LOST: 316

The opening shot: Jack's eye shooting open, and a slow pan back to reveal him lying in the jungle. Yes, it's just like the opener of the first episode of the series, but there was something different about this one. Jack looked a smidge less confused. And he ran to a lagoon, where he immediately found Hurley and Kate.

Flash back 46 hours, and Ben is still struggling to get the Oceanic 6 to Ms. Hawking. All he has is Jack and Sun, along with Desmond, who leaves in a huff, still smarting from his "Time Travel in 42 Minutes" lesson from Ms. Hawking two seasons earlier.

Yet, somehow, less than two days later, all of them are assembled on the Ajira Airways flight to Guam. Kate is mysteriously minus Aaron, and makes Jack promise not to ask why. Hurley comes aboard with Charlie's guitar case (filled with snacks?) and Sayid presents himself handcuffed with his own personal marshal. Sun also shows up without argument, as does Locke (in a coffin wearing John's dad's shoes - don't ask). The end takes us full circle to when Jack, Hurley and Kate suddenly find themselves on the island, confronted with a VW Bus-driving, Dharma-clad, gun-slinging... Jin!

Tidbits:

-Ms. Hawking tells us an enormous amount about how Dharma found the island in the first place. Is this brilliant physicist she refers to her own son, Daniel? And is what she says to be trusted?

-Ben looks awfully roughed up after he runs his errand. It's important to note that he called Jack, all bloody, from a marina. When we last saw Penny and Desmond, weren't they living on a boat? Methinks he's getting revenge on Widmore for the death of Alex. Let's just hope Penny survives.

-Who was that guy in the airport who told Jack he was sorry about his friend? Since he was on the plane, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him, as well as Sayid's marshal lady.

-Did you notice that every time Jack tried to take a drink, he was interrupted? It's like the Island doesn't want him to go all FuglyBeard again. Good choice, really.

-Since it appears Jack and crew have landed in the late 70s or early 80s, should we assume they'll run into the other Losties, in addition to Jin? Speaking of that guy, I bet his English is totally kick-ass after spending some time in the Dharma Language Lab.

-Could Ben, Sun, Hurley and Sayid have landed in a different time?

-Ben is such a liar. He said he knew nothing of Locke's death by suicide, yet in next week's episode, which is entitled "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham," we saw him near Locke when he's about to hang himself.
Can't wait. B+