It seems like they were well hidden, so that would suggest the mercenaries; but as they are about to go slaughter every living thing that surrounds Ben, i can’t see why they would care. :dubious:
I counted five mercenaries. Miles said that there were six of them in the last episode. That means one is dead, and one was badly injured.
So yeah, not as much smokey ass-kicking as I was expecting. Still, this means that the mercs are going to be around in future episodes.
How much you want to bet that they’ll eventually ambush the beach?
I said we’d find out this week. 
Did anyone catch the title of the children’s book Jack is reading?
Poor Karl. He gets to hump Tania Raymonde and then gets tortured and killed.
I mean, she’s attractive, but probably not quite worth that.
-Joe
I haven’t been too crazy about this season so far, but this was a really, really good episode.
Whoa! What the heck happened to Claire? Any guesses?
Anyway, now we know that Sawyer doesn’t leave the island. Still, I’m guessing that he’ll show up working for Ben, or something. And apparently, Jack seeing his father is what started him down the path to being a drunken, pill-popping wreck. I don’t think I’m going very far out onto a limb by guessing that their wedding never takes place.
My guess on what Kate was up too: Sawyer asked her to check up on his daughter. Something he wouldn’t want Jack to know about, but not that important in the grand scheme of things.
What was Ben’s medical training?
I’m glad Jin picked up on Charlotte’s listening in. I said to the bf that she could understand Korean when she smiled at what Sun said about her and Daniel, so it was nice to see someone on the island actually pick up on something for a change.
Jack sure is being a schmuck about Sawyer, what with him there with Kate and Sawyer back on the island and all. I wonder how Nathan Filion feels about her engagement?
I was disappointed in this episode. a big let down after last week.
still - some more thoughts - what did Useless Charlotte’s smug look mean after she was through talking to Jin?
So, Claire and Miles are seeing dead people?
and my biggest question - Does Hurley get out of the loony bin to go see Sun’s baby? Or was that supposed to be before he went crazy??? Help me out here.
PS - I really want to see someone blow up that head mercenary real good.
Maybe that one was just the Second-Hand Smoke Monster…
You mean Bernard? He is a dentist.
I thought this episode was pretty bland compared to the previous few. That’s okay though, not every episode can be great, and this one was still alright.
No surprise that Miles could see him. The big question is: if Sawyer had woken up, would he have seen Claire’s dad?
I think we can count on Ben to take care of that. Actually, no: I think Ben will do something far, far worse. Like maybe teleport Keamy back to Widmore, once piece at a time.
Well, Aaron is about 2 years old in this flashforward. He’d be a bit over a year old when Ji Yeon is born. That leaves about 10 or so months for Hurley to start seeing Charlie and go crazy again.
Who’s Nathan Filion??
But, about Hurley, I would hazard a guess that he had gone to see her before all this episode. Think about it: in the time since they got off the island, Kate went through her trial, and Aaron appears to be about two years old. That would be take about a year and a half, comapred to the 6 months or so it would take Sun to give birth.
I think it was Alice in Wonderland.
Waaaait–so this is the beginning of drunk shaggy Jack, or the second incarnation? What year did the Yanks get thumped by the Sox again?
Danielle is, I guess, really most sincerely dead. 
I don’t get why Jack seeing Hurley would upset him so much he started seeing his Dad, and why seeing said Dad would make him a jealous alky with Kate.
Aaron the toddler can’t talk at all, can he? You can’t shut my little nephew up sometimes.
I dunno why the mercs would stop and bury the two they killed either.
I think Claire’s little headache will quickly turn into a head injury that will give her a poetic death in somebody’s arms, with her beautiful and eloquent to the end like Ali McGraw in Love Story.
thanks for the thoughts about Hurley, gang.
My mention of Nathan Filion is in reference to the guy that Kate MARRIED in an earlier flashback. or am I possibly misremembering?..
This may be a stupid question, but is Claire’s dad also Jack’s dad? It looked like the same actor. Which would mean that of all the people who could take care of Aaron, Jack actually is a blood relative.
Yes, it’s one of those things that has been pretty blatantly pointed out over and over, but has never actually been explicitly stated on the show.
-Joe
Yeah, except the time when he went to see her and said, “Hi, I’m your dad.”
ETA: this