LOSTBLOG -- Live-blogging "This Place is Death"

Calling all LOSTies: Let's freak out over tonight's new episode together. Beginning at 8, I'll be posting throughout the show, so ask questions, post reactions, and don't forget to hit refresh! The blog begins after the jump:

757 -- There have been revelations galore in the first four hours of the season, but doesn't it feel like we still need something genuinely shocking to happen? Like what if Sun actually kills Benjamin tonight? We'll find out momentarily...

759 -- OK, here we go. How many "Life On Mars" commercials must we endure tonight? (Give it up, ABC. No one's watching.)

801 -- Well, I guess this is a Sun and Jin episode. Yawn.

802 -- "Bye honey, time for mommy to kill the bug-eyed man."

803 -- Still alive, yes. But when??

803 -- Well. I guess it's 1988. (Now I remember: Alex was 16 years old, and Sayid said Rousseau's transmission had been transmitting for 16 years. So that checks out.)

805 -- But won't Jin die of the sickness that claimed Danielle's crew? (According to Season 1 lore, of course.)

806 -- Alex's real father is revealed!

807 -- SMOKEY!

807 -- Daniel Dae Kim told the AP this week that we would learn about the origin of the smoke monster very soon. I didn't think he meant this soon. I am pleased.

810 -- Portia de Rossi was so awesome on "Ally McBeal," so I'm willing to give this "Better Off Ted" show a chance. (I was never a fan of "Arrested Development," though.)

811 -- Spielberg reference: Lacombe was the name of the French scientist who made contact with the aliens in "Close Encounters."

812 -- Wow, so many callbacks to Season 1 already tonight!

812 -- DAAAAAAAAAMN! Severed arm = good television.

814 -- Ah, Jin's a time-skipper too. That makes sense.

814 -- Is this the smoke monster's lair?

815 -- OK, the time-skipping has convinced me that one of my long-held beliefs is correct: The original Jacob we saw in Season 3 is a much older John Locke.

817 -- Ooh, the temple Ben sent Danielle and Alex to in Season 4 is the monster's lair!

818 -- I wonder if Rousseau ever mentioned something about seeing a "mystery man" or something in Season 1. That could be the time-skipping Jin!

819 -- I'm getting a little teared up. Finally, some happiness for the Losties.

820 -- Two segments in, this is well on its way to being the best Sun/Jin ep of all time.

821 -- Is Jin skipping through time in a different pattern than Locke, Sawyer and the rest of our guys?

823 -- "Uh, he's Korean. I'm from Encino." AWESOME.

825 -- ABC's new sitcom, "Everybody Hates Jack and Ben"!

827 -- I wonder what's worse for the body: Traveling through time with a flash of light, or beaming around the universe with Doc Manhattan?

828 -- Oh, chill out, Charlotte. It's not like time travel is eating your brain or anything. (Oh, wait...)

829 -- OK, so if Alex's father was right, and Smokey is a security system for the temple, then how does it explain Ben summoning it from his basement in New Otherton? Hopefully that throwaway one-liner doesn't stand as the official explanation for the smoke monster. (I'd actually prefer no explanation at all.)

832 -- This "Grey's" commercial makes me never want to watch that show ever again.

832 -- Is Ben bringing them to Ms. Hawking? I didn't notice if she was in the opening credits. ... Things I never thought I'd hear Ben say: "I didn't account for traffic."

833 -- Oh shut up, Jack. "Everything was just happening so fast..." That line is almost as bad as "We have a situation."

834 -- BENJAMIN LINUS IS TIRED OF YOUR BULLCRAP.

835 -- Geronimo Jackson reference! First one since "Cabin Fever," I think.

836 -- Maybe "constants" don't matter for anyone other than Desmond, who travels through time differently than everyone else.

838 -- Was Charlotte's name ... Annie? As in Little Ben's girlfriend from "The Man Behind the Curtain"?

839 -- Rebecca Mader's less-than-stellar performance aside ... this is some next level stuff. I love this show.

844 -- Hey, Sawyer made Locke kinda-sorta laugh!

844 -- John Locke, you are a bald-faced (and headed) liar.

846 -- Finally, somebody gives Locke some props. Just like Ben demanded some respect earlier. These two men have been doing all the heavy lifting around here!

848 -- Spit it out, Daniel. We want to know!

848 -- Goodbye, Charlotte Staples Lewis. We hardly knew ye.

851 -- I hope Locke's tumble doesn't mean he'll have to be in the wheelchair again. That guy just can't catch a break.

853 -- Oh, no! Let's just pray there are no polar bears down there...

854 -- Holy crap, it's Christian Shephard! With expository dialogue! And a demerit for Locke on a technicality!

855 -- Someone's telling Locke what he can do!

856 -- There's that awesome music from the end of "Walkabout," coming in just as Locke learns he has to pull a J.C.

857 -- Mel Gibson's gonna love this episode.

858 -- So now the question becomes this: What advantage did Ben gain by moving the island himself?

859 -- Locke wasn't a liar! And if Locke came to see Ben, maybe Ben didn't move the island for a selfish purpose. Maybe he broke the rules inadvertently.

901 -- Wow, they are moving fast! Back to the island in episode six?!?!

IN SUMMARY: Well, that was easily the best episode so far this season. I could do without the "Passion of the Locke" business as a plot device, but I can't deny that it makes sense for the character. I am very intrigued to learn that the Christian Shephard we've seen on the island is Christian Shephard, and not some ghostly apparition manipulated by Jacob -- he told Locke to say hello to Jack! The death of Charlotte seems premature for the character, but who's to say she's actually dead?

There's so much going on in this episode -- just look at how many updates I sent over the last hour -- that it demands a second (or third) viewing. This is probably going to stand as one of the classic episodes of the show's entire run.

BEST SCENE: Benjamin's freak-out in the van.

BEST LINE: "Uh, he's Korean. I'm from Encino." (Miles)

BEST PERFORMANCE: Lots of good work here, so let's give a joint prize to Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn, who continue to play two sides of a coin, and once again come into focus as the show's main characters.