sammi says

John Mayer returned to St. Louis Saturday night for his Battle Studies tour at the Scottrade Center. It was the first time I've seen John Mayer indoors. He usually tours during the summer and plays at outdoor arenas so I was a little weary about what it would be like to see him in such a huge venue. Would it sound the same? Would it be sold out? One of the best parts of seeing John Mayer outside is that everyone is cramped together on the lawn, singing and dancing along, warm weather, nighttime....you get the picture. I was pleasantly surprised to feel comfortable inside. It didn't seem too big and it looked like most of the seats were filled. I would have been bothered if I could see empty seats...it would just seem wrong. Anyways, Michael Franti and Spearhead opened the show. He was probably the most entertaining opening act I've seen in a long time. People really seemed to be into his set which is interesting because I've only ever heard one of his songs. After waiting in a line for 15 minutes to use the bathroom, John Mayer finally hit the stage and kicked off the show with his hit single, "Heartbreak Warfare."

He ditched his leather jacket, bared his arms and went straight into a mash up of "Why Georgia" and "Message in a Bottle." Next came "Vultures," "Something's Missing," and "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room," which was definitely a crowd favorite. He played "Perfectly Lonely," and "Assassin," from the album "Battle Studies," and then he really shocked me. Out of nowhere he played "Wheel," the final track on "Heavier Things," a song he almost never plays in concert, and one of my all time favorites. It's a pretty emotional song and reminds me of high school. I flipped out when I heard it. It made up for all of my other favorite songs he didn't play. I took a bathroom break during "Daughters." He then played "Crossroads," "Waiting on the World to Change," "Half of my Heart," and ended with "No Such Thing." I was a little sad that out of all of his music he played "No Such Thing." It's not a bad song, but it's not great either. I would have rather heard just about any other song from "Room for Squares."

For the encore he came back with "Who Says." Despite the concert being indoors, people definitely started lighting up during his, "who says I can't get stoned," song. With everyone throwing up their lighters and cell phones, John decided to turn off all the lights on stage and went into "Gravity." Appropriately the lights came up during the lyrics, "keep me where the light is." John then went into 5 minutes of some serious guitar playing...over his head and on the ground. It was really amazing and was the perfect way to end the show. I was ready for him to smash his guitar and light it on fire after all the theatrics. My favorites of the night- "Heartbreak Warfare," "Why Georgia," "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room," "Wheel," "Half of my Heart," and "Gravity." I loved the show and I love John. Can't wait until I can see him live again.

(as always, click on the pictures to make them bigger!)

It's only three weeks away until "Glee" returns to TV on Tuesday, April 13. The first half of the season was a such a success and now they're coming back with a full "Madonna" themed episode and bringing on guest stars like Neil Patrick Harris, Jennifer Lopez and Idina Menzel. I'm definitely ready for more after seeing the latest promos.



Let me just say that hearing Lea Michele sing "Like a Prayer" gave me serious chills. She is so talented it's sick. This second promo had me laughing out loud. Take a few minutes and watch "Sue's Corner," the hilarious news segment featuring cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester, played by the outrageous Jane Lynch. This week's "Sue's Corner," is all about sneaky gays.



What will happen to Quinn and Puck's baby? Will Mr. Schue and Emma work out? Will "New Directions" finally get the respect it deserves? We'll find out when Glee returns. You can watch "Glee" on Fox on Tuesday nights after "American Idol" starting April 13. If you missed the first volume of "Glee: Road to Sectionals" you can buy it here on Amazon or watch online at Hulu.

Last night's episode of "Lost," "Sundown," was another doozy. I will admit that this episode didn't necessarily reveal a lot, but the last ten minutes were phenomenal.

On the island, Sayid confronts Dogen (Asian Other) and wants to know why he wants him dead. They get into an insane fight and right as Dogen is about to off Sayid a baseball drops to the floors and Dogen suddenly stops. Out in the jungle, Locke (Man in Black) sends Claire into the temple to do his dirty work. She goes in and tells Dogen that he wants to speak with him outside of the temple. Of course Dogen knows better to so he proposes to Sayid that he go out into the jungle and kill what he considers, "evil incarnate," someone who will appear to Sayid as someone he knows that is dead. For some reason Sayid agrees, leaves the temple and sees Locke and stabs him in the chest. Absolutely nothing happens and Locke seems pretty pissed off. Locke has a super fiesty 'tude and tells Sayid that Dogen knew he would fail at killing him and sent him out there in hopes that Locke would kill Sayid. Locke knows better and promises Sayid anything he wants, including his dead wife, Nadia, in exchange for Sayid to go back into the temple and deliver a message.



Sayid goes back to the temple and tells the Other's that Jacob is dead and that everyone needs to leave the temple if they don't want to die at sundown. Chaos ensues. Kate returns to the temple after leaving Sawyer several episodes earlier. Miles fills her in that the Australian chick is back. Claire, who has been put into some sort of restraining hole at the temple is singing a creepy rendition of "Catch a Falling Star," the song she wished to sing to Aaron before he was born. Kate meets her and Claire seems genuinely happy to see her, that is until Kate let's her know that she took Aaron off the island and raised him and that she came back to rescue her. Claire, in a super creepy tone tells Kate that she's not the one that needs rescuing. She says "he's coming."

Sun, Illana, Lapidus and Ben arrive at the temple and meet up with Miles. Miles informs Sun that Jin is still alive but they have to get the hell out of there. Sayid stays behind and confronts Dogen. Dogen gives his sob story about how he nearly killed his son because he was drunk driving him home from baseball practice. Jacob came to him and promised he would save his sons life if he came to the island and promised never to see him again. Sayid takes little pity and drowns Dogen. All hell breaks loose and Smokey (aka Locke, aka Man in Black) is killing people left and right. Ben finds Sayid standing in the pool of water and sees something different in him. He runs away looking truly terrified. Sun, Illana, Lapidus, Ben and Miles escape through the secret exit. Kate goes after Claire. Claire suggests she jump into the hole, which she does just before Smokey passes overhead.



Claire, Sayid and Kate walk outside the temple among all the wreckage. An even creepier sounding "Catch a Falling Star," is playing, it's definitely very eerie. Claire and Sayid come face to face with Locke and Others who are waiting for them. Over their shoulders Locke see's Kate.

In the alternate reality, what most people are calling a flash sideways (similar to previous season's flashbacks and flashforwards), Sayid arrives at Nadia's house (his dead ex-wife for those keeping track). Turns out she's married to Sayid's brother, Omar and has two kids with him. Omar has made some bad business deals and people are after him. He gets mugged and put into the hospital. Nadia confronts Sayid why he pushed her towards his brother if he loves her so much. He says it's because he wasn't worthy of her he's been trying to wash his hands clean of the horrible things he's done. Either way the bad guys kidnap Sayid. Turns out Keamy (that bad guy from the freighter) is the head bad guy. Sayid knocks one of them out, gets a gun and kills them all. He hears muffled noises and who's tied up in a meat locker? None other than Jin Kwon.

My thoughts- So is Kate joining the Man in Black and is going to the dark side? Could it have something to do with the fact that she was not one of Jacob's remaining candidates? I'm really curious to see more confrontation between Claire and Kate. Also, Dogen told Sayid that this "evil incarnate" takes the shape of someone who has died, now I know Hurley has talked to dead people before, but when he thinks he is talking to the ghost of Jacob, is he really talking to the Man in Black??? And also when he has seen the ghosts of Charlie, Libby and Ana Lucia, was that the Man in Black, too? Or was it Jacob manifesting himself in their bodies? It's all very confusing.

I work on Tuesday nights so I've fallen a little behind on my "Lost" recaps. But wow, a lot has happened in the last three episodes. I still can't believe that there are only ten episodes left and "Lost" will be finished forever. I've read a lot of complaints that people think the episodes aren't moving fast enough and that not enough has been revealed...I completely disagree....shall we recap?



"The Substitute" which aired February 16 was the first episode to reveal one of "Lost's" great secrets. Locke (Man in Black) takes Sawyer to a creepy cave promising to tell him why they are all on this island. He shows him writing on the walls and ceiling. It reads, 4-Locke, 8-Reyes, 15-Ford, 16-Jarrah, 23-Shepard, and 42-Kwon. Locke explains that Jacob has appeared to all of them earlier in their lives and that the choices they made that lead them to the island weren't their choices after all.

They are all Jacob's candidates to take over as protector of the island. Sawyer is obviously super confused and asks Locke what he's supposed to do. Locke says they're are three choices. 1. Do nothing and possibly get crossed of the list (meaning death) 2. Accept the job and become the new Jacob (even though Locke says the island really doesn’t need protecting) 3. Get off this island and never look back. Locke asks Sawyer if he's ready to go home. Sawyer's response, "hell yes."

Oh, and I almost forgot...Sun, Lapidus, Illana and Ben bury the body of the real John Locke. Benjamin Linus delivers an amazing eulogy, "John Locke was a believer. He was a man of faith. He was a much better man than I will ever be and I’m very sorry I murdered him.”

Meanwhile, off the island, John is still with Helen (played by Katey Sagal), which makes me super happy. He's still living a pretty miserable, handicapped life, but at least he has Helen! Locke gets fired from his job but runs into the new owner of the cardboard company, Hugo Reyes, who tells John to go to his temp agency and he'll hook him up with a job. John's employment consultant- Rose. Rose reveals that she still has terminal cancer. She finds John a job as a substitute teacher in a middle school. John walks into the teachers lounge and meets a whiney fellow teacher, none other than Benjamin Linus. Dun dun dun!

My thoughts- So we finally have some meaning to the numbers, thank god. But I'm wondering, after all the other numbers (candidates) have been gradually crossed out, why have 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 been stand out numbers the entire time? Hurley first heard the numbers from Leonard, a fellow mental patient at Santa Rosa. Leonard heard the numbers with Sam Toomey on a repeat transmission when they were naval officers in the 80's. The numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 were the serial numbers engraved on the door to the Swan station as it was being built by the Dharma Initiative in the 70's. So I'm still unsure how or who knew those numbers would be important 30 years before the gang came to the island. Oh, and Kate? Not a candidate? That's pretty shocking. Off the island, I'm wondering why Rose still has cancer. Everyone else's paths seem to have changed, but not hers...I wonder if she's still with Bernard.

The next episode, "The Lighthouse," which aired on February 23 reveals more in the alternate reality than it does on the island, in my opinion. Jack is still reeling after his father's coffin has been lost by Oceanic Airlines. After viewing his father's will with his mother, they see that Claire Littleton is listed. Neither have any idea who she is or her relationship to Christian Shepard. Oh and did I mention that Jack has a brooding, moody teenage son!?! What the heck? The kid, David, acts just like Jack and their relationship is very similar to Jack and Christian's relationship. Turns out little David is a piano prodigy, one of Jack's favorite pastimes.

On the island, Jacob appears to Hurley and gives him detailed instructions (which Hurley writes on his arm, love it!). Hurley takes Jack out into the jungle and reminisces saying it’s old school, and cool, hiking through the jungle on their way to do something they really don’t understand. Good times. Hurley asks why Jack came back. “I came back here because I was broken and I was stupid enough to think this place could fix me.” They finally reach their destination, the lighthouse. At the top Jack is following Hurley's instructions turning a giant wheel to specific coordinates which are moving a set of mirrors reflecting sunlight. Jack sees his own name next to the number 23. He turns the dial and sees a reflection of his childhood home in the mirror. Jack puts two and two together and realizes that Jacob has been watching and brought him here for a reason. Jack is pissed and smashes the mirrors. Jacob appears to Hurley who asks why he wanted Jack to see that, Jacob says he wanted Jack to see how powerful he is....and he succeeded.


If you're curious about all the other names on the dial and who they are click here.

Oh and Jin is hanging with Claire in her humble abode in the jungle. She has a crib with an improvised baby made of animal bones and fur, a box full of dynamite, along with other troubling things. She interrogates one of the Other's she shot about where Aaron is. As she's about to kill the Other, Jin spills the beans and reveals that Kate took Aaron off the island. Claire kills the Other anyway. Jin recants his story and Claire is relieved because if she did, Claire would have to kill her.

My thoughts- Who the hell is the mother of Jack's son?! If you remember, last time we saw Jack's ex-wife Sarah, was last seen picking Jack up from the emergency room when he tried to jump off the bridge. She was very pregnant. Could Sarah and Jack have stayed married and had David? And if Sarah isn't David's mother, I'm awfully curious who is...

Wow, that was a lot to handle....now off to recap last night's Sayid-centric episode, "Sundown."

“What Kate Does,” the third episode in the final season of “Lost,” definitely was not as shocking as the first two episodes but I still think it packed a punch. I am loving all the intentional similarities and parallel situations that are happening on and off the island that resemble previous seasons of “Lost.” In my recap I’ll try to refresh your memory if you haven’t seen each episode as many times as I have thanks to reruns on the Sy-fy network. Be sure to click on all the links for more clarification and maybe some humor! (It's easier to right click on links and choose, "open in new window" so you don't have to keep leaving and coming back.)

On the island, Sayid wakes from the dead. Everyone’s stunned reactions reminded of “The Lion King,” (Simba! He’s Alive!). The Asian Other and Other With Glasses take Sayid, strap him to a table and torture him. Sayid doesn’t understand why. Other With Glasses says they are testing him and he passed.

Meanwhile, another Other runs in and tries to start trouble with the gang (Kate, Jack, Hurley, Jin, Miles, etc…) and holy crap...Is that Mac from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia?” I had to rewind a few times, but then I remembered Mac (Rob McElhenney) was definitely on “Lost” and played a guard who Kate knocks out in order to save Karl from brainwashing. Either way, Sawyer breaks up the little scuffle with a gun, obviously, and demands to be let out of the Temple. Kate and Jin volunteer to go with Aldo (Mac) to bring him back. Kate clearly just wants to go wherever Sawyer goes and I assume Jin volunteers because he wants to find Sun. Out in the jungle all of my suspicions are confirmed. Much to Aldo and that other Other’s dismay Kate knocks them out and she and Jin go off on their own.

Back at the Temple Jack tries to confront Asian Other and Other with Glasses. They want Jack to give Sayid a pill to stop the infection. Jack is skeptical and starts asking questions. After Jack tries to take the pill himself and Asian Other heimlich’s it out of him, it is revealed the pill is poison. The Other’s want to kill Sayid because he has been claimed. Finally, Hurley asks the question that all of us nerds have been wondering for a long, long time…”You’re not a zombie, right?” Unfortunately, Sayid’s answer is no. What an interesting turn of events that could have been.

Kate eventually tracks Saywer to the Dharma Barracks and finds Sawyer in he and Juliet’s old house. Kate follows him to the dock and explains she came back to the island to find Claire and says she’s sorry about Juliet. Sawyer says it’s his fault because he kept her from leaving on a submarine three years earlier. He tells Kate, “Some of us are just meant to be alone,” and then in a totally “Titanic” (you will not regret clicking that link!) moment throws a wedding ring he was going to give Juliet into the ocean.

At the Temple, Asian Other tells Jack, that there is a darkness growing inside Sayid and once it reaches his heart everything about him will be gone. Jack asks, “How can you be sure about that?” Asian Other’s response, “Because it happened to your sister.” DUN DUN DUN. (If you don't remember, Claire is Jack's sister. They share the same father, Christian Shepard.)

Flash to Jin in the jungle, Aldo (Mac) and the other Other catch up to him and are about to kill him when all of sudden Aldo gets shot several times. In a classic Jin moment, he looks up and sees some sort of jungle creature with frizzy blonde hair wielding a rifle and says, “Claire?” Apparently she’s been in the jungle, Rousseau style this whole time. I guess more on that next episode.

In the alternative reality in Los Angeles, Kate is still in the car-jacked taxi with Claire. Arzt has dropped his luggage in the middle of the street which holds them back from speeding off. This gives Kate a chance to look out the window and make some weird eye contact with Jack, who at this point is a stranger to her. The cab driver flees. Kate takes the wheel and finally Claire grows a pair and escapes from the taxi. And Aha! We see that Claire is still pregnant. Kate goes to a mechanic to get her handcuffs removes and sees in Claire’s luggage that she’s pregnant. Kate feels guilty and finds Claire sitting on the side of the road. She gives her bags back. Claire explains that the couple adopting her baby was supposed to pick her up at the airport but they must have forgotten. In some strange turn of events Claire decides to trust the gun wielding Kate, and Kate drives her to the couple’s home.

At the door, the weepy woman tells Claire that her husband has left her and even though she wants a baby she can’t do it on her own. The exact reason Claire gave for giving up her baby in the first place. But of course the drama doesn’t end there, Claire spontaneously goes into labor on the front porch. Kate takes Claire to the ER and stays by her side. Guess who Claire’s doctor is….Ethan! Of course. Ethan explains she can have the baby now or he can try to stop the labor and they can try again in a few weeks. He says, “I don’t want to stick you with needles if I don’t have to.” Which is exactly what he was doing on the island; giving her injections in the middle of the night and eventually kidnapping her and taking her to the medical station. Creepy!

And for one more bit of suspense, the machine’s start going crazy and Claire screams out asking if Aaron’s ok. Ethan responds, “I have a feeling Aaron is going to be a handful.” Clearly this is in reference to the speculation that Aaron is a very important part to the “Lost” story. Claire asks Kate why she’s running from the law, Kate says, “Would you believe me if I said I was innocent?” Claire does. Kate tells Claire she should keep Aaron.

In this episode we learned…
Other’s believe Sayid needs to die because of his infection.
Sawyer is still super down about Juliet’s death.
Kate and Claire still have a connection even in the alternate reality.
Claire is still alive on the island.

My thoughts, theories and questions…
In regards to this whole Sayid being infected issue- could this have anything to do with the sickness Rousseau claimed her entire team was infected with leading her to kill all of them?

Kate starts crying when Sawyer leaves her on the dock. Is she sad because she feels bad for Sawyer? I kind of got the feeling she was feeling like things were never going to happen between them.

We last saw Claire acting pretty strange in Jacob's cabin with Christian Shepard. Where has she been this whole time and why did she go off with him the first place? There's definitely a lot of questions about her whereabouts and if she is even the same Claire.

I love that Kate is still going to be involved with the birth of Aaron. If you remember, Kate birthed Aaron on the island. Also, could Kate be innocent in the alternate reality? I thought it was poignant that the episode was titled, “What Kate Does,” and showed Kate being a good person whereas the season two episode, “What Kate Did,” tells the story of how Kate killed her father.

While this episode wasn’t the greatest in terms of answering our many questions I think it’s a good setup in terms of things to come.

The bomb has detonated on the island. We flash to see Oceanic flight 815 still in the air. Jack and Rose chat through the turbulence. The turbulence ends and the plane does not crash. But who decides to take a seat next to Jack? DESMOND! Whaaaaaaat? He was looking super sexy, but he was never on 815, so what’s really going on here? Meanwhile, back on the island Kate wakes up in a tree. Jack, Sawyer, Jin, Hurley and Miles are all close by, disoriented from the explosion. Clearly this is some sort of alternate reality. It’s hard to say whether or not what’s happening on the plane is reality or if being on the island is real, or if it’s both real, so I’m just going to go ahead and take the plane/LA story line as it’s own. Feel free to skim over this insanely long recap but be sure to read what we learned in this episode, my theories/questions and the death tracker

On the island...
Kate, Sawyer and Jack realize that they are at the site of the hatch. Sawyer is pissed. He kicks Jack right in the face sending him tumbling into the hole. Sawyer blames Jack for Juliet’s death and is even angrier that his plan to reset time did not work. But through some crazy miracle Kate hears a feeble voice calling for help. It’s of course Juliet, who somehow survived detonating a hydrogen bomb. The gang starts digging up the metal to save her. Back at the Dharma van Sayid is still suffering from a gunshot wound and near death. Jin and Miles run to help save Juliet. Hurley starts seeing dead people again and comes face to face with Jacob (who was stabbed and thrown into a fire at the end of season 5). Jacob sends Hurley on a mission to save Sayid telling him to take him to the Temple.

Back at Jacob’s foot-statue-home, Ben and Locke (the Man in Black is possessing John Locke’s body) are still inside hovering over the fire. Ben looks terribly confused and frightened. Outside of the foot, Richard makes sure that Ben comes face to face with Locke’s dead body on the beach. He goes back into the foot and bring the Ajira “In the shadow of the statue” folks with him. They of course go nuts and start firing at Locke. Locke disappears and we hear that familiar noise of the smoke monster. Smokey takes out all the Ajira folks but the Ajira ogre surrounds himself with a circle of white ash which apparently Smokey can’t get through….it takes all of 5 seconds for Smokey to knock him out of the circle and kill him. Smokey disappears, Locke returns….clearly the Man in Black is also the smoke monster. Ben looks like he’s going to pee he pants, Locke’s response? “I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

At the hatch, Sawyer finds Juliet under the metal. They share some words and a kiss and Juliet dies in his arms but not before mentioning she had something really important to tell him. Jack, Hurley, Kate and Jin take Sayid to the Temple. Sawyer and Miles hang back to bury Juliet. Sawyer forces Miles to find out Juliet’s last thought, which is, “It worked.” At the Temple the gang is captured by the Others and brought into the Temple. What was up with the Others back in the their crazy tribal clothes? The Others who lived at the barracks dressed in modern clothing. Either way, they are about to shoot the group but Hurley once again saves the day and turns over the guitar case that Jacob gave him back in LA. Inside the case is a wooden ankh, inside it is a note. The Others ask the group their names. I’m assuming their names are all on the list. Jacob’s lists were referenced in the early seasons. The Others tell them they must save Sayid or else really bad stuff will happen. So they put Sayid into a pool of some questionable spring water and flip an hourglass. Sayid starts thrashing about but eventually drowns. Jack performs never ending CPR despite Kate begging him to stop, reminiscent of his fight to save Charlie’s life after he was hanged by Ethan. It doesn’t work. Cindy, a tailie and the flight attendant from the original Flight 815 who was captured by the Others is alive and well as are the two children who were also taken. The Others want to know where Jacob is and Hurley tells them he’s dead. The Others start going crazy, manning their posts, spreading ash and shooting a flare into the air. The gang starts to panic, wondering what’s going on, the Other’s say it “isn’t to keep you in, it’s to keep him out.”

Inside the foot, Locke (Man in Black) and Ben have a heart to heart. He reveals that the real Locke’s last thought before Ben murdered him was, “I don’t understand.” He says Locke was wise; he was the only one who didn’t want to leave the island, the only one who realized how pitiful the life he left behind really was. But the Man in Black wants the one thing John Locke didn’t….he wants to go home. They return to the beach and Richard sees the flare. He realizes who Locke (Man in Black) really is. Locke says it’s nice to see Richard out of his chains, leading us to believe Richard came over on the Black Rock, the slave ship shipwrecked on the island. Locke (Man in Black) knocks Richard out and throws him over his shoulder. At the Temple we see one last glimpse of the gang and holy shit, Sayid’s alive.

On the plane….
While all hell is breaking loose on the island we keep seeing glimpses of Oceanic flight 815. Kate is still a prisoner. Sayid is looking at a picture of his long, lost love, Nadya. Sawyer talks to Hurley who claims, “he is the luckiest guy alive.” Hurley is hassled by Arzt! Sun and Jin are together, Jin acts as oppressive as always. Boone is sitting next to John Locke. Boone says he left Shannon in Australia. John says he did in fact go on his walkabout. Boone says if “this thing goes down, I’m sticking with you.” So bittersweet considering that happened during the first crash and his friendship with Locke caused Boone his life. Flight attendant, Cindy, calls for a doctor because someone’s passed out in the bathroom. CHAAAAALIEE!!! Charlie’s unconscious with a bag of heroin down his throat which sends Jack looking for a pen…..like in the pilot episode where Jack sends Boone on a frenzied search for a pen. Jack saves Charlie but Charlie claims he “was supposed to die.”

Captain Norris (aka Greg Grunberg, the pilot who was Smokey’s first kill) makes the announcement the plane is about to land. Kate escapes from the air marshall and has a little encounter with Sawyer in the airport elevator. In her desperate attempt to flee she jumps in the cab line ahead of Frogurt who is not having it. The air marshall is on her tail so Kate hops in a cab with none other than her good pal Claire Littleton. Jack finds out that his father’s coffin was never put on the plane. Locke, who is still wheelchair bound (despite telling Boone he did his walkabout) is missing his bag of knives. Jack asks John about his condition and says he’s interested because he’s a spinal surgeon. John says he can’t be fixed. Jack says, “Nothing is irreversible.” Quite the role reversal of faith verse science, eh?

In this episode we learned…
Man in Black is the smoke monster.
Man in Black is in fact inhabiting John Locke’s body, despite the fact his actual dead body is on the beach.
White ash, like the ash surrounding Jacob’s cabin, repels Smokey.
Jacob is dead. The Others are very afraid of the Man in Black.
According to Juliet’s last thought, detonating the bomb worked.
Sawyer is not going to take Juliet’s death lying down.
Everyone minus Shannon and plus Desmond are on Oceanic Flight 815 in some sort of alternate reality.

My theories and questions…
So as we suspected last season, the Man in Black is able to possess or take on the appearance of dead people on the island. That’s how we’ve seen Christian Shepard (Jack’s dad) walking around and giving advice saying he was acting on Jacob’s behalf. Especially important consider Christian told Locke before spinning the donkey wheel he was “going to have to die” if he wanted to set things right in season 5. Did the Man in Black want Locke’s body? I believe the Man in Black also possessed Alex’s body (Ben Linus’s daughter) when she told Ben to do whatever John said. I don’t think Sayid is really all of a sudden magically alive, I think it’s the Man in Black.

I can’t even take a stab at how the whole alternate reality, 815 landing situation is going to play out.

I thought Juliet being alive for a final goodbye was pretty cheesy. I understand they had to bring her back to refresh everyone's memories how in love she and Sawyer were to justify his anger this season, but I could have done without it.

I loved the chat between John and Jack at the airport. It was interesting to hear Jack sound so positive and John say he couldn't be fixed. It was great hearing the old John Locke, not the evil one. I squealed when I saw his giant orange peel smile.

I'm really looking forward to finding out Richard's backstory. Why doesn't he age? Is he a leader or a follower? Why does he wear eyeliner?

Death Tracker
I came up with a little rundown of people who are dead, who we thought were dead and people who were dead but aren’t anymore at the end of season 6, episode 1.

John Locke- definitely murdered by Benjamin Linus in season 5, although the Man in Black is using his body.
Juliet- presumed dead at the end of season 5 after detonating a hydrogen bomb, actually alive, but only for ten minutes or so...long enough to say goodbye to Sawyer but eventually kicked the bucket.
Sayid- wounded at the end of season 5, still wounded, then drowned and declared dead, yet comes to at the end of the episode.
Charlie- drowned in the hydra station in season 3, in alternate reality almost died choking on a bag of heroin, resuscitated by Jack.
Boone- crushed by beachcomber and died in season 1, alive on flight 815 in alternate reality.
Leslie Arzt- high school science teacher who blew himself up with dynamite in season 1, alive and well on flight 815 in alternate reality.
Frogurt- yogurt storeowner, shot and killed with flaming arrow by Widmore’s group in season 5, alive and in LA in alternate reality.
Seth Norris- pilot of Oceanic 815, first victim of the smoke monster in season 1, alive and safely lands the plane in alternate reality.

Thoughts? Theories? I loved the episode. I’m so glad it’s back and I feel like we’re finally going to be rewarded for all our hard work trying to figure out this madness!

As a child, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) was found at a gruesome crime scene and was adopted by stand-up Miami Detective, Harry Morgan. As he grew up, Harry noticed that Dexter was not like the other kids. He spent his entire life trying to teach Dexter a code or set of rules teaching him to act like he fit in, like he belonged, like he wasn't an outsider and most of all, how to not get caught. See, Dexter has a dark passenger; a thirst for blood and a desire to kill. But because of Harry's rules, Dexter is a serial killer who only kills other serial killers.

That is the premise of the hit Showtime series, "Dexter," which just ended its 4th season this past December. I tried getting on board with "Dexter" after the first season had ended. I made it through 15 minutes of the first episode. In those 15 minutes we see Dexter stalking his victim, a pedophile who kills little boys, abducting him, and killing him while he's restrained to a table with plastic wrap in a room draped with plastic and the dead boy's bodies. It was way too much torture and blood for someone as easily scared and grossed out as I am.

Upon the recommendation of a friend I tried "Dexter" again. It became much more intriguing when I was able to get past the guts and gore and get into the real story behind it. The show is based on the novel, "Darkly Dreaming Dexter," by Jeff Lindsay, and is truly your worst nightmare...That someone you know and love could be capable of terrible things The rich characters make it all worth while. Dexter is a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department and works along side his foul-mouthed sister Deb (played by Jennifer Carpenter, Michael C. Hall's wife in real life), a detective. Dexter's inner-monologue narrates the show (Michael C. Hall has a super sexy voice, which is a plus!) and gives us insight into what makes him do the things he does. He claims he feels nothing and is faking his way through life. His girlfriend is an abused, divorced, single mom, Rita (Julie Benz), who Dexter claims is just a cover, but over time we see a real relationship develop.

I will not spoil anything, but you start to wonder why only a select few sense that there is something different about Dexter. After all, his closest relationships are within the homicide department whose job is to find killers. During each episode my hands would sweat and my stomach would churn thinking Dexter was going to get caught. It's excruciating watching all the trouble Dexter gets himself into and wondering how he's going to clean up his mess, literally. At the center of each episode is Dexter's kill. He stalks his prey, makes sure they fit Harry's code, sets up his kill room, puts on his kill uniform (a brown thermal shirt and cargo pants), abducts and kills his victim, then seamlessly cleans up without leaving a trace of evidence that anyone was ever murdered.

Throughout the series we see Dexter evolve and start to stray from Harry's code. Each season brings plenty of shocking twists, perhaps the most shocking at the end of season 4. He goes through a lot of changes but I really wish he would stop killing people! No kidding, it's hard to empathize with a serial killer, but "Dexter" makes it possible.