I can't seem to place it. I liked it just as much as the next guy but I can't seem to figure out why....I've been thinking about this since 11:00 pm and it is now 3:21 am. I liked it and I enjoyed but I can't place why. The on-island parts were great so that's not what is bothering me. I mean the whole episode didn't really make sense. Its like when people here something they completely don't understand they think it is amazing or that the person who said it is really smart. Case in point, everyone is saying they loved this episode but then they add that they didn't really get it. If you didn't get it why did you like it? If you didn't understand it doesn't that mean it was a crappy episode? Now, I'm not saying it is. I liked it too. Maybe it was because it was a such a step in another direction. Either way, I need someone to explain why everyone is liking it to me. For one thing, when Not In Portland finished last week I said to myself "Wow!" this week I said the same thing but in a very different tone. It was still a positive tone but a sort of confuse done.

Here is my reaction to the non-on-island part of the episode:

There are two possibilities. Either Desmond really did go back in time or he didn't and it was an island induced dream that he was, somehow, actively involved in. Personally, I am leaning towards the former. For one, Desmond himself says that his life flashed before his eyes and not that he went back in time. Maybe he didn't want to make Charlie think he was insane or maybe he didn't really understand it. Either way my point still stands. Moreover, if it was a dream, then the way he "snapped-out-of-it" makes sense-he gets hit in the head. Everything else makes sense too. So this is what happened. When he turned the key his dream started and it is a very vivd dream in which he actually feels like he has been sent back in time. There is one option that none of this ever actually happened in his life. It just feels like it did; he feels like he is experiencing these things over again. The other option is that these things did happen and all the characters he interacts with he had met before but this time his subconscious was speaking as the characters and it was telling him that he can't change the past. This would go with the theme of LOST that you your past stays with you and you can't change it but you can change your future so you don't make the same mistakes. If it was a dream then there are a few questions. here are my answers...

Did ring shop lady, Ms. Hawking, ever exist? Yes
Did what Desmond experienced take place before? Yes
Was the island influencing this dream? Yes
In the dream was it as if his memory of the island has been erased but not completely? Yes
Was there really a painting of a polar bear in Mr. Widmore's office? No
Did the microwave really make that sound? No

But, if he really did go back in time, which would be much cooler, then it is much more confusing. If he really did go back in time then the things he saw that reminded him of the island were just coincidences and Ms. Hawking was someone that could control time and was some sort of "time-fixer."

It's all very confusing and I am eagerly anticipating the Official LOST Podcast. I'm sorry if none of this made sense I just needed to type it out so I could better understand it myself.

_seVen_: I'm ManOfScience118

Well it seems to me that you pretty much 'got' the episode, of course there are parts that are open to interpretation, and that's the fun part about the show. It'll keep you guessing. I believe this episode was a 'one time thing', and I think the producers/writers were a bit worried that this would cause some confusion for the average viewer (not the ones on the message boards 24/7).

You're not alone on the confusion, but that is what makes Lost fun! I think when we look back (and obsessively watch our Season 3 DVDs, this will make more sense). For now, I'm just going to hang on and enjoy the ride.

PS: Over the counter sleeping pills, like Unisom, help a lot on Lost night. :biggrin:

Haha thanks for the offer but I'm still up 2 hours later. Mainly because I watched the episode over again.