LOST season 5 episode 1 recap

One thing I try to remember when approaching a new season of LOST is not to overload my mind with too much crap from the recap show. I like to take a drink of it a little at a time, let it wash around in your mouth a little before swallowing. But last night this was impossible. They smacked us around pretty early with so much new and relevant information that my mind was spinning from the get go.

Marvin Candle from the instructional videos is called Dr. Chang off camera and jamming to Willie Nelson. What kind of creepy world have we slipped into. Wherever and whatever it is, Farraday is in it too, working as a mere underling. (As always, I live in the stream of conscience, so correct me if I'm wrong on anything)

Daniel then announces to the boat LOSTIES that the explosion and subsequent "disappearing" of the island means they are now caught in a time warp of some sort that he equates to a record album skipping on the phonograph. (Explain to the kids in the audience what a phonograph is, grampa, because my kids had no clue what he meant.) Does this mean all the flashbacking in the first three seasons was the characters actually coming in and out of time? Dammit. There goes another gear slipping in my head.

This revelation is causing my to rethink most of what I thought was happening on the show. For instance: when Locke is helped by Richard after being shot near the drug plane, he hands him a compass and tells him to give it to him next time he sees him, even though he won't know who he is. (That sentence alone is hard to grasp). What else did Locke have in his hand? A knife. Now, remember back to when Richard came to visit Locke as a child and he asks to give him an item? What did Locke give him at first? A freaking knife! And Richard got mad because it was the wrong choice.

One can only assume then that Richard has mastered and can control his time travel, while everyone else cannot. Ben may also have that capability. Perhaps Farraday is chasing them through time in an attempt to stop them from using it for evil means, and by evil, I mean f-ing over Widmore.

This is also brings up the idea of the "constant", the one thing needed to ground time travellers. For Desmond, it was Penny. Clearly, Richard gave Locke the compass to use as a constant, but maybe the Oceanic 6 are a constant for someone or something on the island and that's why they need to return. Or is the island travelling in time, and the people don’t? How does this logic work? Why can't I have a mini-Faraday to explain these things to me as I watch the show?!

Desmond continues to be Dans constant but whats going on with Char? Is someone erasing her memories like someone is adding memories to Desmond?

At this point, I would just like to spend a few moments in the simplicity that was the character "Neil". Neil, a person portrayed by a guy I've seen heretofore only in commercials, debuts as a whiny complainer. Several times in the first hour, he appears to complain about something, and instantly you know he's going to die, you just don't know when. BLAM, a flaming arrow appears and cuts him down. OOF! Did I see that before in a previous season? Not sure. We jsut have to revel in the fact that the whiner got offed in a spectacular way!

QUICK TRIVIA: Neil and Farraday were both apart of Bill Paxton's tornado chasing crew in "Twister".

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE SHOW...Share your own in the comments, please...

Should we read anything into the fact that Hurley didn't use a crisper sleeve for his hot pocket?

How is that Sawyer is getting flabby? He seemed a bit leaner two days ago.

Is it possible the old lady at the butcher shop (also the ring lady form last season) is Kate, years from now?

Is Farrday's notebook his constant? He takes notes as he travels through time to manipulate what he can.

"Dude if you ate more comfort food, maybe you wouldn't kill people"

"It's MISTER Wizard."

Dr. Chang's wife had a baby, so did she have it on the island? See how I'm over analyzing everything now. Marvin Candle's baby = Miles the ghost whisperer?

There is no person really asking Kate for the blood sample. I think it's just Ben trying to flush her out to easily get her to go back to the Island.

This was the second Hot Pocket incident that I saw on TV this week. Hardison dropped his too hot Pocket on Leverage earlier this week. Conspiracy????

I'm convinced that both Ana Lucia and Libby are just Hurley's hallucinations. But if the entire show is just a hallucination, I will hunt down the writers.

Are they ever going to tell us about Walt and why he could walk away or was that just a case of bad casting, having a kid cast in a time jumping show that needs continuity? (Which is why they should have gotten Sawyer an ab roller)

Here's another theory courtesy of popcandy:

I think the whole thing comes down to balance. When a new group arrives on the island it replaces the old group. To leave the island you have to sacrifice an(other). Claire doesn't want Aaron to come back because she sacrificed herself to let him safely leave. Maybe "Jacob" is a soul in search of a host body, and that's why there has to be a dead body aboard whatever comes to the island. When 815 crashes Jacob inhabits Christian's body, when the 6 return, I'm willing to bet Locke becomes the new "Jacob".

Until next week..........