No, they wouldn’t, not when they’re stranded, fighting for survival, and need to look for a leader among them – not a packaged, expertly-marketed political product, but one of their own who either does or doesn’t show the skills and qualities required by the situation.
Well, to be honest I don’t remember all of the headlines, but one mentioned that the flight had disapeared… since they are normally in constant contact with the towers, its not implausible… thousand miles off course, etc… could be a couple of hours out of contact, more than enough for a couple of news to pick up on it.
I don’t think it was news of the crash… they cant report crash until they find the crash site - they could report missing, presumed crashed…
Main thing is that it was “real world news” of the crash, before now, we werent even sure that the real world knew they were missing, and it also helped establish the timeline all the better (juliets been on the island three years, child was due 6 months after she left for the island, the crash was 6 months ago (I think) at this point… etc…
My guess is that the Jack flashback will be an “on-island” flashback, to the week or so he spent with the Others between “Don’t come back for me, Kate!” and “Look, I’m Jerry Rice!”
Which could be quite interesting.
Because he’s a doctor and he can fix their boo-boos?
He pretty much assumed leadership because he was running the beach triage operation after the initial crash.
The Lostaways should start following Sayid, instead. He’s the only one looking for answers.
Jack’s too distracted lately by whether he’s ever going to get to bone Kate and/or Juliet. 
I can see it now. A glimpse into its childhood as just a little puff. Starting out as a Tree-Leaning Monster. How it was picked on by its peers because it was still Bark-Stripping when all the other monsters were Branch-Shredding already. Finally gaining its revenge, acquiring Tree-Crushing status ahead of the rest.
Been a while since I’ve watched the pilot, but wasn’t there was also a storm happening, that contributed to their radio problems? If so, it turns a “late arrival” into something more significant rather quickly.
Re Juliet’s loyalty, Jack’s point about her reaction to the destruction of the submarine is still legitimate. There’s no reason we have to simply accept that Juliet, with the very complicated backstory about her sister, is going along with everything Ben says.
(And can’t wait for that Ben flashback. Hoo doggies.)
Ah, but I take this the exact opposite way. I reckon she hates Ben for making her stay, but he does seem to have complete control over that, and he straight-up told her she can’t leave till she fixes the birth problem. So I think, given the final revelation, that she has decided that all the Losties are no more important than lab rats, and she will not only lie to them but would happily vivisect Claire, Sun, and any other woman to get her ticket back to Miami.
And there is no amount of :smack: :smack: :smack: that can convey the idiocy of the Losties accepting her into camp after their encounter with Benry.
Oh, and here’s my speculation on Claire: since Juliet said the problem was at conception, Ethan was taking blood samples and stuff from Claire, trying to figure out how to fix the problem, since she didn’t have it. And presumably they could have given her the implant either because they were planning on her “escaping” and that giving them an in, or generally in case she wound up back with the Losties and the Others needed to swoop in like heroes, gain trust, and get access to her again.
As for speculation on Kate being pregnant, maybe this was discussed way back when, but am I the only one who inferred that possibly Kate was raped by an Other? There was a really creepy vibe to Ben having her wear that dress and join him by the seaside, and then IIRC we don’t see her again until she’s being put in the cage, and looks physically somewhat beat up, and mentally freaked out. So they could certainly create a plotline focused on her being pregnant, who the father is, and the implications for her, considering what island-made pregnancies do.
I can see that speculation, but I really hope the writers don’t go in that direction.
At this point, the others seem bad, but they havent been shown to be truly evil… in fact, they went out of their way to ‘rescue’ (or perhaps recruit) the “good ones” after the plane crash.
High Control Cult that doesn’t sweat it if a few bad apples get offed? Sure…
Evil to the point of raping captured folks - not so much.
I hadn’t thought much about the title, but “One of Us” also suggests that scene in the movie Freaks; think of how well that turned out.
We’re still missing important parts of Juliet’s story. When she first came to the island, she seemed to be a pretty decent person. By the time of Flight 815, she seems completely unfazed that the group’s response to an airliner crashing is to think of how to exploit any survivors. Juliet’s still capable of outrage for herself, but doesn’t seem to care about anybody else.
Heh, I like Cinnamon’s conspiracy of “Impregnation by Others” but I really only think she was roughed up by them. The Others motives are shrouded in mystery, but I think we can agree there’s no reason to believe they’re rapists. Think about it … why did Ben want Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley captured? Jack’s purpose became obvious, and Hurley’s task was to convey the “stay away” message back at camp, but Kate and Sawyer? They kept them locked up in cages, tortured them psychologically, and riled up drama between them to incite their passions for one another. A psychological experiment which would also end up netting them another pregnant woman. I think the whole idea behind their capture, and the reason they were allowed to do the horizontal mambo, on camera and without interruption, is becoming clearer. At first we thought it was only to explore Jack’s reaction, but there’s a strong chance it was also to get Kate pregnant. They really didn’t serve any other purpose to the Others, and I doubt Ben really needed them as slave labor for his big rock-breaking project.
Airplanes are usually in pretty constant contact/monitoring. They’d be noticed as having disappeared from their flight plan pretty quickly, I’d think, and a huge plane full of tons of people that suddenly isn’t where it’s supposed to be and can’t be contacted is going to be on the news.
Hmmm. Which character would we most like to see wind up in at the bottom of a pit with a face like half-chewed skirt steak?
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Ethan strings Charlie up in a tree, leaving him for dead.
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Later, Ethan threatens to kill one Lostie per day until Charlie brings him Claire again. Next day, he brutally kills Scott – (Kate: “His neck was broken… his arms, all the bones in his fingers…”)
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Goodwin snaps Nathan’s neck like a chicken. Nathan’s crime was being mistaken for an infiltrator by Ana Lucia.
Brutally murder us, crush our bones – fine. But don’t rape us – that would be crossing the line.
(Nevertheless, I don’t think Kate was raped between Breakfast With Ben and her stay in Polar Bear Lodge. And I don’t think it would make a good storyline.)
I wonder now whether Ben didn’t orchestrate Juliet’s attempt to get Jack to kill Ben on the table – if Ben was confident enough that Jack wouldn’t do it, the plan might be to create a bond of conspiracy between the two.
It’s getting to be like “The X-Files”; if there are too many equally likely (or unlikely) possibilities, the ultimate solution, if one’s ever presented, might seem completely arbitrary by the time we actually get it.
According to Juliet - I know, I know - Ethan went on his own accord and therefore doesnt represent the greater idea of the others… Goodwin couldn’t afford his cover being blown.
(ANd I said that they didnt mind offing a few “bad ones” to keep thier greater cause going).
…riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight
I think it’s immortality, or close to it.
Ben’s cancer was a shock because that kind of thing doesn’t happen there. Something magical is going on and it keeps everyone young and healthy far longer than they should be.
Some people are willing to do anything for that immortality. Maybe The Others weren’t that bad until that immortality started to slip - that slippage has them scrambling to figure out what the island wants so they can go back to being immortal. They’ve actually given up their position and their prisoners/hostages because Locke is the key to that.
Juliet, meanwhile, has realized that being immortal because of the island means giving up everything and missing out on life - as represented by her sister and nephew. So, she wants out.
That’s my current theory and I’m sticking to it.
-Joe
But who gets to determine that they were “bad ones”? Was Scott a bad one? What about Nathan? In the case of Goodwin, he ran off to infiltrate the Tailies right away, before Ben went and told Mikhail to start assembling data on all the survivors. Now, I suppose Goodwin could have made some secret contact somehow with the Others during his infiltration, but did he really get information on Nathan before snapping his neck? Nathan had done nothing wrong that we know of. He was just the wrong target of Ana Lucia’s suspicion.
Even if the Others deemed them “bad ones”, killing the crash survivors as they just hang out on the beach or in the jungle, minding their own business (in the case of Scott and Nathan), would seem to fit under the heading of “evil” actions.
Ben insists they are the “good guys”, but he must be really good at rationalizing away their actions!
Sure, but keep in mind this is also the same cult that callously said something like “we can always bring in more women (for you to experiment on and most likely kill)”. Kate’s good for breeding and she’s not doing any breeding…
They want baby mills.
-Joe
Maybe this explains how Starbuck disappeared.