Saving you "LOST" time: 10/25/06

This episode was actually supposed to go before “The Glass Ballerina” but for some unknown reason, didn’t.
This episode’s opening was, shot for shot, the same as the opening in the pilot, but Locke instead of Jack (for example, this one opened on Locke’s eye, but it was Jack’s in the pilot. While Locke sees Desmond in the brush, Jack had seen Vincent.)

Perhaps Locke = new Jack and will take over as the leader of the Losties while Jack will be “turned” by Ben and the Others.

Believe the flashback was more about the community he found than the fact that he got duped, again.

Also could be looked at as parallel between Locke’s commune family and the Others.

THEORY: Joining the Others may make sense to Locke, having joined a commune before. Also may be a test for himself to see if he can do it without becoming a dupe or mark again.

Or, if Locke is the new Jack, then Jack will get duped, not Locke. Maybe the stuff that happened in and about the hatch has brought back Locke’s faith

Possible that the head of the commune was the lead singer or head of the band, Geronimo Jackson. This band was mentioned by Eddie, the undercover cop, AND was an album in the hatch that Hurley and Charlie found.
We do not know if Locke actually shot Eddie. Here is a screen shot of Eddie the undercover cop's ID : http://humpys.net/view_pic.php?id=247&season=3
Perhaps that commune that Locke was part of was growing and selling the marijuana to fund DHARMA.
In the drug dream with Boone, Ben/Hurley/Desmond all worked for the airline. Jack was being investigated by Benry, Sawyer and Kate were together, while Sayid was in charge of Sun and Jin. Hurley was on his way to do the work Ben asked of him…is Desmond working for the Others too?
More writing on Eko’s stick:

In the bear cave, the skeleton on the ground was wearing clothing with the Pearl Station logo on it.
There was a dirty Tonka truck in the cave. Apparently Walt had been playing with one when he was a kid in one of Michael's flashback episodes. http://humpys.net/view_pic.php?id=250&season=3
After Locke rescued Eko, there is the belief that when Eko then spoke to Locke, it was really the island speaking through Eko, and Eko was really unconscious.
Desmond may or may not have the ability to predict the future now.

Perhaps he cannot predict the future, but rather after, the hatch implosion, Locke, Eko and Desmond actually got sent to the future for a day. All episode people kept asking Locke where he was for a day.

If they went into the future, then possibly Desmond heard Locke’s speech then. Desmond did not say to Hurley, “I see that Locke is going to save Jack, Sawyer and Kate.” He actually said “Don’t worry. Locke is going to go after them. He said so in his speech.” This sounds like Desmond already heard the speech, even though Locke had not yet said it.

OR Locke, Desmond and Eko may all be connected or linked on some psychic plane since they were all in the hatch together when it imploded.

OR Desmond may be a figment of Hurley’s imagination. Hurley was the only one who talked to him during the whole episode. Desmond did not join the group for Locke’s speech, though it appeared as though he was within ear shot.

There are 3 tunnels left leading out of where the hatch had been. Perhaps the implosion opened the wall that was sealed in the hatch that Sayid and Jack had found. Maybe they will follow it to go deeper into the island. http://gallery.lost-media.com/albums/ep-caps/season3/3x03-instructions/2/instructions-cap-298.jpg
2 new characters were introduced: Nikki and Paulo

Originally were supposed to be introduced in a scene where they are caught having sex in Jack’s tent by Claire. But this scene was cut.

Hurley did not mention what happened to Michael (or Walt) nor did anyone ask. Though frustrating, it is consistent with the communication issues we’ve seen in the prior 2 seasons.

RANDOM:

Screen shot of Benry's monitors in the hydra station from the Glass Ballerina: http://humpys.net/view_pic.php?id=234&season=3

SPOILERS:

May also have a Desmond flashback, but they have never done 2 different character flashbacks (not including Sun/Jin and Michael/Walt) in the same episode.

Episode Synopsis: Sawyer discovers just how far his captors will go to thwart his and Kate’s escape plans. Jack must scrub up to save an Other’s life. Desmond’s behavior perplexes the survivors when he starts constructing an unknown device.

Benry will have a bizarre reveal to Sawyer that if true, will change what we know of the LOST island.

Synopsis: Eko wrestles with demons from his past while Locke and some other Lostaways head back to Pearl Station in the hope of finding a computer to help them locate their friends. Jack doesn’t know who to trust when two of the Others seem at odds with each other.

Saving you "LOST" time