(S06E08) Mr. Ford was back at the center of 'Lost' for this week's installment. The flash-sideways started us off in familiar territory before veering sharply into the unexpected. Pieces and characters are starting to come together a little more in the beta-verse, with lots of interesting potential.

Back in the alpha-verse, we spent the entire episode with MiB-Locke and his motley crew of temple survivors. That meant Kate got to spend some quality time with Claire and the new and subdued Sayid. All in all, it was one of the most uncomfortable scenes I've ever seen on the show. Imagine being surrounded by familiar faces and yet none of them are who they are; it was like some horrible mirror universe sequence.

Sawyer wasn't there for Kate's awkward moment, because he was off on some secret mission for MiB-Locke. A mission that raised even more questions, while setting the stage for what will likely be the ultimate conflict for the season.

(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.

(S05E03) "Because... he's one of my people." - Locke

I really need to get in the habit of taping my mouth shut while watching Lost because my jaw is always on the floor by the end of every episode. Time-traveling has added an entirely new dimension (literally) to the story-telling techniques of this show and the first three hours of this season have been some of Lost's best. The flash-backs always lacked a certain amount of tension because they already happened. On the flip side of the same coin, the same can be said about the flash-forwards because you know they're going to happen. But time-traveling has created this new ripple where nothing has permanence anymore, whether it happened, is happening, or will happen. This is mesmerizing stuff to watch unfold because everything becomes new the second Faraday, Locke, and Co. make a new jump. They may not be altering the ultimate outcome, but they are altering the moment.

(S05E02) "There's no calling my father off." - Penny

Everybody lies. Some people enjoy the thrill of getting away with it ... and then there's Hurley. While this wasn't a traditional flash-back/flash-forward episode with one character as the focus (hard to say if those will ever be feasible again), this was pretty much a Hurley-centric hour anyway.

As the plot progresses this season, it's going to be interesting to see who becomes important (and who becomes irrelevant) to the ultimate endgame. That being said, we learned one pretty important fact in this episode:

Without Hugo in the mix, "then God help us all."

(S05E01) "You're gonna have to die, John." - Richard Alpert

Time travel! The future is now! later! here! gone! beginning! ending! OK, I give up. Lost is back and the future is... well, we don't know what the future is. Or the past. Or the present. All we know is what they were, because now they're just one big time travelin' mess.

As with seasons past of Lost, the fifth chapter of TV's favorite mindf*ck opens by presenting an entirely new storytelling technique - one that demands equal parts patience, attention, and imagination. More than anything, it's a test for true fans because the casual Lost viewer (do they exist?) probably had a hard time moving from A to Z (worst metaphor ever - I know) in tonight's season premiere. That being said, this whole hour gave me my own bloody nose.

As amazing as Lost is, I still hate it for one tiny reason - every time a new season begins, I get terrified that I won't "get it." If that happened, it would completely deflate my enjoyment of the show. While Lost has had its fair share of WTF episodes, most of them are decipherable after repeat viewings; season five's first two installments definitely fall into that category. It's like playing the sequel of your favorite video game - for the most part, the controls and game-play are the same, but there are enough changes that it still takes you a few hours to get a handle on it.

All casting rumors for Lost seem to have been debunked almost as quickly as they spread.

Last week, Isabelle reported on word that Veronica Mars' Kristen Bell and Prison Break's Peter Stormare were being considered for two new recurring roles on Lost. The Stormare rumor got squashed pretty quickly, and today TV Guide's Ausiello is reporting that Kristen Bell won't be joining the cast, either. The reason, he says, is because Bell didn't want to relocate to Hawaii.

Well, shucks. I adore Stormare and would love to see Bell get a gig that'll give her a wider audience.

What did Katharine McPhee do to tip the balance in the universe so bad things happen to her? Maybe it's because she continues to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow as if she wrote the song herself. Earlier this week, she broke her foot during a performance. Her wranglers say she tripped on something backstage at the Idols concert in Charlotte, North Carolina. She sang two songs wearing "slipper sandals" (huh?) and then went directly to the hospital for x-rays, which revealed a broken left foot. She had just rejoined the tour last Friday after suffering from bronchitis and laryngitis. This mishap, however, is not enough for her to leave the tour.

It must be the crowd, and not the cameras or the lights, that is making Kellie Pickler nervous. After all, she has been on a televised singing competition before. And it wasn't too long ago. TMZ has a short video clip of Kellie competing in a 2005 Charlotte, North Carolina singing competition called Gimme the Mike (we have a version here in Portland, too). Kellie made it into the top five but did not win. The clip over at TMZ shows Kellie singing Independence Day and Stand by Your Man. I think she's yelling the songs, but, then again, I think she yells every song. There are also photos from her high school yearbook where she's totally into cheerleading and she still has naturally blond hair.