My girlfriend had a great assumption while we were watching this episode. Ath the end, when Jack is alone at his office, he hears the smoke detector dying. A second later, he sees his father, Christian.

So lets put the two together....it is said that ghosts drain battery lives. Is this is a coincidence you think?

I thought it was some kind way that Jack's dad is trying to tell him something I almost think if Ericka hadn't of came in they might had talked and this might be where Jack gets the message that they need to go back to the island, he had tried to get back on his own but it appears he/they can only get back with the other Oceanic 6. Maybe that's why Hurley tells Jack during the basketball scene they need to go back.

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Standing in the ocean with the sun burning low in the west
Like a fire in the cavernous darkness at the heart of the beast
With my beliefs and possessions, stopped at the frontier in my chest
At the edge of my country, my back to the sea, looking east

i was hoping they would get to talk too before she walked in. maybe later on down the line. i had my fingers crossed that his dad was going to tell him the truth about Claire.

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if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck then what is it.... AFLAC<BR>
- tyler perry

Or it's a visual joke on the saying "Where there's smoke, there's fire."

Or, in this case, where there's no smoke, there's no fire. No smoke set off the smoke alarm, and that's not Christian sitting in the waiting room. It's Jacob, or the island personified, or something else, but not the real Christian.

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"Helen, do you remember that authentic Australian walkabout I told you about?"

The "smoke" monster set off the smoke alarm.

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`Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle!'

-- Alice, from “Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland”

Firstly, a hospital whouldnt have that kind of smoke alarm. Seccondly - That sound is to indicate empty batteries, if there where smoke present it whould make a different sound.

I had never heard that ghosts drain batteries, but I think that's exactly what they are trying to introduce, because next week, as the previews show us, Locke is talking to some guy that has been dead for "twelve years." So I think they are going to start giving us reason for everyone seeing dead people in random places...

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~*~CHRISTINE~*~

There are a lot of things that don't corresponde to reality in this show. A deadly monster made out of black smoke that sounds like a NYC cab ticker? Suspension of disbelief. Just enjoy the ride!

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"Helen, do you remember that authentic Australian walkabout I told you about?"

has anyone else noticed that every time Jack saw his dad, Dr Erika Stevens called his name? then when he was telling her about his stress and new engagemnt she had a wierd look on her face before commenting. she was there too and didn't she hear the alarm beeping? the beeping could have been Christian's way of getting Jack's attention to give him a "message" but why is it every time he gets Jack's attention she disturbs him?!
i think she is somehow going to have some kind of connection to that island.
wild guess but maybe a relative of Bernard and Rose?

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if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck then what is it.... AFLAC<BR>
- tyler perry

that's a little racist.