I have no problem really with Ana Lucia. She's a bitch, but I don't think she's dragging the show down.

That said, I didn't care much for this episode until the end as her backstory wasn't that good, and it was another stall episode where we learned nothing new. I was hoping they'd get back to the camp early in the episode, so we could see more of the two groups coming together. As is, it was just a stall episode that wasted a whole hour to accomplish nothing plot wise other than bringing the groups together and reuniting the guys that were on the raft.

Trigger Happy - Shoots first and asks questions much, much later
Murderer - Killed someone in cold blood (revenge)

I don't see how you can refute that.

As for A-L, I think the massive hatred is what the producers WANT us to feel towards her. She's disturbing the group dynamic and pushing the envelope, when the Losties just want to survive and try to be happy.

This show is all about ying and yang, opposities and foils. She definitely fits the bill, no?

There were plenty of instances of castaways disturbing the dynamic last season, yet we still liked all of those characters at the end of the day. Sure, we prefer some over others, but we didn't hate any of them. Ana Lucia does not fall into that category.

And I disagree with this notion that every show needs a character we hate. It needs a character we LOVE to hate. If you want the perfect example, check out Melinda Clarke on The O.C. She's a manipulative bitch(by her own words), but damn if she isn't fun to watch.

There's nothing entertaining about Ana Lucia. She's annoying. She can't act. Her behavior is inconsistent. Her backstory has done little to make her more sympathetic. In short, she's a waste of space on this show. It's a major missed opportunity too. She could've been a great character. Hell, we saw flashes of that when she first turned up last season. But instead we're stuck with the same Michelle Rodriguez that's been tired ever since Girlfight.

Unfortunately, I think we'll be lucky if she gets killed off before at least the season finale. And I ain't holding my breath for even that happening. We're likely stuck with her for a long time. And God help us if they actually go through with the rumored love triangle(or rectangle) subplot.

A polite reminder: this show gives us very interesting characters, some we will like right away and some we will dislike. Then, through the course of various episodes we will see flashbacks that will give us the history in bits and pieces of these characters so we gradually get to know them better. Why they are in Australia on their way to Los Angeles. What kind of person they were in the real world before the crash.

In the case of Ana-Lucia Cortez, when we first see her on screen in the Airport bar with Jack she is very likeable and sexy and hope to see her again in season 2. That was not the case. The writers, of course, had this all planned out for us to hate her until we saw her backstory to see why she flipped out on the island.

For me, I was getting very disgusted with her so the plan was obviously working. They probably showed a few too many scenes with her to get the point across, I'm not sure. The backstory show was excellent though.

A brief Ana recap: Ana, a beat cop in L.A., was shot on a routine call and loses her pregnancy. So distraught by this she refuses to ID the perp in a lineup and instead lets him go so she can gun him down in the street in cold blood. She loses her job (probably due to her Mom being her boss) and (guessing) goes to Australia for a much-needed vacation.

Whatever reason she was in Australia, she most likely had not held or used a weapon since being a cop in L.A.. So, when the plane crashed and she found herself basically in charge of a bunch of scared people. The cop in her came out and unfortunately there was a gun in the area. She was no where near ready to be a cop again especially in this situation. Someone was gonna get accidently shot.

Anyway, looking forward to next week and

How long into pregnancy do pregnant cops stay on their patrol beat?

some people are speculating a future relationship between AL and Sayid

"That's hot..."

Numbers in a crossword puzzle?

I kind of thought that during their last scene, especially since I'm not sure if I hope it's him rather than Jack...

The most unexpected suitor would be

Heh.

Yeah, when I saw "Enkidu" I said, "Wait a minute..." But I just can't see Locke and Eko becoming good friends. I would like to see them team up to hunt the monster, though.

The guy that shot A-L was found at...Echo (Eko?) park!

So Much hate from people here! Unbelievable.
Everone's so quick to judge Ana Lucia but as others have said you need the "ying and the yang". I read recently that they needed something to happen so things wouldnt go 100% right with the tribes merging. That was Shannon's death. You need an Antagonist and an Protagonist or the show is going to be boring. (Anyone remember how everyone got along on Voyager)? There was no Drama and Drama makes good scripts.
I didnt really care for the way Ana Lucia was acting either but last night you got to see (or start to see) why she became like she is. Just like Everyone hated Sawyer last year and now love him because he's an Anti Hero, Ana Lucia will show her shades of grey over time.
I thought the show was great last night and loved the reunions at the end.
Good to see Rachel Ticotin again but the one problem I had was a daughter serving under her Mother in the Police Force. I could be wrong but dont think it would happen.

I'll drink to that!

for those of you who haven't watched yet, or have this episode still on your DVR, ABC has released a podcast commentary for this episode.

S02E08 - Collision Commentary (aka Old Habits) Supervising producers/writers Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Leonard Dick offer insights on their work in "Collision," which they wrote. The full episode commentary can be watched along with the episode or on its own.

(and to plug my own thread, here's other commentarys for other shows.. http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6120289)

No, as in Derek aka Dr. McDreamy. Perfect time for the Grey's Anatomy/Lost crossover.

For some reason it makes me laugh that were now using spoiler text for passages from the bible.

Seriously, I always wondered why ABC was obsessed with doctors named "Shepherd". That's four of them on two shows.

Some of you guys REALLY need something more important to feel this passionate about.
Loving a show is one thing but hating a character on tv is just a waste of hate.

Glad to see rose and Bernard get together, very tender.

Was glad to see that Michael apparently was happy to see Vincent.

Great to see Sun and Jin run to each other.

Didn't see anyone mention this, but I found it interesting that Mr. Ecko was studying the Dharma design inside the hatch. Seemed as if he was inspecting the logo to see if it was related to the one inside of their building/shed.

Looking forward to next weeks episode.

I don't think anybody HATES Ana Lucia (a tv character) I think that some LOST fans was more annoyed at the amount of time taken up showing her backstory and they wanted to see more of other cast.

but now that "her" show is over we can move on to Eko and company

btw, Gunde if you want an example of hate remember Omarosa... people HATED a reality show contestant, now that was rediculous!

i thought she was entertaining which is why i watch the show... for entertainment

By the way, I don't think we've seen everything yet related to the Shannon shooting! My theory is that one of the Others shot Shannon, Ana Lucia shot at the Other, but she missed because he dodged it with his Matrix powers, then he manipulated all of their minds using the Force to think that A-L shot Shannon and disappeared into the foliage using his invisibility shield, a la Predator. They'll probably show this later on in the season.