This Place is Death, Initial Reaction

I liked this episode. I was disappointed by a few things. I'm also getting annoyed with a few things. I'm kind of getting sick of the slow, yet completely obvious reveals. We know it's going to happen, just show us already. However, I am happy with the plethora of answers. I also liked that this episode picked up the pace a little bit, because I'm getting tired of the Oceanic 6 story. I'm glad that Desmond is back at the end of this episode, because I think his story is the most interesting off-island. I am worried that he and/or Penny may die though. I'm going to be really pissed if that happens. If there's anyone that I don't want to die, it's them.

Questions:

• Was Ben surprised that Ms. Hawking is Daniel Faraday's mother or that Desmond knew?
• Did going into The Temple make Rousseau's science team sick?
• Does the monster protect The Temple?
• Why did Danielle seem to think that Robert wasn't himself?
• What exactly is the sickness?
• Did Locke visit Sun when he was Jeremy Bentham?
• How did Ben know that Locke was off the island? How did he know where to find him?
• What time are they now in when Locke turns the donkey wheel?
• Does Locke figure out that Christian is Jack's father?
• How long has the donkey wheel been there?
• Why did Charlotte just remember that Daniel visited her when she was young?
• When does Daniel go back in time and visit Charlotte? Is that the time they're stuck in?
• Why does Charlotte tell Jin not to bring Sun back to the island? How does she know?
• Who are Charlotte's parents?
• Is Christian Shephard Jacob? Why does he know so much?
• So what would have happened of Locke was the original one that moved the island, instead of Ben? Was he not supposed to lead the Others? Why didn't Richard know this?
• Did Ben know he wasn't supposed to move the island?
• Will Brother Campbell make a reappearance? Will we find out why he was in cahoots with Ms. Hawking? Is he Daniel Faraday's father?
• If they need all of them to go back, then why is what they have good enough for now?
• Will Frank Lapidus fly them back to the island?

Notes:

• It was awesome to finally see at least part of Danielle Rousseau's story.
• Desmond is going to need to seriously flip out on that ring lady.
• Montand losing his arm and a bone sticking out of Locke's leg grossed me out.
• If I recall correctly, Sayid asked Danielle, "Have you see other people on this island?" and she replies, "No, but I hear them, out in the jungle. They whisper." So, what was Jin then, lady? Perhaps she just went completely insane and forgot about him, but, in my opinion, it would be pretty hard to forget a dude that's been on the island before you and kept disappearing and reappearing in front of you, and was there when your entire team died. I personally think that's a little weak. Unless, she couldn't remember him from the past until it happened when Jin traveled from the future, in which case, Danielle couldn't remember it because she was already dead. That's the only way it works.
• The smoke monster seemed a little different in this episode, older, and more greyish looking. It reminded me a lot of Season 1, especially with dragging Montand down the hole.
• Sun calling her mother and talking to Ji Yeon, telling her that she found a friend for her in America named Aaron, I thought she was totally going to be so evil and kill everyone, and that she would kidnap Aaron and take him back to Korea.
• Ben said something to the affect of, "The Temple is a sanctuary. It's only for us (meaning the Others)." So, perhaps that's why Danielle's team got supposedly sick.
• Rousseau, that is not where Montand lost his arm.
• I'm really hoping to see more about Rousseau, like when she had Alex and Ben took her.
• I'm so happy that Jin is back. No one matches the comedy he brings to the show.
• My thought is that Christian has done the same thing that he told Locke to do, which is why he seems to know so much about it. He pushed the donkey wheel, then died and came back to the island where he was somehow resurrected.
• I really hope that we're going to see everything Jeremy Bentham did in the real world.
• I would like to know what exactly these rules are for objects traveling through time.
• So, the frozen donkey wheel was actually stuck, therefore, skipping like a record, just as Daniel said.
• Basically Ben screwed everything up. Locke should wear a shirt that says "I'm with stupid."
• Sawyer had a nose bleed, but not Locke or Jin, who have been there the same amount of time as Sawyer, nor has Daniel Faraday had one yet.
• Ben pulling the van over cracked me up. "I'll turn this van around right now!"
• Before this season began, I was under the impression that the entire season was going to be about them getting back the island, and that it wouldn't happen until the very end of the season. But, now, I'm feeling like it's going to happen pretty soon, which makes me wonder what's going to happen in the rest of the season or the rest of the series.
• Charlotte speaks Korean and Klingon.
• Rousseau's team heard the numbers being broadcasted on the radio.
• The hieroglyphics on The Temple are similar to Ben's underground lair where he summoned smokey and the ones in The Swan on the countdown timer.
• Jin found Rousseau's music box on the beach, the same one that Sayid fixed for her.
• Robert tried to shoot Rousseau, but failed because the pin was removed from his gun, just as Rousseau told Sayid when he tried to shoot her with the same gun, failing also.

I'm a little sad and disappointed to see Charlotte die already. I was looking forward to find out more about her story, though, I'm pretty sure we haven't see the last of her yet. Daniel still has to be scary and tell her not to come back to the island, and we have to find out who her parents are and how she got to the island. Charlotte exclaiming, "This place is death!" and telling Daniel that some scary man told her not to come back to the island, and she thinks it was him, totally freaked me out though. I may have nightmares about that one.