"Lost" recap: What's up, Chuck?

Ok, it's been a few days since I saw this week's episode of "Lost," and I'm currently battling a fairly nasty cold, so this recap probably won't be my most thorough and insightful. But, to the best of my abilities, here's my recap of episode three of season five.
The episode starts with Desmond running around, frantically searching for a doctor. We assume the worst, but it turns out that Penny is having a baby. It's a boy. Fast forward and Des, Pen, and their toddler are on a boat to Oxford. Desmond's telling his boy about a magical island...called Great Britain. Nice mislead, Des. Penny points out that delving back into the island nonsense puts him at risk from her dad. She also serves as a conduit for the audience, asking why he only just now remembered meeting Daniel in the hatch, and being asked to look for Daniel's mom. Des doesn't know. He only knows it's important. When he gets to Oxford, he's told that there's no record of any Faraday working there. Well that's impossible, says Des. Of course, he met Daniel there years ago. But, through some poking around, Des discovers an abandoned lab, containing a picture of Daniel and some babe. A worker stumbles upon him, confirms it was Daniel's lab, but says it's no wonder that the University is denying Daniel's existence after what he did to "that girl." No, not Marlo Thomas. It turns out that the girl in the picture is named Theresa, and Daniel had been doing experiments with her. She's now a mess -- semi-catatonic and bouncing around in time, much like the people on the freighter last season. Theresa's sister tells Desmond that it would be impossible for them to get by without the help of Mr. Widmore. What? Yes, turns out old Charles was funding Dannyboy's experiments, and is now paying for Theresa's care.
Desmond goes to see Charles, who seems more worried about Penny at this point than he is about protecting any secrets. He tells Desmond that Daniel's mom is in L.A. Of course, so is Ben...who wants to kill Penny. Even without this knowledge, Des feels going to L.A. is a bad idea, but Penny tells him to. He tells her the only things that matter to him are her and their son...Charlie. Probably named not after his grandfather, but after a certain ex-junkie rocker. But she persuades them and they go anyway.
Back on the island, things are getting really crazy. Daniel, Charlotte and Miles go to the creek, which Sawyer set up as a meeting place during the flaming arrow attack. The creepy soldiers from the past find them and capture them and bring them to some early version of New Otherton, presided over by Richard, looking exactly the same. Turns out, the others think Daniel and co. are American military. Oh, and there's a hydrogen bomb on the island that needs diffusing. Yay. Daniel volunteers. Richard seems suspicious but Daniel tells Richard he loves Charlotte and wouldn't do anything to hurt her. Meanwhile, Locke, Sawyer and Juliet try to get answers from the two soldiers they've captured. Juliet figures out they're Others, because they speak Latin, like her. Man, those Others are fancy. One of the soldiers tries to spill some secrets, but the other one breaks his neck before he can talk. That soldier escapes. Juliet decides they should go to New Otherton 1.0, knowing that Richard will be there. Why? "Richard's always been here." Locke dashes out to meet Richard who, as future Richard predicted, has no idea who Locke is. But Locke gets his attention with the magic words "Jacob sent me." Jacob, apparently, is the Large Marge of magical time travel island. The previously kidnapped soldier begs Richard not to trust Locke. And we find out that that soldier is actually Charles Widmore! Gasp!
Locke tells Richard he's the new Others leader. Richard seems incredulous. Locke says that he will be born in a few years, and tells Richard to look him up and see if he's island material. He also shows Richard the compass. Then, he asks Richard to finish the conversation they started during the last time travel, about getting everyone back to the island.
Meanwhile, Daniel heads out to the bomb area with a chick who looks like Keira Knightly...oh, and she also kind of looks like Theresa, which Daniel notices (Note: Daniel didn't actually say the woman looked like Theresa. That was my inference. Some fans have guessed that she actually looks like Daniel's mother -- and that she might BE Daniel's mother as a young woman). He says the bomb is leaking and he can fix it -- by plugging the leak and burying the bomb. He tells her that he know the bomb doesn't go off because he's from the future. Sawyer and Juliet happen upon him.
And then...Flash. Time travel time.
Everyone is staggering around. The bomb is gone. But Charlotte isn't feeling well. Her nose starts bleeding again and she collapses. Oh no!
Now, a few brief words:
* The episode takes its name from the word written along the side of the hydrogen bomb
* And seriously, what is up with the bomb?
* So Charles was on the island before? That helps explain why he's so obsessed with out? Just how did he get involved with it in the first place.
* Daniel's mother being in L.A. helps lend weight to theories of those who think Mama F is Mrs. Hawkings, church denizen and part-time jewelery seller.
* Best part about the episode -- no whiny Jack.
* Worst part -- no Ben or Hurly