My real big question is why the hell did the Hydrogen bomb blow them back to the present? My theory.. Since we're not hiding in spoiler tags anymore I'll just spill my theory here... I think that Jack's father (Christian) on the island was the man in black (Aka the smoke monster) and I have a few reasons why. -The first time any characters come into contact with Christian on the island is in Jacobs cabin (where Jacob is heard whispering 'help' and Claire suddenly reappears). Possibly Christian was taunting Jacob but I don't know how he got into the cabin because it was surrounded by white ash (which we now know prevents the smoke monster from entering). -Christian then helped Locke escape the island possibly knowing that he would return dead in which case the man in black could occupy Locke's body and in turn get to see Jacob (because Locke had just become leader of 'the others') -Both Locke and Christian (the two supposed forms of the man in black) were both dead when the two planes crashed... coincidence? And as for the "parallel universe" thing... well I have a decent theory but I'll keep it to myself for now, at least for a little while as the season continues. A lot of those might have just been restrictions placed on the actual making of the show. For example, the actor playing Shannon might not have wanted to come back. And as for Desmond, his appearance was pure coincidence. If no island existed then his boat would have never crashed leading him to live his life as usual and just so happening to board the same plane and meeting Jack again for the 3rd of 4th time. I have a lot of time at work to think about these kinds of things. :geek: Edit: Lost =