LOST: Jughead

I've got chills
They're multiplying

If the season premiere of LOST had us asking questions about every character left in the cast, then tonight's episode, Jughead, at least helped us start to make key connections.

And I have to admit that there were more than a few scenes when the hairs on my arms were standing straight up and chills were running down my spine.

Remember back in the old days when LOST would focus on one character with flashbacks in time of that person's life? Well, we didn't get flashbacks in this episode, but we learned a whole lot about Daniel Faraday, who went from nonexistent in the first three seasons, to our central character in Season 5.

In fact, we find out that he could be part of the cause of all that has happened on the island. He might have discovered time travel and then journeyed to the island where he used the power of an abandoned hydrogen bomb to give the island its unique power.

We learn that he is connected to Charles Widmore who he meets as a young man in the 1950s as one of the Others, and then Widmore later goes on to finance Faraday's time travel research.

We find out that Faraday has not only sent the minds of rats back and forth through time, but he also sent his own girlfriend through time, only to suffer the devastating consequences. Her body is now nothing but a shell while her mind is racing around and around on a neverending time loop.

I was majorly creeped out when Desmond pulled the blanket off Faraday's infamous chalkboard and then stepped on an old photo of him with his former girlfriend.

Finally, we get proof that Ms. Hawking just might be Faraday's mother when Widmore reveals that she has moved to Los Angeles and warns Desmond to get the heck away from her.

Might I point out that Daniel Faraday's lab rat was named Eloise, which is the same first name as Ms. Hawking?!?

I'm also thinking that the young blonde who holds Faraday at gunpoint in the 1950s is actually Daniel's mother because of the way he says she looks so familiar. This theory makes sense to me because she is in the same group as the young Charles Widmore when the two learn about the real possibility of time travel. (I also just found out that the young woman with the gun is named Ellie, so there you go.)

Richard reveals more of the island's history by telling us that 18 members of an army battalion showed up on the island along with their damaged H-bomb, named Jughead.

Richard said he had to kill the army guys because they refused to leave. He says he was just taking orders by orchestrating their deaths and we get a hint that his boss is, in fact Jacob, when Locke appears in a later scene.

When Faraday examines the bomb, he tells the chick with the gun that they are going to have to enclose it in concrete and bury it. Am I wrong or does this suggest that this thing will later become the infamous underground power source?

This brings us to Locke who has some of the creepiest lines of this episode. When one of the guards starts to give Juliet directions to Richard Alpert's camp, the other guy kills him. Locke says he doesn't shoot the guy because he says, "he's one of my people." What the heck did that mean?

When in time did Locke "get" people? And how does he know that he even has people?!?

That same guy turns out to be the one who reveals his name is Charles Widmore? If Widmore was one of Locke's "people" then why didn't Locke know his name? And what, if any, is the significance of the name JONES on his shirt?

Finally, in his final act of spine-tingling creepiness, Locke tells Richard that he is, in fact, his leader, who hasn't been born yet. He instructs Richard on how to find him in two years when he is born in the year 1956. And, we all remember when Richard did in fact find Locke when he was born. Yikes.

In other news, we learn that Faraday really does love Charlotte. (Duh.) And that despite his skinny tie and complete geekiness, she might have some affection for him. (Weird.) We also learn that her brain is probably exploding from the time travel. (Again, duh.) Like we didn't see that one coming.

And we find out that Desmond and Penny have a little boy named after Charlie. And since Penny made Desmond promise to never, ever return to the island, it seems pretty likely that he will.

Finally, more and more, Charles Widmore is looking like he could be the good guy in all of this. It seems he grew up on the island, learned about time travel, knows about the power source and then was there when something went wrong and he split with the powers that be. Now, he seems to be desperate to save Penny from any negative ramifications, even if it means he won't see her again.

I can't wait to find out how Widmore was seemingly able to set Desmond out in that boat on a course to find the island.

And of course, the huge questions:
Why is Richard always the exact same age?
Did he age up until the 1950s or has he always been that age?
Who is Jacob?
When did Ben Linus become the leader?
Is Ms. Hawking the young woman on the island? Is she, in fact, Faraday's mom, or is that just a big red herring.
And finally, WILL Daniel Faraday ever take off that horrible tie?

It was kind of sad to go through a whole episode without Hurley, but we did get this great line from Sawyer as pretty much our sole source of humor: "You want to stay here in crazy town or help me rescue the geek."

And on a personal note, I was glad to see Latin coming in so handy, since my kids will be learning the not-so-dead-if-you-happen-to-be-an-Other language, which is taught in their Classical Christian school. Good to know.