Boy, I'm glad I don't read spoilers. "This Place is Death" is probably the single most reveal-filled episode of the series. Perhaps they are not all the most significant of reveals, but they are most definitely there. That's not to say that there aren't any significant reveals here, because there are. "This Place is Death" is a remarkably sophisticated piece of writing. It's quite hard to believe that so much stuff happened in the episode, so much of great significance, but that nothing was rushed (yes, if this had been season 2 or 3 we would've spent more time with Rosseau's team and that would've been nice, but it wasn't necessary, same goes for anything else that may have seemed 'rushed') and that the episode was so emotionally satisfying and had such strong writing for the characters.
Early in the episode we see the temple we've been wondering about since Ben mentioned it in the late stages of season three, but even more interestingly we see the smoke monster's most interesting appearance yet in my humble estimation. The pre-'LOST' sequence this week was especially phenomenal, an unsettling, spooky, and foreboding scene which took place even before the monster appeared, but we all knew what was coming. Smokey's appearance is interesting not only because we learn that it is quite possibly the guardian of the temple as Robert says to Danielle after he emerging from the cerberus vent, but we finally get the answer to the question we've had since season one: what is the 'sickness' Rosseau spoke of? The answer was more than satisfying, and made for two of the eeriest and most disturbing scenes in "Lost" history: Montand's arm being ripped off and his calm, detached voice calling for help from inside the hole (which I'll call a 'cerberus vent' because it sounds good and Lostpedia seems to be comfortable with that), and Danielle having to shoot all her companions later, including Robert.
The episode gets even better when Jin rejoins Sawyer, Locke, and the rest. Daniel's time spent with Charlotte is extremely well-written, giving us several concrete answers, some intriguing questions, and still remaining an emotionally satisfying scene for the characters. Overall it's up there with the best death scenes for any character, and Rebecca Mader was terrific in this episode. Credit to the makeup department as well, I suppose. The off-island stuff is excellent too, not much time is spent on this but there is a good amount of plot progress and the inevitable scene where they all (minus Aaron and Kate, but that'll be fixed by the end of the next episode) end up at the church where Hawking was reached in a satisfactory manner. Ben's bizarre 'you should be grateful for what I've done for you!' rant in the van on the way there was a lot of fun, but it was also one of the few scenes in the show where he allowed himself a big emotional release. Jin was very well-written in this episode as well, everything with his ring was excellent, and his love for Sun has rarely been more purely expressed.
The episode's finest moments are all Locke's however. This episode I think makes up for the poor writing for the character in season 4, in season 2 (to a lesser extent). Everything from when Locke and company showed up at the Orchid Well to when Locke moved the wheel are pretty much some of the best-written, best-directed, and best-acted scenes ever on this show. This is also Christian Shepard's best appearance in his spooky 'I-speak-on-behalf-of-Jacob' form (now almost certainly induced by smoke monster). That Locke specifically and not Ben was supposed to move the island was especially interesting, but the scene's thematic content is more important (not that the two are unrelated), and the conversation Locke and Christian have is one of the best exchanges on the show, and surely one which will beocme iconic in the future. What an absolutely phenomenal scene, and what an absolutely phenomenal episode in every way, and another great script by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz.
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