• Great episode title — I thought for sure we would see Faraday, since it’s lifted from his deterministic remark earlier in the season.
• Jin is just acting weird these days. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but they’re not quite servicing his character right now.
• Jack is a jerk. I’m putting him on the same list as Sayid after he refused to help Ben. It’s not even like he was on bad terms with Ben prior to landing on the island — they were allies, and Ben is the reason he managed to get back to the island. He may not be busy trying to control things like before, but he’s still as ignorant and ungrateful as ever.

• Good to see Kate fess up over her reason for taking Aaron — as I always said, she did it for herself, not for Aaron or Claire. If she had really cared for Aaron she would have sought out Miss Littleton (or other members of Claire’s family) instead of passing the child off as her own. Anyway, I’m glad that I am on the same page as the writers when it comes to character motivations, and the disparity between how a lot of the characters see themselves and how they actually ‘are’.
• I thought that the Roger/Kate ‘connection’ was rather forced — did he remind her of Wayne, or even Sawyer? The events in this episode certainly allowed Kate to view events with new eyes. I found the majority of the back-story/present time parallels to be handled well (i.e. Sawyer caring for Ben because that’s how he’d want someone to care for his Cassidy).
• Jack is a jerk. Oh, wait, did I say that already?
• I enjoyed the Miles/Hurley time-travel debate! It was a nice way to lighten the tension, whilst allowing those who are still confused as to how the “rules” work to gain some further understanding. I was surprised, however, by Mile’s belief that they could still die in the current 1977 time-state, despite already existing on the island in 2004. I’m wondering if this is a misconception on his part, and consequently a red-herring from the writers? Or CAN the time-travelling Losties actually die in their current time-state? If this is the case then it is an unexpected addition to the attributes of island time-travel. Had I known this last week I would have been MUCH more concerned for Ben’s welfare, instead of being so sure in my proclamation that future Ben was alive, meaning that Lil’ Ben must live! I mean, I was right, but if Mile’s theory is correct (and I still doubt his theory to a degree), then I was right, but right without having all of the information.
• Despite my dislike for Kate, it was good to see her doing something to take care of Ben. It’s not just because Ben (along with Locke) is my favourite character on the show, but I find it encouraging that someone like her can still show some humanity (unlike Sayid and Jack). I guess both Kate and Sawyer’s own personal experiences of ‘parenthood’ (of sorts) enabled them to value the life of child Ben.
• I always love it when the Others come striding out of the jungle — this episode featured another great moment of the Other’s sneaky ninja skills, where they surround Kate and Ben-carrying Sawyer. Even better was seeing Alpert again! Nestor Carbonell plays the character so very well — just the expressions that he gives, and the timing of his words – he’s perfect for this role.
• I was struck by yet another new revelation in this episode. I had previously believed that lil’ Ben always grew up with the knowledge of the time-travelling Losties and Sayid’s attempt to murder him (“whatever happened, happened”, right?), however, according to Alpert, young Ben will forget “this ever happened”. I guess young Ben will still be told what happened to him by Roger and the D.I., and he’ll probably be told about Sayid (etc)? so it’s not like he’ll have no knowledge of events, just that the personal experience of those events will be removed? That said, judging by what Alpert said, and using Rousseau’s team as an example, it would seem as though Ben will be somewhat transformed by his ‘rebirth’ in the Temple. Indeed, that’s why they call it re-birth. He’ll obviously retain some of himself though, since we’ve seen ahead of the current time period courtesy of previous seasons. Also, in season 3, when Ben said that he was “born on the island”, he WASN’T lying after all! It will be interesting to see the change in young Ben though, as well as the nature of his transformation. I mean, Robert seemed very sinister – enough for him to try to kill the mother of his child! — so it will be intriguing to see the i-dent. that the Temple (or should I say Smokey?) gives young Ben. As I mentioned we’re already privy to the ‘reborn’ Ben, but I think it will give us a better understanding of Ben’s change to see that change occur in the young Ben. In many ways, there was always going to be a slight change in Ben as a result of the Sayid shooting, however I expected it to be a conscious one born out of distrust of people (etc) — now it seems that the change is not only metaphorical and spiritual..but literal.
• I appreciated the reference to Charles and Ellie — 25 years on from their underling roles, they have seemingly come to power in the ranks of the Others. Last season I predicted that Charles was tricked by Ben into turning the wheel (and losing the island), so I’ve long believed that he was a former leader of the “Others”, but I didn’t give as much thought to Ellie’s past Island status (although we know that she’s very ’special’ off island) . Now the suggestion would appear to be that they were ‘joint’ leaders of the “Others” in 1977? ..I guess I’ll have to wait and see on that one. Either way, I loved Alpert going right over their heads and taking matters into his own hands (literally). I always get the sense that Alpert would sooner be the leader himself, but for whatever reason, he’s “not supposed to”. Good to see him making leadership decisions — clearly, he doesn’t rate the abilities of Charles or Ellie — perhaps this gives us more of an indication of the ’sides’ in the current-day war?
• The final scene with Locke watching over Ben as he slowly wakes up from his injuries, was fantastic. It was comforting to see Ben alive (Mile’s comment about time-travellers being able to die even though they already exist in the future, had me slightly concerned — and it did seem as though 2007 Ben was going through the throws of something moments before he opened his eyes..). I loved the look of shock on Ben’s face as Locke simply uttered “welcome back to the land of the living“! Great line embodied with so much meaning and depth, and the confidence soaring though Locke was great to see. I do love Ben, but Locke deserves his time to shine.

This was a great episode, perhaps not as good as last “He’s Our You”, but still very good. Kate centric episodes are never my favourite, and so her angst coupled with some contrivances dragged my rating down a bit, but overall I give it a quality 8/10.