Ranking Group 1 of The Top 36

What a terrible night for American Idol! I was really looking forward to the actual competition starting and getting to see the standouts in the large group of 32. So far, there is really only one standout for me: Danny Gokey. I have heard a lot of internet buzz that his performance last night was not as good as the judges made it out to be, and I agree to an extent. I think there have been way better performances at this stage of the competition in past seasons, but after such terrible performances one right after the other, I was ready to stand up and cheer Danny on. I think the judges felt much the same way. So, as will be the tradition from now on, I will rank the performers based on how I felt they did last night. So, here they are, starting with the worst:

Below Average:

12. Casey Carlson

Yuck. There is absolutely nothing I liked about her performance. She murdered a song by a great band, The Police, and tried to make up for it with weird facial ticks. I was not impressed at all, and I think she will be long gone once the results come out tonight.

11. Stevie Wright

Her performance was equally terrible as Casey's, but I feel that she is redeemed slightly by not covering such an iconic song. Performing a Taylor Swift song in a singing competition doesn't make much sense to me, and Stevie just proved that she is not mature enough of a performer to make it on this show. She was out of tune and out of place on that stage. Sorry, Stevie.

10. Steven Fowler

Why did this guy get another chance? He forgot the words and now he murdered a Michael Jackson classic. He never got into the song and it was just oddly off throughout the whole thing. I also hate people who use the excuse that they only feel comfortable performing with an instrument- then you probably shouldn't be on American Idol. Sorry, Steven!

9. Jackie Tohn

I don't know what rubbed me wrong during this performance, but I just couldn't stand it. Maybe it is because I hate Elvis and I hate "A Little Less Conversation" even more. But, song choice aside, I'm always bothered when contestants put singing to the side and focus on "Getting Paula on her feet". Paula is always on her feet, so that is not that great of a task to shoot for. But, her outfit was weird and I don't think she showcased her vocals well at all.

Average:

8. Brent Kieth

Just a very forgettable performance of a song I've never heard of called "Hicktown". I have a bias against Country singers, but I just don't think he did very well. Nothing about the performance stands out, it was just an average country bar performance. I don't think we'll be seeing any more of Brent.

7. Ann Marie Boskovich

I was holding out high hopes for her, and I think I enjoyed her performance more than the judges did. Her problem was that she tried to tackle a song that was too big for her. I remember "Natural Woman" being performed by Kelly Clarkson and she nailed it. This didn't have quite the same impact. There were some good notes, but overall a fairly bland performance.

6. Anoop Desai

Even more frustrating was Anoop's rather lackluster performance. I was really rooting for him, but his performance left me unexcited. I really hope to see more of him, but based on that performance, I don't know if he can be saved. It has to get better than that, dawg.

5. Michael Sarver

Another very average performance that doesn't really stand out in my mind. He is a likable guy and sang a well-liked, fun song, but it was just bland. He only places higher than Anoop because he met my expectations for him while Anoop didn't. There isn't much more to say here.

4. Tatiana Del Toro

It is physically painful to put her so high on my list. She was the most annoying contestant I've ever witnessed during Hollywood week and I was apalled that the judges let her through. But, she was much more subdued and managed to give a decent performance. I feel that she is desperate for fame, and this is her sneaky plan to weasel her way into the finals. I worry that she is secretly a genius and is going to somehow plot her way to the finals. I think I've gone a little far, but she did do better than expected.

Above Average:

3. Alexis Grace

I was not as big a fan of her performance as Simon was, but I do see a lot of potential. Out of all the girls, she was BY FAR the best. She definitely deserves to move on. I wish the judges wouldn't emphasize how she should "dirty herself up". If she is a talented singer, that is all that matters and she should just be herself. But, I think she has some soul and could be a good addition to the top 12.

2. Ricky Braddy

Who is this guy? I feel bad for Ricky because if he had more screen time during auditions and Hollywood week, he would have a much better chance of moving on to the top 12. He gave a great performance of "A Song For You", which was nailed by previous idol contestant Elliot Yamin. Ricky could be a dark horse, if only he could somehow make the first step to being in the top 12.

1. Danny Gokey

I thought he nailed "Hero" by Mariah Carey (which, by the way, is a song I usually dislike). I love the soul to his voice and how he transitions from a rock sound to a cleaner sound. There were also some great hard notes that I thought he hit perfectly. It wasn't too great, but it was good enough. I think this is a good strategy because you don't want to hit America with your best performance before you are even in the top 12 (I'm talking about you David Archuleta). He needs to start solidly and build up so that he has a strong fan base and the potential to win.

Predictions: Every week I will give my prediction of who will move on/be voted out. This week, I am going to stick with my ranking and predict that the three moving on are Danny, Alexis, and Ricky. I am most nervous about Ricky because of his lack of screen time before this performance and because he performed so early last night. I think numbers 8-12 on my list (Brent, Jackie, Steven, Stevie, and Casey) have absolutely no shot. Anoop could steal the third spot by being an early favorite. Tatiana could steal the third spot by surprising the public and having Vote for the Worst support. But, I'll stick to my guns and say that the three moving on are Danny, Alexis and Ricky.

The good news is that, depending on who makes it, Anoop and Ricky (and maybe Taitiana?) will probably get another chance during the wildcard round. But, yeah, interesting start to American Idol, and I sincerely hope it gets better from here.

A Note about upcoming shows to be reviewed...

In a little while, I will start writing posts about three new shows. The nature of these reviews will be different than the Heroes and Lost ones I've been doing, so I thought I would put up this quick note of how it will work.

I am going to start reviewing three reality shows: Survivor, Amazing Race, and Survivor. But, what I'll do each week for these shows is rank the contestants each week to show who I think is closest to winning the show. In the cases of Survivor and Amazing Race, I might wait a couple weeks to do this so I can get used to the characters and have a better idea of how to rank them.

In regards to American Idol, I will start recapping this upcoming week. There are 36 finalists at this point and they will perform in 3 groups of 12. Each night a group of 12 performs, I will give a recap of their performances and rank them according to who I think it most likely to move on to the next round. There will be 3 moving on from each group, and then the judges will choose three wildcard picks, leading up to our top 12. So, expect that Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. I like to have that up before the results come in so I can see how accurate my predictions happened to be.

So, that is the nature of some reviews that are coming up. I hope this makes sense- I look forward to talking about these shows and giving my insight to who I think has the best chances of winning each show. I love reality tv.

This Place Is Death (S5, E4)

Welcome to another fun Lost recap! This was yet another fascinating episode and I loved every minute of it! It started with Jin's experience in the "Rousseau Era". Jin goes on an adventure with Danielle Rousseau and her crew. They have a run in with the smoke monster, which ends up killing a woman traveling with them and then dragging a man down into the Others' temple. One of the greatest scenes was all of the adventurers grabbing onto this man who is being dragged by the smoke monster and then seeing his arm pop off as he is taken under. All of the other people in Rousseau's group decide to go in after this man, but Jin urges Danielle to not go with them because she is pregnant. As they are standing there waiting for the crew to return, another flash occurs and Jin is taken to a new time period.

This time he explores a camp and sees two dead bodies. Then he hears a man and woman talking and sees Danielle and her husband pointing guns at each other. The man is urging her to put down her gun and Danielle is freaking out that her husband has been infected by the smoke monster and is not her husband anymore. Her husband convinces her that he is still her husband and she starts lowering her gun...only for her husband to pull the trigger on his gun pointed at her! Luckily the gun doesn't work, and Danielle goes ahead and shoots her "husband". Danielle then sees Jin and assumes he has been infected too and starts shooting at him. Luckily, Jin is saved by another flash...but he ends up with another gun pointed at him.

This time, though, the holder of the gun is Sawyer, and when he sees that it is Jin in front of him, he is excited to see him and they embrace. It is a great scene showing how far their friendship has developed throughout the course of the show. The castaways then make their way with Jin to the Orchid where John is convinced he can leave the island and convince the oceanic 6 to come back. They get more rapid flashes as they go, and Charlotte starts losing it. She collapses and starts talking about memories that happened a long time ago as if they are occurring right then and there. One notable thing she says, though, is our episode's title. She tells Jin not to bring Sun back to the island because "This place is death!". The castaways leave Charlotte and Daniel behind and proceed to the Orchid, which disappears as they travel to a time period where it didn't exist (right after Juliet happily exclaims that they are lucky they are in a time period where the Orchid still exists).

In one of her crazy rants, Charlotte told Locke to go to the well, so that is where they go, and John proceeds to climb down the well. Jin gives him his wedding ring before he leaves and tells him to convince Sun not to come back to the island by telling her that a dead Jin washed upon the shore and this is his ring for proof. Locke swears that he won't bring Sun back and then climbs down the well. Another flash occurs and the well is gone for the castaways, leaving them wondering if John was able to get down there in time. We are able to see that Locke falls down the well when the flash occurs, and ends up breaking his leg upon impact. He is given instructions by Christian Shepperd that he was supposed to move the island, not Ben, so now he has to make up for that mistake by moving the island now. So, John has to get up all by himself and move the big wheel and we'll see where that leads him possibly in the next episode!

Also on the island, Charlotte can't handle the flashes any longer and ends up dying. But, before she does she tells Daniel that she used to live on the island with the Dharma Initiative. She says that a man told her she would die if she ever returned to the island, and that man looked a lot like our very own Daniel Faraday! Very interesting. Does this mean that a flash will lead Daniel to a Dharma Initiative past where he tells a young Charlotte not to come back to the island where she will die? Or, is there more to Daniel than we already know?

Off the island, Sun storms up to Ben with a gun and almost pulls the trigger until Ben tells her that Jin is still alive and he has proof. Ben then drives Sun and Jack to the place where he has this proof for Sun. After a dramatic stop of the car where Ben loses it a little bit as Sun and Jack are discussing which one will shoot Ben, they arrive at the church where Ms. Hawking is. Ben pulls out the wedding ring Jin gave Locke and gives it to Sun. Ben says that Jin gave it to Locke before Locke left the island- so now we know that Ben and Locke talked to each other when Locke got off the island. We also see Desmond, who has come to see Daniel's mother, who is the very same Ms. Hawking they are all there to see. They arrive and Ms. Hawking exclaims that Ben was supposed to get all of them in which Ben responds that this is the best he could do on short notice. Ms. Hawking says that it'll have to do, and that is where the episode ends, leaving us wanting more.

I love this show so much! I'm curious to see where Locke ends up after he moved the wheel on the island. I also want to see how Ben can get more oceanic sixers to join his cause and allow them to return to the island together. Also, I'm curious if Ben can return to the island himself. He said he couldn't since he moved the wheel...but now we find out he wasn't even supposed to do that in the first place. And, Locke moved the wheel too, but it is clear that he is not only allowed, but supposed to come back to the island. So, I'm sure many of these things will be answered in the next episode- I can't wait!

Trust and Blood (E2, V4)

I will keep this brief since I don't have much time to write it this week and it was more of a transition episode. We got to see a few important and interesting things, though. The fugitives came together and Matt started drawing the future again. Ando and Daphne came to save the day, but Daphne ended up getting killed in the process. So, now we have our little band of heroes which includes Matt, Hiro, Ando, Mohinder, and of course Peter. There is also Claire who is part of their cause, but stuck at home under her parents watchful eye. I have a feeling she will join their side soon enough.

Nathan is trying to round up these heroes because he feels they are dangerous. He captures Tracy and keeps her locked up. He is desperately trying to keep his secret of having an ability while trying to capture others with abilities. He also calls his Mom to try to get her support, but she isn't willing to give it.

We also got to see Sylar get a new apprentice who is a boy who can emit microwaves. Sylar held the boy's father hostage in order to try to get information about his own father. When the man tries to escape and attack Sylar, the boy instinctively melts his father which shows that he is now on Sylar's side. The boy also indicates that he knows where to find Sylar's father. So, it should be interesting to see how this dynamic works. I really like the direction this new volume is going in and am interested in seeing how the fugitives can bond together and overthrow Nathan and the government. It should be fun!

The Little Prince (S5, E4)

How can one show be so awesome? I absolutely loved this episode of Lost! We got to see more about the Oceanic 6 and their process of gathering to get ready to return to the island. It still seems like it is going to be a difficult process, but it doesn't seem quite as impossible. Ben is working his magic and I think he is going to get what he wants. We also got to see some more time travel, which allowed the viewer to look into more history of the island. So, let's get into this!

Regarding the oceanic six, the episode focused on Kate and her going to the lawyer who came to her in the first episode demanded a blood sample from her and Aaron to determine if Aaron was really her son. Kate left her son with Sun, which might not be the most safe move ever since Sun recieves a package with a gun and chocolates. And Sun's method of parenting is fattening the kid up with candy and setting them in front of a TV. But, anyways, Kate goes to the lawyer and wants to know who his client is. She says that she will allow them to take a blood sample as soon as she knows who the client is. The lawyer says he'll talk to his client, but the answer is no. Kate doesn't take no for an answer, so she waits in her car to follow the lawyer to his client. Kate is interrupted though by a frantic Jack who has discovered her address in the pocket of a man who tried to attack Sayid. They end up leaving together to follow the lawyer and are shocked to see the lawyer go to...Claire's mother!

Jack insists that he can talk sense to Claire's mother and get them to leave Aaron alone. What he discovers though, is that Claire's mother has no idea about Aaron and is actually sueing Oceanic for a completely unrelated reason. Who is the real client? Benjamin Linus, of course! The lawyer meets Ben in a garage and tells him that he can get Hurley cleared of charges so they can recruit him. Things are starting to come together. The oceanic six minus Hurley and plus Ben all meet up at the marina. Sun is watching from a distance with Aaron in the backseat contemplating storming up and shooting Ben for revenge. Kate is not happy with the idea that Jack is now on Ben's side and that Ben is the one who was trying to get Aaron. So, there are still a lot of issues to work out, but the oceanic six got one step closer in this episode. Good luck, Ben!

On the island we got to see some more nosebleeds, meaning that the castaways are really starting to feel the effects of time travel. Miles and Juliet now join Charlotte as the nosebleeding three. The castaways took off for the Orchid so that Locke could leave the island like Ben did and convince the oceanic six to come back to stop all the time travelling craziness. They got to see a familiar moment from season 1 where the hatch lit up after Lockes despair over Boone's death. And Sawyer got a glimpse of Claire giving birth to Aaron with Kate playing doctor. This scene was important because it shows that Sawyer really misses and loves Kate, and it shows the beginning of Kate's involvement with Aaron. Another flash came, and the castaways ended up in more current times (although perhaps in the future) evidenced by their ravashed camp.

They find a boat on the shore and take it and start paddling to the orchid station. They end up getting shot at and are "saved" by another flash that sends them into a downpour and they quickly go to the shore. We then cut to another scene where a raft of people see a man out in the ocean laying on some wreakage. They bring him onto their raft, and we discover that it is Jin! He is not dead! The raft people bring him with them to the beach and start questioning him. They are talking in French, but switch to English when they find out that Jin speaks a little English. Big shocker: These people are Rousseau's crew! We see a very pregnant Danielle Rousseau talking to Jin. I am very curious to find out the backstory to these people.

So, that was an incredible episode and I can't wait to see the next episode! So, who do you think were in the boat shooting at the castaways? Could it be the oceanic six who have just come back to the island? Who will be next in having nosebleeds, and what does this mean for our beloved castaways? And what really happened to Rousseau's crew? Hopefully these questions will be answered soon. I can't wait!

A Clear and Present Danger (V4, E1)

Heroes is back! There have been a lot of complaints about the last volume and I agree with some of them. There were a lot of believablity issues, which are bound to pop up on a show that is so involved with time travel and varying superhuman abilities. But, the great thing about Heroes is you can put the previous volume on the shelf and have a fresh start in the new volume. Sure, there are many carryover elements from previous volumes, but the story at large is a whole different animal. Here are some things of interest from the epiosde that I noticed.

The episode was mainly structured around the main characters being hunted down for their abilities. The Heroes are trying to go back to their normal lives- Peter as a nurse, Mohinder as a cab driver, Matt as a cop. The problem is, Nathan has other plans for these Heroes- to lock them up and throw away the key. He feels they are dangerous and shouldn't live amongst the general public. He seems to forget, though, that he is one of these Heroes himself. For some reason, in his mind, even though he has a power he doesn't deserve the same fate as all the others with powers.

Before everyone got taken into custody, we got cool glimpses into their lives. We got to see Hiro take on a new role as the man behind the hero. Hiro lost his powers last volume, but he refuses to let his passion for saving the world die, so now his is living through his friend Ando who just recently acquired powers. It is a complete role reversal for the two and Hiro is taking it to the extreme by injecting them with tracking devices and having a whole computerized setup so Hiro can communicate with Ando from the home base. Ando is most excited, though, about the new motorcycle, which he takes out and ends up at a strip club much to Hiro's dissapointment. Ironically, the Heroes gatherers took Hiro (the one without powers) and not Ando (the one with powers). They must not know yet that Hiro has no ablilities and Ando does.

We get to see Mohinder try to dodge several agents trying to take him in. We discover that Mohinder still has his super strength, but must have gotten rid of the side affects. HRG is the one who manages to catch Mohinder and take him into custody. Peter made the dumbest move of the volume so far by voluntarily giving his brother a hug and then getting shocked immediately afterwards. I can't stand Nathan.

Matt discovers that he has a new calling as a prophet who can paint (or draw) the future. He gets tutored by African Isaac from the previous season. He is together with Daphne and trying to live his life without use of his powers. Daphne on the other hand is having a difficult time slowing down. Matt gets caught right after getting warned by Claire of the incoming danger.

So, there they were, our main characters were all knocked out and put on a plane. Claire managed to escape and became the hero of the situation, freeing Peter while they are in the air. Peter now needs to touch other people to gan their powers and staged a great fight by taking Mohinder's strength. Peter accidently took Tracy's power and ended up freezing a side of the plane causing it to break off and start sucking the Heroes out of the plane. Peter is hanging on for dear life and Claire discovers that her dad (HRG) is on the plane as well in the copilots chair. This is where the episode ends, and I'm excited to see where it goes.

But, this recap is not over yet, because there was one "Hero" that the agents couldn't capture. His name is Sylar. Sylar spent the episode trying to find out who his real parents are. He went to who he thought his father was, but the man ended up being his uncle who gave him the address to his real father's house. While at this address, Sylar was ambushed by numerous agents who managed to shoot him with tranquilizer darts and tie him down. But this wasn't enough to keep Sylar down. He used telekinesis and electricity to beat down all the agents and he demands to know information about why they are there. He does his famous trick by starting to cut open the head of one of the agents.

So, what will happen? Will Sylar be the only chance for the Heroes survival since he can't be captured, or will Ando and Daphne team up to save the day as the most unlikely pair ever? I'm excited to see what happens once the plane crashes. Will they land on a mysterious island and start skipping through time? I'm excited for the volume and am very hopeful with the direction it is taking.

Jughead (S5, E3)

This is the first truly brilliant episode of the season for me. I loved every minute of it and loved it even more as I continued to think about it. Perhaps the reason is that it is a Desmond episode, and those always tend to be my favorite. Whatever the reason is, I loved it. There are really two storylines here that were featured- Desmond finding Daniel's mum and the castaways experiences on the island. I'll start with the Desmond storyline.

If you remember, Desmond was told by Daniel that he needs to visit he mother in Oxford. So, Desmond goes to Oxford. We get a cool flashback that shows the birth of Desmond's son, which is nice to see since a big part of the previous season was Desmond and Penny's love for each other. Desmond goes back to the place where he had his conversation with Daniel in the past about time traveling rats. He is surprised to find that nobody at the University knows of a Daniel Faraday. So, Desmond sneaks into his lab and is discovered by a man who seems to know the reason why Daniel was fired. This leads to Desmond going to a girl who was a 'patient' of Daniel's. This girl is in a coma and only pops out of it occasionally, confused about what time period she is in. Her consciousness is traveling through time similar to Desmond's experience in "The Constant" last season.

Well, Desmond gets a good piece of information- Widmore funded Daniel's research for several years. So, Desmond storms into Widmore's office and demands to know the whereabouts of Daniel's mom. Widmore gives Desmond the information about Daniel's mom, who happens to be in Los Angeles. Could she be the very same Ms. Hawking shown at the end of the last episode? Widmore also urges Desmond to keep his daughter safe since, as we know, Ben is out to hunt her down and kill her. Desmond goes back to the boat with Penny and tries to lie about getting information, but Penny sees right through it. She knows that Desmond won't quit until he has completed his mission, so she vows to go with him (right to the same city that Ben is rounding up oceanic sixers- not good). We also get a cool little moment where we discover that Desmond and Penny have named their son Charlie, surely after the rock star islander who saved the rest of them by writing "Not Penny's Boat" before drowning. I hope he is named after this Charlie and not Charles Widmore...

On the island, even more fascinating things are happening. To get more stabilization, this episode mainly takes place in the same time period on the island- the 1950s. The scientists- Daniel, Charlotte and Miles, get taken by the Others of the past and are delivered straight to Richard Alpert who looks exactly the same then as he does in present day. They discover that there is a hydrogen bomb on the island that is unstable and they need Daniel's smarts in order to disable it. So, Daniel is led to the bomb by someone he thinks is familiar (after declaring his love for Charlotte). I have strong suspicions that this girl pointing a gun at Daniel is none other than Daniel's mom- Ms. Hawking. Crazy, I know. Daniel tells the girl that they simply need to bury the bomb and it won't be a problem- evidenced by the fact that Daniel is still alive in the future on the island. Sawyer and Juliet also come up to save the day right before another flash of light comes.

Oh yeah, I should also mention that John Locke makes his way to the Other's camp and demands to speak with Richard Alpert. John gives Richard a compass and tells him to visit him in a couple of years after he is born. This explains "Cabin Fever" where young Locke gets a visit from Richard and is asked to identify which item is his from a selection of different items. The compass must have been the right choice, not the knife as little Locke chose. We also get a big piece of information when we discover that one of the others that led John to the others camp is none other than Charles Widmore! Charles Widmore was an other on the island! This causes the question, what happened that made Widmore come off the island? Is he under the same predicament as Ben?

The episode ends with Charlotte getting a severe nosebleed and fainting in Daniel's arms. She must be experiencing severe problems from time traveling so much- but it is odd that it doesn't seem to be affecting anyone else in the same way. Maybe they have altered something in the past that affects Charlotte and she is facing the results of it. This could be why she is starting to forget things like her Mother's maiden name. Maybe she is being wiped out of history because of something they've done. Who, knows! All I can say is that I'm pumped for the episodes to come and to recieve even more answers. Lost is the greatest show ever made. Hands down.

The Lie (S5, E2)

I was curious how the structure of Lost would change with this new season. For seasons 1-3, for the most part, each episode was centered around a single castaway and featured flashbacks giving insight into their pre-island past. In season 4, there was a mixture of Flashback episodes, and then Flash Forward episodes, but they were all still focused generally around a single character. So, how would season 5 structure its episodes? Would they simply drop the idea of character-centric episodes, or would they once again find a unique way to still focus in on a single character?

It seems the later is true, because this episode was clearly a Hurley episode. There was one flashback at the beginning which showed the oceanic 6 discussing their need to lie to the world about those they left behind. Hurley is obviously not in favor of lying, but has no one to back him up, not even Sayid, which causes him to have to go along with it. This obviously provided the key element to the episode- how Hurley deals with having to lie. Hurley has always been one of the more moral characters on Lost, so it makes sense that he deals with this quite differently than the other oceanic sixers. This episode involved Hurley carrying around Sayid and trying to fix him up after being shot by a dart in the previous episode. Hurley gets a visit from Ana Lucia, telling him to avoid running into cops and getting in trouble. And then Hurley goes to his dad for help with his current situation.

Their solution is to take Sayid to Jack to get fixed up. While this is happening, Hurley reaches his breaking point and spills out 4 seasons worth of information to his mom who simply says, "I don't understand it, but I believe you." Then Hurley is approached by Ben. Hurley has been told by Sayid that he should do the exact opposite of whatever Ben tells him. So, when Ben tells Hurley that he should come back to the island so he can stop lying, Hurley runs out and turns himself to the cops for his 4...I mean 3...murders. Now, things are that much trickier for Ben, since he needs to perform a prison break with Hurley to get him on board to returning to the island.

Meanwhile, Jack is able to save Sayid. On the island an annoying guy named Neal gets struck with a flaming arrow and dies (after complaining about there being no fire, very ironic!). And the islanders get caught by men with guns, until Locke comes with his knife throwing action and saves the day. Also at the end of the episode, we get another glimpse of Ms. Hawking, who was a sort of guide to Desmond when he had his first flash when the hatch exploded. She is working hard with various devices and computers, and Ben comes to visit her. Apparently they only have 70 hours to get back to the island or else "God help us all." This was a great episode that gave us insight into Hurley's dilemma since he has been back. It also gives a time frame for the 6 to get back to the island. Can Ben work his magic and somehow get the oceanic six together? Will them coming back fix the island so it stops hopping around through time? And, how did Locke die, and is he going to stay dead? Hopefully these questions and others will be answered soon. I'm excited!