Perhaps I'm putting too much faith into Gilligan, but I really don't think he would do something so obvious.
Well.
I was wrong.
That said, I love how the show didn't drag out the mystery and even headed off Carol when she went to Koumba with the truth: He already knew because the Others told him (and the rest of the Group of Eleven, as I'm calling them now). But HDP isn't just Soylent Green, it's "simply" nutrition that's produced from life that has already ceased to exist. It's not cannibalism if it's part of a healthy balanced diet that harms no life!*
All of this is part of a plan to prevent a looming sustenance crisis even if, as Carol points out, it's one that the Others created for themselves. I'm curious to see the direction this twist will take but I do like how the show has already subverted expectations with this reveal.
As for the other big reveal, I'm not surprised the Others have already discovered a solution...and it involves an invasive lumbar puncture procedure to extract stem cells. The only thing that surprises me is that Koumba said no to it, which makes me wonder if deep beneath his hedonism, he knows this whole situation is fucked up. I wonder if any of the other members of the Group of Eleven will accept the procedure.
Meanwhile...Manousos has gotten Carol's message and surprisingly it's enough to push him out of his self-inflicted isolation in order to travel to Albuquerque. I'm still curious what he was striving for with the ham radio...and there's a mysterious signal on one particular channel. I got serious
LOST vibes from that moment and I consider that a good thing.
Lastly, Koumba's James Bond cosplay was wonderfully silly.
*Which also feels like some kind of commentary on vegetarianism and veganism but I won't dig too deeply into that (at least for now).