So, last week’s episode “The Substitute” provided a lot of insight, but still few concrete answers.  I have a few ideas that I’m tossing around and waiting to see if they pan out.  I’ll list them here on a weekly basis, or as they develop.  Minor spoilers may occur in the form of revealing the title of next week’s LOST episode.

• When FLocke (faux Locke, man in Locke, etc.) and Sawyer are in the cave, FLocke points out that he is unsure if the name Kwon written on the wall refers to Jin or Sun.  I think it refers to Jin, because no other women’s names are listed on the cave.  I suspect that for whatever role the LOSTies are auditioning for, it has to be fulfilled by a male.
• The discussion between FLocke and Richard Alpert reveals that Richard is somewhat clueless about the activities that Jacob is conducting on the island, even though Richard has been the very person in charge of these activities at times.  FLocke had previously gone out of his way to mention to Richard that it was nice to see him out of chains.  Perhaps Richard is actually Jacob’s indentured servant and serves to do his bidding.
• If Richard could potentially be Jacob’s indentured servant, then maybe the smoke monster is Man in Black’s / Esau’s indentured servant, instead of a physical reincarnation of him.
• If Man in Black is occupying FLocke’s body, what happened to him to cause him to need to be reincarnated in physical human form?
• Eloise Hawking was adamant that in order for Jack and the other LOSTies to return to the island, the dead body of John Locke had to go with them.  Technically Jacob was alive at this time.  Did Eloise know that the Smoke Monster needed a body to occupy?  Has Eloise Hawking, formerly a leader of the Others, turned her back against the island and joined the side of Man in Black?
• Off the island, Eloise Hawking was eventually put in charge of “The Lamp Post”, a Dharma station located in the basement of a church in Los Angeles.  Next week’s episode is titled “The Lighthouse”, could this somehow correlate with the return of Eloise Hawking?
• Charles Widmore, now exiled from the island, has an on-going rivalry with Ben, who worked for Jacob.  Does this mean that Charles Widmore, and potentially Eloise Hawking, worked for the Man in Black/Esau?
• FLocke told Sawyer that he was once a man who experienced betrayal.  Was Man in Black overthrown by Jacob?  This would be in line with the literal translation of the biblical story of Jacob and Esau.  Jacob used a goat’s fur to trick his father into believing he was Esau, and subsequently inherited his father’s wealth.
• The ladder that FLocke and Sawyer climb down could be representative of Jacob’s ladder in the Bible.  If this is the case, the ladder has been said to be the link between Heaven and Earth.  Maybe the island is Heaven/Eden, therefore allowing it to hold mystical properties, and FLocke and Sawyer, now having descended the ladder, are returning to Earth.
• In the cave, FLocke specifically points out 6 male names on the wall: 23 – SHEPHARD,” “8 – REYES,” “16 – JARRAH,” “42 – KWON,” “4-LOCKE,” 15 – FORD.”  FLocke then proceeds to cross out Locke’s name on the wall, which leave 5 potential candidates.  In the Bible, Esau had 5 sons.  Although FLocke says Jacob had a thing for numbers and originally wrote those names on the cave to bring them to the island, maybe Man in Black / Esau is recruiting his potential sons to reclaim his birthright (similar to what happens in the book of Jubilees http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esau).
• The young boy with blood on his hands could be 1) Aaron 2) Young Jacob.

Ok, that’s pretty much all I got for this week.  Stay tuned!