Further Instructions (Lost Spoilers!)

So I know that the writers were obligated to tell what happened to Locke, Eko, and Desmond in the episode...

But I wish that it hadn't seemed like a setup episode. I mean it was good...in that it told what happened to them. But nothing really gets said about what happened after Desmond turned the failsafe key. The three just end up in the jungle and neither seems to say anything about it (apart from Desmond's line to Hurley). And Most of the episode is about Locke having to clean up his mess, which means rescuing Eko from...a polar bear?

When did the polar bear come in? Did it just decide to cavort around the jungle and stumble upon Eko? I guess we're supposed to infer that. Also Locke's conversation with "Island Boone" was cool, but the episode started moving so fast after that that I couldn't digest all that I had seen. It's like the writers knew it was filler, so they tried to make it artsy...or something.

The one part I really didn't like: the intro of new characters on the beach. Could that have seemed more obligatory and forced, even though it played logically? I also know who I want to leave now: Nikki. I haven't disliked a character that much since Season 1 Sawyer and Ana Lucia. Give Hurley a break and stop whining...in your only line of the episode.

Ah well, next week looks pretty good.

"If mercy fall upon the broken and the poor, Dear Father, I will see you there on distant shores."