(S05E04) "I have to make them come back... even if it kills me." - Locke

And so begins the quest of Jeremy Bentham. That's been one of the real treats this season - seeing the Oceanic Six in the present while having their plot juxtaposed against the real-time (well... as "real-time" as real-time can get when you're time traveling) plight of those still on the island three years ago. The fact that we only saw Locke lay the foundation for his plan involving the Orchid to get everyone back was still mesmerizing. I love knowing what happens to him but not knowing the circumstances of his "suicide" and how he ended up in that coffin at Hoffs Drawler. Despite the lack of any more development on Locke's plan beyond what we got, this episode was still phenomenal - mainly because two people we've all been missing finally showed up again.

Let's break down the happenings on the island first. Following Charlotte's collapse in last week's episode, I was hoping we'd get Dan to spill some of the answers that he clearly has. His knowledge is even more vital now that Juliet and Miles have also come down with nosebleeds.

If being neurologically affected by the the time flashes relates directly to exposure to the island as Dan says ("really bad jet-lag"), then this creates some interesting assumptions about Miles and Charlotte - mainly that they've both been on the island before for an extended period of time. Obviously, Juliet was. Now we know Charlotte is looking for where she was born and assuming it was on the island, that would account for her previous time there. Miles could be in the same boat and thus far, it would make sense if he turned out to be Pierre Chang's son, whom we saw in the premiere's opening sequence. Dan was in that sequence too and if we speculate that he's been on the island before as well, via one of his time traveling experiments at Oxford, then it's possible that he's Charlotte's father. It would certainly explain his love for her as well as the unyielding attention he gives her. Even Charlotte pointed out that he didn't need to keep babying her. That's what fathers do though. Could be a stretch, but I think it makes sense.

More island breakdown:

• I liked that they finally flashed to a point in time that they (and we) knew - during the season one episodes "Deus Ex Machina" and "Do No Harm." I thought it was interesting that Locke was concerned with avoiding the Swan hatch and Desmond's light. Obviously, John was there on the hatch when the light came on. So why is he so concerned with avoiding his past self?
• Sawyer seeing Kate help Claire give birth to Aaron was obviously a very telling scene to show again, especially considering everything else that happened in this episode. However, weren't Jin and Charlie also present for the birth? How come Sawyer didn't see them?
• And speaking of Jin, we finally found out that a.) he's alive, and b.) he's been within the island's radius making the time jumps right along with everyone else. Granted, he's been passed out on a plank... but he's there. While Locke found ship wreckage, which I immediately assumed was the Kahana, it turned out to be a much different and much older ship altogether - Rousseau's. The young (and pregnant) Danielle and her Frenchie companions (including her love, Robert) saved Jin. I'm giddy with anticipation to find out how her crew really died. We know she killed them, but I want more details other than they all had "the sickness."

OK, moving on to some Oceanic Six analysis. It came as no surprise that Ben is indeed Norton's client - I called that one weeks ago. However, I had really been hoping that I was wrong and using Carole Littleton as a red herring was hugely disappointing. I was really hoping for her to have some sinister motive. No dice though. It was all Ben and I'm assuming he was also behind the hitman sent to get Sayid in the hospital. Scaring people into doing his bidding by thinking it's their will has always been his strong suit.

Everyone's back together now, save for Hurley (who Norton seemed confident he could get released), and I would imagine that next week's episode will offer some info on how they have to return. I'm guessing Sun won't be into the idea though. It seems as though her motives are far less complicated than many have thought. She really does just want to kill Ben.

Parting thoughts...

• Sawyer had the best question of the episode when he asked Locke what he'd tell the Oceanic Six to make them come back. So far we only know he told them bad things happened. I'm guessing there's more to the story when we finally see him ring Jack or Kate's doorbell.
• How exactly did that bottle of Ajira Airways water get on that canoe? And where did the canoes come from? Why was the camp deserted? Could another plane have crashed on or near the island at whenever in time Locke and Co. jumped to? Whatever the answers, it seems as though there's another faction of people on the island now. Are they making the time jumps too? And why would they have taken the zodiac raft when they had the two canoes? They've got guns... we know that.

Here's the official release for next week's episode. Don't get a bloody nose reading it:

"This Place is Death" - Locke takes on the burden to stop the island's increasingly violent shifts through time. Meanwhile, Ben hits a roadblock in his attempt to reunite the Oceanic 6 and bring them back to the island, on "Lost," WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11 (9:00-10:02 p.m., ET) on ABC.