1. Glibness / superficial charm
2. Grandiose sense of self-worth
3. Pathological lying
4. Conning / manipulative
5. Lack of remorse or guilt
6. Shallow affect
7. Callous / lack of empathy
8. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
9. Promiscuous sexual behavior

With the exception of promiscuous sexual behavior, Ben's personality runs the table. How'd you like to have this guy warm for your form? Yikes!

You've gotta give him credit though, he's one smart little bugger. Once again he gets exactly what he wants. He's out of the dungeon and one step closer to regaining control, and he will regain control. We already know he's gonna retire from his post on the island and start up his own little veterinary clinic.

Speaking of getting what he wants, how the hell did he get Harper to deliver his message for him?  Is he telepathic, or did he already have a plan in place for when the freighter shows up? He may have seen these scenarios during a forward flash, or gone back to the past after they happened, and been coaching his people on how to react for years.

While we're on the subject of Harper, how did she pop in and out like that, and how do the whispers play into her comings and goings? I just don't have a clue. Maybe she's teleporting. Whatever was going on with bunny #15 back in the Orchid video doesn't appear to be time travel, at least not the kind Desmond is experiencing anyways.

I think Dharma was working on teleporting in the Orchid, perhaps as a way to get on and off the island without the timeline flipping side effect. Maybe they found out it created a different side effect, instead of just your consciousness moving through time, your whole being would shift in time as you teleported. I know I'm stretching here, but wouldn't it explain quite a bit? The whispers could even be the voices of people who have been in that particular place either in the past or future "leaking" out of the ripple in time as the person came through.

Okay, enough. I'm getting delirious.

I still haven't gotten to "the list", or about a million other things, but they'll all have to wait. Lots of puzzle pieces even though it was kind of a slow episode.

Check out the screen caps from next weeks episode. There's a woman jumping from the ship and she strikes me as familiar. Any ideas?

The Other Woman - Pardon me while I pass some gas...

Ok, so why is there poison gas in a power station? The Tempest is obviousley more than just a power station.

Dharma must have been cooking up the gas when they we're still running the show. Is it the same gas Ben used to overthrow Dharma? Probably, but how did he get his hands on enough of it to wipeout the whole operation and why were they making it in the first place?

It could be that they were developing nerve gas. It's been hinted at that Hanso was involved in creating viruses, why not nerve gas also? Maybe one of the reasons they were there was to use the island's mysterious properties to help them develop new "super" biological weapons. I'm beginning to think that outside of the survivors of 815, there are no good guys on this show. I keep coming back to my original theory that the Losties have been brought there to course correct and redeem themselves in the process. Their lot in life is to stop whatever is going on, and they will be constantly drawn back to the island until their buisness is finished.

Desmond is the prime example. It would seem that everything that has happened in his life has been carefully orchestrated to put him in this place, in this time, to aid and guide the survivors. Who's pulling his strings though? Mrs. Hawking and her associates? God? Karma? Man, that's a tough one, but I think it's the key to everything.

All right, lets move on to another unfathomable mystery, The List. Ben mentioned it a couple of times this week. The kids are on the list. Juliet is on the list. He even says that Goodwin wanted Ana Lucia to be on the list.

It's was referred to by Mr. Friendly as Jacob's List, but if people can be added to the list once they are deemed worthy, then it would seem that it couldn't be. If it was, and The Others truly revere him as a "Great Man", then they would never dare to add their own personal choices to it. "Thanks for the ten commandments God. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to add a few of my own on the way back down the mountain.." Nah, I don't see it. 

So who's list is it? Maybe Jacob gave Ben an intial list and charged him with adding people to it as it became obvious to him that they would be players in the endgame. Or maybe Ben just thinks he should be adding people to it, and has subsequently pissed Jacob off. There's also the possibility that it's Ben's list entirely and he just calls it Jacob's list for the added juice... I've always suspected that he stretches the truth with the that whole " 'cause Jacob sez so" routine of his.

Ji Yeon - Soft core spoiler...

Enough for now, there's a new Sun and Jin centric episode tomorrow night, Ji Yeon, that the cast has said will be the most shocking yet this season. Looks like Sayid and Desmond will finally meet the freighters captain also. Should be good.

We're nearing the end of the pre-strike stash of 8 episodes and it looks like it will be at least 4 weeks before they start up again for the final 5. I'm bummin' already. Thank goodness the Sox are coming back to fill my lonely hours...  

PS - Welcome to the ladies of Tangles!