Saving you "LOST" time: Episode 3-5: "Cost of Living"

Eko stuff:

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje who played Eko had only committed to a year contract with LOST, he didn't want to be on the show long term. So the producers had planned on him not lasting too long. But Michelle Rodriguez had also only committed to one year. So when they killed her off, they wanted to space out Eko's death so they were not too close nor connected.
Eko's Flashback:

Did Eko buy the vaccine to sell and make money (he was leaving for London) or to get the bad guys back so he could kill them?
This backstory did not connect Eko to anyone else on the island that we can tell. Why have him survive the hatch implosion just to kill him off a few episodes later?

Not done by a human or accident, but by black smoke
Boone and Shannon had found redemption in a way, became a different and better person than they were off island. Eko refused redemption.

When Eko was brought back to the beach by Locke and Charlie, it was interesting to see how the Losties were behaving/reacting to having no doctor since Jack is captured. All they did was stick Eko in a tent, put the flaps down and hope he healed himself.
Yemi (Eko's brother)'s body was gone from the plane, very similarly to Jack's dad's body not being where it should be in the "White Rabbit" episode of Season 1. Were the bodies ever there? Boone saw Yemi's body and the heroin from the paln was there. And why did the plane end up there anyway?

Locke:

Locke is now running things at the beach with the Losties. He seems to be running things more like a commune, saying that everyone can come along when he was going to the Pearl Station

Was it just a good way to get the new characters, Paolo and what's her name, into the show or was it new leadership?
Jack's leadership method was more about surviving the island while Locke's is more about understanding the island.
Perhaps Jack knew it was good to keep some things from people so they don't panic.
Sayid seems to be a little annoyed by Locke's style of leading. Maybe this will be a bigger issue down the road.

Jack:

Funeral: Benry made Jack attend the funeral, which was a very Asian custom oriented funeral (wearing white gowns, not black). Perhaps this is a connection to old DHARMA ways?
Was Jack invited because he had tried to save Collen, or did Ben want to show him a more human side to the Others?
Unclear how often these funerals happen to the Others. Juliet said in this episode that she "hates funerals" but in a previous episode, she had said that she is "not used to death."
Interaction between Jack and Juliet with the video:

If Juliet is telling the truth about wanting Ben dead, wonder if she wants to step into role as leader.
In the relationship between Ben and Juliet, it seems to run parallel to the Jack/Locke relationship. Ben = Jack while Juliet = Locke.

Don't forget that when Juliet held that gun to Kate's head, Sawyer believed she would have shot Kate. She has something inside her that perhaps actually makes her bad, and maybe then Ben is actually good.

Black Smoke:

This episode confirms that when people on the island see people from their past, it is actually the Black Smoke.
Eko chasing Yemi through the woods was very similar to Jack chasing his fathre through the woods in "White Rabbit" in season 1. Both followed a "person" to where their body should have been but wasn't.
It is quite clear now that what the Black Smoke is, it has an agenda.
Danyelle had mentioned it in the past as the monster, so she must have seen it, and one would imagine the Others have seen it too.
Is it a tool of something else? is someone controlling it somewhere?
It was very interesting that Locke thought it was beautiful while Eko definitley did not.
The Black Smoke would not have killed Eko, it seems, if he had asked to be redeemed. The other time Eko looked at the Smoke face to face and when Locke looked at it too, they both had faith in something big (the island, religion)
When in the form of Yemi, the Black Smoke said to Eko "You speak to me as if I am your brother." Maybe the Black Smoke doesnt even know what form it takes. It appears to be "an incarnation of a monster' or a "manifistation from Eko's memory." The first time Eko met the Smoke, there were flashes of memories the Smoke pulled from Eko's brain. Perhaps it did that so it would be able to manifest itself based on those memories.

Patch Guy:

Seemed as though Sayid was more surprised than other to see the Patch guy in the monitor. Perhaps he recognized him, maybe from his days with the US Army?
Remember that in the hatch the Tailes had found, there was a glass eye...and an Army knife. Could be a connection there.

Random:

Last line of this episode was "We're next." which is what Eko said to Locke before he died (at least, what Locke said Eko said.). Does this mean that the Black Smoke will be judging everyone, and their lives depend on what its judgement?
Confirmation from the executive producers: the polar bears on the Hydra station escaped during the collapse of DHARMA.

Spoilers:

Next episode: "I Do"-Kate-centric.
Official ABC synapsis Jack makes decision regarding Ben's offer. Kate feels helpless when it looks like an angry Pickett is going to make good on his threat to kill Sawyer. Locke discovers a hidden message that may guide him through his next steps in journey to unlocking the secrets of the island.
Nathan Fillion from the tv series "Firefly" will be playing Kate's husband.
We will find out more about Karl (the boy in the cage with Sawyer in the first episode of season 3, who tried to help Sawyer escape) in this episode. We'll find out why he is there and why he tried to escape.
When the show returns in February, it will be a Juliet flashback.
Right now, it appears as though Bernard is the only Tailie left alive. But around episode 8 of this season, we will be seeing Cindy (stewardess) and the 2 kids taken from the Tailies in "The Other 48 hours"

Saving you "LOST" time