Lost Reviews and News

First!

Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!

Not Alex!

Anyone but Alex!

Uber-fantastic episode!

I know its only been a couple of weeks but its great to have you back Mac (that wasn't supposed to rhyme, seriously.)

I was afraid of a possible let-down after the writer's strike, but after the first couple of minutes I realized that there wouldn't be.

Great episode!

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ANTNT? Anyone Notice the Name Tag?

An island is not all that Ben has stolen. It appears he has also stolen our favorite man of many names' Darka (Dharma parka.) The name on the Darka is Halliwax - as in Edgar Halliwax AKA Mark Wickmund AKA Marvin Candle.

LOL! "He claims it's a stomach bug, but his pale skin and bulging eyes reveal the tell-tale signs of Benjimitus."

re: Widmore says "I know who you are ... what you are. I know that everything you have you took from me."

I took this as a reference to the purge, and the fact that Ben killed his own father.

Awesome review Mac!

I totally knew they were playing Risk!

I think Rousseau will still be alive, so that she can avenge the death of her daughter...

Alex..... just as I was beginning to appreciate your potential for hotness!

This episode was worth the wait!

I continue to enjoy the writer's ability to provide information/"answers" all the while leaving the story more open than ever. One example of the subtleness of this art is the bullet wound that Ben is sporting when he "jumps" to the desert while wearing a heavy coat.

Answered: Ben can travel to other lands and assumably other times

Questions: How does he travel? Why has he been shot and by whom? Where did he jump from that he needed a coat?

What fun. What a ride.

***** Mild Spoiler *****

I was hoping that Smokey had made a crispy Keamy, but alas, judging by next week's promo, it is not so.

***** End Spoiler *****

Leave it to Ben to have a secret room in his secret room.

Lastly.....

Woot-woop!

I totally knew that Nadia would be involved in Sayid's future, and that Ben would use this to get Sayid. I wonder if Ben was behind Nadia's death? He makes it seem like he wasn't, but you just can't trust that guy!

Ben is the bug-eyed ninja.

@6/shikotee

"re: Widmore says "I know who you are ... what you are. I know that everything you have you took from me."

I took this as a reference to the purge, and the fact that Ben killed his own father."

I had the same thought and would add that he is also saying, "You may be a player now, but I know where you came from, who you were and your humble beginings. You don't deserve a place with the big boys."

Great review as always, mac! Loved your last point about "the popular kids" always surviving somehow.

One proofreader note: Point 1, 4th bullet, 2nd para.: I think "aren't" is missing from between "certainly" & "from."

Totally agree w/the best two lines. I was hoping Widmore would say "buggy eyes," but I suppose a veddy upper-crust English gent wouldn't use a term like that.

I think, from what Juliet says in the preview for next week, that Jack has appendicitis (which I can pat myself on the back for calling when I saw Jack clutching at his lower right abdomen).

I'm curious as to where Bernard learned Morse code. And Danny's a pretty awful liar, isn't he?

Alex's death is the one instance we've seen in the entire show of Ben miscalculating. So far his mourning over Alex is the only occasion where I've liked him (sorry, ilovebenjaminlinusxx).

Sayid said that he spent eight years searching for Nadia. If we can conclude that he found her when he returned as part of the Oceanic 6, in 2005, then he would have been searching since 1996 or 1997. Did he see her after their encounter during the Gulf War in 1991? I don't remember that he did, but then wouldn't he have been searching for her since then?

Yes, Ben played Sayid like Glenn Gould on the piano. So I'm curious—was it really a Widmore-ite that killed Nadia? The guy Ben was following didn't seem to recognize Ben—could he have been working for Ben w/o ever meeting him? Why would Widmore target Sayid anyway? (I'm assuming Sayid's mental facilities are MIA due to grief, otherwise he might be asking the same question.) It seems more likely that Ben had Nadia murdered to get Sayid to work for him.

I thought it was interesting that when Ben returned from the secret room in the secret room in the secret room that he was quite dirty. Is Smokie kept in a dungeon doghouse? Or was that soot all over Ben? Is the ash trail around Jacob's cabin Smokie's "leavings"? Does the ash trail go along w/the cabin when it hops around? Or was it a form of a leash that Jacob managed to slip, & that's why the cabin is now able to move?

Sawyer refused to abandon Claire when Ben announced they had to fortify his cabin, then called her "sweetheart." Is this a clue for future developments—that Sawyer's abandoning his corner of the Juliet- Jack-Kate-Sawyer quadrilateral? Normally his nicknames for people have a good bit more of an edge to them.

If the title of this episode is true, then the cast budget for LOST may be going down way fast...

First, let me say "Best LOST episode EVER"!

Second, I have never given mac a congrats in the thirty plus episodes I have hovered here, but, WOW. You really covered all of the base tonight, like never before. Maybe it is just the new (later) hour of broadcast. I was fully expecting an AM release of the review... with half the effort.

Lastly, I can only add a few tiny things.
--------------
Ben reaffirmed what he said before. That basically - yeah - I don’t know what Smokie is - he NEVER said he did not know how to use OR summon Smokie… he has simply said (twice) he doesn’t know what Smokie is.
--------------
Ben dashed to his super secret closet. Ben was all neat and clean going in to the closet after playing the piano, but when he came out, he looked like he had just changed an engine or transmission. Just what does it take to crank-up the Smokester?
--------------
Plopping in the middle of Tunisia, Ben was like everyone else that jolts awake suddenly on the show, asleep - then eyes wide open. That has to be travel through the ‘portal’. He even got a little nauseous right afterward - a symptom described to Juliet before her voyage to the island.
--------------
It’s hard to believe that Ben left his daughter out to dry like that. I think he is what he is. He knew that if he went out and surrendered, it would be “Game Over”. I think the ’she’s adopted’ ploy was his last ditch effort - it was the only thing the mercenaries might bite on… It was his only tactic! If they capture him… no one can win - ever.
--------------
Widmore & Linus came off as a couple of old world mafioso. Ben is the new punk that wants to toss the old boss. Everything Ben had was stolen, from Widmore. “Changing the rules” is important, in mobs, like “honor among thieves”. One old world “rule” - you never go after a rivals’ family… business is business - you do battle there, and family is sacred… off-limits. When Widmore (if Ben is right) whacked Alex, then he changed the rules and Penny became fair game.

PS - Glad you managed to post tonight Mac!

Wasn't sure if you would, now that the start time has been bumped an hour.

Can't wait to watch this one a second time, so as to get a better feeling of what I think. I liked the episode, and felt Ben was awesome (ilovexx must have been giddy).

In retrospect, tough love with how Ben handled Alex being kept hostage. I thought he might go softy for her, but he held his ground. Horrible for her to hear the things that he said about her before she died, as I doubt they were his true feelings. It was his last desperate mind game, hoping this might save her.

The writers are cruel! They know that many of us love the Penny-Desmond connection, and they have given us another reason to dislike Ben.

My prediction of the future is that some if not all O6's will eventually return to the island. Maybe this will also involve Penny? Maybe she will make it to the island? And just as Ben is about to kill her, Rousseau will stop him and kill Ben, blaming him for the loss of her daughter Alex.....

They're trying to do too much with too few episodes. It hasn't been that long since Ben shot Locked and left him for dead in a ditch, and now they're portraying him as a hero.

It hasn't been that long since Ben shot Locke and left him for dead in a ditch.
→ 15. Posted by: Joe
I just checked my calendar and it has been 353 days since "TMBTC" where Locke was shot. Its addictive. This year the writers stepped us up from coke to crack. I need my fix. I'll take what they give me without bitching about the PC rules on the island, or the timeline.

Good review Mac. It helps to see it neatly organized.

Anybody else but me think that Ben looked a lot younger than he usually does? That maybe the flash scenes were flashbacks? And though it was a past flashback , he went to the future? Like maybe after he found Sayid was one of the losties and he could use him.

I also think that the Ben Widmore conversation was in the past. (He really looked young - no gray hair)

Widmore NOW knows where the island is but he didn't until Desmond turned the key. So maybe Ben DID once have a daughter of his own (And Annie's?)and she was killed by Widmore? Seeing Alex - the adopted daughter die- was a shock because it was the second time he lost a "daughter" and that conversation was the beginning of the fight over the island.

re:→ 17(18). Posted by: berkyo
Anybody else but me think that Ben looked a lot younger than he usually does? That maybe the flash scenes were flashbacks?

I thought he looked better too, and considered what you said, but I think that we have seen Ben in "crisis mode" since OA815 fell from the sky 3 island months ago. He was in high stress mode with the crash, he had spinal surgery, he was losing folks left and right, he has been beaten severely several times, new forces are attacking, taking his loved ones - Jacob has been ignoring him.
I think that Ben in Widmore land, looking decent, is simply that Ben has had a few months to rest and recuperate and put his revenge plan together. That and practice Dharmarate (Dharma-karate) and Jacob-jitsu.
[;^)

Best Line: Sawyer: "Take it easy, Chicken Little".

Great synopsis. Love your style!

I am enjoying the "Indiana" Ben stuff...and noticed that in the Widmore/Linus confrontation his hair was obviously dyed darker (and styled, finally!) It's clearly a flash forward, IMHO.

Keep up the good work!

What intrigued me were the symbols on the secret room that lead to smokey control room.

Those seemed to be similar to the ones at the room where Desmond / Locke punched in the sequence to the computer.

What is the connection there?

WOW!!

My poor Alex. We had so little time together. I was so hoping that that bullit would bounce off your skull.

That little smile that Ben had after recruiting Sayid made me think that he planned the whole murder of Sayids wife. What a player.

Smokey was out with a vengence. I imagine most of the ships security force were barbaqued by smokey last night. That would sure put a crimp in their plans to take the island by force.

Bye bye Alex :(

A Few Things. The start of the episode with RISK and the several references to a game such as "he changed the rules" has to mean something, and Hurley's "Australia is the key to the whole game" has to be a clue. Last, it is now obvious there is time travel so anyone dead isn't really totally dead.

How many languages was Ben trying to communicate with when he met up with the horseback riders in Tunisia? Anyone? And what language were the riders using that Ben did not understand? And a nomination for clever line if not Best:

Warrior: "Surrender!?!"
Ben "Oh, so you do speak English?"
before he shoots him

So Ben is far more talented that we have seen before. Plus he has a photographic memory apparently.

Ben totally grosed me out by tying the sweaty dirty smelly headscarf of a sweaty dirty smelly nomad around his gunwound.

That is SO going to infect!

In Professional Wrestling terms I would say they are turning Ben 'face' after being a 'heel' most of the time. And they are making him more badass than Christian Bale.

Haven't read the recap yet - just had to say that my head officially exploded 4 times last night - WHAT AN EP - I LUV THIS SHOW ! ! !

I am under the impression that some of "the rules" between Widmore and Linux is that no family members must be touched (rule that was broken) and that quite probably, all dirty work must be done by someone else. Widmore had the Boat Mercenaries, Linus just recruited Sayid and I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow orchestrated Nadia's demise (giving him information about who Nadia, so he could kill her).

I am finding it increasingly hard to maintain interest in a show with so many twists & turns and contrived insertions. I mean time shifts/travel, magical island healing properties, unexplained inhabitants, electromagnetic pulse generating gizmos, smokey monster on a leash, "I see dead people" reappearances, vans that start up after years of rotting, beer that somehow is drinkable after 10 plus years in a jungle, etc, etc, etc.!
Sayid is an elite trained republican army commando and a Mr. Fix-it and yet he gullibly falls for Ben's explanation of his wife's murder. You know, I use to drive on Santa Monica and La Brea maybe I killed your wife Sayid! I am afraid that for the average LOST viewer that all of this is just more than they can keep up with or process. Sorry guys, but most casual viewers don't post on blogs where they hurry to be "first". There is limit to how much BS one can accumulate.

No. 28, Gables79

I find more answers are coming out now then ever before. Try to keep up.

If you don't use that brain matter, you're going to lose it.

Great Recap Mac.

Apparently Ben can jump through space-time and channel the talents of Jason Bourne at will.

My head must have exploded at least 4 times during last nights ep. Thank God for duct tape.

Also - did anyone notice the name on the DHARMA parka that Ben was wearing when he "appeared" in the Tunisian desert. It said HALLIWAX, as in Dr. Halliwax from the Orchid training video ! ! !

Great review, as always. I thought the best line, however, was after Ben told Widmore's hit man that he wants him to deliver a message to Charles Widmore. The hit man asks, "What message?" and is then immediately killed by Sayid. Ben looks down at the dead guy and says,"That should do it."

Or something to that effect.

Sawyer yells and kicks and screams and pounds on the door and he can't get them to open the door. Miles rings the door bell. Fun E

@ bcre8ve: SAT question of the week

Ben is to Alex as Dean Wormer is to Delta House....why?

A: Both Alex and Delta House, when in trouble, were placed in Double Secret Probation Room.

**Rim Shot**

Hi all,
Is anyone thinking that there are two Bens? I had seen this idea posted on other sites a while ago.

I mean, does the Ben we normally see on the island seem like the same guy that is kicking butt in the Saraha? Could a twin or alternate Ben of some sort also explain how he looks younger, better, etc. when talking to Widmore?

Also, didn't Sayid say to Ben when he first saw him at Nadia's funeral: "Why are you following me?!? Oh, it's you." (or something to that effect), as if he suddenly realized that it wasn't who he initially thought it was? Does that make sense?

Wow! Mac, you sure put a lot of things into perspective with your awesome reviews. Things happened so fast last night that I think I've gone cross-eyed.

Confirmed: Alex is dead. Rest in peace, we just got to know you...

Confirmed also: Ben Linus is one bad-a-double-snakes! I, for one, can't wait to see how this all shakes out in a couple of seasons. Lost is the greatest show I've followed in a long long time, and sometimes (Gables79) you just have to suspend the reality of belief and just enjoy the ride...

Did anyone else notice what Miles said when Claire told everyone she'd be alright? It was quick, but he said, "I wouldn't say that."

That pretty much confirmed for me that the writers are planning on killing Claire sometime before the end of the season.

Wow this episode was great.
I was thinking 'no he won't shoot Alex' and then he did. The cut shots were pretty cool to me. It reminded me of Donnie Darko.

I wondered though why Sawyer, Locke and Hurley weren't concerned when Alex was shot. It was interesting to contrast their personalities before the guns to now.

Ben's character was kind of a bamf (bad a** mo-fo) in this episode. Surprising but enjoyable. But if he kills Penny I'll be upset because I love the Penny/Desmond pairing.

Hotel receptionist....she visits Hurley in the mental hospital. Right??

last night's episode was one of the best. it was DEEP!! loved every minute of it.

i posted a comment a few episodes back about ben and widmore being old nemesis and was not surprised at all that they new each other when it was revealed last night.

i am on the team that thinks ben is responsible for nadia's death. his smug a$$ smirk when he turned away from sayid was the give away.

post #28-gables79, tell all those "casual Viewers" to hang tough, they just might be surprised.......

peace&love to all :)

@Alias_Longthought: First sorry for assuming you were a "he" in the "Who's going to sub for Mac contest". Secondly, regarding your statement "Alex's death is the one instance we've seen in the entire show of Ben miscalculating.", one must not forget that he thought Juliet would do what he said last season when he sent her to the Losties camp and as we know she betrayed him big time in the end.

Some random thoughts:

I just want to mention that, whereas (mostly) all of us thought that Ben purposely sent Rousseau and Alex's boyfriend to certain death it appears now that he truly thought he was sending them all to safety and was as surprised as anyone to find Alex in the clutches of the freighter folk.

When Ben "time jumped" from wherever/whenever he was to the desert, he was cowered and shivering. That would lead one to believe, along with the telltale parka, that he was in a very cold place under attack. Perhaps he was at/near the Arctic station that was listening for signals from the island?

I agree with Chad Brown about the "Oh, so you do speak English?" line. So coolly and pleasantly said, then "whack!". Boy, does Ben know how to shift gears.

SteveW - I was thinking you might well have been onto something regarding "two Bens". Only thing is that Ben moved locations/time with his outfits intact. That means he's not jumping mentally but physically.

Ok, that's what I've got at this moment. More soon.

Just some points I have to make:

1. When John, James, and Hurley were playing Risk and the telephone started ringing, I started laughing. Really. It was just so odd.

2. And I thought Alex was smart!! When Ben started telling Keamy that 'she means nothing to me', Alex started bawling, and I was like, "You stupid girl, he's using the oldest trick to free a hostage known to mankind!" Unfortunately for Ben and Alex, however, that trick rarely works.

3. So... apparently Jack is getting sick. In the previews for next week, Juliet says that his appendix ruptures, so, yes, he will most certaintly die without proper medical care. But we know he won't, because he has to get his a** off the island first. Huh.

4. Was this the first time we saw Ben cry? I think it was. Whoopie, I love character development! I was SO glad they didn't start playing that 'Life and Death' theme again, though. (For those of you who bought the soundtrack for the first season, you'll know what I mean.) I was getting sick of hearing that every time someone kicked the bucket.

5. So, Ben has SOME control over Smokey, whether he will admit it or not. I was very proud. Smokey at his finest. Cool scene; reminded me very much of the thunderstorm we got over here the night before.

6. How the hell does Bernard know Morse code? That seemed really really weird to me... I mean, isn't he a dentist? Huh. On, and on a sort of related note, I really wanted to see Jack and Daniel duke it out (finally), but with an ongoing case of appendicitis, I don't think Jack was too up for it.

7. When the doctor dude washed up on shore, I almost screamed, because for a minute it looked like John! Or maybe that was just me. I dunno. He was bald, so they might've kinda looked the same. And, when Daniel said it was the doctor from the freighter, it didn't click that it was Ray until I came onto this site the next morning!

8. When Ben disappeared down the secret passageway, came back up, and then the ground started shaking, was anyone else reminded of the reinactment of the 815 crash? You know, with Juliet and the book club and all that in the beginning of Season Three? I was like, "Oh my God, another plane's gonna crash!" And I was seriously wigging out. But the Smokey thing was just as good.

Did anyone notice that when Ben and Widmore were talking that they both had half of their face in the shadows. Almost exactly half. Like it was done on purpose. Don't remember if it was opposite halves. I wonder if that means anything. "Everything you have you took from me" etc. Somehow Ben and Widmore are eerily connected.

Biggest (new!) mystery to come out of last night's episode?

Why did Ben simply just kill Widmore in his bedroom right then and there? He surely could have. And conversely, why did Keamy and Co. not gun down Ben? They easily could have shot him through the windown or simply blown up the whole house with him in it. Taking him alive is apparently a key instruction from Widmore to his goons. Lots to ponder.

can't wait till next week! (But already dreading the EIGHT MONTH dry spell we will have to endure from end of May until end of January. Mercy!)

I may be in the minority, but I'm loving Ben more and more. And I really wasn't all that upset that Alex died. Her character wasn't doing that much for the show anyway. When Ben was saying that Alex was just a pawn, I told my husband that Ben was really saying that to himself because he knew they were going to kill her. I just love how complex his character is getting. It's an awesome story line.

In another Lost discussion, I saw someone else say that Ben and Widmore seem to be playing some kind of freaky game for the super-rich. It's an interesting thought. I thought it was interesting that Ben said, "He's changed the rules" instead of "He broke the rules".

I thought for sure that the line of the night would have been when Ben said "That'll do it" after Sayid shot the Widmore guy six or seven times.

At least I went out with a bang and not a spider bite!

Did anyone else laugh and think of the Naked Gun TV episode where they try to figure out how the murder happened by continually shooting people thereby creating a pile of bodies? Poor redshirts!

@12: I believe Bernard said he learned to shoot in the Army(?) so maybe Jack assumed he learned Morse Code.

Could it be since the Smoke Monster knows the fence keeps it away and they had to shut it down that Ben just shook something to alert it to the fact that it could come on in? Ben did tell everyone to run for the trees knowing that Smokey would attack the men closest to the fence.

Top Ten Connections to October 24
(i.e. things that make you go hmmm...)

1. Oct. 24 is .....wait for it...Take Back Your Time Day. No, I'm not kidding. Seriously.

2. Robert Kuhn, the creator of Batman, the original Dark Knight, was born on this date in 1915.

3. The Concorde made its last commerical flight on 10.24.03

4. In 1593 on this date, a Spanish soldier named Gil Perez allegedly transported himself. (whaa!)

5. The first transcontinental telegraph line across the US was completed on 10.24.1861

6. On this date in 1911, Orville Wright set the world flight record in a glider off Kitty Hawk, NC

7. Harry Houdini gave his last performance on 10.24.1926

8. The first photo of earth taken from outer space was shot on this date in 1946

9. The UN was founded on this date in 1945. Oct. 24 is also United Nations Day.

10. 10.24.1929 was known as "Black Thursday" due to the stock market crash.

How's that for a Friday morning history lesson?

Glen:
I appreciate the encouragement but one most use their "brain matter" for a greater purpose. TV is where "brain matter" goes for a break. I just keep getting this "X-Files" feeling. That show kept pushing the limits to the point where it became silly and lost its viewership. Here's hoping the LOST writers take note.

In keeping with all the game references from this episode, Ben tells Keamy that Alex doesn't matter because she is just a "pawn."

Where is Rose?

Thanks Mac; Great review.
I saw Jack holding his back, it could be a kidney infection rather than appendicitis. Appendicitis: surgery and all better. Kidney nephritis...bad juju.

I too think Ben might have had Nadia killed; hit and run, same MO as used with Juliet's ex.

I could hear Ben's heart break when that bad guy executed Alex.

With Ben appearing in the Sahara it seems teleporting is one of his abilities. Not just the uncontrolled consciousness skipping of Daniel & Desmond of skipping into another him in an another time, but a controlled "now you see him, now you don't" big magic.
And it appears the doctor did it too unless the freighter tots just hadn't discovered he was missing yet.

Bernard was an Eagle Scout or a Signal Corp military veteran.

Widmore thinks that island is his; he wants it for evil purposes. Ben's job (should he choose to accept it) is to keep the island from falling into the hands of the Doers of Evil.

Ben, Walt, Locke are people who have an innate ability or an immunity to the consequences or something which permits them to access or manipulate the powers of the island?

Hurley consistantly proves himself to be The Cowardly Lion. He is courageous; he is selfless, he acts with integrity as we see by his refusal to take orders which affront his sense of right and wrong. He just doesn't recognize what an extraordinarily good and brave man he is. I'm beginning to think that Jacob will eventually choose humble Hurley to be the island's GateKeeper.

Lots of splinter groups in current Lost time.

1)Locke,Ben and hurley on Jacob hunt.
2)James,Claire,Aaron and Miles heading back to the beach.
3) Beach group including Jack, Kate,Juliet,Sun, Jin,Bernard, Rose,Daniel, Charlotte and assorted red shirts for cannon fodder.
4)The missing others. Probably at the temple.
5)Widmore goons on island.
6)widmore goons on frieghter.
7)Sayid,Desmond and michael on freighter.
8)Jeff Faheys character...allegience unknown, but unlikely a widmore thug.
Off island:
Charles Widmore,
Penny,
Walt living with grandma,
Abbedon

Any one else?

@27: Could it be Widmore accused Ben of killing Alex because in his attempt to 'disown' Alex he unwittingly signed her death warrant? BEN changed the rules with his reverse psychology.

Excellent job, Mac. As always.
Did anyone else notice Sawyer's over-protective-ness (I know, I know that's not a word) of Hurley?? And Claire?? Since when does he risk his own life for anyone (except for Freckles) Good lord is he deeeeelish.
One of the best episodes yet.

So I didn't read anything yet because I had school and I am in photoshop right now.... but because I am in photoshop right now... I am going to read it now.

BUT before I start (few things):
1. TOTALLY WORTH the wait.
2. Alex died. I bet all of you who loved her so much are quite upset.
3. This episode confirmed my name even more! =]

I am very happy. Now I must read.

By the way -- Good to have everyone back!!!

Oh and it seems like the island can move its location?

I have so much to say... ok I really need to read it now.

GRAA, Mac.

Ben either orchestrated Nadia's death or used it to his advantage. Either way, it doesn't matter. Ben is very much an Ends Justify The Means kind of guy.

Alex getting whacked - didn't see that coming. And the "changing the rules" line - very cosa nostra.

Smoky coming out of the hills like a freight train...how bitchin' cool was that? Ben either controls Smoky or they've come to a mutual understanding.

Ben's hidden Double Secret Probation room...now that's better than all the hatches put together.

I knew that Claire wasn't dead...yet. The sneakers peeking out from under the wreckage were very Wizard of Oz. But Claire-bear's time fast approacheth...

Ben & Widmore...faces half in dark, half in light. Very Star Trek. Tells me that both of them are good and both of them are evil. Only difference Ben "...has Australia, the key to the whole game." Maybe those two are playing a real-world game of Risk for slightly higher stakes...say...the future of humanity?

Daniel = Desmond's "Constant". Maybe Widmore = Ben's "Constant?" Just a thought. Also, on a random note, is Sawyer crushing on Hurley these days or what?

So do you think the "Temple" might be code for an island G spot which can teleport people to the desert or arctic and back again? Might explain why the rest of the others haven;t been seen and why they are supposedly safe.

Best line: Ding-dong (by the doorbell). Cracked me right up.

A theory:
Claire's house exploded into nothingness and yet Claire survived with very little injury. What if the healing properties of the island saved her (for some reason), but she is now unable to leave the island without dying. That could possibly explain why she would give up Aaron to Kate, and why Miles commented "I wouldn't say that" when Claire said she was alright. Maybe Miles can see her "aura" of death or injury that's being masked by the island.

Whoever said Rousseau will return to revenge Alex, I agree! And she will be one angry motha!

How ironic (convenient, suspicious?) that Freighter Doc washes up dead, just when Jack might need surgery. Can Juliet perform an appendectomy? And will she have a sudden accident impairing her vision or motor skills, requiring Kate to step in and perform the surgery with Juliet's guidance using Locke's hunting knife set? (Sorry, got a little carried away there.) At first, I thought Jack's pill-popping was just the beginning of his future addiction.

I'm surprised Ben isn't as protective of Aaron as is he of Locke (keeping him near as he "must" survive, because he is "special"). Guess he doesn't need Aaron at the moment, since he can't help find the cabin. I'm pretty sure Aaron knows where the cabin is and may be drooling in code. I wonder if Bernard could interpret? ;)

As of a few days ago, Penny was in her flat in London, decorating for Christmas and answering Des' call. Not exactly in hiding, if Ben wants to kill her. Maybe he's waiting for Penny to come for Des. That would be convenient.

@Janaki/#10: "bug-eyed ninja" = BEN

@Alaïs/#12: regarding how long Sayid was searching for Nadia: Maybe he could only start searching for her after being discharged from the Republican Guard? We don't know when that was, do we? Good question, and that timeline confused me also.

Can't read anymore now. Must work. GRRR!

#58 - Posted by Three Men and a Baby...(I counted Hugo twice) - Maybe Widmore = Ben's "Constant?"

Outstanding idea. Wish I'd thought of it.

Makes complete and utter sense. Therefore it must be wrong. ;-)

# 61 ransomjackson: Makes complete and utter sense. Therefore it must be wrong. ;-)

Are you related to my wife? She ALWAYS says that... lol.

I liked the tease of Claire's death. Many people speculating that she has to be dead for Kate to have Aaron off-island. So it opens with Hurley taking care of the baby, Claire's house is destroyed, and after she's found, we see she has a head injury. But doesn't die this ep. Fun.

@Ross/23 - I think the whole game metaphor was just fun wordplay for this ep. And why is Australia key? That's where 815 took off from - the show started there.

@whoever posted the mafioso bit (sorry, I didn't write it down) - I don't think it's true that they don't whack family. I'm sure I've seen movies where they attack everyone. Can't think of any examples right now.

Also, on "changing the rules": If Ben was assuming the rules wouldn't allow them to kill Alex, why would they have threatened to? And if being his daughter made her safe, why did he deny her? The denial would make her fair game - the reverse of his reverse psychology. I think he blew that worse than he realized.

Two Bens are better than one? Hmmm. I can't help but consider this possibility, especially since the producers have said that the Orchid video is canon and vital to the show.

Also re Ben: I've said it before - the Henry Gale character was not originally intended to be a regular member of the cast. So....Darlton changed their OWN rules! Much to our delight, of course.

And what about those superpowers? Did Ben get them from the Island? Or is this the alter-ego (Rabbit #15) Ben? Is this what Widmore knows?

My head hurts. Must be Benjimitus.

Finally, another shout to Vacc and his USA Today selection. How timely that Smokey was featured last night!

→ 63. Posted by: hurling
@Ross/23 - I think the whole game metaphor was just fun wordplay for this ep. And why is Australia key? That's where 815 took off from - the show started there.

@ ...the mafioso bit... - I don't think it's true that they don't whack family. I'm sure I've seen movies where they attack everyone. Can't think of any examples right now.
- - - -
Australia was not only where OA815 took off from - it was where Hurley and the whole "numbers" thing dropped into place, and, where we learned about "special places" on the planet that heal... when Rose sought a cure for cancer.

The mafioso (real old-school) blurb - rival mobs tended to leave the "women folk" alone. Plus, if someone in the family needed whacking... the family usually took care of it themselves - think 'Fredo' from the Godfather saga.

@clementine

"As of a few days ago, Penny was in her flat in London, decorating for Christmas and answering Des' call. Not exactly in hiding, if Ben wants to kill her. Maybe he's waiting for Penny to come for Des. That would be convenient."

Don't forget that Ben Linus went to a different date (Oct 24, 2005) than the present island date. By then, everyone who is going ashore has gone ashore so to speak and, additionally, Penny may very well be safely tucked away somewhere.

Regarding Ben Linus and Charles Widmore, I agree that the "constant" thing might be the reason behind why Ben says why he cannot kill Charles. Two other ideas spring to mind:
1) Ben and Charles are tied in some way, two halves of one whole so to speak. Others in this thread have already mentioned the same in some way shape or form.
2) Ben knows that the only time someone from/of the island can be killed is when the island "allows" it to happen. Since Ben is directly in tune with the island in many ways perhaps he also has the ability to know when the island will "allow" someone to die.

re 31
Good Eyes. I tried to make that out but couldn't. Have we seen Halliwax in a parka somewhere?????

I love this show, but Gables is right on. The show dumps too much information on viewers without tying up loose ends. I miss the subtleties of the previous seasons. The show has taken a turn for the worse this season and is starting to resemble ALIAS too much. I am giving the writers a pass because of the strike that led to a shortened schedule, but I fear that LOST is in danger of jumping the shark.

This is what I liked:

--Ben is never wrong. He miscalculates. Too bad for Alex.

--Smokey is back finally and we still don't know what the thing is.

--Widmore and Ben as nemesis is great.
ben: you changed the rules
wid: no you did
ben: you killed alex
wid: no you killed alex
ben: i kill penny
ben/wid: we can't kill each other

previous episodes:
micheal: i can't die of the island
mr. friendly: that's right

We have seen that once you leave the island you can't die because the island will not let them and I think this includes murder/suicide. Hurley, Jack, Micheal, Des, Sayid, etc.. can not be killed or die of the island and I think this includes Widmore and Ben because both have been on the island,

--@53/TreeManBaby: Excellent theory: Widmore is Ben's constant of island. This theory need further explanation to see how it works. Who was Widmore constant when he was on the island? How does Desmond become Faraday's constant? Who are Oceanic 6 constants? HELP......

--Finally. What is the significance of Tunisia? Is that where they found the polar bear? This has to be a special place like Temple.

Couple of observations:
1.) Now we know why Ben couldn't go to the mainland for his back surgery. Widmore would most assuredly have him killed during the surgery, or the chances of the surgery being successful away from the Island would be greatly reduced.

2.) We know from past episodes that the Smoke monster could not penetrate the sonic security fence. In this episode, the fence was clearly down since Alex keyed in the code, but it appeared that Smoky came from somewhere within the complex, not external. Not sure about that one, but we know the Smoke monster can be summoned to Otherville while the fence is down.

3.) The mercenaries knew about the fence, and knew how to get it turned off. Important Island knowledge that someone had to have given them. The Dharma Architect?

4.) Ben wearing Arctic cold gear when appearing in the Sahara. Hmmm, I think the two dudes at the Observation post are dead, which also probably explains Ben's flesh wound when waking up in Tunisia.

5.) We now know why Ben considers himself to be one of the 'Good Guys'. In the Widmore-Linus War, Ben's paradigm is the 'good' one.

6.) There seemed to be a huge missed plot opportunity with post war Iraq. Not to mention the logistics of sending Nadia's body back to Tikrit in 2005. I was expecting to see Richard Alpert show up at some point, and there may be more storyline coming in this locale, but to head to Iraq for Ben to tell Sayid a lie and manipulate him, was a bit extreme, when the same could have happened in LA after the 'car accident'. Something more is 'up' here.

re 54

I noticed that too. He's almost the "Jack" of the spin off group. Taking care pf everyone. I guess since he got his dad off his back he's free to be himself.

@ Gables 79

I really don't want a fulfilling TV experience, or some state of ultimate zen. I just want an hour of interesting TV. Sure, it is interesting to debate over what will happen next, but to overanalyze a show to the state of anger is too much for me. I sometimes do question their decisions in the show (WTF Jin?!), but I try to stand back enough to enjoy it.

Truth is, it's a show that can lead to some interesting conversation and debate with friends. To me, it is nothing more.

Of course, when the series finally comes along, I will be glued to my TV like a rabid fanboy. I can't wait to find out that it was all the Autistic Dog's dream.

@48. Posted by: gables79

re: "TV is where "brain matter" goes for a break."

Are you serious? The majority of channels are filled with fodder that you can veg out to. Lost is refreshing, as it actually challenges the viewer to remember and think. Our culture is already obsessed with lowering the bar - I don't mind the hamster spinning the wheel faster in my head!

@51. Posted by: undaunted

re: "With Ben appearing in the Sahara it seems teleporting is one of his abilities."

I don't think he actually has an ability to teleport on his own - I think this will have something to do with the functionality of the Orchid station or the Temple.

@55. Posted by: ilovebenjaminlinusxx

LoL!!! Saw that coming!

@70. Posted by: Neal Mindflood

"it appeared that Smoky came from somewhere within the complex"

Not certain if that is the case. Don't we just see him attacking in the jungle? I think he came from the outside...

"The mercenaries knew about the fence"

I think this further shows that Widmore was involved with the Dharma Initiative. As they built the place, Widmore would know about the fence.

One last thought...

A shame that Miles is not joining Locke, Ben, and Hurley to find Jacob's cabin. Would be interesting to see how the ghost whisperer would interpret things!

Thanks for the Heroes nod, Mac.

My main issues with this ep were that Keamy's sharpshooters could pick off some of the castaways with single shots yet Sawyer somehow eluded them.

And the missile/bomb launched at Claire's house? It burns the whole thing down but Claire is not only alive but has barely a scratch? Even there, Sawyer scoops her up and runs to the house with nary a bullet in sight...

@73

TV isn't a stimulant at all. Watching images rapidly go past your eyes does not help the brain. As you watch, you mostly "veg out" as you simply try and enter these images and audio into your brain. It is a brain DRAIN.

However, the real stimulant is the conversations you have with friends and family when the show is NOT running. This is where the true intelligence comes from, not the TV itself.

Is it such a stretch to believe Ben had Nadia hit by a vehicle, leading Sayid into Ben's service...similar to Juliet's husband getting hit by a bus, leading her into Ben's service.

@#60 Clementine - like the Claire and Miles theory make sense.

→ 73. Posted by: shikotee
A shame that Miles is not joining Locke, Ben, and Hurley to find Jacob's cabin. Would be interesting to see how the ghost whisperer would interpret things!
- - - -
Totally agree! I am disappointed Miles is not aimed at Jacob. Then I thought - for a good reason? Like Locke & Ben both think that Miles would better serve the things that - "have to happen" - on the beach with the Losties, Freighter Doc's and OA6 rescue sequence/timeline. Miles has lots of smarts on all of those forces and as far as we know, still has a multi-million dollar agreement with Ben. And who knows, maybe they thought that Jacob may tell Miles EXACTLY what is going on, and Miles would start betraying everyone left & right.

Gables79, No. 48

You have a good point that the show seems to stretch the limits of sanity, however I still find it the only show that keeps my attention week after week. So many shows these days are carbon copies of each other with very little creative input.

Lost does push the limits, but for me they do it a most entertaining way, week after week, and from what it looks like, we ain't seen nothing yet.

Ben's failure to even ATEMPT killing Widmore speaks to something greater than faith in the island's anti-death capabilities (a la Michael). He should at least have tried to put a bullet in him considering the circumstances, but it seemed like there was something stronger compelling him not to. I'm more of the opinion right now that Ben and Widmore are "connected" on some level, and I want to know more...

@74. Posted by: Connie

re: Keamy's sharpshooters, Sawyer, Claire

Yeah - it did seem a little fishy that Sawyer and Claire made it. I guess we are meant to take into consideration that the island determines when it is your time to go, and that it could have been somehow protecting them?

@75. Posted by: Nick Ambrose

re: TV isn't a stimulant at all

Noooooooooooooo! And to think I have dedicated all this time under a false premise! ;)

But seriously - Naturally, watching tv is a one sided experience - some would even argue a form of escapism from the realities of the world.

My point is that Lost is a soffisticated
and often intelligent show - which is quite surprising for something that is mainstream and popular amongst the many. If offers much more meat on the bones, albeit that not everyone is capable of perceiving/remembering this.

I hear what you are saying - this blog for instance is a great medium for stimulation after the fact. The stimulation exists - for all the people to come here and enjoy this fine analysis and discussion - because of the quality and depth of the show. If the show was more like any of the other clones out there, I certainly would not be wasting my time with it, or here on this blog!

@77. Posted by: DocH

re: Miles and Jacob

I just assumed it was the writers way of avoiding giving us too much info just yet. ;)

Glen:

I agree with you that LOST is the best thing going on TV right now. All the more why I would hate to see it fall away in quality.

Gables

When Widmore says he knows "what" Ben is, he is referring to Ben as a "monster." Widmore is as ruthless as Ben, so why would he call Ben a monster unless it was personal.

Ben claims Widmore changed the rules (of engagement) when he had his "adopted" daughter killed - - - inferring that family members were off-limits in war for control of the island.

Widmore has contempt for Penelope's choice of Desmond, a person with little ambition or drive to succeed or commit to anything; a lower class than Widmore's status in society. He has lived through this situation before . . .

Ben is the "monster" who killed Emily, his mother, according to his father, Roger Linus, and his grandfather, Charles Widmore. Emily was Widmore's daughter. Emily married a low class workman like Penelope is about to.

This would explain why Ben is apparently wealthy, and why he would not kill his grandfather (blood relatives are safe) who knows about the powers of the island.

I love the noise that Smokey makes. Sounds like when you get a receipt from a NYC cab.

"socks"?

I thought we called these guys "red-shirts".

o-----------------

When Claire's condo exploded while Hurley had Aaron in a different location, my wife and I both said "So that's whayt happened to Claire", but apparently there's some other
explanation for why Aaron gets offf the island buut she doesn't.

o-----------------

#4 bcre8ve asked:

>Anyone Notice the Name Tag?

Good eyes - no I didn't. Thanks.

o-----------------

@12 Alaïs_Longthought thought out loud that:

>I'm curious as to where Bernard learned Morse code.

I'm guessing either ham radio or former Navy signalman.

o-----------------

@16 MorBid0 calculated:

>>It hasn't been that long since Ben shot Locke and left him for dead in a ditch.
>>15. Posted by: Joe

>I just checked my calendar and it has been 353 days since "TMBTC" where Locke was shot.

I think he was talking about 'not that long' in narrative time.

Ben shoots Locke on day 90 (Dec 20, 2004) (Lostpedia)

"The Shape of Things to Come" takes place on Day 97 (Dec 27, 2004), only a week later and

Locke and Ben are allies, if not bosom buddies.

o-----------------

@17 berkyo....

I think you're over-thinking, here.

o-----------------

@24 Chad Brown asked:

>How many languages was Ben trying to communicate with when he met up with the horseback riders in Tunisia? Anyone? And what language were the riders using that Ben did not
understand?

I think I heard Ben using Arabic as one of his query languages, so I'm guessing the riders were speaking Berber.

o-----------------

@27 danny speculated:

>I am under the impression that some of "the rules" between Widmore and Linux (sic) is that no family members must be touched (rule that was broken) and that quite probably, all dirty
work must be done by someone else.

Refuting this is the fact that Ben took the tack of specifically saying Alex WASN'T a family member in the hopes of saving her,which seems to indicate that Alex WASN'T going to
be protected by family status.

o-----------------

For thos interested, here's a link to google maps for Santa Monica and La Brea in Los Angeles. Click on the "Street View" and expand to full screen to see a panaramic view of
the neighborhgood. As far as I can see, the intersection does not have red-light enforcement cameras.

http://tinyurl.com/59ffzz

o-----------------

#43 s asked:

>4. Was this the first time we saw Ben cry? I think it was.

I seem to recall the line "I am not a bad person!" delivered with sort of a whining cry under interrogation when he was a captive in the hatch.

> On, and on a sort of related note, I really wanted to see Jack and Daniel duke it out (finally), but with an ongoing case of appendicitis, I don't think Jack was too up for it.

Daniel doesn't seem to me to be the sort that would, or could, duke it out with anyone.

And all of his answers seem to be reluctantly pulled out of him as if he's very conflicted about his part in what's going on.

o-----------------

GatorGal:

What's your source for the Orville Wright/glider item? (Oct 24).

I'm interested because that seems a little late in the day (1911) for Orville to still be messing around with
gliders, and I don't recall anything like that from the biography of the Wrightts I read.

o-----------------

@49 maries said:

>In keeping with all the game references from this episode, Ben tells Keamy that Alex doesn't matter because she is just a "pawn."

For a fantastic "just a pawn" line, read John Brunner's "Squares of the City".

o-----------------

@50 marlisa asked.

>Where is Rose?

Here I am.

o-----------------

@58 Three Men and a Baby...(I counted Hugo twice) speculated:

>Daniel = Desmond's "Constant". Maybe Widmore = Ben's "Constant?"

But Daniel ISN'T Desmond's constant. Penny Widmore is. Although some have specualted that Desmond is DANIEL'S constant.

o-----------------

@60 Clementine said:

>As of a few days ago, Penny was in her flat in London, decorating for Christmas and

answering Des' call. Not exactly in hiding, if Ben wants to kill her. Maybe he's waiting

for Penny to come for Des. That would be convenient.

But that was Christmas, 2004. The Ben/Widmore scene takes place some time after 10/24/05,

10 months later, plenty of time for penny to have been stashed.

o-----------------

@63 hurling said:

>@whoever posted the mafioso bit (sorry, I didn't write it down) - I don't think it's true

that they don't whack family. I'm sure I've seen movies where they attack everyone. Can't

think of any examples right now.

The whole Sopranos saga? Every Godfather movie?

o-----------------

@64 hurling said:

>Also, on "changing the rules": If Ben was assuming the rules wouldn't allow them to kill

Alex, why would they have threatened to? And if being his daughter made her safe, why did

he deny her? The denial would make her fair game - the reverse of his reverse psychology. I

think he blew that worse than he realized.

The presumption of ben's denying Alex was that somehow this would protect her, as if, absent some specific reason to kill her (leverage over Ben), the mercenaries have no reason
to do so.

But he's also previously stated that the mercenaries will kill EVERYBODY (Every living person) on the island (related or non-related) once they have him(Ben), which would
seem to argue that the ONLY protection for her or anyone else would be to withhold the one

motivator the invaders have - their desire to capture Ben.

So it seems to me that the only strategy that could have worked would be for Ben to hold a

gun to his own head, and say "If you kill, her I will kill myself."

(Nasty mind that I have though, I can think of other tacks the mercenaries might have

taken, depending only on their degree of ruthlessness.)

o-----------------

@75 Nick Ambrose asserted:

>TV isn't a stimulant at all. Watching images rapidly go past your eyes does not help the brain. As you watch, you mostly "veg out" as you simply try and enter these images and audio into your brain. It is a brain DRAIN.

Begging your pardon, I beg to differ. Inside the normal broadcast wasteland of shows, I find both "Lost" and "House" stimulating to a high degree. I also enjoy "Survivor", at a
more relaxed pace. And enjoy chatting about them afterwards as well.

o-----------------

@77 DocH speculated:

>Miles has lots of smarts on all of those forces and as far as we know, still has a multi-million dollar agreement with Ben.

I believe it's a bit late for Miles to be telling anyone "Ben's not here."

o-----------------

@Cecil Rose: Darlton use the phrase "socks" to describe the background players. Essentially, it's the "Lost" edition of a Red Shirt.

As the father of a teenage daughter, I have to say Alex's murder and Ben's real grief actually brought me to tears... I've never felt more sympathetic toward Ben, but I'm sure that won't last long. Excellent episode all around.

Regarding the time travel / portal that takes Ben to Tunisia -

A few episodes ago (the background episode for the four new characters), the biologist lady was in Tunisia and they discovered Polar Bears with the Dharma logos. A portal would explain how those Polar Bears (and Ben) were able to make it there.

Another stellar review, Mac

@mac:

As in "sock-puppets"?

-----------

@all

Most chilling reaction last night:

"Oh, nooooooooooooo! Not Alex!"

Second most:

"Oh, nooooooooooooo! Not Penny!"

@Cecil: Yup. That's what it's short for.

4-9 (80) The Shape of Things to Come

Invaders advance,
Alex, alas, Ben, in shock,
Smokey to rescue.

→ 84. Posted by: Cecil Rose
I believe it's a bit late for Miles to be telling anyone "Ben's not here."
- - - -
Cuz that would be impossible, as everyone on the freighter already knows. Not what I am suggesting. Ben just can't be 'captured'. And with the assault team dead, dying or doomed, Miles may still be on the payroll, and, as an accomplished liar, may only have relay to the freighter, once comm is back up, that Ben died during the assault, or Smokey killed Ben and assault team or Ben 'disappeared'. Seems like they set us up early and often that the only thing that motivates Miles, is money. I say he is going to stay true to character.

@ 35 Posted by: SteveW at April 25, 2008 9:11 AM
“Also, didn't Sayid say to Ben when he first saw him at Nadia's funeral: "Why are you following me?!? Oh, it's you." (or something to that effect), as if he suddenly realized that it wasn't who he initially thought it was? Does that make sense?”

When Sayid says “Why are you following me?!?”, I took it as a frustrated exclamation aimed at what he thought was a paparrazi (sp?)/reporter. Just before the funeral we see the reporters trying to question him in his grief on the news broadcast Ben saw. The he recognizes Ben…

Did anyone notice the "Bat" Phone? It didn't have a dial to dial out with. It was only a incoming phone. Cool phone.

@93. Posted by: Lost is Found

re: "Did anyone notice the "Bat" Phone?"

Good catch!

Totally. Who answered again - was it Sawyer? I was totally expecting him to pick up and say "Yes Commissioner"!

Curious - have we ever seen that phone in the background before? I don't recall ever seeing it.

Hurley, Sawyer, Locke
Playing Risk when the phone rings
We better ask Ben

Playing piano,
Ben's frightened, Code 14J!
Circle the wagons!

Poor murdered Alex.
Now we'll never really know
If she was pregnant.

Smoky is pissed off.
Ben woke him from sound slumber
To do his bidding.

Jack takes pills for pain
Must be appendicitis
Cindy's scarf won't help.

Sayid's Nadia
Killed by Linus or Widmore?
Either way she's dead.

Vincent o Vincent,
Like a golden-haired banshee
Your bark heralds death.

Great episode! I can't really explain it, but the conversation at the end between ben and widmore to me indicated that they're either twins (good and evil) or the same person (stuck in different timezones) or something like that....

The first thing is the shadow over their faces. They're both just half a face (kind a like the nba playoff promo's)

ben says: we both know I cannot kill you. You cannot kill yourself.

Widmore says: everything you have you took from me. Yes, because they're somehow the same person/twins.

I think it has something to do with the dead doctor being at two places at the same time. What if ben and widmore were the same person but somehow they split up at a very young age. Time on the island is slower so Ben is younger.

I have to think about it some more, but I think something's up....

So I didn't have enough time to reply in photoshop today... BUT now I'm home and now I have time.

Ben really does love Alex... you can tell from all the pictures in his house, and the way he cried... there's no way that he doesn't consider her "his daughter"... I do not believe there is another that Charles Widmore killed.

Someone said something about starting to like Ben -- BEN IS MINE (and half meg's). Please don't make this an unrealistic rectangleish thing. Meg and I won, you lost.

That whole secret room in the secret room thing was awesome. Considering the way it looked... Maybe the room itself has secret passageways to places, or to teleport them.

@ Clementine - 60
I LAUGHED SOO HARD with the whole door bell thing!!! It was soooo funny!!!

Is it just me or does Sawyer have a VERY SOFT side? He seems to care a lot for Claire and Aaron, and A LOT for Hurley. It's kind of cute.

This episode made Ben look like another Jason Bourne. Mmm... Maybe he is?

Or like something in Paycheck, get the job done, erase memory... no actually not... More like in Alias when Sydney randomly ended up in Hong Kong and she didn't remember the last 2 years... Maybe somehow someone got Ben there. Eh, probably not that either.

If there are two Ben's... Then I can have one, and Meg can have one. =]
... But I call the better one!

So I was thinking... Maybe Ben wasn't ever planning on "killing" Penny... Maybe he just wants to put her on the island, and she'll conveniently end up with Desmond over there, and he won't be a murderer. But since Charles can never find the island, it would be "like" she was dead.

Maybe the island is getting "angry" with all the visitors? That's why the time difference is so much? Before it was just 30 minutes, but now it seems to be a few days.

Mr. Friendly throws like a girl.

That whole scene in the Sahara place thing was SOO HOT. I was like, DANG BOY, YOU GOT MOVES.
... I guess that didn't really sound right, but you know what I mean. I mean it in the cleanest way possible.

This episode really did make me love Ben even more. Definitely one of the best.

Ben episodes are always good.

And OMG. I HATE THE WAY JACK BREATHES, and he breathed (or whatever the past tense for breathe is, which I can't think of right now and I feel like an idiot because I'm pretty sure "breathed" is not a word) even more annoying in this episode. But nothing beats the annoying breath of Jack Shephard in the season 3 finale.

Wow... This post is my worst English of all time, or at least in the last few years... Sorry everyone! School makes me stupider... at times. I'm feeling a bit dyslexic this week.

@ Gables79
Don't expect to get on my list anytime soon. LOST is special in so many ways, if you don't appreciate it, don't watch it.

@ Shikotee - 73 and DocH - 77
Maybe Miles will eventually end up with them... By accident?

I think the reason that Locke and Ben are all "buddy buddy" is because they need each other.

So it seems that the random extras that chose Locke randomly showed up this episode... and now they are dead. That was actually kind of funny.

I love when Ben was like, "I guess you won't be getting those $3.2 million."

This episode was so funny.

(sorry about my thoughts being all over the place)

Ok that's it for now... I think. I will be back for more later.

I had to laugh when the sock/red shirt was carrying a log.... as in kill off the "log-carrying guy."

So were the 3 that were killed the only additional Losties that went with Locke's group? Or I suppose we just assume all of Locke's socks were killed off. So much for following Locke to safety...

@mac

Have you upgraded the blog software or hardware, or have I just forgotten how fast the posts update while there are only two-digits worth of posts?

RISK. I had recently watched the season 1 episode where Michael & Jack appear to be discussing super important... and then it pans out and they are lining up the putt on Hurley's Golf course. So when Hurley and Sawyer started discussing strategies, I said to my wife "Are they playing Risk?" Sure enough it pans out and there is the Risk board.... She was rather impressed that I called that.

That got me to thinking that it isn't just this episode that has a lot of game references in it. The whole show does. We've seen Backgammon, Ping pong, HORSE, Connect Four, etc. But I sure hope that the overall "answer" isn't that it's just a Trading Places-esque game between Widmore & Ben. Not only would that be disappointing, but rather sick & wrong considering how many people die.

@Cecil: The server and the blog software were both updated somewhat recently. The speed increase is probably due to that.

Linus/Widmore...
Shadows, B&W or W&B,
Can't kill one another directly?

Some say that scene was about chess...

The 'Kings' can not directly capture (checkmate) one another, as victory would be simultaneous for both - as would defeat.

I cannot believe Alex is dead, that son of a bitch let her die!!!!!!
I luuurvvved Alex. chucking bug eye. I mean who lets his daughter adoptive or not be put in that position. Arrrggghhh!! But this as you said Mac is a key turning point in the show.
quick questions everyone:
1.- How the hell does Ben Lee control Smokey??? Is there like a remote to activate the growling and the smoke machine? It lost me somehow when he went in the Ben Cave....
2.- Ben Lee has SOME moves.... was that part of his Dharma training or where the hell did he pick those "Watchaaaa" moves?
3.-How did the comando team get on the island??? does anyone know for sure. Last we saw they were on the boat and helicopter dude had taken it for an "errand" right??? or did i miss somthing
Anyway, thanks y'all and thanks Mac

10/24/05 is when Hurricane Wilma hit Florida.

I loved the ironic juxtaposition in this episode where Ben is playing the piano while basically under house arrest exactly the same as Jack was (in that same house) when he was being held captive by the Others (when Kate came to try to free him). Who knows? It was probably the same song, too.

I don't think anybody has mentioned that Claire says "Charlie?" to Sawyer when he uncovers her from the exploded house. Maybe it's just to show her dazedness, but maybe there is more to that? Was she in some sort of half-dead zone where she sees "Dead, But I'm Here" Charlie? Then Sawyer awakens her from that state...

There was so much jam-packed into this episode. I'll definitely have to watch it again. Loved Smokey's domination of the shooters...

The houses rumbling made me think that the reason everybody knew what to do when the plane came crashing in (S3E1) is that when Smokey appears everything shakes like an earthquake. So they were prepared for a Smokey appearance when really it was a plane crashing. At the time we thought maybe they had previously encountered a plane crashing into their midst.

@97. Posted by: ilovebenjaminlinusxx

"Is it just me or does Sawyer have a VERY SOFT side? He seems to care a lot for Claire and Aaron, and A LOT for Hurley. It's kind of cute."

I think much of this can be attributed to the successful con that Hurley pulled on him. Hurley tricked Sawyer into doing nice things for everyone, as Sawyer believed that he was going to be banished from the beach.

Hurley's logic was that with Jack gone, the survivors needed a leader to take care of them, and in his mind, Sawyer was such the guy.

Jack returned shortly after this, so it seemed like a Red Herring, but now we see that the effects are longer lasting.

Good work Hugo!

re 18

You are probably right. We haven't seen him without a bloody nose for a while.....
Still, I did get the feeling that the flashback was not all it seemed.
This show makes one very suspicious of anything they tell us!

re Mac: Ben summons Smokey (or turns it on ... I'm not sure which).

I don't think Ben has any particular control to turn on or summon smokey. What he does have is the ability to change the time line. When he travelled through "the portal" or whatever it is and killed the guy that killed Nadia, he changed the altered the future, thus requiring a course correction in space-time. Smokey, I believe, is the "course corrector". So when Ben came back to the island the course correction kicked in. Since Widmore changed the rules, Ben just made a little adjustment.

Thanks for the review Mac, I really enjoyed it. Great as usual.

When Alex was executed, Ben realized that Widmore "changed the rules". It was immediately (and only after) this that he ran to his secret/secret/secret room and summoned (or whatever) Smokey. This gave me the impression that manipulating Smokey is also "changing the rules". Like Ben's first reaction was- hey, all bets are off...I'm getting rid of the henchmen with Smokey, even though I'm "not allowed to do that".

On the beach, Jack asked if he could talk to Bernard...I'm taking from this that Jack knew Bernard knows Morse Code, and asked him to stay close to Miles and make sure he's around when any Morse Code happens...because Jack knew Miles couldn't be trusted.

@103. Posted by: mapache

"How did the comando team get on the island???"

I would assume that it was by helicopter, as that is what the evidence points towards. Perhaps when Lup returns to the freighter with the chopper, he'll confirm this?

My theory:

When Ben enters his secret layer, he not only summons Smokey, but travels FORWARD in time, and that his flash forward in the episode occurred while he was away and Sawyer was banging on the door. He traveled forward about 11 months, and ended up in the Sahara where Charlotte discovered the Polar Bear. And he did so with the intention of finding Charles Widmore to tell him he changed the rules; the Sayid encounter/detour was just a moment of convenience for Ben. When (in the future) or how he comes back, we don't know, but I'm confident that his 20 seconds of departure into his secret room was perhaps a round trip that really took perhaps a few months.

I believe the island's time travel and teleportation powers have an intimate connection to the Sahara, perhaps a constant link, like a wormhole that sends one, or something, on the island to the Sahara roughly 11 months into the future (I say roughly because Ben wasn't exactly sure what date it was when he got to his hotel).

When we first met Doc Ray on the freighter, his scar on his cheek was healing.

When we see Doc Ray was ashore, it is clear that his cheek injury was new, it still has stitches, which means Doc Ray was killed before Sayid & Desmond reached the freighter.

Which puts the whole time travel paradox, multiple people in same dimension issues front and center.

@ IdMonster - Post 108

I was on board with the 'course corrector' theory as well, but Ben KNEW that smokey would come out and attack. i doubt Ben would know that it would happen as a course correction. he seemed well prepared for smokey's appearance.

@ Vic - Post 111

I like your theory - only hole is the dharma parka and the bullet wound. And no, Ben wasn't POSITIVE of the exact date, but he seemed to know still... it certainly wasn't a surprise to him.

-109 JoePike: It was immediately (and only after) this that he ran to his secret/secret/secret room and summoned (or whatever) Smokey

I also had a neener-neener/bully/I'll- show-you reaction when Ben bolted into his Secret Place. And, since it seemed outwardly like a childish thing to do, it also seemed appropriate that he'd come out all full of dirt from the playground. Still wondering why he was so dirty, as pointed out by -12 Alais.

I just watched the episode and agree with posts...really good one. I have a theory about Ben and Widmore's "game" that they appear to be playing. Seemed to have dropped a hint with Team Locke playing Risk (and I agree that the reference to Australia plays a big part). I didn't get that "game" theme to mean Post #13's theory about mob bosses/mafioso, etc. What if Ben and Widmore are playing this big game with real players and an island to gain as the prize...? What if there were game rules established in the beginning so that Ben and Widmore would need to stick to for the end prize? I'm thinking that may be why Ben knows who everyone is that he encounters...their names...their backgrounds...their complete life resume. Everyone associated with the island are pawns in the big real world game between Ben and Widmore. Just a thought...

What a fantastic episode!

I really believe the Spyid-Nadia story arc was cut due to the writers strike. The producers had said as much being they are working an episode short. That being said, they did a really good job at explaining in two minutes what would have been a fifteen minute backstory.

I can't think of any other character on television who I can loath and root for in the same damn episode! The writing is really amazing.

I can't wait until the "Jacob" episode where we'll find out about smokey, but undoubtedly be bombarded with more questions.

→ 111. Posted by: Vic
- - - -
I like your theory too. Where Ben, seconds after Alexandras' death, runs to the closet, wrecks havoc on the future, then returns to inflict vengance - Island Style - just seconds after the infraction. That is what I'd do.

But I agree - that may be a stretch. Seems like if he was dedicated to recruiting Locke to "island protectorate", he'd do what he did, summon island security, to immediately defend Locke. And he did return wearing the same (non-parka)clothes that he left in, though he looked like he just climbed up a dirty (smoky) chimney.

@ shikotee - 106
That's a good point. I forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me. Explains a lot.

Weren't they trying to avoid having people go back and forth from and to the island because they didn't want anyone else to get "confused"? So much for that.

@ Vic - 111
"When Ben enters his secret layer, he not only summons Smokey, but travels FORWARD in time, and that his flash forward in the episode occurred while he was away and Sawyer was banging on the door. He traveled forward about 11 months, and ended up in the Sahara where Charlotte discovered the Polar Bear. And he did so with the intention of finding Charles Widmore to tell him he changed the rules; the Sayid encounter/detour was just a moment of convenience for Ben. When (in the future) or how he comes back, we don't know, but I'm confident that his 20 seconds of departure into his secret room was perhaps a round trip that really took perhaps a few months. "

...That's actually a good theory. Kudos.

But I only have one thing to say about that... I may be wrong, but how would Ben know about how that guy that supposedly killed Nadia wasn't seen in a long time then all of a sudden seen recently. I guess he could have found that out later, but considering how he asked for the date and all... whatever. I like your theory.

It is clear that I need to watch the episode again. I'm disappointed with myself.

@103 mapache asked:

>3.-How did the comando team get on the island??? does anyone know for sure. Last we saw they were on the boat and helicopter dude had taken it for an "errand" right??? or did i miss somthing

There was a night scene where the head commando asked Frank where he was going (leaving the deck), and cautioned him not to be late (and the heavy implications was that he was taking the mercs somewhere).

WHY WHY WHY....did Smokey spare Keamy????????????????????????

Haven't we seen in the past that the ol' Smokester can read people and then back off????

WHY did Keamy pass this test????

@105 Sock...Puppet...Guy noted:

>I don't think anybody has mentioned that Claire says "Charlie?" to Sawyer when he uncovers her from the exploded house. Maybe it's just to show her dazedness, but maybe there is more to that? Was she in some sort of half-dead zone where she sees "Dead, But I'm Here" Charlie? Then Sawyer awakens her from that state...

I noticed that, too. And it ties in with some speculations that I've made before and which were intensified by reading "The Inventions of Morel" (one of Ben's library. See my review coming soon in the Random Topic Area.

I live near Santa Monica and LaBrea and the unless Sayid's wife was driving at night, that area always seems to be gridlocked. There is no way to get past 40mph in that area!

Clementine--#60

Maybe Juliet inbecoming incapacitated can download the knowlege of how to perform an appendectomy to Kate and we can have a nice "Spock's Brain" episode.

I had really been liking Faraday but as of this episode he's really overdoing it with all the nervous tics and stammering and twitching. He's starting to get annoying.

Couldn't believe Ben let Alex die...

ILBLXX and meg--thought of you gals during this ep as Ben was getting all Bourne Ultimatum. I just knew you'd be lovin' yer man looking so cool. It certainly helped erase those images of him waddling up the hill after showing Juliet Goodwin's body. Never really pictured him as an asskicker like that before. His cool factor just shot way up.

Oh and Ben totally killed Nadia. That Widmore guy Sayid killed probably really had nothing to do with it.

And the horrible eyes line was great--totally keeps me thinking that the writers check out the blogs.

Totally thought Claire would be dead since we all figured she needs to die at some point for Aaron to be "adopted" by Kate.

I always thought there were tunnels leading from Ben's place out to various areas on the island--like Paulo's porta potty hatch station. Why didn't they just escape the freighties through those.

Smokey totally looked mre real and cool than ever before. I never found the Smoky effect to be all that impressive and he never seemed all that scary because of the fakeness. I was always a little disappointed in the smokester...No More! Last night Smoky looked the way he should lokk as he went all Ten Commandments grren mist angel of death killing the first borns...

@113. Posted by: DriveShaft

Right, because Ben's done it many times before. He doesn't know "How" smokey works, but he knows that when he alters the time line and returns to the island, that the course correction occurs. He knew exactly what was going to happen when he got back. Maybe Jakob knows how and/or why it works?????

By the way, where's Mr. Grimm? He usually has the right answer:)

@Vic/111
@DocH/117

Yeah, the Stargate in the secret closet theory sure seemed probable when he came out so dirty, and seemingly ended the attack in a matter of seconds; a lot more seemed to have happened in that double secret hatch than Ben getting dirty.

I also agree, however, that the other flash scene from this episode was likely NOT directly related (gunshot, parka ...).

Also remember that all of Ben's travel clothes, money, passports, etc. are in the outer secret room he entered first. Perhaps Ben has been coming and going all along through the 2xsecret portal, and changing clothes on the way out to match what he on going in (to avoid suspicion).

That really raises so many questions though, that I hardly even know where to begin, especially when you throw in the apparent time travel possibilities.

A few other initial thoughts ...

Doc Ray dies later (after Dan's call to check on his status), and his body drifts toward the island, but not being on the "correctly" managed heading, he winds up in the past, when Bernard finds him.

If Ben's secret portal was in fact that (as opposed to him going into a very dirty room to activate Smokey), this could explain his popping into the desert ... rather than flying or boating to/from the island along an exact course, "walking out" is probably less accurate, and hence the questiosn regarding the exact date when he appeared "on the other side" in the desert. Why the parka? Just not enough info yet ... could mean almost anything. He was shot, but by whom? When? Where? Did he flash-forward, or flash-back to Tunisia?

I was also hoping for some confirmation of my "the O6 time jumped forward a few months when they left the island" theory; almost, but not quite (not disproven either though!). If I'm right, then the O6 (assuming they leave very soon in island time) would arrive off-island in the Aug/Sep time-frame. We know from last night that Sayid got married to Nadia, and then lost her very soon afterward (and it was late October). I do not consider it beyond the realm of possibility (Sayid probably would've wanted to marry her immediately upon returning to the real world and finding her), and in fact, might even bolster my theory.

yesterday's producer interview @

www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/science_news/4260693.html

@welh/82
>>>
Ben is the "monster" who killed Emily, his mother, according to his father, Roger Linus, and his grandfather, Charles Widmore. Emily was Widmore's daughter. Emily married a low class workman like Penelope is about to.

This would explain why Ben is apparently wealthy, and why he would not kill his grandfather (blood relatives are safe) who knows about the powers of the island.
>>>

That's a good theory. Been trying to think of any good reason why Ben wouldn't have just killed Widmore in his bed otherwise.

The only other thing that makes sense would be Ben trying to maintain the "course correction," and killing Widmore would somehow disrupt that. We now seem to know that Ben has the ability not just to come/go from the island, but also (at least limited) ability time travel as well. Perhaps he's been to the future, and knows Widmore needs to be around for some course-correction event yet to come, so couldn't kill him.

I'm thinking that's what Ben meant by saying Widmore had "changed the rules," the rules being the whole course correction thing. Alex wasn't "supposed" to die as she did, not just pissing Ben off, but making his job of maintaining the time-line more difficult by introducing another wrinkle. Ben may actually be the "good guy," keeping the proper timeline moving forward; Widmore, maliciously or just unknowingly, would then make sense as the "bad guy," mucking things up and hastening the end of the world.

Before I start, yes I am drunk, and no I haven't read past about 15 posts yet...but I will.

In the opening scene Ben is sick, supposedly from time travel. Is that possibly why Jack is sick as well but Juliet is covering up with the appendix thing!!

@meg

Your a girl after my own heart. I love the you start every post with: "I'm durnk" That's too funny.

Charles Widmore Original Member of Black Rock Crew? Just watched it again online. Widmore says to Ben, "That island is mine and it will be again" implying that it was once his--maybe because he was on it? Could he be one of the original crew of the ship that was marooned there? He somehow found his way off and hasn't been able to find it again. Not so farfetched considering what transpired in this episode.

@LostedIt/#67 and Cecil/#84:

re: I said Penny wasn't in hiding, that she was in her flat in London, and you reminded me that we don't know where she is in Oct 2005.

Yes, but I guess I was watching Ben's scenes as sequential to his own reality, so that he entered his magic box closet, took a little jaunt through time, perhaps first dealing with some nebby Portuguese researchers in the Antartic (after he had them relay the island coordinates to Penny), then to Tunisia to practice Dharmarate in his Dharka, to Iraq to recruit/manipulate Sayid, a London layover to threaten old man Widmore, a quick pitstop in Smokey's den to rotate the tires and gas him up, and then back to the magic closet, returning only a few minutes after he left, but having traveled for a good long time. Now he's back on the island, waiting for Penny to come rescue Des, so he can exact his "eye for a bug-eye" revenge. Ben made his threat in 2005, but why can't he kill Penny in 2004? Would "course-correction" preclude this?

@ LIF/94: Did anyone notice the "Bat" Phone?
Yes, I did, thankyouverymuch! ;)

@Sock...Puppet...Guy/105: "Who knows? It was probably the same song, too."
Actually, Ben was playing Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C# minor. Quite a haunting and volatile piece.

I find it interesting how grief-stricken Sayid was over Nadia and stated how he'd spent 8 years looking for the woman he loves...yet he somehow found the time to boink Shannon (and refer to her as the woman he loves in "One of Them").

So sad about Alex. Ben was trying to put the ball back in his court by taking her out of