simply reminding me of my high school french class

"On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.
[One cannot see well except with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes.]"

i don't know how many times my high school french teacher, mme. alio, repeated this line to us as we read antoine de saint-exupéry's le petit prince. so when i found out the latest episode of lost was named "the little prince" i couldn't help but think that by choosing to name the episode after a book about two castaways, the writers/producers we giving us a critical clue to understanding the story that is unfolding on my television screen every week. i think, perhaps, that john locke, richard alpert, and benjamin linus, are the only characters who have ever been able to understand the island without questioning it. and the struggle to understand what the island is asking for is what has dogged the lostaways since they first crashed there in 2004.

and maybe as the island skips through time and the oceanic six struggle to live normal lives off the island, the lostaways are finally beginning to understand the things that they couldn't comprehend earlier. once you are directly faced with the past, how do you best respond to it? sawyer witnesses the moment of aaron's birth and chooses not to intrude, telling juliet "what's done is done." he's devasted by his vision of her, the one person sawyer loves above himself is kate. on a show where everyone's motives are suspect, it's nice to know this. locke realizes that they are at a moment in time where he is questioning the island, and because he believes he needs that pain and doubt to get where he is now, he chooses not to alter anything.

daniel did warn not to change the past, but he's also not the most consistent person on this subject, since didn't he alter the past and future by speaking with desmond when he was still in the hatch? i'm fascinated by daniel, because though he seems empathetic and lovestruck, he's a bit squirrely, and i'm not sure he should be trusted. when he says to juliet that he's glad that the "time travel jet lag" is happening to charlotte and not everyone else? him? he's not clear in the sentiment, but all the same it seems a rather callous statement for someone who claims to be in love with the person suffering.

we do learn a little more about the "time travel jet lag," in particular, that onset relates to the amount of time spent on the island. from charlotte we know that she believes she was born on the island, and she is the first to experience the nosebleeds. miles and juliet follow, and though we know juliet has been on the island for about 3-5 years, miles' previous life on the island has not been alluded to, unless we are to believe that he is marvin candle's/pierre chang's son--and we do know that he had a baby back in his filming days with dharma.

meanwhile, off-island, getting the band back together is a little bit harder than it looks. kate and sayid are not at all inclined to trust ben, especially since he gleefully admits to being a manipulative bastard. and then we have sun, whose agenda is completely unclear...though we do know that she is in possession of a gun sent via box of chocolates and that you should never ask her to babysit...poor aaron!

speaking of aaron, does kate know that jack is really related to aaron? or does she think when he says "aaron is his family too" that he is either referring to her words when aaron was born "this child is all of us" or the fact that they were almost married? she cries, but any of those things could have provoked tears. i guess the ambiguity is fine in this case. i just don't like being reminded of the jack and kate connection. especially when i've just witnessed some awesome sawyer pining.

sawyer probably had one of the best lines this episode. "thank you god" when a flash occurred to get them out of a sticky situation involving a shootout on a canoe. and then "i take that back" when they end up in a bad rainstorm. it was just a brilliant moment of comic relief, and so utterly true to sawyer.

the skips of time into the future and then back to 1988, were pretty dramatic, and i can't wait to learn more about the island in both time periods. for example, who is chasing the lostaways in the future? is it versions of themselves? is it the oceanic sixers who don't realize that is who they are chasing? clearly there are some new castaways if the ajira airlines water bottle is to be believed. i love how time has moved differently for the lostaways and the oceanic sixers, when they meet up again, if they meet up again, it will be very interesting to see how the series moves forward.

and let's dwell on 1988, the year the french expedition lands on the island--before rousseau has her baby stolen and becomes the crazy survivorwoman of 2004. having her and her team save jin was simply a great moment. and yes, jin is alive. now all we got to do is get him back with some of the original crew. it's time to start threading things back together.

i can't wait.