[Gogan]

All good questions, Nuch and Onion. I'm really surprised they're moving so slowly with the story. Seems like they have a lot to wrap up, and all they're really doing is creating more questions each episode.

The parallel timeline: there has to be more to it then simply showing us a "what if" scenario. I mean, who cares? It has to have some deeper meaning, or some kind of connection to what's currently going on on the island.

I was really perplexed when Locke shouted at boy-Jacob, "don't tell me what I can't do!" That was a very Locke-like thing to say -- not Smokey at all. Why would he say that? They played it up all episode long in the alternate timeline too, so I have to imagine there's something important there. Has there always been some long-standing connection between Smokey and Locke? They almost make it seem like Locke and Smokey are the same person -- always have been. I can't quite fit all the pieces together, but there's something there.