Episode 211 - Secret Clue

This week's episode, 'The Hunting Party,' saw a whole heap of new developments and clues for us to analyse, including Locke's prying eyes and Michael's decision to leave. Did you notice Jack's tattoos were gone in his flashback? I guess that means that there's a story behind them as well… Mainly though this week, it was all about 'Zeke' aka Beardy aka Mr. Friendly.

Tracking Michael into the jungle, Locke, Sawyer and Jack try to keep up as best as possible. Locke springs it on Sawyer that he knows his real name, James Ford, having looked at Hurley's manifest, though Sawyer refuses to tell him the reason for his alias. Locke and Jack argue about bringing Michael back - Locke points out that the father is probably well beyond listening to reason, and asks the doctor "Who are we to tell anyone what to do?" Interestingly, this viewpoint would have been shared by the other John Locke, the famous philosopher that Locke's character is based on. Jump on Yahoo!7 Search and look him up.

Now night-time, Locke suggests they head back, though Jack won't hear a word of it. They continue pushing forward, eventually stopping to once again squabble, when they are interrupted by an imposing voice. The three turn to find the same man who had kidnapped Walt from the raft first season, and Sawyer remembers him instantly - the bearded man. Desperate for revenge, Sawyer makes a move but stops short when his ear is clipped by a sniper's bullet. Jack believes the three of them outnumber their adversaries, though he is forced to quickly back down when they realise they are surrounded by more than twenty Others holding torches. The bearded man, nicknamed Zeke by Sawyer, tells Jack and co. off for over-stepping their boundaries, and recommends they respect the island. As a final trump card, Zeke calls for his prisoner to be revealed - a blindfolded Kate. The guns are exchanged for Kate and the survivors are forced to return to their camp without Michael.

That's an awful lot to have happen. But, inside that scene, lay a great deal of mysteries and possible answers! Firstly, there are a lot of Others, and they don't play nicely with friends. Most noticeable was the name of the person Zeke called to bring forth Kate - Alex. While we didn't completely see this person, a girl's arm led Kate into the clearing before fading back into the undergrowth. Is it possible that this Alex is Rousseau's stolen daughter?

The other huge clue given by Zeke was hidden in a quote. Telling Jack off for messing with things that don't belong to him, Zeke says, "A man much wiser than anybody here once said, From the dawn of creation, man has been blessed with curiosity." While this may seem to be a throwaway line, delve a little deeper into the history of the quote and you'll find something very surprising. The wise man who spoke those words was none other than Alvar Hanso, key beneficiary of the Dharma Initiative via his Hanso Foundation! Either Zeke and his crew found some very strange reading material after somehow arriving on the island, or Zeke may be a little higher connected than anyone suspects...