Man, I really hate that face. That condescending-as-heck, fake-worried, I'm-better-than-you face that Juliet uses all the time. It's really annoying.

That is to say, feel free to keep using it, Elizabeth Mitchell. I enjoy hating Juliet way more than Ana-Lucia.

This episode focused on the women of the show, as Sun and Juliet marched down to that medical hatch where Claire was kept during her captivity. The title means "Date of Conception," and indeed, we find out when Sun's baby was conceived: only a few weeks ago, which means it definitely belongs to Jin. That's great and all, but Sun...you still cheated on him. Just reminding you.

It seems to me the writers always have a hard time knowing what to do with Sun. Her last flashback episode early in the season painted her as a woman with a long history of deceit and lies, but now we're back to the poor, remorseful woman who nonetheless has a surprising backbone. That flashback scene in which she essentially blackmailed her father into giving her money was actually kind of cool.

The subplot, to me, was more interesting than the main plot, but we'll get to that in a second -- the main plot still had some nice moments up its sleeve. The first came near the beginning of the episode, when Sun suggests to Kate that Jack had switched sides and was in league with the Others. Kate, of course, vehemently denied that this was possible, but I liked how they threw that possibility out there. My own theory? Neither of them are right. Or both of them are: Jack is a mole for the Others, but even he doesn't realize it -- he was thrown in the brainwashing room that was introduced in the first post-hiatus episode. Right now part of his brain is a sleeper cell that can be activated at any time to turn against the castaways. That's why the brainwashing room was introduced in the first place, and that's part of what happened for that stretch of episodes in which we didn't see any of Jack.

The other good moment was the final little teaser given to Juliet: she goes back in the medical hatch without Sun to leave Ben a voice recording: "I'm still working on getting samples from the other women, I should have Austen's soon, I'll report back when I know more." She turns the tape recorder off. "I hate you."

First, KATE MUST BE PREGNANT. There's NO WAY she's not. I've been harping on this ever since she and Sawyer first had sex. But also, the scene perfectly encapsulated Juliet's character: working unquestioningly for the Others, choosing them over the crash survivors completely, despite her hating hating them and having the same motives as the survivors. A walking conundrum. The cards will be shown soon...

Onto the subplot. It's getting late and I have to crank this out. First of all:

1. Jin, you're freaking awesome. Way to DROP-KICK THE CRAP OUT OF BAKUNIN. Look at that. Give it up for Jin, everybody. This show needs more karate.

2. What the heck is Bakunin still doing alive? You know what? I love it. He's a great character, and I have a hunch the only reason they resurrected him was because he turned out to be so cool. But still, I don't care. He's one crafty guy, and if he faked his own death at the Gates to Othersville, all the craftier of him. Just one thing: the gates clearly DO have an effect, given the sound they made, and the fact that the monster can't pass through them. So did he die, and just recovered thanks to the recovery powers of the island? And if so, doesn't that fly in the face of the head writers say they think it's cheating to bring someone back from the dead?

Eh, whatever. Good to have him back. Although I fear keeping him alive will indeed have dire consequences, given the amount of time they spent on Charlie telling Desmond that. You know what would be cool, though? If keeping him alive actually ends up ultimately saving one of their lives. Get ready for a big imaginary scenario: Juliet flips the switch in Jack's brain that makes him go secretly haywire. Charlie doesn't suspect anything until...oh no he's gonna shoot Charlie! But wait! Bakunin, in a fit of either conscience or coincidence, steps into the line of fire and dies instead! Which then gives Charlie enough time to wisen up to Jack's insanity! Charlie's fate is saved thanks unwittingly to Desmond sparing Bakunin's life! And since Desmond saved Charlie's life without even realizing it, through that twist of fate Charlie is no longer cursed to die and Desmond regains faith in having control over your own life! Genius, right? Man, I should write for this show. Sorry about all the exclamation points though.

Okay. Finally. Down to the last thing, the whopper of a teaser ending: Naomi the mystery woman wakes up and gives Hurley the news: "They found Flight 815. There were no survivors." Zoom in on Hurley as the music grinds to a halt: "What?" Blackout to title screen.

Now before everyone starts screaming, I WAS RIGHT, IT'S PURGATORY!!!!! Calm down. It's not purgatory. The only reason that's such a popular theory is because it's a one-line solution for pretty much everything that happens on the show. It's not going to be that simple. So if not, what's the story? Did the Others create a massive cover-up? Are all the castaways clones of their now-dead counterparts and placed on the island in a sadistic study of human behavior? Is Naomi a dirty liar?

It was a great twist - the kind that provokes the sense of wonder that the show has been lacking (thanks to its fundamental structure) since season one. Let's see where it takes us.