LOST Confirmed Dead, first thoughts

So, last night we got a little look at the "freighties" (although I think I still want to call them the "rescuers") and what they were doing before coming to the Island.

Daniel Faraday is a physicist, (his name sake is most likely Michael Faraday, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Faraday a physicist from the nineteenth century who worked on electromagnetism and whose birthday is September 22, the same day the plane crashed.)  We first see him crying to footage of the discovered flight 815.  I have to admit, I thought that Dan was an interesting character, referred to in Naomi's flashback with Abaddon at the end as a "head case", and that Jeremy Davies played him brilliantly.  Jeremy Davies is best known for his role in "Saving Private Ryan", but I became a fan of him due to the little known, but amazing movie, "Million Dollar Hotel" as well as his funny turn in "Twister".  I think that he's going to be a good addition to the cast.  I also think that there is far more to him then we've seen so far.  He strikes you as someone who can't really hide anything, as Dr. Jack and Kate were able to see through him almost immediately from his inability to hide his gun as well as his inability to lie about strange items from his helicopter.  I don't know that I buy it, though.  I read that his original name in the script was Russell Faraday, which is the name that Flagg takes at the end of Stephen King's The Stand, and if you aren't aware of The Stand, or Stephen King's work in general, Flagg is the main bad guy (not only in The Stand, but also in Eye of the Dragon, and the Dark Tower Series.)  Giving him that name makes me think there is more to him then we first saw.

Miles Straume is a ghostbuster, no really.  I'm not sure what he's up to, but he definitely was interesting.  We first see him using his ability to find a crap load of cash.  It does seem he really has some ability to commune with the dead, as he finds the cash and confirms Kate's story about Naomi, but at the same time, he was using it for a different cause then the woman thought.  He was there for the money, not to ease the dead boy's spirit.  Reminded me of Sawyer, Ben, and Cooper, it was a con they all would have admired.  His ability will no doubt come in handy on this particular Island.

Charlotte Staples Lewis, whose namesake is no doubt Clive Staples Lewis, better known as C.S. Lewis author of The Chronicles of Narnia and Christian mainstays such as The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity.  It appears that for some reason she was a disbeliever about the discovery of 815.  It also appears that she knows something about Dharma, as she wasn't the least bit surprised to find a polar bear in Tunisia, and seemed to expect to find the Hydra Station collar.  I can't wait to work out more the reasons behind her name.

Frank Lapidus is apparently the guy who was supposed to be piloting 815 instead of mind reader Matt Parkman who we now know is named Seth Norris in the LOST universe.  When he sees the body of Norris on TV, he immediately calls Oceanic to inform them that it isn't Norris, because Norris never takes off his wedding ring, and the body in the plane isn't wearing one.  I'm inclined to agree with the guy on the other end of the phone, it definitely could have fallen off, but this definitely opens up the possibility that the plane discovered underwater was planted there.  I'm still thinking that we're dealing with some sort of alternate universe/time travel type thing, and that both planes are actually 815.

Naomi's flashback reintroduces us to the creepy guy that bothered Hurley in the mental institution.  I honestly don't know what to think about him. 

Other things..

Apparently, it wasn't Locke's eye in the cabin.  He certainly seemed shocked that Hurley knew anything about it.  Even creepier, however, was Benry Gale's contemplative look.

Towards the end of the episode, Miles attempts to call Minkowski.  Perhaps named after Hermann Minkowsi, who took Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity and realized that it would make more sense in a four dimensional area, pioneering the idea of a four dimensional universe where time is the fourth dimension.
The radio news that Miles listens to in his flash back tell us that all "324" passengers on 815 have been confirmed dead.  324 divided by 3 is good old 108.

The photo of Benry Gale that Miles shows Dr. Jack and Juliet appears to have been taken off of the Island to me.  I can't wait to see what would have made Benry Gale ever leave the Island and what he did to piss these people off.

Until Next Time, Overall, I thought that it was a pretty good episode.  Not the best job they've done introducing new characters, but much better then the way it was handled last season with Paulo and Nikki.