the bad guy/smoke monster can only possess the dead...
claire died
jacks father died
charlie died
...
we're probably going to be wondering all season, which people are alive because of the a-bomb and which people are 'alive' because of the bad guy.
I keep thinking the 'bad guy' possessed Jacks father first, because there were those scenes where you see 'Claire' and 'Jacks Dad' in Jacobs Cabin... but then the whole ash not being around Jacobs cabin leads me to believe that the smoke monster 'bad guy' got in or whatever, and thats who Ben was consulting/et cetera in previous seasons.
not knowing what the hells going on is the fun/and not fun about being interested in LOST.
robbie