Lost: LA X Review

So hopefully every week I'll be reviewing an episode of Lost with four categories - Summary, Reactions, Themes, and Speculations. Let's start it off with 6.01 and 6.02 - LA X.

Summary:

  The bomb reset everything, and also didn't. In reset-land, the plane lands after Charlie nearly chokes to death on his drugs. Shannon didn't come with Boone, Locke still can't walk, Oceanic misplaced Christian's body, Kate escapes the marshall and jumps in a cab with Claire, Hurley claims to be super duper lucky, and Sayid kicks in a door. Oh, and Jack offers Locke a free consult, and seems to recognize when Desmond (!) sits next to him on the plane.
  In blast-land, the castaways are blasted to 2007, where Juliet dies in Sawyers arms. Everyone else heads to the temple (as instructed to Hurley by Jacob) to try to save Sayid. At the temple, some new others and old others (Cindy and the kids!) drown Sayid in a pool to try and save him, which doesn't work. Hurley tells the others that Jacob is dead, and they prepare to defend against "Him." Just as another confrontation starts to break out between Jack and the others, Sayid comes back to life.
  In foot-land, Bram and some other of Jacob's bodyguards go into the foot to shoot at Locke/Esau/Man in Black, who promptly summons/becomes the smoke monster and kills them all, including Bram, who thought he would be protected by a circle of Ash. The ash prevented the smoke from getting him, but did not prevent the smoke from throwing a rock at him. Evil Locke leaves the foot, beats up Richard, and then carries him off into the jungle.

Reaction:

  Holy cow, where to start? First off, the bomb worked... but didn't? And also... Evil Locke is awesome. I loved him making fun of poor confused Locke. Also loved Sawyer immediately kicking Jack in the face. Best thing ever.
  About the Alt - what's different, and why should we care at this point? Will it end up mattering?That being said, I loved it - and seeing long dead or long lost characters was great. Boone and Charlie are both great.
  Temple - looks sweet. I'm ready for the Temple/Smokey confrontation. Should be epic.
  Richard - looked absolutely terrified all episode. Great job. And when was he in chains?
  Was that the Dharma Shark underwater? And did the bomb going off in the reset push the island underwater?

Themes:

  Whatever happened, happened takes a big hit in this episode. Did what happened happen? Or did free will make an impact? Or both? I loved that the first thing that Sayid says when he 'resurrects' is "What happened?" - Did whatever happen, happen? What happened? AAAH.
  The idea of punishment/purgatory makes an appearance in this episode - Sawyer wants Jack to suffer on this island, just like the rest of them.
  Anyone else notice any other recurring themes? Dead apparently isn't dead, as Sayid comes back to life (and Charlie?)...

Speculation:

  Here's my first idea - Juliet exploded a hydrogen bomb in pretty much the same location that Desmond, thirty years later, turned the failsafe key. Is she now special in the same way as Desmond? Togetherly unique? Maybe her last words to Sawyer (alive words and dead words through Miles) were her in another timeline/alternate universe - and she can go through them, like Desmond. Is that why Desmond was on the plane so briefly?
  Did Locke really go on the walkabout in the alternate world? Did Boone ever sleep with his sister?
  Charlie's words "Am I alive? I was supposed to die." Bleeding through from the other timeline?
  Remember when I joked about a flashback about Jack's tattoos? What if we get a flashback about Jack's random cut/bruise/mark on his neck?

That's it for today. What do you think?