A little prep work for viewing 5.06, entitled "316"

I wouldn't exactly call it homework, but this essay by Doc Jensen at Entertainment Weekly provides a bit of insight into what we'll be seeing tonight.

The C.S. Lewis connection continues with parallels being drawn between Lost and The Chronicles of Narnia. Check out this excerpt from the sequel to Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian.

''I felt just the same,'' said Edmund in a breathless voice. ''As if I were being dragged along. A most frightful pulling — ugh! It's beginning again!... All catch hands and keep together! This is magic — I can tell by the feeling. Quick!''

Here's more from the article:

From the book The Magician's Nephew:

In this mythology-revealing installment, the book's child heroes find a pair of matching magical yellow rings in an ancient box from Atlantis. The kids think that the rings give them the power to transport themselves to Narnia — and they do. But the story reveals that the rings belong to Narnia, and because they do, they want to return there.
LINK TO LOST: Thematically, the off-Island castaways are like the rings, wanting/needing to be returned. In ''This Place Is Death,'' Sun received a gold band — Jin's wedding ring — which inspired/compelled her to return to the Island.

THE LAMP-POST
From the books
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Magician's Nephew (SPOILER ALERT!) One of the most iconic landmarks in Lewis' Narnia saga, the lamp-post is an eternally lit street light located in the enchanted woods of the Lantern Wastes. After Lucy pushes her way through the wardrobe closet that leads into the Lantern Wastes, the lamp-post is the first marker she encounters. It literally lights her way into Narnia.
LINK TO LOST: As you will learn tonight — unless you've already had this spoiled for you in the teaser clip ABC has posted online — ''The Lamp-Post'' is the name of an off-Island Dharma station that the weird science enclave used to find the Island. It is certainly located in an unlikely place — you know it better as the computer lab underneath Ms. Hawking's church.

A bit of Watch With Kristin Lost scoopage

This is taken from Watch with Kristin's most recent chat on E!Online:

Amy in Portland, Ore.: Is Jin really back on Lost?

He really is, and Daniel Dae Kim really is still a series regular. Yay! My source tells me "He's not going anywhere," meaning, off the show. But of course, Jin is going lots of places! He's stuck a good two decades in the past right now with preggo Rousseau. Our East Coast correspondent, Breanne Heldman, met up with DDK at New York's ComicCon (lucky girl) today, and he hinted that the Rousseau storyline would last for a while, saying, "She's around, let's put it that way." And get this. When asked if Jin will learn French, Daniel said slyly, "Who's to say he doesn't already know it?" We get the feeling he may already speak it, so this could be the beginning of une belle amitié (a beautiful friendship!) for young Rousseau and Jin.

Margo in Acton, Mass.: Will Jin and Sun reunite?

"Definitely," a source close to the show tells me. "And it may be sooner than you think." DDK says: "That, I think, you'll be surprised if and when you see it." I'm expecting lots of tears—onscreen and off (i.e. mine).

DapperGirl in Atlanta: Lost!

Lance Reddick (now on Fringe) tells us he's coming back to Lost in the Feb. 25 episode. So get ready for more Matthew Abaddon freakiness!

Max in Syracuse, N.Y.: On Lost, is it just me or does it seem like Charlotte and Daniel knew each other before they got on the Island?

Ding, ding! I think you're on to something. Here's what Rebecca Mader herself told me on their relationship: "They must have a history. Because it's like they just got to this island and all of a sudden they appear to have—he apparently loves her, he's in love with her, which is huge." Hopefully we'll find out about it soon since someone is kicking the bucket this week, and it very well could be Charlotte.

Mary in Miami: Will Charlotte die?

Rebecca Mader told me she's safe for now, but the emphasis was a bit too strong on the "for now" for my liking, and I'm hearing she may have been released from the show at some point to shoot a movie with George Clooney. (Yeah, we shouldn't feel too sorry for her if that's the case, but I personally hope she's sticking around!)

Cast in Other Roles: Rebecca Mader

Rebecca Mader, who plays Charlotte, has been cast in George Clooney's movie Men Who Stare at Goats.

According to Hollywood Reporter: the film "is set in Iraq and centers on Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), a desperate reporter who stumbles upon the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady (Clooney), who claims to be a former secret U.S. military psychic soldier who was reactivated after 9/11. Mader will play McGregor's wife. "

Michael Ausellio at Entertainment Weekly says that Mader's new role "doesn't means she's leaving Lost."

Doesn't mean she's staying either.