last night was pretty amazing.
and we found out that the smoke monster was, in fact, christian shephard.
i started re-reading the paper i wrote on the first season last semester. i've included an excerpt below because its actually pretty fitting for last nights episode:

The theme of faith versus science and reason is first approached in the episode "White Rabbit". The survivors have been on the Island for six days and their water supply is rapidly diminishing. Locke volunteers to venture into the jungle in order to find a fresh water supply. Kate ask Locke why he is going into the jungle alone and he tells her that he “knows where to look”. After his encounter with the Smoke Monster, Locke is confident that his faith has been validated and that the Island will guide him.
Further down the beach, Jack hears the noises from the Black Smoke and looks up to see an apparition of his father in the jungle. Visions on the Island are often thought to be manifestations of the Smoke Monster which guide the survivors' actions. The fact that Jack sees a vision of his father is significant because Jack's dad, a surgeon like himself, was an alcoholic who eventually died alone. In essence, Jack's father dedicated his career to saving people, but was unable to save himself. Fearing the same destiny, Jack frequently questions his ability to lead. He chases the apparition and, in the process, falls off the side of the cliff. Locke, who was out looking for water, hears Jack and grabs his arm to pull him back up to safety.
Following this incident, Locke and Jack have a very revealing conversation about the nature of their ideologies. Locke tells Jack that the other survivors need someone to tell them what to do, and that they treat him like a leader. He then asks Jack why exactly he was out in the jungle alone. Jack tells him that he was chasing an image of his father. Locke asks Jack how he would explain the image, as a doctor. Jack employs a science based explanation, positing that it could have been a hallucination due to dehydration or a symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Locke suggests that he might be wrong, and Jack says that they're in a lot of trouble if he is wrong.
In this moment, Jack expressly rejects faith based ideology. To him, the vision of his father could be scientifically explained as being a hallucination. Likewise, if Locke were to tell Jack about his former paralysis, Jack my be able to provide Locke with an scientific explanation. Locke believes it was the Island and doesn't want to know otherwise. Similarly, Jack is unable to accept the possibility of his vision being real because it can't be explained by science.
Locke tests Jack's willingness to accept his faith, “I'm not a big believer in magic. But this place is different. It's special. The others don't want to talk about it because it scares them...But what if everything that happened here, happened for a reason? What if this person that you're chasing is really here”. Jack tells him that it is impossible but Locke challenges him to entertain the possibility. Jack asks what would happen if his vision were real, and he were to catch it. Locke replies, “I don't know, but I've looked into the eye of this Island and what I saw was beautiful”.
Though Locke can't vouch for the certainty of his claims, his faith in the Island is unwavering and motivates his actions throughout the series. Jack on the other hand, having seen the consequences of the Smoke Monster, believes that it is nothing more than a threat that they must take into consideration. Locke and Jack are unable to see eye to eye because people who differ fundamentally in the ideological grounds of their activities “would find interaction and communication difficult, if not frequently impossible” (Gauthier 132). This becomes increasingly apparent throughout the show as Locke and Jack continue to butt heads.
Locke announces that he is going to find water and Jack tries to join him. Locke tells him that he has to start what he finished because, “ a leader can't lead until he knows where he is going”. Jack begins to cry, perhaps because of his inability to comprehend what just happened to him. While Locke's faith based ideology understands the vision to be produced by the Island, Jack is overwhelmed by that notion and rejects it outright. Jack soon hears noises resembling ice shaking in a glass and sees a vision of his father once again. He follows the vision into the jungle where he finds running water. He also finds his father's coffin and destroys it in a fit of rage, symbolically rejecting his father's fate.
Myth functions in this instance by causing an immediate impression, “it does not matter if one is later allowed to see through the myth, its action is assumed to be stronger than the rational explanations which may later belie it”(130). When Jack finds the water, he is reassured of his leadership capabilities. He doesn't take the vision as being a sign from the Island. Rather, he takes it as a sign that he is capable of being the leader the survivors need.