LOST In Time

Last night's LOST was pretty darn good. you can see recaps here and here.

First, we got to see Rousseau's Island Backstory, even though it wasn't as cool with her being dead and all. Her story to Sayid was more or less confirmed, although it's still not clear whether her troop actually got sick or she just went CooCoo for Coco Puffs waiting for them to save one of their teammates. At least we learned that Jin was the person who saved her from sharing their fate.

Speaking of which: Jin's alive. After Quantum Leaping around Rousseau's past, he hooked up with the Sawyer/Locke Group and all was well. And be "well," I mean, "The Island is still skipping through time and giving everyone headaches and nosebleeds." We see that Jin still doesn't really like it here (maybe it has something to do with him being blown off of a boat twice) and makes sure that whatever crazy plan Locke has, it doesn't involve his wife, Sun.

Speaking of Sun: she's hardcore gangsta. I mean: hardcore gangsta. She was about to kidnap Aaron, blow Ben's head off (take a number) and probably kick Jack in the balls for shits&giggles (shooting Pickett's wife back in Season 3 has done wonders for her self-esteem). But naturally, Ben uses he Hannibal Lector/Jedi Mind Power to convince Sun to hold off until he can prove that shooting him would totally ruin her potential reunion with her still-breathing husband.

Speaking of reunions: the Oceanic Six aren't exactly chums. Hurley preferred jail to hanging with Jack and Ben, Kate drove off with Aaron (she's mad at Jack...again) and Sayid's all, "Fuck this! I'm out!" Which leaves Jack, Sun and Ben to run into Desmond, who's on his own personal mission.

Speaking of missions: With the help of Sawyer and the rest, Locke did manage to make it back to the Orchid. We learn from Current Jacob Avatar Christian Sheppard that Locke was supposed to Spin the Wheel of Temporal Fortune (not Ben) and the FUBAR situation is partially because he was too caught up in wanting to lead the Others to actually protect the Island. We also discover that Ben kinda broke the wheel (another reason Locke should have been the one to turn it) and is giving off tachyon sparks or something, that's causing the time hops. Locke re-adjusts the wheel, turns it again, and goes through time in order to stop the mass Sentinel construction that results in the Days of Future Past. Or something.

Speaking of something: Charlotte's dead. I wish I could sound more dramatic. At least she went out sounding like Drucilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and gave Locke's Team some crucial info before Exiting Stage Left. Since Daniel was the only one with her in her last moments, he's the only person who knows that she was one the Island at a young age and he actually met her through an implied time-hop. Tough luck; but I can't say the redhead's been around long enough to garner sympathy. I just hope this isn't your typical "Woman in the Refrigerator Death" that's used to motivate the male character. Then again, the only female character I even remotely mourned over was Ana-Lucia.

As ever, there's questions:

1. Was Sun really going to take Aaron away?
2. Was is Ben so shocked that people want to kill him? He knows people hate him, right?
3. What's the story behind the Sayid/Ben fallout?
4. Where the hell is Claire?
5. This kind of relates to what Christian said to Locke about him not following orders: Why is there this belief that the only people who "have to go back" are Locke and the Oceanic Six? Didn't Frank and Desmond also "leave" the Island? How are they any less special? Why must Locke and Ben go, but not these two? I have a feeling that unless this plays into another of Ben's schemes, someone's got some explaining to do.
6. And most importantly: what became of the Second Tier Lostaways (Bernard, Rose and Vincent)? I'm sure there where fans who always wanted to see what would happen if there were episodes without the background characters, and now we know: it feels kinda empty.