Loved this episode. I'm so impressed with the first two episodes out of the gate this season. Very nice. The new characters don't seem forced (although new characters have always been introduced very smoothly on this show), and the quadruple backstory worked nicely, too, catching us up on The Boat People easily and quickly.

...although I'm still confused on a couple things. Then again, it wouldn't be Lost if I weren't a little confused.

First thing I'm confused about: the wreckage of Oceanic 815. What? We've got both halves of the plane sitting on the island! I'm guessing all the flashbacks are prior to The Boat People's arrival on the island, and not a flashforward like we've seen for the past two episodes.

Oh, Hurley and your big mouth. No talking about the spooky haunted cabin! Especially in front of PsychoKiller!Locke and Ben. This entire scene as Locke's band of mutineers starts off through the jungle after the rain passes is great. And I mean the entire scene, every segment of it sprinkled throughout the episode. Locke's discussion of Walt being "taller" and giving him orders was funny, as was Sawyer's "what, you mean like a giant?" reply. This scene also addressed two major problems I'd had with the show from last season. Firstly, only a few months have passed on the island, but Walt looked a lot older. I'm glad they're not trying to hide that. Secondly, we'd seen Ben shoot Locke and leave him in a pit and then suddenly--whoops!--he's up and walking around again. I love the tied-in perfect explanation of the missing kidney. This is continuity at it's best.

Daniel's nervous evasiveness is cute as Jack and Kate start questioning him about the pack with the gas mask in it. And who didn't see the Miles-isn't-passed-out-and-he's-got-a-gun thing coming? Come on. Still cool, though. I also like the Good Cop/Bad Cop thing they had going between Miles and Daniel.

Which brings me to Miles. Odd backstory. Hurley had the award for Weirdest Backstory before, but Miles may have just usurped the title. What was with the little vacuum cleaner? Does it really do something, or was that for effect in front of the grandmother? And how much did he know walking into that house? Did he know about the money, was he scamming granny? I'm assuming he really can talk to the deceased, or spirits, or whatever, since he seemed to get the whole story from Dead!Naomi.

I like that Juliet and Sayid are suspicious and have enough sense to arm themselves before things got really out of hand. When the tables turn and they catch up with Jack, Kate, Daniel, and Miles (BTW, I love the name Miles) they have such a great little scene. Nicely played by all, and cute dialogue to boot.

Charlotte. Hmm. I think I like her, but I'm not sure. I'm impressed by the Tunisia set, and I love that they find a polar bear skeleton with a Hydra collar on. So confused, but I'm loving it! I'm glad they managed to split The Boat People up. It'll be much more interesting to get stories from both. Charlotte's attempt at sweet inquiry was uncomfortable. Well done, but uncomfortable. And holy haunted islands, Batman, Ben shot Charlotte! Glad they had her in a vest, though, I'm looking forward to the interplay between all four of them and our original characters.

And our final Boat Person, Frank. How bad would you feel if you got a buddy to cover for you flying that particular trip? Ugh. The cow was great, as was his admission later: "I saw a cow." Also a great line: "Crashed? What kind of a pilot do you think I am? I put her down, safe and sound, right over there."

My favorite part of the episode is Naomi's flashback. I like that she was The Military of this little band of Boat Peoples and that the rest are all civilians. This makes them all much more interesting, because they're real people. With flaws and fears and fun stuff like that. And now she's gone, and the lay people are loose among us. Fantastic. I also liked that the Oceanic Lawyer Dude--Abbadon, is it?--who will later visit Hurley in the mental hospital was the one sending Naomi and her team. Who is this guy??

Things got so interesting when Frank figured out Juliet was a native. I'm so curious about The Boat People's mission! Why do they want Ben? How do they know about Ben? What did he do? And how did Charlotte not give herself away when she saw Ben? She must have recognized him. Talk about playing it cool! And who in the world is Ben's "man on their boat"? Was the spy there from the beginning, sent to infiltrate before the mission to the island ever started, or was he sent out there when the boat arrived and is hiding on it, unnoticed? Ooh, so many questions.

I'm quite interested in why Oceanic (if Abbadon is indeed from Oceanic) is trying to cover-up the fact that 815 didn't go down the way they're broadcasting it did. Because, really, Oceanic would rather run around screaming that their company didn't kill everyone. Publicity would be better that way.

So now I'm just insanely curious about who Daniel Faraday, Miles Straume, Charlotte Staples Lewis, and Frank Lapidus are. So curious I'm about to chew off my own arm for answers.

Bits and Pieces:

* The CGI beginning under water and Daniel's fall from the helicopter were beautifully done.
* What is with Locke and predicting the weather? I mean, I did it for about a year and a half in college, but not this specifically. And really, I didn't predict the weather, I influenced it with my mood.
* Ben continues with the funny-line-o-rama this episode: "Karl! Now, if you're going to sleep with my daughter, I insist you call me Ben."
* Nice to see Vincent again. Cute dog. I hope he's one of the Oceanic Six.
* Captain Seth Norris! Hey there Matt Parkman. Nice mustache.
* Oceanic hotline: 888.548.0034. Anybody got any ideas on what the numbers mean? I'm totally going to call this number tonight and check it out.
* Great line: "Who are we to argue with taller ghost Walt?"
* Another great line: "It's dodgy enough without having to babysit a headcase, ghostbuster, anthropologist, and a drunk." Ah, Naomi. You were pretty cool while you lasted. I'm actually pretty sorry you had to die.
* Yet another funny line, but this one is mostly funny because of Terry's delivery: "I'm sorry you got shot. I didn't mean for that to happen."

This post was edited for what some might call spoilers (my thoughts on what this episode means for the future of the show), so to read the full thing and more of my reviews, visit my website!

GG