Thoughts on The Brig...

* Whoah...that was quite some episode, no? Terry O'Quinn, Josh Holloway, and Kevin Tigh all gave Emmy-worthy performances. And, despite the previews, I didn't fully believe Sawyer would kill Cooper -- not to mention is such a darkly twisted (pun intended) way. It's like TPTB were channeling David Chase and the Sopranos...

* Interesting that Locke chose the Black Rock (as opposed to, say, the Pearl Hatch) to hold Cooper prisoner. Interesting, as well, that Rousseau showed up looking for dynamite -- and didn't seem to be the least bit phased to find Locke with a man locked in the brig. On a tangential note, Cooper's banging reminded me a lot of the scene from both film versions of Solaris wherein the Sartorius/Gordon character has a "visitor" (i.e., manifestation of someone from their past) that bangs around behind a locked door...

* Cooper said that he was in a car accident and the last thing he remembered was one of the paramedics smiling before injecting him with something. Cooper claimed to have awakened in the dark room where (and when) Locke confronted him. There are at least two odd things about Cooper's tale. First, does the smiling EMT and injection imply that Mittelos brought him to the Island? Recall that Juliet was knocked out for her journey. Recall, as well, that Ben told Tom to bring the "man from Tallahassee" (i.e., Cooper) which brings me to oddity two. Was Cooper sedated for the entire time he was on the Island, or was he lying? Or did he die off the Island and get resurrected on it? Perhaps via Smokey?

* On that last point, I found it curious that Cooper's story about Oceanic 815 's recovery so perfectly matched Naomi's. That may be for our benefit, and both could be victims (as opposed to perpetrators) of some cover-up, but I remain a tad suspicious until Naomi's bona fides are better established. In light of the podcast I linked to the other day, I could also see this as part of some further ruse to make our Losties resign themselves to life on the Island...

* The problem with the foregoing is the satellite phone, which Mikhail genuinely seemed to covet, and Sayid seemed to believe was real. (BTW: How hilarious was Hurley's explanation to Kate: "Uh, we found it in the luggage?"). But what was causing the interference, especially now that the Flame station was destroyed? Is this once again interference from the mysterious radio tower that Danielle mentioned? From the Island's EM field? Or is this further proof they're inside Desmond's snowglobe?

* Regarding the latter, Cooper's reference to them being in hell harkened back to Season 2, when Ben/Henry said God couldn't see them. I interpreted that line as proof they must be inside some sort of higher dimensional "box" but a poster named Ed Muse made a great counterpoint -- the one place God can't see them is hell. Check out Ed's take on 325 (the course Ben gave to Michael) which is positively brilliant even if I'm not sure I agree. What's really interesting is that the "answers" offered by recent episodes can stil be taken both ways.

* What did Juliet want to tell Kate? My first thought was the latter must be pregnant but the former's comment seems to be prompted by Kate's references to Naomi and the radio. I wonder if Juliet told something to Jack (e.g., the aforementioned interference and snowglobe possibilities) that would make him think satellite contact and/or a helicopter crash would be impossible. Perhaps they suspect another scam...

* If the Others are indeed working a scam, I suspect it's about to unravel. I had thought that Ben and Richard were on the same page but the latter's comments to Locke would suggest not. Indeed, Ben seemed perturbed when Locke repeated what Richard had told him. Is it possible Richard deliberately opened the "door" for Oceanic 815 as part of a move against Ben? Do Alpert's trips to the outside world make him somehow unwilling to tolerate Ben's iron rule?

* I also found it interesting how Richard introduced Locke to the Others preferred modus operandi -- getting someone else to do your dirty work. It's almost like Ben was testing Locke, and Richard gave away the answer -- presumably for Alpert's own purposes. I have a suspicion, however, that Locke is about to confound everyone's plans for him...

* A couple of interesting religious references last night. Ben's command that Locke sacrifice Cooper struck me as another (ironic) reference to the story of Abraham and Isaac. I was also struck by the disturbing image of Locke carrying his dead father's body -- talk about a cross to bear. A poster on the fuselage named Black Lotus has an interesting theory that Locke is a Messiah figure. I tend to think Aaron is the Messiah and that Locke is a kind of "John the Baptist" figure. After last night, however, it may be time to reconsider...