Spinning on 'Greatest Hits'

I figured Charlie was a goner, what with the flashbacks and the present-day action reminding us why we liked him in the first place. It's so Lost to show a character's vulnerability and strengths before sending him to the chopping block. Loved the surprise that the station isn't flooded, but does have even more unknown players who are armed and dangerous.

Other thoughts:

Ben bugs out: When Ben returned to camp, it seemed like he wasn't even trying to hide the crazy anymore. His zeal for capturing or killing pretty much everyone seemed to alarm his little gang. It made me wonder how long even a freaky-deaky weird-science-style cult was going to keep listening to his orders.

Man with a plan: Was intrigued by Jack's sudden openess and the development of a potentially effective plan, but am still in wait-and-see mode with him. It's been widely circulated that the season finale will feature Jack-centric flashbacks of considerable significance. I'm curious and looking forward to a Jack story more than I have in some time.

Desmond's visions: For a mysterious ability over which he has no control, Desmond is certainly trusting of his visions being accurate and worthy of action. What to make of the fact that his vision for Charlie was completely off? I still trust Desmond, but don't trust his supposed "psychic" ability. It seems more likely that speculation that these visions are manipulation by outside forces is correct.

Charlie's hits: I'm with Doug, it was incredibly touching to see Charlie reflect on the high points of what he sadly dubbed his "excuse" for a life. Sniff. One odd note, this show has gone to such extremes with all the evil dads, that I was actually scared during the pool scene with kid Charlie -- I thought at first his dad was going to let him let sink just to teach him to swim. It was nice to see a positive family moment for a change.

Overall, this episode really moved the plot forward and got us in position for confrontations to come in the finale. It seems increasingly clear that the crash survivors aren't stranded so much as they are imprisoned, and this distinction is going to be a huge part of the show going forward I think.

This ep ignored Locke's fate, which I expected, but here's hoping some answer on Locke is coming next week. It would be too cruel to make us wait until 2008 to know!

Speaking of cruel, loved the little exchange where Karl threw Juliet under the bus ("They already know, but thanks, Karl"). Ha. The humorous character bits in the midst of all the outlandish storylines have always been a part of why I love Lost so.