I was thinking even before John made it patently clear about halfway through Dead is Dead, that Ben and Locke have swapped roles.
Up to this point, Ben has been the secret-keeper, always in control, always leading the situation, and Locke was the puppy who followed him around begging for answers. Now we have the complete opposite.
Locke's communion with the Island seems to have become so much stronger since he was resurrected. He knows where Smokey is, and Ben doesn't. Ben feebly attempts to summon Smokey (by unplugging the drain, apparently) and it doesn't work. It is not Ben's Island any longer, it is John's.
Smokey, in the form of Alex, made that abundantly clear to Ben near the end, that he needs to listen and follow John Locke, or else his fate will not be pleasant. The only reason it seemed to let Ben live was to help Locke. Ben's purpose is not complete, so he cannot die now. He must follow Locke, and help him along his path to be the Island's leader, which actually might be a fate worse than death for Mr. Linus.
As an aside, I didn't see too much evidence of Ben 'losing his innocence' in this ep. Charles, certainly, he wanted to kill a baby. But Ben saved Alex from certain death by valuing her life as not an 'it', but a person. Seems like he still has a soul after his Temple journey.
Back to the main point...
Despite Ben's double talk, it does seem clear that he does not want Locke among the 'land of the living', and his statement at the start to John at his bedside was pure fiction. He wants Locke out of the way, but the Island isn't playing Ben's game.
John seems to have taken on a rather creepy air to him, much like Ben from season's past, or even Christian as we've seen him since he appeared as Jacob's mouthpiece. Like he simply KNOWS what's up, and he's tugging everyone along to that end. John getting out of the coffin and back to the Hydra beach is a huge question mark, and will probably explain why Locke seems so in control and different now.
Onto other thoughts on Dead is Dead.
I have to say that I thought Widmore leaving the Island was going to be a bit more epic than a short walk to the sub. I, as I'm sure most others, thought Charles left via the Wheel, and was probably what sent the Losties out of '77 in the end. Well apparently not. They explained Penny as an off-Island tryst, and sent Charles away peacefully for not being true to the Island. So, very, lame.
However, introducing a middle-aged Widmore actor for half a scene doesn't really seem to make a whole lot of sense, and there is obviously more of Charles' story to tell. Also, how does this equal Ben 'tricking' Widmore into leaving? Certainly there's more to see between Widmore and the 'boy', but what bearing, if any, it has on our Losties has yet to be seen.
There was a lot of underground action this entire episode, to the point where I was asking myself, how much of this Island have we not seen? How much of our core answers lie underneath the surface? I'm thinking plenty, and as I'm typing this I'm remembering the producers saying the Island was like 'a house you walk into, and realize there's a whole lot more rooms than you thought from the outside', or something to that effect. Don't forget that the hieroglyphics in the Swan meant Underworld too...
Lastly, I feel utterly compelled to comment on Illana and Bram, and the whole 'What is in the shadow of the statue' question. Wow. I don't even know where to start with this. They had guns on the plane, and seem to know exactly what they're talking about. Illana more so than the others, simply because we (thought at least) saw her motivations for getting on Ajira 316. Seems a tad more multi-faceted now. This to me was actually bigger than most of the other huge information dumps in this episode, and honestly intrigues me more than most of the other happenings this season. Anything statue-related is going to be heavy on mythology, and that is by far my reason for watching/obsessing.
Illana was transporting Sayid, but knew she was also going to end up on the Island, needing guns and creepy qualifier questions. Did she think Sayid would end up in 1977, maybe, maybe not, who knows at this point, but Illana certainly is no damned bounty hunter working for a rich dude's family. Well, at least not the rich dude Sayid shot on the golf course. She just got a million times more interesting than a simple Ana-Lucia lookalike...
The whole Lapidas-Illana/Bram scene reminded me a lot of the 'What did one snowman say to the other snowman' question from Desmond back in Season 2. It was a qualifier, so Illana and Bram clearly need to test people to see who is on their side. We really need to see where and when the statue was toppled and what it actually was to understand who/what Illana and Bram are, because they seem to have quite a connection to that monument.
I think we've all known since those 4 toes showed up that something very important was going to be tied to it. I believe we're finally seeing the seeds of that tease (and the subsequent backside shot) start to bear fruit. The statue is looking supremely important to the events of the rest of this season, and I'm almost certain we'll see that all-important front side, and the (probably familiar) face before Season 5 is out.
Epic episode, lots of ideas, loads of information. Stoked. Theory by Red
Up to this point, Ben has been the secret-keeper, always in control, always leading the situation, and Locke was the puppy who followed him around begging for answers. Now we have the complete opposite.
Locke's communion with the Island seems to have become so much stronger since he was resurrected. He knows where Smokey is, and Ben doesn't. Ben feebly attempts to summon Smokey (by unplugging the drain, apparently) and it doesn't work. It is not Ben's Island any longer, it is John's.
Smokey, in the form of Alex, made that abundantly clear to Ben near the end, that he needs to listen and follow John Locke, or else his fate will not be pleasant. The only reason it seemed to let Ben live was to help Locke. Ben's purpose is not complete, so he cannot die now. He must follow Locke, and help him along his path to be the Island's leader, which actually might be a fate worse than death for Mr. Linus.
As an aside, I didn't see too much evidence of Ben 'losing his innocence' in this ep. Charles, certainly, he wanted to kill a baby. But Ben saved Alex from certain death by valuing her life as not an 'it', but a person. Seems like he still has a soul after his Temple journey.
Back to the main point...
Despite Ben's double talk, it does seem clear that he does not want Locke among the 'land of the living', and his statement at the start to John at his bedside was pure fiction. He wants Locke out of the way, but the Island isn't playing Ben's game.
John seems to have taken on a rather creepy air to him, much like Ben from season's past, or even Christian as we've seen him since he appeared as Jacob's mouthpiece. Like he simply KNOWS what's up, and he's tugging everyone along to that end. John getting out of the coffin and back to the Hydra beach is a huge question mark, and will probably explain why Locke seems so in control and different now.
Onto other thoughts on Dead is Dead.
I have to say that I thought Widmore leaving the Island was going to be a bit more epic than a short walk to the sub. I, as I'm sure most others, thought Charles left via the Wheel, and was probably what sent the Losties out of '77 in the end. Well apparently not. They explained Penny as an off-Island tryst, and sent Charles away peacefully for not being true to the Island. So, very, lame.
However, introducing a middle-aged Widmore actor for half a scene doesn't really seem to make a whole lot of sense, and there is obviously more of Charles' story to tell. Also, how does this equal Ben 'tricking' Widmore into leaving? Certainly there's more to see between Widmore and the 'boy', but what bearing, if any, it has on our Losties has yet to be seen.
There was a lot of underground action this entire episode, to the point where I was asking myself, how much of this Island have we not seen? How much of our core answers lie underneath the surface? I'm thinking plenty, and as I'm typing this I'm remembering the producers saying the Island was like 'a house you walk into, and realize there's a whole lot more rooms than you thought from the outside', or something to that effect. Don't forget that the hieroglyphics in the Swan meant Underworld too...
Lastly, I feel utterly compelled to comment on Illana and Bram, and the whole 'What is in the shadow of the statue' question. Wow. I don't even know where to start with this. They had guns on the plane, and seem to know exactly what they're talking about. Illana more so than the others, simply because we (thought at least) saw her motivations for getting on Ajira 316. Seems a tad more multi-faceted now. This to me was actually bigger than most of the other huge information dumps in this episode, and honestly intrigues me more than most of the other happenings this season. Anything statue-related is going to be heavy on mythology, and that is by far my reason for watching/obsessing.
Illana was transporting Sayid, but knew she was also going to end up on the Island, needing guns and creepy qualifier questions. Did she think Sayid would end up in 1977, maybe, maybe not, who knows at this point, but Illana certainly is no damned bounty hunter working for a rich dude's family. Well, at least not the rich dude Sayid shot on the golf course. She just got a million times more interesting than a simple Ana-Lucia lookalike...
The whole Lapidas-Illana/Bram scene reminded me a lot of the 'What did one snowman say to the other snowman' question from Desmond back in Season 2. It was a qualifier, so Illana and Bram clearly need to test people to see who is on their side. We really need to see where and when the statue was toppled and what it actually was to understand who/what Illana and Bram are, because they seem to have quite a connection to that monument.
I think we've all known since those 4 toes showed up that something very important was going to be tied to it. I believe we're finally seeing the seeds of that tease (and the subsequent backside shot) start to bear fruit. The statue is looking supremely important to the events of the rest of this season, and I'm almost certain we'll see that all-important front side, and the (probably familiar) face before Season 5 is out.
Epic episode, lots of ideas, loads of information. Stoked. Theory by Red
