I've looked into the eye of the island and what I saw was beautiful

So I know I said I was going to wait a few days to post my thoughts but I wanted to respond to all of the negative feedback about last night's finale. I have read a few bad reviews and all of the morning radio hosts were trashing it. So here is what I thought.

First and foremost, I thought the episode was beautifully done, it was epic, and it was a fitting end to a great series. I could not have been more pleased. This is complete speculation, but my general thought is that if you were a die hard fan who has followed Lost over the years and spent more hours than you care to remember watching, rewatching, and discussing all of the intricacies of the show you probably enjoyed last night (I know some people who didn't enjoy it fall into this category but I'm generalizing). If you were a casual fan who watched the first two seasons and then decided that the show was too complicated, you watched episodes when you got around to it, or watched because you thought (insert actor or actress) was gorgeous, you probably didn't enjoy last night. I think those who came into the finale wanting answers to very specific questions probably walked away disappointed.

Lost is and always has been a show about the characters. The mystery surrounding the island was certainly intriguing and led to many of the countless hours of rehashing that we did here. But at the end of the day it was about Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Sayid, Sun, Jin, Claire, Charlie, Desmond and the rest of the gang. This is the reason that I have enjoyed Lost so much. Now that Lost is over I'm sad that the show has ended, but I'm mostly sad that I am losing these characters that I have come to know so well over the years. Would I have liked to have known what happened to Walt, what the deal with Aaron was, more on the Dharma Initiative, how the island came to be, etc...of course. But at the end of the day those things were ancillary to the story of our central characters. I think this show is the ultimate example of being about the journey and not the destination.

I have to say, for most of the season I was very iffy on the "flash sideways." I thought the payoff last night was worth all of it. There was something so beautiful about the awakenings and then the final reveal. This has long been a show about life and death, faith, spirituality, and redemption, and I think the end was only fitting of this.

So why should we care whether Jack saved the island or not? Because everything that they did on the island mattered. Despite Desmond's assurances that none of it mattered, Jack proved correct in the end. Everything each of them did in their lives mattered. They each affected so many others. Had Jack not saved the island I have no doubt that the world would have ended. But everybody dies eventually. It is about the journey. Live together or die alone.

I will have more thoughts as the days go on and after I watch the finale again, but for now I just wanted to calm down all the haters. Enjoy the ride. I can't think of a more fitting end for our Losties. The final scene was just perfect. I hope you all have enjoyed this journey as much as I have and I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts.

The Beginning of the End

Unfortunately this is not a review of the season 4 premiere. We are less than 36 hours from the Lost finale. I think it finally hit me after "What They Died For" that it really is all coming to an end. I'm trying to think of other shows that I have been as invested in that have had a series finale. Many of my favorites, either I didn't get into until after they had aired (The Wire, Firefly/Serenity) or in the case of Battlestar, I wasn't caught up on previous seasons until the final 6 episodes were airing so there wasn't the long goodbye. With Lost, I have been a faithful viewer since the Season 2 premiere. I actually saw the pilot, but the show aired on Wednesday nights, and Wednesday's were Kinvara trivia and dollar draft night at the Kells so there really was no room for a serial drama as a senior in college. After watching Season 1 during a two day viewing marathon, I have seen every episode since. I know many of you have similar stories (Julia and Jim watched 4 seasons in a matter of days I think). I am excited for tomorrow but at the same time I know that this is the end of an era in television. There really aren't any good serial dramas on the horizon (I think Caprica has been promising but I'm not convinced that SyFy will give it a chance to get its legs). It is very difficult for shows to get the right mix. Lost caught lightning in a bottle. Look at all the shows that have tried to piggyback and failed: Invasion, Day Break, The Nine, Flash Forward, Heroes after season 2. I think Fringe is the only show with a overarching story arc that is still successful (of course J.J. Abrams is at the helm). I'm sad that the story is ending and I don't want to let these characters go, but I will say I am excited to find out how it ends and almost as excited to go back and watch all 6 seasons again (DVD and Blu-Ray box set out this summer!). It has been a pleasure sharing with you over the past two seasons and maybe in the future we can coordinate a a rewatch to discuss some episodes after knowing how everything ends. I will probably hold off posting any thoughts after the finale to give myself time for everything to set in. I hope you all have enjoyed this show as much as I have. I look forward to having a spirited discussion after all is said and done, but until then, if anything goes wrong Desmond Hume will be my constant.

We're Back - Across The Sea

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're back. Many apologies for the long lay off. I feel like as we head into the final three plus hours of Lost we should get this thing up and running again. I am going to avoid the episode recaps because by this point I'm going to assume that you guys have watched the episode. I will focus more on what we now know, what big questions we still have, and what people are thinking. So lets go.

First, R.I.P. Sayid, Sun, Jin, Ilana and maybe Frank. I was confused with Sayid. He was playing zombie for the entire season and then in the wake of his encounter with Desmond he seemed like old Sayid again. He completed the Jesus symbolism that we first encountered as he was carried out of the pool. He sacrificed himself to save the others. Sun and Jin. Eh. I had really grown tired of them. I thought they should have been reunited about six episodes earlier. It was a heartbreaking scene and I'm sad when any Lost mainstay is killed, but I could live with it. Fewer loose ends to deal with in the final episodes.

I'm going to skip most of what we learned in the episodes I missed, mostly because I can't coherently assemble it all right now. If you want to discuss please feel free. I want to concentrate mostly on last night's episode, "Across The Sea."

First and foremost, I loved the episode. I think Mark Pellegrino and Titus Welliver have turned in some top notch performances this season. Plus, it's always good to see Press Secretary C.J. Craig again. I thought the episode started off with a great quote from "Mother" which was basically aimed at the fans. "Every question I answer will simply lead to another question." The writers just aren't going to be able to answer everything. And even if they tried, people would have more questions. So at this point I'm going to stop begging for answers and just enjoy them as they come.

There were a few big reveals in this episode. The biggest of course being what the island is. The "heart" of the island is a light which is "the warmest brightest light you've ever felt." While not exactly very clear as to what this light actually is, it seems to represent purity, goodness, sort of like Adam and Eve before the fall. I think of it like Eywa from Avatar (see I wasn't so far off on my Tree of Souls reference). Mother must protect this light because if man discovers it he will exploit it and the light will go out. And if the light goes out on the island is goes out everywhere. Mother gives the line that men come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt and it always ends the same. I guess MIB took this to heart.

We see the origins of the donkey wheel. It's not exactly clear to me how this was going to work (the water and the light were somehow going to get him off the island) but eventually someone does figure out how to get it to work.

Another reveal was the origin of the smoke monster. After MIB kills Mother, Jacob is so enraged that he drags him to the light and throws him in. Out comes the smoke monster and to me it appeared that the light didn't come back. I could be mistaken. It is also interesting to think about Jacob's line from Ab Aeterno that the island is like a cork keeping all of the evil bottled up. Doesn't sound like the great light to me.

As an aside, I really came around on MIB this episode. He really wasn't all that bad. He got along with Jacob and they seemed to really love each other. He seemed to also really care for his mother. The massacre of the people he was living with really changed him though. Even after he killed Mother he was pretty upset about it and tried to justify himself to Jacob. After Jacob discovers MIB's body he is genuinely sad. Some really touching but heartbreaking scenes.

We also found out who Adam and Eve are. Mother and MIB were laid to rest in the cave with the black and white stones. "But how can MIB's body be in the cave the whole time if we see him in bodily form later in the timeline, like with Richard in 'Ab Aeterno'?"

When Jacob threw him into the light, he ceased to be the MIB and became the smoke monster. The smoke monster can take the form of dead people on the island. I suspect he was still MIB in a sense. He had the same memories and experiences, but he had no permanent body. He could take the form of his old body, which we see he did later in the show. But the person who was Jacob's brother is no more and all that is left of him is the smoke monster.

I don't pretend to completely understand everything that we learned last night but I am confident it will be clarified in the next three hours. The series is really ramping up heading into the series finale event. As I start to come to grips with the fact that there are only two more episodes it makes me a little sad, but I can't wait to see how everything plays out. I'm interested in what people have to say so please comment away.

6.10 - The Package

So after an awesome episode last week we are back to our traditional flash sideways and island timelines. This episode revolves around Sun and Jin. Last we saw from Sun and Jin in the island timeline, Jin had a bum leg and was with MIB and his gang. Sun was with Ilana and Jack back at the beach waiting for orders from Richard. Off island, Jin was tied up in a meat locker and we don't know where Sun is.

Flash Sideways

We are back at LAX and Jin is coming out with the customs guy. He gets his watch back but customs is keeping the $25,000. Jin has to fill out paperwork to get it back. I guarantee that money gets "misplaced" by the customs agent. Jin missed his meeting at the restaurant. He doesn't know what the money was for, just that Sun's father gave it to him just before he left and Jin does not ask questions.

As they check in at the hotel under Paik, Jin is a little upset that the guy doesn't realize he isn't married to Sun. He wants his own room. This answers the speculation from LAX as to whether or not they are married. After they check in Jin shows up at Sun's room and says he is going to the restaurant to deliver the watch. She invites him inside and says no one will be at the restaurant. Plus they work for Sun's father so tough luck if they don't like it. What does Sun care, she's only in LA to go shopping. Maybe Jin can yell at her for having her top button undone. Jin was worried people were watching. Sun starts to unbutton her top and Jin doesn't want her to stop. Bow-chicka-bow-wow. It looks like my last week's prediction about the title of this episode might not be so off base after all. They bang and then drink champaign.

In the morning Sun says she wants to run away and use the money that she has stored in a secret bank account. Jin says that he loves Sun, and then she is about to tell him something important. Of course before she can there is a knock on the door and it is our friend Martin Keamy. He really is an awesome bad guy. He wants the $25,000 that Sun's dad sent. Omar arrives and they look around for Jin. He's hiding in the bathroom and doesn't seem to resist at all when they look for him. No one can speak Korean so they need Mikhail to translate.

SIDE NOTE: On her way to answering the door, Sun stopped to look in the mirror and fix her hair but seemed to have a confused look on her face as she walked away. This was similar to Jack and the appendix scar in the mirror. Sawyer also punched a mirror in his flash sideways. Did Kate use a mirror at all? Maybe at the autoshop when she was changing. I'm not sure about any other mirror connections, but combined with Jacob's mirrors in The Lighthouse, there could be some meaning here.

Mikhail makes a reappearance to serve as translator. I think this is just part of the plan to bring back every former cast member for a cameo. He has two working eyes (for now) in the flash sideways. Sun will go take the $25,000 out of her secret account and give it to Keamy. Jin doesn't want Keamy to tell Mr. Paik about Jin and Sun. No worries dude, Keamy won't cock block you. Keamy is going to keep Jin as collateral and bring him to the restaurant. Mikhail will go with Sun.

When Sun tried to take the money out, the account has been closed by Sun's dad. But it was secret! Apparently not so secret to Sun's father. Uh-oh. At the restaurant Jin is put in the freezer. Omar knocks his head on the side of the freezer and gives him a cut. Keamy cleans up his cut and then ties him up with duct tape. He then tells Jin that he is there to kill him. The $25,000 was payment from Mr. Paik to kill Jin. He broke the cardinal rule and got freaky with the boss's daughter. Omar is sent off to get the Arab and then Keamy goes to make eggs. We hear the interaction with Sayid and everyone get shot. Jin starts making a racket and Sayid opens the door. He won't free Jin, but he won't kill him either so he gives him a box cutter and wishes him luck.

Sun and Mikhail arrive back at the restaurant and I guess Keamy isn't dead yet. Mikhail wants to know what happened but his last words are warning Mikhail to turn around. Too late. Jin has a gun to the back of his head. Mikhail thinks that if Jin had killed all those people he would have killed him already. He tries to attack Jin and they do some karate while shooting off a bunch of rounds. Then Jin puts a bullet through Mikhail's eye. Now he needs his eyepatch. Sun caught a stray bullet in the uterus and lets Jin know that she is preggers. He's going to save her. I bet Dr. Jack actually saves her.

On Island

We open up with night vision. Someone is watching Locke's merry band of losties. MIB sits down with Jin while he bandages himself. They talk about Jacob's cave and how Kwon was on the cave. MIB can't leave the island without all of the people whose names are on the wall. So he needs Jin and Sun. Locke will go and get Sun, don't worry.

MIB is leaving for the night and tells Sayid to watch over the camp. Sayid can't feel anything. No emotion, no pain, nothing. That's probably better for what is coming. Jin starts to hobble out of camp and Sawyer wants to know where he is going. He is looking for Sun. Why is Sawyer listening to that thing? Then they all get shot by tazers or some other kind of dart. Everyone gets shot and knocked out. Zoe (who I guess the rest of the blogosphere is calling Tina Fey/Liz Lemon) finds Jin and lets Widmore's men know that they have their person.

MIB comes back to the camp and finds everyone still passed out. He goes right to Sayid and wakes him up. He wants to know who did this and where is Jin. Sayid doesn't know, being passed out and all. MIB gives Sayid a gun and tells him to wrap it in plastic and asks if he is a good swimmer. Enter Claire who wants to make it all about her. Is her name on the wall? No it's not. Well it was, but it was crossed out. Cry me a river Claire. MIB says he still needs her and there is plenty of room on the plane. He is clearly lying to her. Is Kate on the wall? No. But she was on the lighthouse wheel and not crossed out, so this could turn out to be big. Claire whines a little more about Aaron not recognizing her and Kate being her mother. Maybe you shouldn't have abandoned your son in the jungle. MIB needs Kate to get some others off the island, but after that, whatever happens, happens. Amen.

As MIB and Sayid are leaving Sawyer asks why he doesn't float over there and Locke says that if that was possible he wouldn't be on the island anymore. They are going to get Jin back. MIB arrives at the beach and walks towards the pylons. Everyone jumps out and draws guns. Then Widmore comes to talk to MIB. Widmore says he only knows rumors and ghost stories about MIB. MIB wants Jin back. Widmore says he has no idea what he's talking about. "A wise man once said that war is coming to the island. I think it just got here." That wise man was of course Widmore in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham."

Back at the beach Ben is getting anxious and wants to know what everyone is waiting for. He was digging his own grave two days ago but all of a sudden he is bold enough to question Ilana? Seriously Ben, give it a rest. They are waiting for Richard. Sun throws a hissy fit and runs off to her dead garden. Jack follows her and is now a full on believer. He is stoked to be a candidate and doesn't understand why Sun doesn't share the same feelings. She tells him to buzz off.

MIB shows up and says he found Jin and will take Sun to him. He reaches out his hand and says he would never make Sun do anything she didn't want to. Sun turns and runs away. Then she runs smack into a tree. If that's how she is running, I really hope nobody lets her behind the wheel of a car.

Ben stumbled upon Sun and she forgets how to speak English. She can understand it but can't speak it. I'm thinking that this head injury has melded the two worlds, on island and flash sideways, a bit. I'll be interested to hear about the connection. Maybe next week. Jack takes a look at her head wound and diagnoses it. Ilana is skeptical that Ben didn't have anything to do with it. Why won't she believe him? Because he is speaking. Zing!

Hurley comes back with Richard who tells them to pack up because they are leaving. They are heading to Hydra island to stop MIB from leaving. Sun has a minor freak out and screams at Richard in Korean. He listens to her but doesn't know what she is saying and she runs off in a fit.

Jin wakes up in Room 23 where Karl was treated to a Clockwork Orange treatment a few seasons ago. Zoe/Tina/Liz comes in and ends up stopping Jin from leaving. Don't taze me bro. She shows him grid maps from the Dharma Initiative that were signed by Jin-Soo Kwon which was Jin from the 70's. He wants to speak with Widmore. Good, Widmore wants to talk to him.

Widmore is pretty upset that Zoe and her team already got Jin. They should have waited a few days. Well she's only a geophysicist. He wants Zoe to bring the package to the infirmary. Widmore shows Jin a digital camera that he found from the wreckage with pics of Ji Yeon. Widmore tells him that he has a daughter as well. And if they don't stop the MIB from leaving the island it will all be for naught. If MIB gets off the island everything will cease to be and he will never see his wife and daughter. But how will Widmore prevent this? Jin needs to see the package. It's not a what, it's a who.

Sun is off by herself by the fire and Jack comes to talk to her. He gives her a pad of paper to write her thoughts. She doesn't trust Locke, but she trusts Jack. Jack promises that he will make sure that they find Jin and get off the island together.

Back in Smokey's camp Sawyer hopes that it will all be over soon and that Widmore killed Locke. Locke comes back into camp and Sawyer wants to know where Jin is. Widmore says he didn't have him. But MIB doesn't believe him. Where is Sayid? They have a secret on the sub in the locked door and MIB doesn't like secrets.

We see Sayid surface from the water near the sub. Zoe and her pal are bringing a guy out from the sub, but Zoe gave him too many drugs. The man is Desmond. He falls near the dock and looks at Sayid. He looks like he might recognize him but he's so drugged out I don't know.

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So finally Desmond is back. I know we were going to see him again, but I was getting anxious. Damon Lindelof says that after next week the conversation will change. I take it this means that we will be getting some big answers next week. We know that Desmond is a game changer. Flashes Before Your Eyes and The Constant were awesome Desmond centric episodes. The Constant is still the highest rated episode among fans. I'm expecting big things next week.

Next up: "Happily Every After"

Next week. Desmond centric. 'Nuff said.

6.09 - Ab Aeterno

So I will continue my recent practice of posting about the most recent episode on the night that the new episode airs. I know, I know, I need to be better about it. I spent about 2 hours last Tuesday night downloading "The D.E.N.N.I.S. System" episode, downloading a program to allow me to capture the audio, then edit the audio into the 10 second clip, and then find a way to post the audio on the website. I didn't have much energy left to put anything of substance on the site.

On to "Ab Aeterno." Over at DarkUFO they let you vote after each episode 1-5 on how much you liked it. This episode has now been voted on the most of any other episode and ranks 2nd all time in rating behind only "The Constant." So now you know what we're dealing with. Personally, I loved this episode. It was just a very different feel and I thought it did an amazing job of story telling. I liked that we weren't constantly interrupted with flashes. Just the little bit in the beginning and the end on island and then the rest was Richard's history. I thought Nestor Carbonell put up one of the all time great Lost performances. This rivaled any of the best Michael Emerson performances. He was just a completely different character. The scared, devastated Ricardo is nothing like the Richard that we have known up until now. His wife is sick so he rides several hours in the rain to find a doctor. When the doctor refuses to give him the medicine Ricardo ends up knocking him over accidentally killing the doctor. He brings the medicine back to his wife but it is too late. He is to be hung for his crime. Instead because he knows some English and has strong hands he is sold to Magnus Hanso as a slave. On the trip over there is a violent storm and the ship gets carried by a huge wave to the island, but not before knocking over the giant statue. One of the other slaves mentions that the island is guarded by the devil.

Richard survives the shipwreck but with limited water and food one of the officers begins killing the slaves. Just as he is about to kill Richard the smoke monster arrives and kills everyone. He sizes up Ricahrd but leaves before doing anything. We see a series of hours pass as Richard tries to free himself by clawing at a nail. When he is attacked by a boar he loses the nail and in the process loses hope. Then Isabella his dead wife arrives. Isabella tells Richard that they are both dead and that they are in hell. Then the smoke monster arrives and Richard tells Isabella to run. She goes up the stairs and Richard can only hear her screams.

The Man in Black shows up and gives Richard some water. He confirms that they are in Hell and that the Devil took his wife. He offers to help Richard because he wants to get out of Hell as well but only if Richard does what he asks of him. Richard readily agrees. After freeing him the Man in Black says that "It is good to see you out of those chains." This is how Richard knew that Locke was the Man in Black back at the statue. The Man in Black gives Richard the same dagger that Dogan gave to Sayid and says that he must go to the statue and kill the devil there but he must not let him talk because he can be very persuasive.

Richard arrives at the statue and gets his ass kicked by Jacob. Jacob is apparently also a ninja. Awesome.    Richard wants to know where his wife is. She is dead so why is he asking Jacob? Because he talked to the Man in Black. Jacob then baptizes Richard and all is good. He explains to Richard that the island is like a bottle of wine. The wine represents what Richard calls "hell" but it is also known as evil or malevolence. If it got out of the bottle it would spread. The island serves as a cork to the bottle. The Man in Black thinks that everyone can be corrupted because it is in their nature to be bad. Jacob keeps bringing people to the island to prove him wrong. So far it looks like the Man in Black is winning this argument because everyone who has come before is dead. I guess that's just progress. Jacob doesn't want to intervene because if he tells people what to do that really defeats the purpose. But the Man in Black has no problem stepping in. So Jacob hires Richard to be his go between. Richard wants his wife back but Jacob says he can't do that (although apparently he said that he could do that for Dogan...). He wants to be absolved of his sins but Jacob can't do that either. Then Richard wants to live forever so that he doesn't go to Hell. That Jacob can do. Richard goes back to the Man in Black and gives him a white stone. Its an inside joke. The MIB says that the offer will stand for as long as they are on the island. Richard buries his wife's cross by the Tree of Souls.

Jacob and MIB have another meeting a la The Incident. Jacob can't believe that the MIB tried to have him killed. MIB doesn't want Jacob to gloat. MIB just wants to leave the island but Jacob won't let him. And if he is killed someone will take his place. MIB will kill him or her too. It looks like Jacob is the rainmaker here and MIB is just living in his world. Jacob gives MIB the bottle of wine to pass the time. He says that he'll be seeing him soon. MIB responds "sooner than you think." Not really sure what this is supposed to mean.

Back on the island in present time we start out with Ilana. Jacob says that he needs her to protect 6 people. She's been training her whole like for this. Her face is messed up. Then it isn't. But what should she do when she takes them to the Temple? Ask Richardus, he will know. But Richard is going out of his mind on the island and he doesn't believe Jacob anymore. He runs off into the Jungle. Hurley is talking to a ghost in Spanish who is not Jacob. Richard goes back to the Tree of Souls and digs up the cross. He wants to know if the offer still stands from the MIB. Hurley shows up instead and Richard starts yelling at him. Hurley was talking to Isabella though. Hurley interprets ghost talk for Richard but then apparently Richard can hear her or Hurley doesn't think its important to keep translating. Oh yeah, she has one more thing for Richard. He has to stop the Man in Black from leaving the island or else everyone is going to hell. We pan out to see Flocke watching from a distance.

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Overall it was an awesome episode. We got lots of answers as well as a great episode start to finish. I have a feeling we are going back to the flashes tonight with "The Package," which I think is about Jin's privates. Or maybe it's not.

We're half way there

We just got through episode 9 of the 18 episode season. There's been a bit of scuttlebutt around the old internets about how some folks are upset that the writers haven't been answering our questions, even this late in the game.

With that in mind, I dug into my archives and pulled out my grand list of questions for the final season. Let's see how we're doing so far.

Smoke monster (Random thoughts: Why did it kill the pilot? Was it trying to kill Lapidus? Why didn't it kill Locke in season 1-and why did he see it as a white light? Where was it trying to take him-The Temple? Why did it kill Eko? Kate and Juliet also saw a white flash in Season 3, as an aside. It probably works for Jacob's enemy, but does Jacob have a smoke monster?)-Partially answered-The monster IS Jacob's enemy.

Adam and Eve - Not answered, WILL be answered

Whispers (Conversations by the Others? Jacob?)-ANSWERED-The others

Childbirth/Kids-Why can no kids be born on the Island? Why are children so important? - Not answered

Richard Alpert-Why doesn't he age? Where did he come from (Black Rock, probably)? COMPLETELY ANSWERED-Episode 6.09

Ben/Widmore-What did Widmore do to get kicked off the Island? Is he aligned with Jacob's enemy? Why can't Ben kill Jacob? What "war" is coming? What happened to Ben in the Temple? What is the temple? No, Partially answered, No, No, Partially answered, Answered

Random Island issues-Why can the Island move? Who built the Wheel? How did the US Army/the Dharma Initiative find the place? How can the Island resurrect dead bodies or make people see things from their lives? - No, No, ANSWERED (Jacob brought them), Partially Answered

Jacob-Who is he? Why does he fight with his enemy? - Partially answered

"The incident"-Did it change anything? - Partially Answered-THIS WILL DEFINITELY BE ADDRESSED.

It is pretty incredible that despite claims of others to the contrary, we've been given a TON of information. It is also incredible how I've been asking the wrong kind of questions-but we didn't have enough information to ask the right questions. The most important question of them all- "Why are you on this Island?"...a question whose answer we now know.

Furthermore, this just reinforces a theory I've been kicking around for a while, that Lost is a giant metaphor for Lost.

In season 2, as we know, the majority of the season centered around the pushing of the magical button. What happens when we stop pushing the button? We don't know. We have to have faith. Because when we lose that faith and stop losing that button, stop watching the show, a nuclear bomb goes off.

Or something. I don't know. This metaphor is falling apart pretty quickly.

Did I miss any big questions?