Leggo my Eko

RIP one of the most interesting and intriguing characters on Lost island. RIP yet another Tailie, leaving only minor character Bernard. Am not exactly pleased with this decision. Why introduce the Tailies in the first place in season 2 only to axe 'em all? It's as if much of season 2 turned out to be a waste of our time.
So let's talk about Eko's death. What killed him? Have past hallucinatory manifestations on the island - Jack's dad, Kate's horse - also been in fact the black smoke? Maybe even Hurley's friend Dave? Rousseau once referred to the black smoke as a 'security system'? Huh? Eko encountered the smoke once before and it seemeed to be 'reading' him - there were all those images in the smoke from his past. Was it now time to judge him? The fact Locke wasn't a Nigerian warlord and butcher might indicate why he saw somethign very different than Eko did when he encountered the smoke. But why did the black smoke monster just kill the pilot right away in the firstt ep.? Eko's dying words seem to indicate there's gonna be some other judging going on soon. Apparently we have to wait and see.
As one faithful reader, Dave of Upper Monroe put it, here come all the Purgatory theories again.
Meanwhile, in Othersburg, we've got an interesting twist. Anyone else see some real irony in video Juliet warning Jack that Benry is a liar and dangerous - while she's trying to recruit Jack to kill Benry? So Juliet wants Benry gone - perhaps Alex too. I wonder if there's a strong split among the Others, or if ywe've got a couple dissatisfieds. Of course, we can't presuppose tjat Juliet in fact wants Jack to kill Benry -this might be some kind of test or manipulation again. There are so many false thrusts and feints on this island ...
Benry's talk with Jack - we had a great plan to break you - was a highlight of the ep., I thought. Presumably that's what's going on now with Sawyer and Kate. Interesting comment when Benry said that Juliet looks a lot like Jack's exwife - I take it she was made the face Jack sees most often as part of the attempt to manipulate him.
What was with those v-neck linen tunics everyone wore at the funeral? Cult like? Or does that just make more sense in a tropical setting than black?
Finally, looks like we've got yet another new character being introduced - eyepatch guy. Maybe the owner of the glass eye the Tailies found on their side of the island? How the heck do you have a remote, unknown island when it's actually two or more islands and has a population bigger than Batavia? Next we'll see a CVS.
Get Lost. Aaaaaannnd .... discuss.