So much happened tonight I'm not even really sure where to start. So please don't expect this review to be exactly in order. I want to start with what is probably the oddest moment of the entire show: the foot. At one point during the show, Sayid and the Koreans are sailing across the Island and come across a foot from what must have been an extremely large statue. Even odder, the foot only had four toes.

So anyway, on with the review. This was a Desmond episode. He was in the white sail boat that had showed up at the end of the last episode. He said he sailed for weeks but never saw any land but the Island. We discover that he was in the military and then arrested for not following orders. After being released from jail, he is picked up by the father of the woman he loved, who happened to be a Windmore, which was we know has a connection to Dharma. The father tells Desmond to stay away from his daughter, but he says he will not.

Back in the real world, Sayid tells Jack that he will sail around the island and check out the Other's camp. The five head off to the Others. They are trailed, but Kate notices and they end up shooting one of their followers.

They run across a giant pile of tubes - the same tubes that were filled out by the Dharma folks in the Pearl Hatch. Turns out their logs were not going to some central authority, but were just being dumped in the woods.

The party is attacked (remotely, via some kind of dart) and they are taken by the Others.

Did you notice the whispers in the woods? I don't think they have used whispers since season one.

Oh - while they were walking - a large bird of some sort flies over their head. It looked very CGIy to me, and not quite normal. Not sure what it means.

Anyway, back in the past, Desmond decides he is going to participate in a solo sail race around the world. The race sponsor is Windmore, and he figures this will get his honor back. He actually runs into Libby (whose real name is Elizabeth), and she offers her boat to him. He crashes during his attempt, and washes up at the Island, where a man in an environmental suit (I forget his name, I think it was Kelvin and will use that), brings him into the hatch. He shows Desmond the video, and the numbers. He also shows Desmond how to activate "Lockdown Mode". This is what brings the walls down. Kelvin is working on the invisible map.

Question - why does Kelvin only work on the map during Lock Down mode? Why can't he just work on it whenever? Anyway - later on we see Desmond wake up and the counter is almost at zero. Kelvin is hanging out beneath the hatch at something called an emergency shutdown. This comes into play later.

Back in real time - Locke tries to ask Eco to let the counter run down, but Eco won't do it. Locke convinces a plan with Desmond to lock them out. Desmond remembers that the last time the counter had run down, a "System Failure" message was printed on the computer screen, and the magnet went crazy. He asks Locke when he arrived, and he discovers that the system failure was the same time they crashed, so he thinks it is what caused the plane crash.

Anyway, the numbers begin to hit zero, and Desmond realizes that he has to do something. As things go crazy, Locke realizes he might be right. Desmond goes down under the hatch and activates the emergency shut down.

At this point - the sky turns white and an odd noise comes out of nowhere. The "event" seems to be everywhere, but outside of hurting folks ears, nothing else happens. However - what appears to be part of the hatch falls out of the sky. The part has Quarantine written on it.

So - the party of 5 had been captured by the Others. We see Henry show up. He is definitely a leader, but I don't think he is Him. The others showed him respect, but not fear. In fact, wasn't Zeke and Henry together back in the Claire episode? Anyway, he tells Michael he can take the boat and leave with his son. He says if you follow one compass direction, he will be rescued, but he will never be able to return.

The Others let Hurly go, and tell him to return to his camp and tell the others to not come over. Ok - so what is up with that? The whole "stay on your side" thing seems a bit childish. Anyway - one last comment. Henry says that they are the "good guys" and I think that means something.

Just when you think things are over - we switch to what appears to be a research station in the arctic circle. Two Russians are playing chess when one notices that his computer has marked a magnetic anomaly. One of them picks the up the phone and calls someone. It turns out to be the person that Desmond had fallen in love with.

So - random thoughts. Windmore is in bed with Dharma. Dharma is running some kind of experiment (I think). Windmore's daughter found out her love got caught up in it - so she is using her money and connections to try to get him out.

Is the entire Island a hatch? That would explain why Desmond couldn't sail out. Although why would one compass direction be the escape route doesn't make much sense.

If there truly is a need to push the button, why bother even having humans push it? Why not let a machine do it? But it seems as if the button must be pushed, as "Really Bad Things" will happen if you don't. I keep getting this feeling it is all a big lie - but at the same time - it seems like maybe it's not. I'm more confused now then ever.

Oh - there was also a new Dharma web site, but I can't remember the URL. Maybe dharmacareers.com? But it doesn't seem to be working for me now.