LOST - 316

What I liked:

--The explanations of how the Dharma Initiative found the island and how the Oceanic Six can return. It's a goofy explanation, that they made this sort of magnetic device that could pinpoint where and when the island is located, and that all they had to do was take another plane over that area at precise moment. Even so, I always like when the mysteries of the show get revealed.

--Ben praying at the church. Ben's reaction to Jack asking what will happen to the non-islanders on the plane ("Who cares?"). Ben telling Jack that his mother taught him how to read. Ben's menacing, Hannibal Lecteresque "I made a promise to an old friend" line where he's obviously talking about his vow to get revenge on Charles Widmore. What a great character.

--The return of Frank Lapidis. I had completely forgotten the name, but it was nice seeing him as the pilot and realizing that someone is pulling the strings and making sure there are no mistakes, these guys were going back.

--Hurley buying all the remaining seats so that no one gets caught on the plane. Nice touch, although wouldn't that make anyone on the airline suspicious?

--The framing of the episode, bookended by the same scene of Jack, Hurley, and Kate realizing that they're back, and the ending with Jin in the Dharma Initiative outfit. Things are getting interesting.


What I didn't like:

--Jack refusing to read the letter. If he didn't want to read it, why not just throw it away or rip it up? What a frustrating character.

--No explanation of how Sayid was taken into custody and why they were taking him to Guam, of all places. No explanation of how Hurley got out of jail and decided to go with them. No explanation of what happened to Aaron and why Kate decided to come. No explanation of why Ben was a bloody mess when he made that phone call. I'm sure that they are going to explain all of this in a future episodes this season, but it disrupted the flow of the episode when they just showed up and basically said "Hey, we're coming!" The last 20 minutes or so felt one long tease for better episodes down the road.

--It's not something I particularly care about and I'd be fine if they never brought this up, but how are they going to explain to everyone else on that flight that seven passengers and (presumably) the pilot disappeared?