I have found evidence that Smokey is real and has been around since the 1500 at least!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_and_Io

Okay, so it's not really Smokey, but I thought it was pretty insane, none-the-less!

What of all those people Ben had Sayid kill? I don't think they worked for Widmore. Is so, why did Ben tell Sayid his work was finished? Widmore has no people left? Doubtful.

What if they are they smoke monster people? Taken over by it Like John. I have said this before the temple lies in the shadow of the statue! I also Think smoke monster is evil, it is trapped on the island.

I think Bram and Illana are defenitely part of the D.I. What better way to set up the final season than to pit the main island inhabtants (survivors, others, D.I, and Widmore & Co.) against one another in a final fight for the island's affections? Maybe we will see the re-surfacing of Alvar Hanso himslef in the last season. How amazing would that be. Widmore, Linus, Locke, and Hanso in a battle royal with Jacob as the referee!!! :D

Kelvin was the one who originally asked Desmond the question, "What did one snowman say to the other?" And interestingly enough, I watched the preview for Episode 5x14, "The Variable," which airs in two weeks, frame by frame and it appears that Kelvin is the one who shoots the back window out of the van that is driving away.

They have a copy of the Episode 5x14, "The Variable" preview on this website. Pause it just before the van is shot and tell me thats not Kelvin with the rifle.

My bet is that Bram and Ilana are part of the DI and the want the island back for their experiments. Whatever is in that metal crate will help them start. Maybe it's even a way to stop the island from shifting. Or it could send out a big enough signal for the DI to find the island again.

What lies in the shadow...? Ben, obviously. He lies wherever he's at.

Didn't Desmond ask Locke a similarly cryptic question when the two of them first met? If I am not mistaken I believe he asked, "What did one snowman say to the other?"
I am quite sure that these two questions are somehow related, I just cannot seem to think how Bram and Desmond would be connected. But then again the world of LOST does seem to be quite a small one.

I noticed something when Bram was speaking to Miles in the van. Don't know if it's significant or not, but he does not say "Do you know what lies in the shadow of the statue" He says "Do you know what lies in the shadow of "a" statue."

Like I said, I don't know if it's significant, and I don't know what Illana actually said, but it does seem like it is more of a Zen-type question and might not be specifically referring to the four toed statue.

L&F, it is actually Miles who tells Ben he would help him for 3.2 million.

Miles: Then you know [Widmore's] put a lot of time and energy into finding you. So now I've found you. And I can tell him exactly where you are. Or I can lie, and tell him you were already dead. And I'd be willing to do that...for 3.2 million dollars.

Sorry I meant Miles told Bram and the guys in the van that he wanted 3.2 Million not to get on the boat.

Remember the episode where Locke had Ben locked up in that old shed and Ben asked Kate help him meet with Miles behind Lockes back.

During that meeting Ben told Miles that he would pay him 3.2 Million dollars to help him.

Apparently Ben knew Widmore offered Miles 1.6 Million and that Bram told the guys in the van that he wanted 3.2 Million to not get on the boat.

Maybe the van guys are working for Ben.

We know there is someone else off the island that has stayed in touch since supplies were dropped when the Losties were on the Island. Were they Dharma people who never knew about the purge? Non Dharma people who knew about the purge and assumed the role of Dharma? Was there a Dharma purge off the island as well?

And what has Faraday been up to these last years and how did he get off the Island? Or did he leave in the sub? Did they know he was a scientist and therefore let him return? Or did he have a disguise when he left and has returned as a different person?

Dharma Trek - The Next Generation

Funded by an aging Alvar Hanso (or perhaps his widow, son, grandson or his medically preserved contiousness), this long considered defunct scientific organization has, in fact, been perfecting their still forward-thinking theories for "furthering the cause of human development."

It has recently been disclosed that much of their still unproven theories were developed in the mid- to late-1970's by a lead scientist known only as "Miles." It is said that his theories were "miles" ahead of his time, so perhaps this is the origin of his assumed name.

Their stated five-year mission is "To explore strange "new" worlds. To seek out a new life from old civilizations. To boldly go to the "Shadow of the Statue" like no man before.

It is not understood at this time what the significance is for the quotation marks within this mission statement.

I like the idea of Eloise leading a 3rd faction, trying to keep the Widmore/Linus struggle from destroying the island/earth/civilization.

However, I think Bram is about to die on an outrigger canoe as he is taking shots at a group that is rowing away from him and his pursuit team. Someone on that other canoe gets off an uncannily accurate shot, with an old model rifle, that takes him down and then they magically disappear.

I'd hate to think that we would be introduced to a whole new group of people--I was thinking that it is the Next Generation of Dharma. The DI clearly had off-island support (supplies, recruiting, etc.) that would not have been touched by the purge.

I don't know if we ever heard about the origin of the DI either. I doubt it was a group of hippie scientists that decided to create a utopian society on a remote island that no one else can find. The Lamp Post appears to be a Dharma station that existed well before the 70's.

The DI and the others/hostiles may have been feuding for a long time and the purge may not have been the final event. Perhaps the upcoming war is a new chapter in this struggle.

I like the idea that they may be sent by Daniel Faraday. After all he would have known that Miles was going to the island on Widmore's boat. He also believed that the O6 needed to come back to the island, which Ilana insured by getting Sayid on board the plane. And he saw the back of the statue from well that marked the location of the Orchid Station, which I still believe is what lies in the shadow of the statue. Daniel could be trying to get his team to the Orchid to move the island again so everyone is in the same time period, and possible he's also trying to save Charlotte.

My theory since last week has been they are children of the DI, whom Eloise (along with her son Daniel) have recruited to take the island for her. She used Ben and the O6 as a means to get them there on the plane.

What about Daniel? It looks like he will be coming back to the island from the preview of the next episode, so was he off the island for three years? Maybe he finally put all those brains to work in the seventies and created his own little organization, and now in 2008 or 2009 they are finally coming to the island and maybe that box will be how to pull the seventies losties up through time to present day.

I mentioned last week after "Dead is Dead": The Chang/Faraday video(comic-con) has reached the mainland (they figured out how to send it forward in time) and is in the hands of contemporary Dharma. To update this I like the idea that Eloise Hawking has an involvement in this group. They seem spiritually aware and in the possession of a lot of information.

Also, the "what lies in the shadow of the statue?" question is not mean to be taken literally but is an allusion to a spiritual readiness or if you belong to their group, maybe both. Bram asks the question of Miles and Miles can not answer so Bram tells Miles he is not ready to go to the Island.

I could have swore sometime in a past season there was talk about the others having a war with either themsleves or another faction within the other camp.

Could this be them?

That's a good thought, Bob! I think Penny has more going on than we have seen.

I think it's DHARMA. They knew who Miles is.

I am beginning to lean to a third party not affiliated with Ben or Widmore. Hope I am wrong. Or they are connected with the Others who like Richard could leave the island.

This might seem like it came out of left field, but what if these guys work for Penny?? The last time we saw her, she said she had no relationship with her father at all, but she was still looking for the island, and she had those two dudes in Ice Station Zebra calling her when the key got turned. Maybe she was looking for the island for a nefarious purpose of her own design, and finding Desmond was an accident.

Here's another idea, which is really just a refinement of the Dharma Initiative 2 idea, but what if these are the children of the Dharma people who died in the purge? I'm starting to think a decent amount of young'uns might have gotten off the island. The ages of Bram and Ilana seem about right, so maybe these are the children of the people who died in the purge. Just another idea.

Sorry, the Vampire theory was just intended as a joke due to his name... Bram... Bram Stoker... but, now I'm kind of rooting for a vampire season.

I agree with LostFromTheStart... definitely Dharma people coming back to take-over the island again. I'm thinking whatever is in that box will help engineer another purge and gas everyone on the island, or it is some sort of high-powered tracking device that will allow more Dharma folks to come to the island. This could be a three-way war... Dharma vs. Ben Others vs. Widmore Others.

Bram is on Team Island, along with Richard A.

I have always said that Lost could do nothing to deter my from watching. But I'd like to revise that statement and say that if vampires become a part of the show, I am DONE! But I don't think that's going on. Sledge is just pulling our legs!

don't rule out eloise either.

I've said it before, that I think there is another group out there that poses a threat to the island. They are the ones the Others are preparing to defend the island against.

Both Ben and Widmore know this confrontation is coming, but they have different ideas of how to defend the island. Or at least they each feel the other is less capable of protecting the island.

Ben was driven to become leader and helped engineer Widmore's ouster. And now he will do anything to regain control. Widmore doesn't think Ben has the strength to do what needs to be done (see Alex) and he wants revenge because he blames Ben for making him an exile.

The irony here is that it was the scheming of these two men that brought people from this rival organization onto the island. I'm still not sure what this organization is yet, but I think we will get some major info on them before the end of the season.

But if it is vampires, Llana can bite me any time.

Or is it DI 2 - The Dharminians Strike Back!

I would hope its not a US govt strike team. We don't really have our people ask silly secret questions to everyone they encounter, do we? We would have the sense to make sure everyone knows everybody else on the team. Otherwise it becomes a classic children's book "Are You My Mother?"

I'm thinking these could be some kind of US government agency - they've been interested in the island ever since the bomb disappeared...

Maybe the exploding of the Swan allowed them to zero in on it's location as well?

Vampire? WHAT??? Not traditional sense right. More like a life eating vampire? Are you pulling ,my leg again Sledge?

Oh, and Bram seems wicked awesome.

I think Bram and Ilana are in a secret 3rd party...one we will be shocked to learn exists. I don't really think either of them truly work for Ben or Widmore.

I don't think Bram is Ben's crew....Ben didn't seem to recognized him on the beach when they were trying to transport the big metal box.

Is Bram's last name Stoker?

So, uh, what's with asking about what lies in the shadow of the statue? What does this mean?!? Aghhh! Why did what's her name ask it last week and now Bram?

Vampires? Lycans? Seriously?? Come on!

I thought he looked familiar. Bram is a death dealer and ben is a lycan.

Bram obviously represents a group of vampires seeking the island, which is the birthplace of the original vampire through which all modern day vampires are descended. The vampires were also Pharoahs in ancient egypt, which explains all the egyptian connections and the underworld. That first vampire still lives on the island... Jacob / Smokey.