deep
Blue Crack Addict
WIN.
And it looks like we're in agreement as to what happened; you posted right before me.
Also, someone writing for the L.A. Times can be just as obtuse as you are. I love how the wreckage is supposed to imply they all died in the crash--nope, it's the wreckage that HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE THE LAST SIX SEASONS.
If they had died on impact, they wouldn't have known each other, and would have no reason to meet in any alternate reality/purgatory/whatever.
The writers wrote this very sloppy, you can argue it your way
it does not hold up, they had Richard say:
"You want to know a secret, Jack?" Richard says. "Something I've known a long, long time?" He leans down to Jack's face. "You're dead."
"You mean that figuratively, right?" Hurley says.
"No, I mean it literally. We're all dead. Every single one of us." Richard puts his arms out to the side. "And this, this, all this. It's not what you think it is. We're not on an island. We never were. We're in Hell. So I'm not interested in what Jacob said. In fact, maybe it's time we stop listening to him and we start listening to someone else. And that's exactly what I'm going to do." He takes a torch and walks away.