Alt and the Black Sleep of Smokey by The Von

I was reading Vozzek's recap and he mentioned how the side flash seemed like an illusion, and it got me thinking. Remember last year when everyone thought Locke had come back to life, even though they kept saying dead is dead? Well, of course he was dead, and we were wrong, and it was all...an illusion.

Could the alt be the same trick, and we're falling for it again? Sayid's behavior in the last episode reminded me of, ahem, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. While Dr. Jones was under the black sleep of Kali, he imagined himself writhing in pain on a stone tablet, or something, as his body was manipulated by, I guess Kali, to act all evil in front of his friends.

What if Sayid is also under a sort of black sleep, except he thinks that he's in LA and Nadia married to his brother, etc. Maybe what we think is an alternate timeline is actually what the characters are experiencing while they are under the black sleep...of smokey.

This would of course mean that most of the main characters will die and come back evil. Of course, there will probably be some way to wake them up (hopefully something better than Short Round with a torch). Maybe this is what Desmond's up to when he appears/disappears in the premier. Maybe there's some way to wake Locke up as well, and this is the only way to beat Smokey.

Too silly? yeah, maybe--but as Vozzek pointed out, something's up with the flash sideways. The timelines don't match up, everyone seems a little disoriented-- the whole thing is very dreamlike. Maybe it's the afterlife or one of those Occurance at Owl Creek brain farts that occur at the moment of death, though I doubt the series is just going to end with the island sinking and everyone dying.