"Anybody for a Dharma beer?"

Well, Sawyer, sadly I don't have any Dharma beer in the fridge. I only have Miller Lite and some Blue Moon, so that'll have to do until I get a parachute drop on my deck with more essentials. (But when you're tripping through time, it's hard to put a specific date in Outlook).

As far as batting averages go, Lost is 4 for 4 with season 5. The revelations weren't completely out of left field and take your breath away stunning, but there were revelations. And some answers, too.

"The Little Prince" takes its name from a French book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. EW's Jeff Jensen takes an in-depth look at the book and its possible implications here, and you can catch up on the details of the plot via wiki. There are thematic touchstones from the book to the episode (dying to get back "home," being "lost," perception vs. expectation, echoes, love, communication, uniqueness, etc.) but you don't have to have an understanding of the book to have enjoyed Wednesday's eppy. (And while I enjoyed the story, and the philosophical questions the book posed, I have horrible memories of the book itself. When I was in college, studying my last quarter of French, we had to read and analyze the book completely in French. I have no problem doing the reading and analysis, and enjoy all that work and actually find it stimulating and fun -- in English. I think requiring the study of a foreign language in school is a ridiculous waste of time. Unless you choose to do this, 99.9% of what you learn will be quickly forgotten, and not useful at all. I'd much rather have spent all that time learning new ideas and concepts in my own language, the language I speak and write and hear every single day, rather than one that I will never, ever use again once I post the grade. I'm sure there are words in my own language I don't know, that mean the same thing as "awesome," that I could use to describe BSG and Lost every week. I admire the multi-lingual, especially those who have to use their secondary or tertiary language for professional purposes -- and they're damned cute when they confuse "blow dry" and "blow job" -- but it's not for everyone, and I resented being forced to do it. Hence, my underlying resentment for "The Little Prince," even though it serves its purpose in the mosaic of Lost. Okay, rant over).

I can't begin to explain how thrilled I am with the new storytelling construct on the show this year. If we had spent an entire hour with Kate and Goober and worrying solely about someone wanting a blood test, this thing could have drug on forever. However, we got just what we needed out of that story, including a misdirect with Claire's mom, and another wryly delivered gem from Michael Emerson: "That's my lawyer." Meanwhile, we also got a Hurley phone call from jail, the island crew skipping through time while needing a box of Kleenex, Jin showing up alive and floating (!), an younger version of Rousseau and more Sayid badassery. (Programming note: I've started putting little weekly pop-culture polls at the top of the blog on the right. Feel free to vote, and I think I might have to cast one for our favorite Iraqi after his hospital room takedown). So unconstrained by the focus on a single character and their individual flashback, we get everyone skipping merrily along through time and space, all adding up to yet another brilliant and edge of your seat hour. Bravo!

Thoughts, questions, comments and quotes on "The Little Prince:"

"Thank you Lord! ... I take that back!"

Yep, that's funny. But I still have a question about "what goes with you" when you travel through time. Is it only boats? I mean, yes, the Zodiac boat went with the islanders on their first flash. And this time, the dugout they were in also went with them (how funny would it have been if they had traveled through time, only to find the boat didn't make it?). But what else? Water bottles and camps didn't. Clothes and firearms do. Is it things only within a certain distance? Am I nitpicking?

Dan's theory is that the nosebleeds and sickness come more acutely to those who have spent longer on the island. That would make Charlotte the obvious first victim. But then Miles? Has he spent longer on the island than he realizes? Is it fairly obvious that he is the son of Pierre Chang, who was on the island for years as a toddler, which he wouldn't recall? Is this cumulative time adding up? And Juliet has also been there for years, working with the Others. Is it finally catching up to her also, as we saw in her moment with Sawyer on the beach? (And I don't get too caught up in all the "shipping," but I want these two crazy kids to hook up. Sawyer's sarcasm is a perfect blend with Juliet's withering deadpan. And she's smoking hot). Is finding a "constant" the only solution to this? If so, can't Dan just explain that shit, like he did for Des?!

Speaking of Dan, I'm trying to think of all the moments where he has expressed love and tenderness toward Charlotte. Yes, he's spoken of love and has taken care of her, and seems to dote on her in his own geeky way. But has this manifested itself as romantic love? Or, if we think about it carefully, could this be a manifestation of familial love? Meaning, could Charlotte be Daniel's daughter?

Weren't Jin and Charlie there for Goober's birth? Nearby? If so, then why didn't Sawyer see them, too?

I'm digging Sun's parenting skills. Minibar, 100 channels on TV, plate of french fries and a handgun under the chocolate (is this a choice in a Whitman's Sampler? White chocolate, dark chocolate, glock 9mm) . Hell, that sounds about perfect. Sun can babysit me anytime. Related: could Sun's lack of parenting skills be related to Yi Jeon? Meaning, maybe she hasn't been doing this "kid raising" thing at all. We all thought it was hinky that Sun showed Kate a picture that was of an infant -- not a kid roughly corresponding to Goober in age. Could Yi Jeon be elsewhere? Held by Ben or Widmore, or her nasty father? Or, gasp, dead?

“Who came in these? Other Others?”

If Jin was on, or near, the freighter, and got caught up in the time travel, then why didn't the copter folks? Wouldn't Jin have been at least as far way from the island as the copter, or even moreso?

Oh, those Losties and their anagrams. Did you see the logo on Ben's panel van? “Rainier-Canton.” What's that spell? Reincarnation, my friends. Jacob? Locke? Something with Alpert?

How did that Ajira Airways bottle get in the canoe? Could this be an airline that takes the O6 back to the island? Does it have to crash again? If so, why would the passengers have canoes, vs. life rafts? And could it be possible that it was the O6 that were in that secondary raft, actually shooting at the islanders, not knowing who they are?

"Hooray. Everything back to normal. Now what?" Love Miles.

Why did they use a "three years later" card in the beginning? With all the time jumping going on, why use one there?

Slip 23. Of course.

"I think they want their boat back."

Is Widmore going to continue on his reckless path of arm chopping? Doesn't one of Rousseau's crew lose their arm? And by the way, "young Rousseau" was cast perfectly.

Coincidence that it started raining on the island, the same time it started raining on Jack and Kate outside the motel? Visual symmetry, or something more?

Who sent the .45 caliber chocolates to Sun? And who prepared the dossier on Jack and Ben?

As I mentioned before, I love the fact that they didn't dither with the revelation that Ben was behind the lawyers. I also love the fact that Kate figured it out pretty quickly once they got to the docks.

“I have ALWAYS been with you,” Kate says to Jack. "Except when I was boning Sawyer in a cage."

Who sent the goons after Sayid (and had Kate's address)? Doesn't Ben think he has them under control? Or were these just plan Bs?

I can understand some of the legal machinations involved with getting Hurley released. But what about the hotel killing? And the video/camera phone pic of him? He WAS there for that at the same time, and actually holding a gun. How does this get explained away?

And leave it to Sawyer to sum everything up: “Time travel’s a bitch.”

There you have it, folks. Good stuff from "The Little Prince."

Until next time, Namaste.