Reaction Time: "Two for the Road"

I was dreading this episode, so much. After the sucker-punch of murdering Shannon (YES WRITERS I'M STILL PISSED), I wasn't ready for another death. Not even for Ana Lucia (and my dislike of Michelle Rodriguez), and especially not for Libby.

I never knew what the deal was with Libby. I heard her name mentioned during Comic Con and such, but never much info was revealed about her, which is I guess is the intrigue. And yeah, I'm intrigued too. I don't feel like her role is monumentally important, in the same way Charlie, Hurley, or any of the other survivors are. But she also wasn't Scott/Steve, a background character that we only see in glimpses. If that were the case, we wouldn't have seen any backstory - not even through Hurley in "Dave". That insight was important, but not dramatic. So what was the point? Her story is not done, but I don't think it has the mystery that some fans assume is does.

So Ana Lucia and Christian Shephard. Now we know why Christian came to Australia...or at least it seems we do. He was running away from Jack, but also he's looking for his...daughter? Does Jack know about this? And why Sarah? Some creepy obsession with his son's wife? Ewww.

Apparently dates are a death curse on this show. Bye Shannon, bye Libby, bye Ana Lucia (nice job bedding Sawyer, by the way - props). Although, seriously, I would have thought that the king of con-artists would see a trap a mile away.

What is the deal with the Others about people being good and bad?? How do they differentiate, how do they decide? What is their methods? Ugh, so frustrating.

AND WHOA WHAT THE CRAP MICHAEL?! He better be dead because I am pissed.

Reaction Time: "Dave"

Yikes. In regards to revealing character backstories, this one was a pretty big deal. I know I've complained about some of them, because I feel they don't add to the island mystery, but this one actually felt important.

I assumed Hurley wound up in the institution for his paranoia for winning the Lottery...but I guess that, timewise, that would make absolutely no sense. Hurley got the numbers from Leonard while in the asylum, which is HOW he won the Lottery. Duh. But feeling guilt for believing he killed two people...damn. It would explain his massive paranoia states, like we saw in "Everybody Hates Hugo". And whoa, Libby was creepy at the end.

"Henry" continues to push the buttons of the survivors, drawing on the lead argument between the leaders - what is the purpose of the Hatch? Social experiment or actual purpose? "Henry" claims that he never inputted the code, never pushed the button - but Locke has no way of knowing if he's telling the truth or not. "Henry" has put doubt into Locke's mind, something that will surely send him into a tailspin. No one likes to be told their beliefs are wrong, and it can have huge effects on someone.