Stinkin' cliffhanger

Oh great. Feb. 7. Three months until we get the next ep. Threeeeeee months. What am I supposed to do in the interim?
Oh well, let's get into analysis of this ep.:
the Others keep maintaining they're the good guys, yet the attempt to kill Sawyer and the whole interlude with Alex ("they're going to kill your boyfriend like they killed mind") seems to indicate something totally different. Wonder if/why they killed Carl, her bf? Wonder why, if the Others know Alex is not exactly on their side, they keep her around and even incorporate her into missions, such as when the Others met with the search party looking for Michael.
Jack's comment to Ben - "I need to get the hell off this island" - is interesting. At least at first, it raised major red flags, that first-person pronoun. But in light of Jack's ulitimate plan, I think that was just a feint to gain Benry's trust. Jack surely must know that if you nearly kill your patient, any deals are off.
Unfortunately, Jack doesn't really know that his plan may be for naught, since the three are on Alcatraz. Unless Kate and Sawyer can get to a boat.
Meanwhile, on the main island, the one plot advancement seems to be Locke getting that 'sign' from Eko's Jesus stick. i took that quote from the Book of John to be an indicator to Locke of where he should go - north - to find our captives. Anyone have another interpretation?
One small disappointment - we didn't get a long shot of naked Kate. Like, a 20-minute shot with her just standing there and the camera just staring. Darn you, JJ Abrams.
One other small disappointment - it would've been nice to get some kind of answers during this cliffhanger ep, while we have three months off. Would it have been too much to get one or otwo mysteries answered? I mean, we have plenty of them.
Three months. Criminy.