I bet ben dies, and Locke will be the new leader of the Others, definately shadowed yesterday that the others want to overthrow Ben.

Actually there will be two battlefronts in upcoming episodes:

May be so, but ....

How can the Others have a leader that cant kill anyone?

A good leader has other people do the dirty work for him...

Ben doesn't kill anyone... he weasels other people to do it.

It was now stated by TWO people - Naomi and Anthony Cooper - that the wreckage of flight 815 was found and there were NO survivors. If we are to assume there was some cover-up (since I assume the island is NOT purgatory, there had to be a cover-up), the obvious question to ask is "Who is covering the crash up and why?"

I don't think Ben was responsible for the cover up. Otherwise, he would not have sent Walt and Mike off on the boat to leave the island. Their presence to the outside world would shatter that cover-up. If I am being foolish and Ben WAS involved (either planning or simply knowing) of a cover-up, then Walt and Michael were made to believe they were getting off the island and Ben sent them in that particular direction for one reason: to be captured by someone else (the yet-unseen Jacob perhaps?). Maybe Ben made it look like he was sending Michael and Walt home simply to show his followers that he can "keep his word" when he clearly intended NOT to do that.

That also calls into question the sub that Juliet and Jack were going to take to get off the island. The same problem arises: Jack can't go home because his existence would blow the cover-up. Again, Ben was involved with "giving his word" to let Jack leave. Since Locke destroyed the sub, we'll never know what was planned to keep Jack away from civilization.

My thoughts are that Jack goes with the Others when Ben is killed (in the season finale - my guess) and he takes a few of the losties with him. The rest stay behind with Sawyer. I also am guessing that the parachutist is actually working for Dharma and was sent to the island ti investigate after all communication was shut down. I don't think that The Others are Dharma but Dharma on the outside doesn't realize what has happened until now.

Seems likely to me.

Really have been enjoying the last few episodes.

Not ruling out the clone theory yet. Could the "dead" passengers found amidst the wreckage of flight 815 be the clones and the survivors the actual passengers. I have to believe that the crash witnessed by the others was the real thing caused by Desmond's failure to push the button. If there was an ulterior motive that caused those passengers to be in Australia to get on flight 815, is it not possible clones may have been ready in advance to keep the world/families from looking for survivors?

Just trying to keep thinking, sorry if this has been discussed and/or discarded. Just came to me and I thought I would mention it.

My answer to this is probably "The Man Behind the Curtain."

He's my favorite character.

Unlike most of you, I maintain my stance on Jack as a good character and a hero. Whatever he's planning/keeping secret currently with Juliet, it's for the good of the camp. The writers are obviously making the situation look very suspect and making these characters look duplicitous. But how often is it that any character on this show is what they seem? My best guess is Juliet came clean to him with what Ben wanted her to do and has warned him of the impending raid, and that they're currently preparing something to overthrow Ben.

Juliet working alone against our castaways I can believe. But if she's working with Jack, it's not going to be against the people he has been protecting for 90 days. Look for the tables to turn in the finale (just my preditiction, not based on any spoilers).

I think Locke can kill, I just don't think Locke could kill his dad.

Listen closely to what she said. She said that they found the wreckage submerged and had to send a robot to investigate. The wreckage and bodies have not been recovered, only located. We don't even need to get into clones at this point, and the fact that it was staged becomes more plausible.

Yep, not only that, maybe one of the companies that explored the wreck is affliliated with one of, or all of, the Dharma/Mittelos/Paik/Widmore companies.

That could be, but I think they are going with the notion that Locke isn't a killer. Remember the Locke flashback where he couldn't kill the cop that he let infiltrate the weed growing family thing he was a part of?

I was listening to some podcasts and one drew the parallel this flashback had with "Further Instructions" -- Locke is brought away to a commune and placed in a position where he has to kill somebody, but can't do it.

Yeah but didn't Locke kill Boone with his inaction? :D

Just kidding...

And Locke killed a perfectly good relationship... :D

I saw last week, but you missed my point. I was so engrossed by this episode, I was only concentrating on it. And when Locked said that, it took me a second to remember. My first thought was Run Sawyer, Run! (to tell camp Lostie)

I'm really hoping they "off" Jack in the finale. Nothing against Matthew Fox, but his character has been SOOO uninteresting this season...at least killing him off could add some much-needed "omph" to the show.

Like I said, unlike most of you, I really enjoy Jack's backstories and the way that have given him another dimension that just being a one-note hero. He's a flawed character but he ultimately has good intentions. He's one of the more interesting and complex characters on the show, IMO. But again, this is an opinion unlike most have of him.

I'm with you. I think right now - you're supposed to be against Jack. They clearly are not telling the viewers what he's doing and thinking. I think once they clear it up and his intentions are known - we will all love and trust Jack again.

I think I've liked Jack's charater since day one but I think he became one of my favorite characters when he tried to go against Locke with pushing the numbers. He was wrong but I'm more of a science guy than a faith guy.

So, is Locke supposed to be super strong now in addition to being able to walk again? Because there is no way he would be able to carry his dad like that without straining a lot more than he was, and I doubt he could carry him more than a few hundred yards. That guy has to be close to 300 lbs. Or maybe it's just one of those 'TV moments'.

300 pounds? He didn't look that big to me. However dead weight is tough to carry, but then again every "savior" has his "cross" to bear.