Lost: "Some Like it Hoth"

Do you know what lies in the shadow of the statue? Love that.
We have the original inhabitants of the island who know what lies in the shadow of the statue (at least, my theory is that they're original inhabitants from way way way way back), then we have the Richard Alpert group that may or may not be part of the original inhabitants (contemporary with them? Maybe there was an original split in the ancient past that is still reverberating years and years and years later and no one even knows why they're fighting anymore.) Next there's the Dharma people who don't know the full extent of the story - more like 'civilization' trying to take advantage of native technologies and resources. Widmore is siding with some of the original inhabitants, but not the 'off island' ones. Is he with Richard Alpert? And Ben is a pawn in the larger battle. As Locke will be, unless he figures things out and the Oceanic group ends the ancient war. Wow - lots of speculation. I don't remember enough of the details to know if that theory is even possible.

Good episode. Miles becomes more than a quip.
This came from the recap on TVGuide...

"You're playing for the wrong team," Bram says. "What team are you playing for?" Miles asks. "The one that's going to win," Bram replies, which speaks directly to Widmore's assertion that there's going to be a war on the island, and that, without Locke, the wrong side is going to win. Any thoughts on who the sides are — and which side we're rooting for at this point? I need to know which team colors to wear before the next pep rally.

Yeah - I don't know which side to be on!!

My favorite dialoge of the night was when Miles is driving the van out to Radzinsky. Radzinsky stops him and asks what he's doing there. Miles says:
"LeFleur's busy.
Horace sent me instead.
I'm in the Circle of Trust."

HA HA! That Circle of Trust is pretty funny. It makes the Dharma people seem like kids in junior high who think they're really cool. Funny.

The Dharma initiative seems a little odd to me (well, apart from the obvious elements that prove they ARE wierd). Its a pretty small community and yet when one of their kids goes missing, most of the people don't have any idea or change their routine at all. Contrast that with the old westerns we used to watch. Those stories took place in small towns where everyone knew they were dependent on only themselves and when something happened, the whole town became involved in one way or another. Not in Dharmaville, I guess. Are the residents of Dharmaville being kept out of the loop about the "Hostiles"? That doesn't make sense because they have some alert system they're all aware of. Are they all cold-blooded criminal types? I mean, really, who would allow themselves to be drugged to board a sub to go to work? And then keep their mouths shut. Strange. And why is Horace in charge? He doesn't seem like he has the right peronality traits for leadership if the person who started Dharmaville really wanted it to be a serious business venture.

Anyway - lots of stuff I don't get. I'm not savvy enough to know if what I don't understand is key to the story; a clue to the puzzle, or careless writing/plotting/planning on the part of production - or something they had to do to serve the story and even if its not ideal, it has to be done. like putting Horace in charge, or making Dharmaville strange, or people doing clearly stupid things like keeping their mouths shut when they know they should say something.