Lost: Quick Thoughts

Sometimes there's just too much television for one Channel Surfing blogger to handle. And sometimes there's not enough time to talk or write about said television ... which is why today we're debuting "Lost: Quick Thoughts," or a condensed, rapid fire form of the day-after discussion you so love to dive into with your fellow "Lost"-minded friends. Talking shop are your usual Channel Surfing "Lost" fanatics Thomas Rozwadowski and Adam Reinhard. Tastier than Hurley's waffle batter, here are some scrumptious nuggets from last night's "He's Our You" to chew on ...

Not my favorite episode of the season, but in the long run, I think it'll be one of the most important since it seems to have set in motion an important debate that again, may or not be settled easily. Let's just put the big question out there, anyway: Are we working on two different timelines? Because if we are, the death of young Ben at Sayid's hand could be a reality, therefore spinning a new island web where the Dharma purge never happens, leading to some potential catastrophe (and Charles Widmore profit) that adult Ben surely is aware of. In fact, there could be several timelines in existence, which would explain Ben's prowess and ability to manipulate.

It might also explain where Ben, Sun, Lapidus and Lazarus Locke are right now. Those ravaged Dharma barracks don't appear to be on an isolated, undiscovered part of the island. They might be the future remnants of a new reality from the Dharma 1977 we're currently witnessing. Does that make any sense?

If only one timeline exists -- the same one that stretches from Oceanic crash to 1977 time travel and back to Oceanic crash -- then we'll simply believe at this point that Sayid has always been responsible for Ben's emergence as a leader for "The Others." He''ll be deemed "special" because of either the island's powers or because Jacob, Richard, whoever, decided he fit the mold post-gunshot. Also, Richard might be in the business of taking bodies and re-animating them. Lots of possibilites rattling around in my brain.

Also, back on the island (when again, who knows?) with Lapidus and Sun, Ben gets whacked in the head with an oar. Did that really put him in the infirmary where John found him? I mean, this dude has endured the worst beatings possible, and gets right back up bloody and battered, ready to march on long, leisurely island walks through the jungle. Could he instead be suffering from the effects of a gunshot wound from 1977? I'm just sayin' ...

Watched Sayid shoot Young Ben and kept thinking of "the war" Charles Widmore referenced a few episodes earlier.

Sign the creators of "Lost" aren't trying to be coy anymore: Young Ben hands Sayid a book called "A Separate Reality." That's not a subtle hint, folks. That's a sledgehammer to the skull.

Have to admit that I kinda geeked out when Roger Work Man appeared again. Then I remembered, "Oh yeah, dude is a complete a-hole." Also, no surprise that his Dharma test revealed he was only qualified to work as a janitor. See Rog, you don't throw chicken salad sandwiches against the wall because it means YOU have to clean it up.

Young Ben kinda looks like a vampire.

I kind of want Radzinsky to blow his head off already. The guy bugs me.

Someone finally mentioned Ann Arbor again. Bring on the DeGroots!

MacCutcheon whiskey. How I've missed your sweet, sweet aftertaste.

Sayid was put on the plane against his will. Now we need to know why Kate and Hurley made the decision to fly Ajira. Last night seemed to indicate Kate's decision was potentially Sawyer, er, LaFleur-related. Not sure I care about that.

Standout line of the night: "I hated him," past tense, from Young Ben about his dad when he freed Sayid. Maybe I'm reading too much into that, but it kind of sent a chill down my spine. Because we know how Roger is supposed to die. Did something else happen with that burning Dharma van?

-- Thomas Rozwadowski, trozwado@greenbaypressgazette.com

Just the title of this episode alone -- "He's Our You," a line muttered by Sawyer to Sayid just before arriving at the Dharma torture hut -- seems to suggest a kind of split-road reality is taking place. If you woke up tomorrow in an alternate, parallel timeline, there would have to be another you brushing his teeth and eating breakfast in the original timeline, right? That wouldn't be "you," though, it would be "he" ... but "he" would still be "you."

The whole time Dharma's torture dude was on screen, I kept imagining him saying, "Hi. I'm Larry, this is my fellow torturer Darryl, and this is my other fellow torturer Darryl." Really a fantastic bit of casting with William Sanderson. He was as creepy here as he was on that episode of "The X-Files" when he was a crazy postal worker, shooting everybody. Here he just put a sugar cube on Sayid's tongue and it was STILL scary.

Juliet was thankfully much more civil about handling Kate than last week's promo ("Stay away from him!") led us to believe.

Line of the night: "Three years, no burning buses. Y'all are back for one day!" Runner-up: "A 12-year-old Ben Linus brought me a chicken salad sandwich. How do you think I'm doing?"

So the Dharma aptitude test pegged Kate as a mechanic? Do those Dharma pervs just like seeing hot chicks covered in motor oil or something? Hurley's assignment I can understand -- you don't need a Scantron sheet to see he'd make a good cook.

Glad Jin finally showed up there at the end. Think maybe he's made a regular habit of scouring the island for signs of Sun?

-- Adam Reinhard, areinhard@greenbaypressgazette.com