I had two big questions about this episode, but I think I've figured them out...

My first question was why Julliet contradicted herself so obviously. When the smoke monster first appeared she acted confused and scared, but later she knew that it couldn't go over the fence and was even confident enough to enter the code and then just stand there and watch it charge her. I think she probably never had seen the smoke monster first hand before but knew of it's existance. When it flashed at her I think it was checking her out because it hadn't seen her before and didn't know who she was.

My other question was how she could be so sure that fence was off when the came to it. I think that the fence was made to keep the smoke monster out of the village. She knew that if the smoke monster was in the village area with them that the fence must have been left off when all her buddies took off. That's how she knew that fence was off.

I THINK THIS MEANS THAT THE OTHERS DON'T CONTROL THE SMOKE MONSTER.

If you can control it why would you have a fence around yourself to keep it out? Up until the plane crash Russo and Desmond were the only other people on "the island that no one could ever find", so it seems like a pretty elaborate security system if you factor out the smoke monster.

Maybe the smoke monster used to be controlled by the Hanso Foundation, but like everything else on the island it is unmanned and on autopilot.

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