Great epi.  Very sorry to see Eko go though.  He was a very strong character and I enjoyed his conversations with Locke.

Smokey is the hallucinations and the whispers IMO.
As for Carmen quoting the producers about the show being based in reality.  I think the key word there is "based".  I'm sure when all is said and done it will have a "based" in reality explanation.

And speaking of Jack's character.  Don't you think that Jack woulda said something like, "So why not just ask." In reference to Benry explaining his evil plot to break Jack.  Because jack loves to point out the obvious courses of action.

Mr. Patch... hmmm... not sure if it was real or a tape.  Guess we'll just have to wait and see.  Not crazy about the new characters.  I mean why add new mediocre characters only to kill a great character like Eko.  To me that's like cutting off your nose to spite your face.  And my better half brought up a very interesting point.  They have killed all the tailies except for Bernard and MIA Cindy. So why even introduce the Tailies in the first place?  What did they contribute that has made a difference in the show?

All in all though great epi.

And since no Sawyer this weeks quote goes to Locke.  Wasn't really funny haha but I'm sure many others enjoyed it too

Sawyer Line Of The Night
Locke (to Desmond): Do not mistake coincidence for fate.

And lastly... My apologies ILE

AJ - I don't think that TPTB ever intended to lose the tailies they worked so hard to force upon us last season. I truly beliee but for Michelle Rodriguez getting that DUI, she'd still be there. Libby's portrayer ASKED to leave as she got the lead in a pilot for the fall of 2006. The irony- the day after they aired her death scene it was dropped from the CBS schedule. Eko's portrayer apparently was causing problems on the set.

And the only reason we have not seen more of Bernard is because his wife, Rose, the portrayer took ill in real life and they apparently changed up some of their storyline.

So - as you can see, the tailies storyline has been drastically changed from whatever it was originally intended due to the people they chose to play those roles.

I didn't know that about the woman who plays Rose. I hope she's okay.

Jack actually got my favorite line of the night:

Jack to Juliet: "I'm not that into mysteries." LMAO

Rose IS okay - as I saw her in an episode of Ghost whisperer two weeks ago

I figured out what Eko's last words were to Locke. After being blown into the jungle when the hatch imploded, getting mauled by a polar bear, and having smokey beat the crap out of him, he said "WTF is next"

LOLOL. Makes sense.

Hmm Pen, I thought I heard that Cynthia Watros was actually upset about having to leave the show, and only looked into the other role after she knew she was going... being canceled just meant that she was available for flashbacks this season (we hope)

Course you never know with the spin that's put on this stuff... TPTB also have reportedly said that they killed off Libby b/c they knew the death of Ana Lucia wouldn't be much of a loss for the fans.

/threadjack

I thought that too, Lisa. I could've sworn I'd read that she cried and cried when she found out she was getting killed off.

threadjacking again:
The article i read (which was last May or June so I cannot relocate it) said she asked for some scheduling assistance as she wanted to film this pilot, as if it was her idea. But it could have been gossip and not the actual truth.

Pen, where did you read the AAA was causing problems on the set?  I did read that he had  a pretty bad casre of island fever and wanted out of Hawaii. It happens to a lot of people, HI is bery isolated.  And he also said he never signed on for a long commitment, as an artist he is not interested in playing the same character for a long period of time.  He likes movies better because you can move on to another character.  

But yeah, that is probably not the way the writers planned his arc, this was not necessarily a creative decision, it was a staffing issue.

Super, it's in the TV Guide issue that is on sale November 9th. They say that "the 39-year-old actor had become an increasingly difficult presence on set, refusing to film scenes of the Emmy-winning series as scrïpted, insisting on rewrites and even "demanding" several times to be released from his contract."

I read that... um... elsewhere. I don't get the TV Guide myself.

But Jeannie is correct - that was my source for it

Apaprently he should have been called Mr. Cranky.

Or Mr. Ego?

Then ILE could change her name to LegoMyEgo

Bah.

LegoMyEgo. ROLF  

Ya know we never did find out exactly what Eko said.