"The Substitute" Online Buzz

Online Buzz
There has been a lot of talk about "The Rules." Back in Season 4, we were surprised to learn that the conflict between Ben and Widmore seemed to have rules. When Alex was killed Ben said "He changed the rules." Later in that episode he visited Widmore's bedroom. Widmore had asked if Ben was there to kill him and Ben's reply was "You and I both know I can't do that." It became clear that Jacob and Man In Black are also governed by a set of rules in Season 5's finale when the Man In Black said to Jacob "You know how badly I want to kill you?" So now, in this episode we saw some sort of referee in the form of a young boy. More theories n him below. But this has many people wondering who made these 'rules' and what they are.

I read a lot of comments where people think Terry O'Quinn should get paid extra for allowing a crab to scuttle across his head!

The Lost community have dubbed the Others who live at the Temple "The Super Others." This is to differentiate them from the tent-dwelling Others who were with Richard on the beach.

Details and Easter Eggs
I pointed out in my last post that Helen included John's father in her Vegas-wedding fantasy. This seemed to indicate that he has a good relationship with Anthony Cooper in this story line. As further support for this theory, John had a picture of himself and Anthony in his cubicle. It looks like the time they were duck hunting in the original story line.

John also had a picture of he and Helen in a tropical locale. That doesn't seem too unusual except for the fact that he is standing up in the picture! So we can assume, as in the original story line, he didn't become handicapped until after he met her. But originally, he met her at anger management where he was sorting out his father issues. So if he doesn't have any father issues in this new story line, how did they meet? And we are also back to one of the oldest questions from this show: How did Locke get in the wheelchair?

Do you know why John's chair lift wouldn't scratch Hugo's car? Because he is the luckiest man alive! Hugo told us in the season premiere. Also, people are wondering if he is ever called 'Hurley' in this new story line. We have only heard him called 'Hugo.' Maybe whatever happened in the original story line that caused him to have that nickname, didn't happen.

A polar bear sighting! John Locke had a bobble-head polar bear in his box. Just in case you were worried the new story line would be without those furry friends.

This season seems to be following a Season 1 pattern. In Season 1, The Pilot was two parts focused on multiple characters. Episode 3 was Kate-centric ("Tabula Rasa") then episode 4 was Locke-centric ("Walkabout"). That's exactly what we've seen this season. If they keep following this pattern the next episodes will be Jack-centric then Sun-centric. I could probably find out somewhere on line but I really want to stay spoiler-free so I won't look. And please don't post it in the comments.

The list of candidates I gave in the last post was only a few hours old, and therefore, not all-inclusive yet. Here are some interesting additions which have been added since that night. (This is still not an all-inclusive list. For that, you can go here.)
31 Rutherford (Shannon)
33 Martin (Karl): Alex's boyfriend
117 Linus (Ben or Roger)
171 Straume (Miles)
321 Fernandez (Nikki): Paulo's girlfriend
335 Henderson (Rose Nadler's maiden name)
? Change (Pierre)

Theories
Many people are wondering about the fact that Kate was not on the wall when it was so obvious that Jacob touched her. One of the most popular theories is that there were only men's names written on the wall. We saw Littleton (Claire) but it could refer to Aaron. We saw Burke (Juliet) but it could refer to her ex-husband, etc. This would assume that Kwon only refers to Jin.
Another popular theory is that Kate was there, as number 108, we just didn't see it. (You can buy this t-shirt at cafepress.com.) I wonder if Kate's purpose on the island is wrapped up with one of the 3 men in her life: Jack, James, and Aaron, who are all candidates.

There is also much debate over the "Kwon." Of course we saw Jacob touch both Jin and Sun at their wedding so an argument could be made both ways. But one theory I like is that it refers to their daughter, Ji Yeon. Remember they couldn't conceive a child off the island. Maybe Jacob allowed them to have Ji Yeon so she could be his replacement.

There are a ton of theories about the boy haunting Man In Locke. In case you couldn't see this on your TV he had bloody hands in his first appearance. Here are the four most common theories:
1. He is a young Jacob. He could have some how risen from the ashes like a phoenix and is growing back into the man we saw before.
2. He is a young Man In Locke. This is kind of similar to a device used in old cartoons where there is a smaller version of a character who sits on their shoulder and acts as their conscience.
3. He is a time-traveling Aaron. People still believe that Aaron is an important piece to the puzzle and try desperately to plug him into a pivotal role.
4. He is someone else from Man In Locke's past. Maybe a boy he killed centuries ago. This would explain why he was so freaked out to see him again.

An interesting theory I read about the Man In Locke is that he is similar to a trapped genie. Maybe he was obligated to Jacob like a genie is to the person making the wishes. He could be trying to get Sawyer to become the new wish-maker and set him free. But there is also a theory out there that James only appears to be going along with Man In Locke but is actually pulling a long con. Let's hope so.

And one last theory that I like, but I'm not fully ready to accept: Jacob and the Man In Locke are actually the same man split into two. People are calling them "Good Jacob" and "Bad Jacob." This is why we never got a name for Man In Locke and why he can't kill Jacob.

Namaste!