A Familiar Face

The above photo is of Bram... the guy in the van who captured Miles and warned him about working for Widmore. And when Miles asked him about which team he's on, he responded, "the one that's gonna win." Is this ANOTHER team? Not Ben? Not Widmore?
...if only he were on the island....

Yep.... he's there. He's with the survivors of Flight 316. And he was with Ilana, asking Frank the infamous "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" (which Bram also asked Miles in the van). He told Miles that if he didn't know the answer, then he wasn't ready to go to the island.
The Shadow of the Statue
So what DOES lie in the shadow of the statue? One of the theories going around online is that the statue is a sort of sun-dial, so TIME is what lies in the shadow of the statue. The thing that I really like about this is that it's a LOST-ish answer, in that it's not really something that physically lies in the shadow of the statue (like sand).
3.2 Million Dollars
Last season, Miles tried extorting Ben for $3.2 Million. We found out in this episode that the reason he wanted 3.2 (and not 3.3 or 3.4, as Ben questioned) is that it was double the amount that Widmore was paying him ($1.6 Million). But is it wrong that I still don't understand why he didn't ask for a little more? Why not tell Ben that Widmore was paying him $2 Million, and ask for an even $4 Mil?
Daddy Dharmacare
As it's been long-suspected, it was revealed this week that Dr. Pierre Chang (previously known as Marvin Candle, Edgar Haliwax, and Mark Wickmund) is the father of Miles. When Miles was a baby, Dr. Chang forced him and his mother to leave the island. Miles was mad at his dad for it, but I think in the end, we'll see that he sent them away to save their lives, as he may have travelled to the future and learned about the purge.
This makes me think that the island brought Miles back in order to course-correct, as he was probably never meant to leave in the first place.
Hurley Strikes Back
...nothing really important here. I just wanted to say how great I think it is that Hurley was trying to write Empire Strikes Back. That's golden!
Hostile Territory
Miles was asked to bring a mysterious package to "Grid 334", which he was quick to identify as hostile territory. When he got there, we found a man who was killed by.... wait for it..... a FILLING being pulled through the top of his head! I'm thinking it's pretty obvious that this is the swan station. It was a nice touch to have death-by-filling, 'cause Desmond made a comment to Jack back in the hatch, saying, "I don't know about you, but every time I walk by that wall, my fillings hurt."
But wait... back up.... the Swan station is in hostile territory? Is this why it was so hidden? Could this have caused the war? Maybe the Others found out about the swan being built in their territory? No... that can't be. Can it? I mean, wasn't the Dharma Initiative (Kelvin) still working in the hatch until 2004? Unless Kelvin was an Other.... TOO MANY QUESTIONS!!!
...Speaking of "too many questions", I wanted to take a minute to say that in a year from now, when we've only got 3 episodes left of the entire series, we'll be wishing that they were introducing more questions instead of being in constant answer-mode. Then again, maybe not. :)
The Return of Daniel Faraday
YES! Faraday is back! I'm so excited to see him again! He's quickly become one of my favorite characters. And I think next week's episode is supposed to be Faraday-centric. I can't wait! Had I known that he was in Ann Arbor this whole time, I would've made the hour drive to see him. Haha!
The important thing here to remember is that Gerald and Karen DeGroot (the founders of the Dharma Initiative) were professors at the University of Michigan (in Ann Arbor). A flashback of his time spent there could offer A LOT of insight into the origins of the Dharma Initiative. I CAN'T WAIT!
My Season 5 Finale Prediction
Previously, I had theorized that season 5 would end with them avoiding the purge, and season 6 would be about how that affected everything.
SCRAP THAT! Time for a new theory!
In this episode, Hurley saw them building the swan station hatch and embossing the infamous numbers into the side. My prediction is that he'll go back and tell everyone about it, and they'll try to stop the swan station from ever being built. And remember, the swan station is the reason that flight 815 crashed on the island. So without the swan station, they never ended up on the island, right? WRONG! My prediction is that season 5 will end with them NOT crashing on the island, but will show how they course-corrected to all end up on the island in some other way.
Maybe (as theorized above) the Swan station is the reason for the purge. So, not building the swan also avoided the purge, and we'll find out that the Dharma Initiative lived on, and ended up recruiting all of the Losties' parents, ensuring that the Losties would be on the island.
I realize it's a stretch, but I had to put it out there just in case it came true.
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The Poll
This week's poll is simple-- What team are Bram and Ilana on?
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As always, please leave me a comment, or e-mail me with your thoughts, speculations, or off-the-wall theories.
Until next time!
-drew.