TV

Last night's Lost, "Cabin Fever," proved to be an intriguing episode, made-to-order for mythology-obsessed Losties. We got some answers, and as usual, we got even more questions.

Tonight's episode of Lost features Locke-centric flashbacks, and we mean waaay-back flashbacks, to John at ages 5 and 16. ABC's official ep summary says:

Locke discovers the location of Jacob's cabin, and life aboard the freighter becomes increasingly perilous.

For some spoilerish stuff, go to the jump...

Tonight's episode of Lost wasn't nearly so action-packed as last week's -- but plenty happened in the way of character relationships...

In the jungle: Claire still has a headache as she and Baby Aaron make their way back to the beach camp with Sawyer and Miles. As they pass through a clearing, Miles hears voices and the names "Danielle" and "Karl."

He stops, asks the others about what he heard, and Claire recognizes Rousseau's name. Miles stoops, brushes away some topsoil and find Danielle's body and, nearby, Karl's too, both just barely buried beneath the surface. Sawyer's warier than ever of Miles now, and Claire is distressed by their discovery and begs them to keep going toward the beach.

Later they stop to rest, and Sawyer catches Miles watching Claire with the baby. He tells Miles to stay away from her because Sawyer's put him "under a restraining order" -- in fact, Miles is not to make a move at all without Sawyer's OK.

Assorted media notes and comments on Lost...

Entertainment Weekly critic-at-large Ken Tucker explains why Lost is just plain old great TV.

EW.com's Doc Jensen on last week's ep, "The Shape of Things to Come."

And TVGuide.com's Trish Wethman weighs in, too.

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos reviews last week's show and sneak-peeks this week's.

Lostpedia.com has its usual definitive recap of last week's episode.

And J. Wood has a bunch of good questions on Powells.com.

For a mildly spoilerish advance on tonight's episode, "Something Nice Back Home," go to the jump...

They promised us action...and boy howdy, they delivered. Here's the recap of Lost's Episode 9....

On the beach: Jack's not feeling well, thinks he has a stomach bug and takes some pills from the medical-supply chest. Meanwhile, Bernard finds a body washed up in the surf.

The corpse is the ship's doctor, Daniel says. He says the doc was fine when they last saw him, adding that "'when' is a relative term." The doc's not so fine now: His throat has been slit.

Apparently the sat-phone's no longer working, but Daniel concocts a sort of telegraph out of spare parts and signals the boat. He translates the ship's Morse-code reply as "Don't worry, the helicopter's coming in the morning."

Bernard, who apparently was a Boy Scout in his distant youth, says oh no, that's not it. They said: "What are you talking about? The doc's fine." Dan is quite surprised that anyone else should know Morse code.

Why would you lie? Jack asks Dan. "Were you ever going to take us off this island?"

No, Dan admits. Then Jack doubles over in pain.

Tonight, Lost picks up its story with Episode 9 of this bifurcated Season 4.

Don't forget: ABC has moved Lost to a new time slot, following Grey's Anatomy. Which means you'll need to be tuning in at 9 p.m. now. (And at that hour, you may expect considerably lighter blogging from yours truly.)

ABC's official synopsis of this week's show:

"The Shape of Things to Come" - Locke's camp comes under attack, and Jack tries to discover the identity of a body that has washed ashore.

For some spoilerish, educated guesses on tonight's ep, go to the jump...

And for some intriguing teases about the shape of things to come on Lost, see what EW.com's Doc Jensen has to say.

TVGuide.com gives us a set of spoilerish hints about the remaining Season 4 Lost episodes that start this Thursday (9 p.m. Central).

Not to mention another entry with "scads of scoopy nuggets."

Plus, some additional preview teases from E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos.

Read at your own risk!

Good news: TVGuide.com's Michael Ausiello confirms what he hinted about last week: An extra hour is being added to Lost's season finale.

If you want to see exactly how ABC's Thursday-night schedule shakes out for the latter half of May, go to the jump.

The Washington Post's Jen Chaney talks to Henry Ian Cusick, who plays Desmond Hume on Lost.

In a followup Q&A, the actor also tells Jen what he thinks is going to happen to the Hot Scot. Not that he really knows, mind you. Because unlike Desmond, Henry doesn't get flashes of the future. At least, we hope he doesn't.

It's still 13 days till Lost resumes (Thursday, April 24, in its new 9 p.m. timeslot), so bored fans have been killing time with stuff like this YouTube video.

Sigh. I have got to get a life...

OK, but on the more substantive side, here's some actual, tantalizing news on the Lost front from TVGuide.com's Michael Ausiello. Who asks the burning question: Will an extra, 14th episode be added to the five already planned to air this spring?

Plus: More Lost news from EW.com's Doc Jensen! He promises:

The first episode back, ominously titled ''The Shape of Things to Come,'' will launch the endgame with downright apocalyptic thunder. The ensuing four installments will answer some of the season's biggest questions: How did the much-vaunted Oceanic 6 leave the Island? What happened to those left behind? Why is Sayid (Naveen Andrews) killing people for Ben in the future? And who's rotting inside that darn coffin?

It's three more seemingly interminable weeks until LOST returns for the five remaining episodes of Season 4.

Meanwhile, here are a couple of things to get you through the wait.

First, EW.com's Doc Jensen (who was traveling when Ep 8 aired a couple of weeks ago) is back with his take on "Meet Kevin Johnson." He also rates the S4 eps so far, with "The Constant" coming out as his maybe-best-ever fave, and "The Other Woman" as, well, not.

Then, thanks to the Doc's recommendation, we have discovered another excellent LOST blog, this one from J. Wood on Powells.com.

Have fun!

Why can't everybody in Hollywood go to Dolly's plastic surgeon? That's what I'd like to know. She looks awesome.

Couple of good recaps of last night's Lost ep are online today. Adam B. Vary sits in for the traveling Doc Jensen on EW.com ... and as usual, Lostpedia is quickly building the most detailed of recaps.

So what do you think? Is Sayid's turning Michael in to the Captain the incident that FutureBen refers to (in "The Economist") as "the last time you thought with your heart instead of your gun"? Is Alex pregnant? Did Ben deliberately send Karl and Danielle to their deaths at the hands of the Others? Or were they shot by someone from the freighter, in order to capture Alex as a hostage to use against Ben? And is Danielle, in fact, really dead at all?

UPDATE: One more thoughtful synopsis that examines the Ben-vs.-Widmore villainy question, from the L.A. Times....

...and a fun chat from the Washington Post's staff Losties!

Flashback: On the boat, George Minkowski tells Michael he has a phone call from Walt, but of course it's really from Ben. Ben tells Michael that the reason he is not to blow up the boat (yet, anyway) is that there are innocent people aboard, and they don't know Charles Widmore is a monster. And thus (or so says Ben) Widmore is so very unlike Mr. Benjamin Linus. Ahem.

So: Michael is to compile a list of everyone on the boat for Ben. He is also to disable the ship's communications, then the engines, so the boat can't get to the Island. Michael agrees to do so, and Ben says, "Then consider yourself one of the good guys." Uh-huh.

Flashback: Michael, now "Kevin," first meets George Minkowski, and then Naomi Dorrit, at the dock in Fiji. Naomi says a crate has already arrived for him, and it will be sent down to his berth. Against his will, Michael finds himself liking both of them.

He then meets Miles, who [apparently via his psychic abilities] knows he is not Kevin. But Miles says not to worry, as 80 percent of the people aboard the boat are lying about something. Make that 100 percent, Miles.

Aboard the boat, now at sea, Michael meets Frank the pilot, who asks him what he's doing "on this tub."

Flashback: In the alley, Tom tells Michael they've been keeping tabs on him. He guesses correctly that Michael told Walt of the two murders he did on the Island, and that's why Walt now hates him.

"You can't kill yourself, the Island won't let you," Tom tells him. "You've got more work to do, Mike."

On the boat, Sayid and Des go to the engine room, and Sayid makes Michael talk about how he got there.

Flashback: Michael's alone in New York City near Christmastime, writing a note, looking despondent as he gazes at an old picture of Walt. He then leaves his shabby apartment and drives an old car at high speed straight into a dockside shipping container.

But he wakes up in a hospital, and he sees a vision of Libby, dressed as a nurse who calls him "Mr. Dawson" and offers him a blanket. (Remember, that's what Libby was carrying when Michael shot her -- some blankets for her picnic with Hugo.)

New Otherton: Locke's group gathers and he enters with Miles, who is still bound at his wrists. Locke says Miles now will "share with us why they're here." Miles: "We're here for him," gesturing toward Ben. Hugo observes that they've all known that for, like, ages already.

So what's the big deal? Sawyer asks. Turn Ben over! But Ben says they can't do that, because once they have him, then their "rescuers" will kill all the Losties too. Miles does not dispute this.

"So now he's one of us?" Claire asks unbelievingly, looking at Ben.

Who is Kevin Johnson, you ask?

He's the new Michael ("WAAAALLTT!") Dawson, the bizarrely familiar 815er who's suddenly spotted working aboard the freighter -- but who, when introduced, does not seem to recognize Sayid.

Is "Kevin" also Ben's spy on the boat? Survey says "yes"! But wait: Where is Walt? (Or maybe the question is, "When is Walt?") And how the heck did Kevin/Michael get there, anyway? Most of all: Will we find all this out in episode 8, the last Lost before a five-week hiatus?

The ABC message boards are full of speculation that Jin is not dead; he's still on the island, so Sun has to make it look like he's dead for now. Hey, sounds good to me. I'll take that theory over the too-sad alternative presented tonight.

At the beach, Jin brings dinner to Sun and apologizes for being "the man I used to be." He understands why she had an affair; he's quite magnanimous about the whole thing. The two cry and profess their love for each other.
"I thought I had lost you," Sun says.
"You will never lose me," her husband replies.
Uh-oh.
We then see Jin again, frantically rushing to the hospital with the panda. Only he's not there to see his wife; he bought it as a gift for the Chinese ambassador, on behalf of Paik Automotive.
As he leaves, a nurse asks where he's going. He says the baby isn't his: "I've only been married for two months."
So, for the first time in Lost history, we got a flash-forward and flashback at the same time. Sneaky!
Back to the present. Sun has a visitor at her apartment: It's good ol' Hurley, looking quite sane these days. She shows him the baby; he asks if they should go see Jin. "Of course," Sun says.
Their next stop: the cemetery. In a scene that pretty much ripped my heart out, Sun tells her deceased husband that she named the baby Ji Yeon, just as he'd wanted.
"The delivery was hard on me," she said to his grave. "The doctor said I was calling out for you. I wish you could have been there."
That got me.

The ship's captain tells Sayid and Desmond that some of his crew members seem to have "a heightened case of cabin fever," thanks to their proximity to the weird island. He then confirms that he gets his orders from the one and only Charles Widmore.
The captain pulls out a black box, which was recovered at the bottom of the ocean. As were all 324 passengers of Oceanic 815.
But not really: "The wreckage was obviously staged," he says, wondering aloud at the amount of resources it would take to fake such a thing. Not only that: "Where exactly does one come across 324 dead bodies?" Apparently from Ben Linus. That's the captain's story, anyway. (But remember, someone on the ship slipped our two castaways a note that warned them not to trust El Capitan.)
On the beach, Juliet apologizes for ruining Sun's marriage. (Nice.) She had her reasons, which she explained in great detail: If Sun stays on the island, she'll soon start feeling nauseous, and later will be short of breath. That will lead to a coma and death.
Fast-forward to the delivery room: Sun is told they have to do a C-section due to the "medication." She says no. They deliver the baby soon afterward; it's a girl! Jin is still off with his panda somewhere.
On the ship, the identity of Desmond and Sayid's "friend" is revealed: Michael. Unfortunately, most viewers had already figured that part out, but it's still nice to see him again.

After Sun tries in vain to talk to Jin about her infidelity, he goes fishing with Bernard. They catch one. Bernard, who believes in karma, decides that this means they're the "good guys."
On the ship, Sayid and Desmond are summoned by the captain. They reach the deck and notice the helicopter is gone. It's "running an errand," they're told.
We then see Regina, she of the upside-down book, wearing heavy chains and a despondent look on her face. She walks to the uppermost part of the ship (I'm sure this has a technical name) and jumps off.
Sayid and Desmond want to rescue her, but the rest of the crew is blase'. The captain then appears. "It's over; she's gone," he says. Not too sadly, either.

After the commercial break, Sun admits to Juliet and Kate that she and Jin are going to join Locke's camp. They don't trust the rescuers and they don't trust Juliet.
Flash-forward to the hospital, where something fishy's going on. Sun's regular doctor is "away at a conference," she's told by a Dr. Bae. (The nurses also confirm she's one of the Oceanic Six.) They drug Sun, take off her jewelry and assure her that Jin is on his way.
Meanwhile, Jin is being hassled. He grabs a cab and puts the panda inside, only to have his cellphone knocked from his hands. Someone runs over it. The cab speeds off with the panda inside, which makes Jin so mad he yells, "I will hunt you down and rip your head off!"
It's back to the toy store for another panda. He has to pay dearly for it, but apparently, no other stuffed animal will do.
Wooosh! Back on the island, Jin and Sun start heading off to Locke's camp, but Juliet stops them. She says they can't go, that Sun has three weeks to live if she doesn't get rescued. Jin opts to trust his wife.
Until.
Juliet pulls out all the stops, in a very b-word kind of way. "Jin, your wife had an affair," she tells him. That's not all, she adds: Sun thought the baby was the other guy's at first.
Sun slaps Juliet across the face. (She got off easy.) Jin, heartbroken, heads back to the beach.

Just filling in this week for the stellar Joyce Saenz Harris; please accept my apologies for not being as thorough as she is!
Our episode begins on the ship. Frank startles some new person named Regina as she guards Desmond and Sayid. Regina is deep in thought, reading a book. Oh wait, no she isn't -- Frank kindly points out that it's upside-down. Hmm. (A pause of my Tivo and squinting of the eyes revealed the name of the book: Survivors Chancellor. Or Survivor's Chancellor. My eyes couldn't make out the apostrophe if there was one.)
Meanwhile, back at the beach, Jin tells Sun he'd like to name their baby Ji Yeon. Sun says whoa, hold the phone, let's wait until we get off the island to have this talk. (OK, she did not say "hold the phone." But that was the general idea.)
Later, Kate reveals to Sun that the "rescuers" sure have a funny way of going about it: "In all the time they've been here," she points out, "they've talked about a lot of things. And none involve rescuing us."
Flash-forward to post-island happenings. Sun starts having pains and is rushed to the hospital, presumably to deliver the baby. Jin buys a panda.
So does this mean the two are the remaining Oceanic 6? Unless I've lost count, they are Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid and perhaps Jin and Sun. Of course, this doesn't factor in Clare's son, but maybe he got off the island secretly.
Am I missing anyone else of the potential 6? If Joyce were here, she'd know.

EW.com's Doc Jensen's here with his next-morning analysis of last night's Juliet-centric Lost episode, "The Other Woman."

Overall, he didn't love the ep as much as he wanted to -- but, says the Doc:

I totally dug Ben's creepy loverboy act, culminating with the revelation that he had Goodwin infiltrate the Tailies in the hope that he'd get killed and thus be eliminated as a rival for Juliet's affections. I loved the part where Ben took Juliet to Goodwin's corpse, told her ''You're mine!'' then graciously allowed her to grieve by saying, with apparent sincerity, ''Take as much time as you need.'' If I haven't said so before, Michael Emerson is just genius in this role.

UPDATE: Want more? Check out www.seat42f.com for sneak peeks at next week's episode, "Ji Yeon."

AND EVEN MORE: A fun Q&A interview with Elizabeth Mitchell, the former Dallasite who plays Juliet.

So...after next week's teaser preview, do we all think that Ben's "man on the boat" is Michael Dawson?

Yes, I think we all do.

And presumably we'll find that out for sure next week, when the last of the Oceanic Six are promised to be revealed. But that doesn't mean Michael's actually one of the Six.