Well what do you know? Ben does have a human somewhere deep down inside. I think you are right, Andy. He has ‘Mommy issues”. His mother died when he was born, and his father made his life miserable because of it (his father blamed him for her death, as I recall). So now he can’t stand the idea of a baby having its mother killed. Before seeing this episode, I had figured that it was Desmond who beat him up, but I wasn’t sure if he was successful in killing Penny. I was afraid that he needed to get out of the country fast.
I don’t think that it was really Alex that Ben saw, but rather an apparition. She wasn’t acting like herself, and she knew too much of Ben’s plan to kill Locke. I think it was the Smoke monster trying to get through to him. Of course, that raises the question about Claire. I have been thinking that she is still alive, having had no reason to believe her dead. But she was not acting herself either. Still, I don’t think she was an apparition of the smoke monster.
The woman who had arrested Sayid didn’t say specifically that she worked for Widmore, just that she was hired by the family of one of the men Sayid killed to bring him to them, and Sayid was killing men who worked for Widmore. More likely, Widmore hired her to make sure that he was on the plane, because he knew of Lockes mission, and he was helping him.
Naturally, Ben was going to tell Locke he knew we would rise from the dead. Ben is a natural liar. Somehow be really believe what he told Sun, that Locke being alive scared the living daylight out of him. I wonder if he will keep his word to Alex/Smoke Monster.
Four more episodes this season. The last one will be two hours.
We now have a new mystery to ponder. “What lies in the shadow of the statue?”
Monday, April 13, 2009
Whatever Happened, Happened
OK. It’s catch up time. This post should have gone out over a week ago…
In this episode, we are faced with the philosophical question, “If you could go back in time and kill Hitler (or in this case, Ben) when he was a child, would you?” (Sorry for succumbing to Godwin’s law there). Sayid, apparently, says “Yes”. Kate and Juliet say “No”, he is only a child, and not yet ‘evil’. If Jack is to be believed, he is not answering the question, choosing to hide behind the assertion that ‘whatever happened, happened’, and that no decision he makes will change that. This way, he can deny responsibility for Ben surviving, and also avoid the responsibility for killing him. A sort of ‘Have your cake and eat it, too’. Still, I would have to place Jack closer to the “Yes” side. Of course, Jack “IS” responsible, because by not helping Ben, the ‘Others’ helped him, and completed his turn to the dark side.
In this episode, we are faced with the philosophical question, “If you could go back in time and kill Hitler (or in this case, Ben) when he was a child, would you?” (Sorry for succumbing to Godwin’s law there). Sayid, apparently, says “Yes”. Kate and Juliet say “No”, he is only a child, and not yet ‘evil’. If Jack is to be believed, he is not answering the question, choosing to hide behind the assertion that ‘whatever happened, happened’, and that no decision he makes will change that. This way, he can deny responsibility for Ben surviving, and also avoid the responsibility for killing him. A sort of ‘Have your cake and eat it, too’. Still, I would have to place Jack closer to the “Yes” side. Of course, Jack “IS” responsible, because by not helping Ben, the ‘Others’ helped him, and completed his turn to the dark side.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
He’s Our You
So the big question is “Is Ben dead?” I don’t believe that he is. I have too much respect for the writers of the show to introduce that big of a paradox. With Ben dead, state of affairs in the present time would cease to exist, at least until the timeline was restored. Ben, Frank, and Sun would not be on the Island. No, I believe that the shot to his chest is not fatal. Ben will be found in the forest, brought back, and treated. And this will end up convincing Ben that Sayid is a born killer, as he stated to him in one of the flashbacks.
As soon as Sayid told Sawyer that he knew why he was there, I think I knew what he was going to do. So I can’t say that I was surprised. But it was pretty surprising that he got the gun and shot him right in the chest. Like I said, somehow, Ben has to survive the shot, so I didn’t expect it to be such a good shot.
The Dharma people are going to be crazy-mad at Sayid. Thinking that he is one of the hostiles, I am sure they are going to break the truce now. Meanwhile, I wonder how long Sayid can hide from both the Dharma people, and the Others. I don’t recall if Sayid and Alpert every met.
As soon as Sayid told Sawyer that he knew why he was there, I think I knew what he was going to do. So I can’t say that I was surprised. But it was pretty surprising that he got the gun and shot him right in the chest. Like I said, somehow, Ben has to survive the shot, so I didn’t expect it to be such a good shot.
The Dharma people are going to be crazy-mad at Sayid. Thinking that he is one of the hostiles, I am sure they are going to break the truce now. Meanwhile, I wonder how long Sayid can hide from both the Dharma people, and the Others. I don’t recall if Sayid and Alpert every met.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Namaste
Namaste (Sanskrit) is a common spoken greeting or salutation in the Indian subcontinent. Taken literally, it means "I bow to you". - Wikipedia
Everyone is accounted for now. Frank, Sun, and Ben landed with the rest of the planes survivors on the small island, and Jack, Kate, Hurley & Sayid are back in 1977. Despite Sawyer’s thoughtful approach to leadership (one that I am sure comes from being a successful con artist), I think Sayid showing up the way he did will turn out to be more than Sawyer can handle. Too bad, because I think I like Sawyer being in charge rather than Jack.
We saw Ben as a boy. I wasn’t at all surprised by that. The baby, however, turned out to be Ethan. So, either the Others spared him when they took over, or else they abducted him before then, something that we have known them to do on a couple of situations.
Christian is looking more and more real each time we see him. I think we can safely say that he is not a ghost. He seems to have a plan on how to reunite everyone. My guess is that someone (or some two?) is going to have to go back to 1977 to bring them back. How are they going to do that? Turn the wheel again? Meanwhile, what is Locke going to be up to?
Everyone is accounted for now. Frank, Sun, and Ben landed with the rest of the planes survivors on the small island, and Jack, Kate, Hurley & Sayid are back in 1977. Despite Sawyer’s thoughtful approach to leadership (one that I am sure comes from being a successful con artist), I think Sayid showing up the way he did will turn out to be more than Sawyer can handle. Too bad, because I think I like Sawyer being in charge rather than Jack.
We saw Ben as a boy. I wasn’t at all surprised by that. The baby, however, turned out to be Ethan. So, either the Others spared him when they took over, or else they abducted him before then, something that we have known them to do on a couple of situations.
Christian is looking more and more real each time we see him. I think we can safely say that he is not a ghost. He seems to have a plan on how to reunite everyone. My guess is that someone (or some two?) is going to have to go back to 1977 to bring them back. How are they going to do that? Turn the wheel again? Meanwhile, what is Locke going to be up to?
Thursday, March 5, 2009
LaFleur
I guess I missed the mark. My assumption that Locke jumped forward in time along with the other islanders was based on the assumption that all the islanders would jump pretty much together, and that Ben was singled out not to join them because the Island rejected him. Also, that Locke did not wake up in a smashed coffin, but standing in the water. However, that does not appear to be the case. It looks like Ben, Locke, and the pilot, Frank, at least, did not jump. As for Sun and Sayid, we still don’t know. Did they jump, and land somewhere separated from Jack, Kate, and Hurley? Or did they crash with the plane. Ben was warned by Mrs. Hawking that if everyone did not return together, the results would be unpredictable. Perhaps Locke will need to leave again, to come back with the rest.
Whatever it was that was killing pregnant women when Juliet was brought to the Island, apparently hasn’t started happening yet. It must have something to do with “the event” that was mentioned in the training film in season 2.
So now Alpert has met with Locke and Sawyer in the past. He sure does keep his secrets, doesn’t he? It appears that he was the others leader in the ‘50’s, and is still their leader in ’74. And yet Widmore claims to have been their leader once, and Ben eventually becomes their leader. And yet Alpert is still around in 2003. I wonder why he is so cool about it. His will be an interesting story, I think…
An observation about timing. When Locke turned the wheel, it sent the rest of his gang back to 1974 (I believe that’s what I heard someone say), and it sent Lock off the Island, and 3 years into his future (although, at the point that he turned the wheel, it was probably thousands of years in to the future, because his friends were looking at the four toed statue). This conveniently catches everyone up, because the Oceanic Six have been off the Island for 3 years, so now everyone with the correct age, relationally.
I usually don’t rewatch the previous weeks episode, but this time I did. And I caught something that I missed last week. When Locke met with Walt, Walt told him of a dream he was having. That Locke was on the Island, in a suit, surrounded by people who wanted to hurt him. At the beginning of the show (after the crash), someone reports to Ceasar that they found a man who no one remembered seeing on the plane, standing in the water, wearing a suit. Sounds ominous.
Whatever it was that was killing pregnant women when Juliet was brought to the Island, apparently hasn’t started happening yet. It must have something to do with “the event” that was mentioned in the training film in season 2.
So now Alpert has met with Locke and Sawyer in the past. He sure does keep his secrets, doesn’t he? It appears that he was the others leader in the ‘50’s, and is still their leader in ’74. And yet Widmore claims to have been their leader once, and Ben eventually becomes their leader. And yet Alpert is still around in 2003. I wonder why he is so cool about it. His will be an interesting story, I think…
An observation about timing. When Locke turned the wheel, it sent the rest of his gang back to 1974 (I believe that’s what I heard someone say), and it sent Lock off the Island, and 3 years into his future (although, at the point that he turned the wheel, it was probably thousands of years in to the future, because his friends were looking at the four toed statue). This conveniently catches everyone up, because the Oceanic Six have been off the Island for 3 years, so now everyone with the correct age, relationally.
I usually don’t rewatch the previous weeks episode, but this time I did. And I caught something that I missed last week. When Locke met with Walt, Walt told him of a dream he was having. That Locke was on the Island, in a suit, surrounded by people who wanted to hurt him. At the beginning of the show (after the crash), someone reports to Ceasar that they found a man who no one remembered seeing on the plane, standing in the water, wearing a suit. Sounds ominous.
Friday, February 27, 2009
The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham
I am trying to work out some issues with timing, regarding Widmore’s departure from the Island. Ben grew up with the people of the Dharma Initiative, and join the Others as an adult (perhaps around 20?), when he helped them wipe out the Dharma workers. When was that? The ‘70’s? Possibly. That would put Ben in his 50’s? Let’s assume he instigated his coup early on. So Widmore would have been tricked off the Island right after that. Penny would need to have been born right around that time, because I estimate that she is in her 30’s. Then Widmore would need to have risen to the top in the business world. It’s tight, but it fits.
However, I had been assuming that Widmore was working with the Dharma Initiative, which would have meant that he was already off the Island before Ben’s coup. I forget what I was basing this assumption on, but it seemed that he had a number of Dharma connections. Am I wrong about this, or am I just piecing the timeline together wrong? With time travel in the story now, this could be a real tough one to piece together.
Widmore is starting to look like he is less evil than we were being led to believe. If he was associated with Dharma, I am willing to consider that possibility. Of course, I won’t take his word for it just yet. It is quite possible that both sides are evil. Keamy, his henchman, did kill Alex in cold blood. Question is, how much was Keamy acting on his own, hand how much did he have Widmore’s blessing?
Locke changed his mind about trying to get Walt back to the Island. I don’t think he needed to try to get him, as Walt was let go by Ben, and the Island didn’t seem to have a problem with that.
It appeared to me that Ben talked Locke out of suicide because he needed find out how Locke was planning to get everyone back to the Island. Once Locke mentioned Hawking’s name, Ben had what he needed. And he didn’t want Locke around when he got back to the Island, because he wanted to come back as the leader again.
Is the time shifting still going on? Once the plane was in range of the Island, the islanders aboard just disappeared. Of course, with the pilot gone, the plane crashed. I think they went some short time into the future, because when the new survivors found Locke, it appeared that they were already settled in. They had found one of the hatches (the Hyrdra, I believe). Ben is still unconscious, though, so it can’t be too far in the future.
So the time shifting may still be going on. Do they still need to get Aaron back? How about Desmond? And why didn’t Ben disappear, like the rest of them did? Is the Island rejecting him?
I looks like Locke really was dead, and that the Island resurrected him. What does that say about Christian? Is he a ghost, or is he resurrected? He looked pretty solid to me. Before you ask, Andy, not everyone gets resurrected, as we can see by all the dead bodies all over the place. Adam and Eve in the cave (first season), the drug smugglers on the plane, the Dharma people in the ditch, and Ben’s dead father, found in the VW van.
However, I had been assuming that Widmore was working with the Dharma Initiative, which would have meant that he was already off the Island before Ben’s coup. I forget what I was basing this assumption on, but it seemed that he had a number of Dharma connections. Am I wrong about this, or am I just piecing the timeline together wrong? With time travel in the story now, this could be a real tough one to piece together.
Widmore is starting to look like he is less evil than we were being led to believe. If he was associated with Dharma, I am willing to consider that possibility. Of course, I won’t take his word for it just yet. It is quite possible that both sides are evil. Keamy, his henchman, did kill Alex in cold blood. Question is, how much was Keamy acting on his own, hand how much did he have Widmore’s blessing?
Locke changed his mind about trying to get Walt back to the Island. I don’t think he needed to try to get him, as Walt was let go by Ben, and the Island didn’t seem to have a problem with that.
It appeared to me that Ben talked Locke out of suicide because he needed find out how Locke was planning to get everyone back to the Island. Once Locke mentioned Hawking’s name, Ben had what he needed. And he didn’t want Locke around when he got back to the Island, because he wanted to come back as the leader again.
Is the time shifting still going on? Once the plane was in range of the Island, the islanders aboard just disappeared. Of course, with the pilot gone, the plane crashed. I think they went some short time into the future, because when the new survivors found Locke, it appeared that they were already settled in. They had found one of the hatches (the Hyrdra, I believe). Ben is still unconscious, though, so it can’t be too far in the future.
So the time shifting may still be going on. Do they still need to get Aaron back? How about Desmond? And why didn’t Ben disappear, like the rest of them did? Is the Island rejecting him?
I looks like Locke really was dead, and that the Island resurrected him. What does that say about Christian? Is he a ghost, or is he resurrected? He looked pretty solid to me. Before you ask, Andy, not everyone gets resurrected, as we can see by all the dead bodies all over the place. Adam and Eve in the cave (first season), the drug smugglers on the plane, the Dharma people in the ditch, and Ben’s dead father, found in the VW van.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
316
Things are moving quickly, now. When Ben was told that he had 48 hrs (several episodes ago), I was wondering how they were going to drag that out for the rest of the season. Now I see that they didn’t. Most of them are back on the Island now. The Island let them back without Aaron. Is that because Aaron is less important? Or is it a numbers thing, get as many back now as possible, and go after those left behind later? As I mentioned in my sidebar at the right, “Why are they there”, I originally thought that Aaron was important to the Island. However, now I wonder if the psychic just used Aaron to get Claire on the plane, and that Claire is more important than Aaron is.
Speaking of Aaron, the obvious question is, “what did Kate do with Aaron?” But for me, the real question is why she is so mysterious about it? She absolutely did not want to talk about it with Jack. Naturally she would feel guilty about abandoning Aaron. But it seemed to me that she is covering up something. I can’t see why she would be so cagy if she gave Aaron to Claire’s mother. Or her own mother. I can’t think of who else she would have given him to. Did she put him up for adoption? Still doesn’t seem like enough to make her act that way, but maybe. Also, what convinced her to give him up and go back to the Island anyway?
Frank, the pilot, was supposed to be the pilot on flight 815. Now he, too, is going back. Was his flight schedule manipulated by Ben? Or is the Island at work there?
Ben said, when he was about to move the Island, that whoever moves the Island can never come back. And yet he is going back. Probably because he wasn’t the one who was supposed to move it in the first place, but Locke was. But then, that begs the question, why does Locke (or at least, his body) get to go back. If Locke was supposed to be so important to Jacob, or the Island (if they are separate entities), why did the Island want Locke to move the Island and leave?
Some of these questions will likely be answered in this coming episode, as well as why Ben was all beat-up and bloody. He probably was trying to kill Penny, and Desmond beat him up for it. Was he successful?
And, oh yeah, why flight 316? 3 isn't one of the numbers.
I read that this next episode was supposed to air before the last one, but they switched the order because they felt it made more sense, and because it was “cooler”.
Speaking of Aaron, the obvious question is, “what did Kate do with Aaron?” But for me, the real question is why she is so mysterious about it? She absolutely did not want to talk about it with Jack. Naturally she would feel guilty about abandoning Aaron. But it seemed to me that she is covering up something. I can’t see why she would be so cagy if she gave Aaron to Claire’s mother. Or her own mother. I can’t think of who else she would have given him to. Did she put him up for adoption? Still doesn’t seem like enough to make her act that way, but maybe. Also, what convinced her to give him up and go back to the Island anyway?
Frank, the pilot, was supposed to be the pilot on flight 815. Now he, too, is going back. Was his flight schedule manipulated by Ben? Or is the Island at work there?
Ben said, when he was about to move the Island, that whoever moves the Island can never come back. And yet he is going back. Probably because he wasn’t the one who was supposed to move it in the first place, but Locke was. But then, that begs the question, why does Locke (or at least, his body) get to go back. If Locke was supposed to be so important to Jacob, or the Island (if they are separate entities), why did the Island want Locke to move the Island and leave?
Some of these questions will likely be answered in this coming episode, as well as why Ben was all beat-up and bloody. He probably was trying to kill Penny, and Desmond beat him up for it. Was he successful?
And, oh yeah, why flight 316? 3 isn't one of the numbers.
I read that this next episode was supposed to air before the last one, but they switched the order because they felt it made more sense, and because it was “cooler”.
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