Spoiler Accuracy Thread

One of our users, BookhouseBoy, from the Forum, has started to compile a couple of interesting threads.

These threads take a look back after an episode has aired and looks at all the spoilers that were posted for it and how much we knew and how accurate our spoilers have been. Thankfully so far it's been pretty damn good ;). All our sources for example all rated What Kate Does as the lowest rated episode out of the 8-9 episodes that they had seen, and this appears to have been the consensus of the fans if you look at the current polls/episode table.

Take a look at threads below. We'll be updating this each week so that those of you who do not follow spoilers can see what was spoiled about the episodes that have aired.

Episode 6.01/6.02 - LA X
Episode 6.03 - What Kate Does
Episode 6.04 - The Substitute
Episode 6.05 - Lighthouse
Episode 6.06 - Sundown
Episode 6.07 - Dr. Linus
Episode 6.08 - Recon
Episode 6.09 - Ab Aeterno
Episode 6.10 - The Package
Episode 6.11 - Happily Ever After
Episode 6.12 - Everybody Love Hugo
Episode 6.13 - The Last Recruit
Episode 6.14 - The Candidate
Episode 6.15 - Across The Sea
Episode 6.16 - What They Died For
Episode 6.17/6.18 - The End

ODI LOSTcast 55 - Episode 6x07 Dr. Linus Recap

Happy LOST Day All!!

Last week's Ben-Centric episode was filled with some nice surprises both off and on island with Ben being redeemed. Michael Emerson's emotional portrayal of a broken down Ben was awesome and the return to the Black Rock with Richard, Jack and Hurley provided us with some revealing answers.

As always we recap and analyze every moment of the episode.

The podcast was posted to iTunes earlier today, but for those that do not have iTunes you can find an audio player or download at the link below.

Hope you all enjoy!

NOTE:This podcast is spoiler-free, but do not worry spoiler fans we are trying to do a all spoiler podcast soon.

http://the-odi.blogspot.com/2010/03/odi-lostcast-55-episode-6x07-dr-linus.html

Find LOST with Carmel: Dr. Linus

Lost Fantasy League: Week 6 Update!

Episode scores seem to be in decline lately! Ever since "The Substitute," each episode has had a lower score than the one before it. Will this trend come to an end next week? I sure hope so! "Dr. Linus" scored a total of 430 points and featured 14 of our League Characters. Ben didn't hog all the points though. In fact, Ben turned in the lowest one-week score for a centric character so far this season!



After writing off a couple of League Characters from contention last week, has anyone else crossed the point of no return? You'll have to watch the video above to find that out. Also, be sure to check out all of the stats and data below and let me know if I missed something!

Lost Fantasy Team Lookup Table | LFL on Facebook | G-Man on Twitter | Email G-Man

IMPORTANT POINT RULINGS FOR 6.07 "DR. LINUS":

1) Jacob's ashes are only worth points for certain people. This was a very difficult decision to make but we ruled that Jacob's ashes aren't enough to count as Jacob himself are important enough to count as a New Thing for people who have not yet encountered him. So far, only Frank and Miles have not encountered Jacob before in their lives (that we know).

2) Miles gets points for encountering Jacob. Miles used his ability to commune with the dead to find out who killed Jacob. That counts as communicating with Jacob, one of our stipulation for earning Jacob Encounter points.

3) Miles does not earn points for Nikki and Paulo though. Jacob's ash was something tangible that we could see. Nikki and Paulo are buried and not visible. This prevents Miles from getting the extra points.

4) Miles does earn points for the diamonds. Since we saw him holding one, we have a tangible, visible connection with the object. This qualifies Miles for New Thing points.

5) The principal, Arzt and Locke are not new people to Alt-Ben. Just because a person, place or thing is new to us does not make it new to the Alt-characters. Ben knew who the principal and Arzt were right away and he had already met Locke.

6) Ben and Locke are not new for Arzt. Same as above. Arzt already seemed to know that Locke was a substitute instead of needing to ask who he was.

7) Arzt is not new for Locke. The way Arzt seemed to know he was a sub without thinking about it implies that they have already met in the Alt.

8) Frank gets First Line points. I usually check with Lostpedia's episode transcripts to check for the use of episode titles but I used my TV's closed captioning to check this one. My CC gave Frank as the first line by saying "Whoa!"

6.07 CHARACTER SCORES:

SEASON 6 EPISODE TOTALS:

GROUP 1

BEN (+115 points): Attendance; Encounters a New Person, Place or Thing (The gun in the clearing); Encounters or Uses the Numbers (4 & 8 appear on the microwave); Encounters the Smoke Monster; Episode Centricity; First on Screen; Gets a Minor Injury (Falls over while running); Miscellaneous FB/FF; Says the Title of an Episode (2- "I Do," "Dr. Linus")

JACK (+35 points): Attendance; Says the Title of an Episode (2- "One of Us," "Lighthouse"); Visits the Black Rock

HURLEY (+25 points): Attendance; Visits the Black Rock



GROUP 2

MILES (+55 points): Attendance; Encounters a New Person, Place or Thing (2- Jacob's Ashes; Nikki & Paulo's diamonds); Encounters Jacob

SUN (+20 points): Attendance; Encounters a New Person, Place or Thing (Ben's gun from the clearing)

MAN IN BLACK (+5 points): Attendance



GROUP 3

RICHARD (+30 points): Attendance; Says the Title of an Episode ("I Do"); Visits the Black Rock

ILANA (+20 points): Attendance; Encounters a New Person, Place or Thing (Ben's gun from the clearing)

LOCKE (+10 points): Appears in Someone Else's Misc. FB/FF; Attendance



GROUP 4

FRANK (+50 points): Attendance; Encounters a New Person, Place or Thing (Jacob's ashes); Encounters or Uses the Numbers (Says 815); First Line

CHARLES WIDMORE (+30 points): Attendance; Last Line; Last on Screen



GROUP 6

ROGER LINUS (+15 points): Appears in Someone Else's Misc. FB/FF; Attendance; Says the Title of an Episode ("One of Them")

SMOKE MONSTER (+5 points): Attendance



GROUP 7

ARZT (+15 points): Appears in Someone Else's Misc. FB/FF; Attendance; Says the Title of an Episode ("The Substitute)

Once again, we had multiple Fantasy Geniuses of the Week! "Dr. Linus" produced three geniuses this week but they failed to earn the highest score possible. A combination of Ben, Miles, Richard, Frank, Roger and Arzt would have yielded 280 points. Here's who this week's geniuses had on their rosters:

Bens Bunny: Ben, Miles, Richard, Frank, Bernard, Smokey, Daniel

Hoover the Talking Seal: Ben, Miles, Richard, Frank, Walt, Smokey, Charlie Pace

TomG3586: Ben, Miles, Richard, Frank, Bernard, Smokey, Charlie Pace

Click on the thumbnails to view the full image.

CHARACTERS


GROUPS


TABLES TOPPERS


CELEBS


View Online by Site
View Online by Team Name

Download by Site
Download by Team Name

Al Trautwig's 'Lost' Thoughts Episode 6.07 - Dr. Linus

NOTE: At the very end AL mentions the name of this weeks episode for those that don't like to be spoiled on Episode Titles.



Source: MSG

Episode 6x07 Dr. Linus - LOSTometer Episode Grade Chart

So another Ben episode and another awesome performance by Michael Emerson!

This week's episode delivered an episode that provided one of the most evil and manipulating characters we have had on LOST with redemption off and on island. I have always been a big fan of manipulating creepy Ben and to see him break down and us to finally see all he has ever wanted was to be "haved" was an interesting twist. Some still don't believe him and I wonder what will eventually happen to him?

One of the coolest scenes for me was the return to the Black Rock and Jack sits down with Richard after lighting the fuse and says ok now let's talk. However, Darth Locke gets a notable mention for trying to convince Dr. Linus to take the dark path and be the principal and also using the Force to free him from Ilana.

Most of the bloggers and fans seemed to really like this week's episode and overall it ended with an AVG grade of an "A". This is the second episode to get and it seems like we like our LOST teachers Dr. Linus and The Substitute John Locke.

Quote of the Week from LOST-Media's Gertie Beth: "Oh, I LOVED this one!! Cried like a baby... I love Ben! I think?"

So do you all agree? What did you think?

Once again thanks to all that are participating and don't forget to check out their sites and recaps at the following links:

DarkUFO | b3rt4 | Karen's LOST Notebook | Vozzek | Jeff Jensen - EW | Ryan McGee - Zap2it | Peter - SlashFilm | Cultural Learnings | Congested | Jay and Jack Podcast | FourToedFoot | DocArzt | SL-LOST | Jopinionated | Sawyer840 | LOSTzilla | LOST-Media | LOST-Forum | AV Club | Lyly Ford | LOST Mythos Podcast | LOST Blog | F***YeahLOST | Luhks | LOST in Portugal | LOST-Board.de | Seat42F | Rap Basement LOSTIES | LOST in Greece


Source: The ODI

UK Viewers - What did you think of Episode 6.07 - Dr. Linus

Discuss, Comment and Vote in the Poll in the sidebar.

Also check out our recaps of Dr. Linus
Robz888
Vozzek
Erika

Other "Lighthouse Related Items
Spoiler Accuracy Thread
The LOST Spoilered Perspective Podcast: Dr. Linus
US Ratings News
Jorge Garcia Podcast
The Lostometer Ratings
Lost Untangled
Prediction League Update

MISC
Dr. Linus - New Mysteries
Dr. Linus - Episode Screencaps
Dr. Linus - Related Polls

You can also discuss it further in our Official Episode Discussion here.

The Lost Initiative - Episode 6.07 - Dr. Linus

Source: Sky One

"Dr. Linus" Recap and Analysis, by Erika

Here is the Episode 6.07 recap from Erika Olson (aka "e") from LongLiveLocke.com.

My husband returned home from a Bulls game late Tuesday night, took one look at me and said, "What's the matter?" I'm one of those people whose face betrays a good, hard crying session looong after the tears have stopped. "Oh, it's Lost," I replied, feeling kind of silly. "Did something bad happen?" he asked. "No... it was just really, really good," I sniffed, getting all choked up again.

I don't know about you guys, but for me, the best Lost episodes are the ones that feel like a blow to the gut and leave me reaching for the Kleenex. I was doing so very early on this past Tuesday night -- from the moment AlternaLocke waved his hand at Ben and said, "I'm listenin'," to be exact.

So yes, I loved "Dr. Linus." It's either my favorite installment of Season Six so far, or tied with "LAX Part 1," I haven't made up my mind yet. But before we get into this Ben-centric hour, allow me to revisit a Ben-centric question I raised in my last write-up, which many of you were kind enough to answer. I had been wondering what the deal was with the weird case he took from the vent in the hotel room last season, and it seems the consensus is that the case concealed the gun he later used to shoot Desmond at the pier. Ben wouldn't have wanted Jack to come across it, hence its position in the vent. Thanks, everyone! I always love it when I can cross a mystery off of my list.

OK, now onto this week's show. We'll start with the flashes.


DARE TO DREAM

Wink-wink shout-outs to the Island and Napoleon kicked things off as Dr. Linus wrapped up a history class. Moments later, he faced the indignity of being assigned to watch over detention sessions for a week by a budget-slashing Principal Reynolds. I was hoping we'd see some sort of John Hughes-inspired Breakfast Club-ish scenes, but thankfully what we got was so much better. Ben sulked back to the teacher's lounge, started a bitch session with Leslie Arzt, and then was surprised to hear the new guy, Locke, chime in with a very logical solution: "Just sounds like you care about this place. And if the man in charge doesn't, then maybe it's time for a change."

Now, I could write for a long time about all of the parallels between the flashes and what we've seen go down on the Island, but since I think they were pretty darn obvious, all I'll say instead is that the main reason I enjoyed this episode so much is because I found it absolutely brilliant that the writers were able to replicate Ben's political struggles on the Island in a high school setting. And I especially loved that it was Locke who planted the seed in Ben's head about making a power play.


AND ALL THAT COULD HAVE BEEN

Locke's "I'm listenin'" was Kleenex grab moment #1, and realizing that I was staring at Really Old Roger and his son who cared dearly for him was Kleenex grab moment #2. I'm sure you all caught the irony of Ben helping to keep his father comfortable/alive by changing out his oxygen tank, whereas on the Island he killed him with poisonous gas. Even though I was all quivery-lipped during this segment, I didn't miss the huge piece of info that Roger doled out: namely, that they DID go to the Island and had been in Dharma for a bit before leaving.

Since we're 39% done with the season at this point, I'm taking things at face value and interpreting Roger's words to mean that the flash sideways are what many of us thought they were all along -- a depiction of what would've happened had the plan Faraday put in motion WORKED. Now, I still don't think this means that Jughead had to have blown up the Island, especially since we saw the statue and the Barracks pretty much in one piece at the bottom of the ocean in "LAX Part 1." But I do think it means that something the Losties did back then set off a chain of events that ended with everyone having to leave the Island because it sank, and I would guess that that point in time was not much later than 1977. So everything that happened until 1977 was the same as it had always been, and then the timelines split.


I have read all of the reasons why that would mean that the Losties could have never time-traveled in the alternate timeline and whatnot, but I'm siding with all of the countering reasons that prove that Losties did still make their time jumps -- like the fact that in the enhanced version of "What Kate Does" it states that Ethan (as in, Dr. Goodspeed who was taking care of Claire in LA) was born on the Island in 1977. If Sawyer hadn't been on the Island in 1974 to save Shifty Amy (Ethan's mom) from being killed by the Others, there would've been no Ethan. No need to try to convince me otherwise because -- not to sound glib like Matt Lauer -- but I really don't care too much about these arguments. I'm going with what's easiest for millions of Lost fans who do NOT read message boards to be able to swallow, and to me that's a simple branch of events in 1977, caused by Faraday's plan. I'm sticking with this theory until something on the show proves otherwise, in which case I will gladly believe something else!


YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE
EVERYTHING I DO
I DO IT FOR YOU

Then Ben gets a knock on the door and we're all like, "Oh crap, who's THAT?" I was not expecting Alex to be standing there, and for a moment I was confused that she was somehow his daughter in this timeline. But no, she was one of his History Club nerds trying to figure out why he didn't show up for their meeting. Once Ben learned that she was freaking out about her upcoming AP test, he offered to help her study the next morning.

While they were going over materials, Alex let it slip that the school's principal was a pervy perv who did pervy things with the pervy nurse who was not his wife. From that very second I saw the wheels turning in Ben's head, as I'm sure you did, too. But Alex made him promise not to say or do anything, because she needed a letter of recommendation from Reynolds in order to get into Yale. She explained that she had no chance of being accepted otherwise, and mentioned how her mom had to work two jobs to pay their rent and whatnot. Let's just pause for a moment and consider our favorite Crazy French Chick working at, say, an office. Or maybe being a greeter at The Olive Garden. What kind of job could she hold down, really? I want a flash dedicated to that!

But back to Ben. He called upon Arzt to help him out with his blackmail scheme -- who knew Arzt was an expert hacker? I love it. Except that Ben's plan didn't go exactly the way he'd imagined it would. Principal Reynolds one-upped him by threatening to "torch Ms. Rousseau and her future." What was Dr. Linus gonna do?

I'll tell you what I thought he was going to do. I thought he was going to still go through with his threats, usurp the principal's spot and then get his old pal Widmore to ensure Alex was accepted to Yale. All I could think was that if an ultra-snob, high society goddess like Blair Waldorf on Gossip Girl couldn't finagle her way into Yale, a rec letter from some random high school principal wasn't gonna cut it for Alex, and so Ben would have to call upon his successful businessman friend from the Island to get the job done. Remember that Ben and Widmore did meet in 1977 after Young Ben had been shot by Sayid and was recuperating after his visit to the Temple, and at that point Widmore had promised Ben that even though he'd have to return to Dharmaville, he could still consider himself an Other. If everyone was forced off of the Island shortly after that point (and survived), I figured Ben and Widmore might have kept in touch. And maybe that still could be the case, but alas, it didn't come into play in this episode.


DO THE RIGHT THING

Things didn't pan out the way I figured they would at all. Ben did the noble thing and put aside his desire for power in order to help secure a brighter future for his favorite student. Arzt wasn't happy about not getting his coveted parking spot next to the maple tree, but was slightly mollified when Ben offered up his spot instead. The final scene of the flash segments showed Ben watching a super-excited Alex leaving the principal's office, giddy about his over-the-top letter for her. And all was well. So in this version of events, I think it's safe to assume that Ben did save Alex. Sniff.

But the sob-fest's not over! On to the Island...


IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT
I'M ALL ALONE

The subset of "good guys" were hauling butt through the jungle, and Ben was able to quickly rejoin Ilana & Co after escaping the Temple. But Ilana smelled a rat and put Miles to work with Jacob's ash, demanding to know how "the closest thing she had to a father" died. (I love how everyone's finally taking advantage of Miles' abilities so late in the game, by the way.) For a second there I thought that Miles was going to protect Ben and then use his newfound knowledge as leverage over him later, but instead he chose to tell the truth. Ben was now in deep doo-doo.

He really had no choice but to continue on with the group, though, and back at the beach camp he made a halfhearted attempt to discredit Miles, but Ilana was having none of it. Good ol' Lapidus was still willing to make small talk with Ben, however, and I really dug their conversation about how the Island "still got Lapidus in the end." I think it's fair to say that in the original timeline, if the Island wants you, it's gonna get you... and -- as we saw later with the Jack/Richard scene -- it's not going to let you go until its business with you is finished. However, in the split-off timeline, characters are making different decisions when the power of the Island (and Jacob... and the Man in Black) isn't there to nudge them one way or the other. Interesting.

But before Ben could become any more nostalgic about the good ol' days of the Oceanic 815 crash, he was chained to a tree and ordered to dig his own grave. To make matters worse, Miles informed him that the last thing Jacob thought before he died was that he hoped he was wrong about Ben. Somebody get this guy some ice cream! He's had a bad, bad day.


I GOT YOUR BACK

On cue, Sun tells Ilana that she needs to find her husband. For once the response Sun received wasn't "WE KNOW ALREADY -- GOOD GOD, WOMAN!!!", but rather, "I need to find him even more than you do, honey." Ilana explained that she had to protect both of the Kwons because she didn't know which of them was meant to be a candidate. Then she went on to tell Sun what a candidate was, and stated that there were six of them left.

So in my mind we've got Jack, Hurley, Sawyer (because Ilana doesn't know he's with Fake Locke) and one of the Kwons. Who are the fifth and sixth? She's probably no longer counting Sayid since she knows he murdered Dogen and Lennon (speaking of those guys, I forgot to mention in my last post that I wouldn't be surprised if they showed up again thanks to whatever it was Jacob was shown pouring into the spring at the beginning of "Lighthouse"). Is she considering Lapidus a candidate since she mentioned as much to Bram last season? Who knows. Hell, I think Vincent's the best candidate at this point. (Speaking of... what happened to HIM and Rose and Bernard after the Jughead incident? Are they still at their Retirement Hut By the Sea?)


I TRUST YOU TO KILL ME

Let's break from the beach camp for a moment to check in with Hurley and Jack. They slept by the lighthouse and now Jack's all hyper about getting to the Temple. Since Hurley knows that bad things were headed that-a-way thanks to his chat with Jacob, he's doing everything he can to stall. Eventually they run into Ageless Richard, who tells them he'll help them out -- but he lied! Instead he took them to the Black Rock and we finally got confirmation that this is indeed how he came to the Island, and the "chains" Fake Locke was referring to back at the statue were the ones that held Richard captive on the ship. We also learned (though Richard had alluded to this point before) that it was Jacob's touch that made him immortal. I was really hoping we'd get a Richard-centric episode of some sort in the future, but now I feel like we probably won't because we pretty much know his background. Boo.

Anyway, Richard had had it UP TO HERE with Jacob and his promises, and now that the Island's protector is dead, Richard wants to check out, too. But he explains that he is unable to kill himself, so if Jack could oblige him by lighting a stick of dynamite and sending him the way of Arzt, he'd very much appreciate it.

Hurley wants to check both of these guys into Santa Rosa and decides to get while the gettin's good. Jack, on the other hand, has grown quite cocky since finding out about Jacob's mirror apparatus and is like, "Sure, I'll blow you up!" and lights the fuse. Richard starts panicking when Jack refuses to scram, and that's when the Mad Doctor breaks it down for the Ageless One: Neither of them is going to die because Jacob wouldn't have gone to all of the trouble of making Richard immortal and watching Jack since he was a kid if they were simply meant to go ka-boom. And sure enough, the fuse fizzles out. (There's a sick part of me that thinks it would've been hilarious if the dynamite DID explode, though. Cut to Hurley shaking his head a mile away, staring up at the flames from the Black Rock. "I told you, dudes.")


ANYTHING YOU WANT
YOU GOT IT

Back at the beach, Ben was pretty darn close to finishing his grave when he heard the sounds of Smokey and turned to find Fake Locke standing there. Once again, Fake Locke makes a character a selfish deal. "Come with me and you can be the king of the Island." He promised Sawyer a chance to leave, he promised Sayid a reunion with what he loves most, and he promised Claire she'd get Aaron back. The clamp on Ben's ankle magically falls open, and Fake Locke instructs Ben that he best make a run for it and grab the rifle that's a ways out in the clearing.. and when he gets there, to not hesitate in shooting Ilana. He also tells Ben that his plan is to go to the Hydra, which means that we'll soon get to see who it was that the time-traveling Losties shot while they were caught in the huge rainstorm in the outriggers last season. Remember that?

Fake Locke leaves, Ben thinks everything over for a minute and then makes a mad dash for the clearing. Did anyone else laugh when he chucked that didgeridoo-looking bamboo shovel into the air and busted out? I did.

He runs, runs, runs... finds the gun and turns it on Ilana. Now, since we'd been reminded by Richard that Jacob's touch is magical, and since we know that Jacob had on gloves when he visited Ilana in the hospital back in the day, I was pretty sure she was a goner. Instead, Ben told her that he wanted to explain himself, and went on to deliver the mother of all moving speeches. Cue the water works once again. And color me surprised when Ilana's response to Ben's insistence that Fake Locke was the only one who'd have him was, "I'll have you." Superb, superb scene.


SO, WHAT DO WE DO NOW?
WHAT DO WE DO NOW?

I wasn't sure what Ben was going to do, but was relieved when he chose to follow Ilana back to the beach. Moments later, after we see that Miles has indeed dug up some of Nikki and Paulo's diamonds, Jack, Hurley and Richard come 'round the bend in yet another slo-mo sequence that had me in pieces. I don't know what was going on with me Tuesday night, but I was a freakin' mess. Seeing Hurley and Sun, and then Jack and Sun reunite was almost more than I could handle. Lord help me with we get the BIG Jin/Sun reunion.

I felt badly for both Ben and Richard because they were each standing there with no one to give them a hug. They certainly weren't going to hug each other after what Ben pulled at the statue. It's going to be interesting to see how this random group gets along. Who'd have ever thought the remaining band of Good Guys would consist of Ben, Richard, Miles, Lapidus, Ilana, Hurley, Sun and Jack? Craziness.

Then all of a sudden the camera perspective changed and dammit if the sub's periscope didn't emerge from the ocean. Yep, someone was on his way to the Island, just like Jacob predicted, and the man in question was Widmore. Unless Jacob was talking about somebody else, which is of course entirely possible. Either way, Widmore's almost there, and the fact that our Losties were all shown in tinted red cross-hairs might lead you to believe that the sub crew was planning to blow them all to smithereens or something. I doubt a firefight is going to start, but I also don't think Widmore's up to any good. Let's discuss, shall we?


IMPENDING DOOM
IT MUST BE TRUE

If Widmore wasn't the person Jacob said was coming to the Island, then my money's on Desmond. But if Widmore was who Jacob had in mind, does that mean Widmore is "good"? All of the evidence points to Widmore NOT being good. Here are some important things to consider:

- First and foremost, Widmore sent the freighter to the Island, was the one who gave Keamy and crew their orders, and therefore is responsible for Alex's death. Throw whatever other evidence you have at me, but I'm going to have a hard time believing that the guy who killed an innocent sixteen-year-old girl simply because she was the daughter of his nemesis could be anything but evil.
- Widmore tried to get Sun to kill Ben.
- Widmore encouraged Alive Locke to get everyone to go back to the Island. Now that we know what we know, we could infer that Widmore was working for the Man in Black and therefore knew the plan to take over Locke's body... or at least knew that all of Jacob's candidates were needed back on the Island in order for the Man in Black to be able to 1) kill Jacob, 2) kill all of his possible replacements, and then 3) do whatever it is he intends to do -- leave, blow up the place, etc.
- We also know that the Man in Black promises people what they want most. Widmore has always wanted to control the Island, and in fact believes he is the rightful leader of the Others. The Man in Black most likely promised him this if he could find a way back to the Island to help him win "the war."
- Widmore hates Desmond. Anyone who hates Desmond is bad. Duh!


OK, so I think Widmore's bad. I didn't always feel this way... I used to believe Ben and Widmore were on the same side (the Island's side) but just went about protecting it in different ways. However, after seeing how angry Widmore was throughout his life courtesy of the time traveling of last season, and because of all the points listed above, I now think he is bad. Maybe he's in the sub in order to help the Man in Black and all of his new followers leave? I mean, how else are they all going to get out of there? (I say this even though I still think the Man in Black's ultimate end game is to destroy the Island and kill everyone on it, including himself.)


GOTTA HAVE FAITH

I'd like to end by revisiting a concept we talked about in the last post. About how Fake Locke could represent the devil and Jacob might be representing some sort of angel or higher power or maybe even God. Let me repeat that I am positive that the show will never come right out and say this -- it would turn off way too many people. But I think so far they've been able to frame religious and/or spiritual themes in a subtle way that gets people thinking along the lines of "good versus evil"... often represented by "light versus dark."

So we've already discussed reasons why Fake Locke could be a devil-like figure. He's sweet-talking everyone, claiming to be looking out for their best interests... and if they could just help him out with this one little thing, he'll give them what they desire most. We saw it again with his promise to Ben in this episode.

But what else happened in "Dr. Linus?" We had at least four characters talk about their faith. Richard said he wanted to end his life because he'd spent countless decades, maybe even centuries, believing in a man who told him he had an important part to play in a master plan that he was never made privy to. But then that man, Jacob, died and Richard felt like his entire existence was a joke. Jack spoke of the kind of faith that comes with finding out that someone he'd never met had been tracking him his whole life, had brought him -- twice -- to a crazy Island, and that there simply must have been a reason for it. This was a faith that made Jack confident the stick of dynamite he lit would not blow up. Ilana did not speak directly of her faith, but showed it when she continued to be dedicated to protecting the remaining candidates even after she learned Jacob had been killed and all of the odds seemed against her. Further, she is carrying on what she believes would be Jacob's wishes by forgiving Ben --- the very man who murdered her leader -- because she knows he has truly come to see the error of his ways. And finally there's Ben, who admitted that he let his quest for power go to his head and lost sight of what really mattered, and had lost all faith in Jacob and what he represented by the time he came face to face with him in the statue.

Something to chew on.


BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE

[Out in the jungle, Hurley is asleep in the grass]

HURLEY: Cheese curds...

BEN: Miles... do you remember once you asked me for 3.2 million dollars? Do you still want it?

MILES: What are you gonna do? You gonna write me a check on this banana leaf?

HURLEY: But... you look the same as you did thirty years ago. How's that possible?

RICHARD: It's not easy to explain.

HURLEY: Is this, like, a Terminator thing? Are you a cyborg?

RICHARD: No, I'm not a cyborg.

HURLEY: Vampire?

HURLEY: Dude you're gonna blow up! (This was my favorite line of the episode... not so much for the line itself, but the way Hurley said it -- it killed me.)

[The fuse almost burns to the end, then goes out]

JACK: Wanna try another stick ?

I dare say The War for the Island is upon us... can't wait to see what happens next!

Until then,
- e

The LOST Spoilered Perspective Podcast: Dr. Linus

The first episode of "The LOST Spoilered Perspective," covering Dr. Linus, hosted by BookhouseBoy and Thirty-Fiver of the SpoilerTV Forums. The Spoilered Perspective recaps the latest episode including all of the information that people who read spoilers knew about the episode months ahead of time (but without any actual spoilers for unaired episodes): http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/77072



The podcast has also been submitted to ITunes, but it hasn't gone live there yet.

Episode 2, covering 6x08, will be broadcast live at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/77072 at 8PM EST on Wednesday, March 17th.

The Crosshairs of Destiny: "Dr. Linus" - Recap by Robz888

Just as I was beginning to wonder how Lost could possibly end well for certain characters - Sayid having spent much of last week drifting further and further from redemption - "Dr. Linus" brought us some closure on an unexpectedly reformed Benjamin Linus.


We now know that all Ben really wants is to be accepted. This is why he murdered the Dharma Initiative when he didn't feel like he belonged there, and why he set up an elaborate system of smoke and mirrors to fool the Others, the survivors of Oceanic 815, and himself that he was the guardian of the deepest secrets of the island and Jacob's plans.

In reality, it's obvious that no one - not Ben, Richard, Dogen, Ilana or anyone else - understands Jacob's plan except Jacob. Jacob needs you to accept what he wants you to do and have faith that it will work out all right. If you want explanations, you can join Flocke on Hydra Island.

My recap is a little shorter than usual but I've included a lengthy part at the end detailing my thoughts on the Religion of Jacob vs. the Philosophy of the Man in Black. I've been meaning to talk about this for the last week or two, so I hope I give you something to think about.

But first, let's take a look at what happened with that most unlikely of heroes, Benjamin Linus, and see how his other life is holding up.

THE ISLAND OF MISFIT OVERTHROWN LEADERS

Napoleon and Elba are pretty good metaphors for the island and its various leaders. Like Elba, the island is a sort of prison for larger-than-life entities. Being sent to Elba was, as Ben pointed out, the end of Napoleon's power. I know this parallel was supposed to hint at the losses of power and exiles of Ben and Widmore (in their cases, from the island, not to it), but Elba could also refer to the Man in Black, who views the island as a sort of prison. ELBA spelled backward is ABLE, which gets into all sorts of questions about what people can and can't do.


In the Alternate Timeline (ATL) - where Ben and his father dropped out of the Dharma Initiative, sometime before the island sunk, we presume - Ben has a doctorate in European History, and teaches at a public school where Leslie Arzt teaches science and John is a substitute.

The conflict in his story comes from Principal Reynolds, a bureaucrat who doesn't really care about the students or education, and temporarily disbands Ben's history club without a second thought. Arzt, who has no love for Reynolds either, wonders why the school's lab equipment is from the 1950s. A little more subtle parallelism there - right up until their destruction the Others were still using equipment they had taken from the U.S. military in the 50s.

Ben remains idealistically committed to being a great educator, prompting John to comment that Ben should be the principal. When Ben notes that no one would listen to him, John says, "I'm listening."


At first I though, "Oh, poor John. Here we go again." He is always ready to rally behind Ben and is always screwed over in the end. But there John is once again, waving his hand in the air as if saying, "Pick me! I'm gullible!" It wouldn't have surprised me if the plot of this episode had been Ben and John teaming up to overthrow the principal, and in the end Ben gets to be principal and John is fired. How many times has John listened to Ben and regretted it?

But when I re-watched the episode, this scene seemed entirely different to me having watched the later scene where Flocke helps Ben escape from Ilana. Instead of John jumping on the Ben bandwagon, I thought the Man in Black was possibly, deeply subconsciously, channeling John Locke in this time period in order to goad Ben to action. But because I'm not willing to say that one timeline can interfere with another, perhaps I'll just chalk it up to further parallelism.

ALL THE BEST RUSSIAN BODYGUARDS HAVE DADDY ISSUES

Ben is quickly able to reunite with Ilana, Frank, Miles and Sun, and they agree to head back to the beach. But Ilana wants the truth about Jacob's death. I don't think she ever believed that Flocke killed Jacob, which could be because she knows that that's against the rules and someone else would have had to do it. She knows things, so I could buy that.

Speaking of knowing things, Ben knows Dogen's name, which put me at ease a bit. As a former island leader, Ben should know who runs the Temple.

Anyway, Miles does his ghost thing with Jacob's ashes (Are all ashes Jacob's ashes? Did Miles get a touch of the psychic thing when he crossed the line of ash surrounding the Temple?) and reveals that Ben killed Jacob. I thought Ilana might take swift reprisals right there, but all she says is, "Jacob was the closest thing I ever had to a father." Now we know why she cried upon learning that he was dead.


It's good that at least one of Jacob's followers is motivated by something other than "destiny" or a "plan" - Ilana actually has a personal relationship with Jacob. I'm worried, though, that this relationship was one-sided. Remember when he went to visit her in the Russian hospital? She was happy to see him, but he cut right to the chase: he needed Ilana to do something for him, which was presumably going to the island to help him, even though she was in no condition to do anything at the time. I have a feeling that Jacob only acted as a father figure to her because he knew he would eventually need her for something, just like Anthony Cooper did with John.

HEY RICHARD, DON'T BLOW IT

This Jacob character is quite a heart breaker. Richard is so beside himself over Jacob's death and apparent lack of real purpose, he actually wants to kill himself. Under the guise of leading Hurley and Jack back to the Temple, Richard swings by the Black Rock to exit Lost in true Arzt style.

In answer to Jack's question "Where did you come from?" Richard replies, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I know many people think this means that Richard visited the ATL, but I'm not so sure. You could be on to something, though. It seems like a fair amount of time has elapsed since Richard fled from Flocke and Sawyer in "The Substitute". Seems to me like he should have arrived at the Temple before the attack unless he made some other stops along the way.


By the way, I was positive Jack said, "At least he's not Stalin," as in Joseph Stalin, and I was thinking, Lost is totally going overboard with European historical references this episode, but no, at least Richard isn't stalling. Oh. Gotcha.

At the Black Rock, Richard explains that everyone at the Temple is dead, but Kate, Sayid, etc., (the only important people to Jack) might have survived. The Others, not so lucky. It had to be difficult for Richard to go to the only place on the island he thought was safe and find the dead bodies of the people he has been with for decades, his friends. That, coupled with lack of instructions from Jacob, pretty much accounts for why Richard wanted to die.

Aboard the Black Rock, we are all but guaranteed that the mysterious ship is what brought Richard to the island. Taken literally, Flocke's "It's good to see you out of those chains" line, coupled with Richard's lingering gaze at some of the chains on the ship, should confirm this at Richard's origin. I'm still hoping for a proper Richard flashback, though.

We are treated to still more revelations. Richard, in addition to not aging, can't kill himself, courtesy of Jacob's magic touch. He needs Jack to light the dynamite. Jack of course, would never let someone just die: he fixes people. So he lights the dynamite just to make a point - Jack was touched, and subsequently can't kill himself either. The fuse burns out and everybody survives.

Just like that, our mirror-smashing hero seems to be back on track. Jacob's trick worked - Jack realizes that he has been brought to the island for a reason, and just because he doesn't know what it is yet doesn't diminish that fact. With only 10 episodes left, it's a good thing Jack is finally ready to lead again.

JUST TRYING TO KEEP YOU HEALTHY, DAD

Yeah, it was pretty funny watching ATL Ben give his father air to breathe, having killed him via poison gas on the island, etc. etc. Roger seems like a much better father here. The ATL must be Possibly Good Father World - Anthony Cooper might be reformed, maybe Christian Shephard wasn't so bad, Dogen hasn't killed his kid in a car accident... even Jack isn't the world's worst father.

Next, Alex arrives (I was hoping for Danielle, too. Alas!) Though Ben might not be Alex's father in this timeline (he wasn't, technically, in the Main Timeline, either), he ends up showing more consideration for her than he did on the island. She wants extra help before the AP Euro Exam, and they agree to meet before school, where Alex reveals that Principal Reynolds is having extra-marital relations with the nurse on school property. This launches Ben's attempted coup against the principal for control of the school.


The way Ben's ATL story mirrors his on-island story was terrific. Ben came to power on the island by ousting Charles Widmore for (among other things, probably) having a relationship with an off-island woman - Penny's unseen mother. In the midst of their struggle was Alex, who Charles promised would come to harm. In the ATL, Charles is represented by Principal Reynolds, but everything else is the same. And Alex's fate still hangs in the balance, with Reynolds threatening to write a destructive letter of recommendation about her if Ben doesn't back down.

When put in the exact same situation, last time, Ben dared Keamy to shoot, and that was the end of Alex. But this time, Ben puts her first. He doesn't get Reynold's job, but if his on-island experience means anything, perhaps Ben is better off without that power. He gives Arzt his parking space. On the island, we are seeing the good guy that Ben has become. In the ATL we are seeing the good guy that Ben always could have been if he had been dealt a different hand.

While Ben is hardly the first character who is more at peace in the ATL, his commitment to changing his ways is certainly more pronounced than most, in both realities. It's due to the awesome acting abilities of Michael Emerson that Ben is able to possess such range without seeming unrealistic. Along with Terry O'Quinn, he is really in a class of his own.

BACK TO THE BEACH

It's nice to be back in a familiar territory - the Temple just didn't feel like home, did it? As our heroes get to work rebuilding the camp of the Oceanic 815 survivors, we learn some tidbits of information.

1) There are only six candidates left. We know Hurley, Sawyer, Sayid, Jack, and Jin/Sun for sure. Who's the sixth? Kate? Her name wasn't crossed off at the Lighthouse, so it's possible. Or maybe Jin and Sun are both candidates after all. But since I'm a John fan, all I could think was, "Locke is still a candidate! He's coming back to life!" Hey, it could happen.

2) One of the candidates will replace Jacob, but Ilana doesn't know what else the job entails.

3) Frank missed out on Oceanic 815 because he overslept. We don't have any real reason to doubt the truthfulness of this, but it seemed strangely simple.

But just as Ben is doing some bonding with Frank, Ilana puts a gun to his head, marches him to the graveyard and instructs him to dig his own grave.


Ben breaks out his old bag of tricks in an attempt to escape. He tries his mind games, but they fail pathetically with Ilana. He vows to Miles that he can make good on the $3.2 million, but Miles's ghost powers have made him aware of the diamonds buried atop Nikki and Paulo, so he doesn't need Ben's money.

Miles also let's Ben know that Jacob didn't want to die, and was in fact hoping that he was wrong about Ben up until the very end. "I guess he wasn't," Miles adds.

So then, Jacob definitely hadn't planned on being killed, right? Or he knew he would be killed, but hoped that he was wrong about it and about Ben? Jacob seems less and less infallible each moment.

WHO WILL HAVE BEN?

While Ilana's back is turned, Flocke appears and comforts Ben, assuring him that he's needed to be leader of the island after everyone else leaves. Promising everyone he meets exactly the thing he believes they want most seems to be how Flocke operates. Claire will have her baby back, Sawyer will leave the island, Sayid will see Nadia. Ask and you shall receive, that's Flocke's motto.

But Flocke wants something else from Ben, although he doesn't say so explicitly. I think he most certainly wanted Ben to kill Ilana. He probably can't kill her himself, just like he couldn't directly harm Jacob or the candidates. That's just "against the rules". Ilana is probably off limits, too, so Flocke was trying to manipulate Ben into killing her.

But despite Flocke's proposition, Ben becomes the first character to resist the Man in Black. Maybe Ben never actually wanted to be the leader, or maybe he's realized now that he isn't the best leader, or maybe he just doesn't want to choose the man who forced him to kill Jacob. Whatever the reason, Ben does not kill Ilana. Instead, they have a surprisingly emotional moment where Ben apologizes for the murder of Jacob, but he's also apologizing for a number of other wrongs he's committed. The one thing he really, truly wants, is not power or responsibility, but acceptance. Ilana gives that to him, and Ben is reclaimed.


I remember reading that the producers want this season to feel like season 1. I think "Dr. Linus" was the first time I picked up on that vibe, save for a few moments in "Lighthouse". Ben helps Sun set up a tent. Frank builds a fire. Miles examines the diamonds he has stolen from Nikki and Paolo's grave while he sits under the shade of what I'm almost positive used to be Arzt's tent. Ilana mourns Jacob. And as the next batch of recruits for the forces of Jacob arrive at the beach, we are treated to yet another terrific reunion scene. No television show or movie has ever done reunion scenes as well as Lost.

This scene reminded me of "One of Us". Richard and Ben stand just a little outside the circle - they haven't fully won everyone's trust yet. But they will.

Meanwhile, Charles Widmore watches them from a submarine just off the coast.

THERE'S A WAR COMING

If you read my recap of "Lighthouse", I was a firm believer that Jacob's instructions was meant to be taken literally, and that there actually was someone coming to the island (whether represented by the name "Wallace" or not), and that this would be a person we already knew. Widmore, I thought, was the third most likely candidate to be this person, behind Walt and Desmond. Who knows, though - Widmore could be holding either of them hostage aboard the sub. Since Desmond has been credited at the beginning of every episode as if he were a main cast member, I'm going to go ahead and guess that Desmond probably is on that sub, or is pursuing Widmore in a sailboat, or something.


The big question is of course, who's side is Widmore on? The deposed ex-leader of the Others certainly has no love for Ben, which might spoil any chances of Charles fitting in with the Beach Camp crowd. then again, Lost offers many chances for redemption. One of these scenarios is likely.

1) Widmore is working for Jacob. He helped John out in "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" because he knew that John and the others were candidates and that they would all have to return to the island to help Jacob. It is possible that Jacob visited Widmore and told him this, perhaps promising Widmore that he could return to the island in exchange for helping John.

2) Widmore is working for MIB. He knew that MIB wanted to take the form of John, so he made sure to push John into going back to the island. He wanted Ben to kill John, which is why he didn't provide more thorough security for John.

3) Widmore is unaware of or uninvolved in the conflict between Jacob and MIB. He has merely been attempting to return to the island, and now that Jacob is dead, he can.

I could see either 1 or 2, but probably not 3. Because it seemed to me like Jacob did want Widmore to come to the island, I'm going to say scenario 1 might be the most likely.


Compared to the last few weeks, this episode was rather straightforward, wasn't it? I'm not complaining - this gives me some space to talk about something I've been giving a lot of thought to lately...

THE RELIGION OF JACOB
VS.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE MAN IN BLACK

This is really what it's come down to: the final, ultimate struggle on Lost will be (barring some major twist) the war between Jacob and the Man in Black. Because it's so late in the game and yet we still know so little about the nature of their conflict, here's my best guesses based on what we've learned so far.

Most importantly, I now believe that the struggle between Jacob and the Man in Black is actually a permutation of the same ideological struggle we've seen since the early days of Lost: the conflict between Faith and Science. It was best articulated on the way to the hatch door in "Exodus", when John explained that he was a Man of Faith and Jack was a Man of Science.

First, what do these terms mean? Science, here, does not actually refer to chemistry, or technology (yes, we've been told that one or both or neither of Jacob and MIB abhor technology, but if that's true I think it might just be a personality thing). If science meant technology, John would be a Man of Science, too. He almost went to Science Camp as a kid, he builds that giant medieval device to open the hatch in "Deus Ex Machina", he likes computers and computer games, for much of seasons 2 he continues the work of the Dharma Initiative, etc. Instead, a Man of Science is someone who believes in logic, reason and rationality.

On the other hand, the Man of Faith is the one who can ignore the facts, bend the rules, decide what a normal, rational, sane person would do and do the opposite. The Man of Faith believes in something he can't see or prove or know is correct, but believes to be correct because of some sign or minute gesture of confirmation. He is crazy, but doesn't think he's crazy. "They think they're getting saner," John says of crazy people in "White Rabbit". Similarly, Jack frequently refers to John as a crazy man.

Faith and Science conflict because you can't follow both at the same time. Science says, "We've crashed on this very dangerous island. We should work to get as many of us rescued as quickly as possible." But Faith says, "This is a special place, and we are meant to do something here. We should not attempt to leave because this is our destiny."

Free Will and Destiny are in fact just other names for this same conflict. Free Will is a corollary of logic and reason. When one exercises free will, one uses logic and reason to make choices. This is opposed by Destiny, where free will and logic and reason are all useless, because things just are the way they are. If there are choices to be made in Destiny, you really aren't the one making them - some higher entity is, one that you can't understand or interact with or know the will of.

What I am less sure of is that one of these is Good and the other Evil. Which would be which? So because neither seems inherently good or evil to me, I have trouble labeling Jacob and MIB as Good and Evil. Because make no mistake - MIB is Science and Jacob is Faith.

JACOB IS FAITH

He was an enigma for 5 seasons, and even now, he's an enigma to most. But even though no one knew or understood him, his orders were followed. Charles, Eloise, Ben, John, the Others - they all took their orders from a man they had never met. Richard, the only one who probably did meet Jacob, never knew his plan, as evidenced by his desire to kill himself in "Dr. Linus." His role was to shuttle lists back and forth to the Others. These lists were the sacred documents of the Religion of Jacob. You know what? I think Jacob loves writing them. In "Lighthouse", I detected a hint of extreme pleasure in his voice when he told Hurley that he would need to get a pen to write down his instructions.

Names, numbers... none of it makes sense to anyone but Jacob, and he's not explaining it to anyone else. Subscribing to this religion can be enormously rewarding or enormously dangerous. Jacob just wants you to do what he says and believe that things will work out. Unfortunately, devotion to Jacob hasn't turned out well for a lot of people, including the dozens of Others who followed him without question for years and were subsequently annihilated by the opposing entity.

Jacob is a lot like Mother Abagail in Stephen King's "The Stand". She tells the heroes what they have to do - not why, just what. She sends them messages in dreams. Many of them die as a result of following her instructions. Jacob, for his part, doesn't tell Hurley and Jack why he sent them to the Lighthouse until after they've already gone there. It's about following orders, not answers.

MIB IS SCIENCE

The defining moment for this theory is MIB's words to Richard in "The Substitute". MIB mentions that Jacob left Richard in the dark all these years. "I would have never done that," MIB says. Whether he would have or not, MIB is clearly angry and frustrated with Jacob refusing to explain things. To MIB, this is lunacy. People should be motivated by what makes logical sense, not by blind faith in an unfathomable plan. This is why he tells the Others on the beach at the end of "LA X" that he is "very disappointed in all of you." As followers of the religion of Jacob, they have never asked or answered questions. This deeply troubles MIB.

Rationalization is MIB's constant tool. When Bram enters the Temple, he calmly explains that the reason the bodyguards came to the island no longer exists, and it would make logical sense for them to disengage from their present course of action. He only kills them once they fail to follow his logic.

During his recruitment, MIB doesn't tell the candidates what he wants, he promises to give them what they want. He believes that if he can fulfill their most closely held wishes, they will be loyal to him. Claire is with MIB because he will reunite her with her son. Sayid wants Nadia back. Sawyer wants to leave. MIB has drawn these people on rational, not faith-based grounds.

MIB is like the antagonist of The Stand and other King novels, Randall Flagg/Walter. He appeals to people's desires and exploits them, but he's relatively upfront about it.

John Locke, a Man of Science, says of the island, "It's a place where miracles happen." Now, a man who looks like John but is actually MIB, says, "It's just a damn island." And it doesn't need protection.

WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US?

We have been told that one side is black, the other is white, one is dark, one is light, etc., etc., but does that mean that one side is good and one is evil? Does white, which implies good, actually stand for good? Maybe black and white aren't, well, black and white - perhaps they simply stand for two sides, rather than a good side and an evil side. Neither is meant to beat the other, because both are necessary.

If I'm correct in all these assumptions, then here's hoping our final triumph is a refutation of this "either/or" mentality. I would hope our heroes can learn that Faith needs Science, and Science needs Faith. They will neither defeat nor join MIB and Jacob - they will simply learn that this struggle is endless, and neither side is meant to win.

As always, thank you for reading and commenting,

- Robby "Robz888"

Things I Noticed - "Dr. Linus" by Vozzek69

THINGS I NOTICED - DR. LINUS

In past seasons, an episode like Dr. Linus would be considered "filler". Although it succeeded in advancing the storyline, it didn't deliver the raw action of Sundown or provide the startling answers associated with The Substitute and Lighthouse. Still, neither of those things mattered much. This week's episode was stolen away by the amazing acting of Michael Emerson, in both the ALT and on-island timelines. Things I Noticed:


Lo There Do I See The Line of My People... Back to the Beginning... Back to the Beach Camp!

Maybe Miles was right last season - walking back to the beach is the only real plan anyone in LOST every really has. The place where LOST began is also the place we've spent most of our time, and it's fast becoming the epicenter of the entire show - the wellspring from which everything and everyone has seemingly flowed. When all else fails, the 815'ers beach always becomes a convenient START point from which to regroup and re-plan, and season six is no exception.


Everbody Wants To Rule The World - Especially Napoleon

The first glimpse we got of Dr. Linus turned me off a few weeks ago. After a more thorough view, maybe I prejudged him. LAX_Linus is a likeable enough guy, with honest interests and genuine passion for all good things. Unfortunately for him, nice guys usually finish last.

Principal Reynolds is the same kickass 80's nemesis he portrayed as professor Hathaway in Real Genius (and if I remember, he was carrying on inappropriate school-based sexual relations in that movie too), and also as the annoying face-punched journalist in Die Hard. They could've also gotten the principal from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but I think that guy touched some children recently. Then again, so did Jacob.

Arzt is back, and it was good to see him with a semi-significant role here. He's got formaldehyde on his shirt , and I took this as a backhanded reference to the fact that island-Arzt is already dead. He's stuck in the same familiar role as always: sitting alone during lunch, far removed from the cool kids' table.

As Ben and Arzt discuss the decaying state of school affairs, Ben utters a prophetic line: "I know you've given up, but I refuse to." Later on in the episode, this ties in neatly to island-Ben's salvation. Broken, beaten, and finally ready to give up, Illana breathes new life into Benjamin Linus by forgiving his sins and accepting him into Jacob's army. In that aspect, Ben's refusal to give up here in the LAX timeline is paralleled on the island.

The most interesting part of the school scene occurs when John Locke interacts with Ben. Here in the bizarro world Locke is good, not bad. He's also ready to follow and listen to Ben, instead of asking Ben to follow him. These are more examples of role-reversals; all through the show we've seen Ben 'push' people in Jacob-like fashion to get them to do all sorts of things. Here, LAX_Locke is returning the favor.


You're Forgetting One Thing. What If?

In the land of bizarro daddy issues, Ben is caring for his father by gassing him with oxygen rather than lethal poison gas. I'd point out that this was ironic, but last week the irony police slapped me with some violations that I'm still trying to clear up.

But hey, we get our first real reference to the island here - and that's big. Roger Linus confirms what bad CGI has already told us this season: Dharma does exist (or at least did exist) in the alternate timeline. Not only that, but both Ben and his father have spent some time on the island. What made them leave is unclear, but Roger goes extra-crazy-special out of his way to pointedly wonder (aloud and for our benefit) just what life would've been like if they'd "stayed on the island".

I felt as if we, the viewers, were getting a direct message here. This type of "what if" theorizing was almost a little too pronounced, especially when it got echoed later on during Ben's brief conversation with Lapidus. Frank wonders aloud how different his life would've been if his alarm clock had gone off, and if he had actually piloted Flight 815. Ben slaps him in the face with a dose of fate, reminding him that it doesn't really matter because "the island got you anyway".

I've always had the feeling that we'd see Flight 815 crash again, and that Lapidus would be at the control wheel. This would be the corrected version of the crash, with the correct people involved. Not saying this will definitely happen, but it's been in the back of my mind for three seasons now. And Jack's line about "going back to where we started" - although yes he was also referring to the beach camp - seemed to gel nicely with the idea.


Maybe We Could Build A Fire... Sing a Few Songs!

Miles is the king of sarcasm. Lapidus is the king of zinging one-liners. Together the two of them would make a great sitcom, especially with the pad Miles can now afford after digging up Nikki and Paulo's diamonds. It was funny how fast he figured this out, and how quickly he snubbed Ben's lame offer to finally pay out on the 3.2 million dollars. Good for him.

When Miles approaches Ben with bananas and beanpods, the subject of Jacob comes up again. Here, Ben echoes what many of us have already thought: that Jacob didn't really care about being killed at all. Miles immediately corrects him however, telling Ben: "No, he cared. He was hoping he was wrong about you."

This is highly interesting, because it seems to go against the original theory of Jacob knowingly accepting his own demise. If what Miles says is true, Jacob's last words to Ben about 'having a choice' now carry a lot more weight. At the same time however, I find it difficult to believe Jacob's not still pushing Ben from beyond the grave. Through the use of Miles, maybe Jacob is allowing Ben to know his disappointment for a very specific reason. Perhaps Jacob is trying to appeal to the good within Benjamin Linus, because bringing that good back to the surface again is the only way to successfully recruit him.

Say it... Say it...

Sun again fulfills her obligatory 10-second dialogue, this time talking to Illana. We get a fairly big answer here, as Illana tells us that a candidate's role is to replace Jacob. "What does that mean?" Sun asks. "Sorry, not this episode", Illana tells her.

Illana is as confused about 'Kwon' as we are. Whether the name of the candidate 42 refers to Sun or Jin, Illana explains she plans to protect them both. How she'll do this with a single rifle is beyond me, but maybe she's got a sick dagger buried somewhere that we don't know about.

I also found it interesting that Illana said there were "six candidates left". She already knows John Locke is dead AND occupied by the man in black, which would leave five at most. It left me wondering if Illana knew of a sixth candidate, and whether or not that candidate was Kate.

From our standpoint, replacing Jacob's role seems to be a piss-poor job. Maybe Illana doesn't see it that way, which is why she talks about it so openly. Later on this episode, we see the MIB talking about enlisting a replacement as well. So does the island need two replacements? A ying and a yang? Or are Jacob and the MIB really just two halves of the same entity, waging an internal, Tyler Durden-like war of fate vs. free will? Great question. But sorry, not this episode.


There Are Two Types of People In This World. Those Who Have Guns... And Those Who Dig

Illana's insistence that Ben dig his own grave was very Clint Eastwood. Ben's compliance was an unmistakable indication that he's utterly broken. No longer do I think that Ben 'still has a plan' - I guess I've been wrong about that. Right now the only thing up Ben's sleeve is a sweaty, dirt-covered arm.

Ben's only redemption at this point lies in the fact that he himself was pushed and manipulated into the very role he's played. Benjamin Linus never chose to be leader, and unlike Napoleon maybe he never really wanted it. The metamorphosis he underwent at the temple came while he was an unconscious child, with no choice given to him whatsoever. He usurped power from Charles Widmore out of necessity, in an effort to raise a daughter who Widmore admittedly would rather see dead. Unknowingly, Ben's upbringing as a Dharma-brat also influenced his decision to move everyone to the barracks... a decision, in hindsight, that would disconnect him from the island at the most fundamental of levels.

String all of these things together, and the sum total of Ben's existance has been engineered since childhood. He's been given very few choices, other than the one he himself later points out: the death of Alex. Ben confesses to choosing the island over the life of his daughter, and honestly admits to his mistake. His pain and sorrow are genuine, and so is his regret.


You Wanna Walk Your Baby Nuts Around The Block, You Won't Make It To The Corner!

In the alternate/sideways/simultaneous universe, Dr. Linus is thinking of making a power-play much, much bigger than himself. He's about to bite off a lot more than he can chew, yet he still has the balls to go through with it. The 'big nuts' portion of Ben's personality seems to be bred straight into him, regardless of whether he stayed on the island or left.

The thing is, Ben had principal Reynolds by the balls and we all know it. I couldn't buy into the whole "If you blackmail me I'll crush Alex's college dreams" storyline, because Dr. Linus could've included him not doing that as a stipulation of the blackmail (hey, isnt that what blackmail's all about!?) It was a weak counter-ploy that shouldn't have held any weight, especially since Ben could've written Alex his own letter of recommendation once he assumed Reynold's position.

Although It didn't make any sense, the principal's counter-move was obviously there to further the motif of Ben making the correct choices in both the ALT and on-island storylines. He's destined to look out for Alex's best interests in a fatherly way no matter what universe he's in, but once again he's still not her true father. LAX_Ben selflessly chooses Alex over himself, correcting his one big on-island mistake. It also seemed as if he recognized her at one point, in the same deja-vu way we've seen in past episodes.

Poor Arzt is the same little player caught in a much bigger game, not allowed to sit at the cool kids' table. And all the guy wanted was a parking spot and some aprons. Damn.


Like I've Always Told You, You Put Your Mind to it, You Can Accomplish Anything

Cyborg... vampire... when it comes to Richard Alpert, Hurley is hilariously covering all the bases. In the last few weeks Richard has been stripped of all semblance of power or control. He's been reduced to a man with a great many answers and very little reason to continue on, and that makes him highly interesting to us... and to Jack, too.

Not sure about the rest of you, but every time I see the Black Rock I pee in my pants a little bit. Just sayin. As Richard reflects thoughtfully on that one set of leg irons, it's becoming more and more obvious that his backstory involves the slave ship in some way... and that getting a more in-depth glimpse of his past history is not far off.

Richard looked a little surprised at seeing the dynamite. Maybe he just wasn't expecting it to still be there. He flipped around and juggled it to show us that he couldn't be responsible for his own demise, which means one of two things: either Richard is a sick maniac, or he knows the gifts associated with Jacob's touch extend even beyond Jacob's own apparent demise.

"I can't kill myself", Richard tells us. It doesn't explain his agelessness, but it does explain a lot of other things we've seen these past years. Namely, it tells us why Jack couldn't kill himself on the sixth street bridge. It tells us why Locke couldn't hang himself in that hotel room, and ended up needing some help from Ben. Maybe it even suggests that Michael was touched by Jacob at one point too, because his repeated attempts at suicide in season four were all thwarted.

In any case, the real story here is the new badass Jack. Unlike Richard, post-lighthouse Jack IS a sick maniac. His little sit-down over a stick of lit dynamite even had indestructible Hurley running for the hills, but in this poker game Jack was 100% certain he was holding the nuts. As far as Jack was concerned, the whole scenario wasn't even a gamble. When Richard asks "What if you're wrong?", Jack replies cooly and uncaringly with the simple phrase: "I'm not."

Go back and listen to the way Jack says those two words. He's so unfailingly confident, it's kinda scary. We've never seen Jack like this before. New Jack is way past maybe's or what if's. He's completely and unequivocally sure of his indestructibility, even though he doesn't know what his role is just yet. That's what he wants from Richard right now: the ultimate answer. Jack is no longer fighting the reasons why he was brought to the island, he finally wants to know what it is that he's supposed to do.


Your Overconfidence Is Your Weakness

Flocke has played the last few episodes pretty flawlessly. Aside from tripping over that root and throwing his little Johnny Locke tantrum, everything he's set out to accomplish has fallen snugly into place. Yet here, as he approaches a miserable Benjamin Linus (at a time in his life when he's weak and helpless, might I add...), smokey goes about things all wrong. It's right here, right now, that the dark man makes a pretty big mistake.

After using the Force to pop his leg irons like a Jedi, Flocke totally had Ben with "We're all gonna blow this taco stand". He completely lost him however, with "But hey, someone's gotta stay behind. You're cool with that, right?"

Perhaps it's because Ben was so far disconnected from the island's roots (again, the barracks), or maybe it's because the MIB just assumes every leader of The Others is as inherently power-hungry as Charles Widmore... but it turns out the dark man doesn't really know Benjamin Linus. Because of this, he mistakenly assumes Ben's greatest wish is to rule the island. Just as Sawyer's biggest desire was to leave, and Sayid's only wish was to be with Nadia again, the dark man approached Ben offering the one thing he figured a deposed leader would certainly want most: to regain his power.

Ben however, never truly relished his rule. He was a great leader and master manipulator, but his real motivations were never grounded in obtaining and keeping his power. Although he obedientlyfollowed what he thought were Jacob's orders, Ben was constantly distracted by his own inclinations. His fruitless attempt to solve the fertility problem was (according to Richard) never in line with the island's interests, and the raising of Alex as his daughter was for Ben's own personal reasons.

The dark man releases Ben, gives him access to a weapon, and then presents him with what he believes to be an easy choice. Ultimately however, Ben resists. He chooses to come clean and admit his sins, even if it means being shot or banned from the good guys' group. By laying down his rifle and "explaining" to Illana, he ends up being surprisingly absolved by her. In what becomes a fantastic, awesome scene, both Illana and Ben tearfully come to the realization that they have an awful lot in common.

The dark-shirted man loses Ben here, and that's important. Ben becomes the first person to resist the MIB's siren-like call, and Illana's forgiveness places him squarely on team Jacob. There's a definite momentum shift here, and the impact is probably felt a little harder when contrasted against the dark gloom of last week's episode. Ben's future role may still be uncertain, but if I had to choose up sides for an island game of kickball, I'd say Benjamin Linus would probably be one of my top five picks.

Anything That We Want to Know, From Just a Beginner to a Pro, You Need a Montage... Montage!

The beach camp is a sacred place for us, and with very good reason. It represents the origins of the show we love so much, and memories of a more mysterious yet simpler time. It makes sense that LOST would begin and end in the same place, especially with all the circle and loop references scattered throughout the show. So when everyone ended up back here, including Jack and Hurley (and even Richard?) - it wasn't all that shocking. Cue dramatic montage, and bring on the hugging.

Standing just outside the circle of trust, Richard and Ben are the newcomers. They're fallen defenders of the island who've finally come to the realization that everyone's been pretty much on the same team all along. The sides are being chosen up very quickly, and they'd better be... because here comes the periscope of Widmore's sneaky sub. What havoc will he wreak? What shenanigans will he be up to? Not really sure, but having been off-island for so long he'd better be damned good at playing catch up.

Okay, here's a guess: Widmore will unknowingly end up following the wrong side. As leader of The Others, let's assume he'd been doing Jacob's will (or thought he was) for the entire time he was on the island. But what if he was actually listening to the MIB, without even realizing it? What if he were taking baby-killing direction not from Jacob, but from his nemesis instead?

Knowing what we know now, Widmore's words to John Locke about the upcoming war now contain a more sinister connotation: "If you're not back there, the wrong side will win". It's as if he knew (or was coached) that John Locke's body was necessary to the dark man's ultimate plan. In a way, Widmore participated in the MIB's long con, whether he knew it or not.

My section titles were all movie quotes this week, so I'll leave you with two more. These are from Memento, and in the world of LOST I think they very much apply:

Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts.

We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are.

See you next week,
-Vozz