before seeing the footage of their wreckage, or the man is an inconsolable weeping machine. The former fits in with some parallel time-universe theory -- as I alluded to by writing that when Jack and Hurley return to the real world, they'll have done so as if it's the same day -- but I'm not smart enough to figure out how everything is locked in. All I know is that Jack could be going crazy beacuse he knows he's not supposed to be in that world any longer.

The name of the episode was "Confirmed Dead." The newscaster says "all 324 passengers are confirmed dead." Miles isn't surprised that the "Losties" aren't actually dead, something Sayid wisely picks up on. Frank Lapidus has his undies in a bunch because pilot Seth Norris' corpse isn't actually his corpse. Abbadon tells Naomi that the Oceanic passengers are dead, but did he say that fully expecting she'd eventually run into them on the island? That since the world thinks they're dead, they, you know, have to be "dead" for their diabolical purposes?

Man, that's a lot of uses of the word dead. See why I'm confused?

-- Thomas Rozwadowski, trozwado@greenbaypressgazette.com