4:8 Meet Kevin Johnson

I'll just say it: I don't know how I'm going to survive this next break - a month before the next new episode! I might have to rewatch the first 8 episodes of season four. Thoughts about last week's episode - did they really kill off Rousseau?! I saw the bullet go in, but somehow I'm not sure this is the end for her. We've certainly seen characters survive being shot before. There's a lot more to her story (we haven't seen that flashback episode the writers promised not so long ago) and I think she's one of the most interesting characters on the Island, so I hope she's alive. Maybe she'll pull a Locke on us in the next episode. Karl is definitely dead though. Poor Karl. At least he got a cool Star Wars allusion in before he kicked it ("I have a bad feeling about this...")

About Michael; I like the idea that he is trying to redeem himself for betraying his friends. He has always struck me as one of the weakest of the characters when it comes to morals, so it will be interesting to see if he's able to find redemption in his final days. I think he's the one in the coffin (anyone else?)

Why can't Michael kill himself? What does it mean when big gay Tom says "the Island won't let you"? (By the way, I think it's hilarious that Tom used to be the scariest of the Others, and now we find out that he's this jolly gay foodie. Talk about character development.) Here's my out-there theory: it all goes back to destiny. Remember the episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes" where Desmond first time travels? He goes back to his pre-Island life and tries to change things so that he ends up married to Penny instead of on the Island. He finds out that he can't. He meets the mysterious Ms. Hawking, who explains that no matter what he does, he will always end up on the Island because it is his destiny to push the button.

So it must be Michael's destiny to go back to the Island on the freighter and work for Ben, since he's been unsuccessful at three separate suicide attempts. The big question is, how does Tom know that it's his destiny? Here's where it gets even weirder - maybe it's because Tom and Ben can see the future. It's not too much of a stretch - we've already seen this happen with Desmond when he has a vision of Charlie dying. Ben always seems to be three steps ahead of everyone else all the time. I think Ben is able to use the Island's powers to see the future, and I think it has to do with his ability to talk to Jacob. This is why he's so passionate about protecting the Island from being discovered by Widmore or anyone else. Ben knows that it's Michael's destiny to be on the freighter because he's seen it, just like Desmond knew it was Charlie's destiny to die no matter how many times he tried to save his life. It's not that the Island controls destiny, it's that it allows certain people to see what an individual's destiny will be.

Of course I could be completely wrong. But it kind of makes sense, right?