*UPDATED* They Don't Call It "Lost" For Nuthin'

*UPDATE AT END*

I'm too confused to think of a clever opening paragraph, so let's just jump right in, shall we?  BIG SPOILER WARNING if you haven't already seen tonight's episode.

First of all, Jacob.  Who IS he, exactly?  When I was watching the episode, I couldn't see anyone in the chair, but a quick glance at the message boards led me to this screen shot. 

Here's what I'm thinking:  I had the sense that Ben held Jacob in some sort of captivity.  No one else can access Jacob, and was that gunpowder sprinkled around his cabin (remember the powder Locke stopped to sniff?).  Then there was Jacob's obvious plea of "help me".  Something fishy is afoot.

Remember a couple of seasons ago when the book Bad Twin came out, and there was all that hype about it holding some answers to the Lost mysteries?  (Incidentally, I read it, and it was decently interesting but not earth-shattering).  To expound on the "twin" theory (which has been beaten to death at the message boards), remember that in the Bible, Jacob and Esau were twins.  Jacob was the loved one, Esau was not.  The message boards are humming tonight with the notion that Jacob and John are twin brothers, or maybe Jacob and Ben.  Or Sawyer and Locke.  Oh, here comes that headache again...

As for Locke, I will EAT MY SHOE if he's actually dead.  There's no way.  He's much too central a character (though the TV Guide I read in the grocery line this morning did promise at least five major deaths coming soon).  Anyway, there's that whole self-healing thing John can do, so I'm quite sure we'll be seeing Mr. Locke again soon.

Has anyone else noticed the common theme of bad fathers?   There's John's, Ben's, Kate's, Sun's, Jack's (and Claire's!), and even Walt and Michael had that complicated father/son thing going on.  Who am I leaving out?  Any guesses as to the significance here?

I have to admit, as much as I loved this episode, I'm even more confused than usual.  I'm having trouble even articulating what I know and what I don't know.  Please, jump in with your thoughts...

(And if you're blogging about Lost at your place, leave your link below.)

*UPDATED TO ADD*

Here is the replay of the oh-so-creepy whispering in the jungle.

Here is the audio of Ben saying "help me", which has me so freaked out I can't listen to again until Hubs gets home.

Here are some images of the bizarre contents of Jacob's house.  That picture of the dog looks an awful lot like Walt's dog Vincent, don't you think?

Here are some shots of the gunpowder or volcanic ash (why would volcanic ash fall in a perfectly straight line) or powdered version of black smoke or whatever it is.

Here are a few more looks at the mysterious Jacob.  The message boards are insistent that this profile looks like Locke (albeit with a slightly different--maybe broken?--nose).

Great big hat tip to the Lost Easter Eggs site.