Hurley takes Ilana's bag of Jacob's ashes, supports Richard's plan

At the beach camp, Hurley looks through Ilana's things and finds a copy of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's book Notes From the Underground in Russian. He then discovers the bag of ashes that Ilana collected from the firepit where Jacob's body burned at the Taweret statue (the four-toed statue). He looks inside, and decides to keep the bag.

In the group, as Richard prepares to go get more dynamite, Jack starts to question his plan. Hurley pipes in and supports Richard's plan and seems sincere when he convinces Jack to trust him. As we know, Hurley has his own plan, but we'll get to that later.

It seems that Hurley is being really smart when he takes Jacob's ashes, which will quite possibly come in handy for warding of Locke or the smoke monster some time in the future.

Sawyer goes on date with Charlotte, she discovers his Sawyer file

Sawyer meets his date that Miles set up for him at a restaurant, and it turns out to be none other than Charlotte Staples Lewis. She reveals that she travels the world for her work as an archeologist, and she gets him to reveal why he became a cop. He says that he reached a point in his life where he was going to become a criminal or a cop, and he chose to be a cop.

They later have sex at Sawyer's place and after he leaves to get some water, she discovers a blue folder with the name Sawyer written on it in his top drawer while looking for a t-shirt. Inside is an article about his father killing his mother and himself, just like in the original timeline. There is also a photo matching the newspaper photo as well as other negatives and slides inside the folder. When he returns, he snaps at her and forces her to leave.

Also, on his dresser, we can see the books Watership Down (Sawyer was reading it multiple episodes of season 1), A Wrinkle In Time (Sawyer was reading it in season 1's "Numbers") and Lancelot (Sawyer was reading it is season 2's "Maternity Leave").

Ilana makes Ben dig his own grave, tells Sun she could be a candidate

Back at the beach camp, Ilana is gathering bits of wreckage to later tether Ben to a tree. While doing that, she reveals to Sun that either she or Jin or both of them are candidates to take over Jacob's job and it is Ilana's job to protect them.

We then see Ben, going through Sawyer's old stash. He picks up a copy of Booty Babes magazine and the book Justice In Truth In Action by Benjamin Disraeli. There is also the book The Chosen by Chaim Potok in the stash too (a little nod to the candidates being chosen).

Ben pulls out an Oceanic water bottle and says to Frank that he remembers the plane crash like it was yesterday. Frank then reveals to Ben that he was supposed to fly the plane and the reason he didn't was because he overslept. Ben notes that the island got Frank in the end anyway.

Ilana then points her gun at Ben and forces him to the graveyard. She tethers him to a tree with the items she'd been gathering and tells him to dig his own grave.

David Shephard reading 'The Annotated Alice,' likes the Dodgers

Back at Jack's apartment, we see David's room, which has a framed picture of Dodger Stadium on the wall. Jack tells him that he hooked up the cable in there so he could watch the Red Sox, so this seems to indicate that he doesn't really pay attention to what David likes.

Jack picks up a copy of The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition by Lewis Caroll that David has. Jack says that he used to read the book to David when he was little. Jack also read the story to Aaron when he and Kate were together after the Oceanic 6 left the island.

David won't stop and talk to Jack, and we he Jack stops him, David says they only see each other once a month and can't they just get through it. Jack gets a call from his mother and leaves.

We can see here that Jack has carried his daddy issues with Christian into his own relationship with David, which we'll see more of later.

Dogen gives Jack a pill for Sayid

After Sayid is brought back to the room in the temple where the spring is and tells Jack that they tortured him, Jack storms off towards Dogen's "office" where the guards let him pass without objection.

Once he reaches the office, Lennon is reading a book next to a bookshelf full of books in Japanese. Dogen is using a mortar and pestle to make the contents of a green pill. He seems to be using a book to make the pill and there are other ingredients on the table (if anyone can identify these, leave it in a comment).

When Jack asks what they did to Sayid, Lennon, translating for Dogen, says that they were diagnosing him and there's not a literal translation for what he has, but the closest word is "infected." When Jack says that Sayid doesn't even have a fever, Dogen laughs slightly, which upsets Jack.

Dogen wants Jack to give Sayid the green pill, which Lennon says Sayid has to take willingly. Jack refuses to give it to Sayid unless he knows what's in it. The refusal causes Dogen to break his rule of not speaking English. He tells Jack that giving Sayid the pill is Jack's chance to redeem himself for all of the people who were hurt or died while helping him. Dogen says the pill is medicine (we later learn that's not true) and the infection will spread if Sayid doesn't take it.

Back with Sayid, Jack wrestles with the prospect of giving Sayid the pill and Sayid says he will take it if Jack wants him to because he trusts him.

Also, during Jack and Sayid's talk, you'll notice a guard behind Sayid in the corner. Is he guarding some other part of the temple or is he there just to keep an eye on the survivors?

Jack back on Oceanic 815 with Rose, Benard & Desmond?! + less booze + blood on his neck

We're back and "LA X" was a hell of an episode. We start with Jack, back on Oceanic 815. While many things are very similar, there are some distinct differences. When flight attendant Cindy Chandler gives Jack extra alcohol, this time he gets just one bottle instead of two.

Also, when the plane hits turbulence, Rose comforts Jack instead of the other way around. Jack is desperately gripping his armrest. During the entire scene, Jack seems shell-shocked, like he knows something is not right but he can't quite place it.

After the turbulence passes, we hear the familiar sound of Captain Seth Norris' voice. Jack gets up and goes to the restroom where he notices a spot of blood on his neck, which he wipes off.

And then the kicker. When Jack returns to his seat, he finds Mr. Desmond Hume sitting on the isle seat. Desmond is reading the book Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie. Jack clearly has a memory of Desmond, but is it from the track years ago or from the island? In this reality, did Jack and Desmond ever meet at the track?

In the background of the scene, we can also see Jin, Sun, Locke and Frogurt.

Jacob touches Locke after he is pushed from the window, reads Flannery O'Connor

Jacob is sitting on a bench in Tustin, CA reading the book Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor. As the shot gets wider, we suddenly see John Locke fall to the ground behind Jacob. We are seeing the time Anthony Cooper pushed Locke out of the window from another point of view.

Jacob very casually gets up and walks around towards Locke who is laying on the ground bleeding and seems to be unconscious. Jacob puts his hand on Locke's shoulder and Locke suddenly opens his eyes and takes a breath. It would seem that Jacob healed Locke, who should have died after a fall like that.

Jacob says "on't worry, everything's gonna be alright. I'm sorry this happened to you." Locke lays there wide-eyed in shock as Jacob leaves.

So this answers a pretty big question of how Locke managed to survive the fall. It seems that Locke's life was saved by Jacob, though he was not healed completely. Jacob nudges him on the path that will lead him to the island. If he had been healed completely, he would have never gone on the walkabout and suffered many other struggles during his life including meeting Matthew Abbadon in rehabilitation.

Meet Regina + her book

We finally get to put a face to the voice in this episode. We meet Regina who had talked to the freighter crew on the island via satellite phone. She seems very confused and disoriented when Frank approached her. I've included the book she was "reading" upside-down. It's The Survivors of the Chancellor by Jules Verne - a story about the final voyage of a ship at sea.

Sawyer's book - The Invention of Morel

Here's the book Sawyer was reading when Kate came in. It's The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares. This version of the cover is the 2003 English edition. Here's the plot summary from the wikipedia page.

A fugitive hides on a deserted island somewhere in Polynesia. Tourists arrive, and his fear of being discovered becomes a mixed emotion when he falls in love with one of them. He wants to tell her his feelings, but an anomalous phenomenon keeps them apart.

Sounds a bit familiar, no?

Ben's book - Valis

The book that Locke brings Ben from his own bookshelf is Valis by Philip K. Dick. Check out the wikipedia page for more info.

Inside Ben's tent

Here is the interior of Ben's Tent. He certainly doesn't travel light. There's a bookshelf, a desk, a chest of drawers and quite a few books.




The red book appears to be The Oath by John Lescroart. To the right of it is a book with the names Farrar, Straus and Giroux.


The grey book towards the right on the top shelf is Word Power.