Overall, this episode seemed to evoke a type of repetitive, circular feeling. There was a scene early in the show that was a condensed version of this feeling. Locke has a dream where he meets Horace Goodspeed. In this dream Horace repeats the phrases "Hello there," and "I'm Horace" twice each, and continually fells the same tree. This made it seem like the dream was on a loop. The episode itself looped back to things that happened in the past by the repetition of certain key phrases and events. For instance, when Sayid gets into the Zodiac, he completes the circle of traveling from the island, to the freighter and now back again. We all recognized the familiar line, "Don't tell me what I can't do", shouted in this episode by a teenaged, somewhat awkward Locke. This is a favorite phrase for John; he has now said it seven times. It has also been said by Mr. Eko, Charlie, Ben and twice by Jack. This show really wants to make it clear that we can't tell people what they can't do. There is another phrase John Locke has heard before, usually when he has messed things up. In "Cabin Fever" he is asked by his foster mother after he fails Richard's test, "What did you do?" He was asked this, or a variation of it, by Jack after Boone was grievously injured, and by Sayid after the Flame exploded. Even such lines as "I have read your file" link back to so many episodes. This looping feeling seemed to me like a way of tying the show together, like it used to do so much more often in the earlier seasons.

My favorite parts of "Cabin Fever" involved visits from some of our most mysterious figures: Richard Alpert, Matthew Abaddon, and Christian Shephard. Richard has been keeping tabs on Locke since birth. His visit to Locke as a small child to administer the mysterious test raised so many interesting possibilities. The test itself was very similar to a test that Tibetan Buddhists use to confirm whether someone is the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Was it a test to see if he was the reincarnation of someone very important to the island? Richard looked very excited to see Locke's drawing of the smoke monster. Does that mean Locke had a memory of a past life on the island? In any case, we certainly see that the 5-year-old John Locke is a very special child. Later, Richard attempts to contact John again, using his teacher to try to talk teen John into attending the Mittelos Science Camp. This struck me as odd. Locke seemed to have a connection to the island specifically because he was a man of faith and not of science. So why push the science angle? Perhaps they hope John becomes a scientist, making it easier to hire him to work on the island, much like Juliet was? It's hard to say.

When Matthew Abaddon wheeled John to the elevator he was also apparently wheeling him towards his future. His chat with John in the hallway set John on the path towards the Walkabout that never was, and to the return flight home that started this whole show. So why in the heck did he do that? The whole scene itself was fascinating. The part where he wheeled John up the stairs was a bit of a scare. Was he going to roll him down them? I thought he would at least threaten him with the idea for some reason. But no, he turned him around and spoke to him. Does this make Abaddon a good guy or a bad guy? The sinister visit he paid to Hurley, and the fact that he set up the team of not-exactly-rescuers to go the island led me to believe that he was a bad guy. If that is true then he sent John on the Walkabout to mess with the order of things on the island. If he is on the side of the Others and was sending John to them, then why arrange the team of scientists to search for Ben? Perhaps it is also the destiny of Frank, Charlotte, Miles and Daniel to be there and he was setting them on their way. I cannot wait to find out more about Matthew Abaddon.

At the end of the scene when Abaddon said that the next time they should happen to meet John would owe him one, I thought for sure that he was the one waiting for him in that cabin. So I was even more surprised to see good old Christian Shephard sitting there. Christian confirmed to Locke and the viewers that Locke is indeed the Chosen One. But before going in there, Ben told John that he had been "special" once too, and that John should be careful because "destiny is a fickle bitch." Besides giving us one of the best lines in Lost history, this also gave me more to think about. Does this mean that destiny changes its mind? Can it decide to choose one person and then realize that it likes that one over there better? I noticed that Christian could not just tell John what to do. John had to ask the correct question to get the right answer. When John asked how to save the island Christian gave a pleased look to his daughter Claire, who is with him for reasons we have yet to learn. She looks mighty content, though, so apparently it will be significant. Is she dead? I hope not, but I won't be surprised if it turns out that way.

The show ends with the solution to how to save the island. John is told that they need to move it. But move it how? Will it move like the cabin moves, by being relocated? Or will it be moved in time? If it is moved in time it would certainly help pull off the charade of Kate being Aaron's biological mom. We also see that the mercenaries are on their way back. Frank Lapidus drops a satellite phone through Claire's tent (it does seem as though she won't be needing it anymore) to warn the beach crew about their impending arrival. If the three-part season finale we have coming is as good as Cabin Fever, we should be in for a bumpy (and choppy) ride.