O'BSERVATIONS: "LOST" IN THOUGHT

Time and again, 'Lost' challenges us as viewers with new looks at even the little moments and with our perceptions of the unresolved mysteries.

We got an example of both with the latest episode, "Everybody Hates Hugo". Last season, there was a cute subplot in which the bond between Charlie and Claire was deepened by his quest to find peanut butter for her. Eventually all he could produce was a jar of peanut butter of the mind, but Claire accepted the fantasy and by it she saw that special something in Charlie.

[Of course, her feelings may change if Charlie succumbs to the temptation within that statue of the Virgin Mary.]

The payoff for that scene came back tenfold last night when Hurley was able to help Charlie fulfill Claire's wish by presenting him with a jar of Dharma Initiative brand peanut butter.

And then there's Now You See Her, Most Times You Don't Rose. She had complete faith in her husband Bernard's survival, even though he was in the back of the plane. Perhaps because of his name, I was picturing an actor like Jason Bernard in the role. Probably younger, but yes... I fell into preconceived notions and assumed he would be black.

I couldn't have been the only one.... Some fan played on that idea and listed Samuel L Jackson as "Bernard" on the IMDb.com as a hoax.

I should have known better; my friend Shirley is black and her husband Jeff is white. But that's not the model that took precedence in my mind when it came to thinking about Bernard and Rose.

So when we first saw Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (who will from now on be referred to as "Triple A") this season, my first inclination was that he was Bernard, even though his accent and attitude and that feral rage to his eyes didn't jibe with the image of the loving hubby whose fingers would swell while flying, who believed airplanes want to be in the air, and who (as we learned this week) had sweet teeth.

By the end of the episode, we met Bernard, and he was played by Sam Anderson who first came to my notice as an exasperated FBI agent in many episodes of 'Picket Fences'.

Bernard is only one of a handful of survivors from the back section of the plane. Originally there were 23 who survived, but now there were only ten "tailies" still alive at most.

Could it be that the sickness that overwhelmed the crew from Rousseau's boat affected the tailies as well? I'm hearing rumors that it's because of "The Others" that they've all died off.

So why might Bernard be still alive?

There's no doubt in my mind that there is some kind of gestalt power of the mind at work on this island, perhaps as a result of the experiments done by the Dharma Initiative. We've seen things happen that should not have otherwise taken place - Locke can walk; Charlie found his guitar; and although it may have taken a month, Claire got her peanut butter.

So with Rose's unshakable faith in her husband's survival, that could be what shielded Bernard from harm.

But like I said, I've been hearing rumors about the episode "The Other 48 Days"..... So until Abrams, Lindelof, and Company say otherwise, we'll just have to wait and see.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby