Really, 'Lost'? I mean, really?

I want to be in a good place about Wednesday's Lost, featuring as it did more fantastic two-handed work by Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn, a bit of a shocker at the end and a fair amount of new information about the island's history.

But seriously -- how are we supposed to get around the Jacob issue? (And here comes the stuff you might want to avoid if you haven't seen the episode. You've been warned.)

I know, as the Dharma man (that'd be Dr. Marvin Candle, for you obsessives out there) told us in the welcome-to-the-island video that the island has "properties that exist nowhere else in the world." But an invisible man? Really?

No -- really?

OK. Let us not speak of it anymore (at least until the comments section). Because there really was some good stuff in the other 55 minutes of the episode, starting with another acting class by Emerson and O'Quinn. You have to commend the writers for recognizing the incredible chemistry the two actors share, and writing to it. And I love the dynamic between the characters, with Ben essentially saying, You think you're a man of faith? I'll show you what faith is, pal.

Ben's flashback also gave us a wealth of new information about his life. He was not, as he's claimed, born on the island, though he's been there probably a good 30 or 35 years. His dad is Roger "Workman," who joined the Dharma Initiative on the belief that he'd be changing the world and instead finds himself working as a handyman, making him -- not all that surprisingly, really -- a bitter and resentful drunkard. (Even the Others, apparently, have daddy issues.)

The Others, or Hostiles, or whatever you want to call them, apparently predate the Dharma-ites (or are at least contemporaries), but it was Ben, we have to figure, who allowed them to wipe out the Initiative folks and take over the barracks. That also helps explain how Ben came to a leadership position within the group -- and, this is just my thought, but maybe telling the lie that he was born on the island helps him keep it.

We don't know how long it's been since a child was conceived, born and survived on the island (Rousseau and Claire having already been pregnant when they arrived). If Ben can perpetuate the idea that he did, that makes him a pretty special guy, even if he's something of a latecomer to the Others. (Side note: Does the island also have anti-aging properties for some inhabitants? 'Cause aside from a haircut, Richard sure as heck didn't change much from the time he met young Ben to the gas attack on the barracks.)

The episode didn't spend a whole lot of time at the camp, although it looks like Jack was drawing on the trust of most of the survivors to tap-dance around his questionable and secretive doings with Juliet. (Best line: Naomi's incredulous "Don't you even want to be rescued?") It's hard to believe, though, that Sawyer and Sayid are fully buying into whatever the good doctor is selling, so I'm interested to see how that plays out.

And about that ending, which I guess forces me to return to Jacob a little bit. What do we take as Ben's motive here? Was he reasserting his power -- which seemed a little shaky earlier, as Richard and Tom sat by while Locke beat the crap out of Mikhail? Keeping Jacob's secret intact? Pissed that Locke had heard something, which would mean Ben's not the only one who has a connection to him? Some of all of that? (And will the island's healing power help Locke out again?)

But then, there's still that invisible man. Bloody hell.

Time for you to weigh in: Is there any way Jacob ever makes sense? And what did you think of the rest of this week's Lost?

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