LOST across the sea

Seriously, there are only 3 1/2 hours of "Lost" left. And, boy, are there still many questions. I find it surprising at this point I was sucked into last night's episode, "Across the Sea," which featured three characters, two of whom don't even have names. And the only island friends [Kate, Jack and Locke] who made an appearance did so in a flashback.

But, wait, if you haven't watched "Across the Sea," stop reading, if you don't want to hear anymore ... So, remember, I had this whole format of writing the same number of observations as there were hours left? Well, yeah, "Lost" producers went an added 30 minutes to the finale, so that kind of throws me off, in a good way. And I have more than 3 1/2 things that need to be said.

In no particular order ...

* I kept thinking about the story of Jacob and Esau. I don't know if there are legitimate parallels, but I keep thinking about Jacob disguising himself as Esau to mislead Isaac and steal his twin brother's birthright. Jacob was also loyal to his mother, Rebecca, while Esau was rough and tough.

* We don't know Mother's name, yet we know Claudia was the name of Jacob and the Boy in Black's birth mother. Surely, the fact Mother and Brother don't have names will become meaningful, right?!

* The Boy in Black becomes the Man in Black and he sets out to prove his mother wrong by finding a way to leave the island. Was he stripped of his soul when he went into the light? Did Brother's soul become the Smoke Monster? [And Mother's description of the precious light is worth noting: "Life. Death. Rebirth. It's the source. It's the heart of the island."] So is that where the temple was built?

* Jacob drank from the cup Mother presented him as a sign of accepting responsibility for guarding the light. Seems symbolic of communion to me. Of course, Jesus isn't as forceful as Mother.

* A friend raised the question today when we were talking about the episode: When Oceanic 815 initially crashed [I know, that's so long ago in "Lost" time!], maybe when Locke got up and walked, no longer needing his wheelchair, he was actually dead and already possessed by the Man in Black, who we now know is the male body in the "Adam and Eve" scene in the cave with Kate, Jack and Locke.

* Claudia is the third woman [that we know of!] who came to the island, shipwrecked and pregnant, and whose child [children, in this case] were raised by someone else. Think Claire and Danielle Rousseau. Think Aaron and Alex. Think Kate and Ben. [Side note: I just typed "Kate and Ben" and my adoptive children are Cate and Ben. And here Kate and Ben are the adoptive parents. Whoa.]

I think that's enough to think about it. What do you think? Where is this going? What are we going to learn in the coming 3 1/2 hours? What questions do you still have?