Nice press conference!
Someone knows what the Orchid is?
Probably anuto-destruction facility...
Have we heard about it before? Is it a station?
Could it be the gaz factory that Dan and Charlotte presumably disabled?
A greenhouse?

nothing incredible happened this episode, kind of setting up the finale

I think this seasons quality of writing were victims of the writers strike.

I really like ben. I think in the end he is going to be who he has said he is all along, the good guy.

I thought that also: the 6 still in different places. The action to bring them together is still unknown.

pretty good episode, It felt a little rushed, like they were trying to get too many things out there to us at once. It was definitely a set up for the 2 hour finale. I just don't know how they are going to pull it off and get the 6 together before the season ends... I doubt the 2 hour finale will have any answers about what's going on with Claire, which is a shame, I really want to know what her status is. I also want to see what it is that keeps Jin and Sun apart when they are rescued. I sure hope it's not his death. Two weeks is a long time to wait, but the 8 months after will just be miserable.....

 4 of the 6 are either at or headed for the Orchid. I had the feeling Sun was getting ready to jump off the boat.
Here is the part I don't get. Richard is moving silently through the island with a pretty large group of armed men. If I count right Keamy has 2 guys with him. So unless their names are Rambo and Chuck Norris, I would think they could take  them out.
Did anyone catch what Ben handed Locke right before he stepped out. I thought it looked like that kill stick he used in the flash forwards.

Here's my timeline for the 6 getting off the island...

1. Ben has some evil badass plan and will kill the mercinaries. (Maybe Richard and the rest arrive as reinforcments)

2. Jack & Sawyer find the Orchid - Jack and Locke have the same science vs faith / leave vs stay argument.

3. Richard and the others (with Kate and Sayid) get to the Orchid (4 of the 6 now together there)

4. Ben, Locke, Richard & the others stay at the Orchid and do some crazy island stuff to try to move the island.

5. Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, & Sawyer go back to the helicopter.

6. Sawyer again doesn't want to leave and tells Kate to do something for him when she gets home. Sawyer returns to the beach.

7. The pilot flies the 4 back to the freighter (Sun and Aaron are already there...all 6 now together).

8. Since the boat is rigged with explosives and cannot move or it will explode, they must go back to the island.

9. The six get into the raft and head back to the island just before the freighter explodes.

10. Before they reach the island Locke finally activates the Orchid and the island disapears / teleports / moves away.

11. Since the island isn't there to pull them in (like it did to desmond's boat and michales raft) they, after some period of time, wash up on that island as stated in the Oceanic press conference.

12. Since they can't really explain why there was a fake plane wreak, dissapearing magic island, and widmore's freaighter full of guys trying to kill them they make up that story of everyone dying in the plane crash.

the 6 are now off the island and everyone else is still stuck on it, but it's moved to a new location.


As for the people on the frieghter (Desmond, Jin, Mike) i think they stay behind to try to disarm the bomb but die in the explosion (though i don't know if the island will let Michael die yet).  However, my other idea is they get onto the helicopter just before the explosion (maybe the pilot has trouble getting it started at first and thats why the 6 jump in the raft).  The helicopter is a lot faster than the raft so they could make it back to the island before Locke moves it and then be stuck again, but still alive.