LOST 7.08 “LaFleur” pre-game

It’s time to rev up those brain cells and get your theory caps warmed up. Now that the Oceanic 6 storyline has wrapped up, Jin (and probably several of the other castaways) has gone all Dharma on us, and John Locke is all reborn and stuff… what will tonight’s episode bring? It’s safe to say “LaFleur” marks the beginning of a whole new story arc for Season 5, and based on what we’ve seen thus far, it’s also safe to assume that said storyline is going to revolve around the Dharma Initiative.

• This week, let’s start with this teaser-laden interview with actress Reiko Aylesworth, from TV Guide. She’s joining the cast in tonight’s episode for a multi-ep storyline, and she plays a pretty crucial role. She drops all kinds of hints in the interview, but avoids giving anything away.
• EW‘s Doc Jensen does his usual straining-for-literary-connections song & dance, but also manages to offer up some mighty intelligent theories. (Note to Doc: tonight’s ep is not the halfway point of the season; that honor goes to the next episode on the docket, “Namaste,” 5.09. With 17 episodes scheduled for the season, #9 perches precisely in the middle.)
• I also suggest reading up on everything we know about Richard Alpert, thanks to that great repository of all things Lost, Lostpedia. (While you’re there, reading up on Horace Goodspeed wouldn’t be a bad idea.)