Great incite on Juliet & Ben's character...last scene w/Jack & Juliet makes me wish they make it off the island together... they are a better fit as opposed to Jack w/Kate. jmo.

I don't think Lost's decline in viewership is strange, it's just a reflection of the quality of the previous episode. Of course the premiere was going to be massive--there had been no new scripted shows in months, and the finale last year generated a lot of renewed interest. The ratings dropped off to "normal" levels over the next few episodes. "The Constant" saw the lowest ratings because the episode before it, "Eggtown," was arguably the worst episode this season. If we follow the general trend, "The Other Woman" should have had even fewer viewers, but instead the numbers remained constant (sorry, couldn't help it), which makes sense considering how good Desmond's episode was. I would say be prepared to see the numbers jump down again next week (Juliet's episode was bland, in my opinion), but since it's the last episode for a while, that might not hold true.

No way is .1 million statistically relevant. I'm not sure .6 million is even statistically relevant. I'm curious how previous seasons' ratings stack up...

And Ben is a douchebag (ben as in the one who previously posted, not ben from LOST), he is awesome

first off...

JP, we will have one more episode after next week. they WILL do all eight ep's. before going on break for i think 6 weeks.

second, ben, get a life.

I along with many others don't like the time travel direction the show appears to be going in. The island, which once seemed to be a mysterious, supernatural place which seemed to be able to work wonders. Now the island seems to be diminished to highly electromagnetic area with an off timeline. It seems like everyone wants to attribute all the previously supernatural qualities of the island to electromagnetism and time travel. I pray the producers will once again push the show in the direction that some of the things on the show are supernatural and don't have some scientific explanation. Time travel is taking away from the fun of the show.

I believe Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have said from day 1 that the show would not go in a supernatural route, and that everything would be explainable with science, or at the very least, pseudo-science.

wow, ben...too much time on your hands? dude, get a hobby. asap.

Wow Ben you are so cool! how did you do that? wow! You really got us lost fans good you... you bugger you! wow you are the coolest!

Ben: 5 year old desperately seeking attention....

micheal is ben's guy on the boat.

I hope they keep up with the scientific explanation no matter what they do, please no not supernatural noooooo, to much madness believing in fairytales already in the real world
not fiction too!

Ben: I respectfully disagree... also you ended in lost... amateur...

I have to say I loved this episode. The writers always seem to make things so different when you expect them to be the same. No episode has been similar in anyway. They are all wonderful examples of writing and I pray this trend continues. Also I think its likely we are going to see two alternate explanations for the island's mysteries come forth. The freighters will have their scientific explanation and the others at the temple will have their spiritual explanation. Either the show wont answer which one is right and leave it up to us or it will be a mix with our castaways combining the too and restoring balance.

So far, in my opinion, this is the worst season so far. I was greatly disappointed when it came to realize that we'll never know what the Black Smoke aka "The Monster" is as Ben himself doesn't know. The fact that, I thought this island had some supernatural, "God" like abilities was awesome. Now, as I'm guessing, the whole show is based on scientific riff-raff. I, mark my words, will be pissed if the show leaves me feeling, "wow, that was all for nothing."

Since we all know he's doing it for the attention, PLEASE IGNORE BEN (the moronic comment-hogger).

I absolutely loved the Other Woman. I don't think it deserves to be unfairly compared to Mythology heavy The Constant. I loved seeing just how unbalanced poor Ben actually is... He is trying to recreate his Father's life and correct the fertility problems on the Island with Juliet who is the spitting image of his Mother. Now if that isn't pitiful, I don't know what is. As much as I enjoyed the Constant, this episode had me rolling on the floor laughing, immensely creeped out and after I tried to see things more objectively, feeling sorry for both Ben and Juliet. I love Ben, he is such an interesting character I can't wait to learn more about him. And its about time he cracked up, I have been waiting for him to lose it for a while now as stressful as his life on the Island is. Can't wait for next week!

How this got past the cutting floor is beyond me. It was the worst Lost episode ever. Poorly written--probably because of the strike looming--which in trun made the acting subpar. Its almost like they used the 5th best take on each shot. You string thst together and you got something resembling Babylon 5

Next weeks ratings will be significantly lower. I actually wonder of Lost can even recover from this

I am amused - no, frustrated is a better word - by the many people who have asked, "Can LOST recover from this?" Don't get me wrong; I respect your opinion. However, LOST had so many detractors after the disastrous mini-season last year, and it ended up being an amazing season. I agree with Joe about the inferior quality of much of "The Other Woman" (I was especially disappointed because I love Juliet-centric episodes). However, a good - sorry, great - show is not known for individual episodes. It is more than the sum of its parts.

This episode, while disappointing in many places, had so many cool reveals and moved the story forward nicely. I loved the videotape of Mr. Widmore, and the whole scene between John and Ben was great; their uncomfortable relationship has gone to another level.

I also liked seeing Claire standing up to John (even if he totally disregarded her - jerk).

One more thing: The Desmond/Penny story (whether you like time-travel or not) is so moving, so compelling and well-acted, that even the amazing Juliet and Ben going off the handle will pale.

Michael is too obvious.
I bet you anything that Charlie is on the boat.

That is not a significant enough boost from the previous ratings to indicate the show is not still in a ratings decline. If it indicates anything it is that the ratings may be leveling off.

For those of you who DON'T think Michael is Ben's "man on the boat":

We all know Harold Perrineau is supposed to be back this season. If not on the boat, just how do you think they're going to bring Michael's character back to the show??

I posted this on the thread with the afterthoughts.....but who's reading that old thing?

First of all, I absolutely believe that Michael is Ben's man on the boat. While it is difficult to explain how he's been accepted by them, or how he became in total cahoots with Benjamin is almost irrelevant. It can be nobody else. Mikhail would have no reason to open the door for Sayid and Desmond in "The Constant". My assumption is that he's faked his name with some Benjamin-issued fake ID. He's probably assuming the name that we sort of caught in the obituary that sends Jack over the edge. Nobody would be at Michael's funeral, because nobody would know he exists. Michael Dawson was a casualty of the crash of Oceanic 815. But his new ID has slipped back into the system with nobody to know that he survived. He's not a member of the Oceanic 815, but he's going to make it off the island, and he IS the guy on the boat.

I can't seem to wrap my head around the time-traveling. However, I've become convinced that Richard Alpert is a time traveler and possibly a passenger of the Black Rock. I think our expectations are so high for what the true mystery of the island is, that we're neglecting the fact that this show COULD be based around time-traveling more heavily than we're giving it credit. It's possible that Jacob is also involved in time-traveling somehow. I'd dare say it's probable that Harper has mastered it as well.

I think Harper telling Juliet that Benjamin is "exactly where he wants to be" is very telling. It could mean that Ben is perfectly content with grooming Locke to be the "special" leader that he's meant to be. Let's not forget that nobody has done a better job at protecting the island than Locke has. Whether Ben has manipulated these events or Locke has done them for other reasons, he has been the island's greatest source of defense. It could also mean, since she may be able to time travel, that she knows that Ben's survival is because of where he is. This could all be a bit of a stretch.

Josefk81 commented that Juliet reminds Ben of his mother. I tend to agree. I think that Juliet looks strikingly similar to his mother.

Oh, and whatever the heck Farraday and Charlotte were messing with at the end of the show, that's obviously what Ben used to wipe out the Dharma Initiative. Clearly, he's a sick dude and wanted to personally murder his father.

Oh, and is it possible that Charlie has mastered the art of time-traveling?? He mentioned when speaking with Hurley in the Season opener that "I'm here. But I'm not." Is it possible that he can travel into the future, but there are complications in how long or how far he can go due to the fact that he dies in 2004? My head hurts....

URGENT NEWS URGENT NEWS URGENT NEWS !!!!!!!!

ive just been reading some lost future plans and i stumbled accross this....

it said that the writers have a superb finale to the entire show and that season 4 would have only 13 episode due to writers strike as we all know already but as i read on.... heres the good bit it said that due to this the writers will compries the finale 2 season of 35 episode which is better than the 16 each we were promised by damon and carlton earlier on this year if you want to have a look for yourself go the www.wikipedia.com and type in lost and when it appears scroll down the page till it says future plans and end date then simply READ. enjoy and for that ben guy you are a complete asshole theres just no point in that seriously no one actually looks at it they all scroll right past it ya bastard yeah thats what you are, lost rocks lost rocks lost rocks.

no lost does not rock and none of you are entitled to your own opinions! and yes you do have to see it as you have to scroll past.

Actually, now that I think about it, I realize just how much of a simpleton I am. I apologize for my previous remarks and would like to retract them. Just because I am completely unable to wrap my head around any abstract thought that requires even 1 ounce of intelligence, does not mean I should make fun of everyone else here. I understand that you guys like this show because it spurns intelligent conversation and deep food for thought. I personally like shows where I don't have to think at all and can be entertained for hours on end simply by staring blankly into an idiot box. I apologize once again for being such an invalid. Have a nice day and enjoy the remainder of this season of LOST.

I remember last year when this was a premier site to visit. Those days are over. The updates have diminished. And people are spending as much time theorizing about this incredible show as they are worring about a 12 year old kid that spends his time writing LOST sucks several hundred times on a LOST fan site. Who cares how this child is spending his time? I have a little brother that probably does these kinds of things. Just scroll down and let me hear your thoughts.

I'm very pumped for Thursday!!!

those last two comments werent from me, so whats in store for next weeks episode?

I can't explain much but there are so many things going on in this show I don't understand how anyone could dislike it. Well, I guess some people might think it's too much but the show is called LOST for more then one reason....to keep us Lost as well. Who wants to know how it will end? We need to wait. Just consider it one of lives little delicacies. NEVER has there been such a well written, well done, well acted show since........TWIN PEAKS!!!! I love Lost and look forward to my Thursdays more then ever. The science, the supernatural, the guessing, the waiting.....but who didn't know Charles Whidmore owned the freighter, come on! The ledger he purchased made it clear. And who ever thinks Michael is not on the better come up with any other explanation that works cause I can't!! I love LOST! I'm so glad the ratings are back to where thety should be!!!

Ok... I like the idea of it Charlie being the man on the boat. Think about it in THE BEGING OF THE END Hurlie does not see Charlie untill someone else points him out. Could he have jumped forward in time? I will be the first to say I could be SO wrong about this.

I think most folks have it all wrong -- the guy who posts under he name Ben is in all likelihood role-playing the part of Ben Linus, who no doubt hates these weekly intrusions into his island life and wishes the show would go away. Or maybe it is Ben Linus, himself, projected out of fiction and into the realtime...he does have interesting abilities.

As for all speculation about characters "time jumping" -- so far there has been no indication that anyone can physically jump through time. Their consciousness only resides in one time, the body in other times is limp. It's a pure consciousness thing allowing people to get close to being in two places at the same time but really only the continuity of their lives gets undone forcing different episodes of their lives to be kind of cut and paste more haphazardly so their consciousness has to try to re-establish some sense of an uninterupted flow or natural connection. In short people are seemingly bound by the same rule of not being in two places at the same time. If Ben can be in two places at the same time and master his body in both, that would make him kind of schizo. But he does seem broken. I really think the writers are going to have to kill Desmond soon since the whole time-jumping thing is simply too big a risk to the coherency of the show. Either that or they'll simply reintroduce the time-lord characters and give them some quick-fix ability to smooth out the trouble the writers stirred up.

I don't know about anyone else but the episode with Desmond "UNSTUCK IN TIME" reminded me so much of the book and later movie of Slaughterhouse-Five in which the character Billy randomly and uncontrollably reexperiences his life, especially his time during World War II. If anyone gets the chance and has not seen or read this book/movie, it's worth checking out!!! Probably just the writers paying homage as they do so often but there is an eerie similarity!

I think Regina on the boat is actually Charlotte on the island, due to the time difference, she can be in both places at once. This means numerous people could be Ben's man on the boat. However, I have to bow to the reasoning of all the spoiler readers and agree that Michael is probably the guy.

Ben
(the guy who has been posting crap)
why don´t you come up with and intelligent thought or theory.
why do you have to ruin for everyone.