Season 4, Episode 2: "Confirmed Dead"

Well then. Hmmmm. You see, summarizing episodes like this is pretty difficult. What we saw this week was an episode that offered a WHOLE lot of questions and virtually no answers (well, I guess that's like 98% of other Lost episodes, but you know what I mean). What it did accomplish was setting up the premise for what Season 4 will likely revolve around. What we know coming out of this is that 4 new characters are on the Island, searching for Ben, and that eventually 6 Losties make their way off. What lies in between is pretty much a giant question mark.

But with that said...let's see what we can scrounge up on these freighter folks (or "boaties" as they are being nicknamed by fans). We are first introduced to Daniel Faraday, an emotionally fragile physicist who may or may not have been stoned the entire episode (seriously, he was out there a bit). We know very little about this guy, but I do sense that he'll be an important figure for episodes to come. He's not quite as hell bent on their mission as his compatriots are and seems to actually care about them in some way. Some have even speculated that his backstory was a flash forward, and that he was crying because of his guilt of what may have happened on the Island when he was there. I don't really agree with this (I think they were all flashbacks in this episode), but it's something to think about. Regardless, Daniel seems to be an impressionable guy...I wouldn't be surprised if Locke, Jack, and/or Ben are able to get to him. No doubt they will try.

Miles Straum, resident Ghostbuster. To be honest, I wasn't too psyched to see this paranormal stuff, but Miles seems to be kinda interesting. A few folks have even gone as far to say that he's just a con man that uses his "skills" to make some cash (I mean, seriously, a dust-buster-ghost-finder?) But unlike Daniel, he's all about getting to Ben. The most intense of the new group by far.

On to Charlotte Staples Lewis, aka Miranda from Sex in the City. One very interesting note about her is that she shares the same initials as C.S. Lewis, the writer of the Chronicles of Narnia books. I highlight this only because the Narnia books were about a fantasy world where certain people could jump into a fantasy land where time traveled at a much different pace than in did the real world. And now our resident "CS Lewis" just found a polar bear in the desert. In a show that has certainly flirted with time travel on multiple occasions. Just sayin. But that's all I got for her for now.

And finally we get to the pilot. The drunk, Frank Lapidus. We know very little about this guy as well. He was supposed to fly flight 815 but probably showed up to work drunk and got the boot. But how could that translate into needing to find Ben? Why do any of these characters want to find Ben? This is that big question mark I'm talking about...and I won't try and speculate on any answers just yet. What I will say though is that Ben's "man on the boat" has probably been found out and these four will be on their own for now. When Miles radioed back to the freighter and asked for McIntyre or whoever and he was strangely unavailable in a crucial time of need. My guess is that Regina, the woman who answered may be cleaning house per Ben's orders. On the other hand though, it's entirely possible that Ben's man was the one who was found out and now he's been dealt with. We'll have to wait to see what plays out.

Thankfully we got thrown a bone with the return of Michael Abaddon, this time in a scene telling Naomi that she'd be leading the expedition to the Island. At the very least, we can probably conclude that Abaddon is working for a higher power that is directing this whole shabang, and while we have no idea who that might be at the moment, the leading contenders would be old school Dharma folks, or Penny's father's company, the Whidmore Corporation (which would partially explain the fact that Naomi had a picture of Desmond). It also seems likely that Abaddon's group set up the fake "recovery" of 815...as he seems to stress to Naomi that "there were no survivors of 815" in an especially creepy way. In a final thought - if Abaddon is working for old Dharma folks - could this be a simple revenge mission? After all, Ben did kill a whole lot of people during the purge. I'd be pretty pissed if someone killed all my employees. But that still doesn't necessarily explain why our four freighter folks have it out for him personally...

In terms of our usual cast: Locke realized that Hurley can see the cabin Jacob; Locke finally told everyone about Tall Walt; and Ben squirmed his way out of another precarious situation. Business as usual.

Easter Eggs:

Remember when the Pilot was watching footage of the wreckage of Flight 815 on television and called the number on the screen to report that the Pilot wasn't Seth Norris? The number's 888-548-0034. I wonder if it actually works? Hmmm...yes, I wonder....


Here are some of the pics on the wall at the house Miles visited. The child in them looks VERY familiar to a young Mr. Eko....but that couldn't be him.....right? RIGHT?


Ben's 1970s pic...nice hair.


No ring...he's available ladies!


Polar Bear Remains...Dharma "Hydra" Station Logo on the collar

In some final news: the Writer's Strike is over!! The WGA will officially vote today I believe but for all intents and purposes, everyone will be back to work by Wednesday. And while no news is confirmed, there is talk that we will get 3-6 more episodes of Lost this season (likely extended into June). I'll keep you up to date as to when official word comes out, but good news overall. I was getting tired of reading books and spending quality time with people.