Meet Kevin Johnson
Can I just start by saying, wow. Super excited about the rest of this season now. This would've been the halfway point for the season, and I'm sure it would've made for another exciting batch of eight, but the Writer's Guild strike has unfortunately whittled it down to a "leaner, meaner" meager five, and the show won't return until 24th April, but I think I need some time to digest all of this anyway.
- Both Rousseau and dear Karl were shot, but I don't think Rousseau is dead. It would be an outright crime to kill such a plot point as her, anyway, if you think about it from a writer's standpoint. Cuselof have promised to fill in the gaps in her backstory, too, and it'll be hard to do that if she's dead.
- R.I.P. Karl. You were a sweet boy and good for Alex.
- R.I.P. water bottle that Karl was holding shortly before his death. You were, presumably, a more than adequate drinking vessel and will be missed.
- My fears about Widmore & Co., initially quelled by the seemingly venomless presence of the Freighter Four, has been reinstalled and rebooted. Keamy and his machine gun, for one. He seems like just the kind of bloodthirsty redneck asshole that could create a problem for our beloved characters.
- Hi, Naomi! You're so pretty. I'm sorry that you're dead.
- Yeah, I've known Mr. Friendly was gay since he told Kate she wasn't his type. I'm sorry that you're dead, too, Friendly. Somewhere in New York City mourns a sad little gay man named Arturo.
- JACOB ALERT: Libby ghost!
- (Hi, Libby! We missed you! Still waiting on the explanation for why you were in the psychiatric facility.)
- The island wants Michael back? Wow. If he jumped off of something really tall, a trait which New York City is fond of, how would the island be able to stop him? The gun I can maybe understand, and the car crash too. But come on, Michael. There've got to be more clever ways to kill yourself.
- Hopefully plausible explanation for writing Walt out of this episode #42: Michael accidentally revealed to his son that he killed two people for him. Oops, not a good idea. What kind of a bedtime story is that?
- Ben's best line: "You killed them, Michael. No one asked you to." Ouch.
- The redemption plotline is old hat, but it gives Michael's story a new charge that it didn't have before, like in season two when he tended to scream "WAAAALT" to the point where I was ready to help him kill himself in the future.
- By the way, did you see he totally pawned Jin's watch for a suicide weapon? Not cool.
- I'm not sure if Michael became Kevin Johnson when he got back to New York or before he boarded the freighter. It's kind of weird that nobody noticed that he's back besides his mom. Doesn't he have a job? Friends?
- By the way, now including Michael and Walt, it doesn't seem like off-island life is treating any of the characters the way they thought it would. (Maybe Aaron.)
- Miles looked like a tamed puppy in the first scene. HA! That's why when I have kids and they give me lip about homework, I'm going to put a grenade in their mouths.
- Claire looked a little bloated in this episode. Or like she'd just been crying. Was it just me? Also, I'm still upset about what's in store for her in the future. I was convinced she was going to die this week, but she got a reprieve... for now. (We did see a clip of Hurley holding a screaming Aaron saying, "Anyone checked Claire's house [sic]?")
- Alex's stupidest moment: "OMFG DON'T SH00T ME I'M BEN'S DOTTER." Are you kidding me? He told you Widmore would use you to get to him.
- Considering what Sayid's future holds, I find it funny that he is so against Michael acting in Ben's interests.
- Next week year month: "Welcome to the war, John." I'm interested to see if Locke's new leadership position will hold or fold under the impending attack.