Well, if you caught the opening minutes you did see the map, in the ‘previously on’ segment…
I got a call and hit respond too soon (OK, I wanted to make sure I got the black rock thing out there.)
I happen to think this was the best episode of the series since Walkabout.
It played on the mythology, but didn’t reveal a ton of new stuff. It did have a similar vibe to Walkabout, but that was some much needed confirmation/reinforcement. What I liked about the episode is that (A) the entire flashback focused on the Lost mythology and (B) it was compelling human drama. The character actor that plays Bernard is fantastic in this episode. I believed his struggle. The highest praise I can give an actor is I forgot it was fictional. I would give bernard my vote for Best Emmy for a Guest Starring role…if Henry Gale hadn’t already stole it. That and I don’t get a vote…STUPID ACADEMY!
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Henry Gale’s agent needs to get that guy a horror flick. He could be the American Hannibal Lecter.
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Isaac also gave me the “Psychic” vibe. I knew with the pull back of the hands that it was an intentionally similar scene. I like the way Larry Mudd put it. The blocking was so similar that they were telegraphing it. Also, whose butt puckered when he mentioned the word magnet?
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I loved Rose’s moment with Locke. It was so good, they could have cut to black and popped up the word LOST. It wasn’t just about comraderie. It was about rekindling Locke’s belief in the island. He was losing his passion, sitting in the hatch all day. So the island took his legs. Now he has had his faith restored, his legs will start working again and he will let the button go to zero, get the map, and find out about the island. I am starting to think that this island is not about the hatch, Hanso or Dharma. They are trying to exploit something wonderful. My theory and I don’t think it is a WAG.
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I loved that Kate actually had a reason for not telling Jack about the new hatch. It is petty, but I bought it. I was really rolling my eyes that he didn’t know until she answered his question.
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Rikwriter, I agree with you that the janitor favors Gale. But look at my Nerd-Hating brother’s independent assessment in the final pages of last week’s thread. The real distinction is the chin.
In the second one? That was Pete Postlethwait, also Kobayashi in The Usual Suspects.
I saw the black rock in the background, too, middleman, when Jack and Kate were in the “don’t-cross-this-line” field. That was… interesting. I also backed up on the TiVo and showed my viewing companion the sad emoticon mentioned by N9IWP. Maybe not a great episode but lots of nice little details.
However, the one thing that really bugged me in this show is much the same thing that has been bugging a lot of us: the lack of curiosity and followup displayed by our motley band of obsessive-compulsive morons. They have Bernard comment directly on it (“this weird logo; you don’t wonder?”), and they brush it off again.
I mean, think about the opening: Henry Gale says, cryptically yet pointedly, “They’ll never give you Walt.”
The next solid minute should have been Jack and Locke and Ana Lucia and anybody else who could cram into that little room: “What? WHAT? What the fuck are you talking about? Why? Why is Walt so important? What do you know? Why are they keeping him? What the ever-loving fuck is going on here? Talk to us, you naked-mole-rat-looking son-of-a-bitch!”
I don’t have to have the answers to these questions, mind you. It just bugs me that we’re not seeing the characters asking them, or even getting any indications that it’s occurring to anyone to ask.
I’d agree. I liked this one - it’s kind of nice to get the backstory on some secondary characters.
I’d like to have a show that has the backstory or flashbacks of several different people, not just one.
A quickie flashback of Locke, then Kate, then Sawyer… whatever.
Yep, as everyone else said, that guy is perfect for this role. He has ‘creepy smile’ down pat.
That was my first thought. The Others had him, and let him go to appease Jack. They wanted Walt, after all, not Michael. I think Michael stumbled onto their camp (or whatever) and they’ve been holding him like the Losties have been holding Faux-Henry. They really have no use for him, and let him go to get Jack to go away.
I also caught a glimpse of something black (looked like a big black rock) in the background when Shaky-Cam was swirling around Jack. I need to go back and watch my tape again and slo-mo it at that part.
I, too, though the Healer Guy was Patrick Stewart.
I’m also wondering why they’re keeping the food stored on open shelves at the beach - why not in the hatch, where it will stay dry?
I got a kick out of the fact that it was pouring rain on Jack and Kate, and pouring rain on The Amazing Race. 
Yeah, I noticed the big black rock and the comment about magnetic areas having lots of energy to heal - I think that one was supposed to be a clue.
This episode actually maked me like Kate a little more, for once she wasn’t perfect Kate. She fell for the trap, she missed the shot, she admitted to having a petty reason for not telling him about the other hatch. That contrite little “Sorry” when they first got caught in the trap was perfect.
Bibliocat - Short flashbacks on multiple people would be nice but I’d still like to see a long flashback from Vincent’s point of view. That dog knows something!
I went back and looked at that scene from episode 1.18 “Numbers”. The guy on the ladder looks older, and there are some clear differences in their features. Upon re-watching that, it’s pretty clear to me that they are not the same actor.
Wasn’t it just last week that somebody was also putting up side-by-side photo comparisons of Pseudo-Gale and Alvar Honzo, as well?
Oh, great, I can see it know. The camera fixes on Vincent, and the low rumble plays …
<from Vincent’s point of view> Bacon. Iiii want bacon. Bacon! Iiii like bacon!</Vincent>
I bet that’s why he keeps disappearing - the Others have Snausages!
Yeah, I even said “hey, there’s another black rock”. But I thought it was in the field where they got trapped, not at the “don’t cross this line” place. It was raining at the latter place, which is never a good sign.
There was a definite parallel between Isaac and Claire’s phsychic-- the way they both said they couldn’t help. The reference to magnetic fields was an obvious eater egg for us. BTW, there actually is some research going on into the healing power of magnetic fields, but no one has come up with any findings that stand up to scrutiny yet.
So far we have 3 “supernatural” events that took place in Australia: Walt conjuring up the bird, Claire and the psychic, and now Isaac. Have there been any in the backstories that didn’t take place in Australia? I guess Hurley’s strange hapennings might count, but that’s not clear.
I like it! A flashback episode on Vincent.
The big reveal at the end will probably be Vincent’s real reason for turning back when he was swimming out to attack the cameraman in the water who was next to the raft when it was being launched (and the real reason won’t be that Walt was telling him to go back). 
Locke’s also not the only one who’s been healed. Jin wasn’t able to get Sun pregnant until the island – so there’s another healing by the island. I agree with you – that it’s not really a reused storyline, unless we consider any new healing by the island to be a tired reuse of a theme. But I think that’s supposed to BE one of the major themes, hence the repetition.
Well, I think all the backstories have (or will have at some point) some element in Australia, because that’s where everybody was flying from. So a part of each back-story has been to tell us why the character was there in the first place.
But there have been plenty of other episodes where the major portion (or all) of the flashbacks for that episode have not been in Australia. For example, Locke’s flashbacks – I think the only portion of his in Australia was the scene where we first see him in the wheelchair, arguing with the guy to let him on the bus.
Jack, Sawyer and Charlie also had some of their flashbacks centered around events that occured in Australia. Sawyer once shot a man in Australia just to watch him die.
It’s so good, dogs don’t know it’s not WAAAAaaalllllt!
Yes, I know, but I’m wondering if the fact that supernatural events in bacstories only take place in Australia.
Do you think Locke wanted to go on that Outback trip to see the faith healer that Rose went to? He was really adamant about going. For a minute I thought Rose would see a photo of him or another Lostaway on the wall at the healer’s place.
I think the Others let Michael go too, or they maybe were aware of him spying on them so they made themselves look weak on purpose. Or maybe they have gotten to him already and he is now One Of Them and luring the Losties into a trap. Either way I am skeptical of the fact that they are actually as vulnerable as Michael claims. Or else Michael is lying to get the rest of them to help him. By the time they get to Walt he might be one of the Others anyway. Maybe the Others are using Walt’s psychic abilities to keep tabs on the Losties.
Do you think Michael will recognize Gale? Maybe he saw him with the Others. But of course that would involve everyone filling each other in on what is going on so probably it won’t even come up.
I don’t think so. The trip he was trying to go on was a survivalist mission sort of trip. Living off of the land, killing and eating your kill. I don’t think he even knew about the healer.
Keep in mind that the ship Black Rock had the name painted on its back (OK, stern, if you want to be pedantic). So if there’s a connection between it and the actual black rock, there are two possibilities. One - after the ship is wrecked, someone says, “Hey, look - there’s a big black rock up there! Let’s haul the ship forty miles inland so that we can enjoy the delicious irony of the juxtaposition!” Two - after the ship makes it inland somehow, they decide to rename the wreck for some reason.
Got it – I misunderstood your original comment.
Hurley’s events might qualify, as you said. Also, what about Jack’s “miracle” – when he healed Sarah? He had said there was little to no chance of saving her legs, and even after he tried, he said he was unable to repair the damage. But then suddenly, she’s wiggling her toes again. That one might qualify, too.
Maybe it hit the rock and ran aground.
I call dibs on the bar where Sawyer met Jack’s dad being in the town that Isaac lives in.
DUCK season!