Trans 2010-05-19: “What They Died For” (Episode 6-16)

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“While Locke devises a new strategy, Jack’s group searches for Desmond.” For this penultimate episode of “LOST,” we’re posting a “shortwave transmission,” a shorter, initial reactions podcast, rather than our usual blog entry. We skip the recap and get straight to our take, then share the first few calls to come in on the LOSTLine. Although we’re less than a week away from the end of this incredible series, we’d still love your feedback on “What They Died For.” Please comment below and join the conversation!

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550 Responses to Trans 2010-05-19: “What They Died For” (Episode 6-16)

  1. Cue Dblu says:

    Also, was I the only one, who thought ‘Jack’s drinking the Kool-Aid now’ when he took the cup from Jacob and drank? I have to admit, I am now somewhat cheering for MIB to get off the island – this last season has had me, more and more, understanding his motives and ATS really sealed it for me. Keeping him on the island would be anti-climactic and not answer the question ‘so why DOES Jacob want to keep him on the island and what does happen if he leaves?’ Since the writers have skirted around that issue, even last night when Jacob spoke, the only way I think we find out is if it actually happens. Unless Jack now has the knowledge of what will happen by his new-found position and articulates it in the finale. Otherwise, no one but MIB is left to tell us why he shouldn’t get off the island and he said last night that he wasn’t going to kill everyone if he got off of it.

  2. Cue Dblu says:

    @Kieran: that rarely happened to me. Usually it was more likely for me to look at the clock and say, “wow, only 6 minutes left”. Except for ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ where I started looking at the clock about 12 minutes into the hour. lol

  3. Karen in Kitchener says:

    Is Anna Lucia not ready because she died on the island?? How would that effect her if she remembers the island time line? I would think that would mess her up big time.

    Am I way off??

  4. Michael says:

    It wasn’t Jacob!!!!!!!!!!!!
    The kid who took the ashes, the man who revealed all to the candidates around the fire…NOT JACOB…..
    It was MIB. The shirt was bothering me, full of buttons, modern not like Jacob would make for himself, and the fact that the kid could grab the ashes when he is supposed to be Jacobs ghost and how angry he acted when Hurley hesitated, not very Jacob like.
    It’s MIB. Jacob is dead now. He can appear as him, just like when he instructed Hurley to take Sajid to the temple so HIS man could be saved. And that is why they all can see him, because he’s not a ghost, he’s there physically! And by destroying the ashes (what remains of Jacob) he can prevent Jacob from talking to Hurley somehow.

  5. Bad _Wobot says:

    (1st time poster, long time listener)

    Gave this episode a rare 10 outta 10, thou it wasn’t perfect still.
    A ‘Frank-terrific’ hour!. Such great themes, Letting go! Acceptance! Loved the Solo-SW line and all cool callbacks through out the episode,

    Just about all good scenes with all our actors, TOQ, Josh, Evangeline, ME, guest cast, yes I said guest cast….everyone!! But specially Matthew Fox. Was great to see Mira Furlan’s Danielle back, and Alex, Michelle Willliams.
    Desmond wants to run me over w/ his car, yay! The entire campfire & cup scene was my fave moments. Now I really think that MIB will be defeated for sure and there will still be ‘the Circle’, as it were, to continue somehow. Good ‘ol John Locke really will be redeemed, looks like.

    If that was the end for Richard, it was really too bad. That scene must have been cut/shortened or altered, based on the few spoilers I heard.

    I just read that the video releases will have added extra footage so we can get a few or more answers that the finale won’t have. HOLY FREAKIN’ $$ cow!

    & btw, WeAreAllStillLOST~

  6. Coolpeace says:

    Loved this episode. Really enjoyed the multiple callbacks.

    Random thoughts:

    Ben is indeed planning something for MIB. I don’t know what it may be, but he is definitely up to something. Maybe Ben shot Widmore knowing that he could not kill him?

    Richard miscalculated MIBs motive. MIB heard Richard crying that he had changed his mind (durning Ab Aeterno) and he then again changed his mind. MIB is not that forgiving. Of course, Richard may not be dead, MIB just was pissed off at him and wanted him out of the way. Of course, maybe Richard is at risk with Jacob (his ashes and all) completely gone (dead).

    In the flashsideways: Desmond is on a mission, will we ever see him with Penny again? I have hopes.

    Here is a treat to YAE:

    Damon tweeted this fan made video, it really is fantastic. ABC should have fired this person… much better that their own marketing and promotional departments.

    ENJOY

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz1yHmUW05Y

  7. @Montreal LAFLEUR: I agree the light is like the force and unless you want to get into Midichlorian land… I think we should just be happy with it as is.

    It’s all about the timing for Desmond in sideways world. Just like there was a discussion about NotMom only being able to be killed at just the right moment by just the right person, same goes for the memories coming back in sideways. Yes, sideways is the extended epilogue and happily-ever-after for the series. Desmond is making it possible for the series to have a happy ending, and for that I am grateful.

    A least we know now that they get all their memories back, since Hurley recognized Ana Lucia. Does that mean Ben remembered everything by the time he was having family diner with Alex’s mom? We can only hope they become one big happy family.

  8. So I just thought about something… we’ve been spending all this time in the flash sideways waiting for Jack to fix Locke. I wonder if the real answer to the end of the island time line is, Jack is going to fix Locke… or in this case UnLocke. Jack’s bigger purpose is to fix the mistake Jacob made and restore MiB’s humanity (and then kill him… heh heh heh).

  9. Elizabeth in New Hampshire says:

    To me, this episode begs the question, who is David’s Mom? Maybe Juliette?

  10. Okay, one more…

    Who here thinks there’s a nuclear bomb sitting in a box in Widmore’s outrigger?

  11. Drew in ChattTown says:

    Everybody’s wondering who got Desmond out of the well. It seems pretty clear. When UnLocke tossed him into that deep, deep well, we thought it could have killed him. A day later, Sayid visited Desmond in a moderately deep well. By the next morning, I figure that Desmond should have been able to simply step out of the well himself. I’m just confounded by how it got deep again for last night’s episode…

  12. greenberry says:

    Okay, now I’m crying! That was sooo touching at the end of your podcast Ryan and Jen, reflecting the closeness and nostalgia we are feeling and sharing that you feel it so much too! Wow… in the moment!! I have moved 36 times in my 55 years and was never fortunate enough to feel those types of feelings at the end of High School (one of my moves was being abruptly yanked to Winter Park, Florida from L.A. for my senior year of High School, so lack of ample time to bond there). But your podcast and this board… I DO FEEL the closing out of this special love of LOST that we have all shared ~ it has been truly amazing!!

    LOST has not gotten me through a difficult time, because my life in my fifties (at long last) has been amazing with a happy 2nd marriage, beautiful grown daughters and a charming vista-view home. I guess it is the mental stimulation and emotional satisfaction I treasure… enjoying characters as they embark upon spiritual, life-altering journeys, probing the bigger philosophical and psychological issues that we all face, pondering ways to grow and be a better human being myself (my biggest goal).

    It’s ALL GOOD and I am happy to be a part of this community!!!!! Shalom.

  13. paulb, Brooklyn says:

    That episode moved right along. Great show! Now we know who’s the real danger: Danielle Rousseau. She was glowing! (So that’s what the magic light is all about.) And she’s going to put less onions in the coq au vin! (Surely the recipe will be posted, somewhere.) That was a wonderful, amusing, totally cheerful cameo. Maybe there’s been a moment of subversive sexiness between two characters like that before, but I’m not remembering it.

    Jack as Island Protector…. I’m still not convinced. Things are working out in Sideways World. For Hugo, too…. And even for Ben. Tough for Widmore to turn up just after Miles reminded Ben about Alex. (Never cared for the man. And the MIB is totally being played by Ben, by the way.) Ana Lucia isn’t ready “yet”? You mean, we’ll see her again? Sunday night will be the Cast of Thousands night? Will Paulo be the chef at the benefit? Nikki doing a pole dance? I suppose there will be a polar bear. Pole dance, polar bear… Mirror moment?

    OK, got it: Faraday has realized that he has to detonate a a nuclear device at the concert. Vincent has the instructions. Who has all the guns?

    I don’t like one of the cast having to spend eternity alone as protector. My people have suffered enough. My vote, now: two protectors, Kate plus one of the he-men. New Adam, new Eve.

  14. ScottB in DC says:

    @adam – yes I was wondering what was in the outrigger and what it is “jacob” told Widmore to bring to the island. Was Desmond Widmore’s idea? If it was Jacob’s idea, a case could be made for Jacob’s manifestation off island to actually be MIB.

    @Carol from Boston – help my head hurts and I’m still obsesses with the ghosts. Did you ever decide anything about the music and the clothing clues with the ghosts? I’m seeing smoke every time we see Jacob’s ghosts, campfires are always going, they’re shooting Hurley and Jacob through the smoke. Those smoke clues were used when we didnt know UnLocke was MIB for sure earlier in the season. And Hurley asked Jacob’s manifestation in LA X the first time he sees him “who are you?” I trust Hurley’s gut. Reminded me of Miles asking Claire if she was alright after she survived the explosion at the barracks, before she wandered off into the jungle with MIB.

    People have been talking about the creepy music when Sawyer was watching the ceremony last night, also people had the feeling Jack was drinking the cool-aid, seems like an unauthentic vibe.

    So @ Carol – the buttoned down shirt was the last thing Jacob was wearing when he was alive in the base of the statue. When MIB appears as Locke he has the gray shirt outfit – that was the outfit he was wearing when he moved the island, which would have been the last time MIB was with Locke (as Christian). When MIB appeared as Christian he looked like the body from the coffin, maybe that’s the only clothing he knew to replicate?

    And what about the music, didn’t you discover something about the sound effects on the freighter and other places?

    This all reminds me of the Sting with Paul Newman and Robert Redford, what a twist at the end………

  15. Steven Hunter says:

    I was initially happy to see Ben return to his old, manipulative self, but after sleeping on it and thinking more about it, I have to agree with those who see Ben as trying to pull a con on MIB. As other have pointed out, he gave the walkie to Miles, and I think he’ll try to contact Jack’s group somehow. It may be that as he was the one who killed Jacob, he will be the one to kill MIB/Locke as well.

    I also loved the conversation between Jack and John Locke in Jack’s office. It was like the old arguments the two had on the island between destiny and chance — the man of faith and the man of science. I am still holding out for some sort of redemption for John Locke.

  16. Michael says:

    I just checked, Almost Every time Jacob appeared off island he was wearing a button down shirt. It wasn’t Jacob, it was MIB. (Hurley in cab ride no buttons but still modern jacket) He can leave the island anytime he wants. That is how he appeared as Christian at the hospital and on the freighter. He doesn’t want to leave the island. He wants the light. He’s set the whole thing up to get his hands on it.
    He kills Jacob, anoints a successor to take his place, then follows him to the light or something else devious.
    He’s been manipulating events for a very long time and pretending to be Jacob. Maybe he can take any form he wants

  17. greenberry says:

    @ Jen re: “Where was Kate the last three seasons?” ~ In Season 5 Kate (whether foolish or not) was passionate and adamant about getting young Ben healed ~ However, I agree that this season she has been underutilized and underdeveloped.

  18. Michael says:

    @Scott B
    OMG, you’re right. Jacob did die in that button down shirt from the GAP. WHY? He never wears anything he didn’t make himself before. I suppose he has to really be dead or else Miles wouldn’t have been able to pick up his last thoughts.
    I’m totally confused. I love this show.
    I still think MIB masquarades as Jacob sometimes. Like when he was sending instructions to the “others” to kill the Dharma folk etc.
    Might still be him pretending now to the last 4 candidates.

  19. Betheaux says:

    Sayid let Desmond out of the well didn’t he?!

  20. Bryan says:

    Great episode. I am done with theorizing and predicting. I am just going to let it happen and enjoy it.

    My fear for Sunday’s finale is that at 11pm there will be a crucial scene with subtitles, and at the exact moment, my local ABC station will put scrolling text to say that the local news will be on at 1130pm, thus covering the subtitles. Oh the horror.

  21. Jayne says:

    I agree. Juliet is David’s mom. And Miles had the best line ever 🙂

    Man I am going to miss this show…

  22. Lynn says:

    Please. Kidnap Kate and make her put on a dress to be your date. AGAIN.

    SHE’S PRETTY. WE GET IT.

  23. George says:

    I believe all the lost characters on the island will be killed by smoke locke, but they’ll be replaced by the flash sideways characters to defeat smoke locke.

  24. Joe Bianco says:

    “We’re going to a concert.”

    Charlie’s concert? This just keeps getting better and better. Things are finally going fast-paced. I can’t wait to see how everything will turn out for our characters. Do you think Richard is officially dead?

  25. What a great episode. I’m glad to see Miles, Richard and Ben again. I loved that Widmore showed up Ben about already arming the plane. What I don’t get is Richard being plummeted, I doubt we’re supposed to assume he’s dead.

    I have a feeling Jack will encounter Desmond at the heart of the island. I love his flash sideways, they’re pretty enthralling but still mysterious. How is this all going to converge? I like the comment I read above, “Can see Jack killing Locke on the island while he is fixing him in the flash sideways.” (not exact quote)

    Either way, I think this was a great finale starter, I can’t wait for Sunday. I’m going to be sad when it is gone.

  26. aaron r says:

    answers, answers, answers. i just watched the show twice and still not ready to comment. tho i’m still not convinced that Jack will be the one, even with the cup and all… this is great. can’t wait for sunday and don’t want it to arrive.

  27. Jason B in Raleigh says:

    Everyone who was happy that Zoey got killed may be jumping the gun. Illana got blown up and then appeared in the FS world. I think Zoey is going to show up as Jack’s ex wife in FS.

  28. Rusty says:

    Quick thoughts…

    1. Jack’s cut. This is the second time we’ve seen it, but now its getting worse. This is important. In the island timeline, I think everyone except Jack will die. In the alt-timeline, everyone except Jack will live. Jack’s cut is foreshadowing his death.

    I still think everyone else will somehow be offered a choice between a blissful glimpse of the island timeline, or the uncertain (but ultimately fulfilling) lives in the alt-timeline. They will all choose the alt-timeline.

    Unfortunately, someone will have to sacrifice his alt-life in order to allow everyone else to live happily ever after. And of course this will be Jack.

    2. Ben is conning MIB. Remember that Miles has the walkie & explosives. Ben gave Miles the walkie “in case i need you”.

    3. We’re not done with the Kate-Jack-Sawyer-Juliet love stories. Juliet has to be David’s mother – we’ll see her in the finale where she’ll deliver the “let’s go for coffee” line to Sawyer.

  29. betty round says:

    @Kieran
    “That feeling halfway through an episode when you look at the clock and think “Great! There’s still another half hour to go!!!”

    You are so correct! I will also miss that.

  30. Briand says:

    Amusing: here in Denver we list about 90 seconds of List due to a tornado alert. Didn’t know about Richard Albert until I read it here

  31. gene e says:

    SARCASM ALERT! Now that Jack has been annointed/duped into the protectorship/head killer of the island/death trap, I find the situation very ironic. In his former flawed life he was a doctor. He was responsible for the restoration of health and maintaining the well being of people. A sharp contrast to the future he willing chose. To volunteer to continue the killing does seem a little out of character for Jack. But, hey, it was his destiny. I can only hope it ends like the majority of you want: With Jack and Locke staring at each other. How original, poetic, and money-making sequel potential would THAT be? END SARCASM.

  32. Rich in Cleveland says:

    You can run. You can hide. Or you can die.

    That was a great call back and further evidence that the grand design has existed from the beginning. Another tripartite resolution I picked up on this episode comes from the emergence of the museum as a final destination. I was mulling over a dichotomy between the “hospital” for those who are saved and the “restaurant” for those who are consumed by hell. But now we have the museum as well. A room in which dead objects are trapped and left for exhibition. It reminds of what Michael said about some of the ghosts or the promo picture of former characters locked in a room.
    “Open this door.”

    I haven’t completed a read through, but we did get a central mystery answered in “What They Died For.” Ben openly states his realization that everything he had done in service of the island in his time as leader was the result of the smoke monster summoning him. He has always been the agent of darkness, even when he was unaware of it. From the moment Charles Widmore returned to defend the island, I feared Ben had gone over to the dark side. It seems obvious in retrospect. He must have made his decision in the chilling moment that Keamy murdered Alex. It was a great moment to see the culmination of the Ben/Widmore conflict with the twist that light and dark invert at the end.

    Defend the island.

  33. Matt in Texas says:

    Great great episode! After the last two episodes, this was make-it-or-break-it for keeping fans hopeful for the Finale being great, and I think they pulled it off.

    A couple of points-
    -I do not think that Jack is going to actually going to replace Jacob even though he volunteered. That would be too simple. I think Jack is going to die, and one of the others will have to step up.

    -After seeing Desmond in the flash-sideways, I do not believe that Jacob actually ever left the island to reruit the Losties and Elena. I think he is alive and well in the flash-sideways universe, and we will see him meeting up with the Losties in the Finale. I think he just became aware of the other timeline long before the Losties.

    -Combining my first two points, I see a strong parallel in Desmond asking people for a favor, with Jacob asking folks for a favor. I suspect either Desmond will replace Jacob on the island, or he will convince them to go back yet again in the flash-sideways.

    – We still have not seen who took the other boats last season and were shooting at the Losties as they were skipping through time. I think that is going to be important in the Finale in changing history.

    – I think the flash-sideways is what will happen if MIB Suceeds. The whole purpose of the island is to keep the original timeline intact. Either the island and the rest of the world cannot exist in the same reality, or if they do co-exist, it will create a new reality that we are seeing in the flash-sideways, and effectively wipe out everything and everyone as the original Losties knew them. When I say co-exist, I mean as physical matter that exists in the rest of the world. I think up until you see the island sunk under the water, you are basically crossing over into a separate universe every time you go to and from the island. That is why it is so hard to get to. But what this means is that it is indeed possible for the losties in the flash-sideways universe to make it back to the original timeline on the island.

  34. Will says:

    I sent Ryan & Jen the worst post-show message but it was my honest and knee-jerk reaction to watching last nights ep.

    I love the writing on the show but man at times it can be a little too tongue in cheek. Knowing the final episode(s) is named “The End” having Jacob tell Hurley “We’re very close to THE END, Hugo” made me chuckle but at the same time I expected Pelligrino to break the fourth wall and turn to us and give a wink of recognition.

    Great writing with Miles equating 30 years ago to “also known as last week.” It’s one of those things that makes you stop and realize that there hasn’t been a lot of time (nyuk, nyuk) that’s gone by for these people. The action from this season has been only a matter of days, maybe just a bit more than a week. The three years that everyone seemed to have experienced (in either the 70’s or the ‘present’) seems to have been the sabatical before the final trials began. As a fan it’s nice to know that the writers cared enough to give them all that break.

    Is it just me or is half of the writing on the show right now a love letter to the fans? Danielle had a great line last night with, “We insist, even if we have to kidnap you!” Ben’s flash-sideways appearance after being beat down by Desmond was very similar to his Season 5 appearance after…. well… being beat down by Desmond. It’s no surprise that it’s a good solid beating that shakes Ben’s reality considering just how many times this guy has been whooped on over the course of the show.

    I’m not going to speculate too much on what THE END will hold. I don’t think it bodes well for flash-sideways Jack that he’s the only person that seems to have a persistent wound in that reality, and it’s pretty clear that sideways-Desmond is gettin’ the band back together. The writers want us to believe that Ben has gone rogue again which is the exact reason I don’t believe he has since it would undermine the impact of the redemption story earlier in the season.

    My family is going to hate Sunday because I’m going to be fully entrenched in my couch “bunker” and demanding no interruptions or distractions. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Nice to know we’re all in it together in spirit.

    -Will

  35. Keera in Atlanta says:

    Lots of balance and balance metaphors in Lost. A new Jacob without a new Smokey would be imbalance.
    Jacob + Smokey = siblings.
    Jack + Claire = siblings
    Jack = new Jacob
    Since Claire seems to have gone to the dark side, will she be the new Smokey?

  36. Dave WR says:

    This episode validated my statement that last week’s episode should have been earlier in the season or been avoided all together. This episode was so much better and if it had been back-to-back I think the emotional impact would have been much greater.

  37. Viktor from LA X says:

    Desmond was helped by Rose and Bernard obviously. He is probably still hiding at their place.

    Speaking of Desmond. In FST, how the heck did he go from “hey, I think I knew this Penny girl in some other life…” to “I am the master of parallel time lines and universes”? Well, there is of course “Jacob did it” answer….

  38. Joseph says:

    1. Will we ever know the significance of Richard visiting Locke as a kid, and then seeing the drawing of the smoke monster!? i feel if that is left untouched it would be a shame.

    2. How does the lighthouse work? Did Jacob build it?

    3. And how does Richard leave the island?

  39. Embie says:

    Not sure who else reads The New Yorker but I always start with the cartoons. Number 11 this week, by Ros Chast, will make you laugh I hope. The link brings up a slide show of the cartoons, so just go through to #11 (you might think Charlie when you see #5 though).
    http://www.newyorker.com/humor/issuecartoons/2010/05/24/cartoons_20100517#slide=11

  40. paulb, Brooklyn says:

    Sawyer is just so…. Sawyer. After that moment on the beach following the sinking of the sub, that look on his face, he finally seemed to understand. Then around the campfire to Jacob: “I was doing just fine.” You’d think at that point the rest would have pelted him with spitballs. Can’t this con man cease conning himself?

    I’m not convinced that Jack’s donning of the protector mantle is conclusive. I’m thinking, Tale of Two Cities. Doppelgangers.

    Now MIB wants not just to leave, but to destroy the Island? That sure leaves Ben holding the short straw.

    Lost cannot end with the Island beneath the sea or otherwise destroyed. That would mean the end of The Universe As We Know It. I for one am willing, though maybe reluctant at this point, to accept the sacrifice of a remaining main character, however, I expect and would demand if I could a happy ending for at least some of them.

    R&J: Thanks for another tight, incisive podcast. If you felt rushed, I never would have known from listening.

    Man, I just feel so good that Lost is shaping up to have a really terrific conclusion. So often these Television Events of the Decade are more whimper than bang, if you know what I mean.

  41. Carol from Boston says:

    @Steven B – In the first couple of seasons Christian wore a suit and white sneakers when he appeared to Jack,he was wearing the clothes he was buried in. When Christian started appearing to other people, Claire, Locke, Michael, Sun and Lapidus he was wearing the striped shirt. He has only appeared to Jack in the suit. Even at the hospital scene he is wearing a suit. Christian was also wearing the suit when Hurley first sees him in the cabin (the scene with the eye in the window). I have only noticed the whispers with Christian before he appeared to Michael,

    In last night’s episode look at the picture on Jack’s desk, Christian is wearing a brown sweater, under that is a brown striped shirt. Is this the shirt he wears on the island?

    Speaking of clothes, young Jacob in this episode has on modern clothes, he has a t-shirt on, and a ripped shirt/hoodie with snaps. We also saw a dark haired Jacob earlier that was not MIB.

  42. Coolpeace says:

    @ Rich in Cleveland :

    Bingo about Ben. But I am not sure if he is in the darkside now. I think as mentioned above he is playing MIB. With Ben’s comment about being summoned by the monster, I believe Ben realized that he was part of MIB’s planned loophole all along. In fact, I would say since the beginning of the show.

    If you remember my Loophole description a few blogs past, I describe how MIB plans all the machinations to get Locke to move the Island, causing the time travel, in order to have Locke get shot by Ethan and helped by Richard who gives him the compass and tells Locke to find him (Richard) to give him back the compass, Locke tells Richard that he, Locke, is their future leader, causing Richard to visit Locke as a child…. Yada, yada, yada….

    The one thing that I did not fully comprehend at the time was Ben’s involvement. Was he aware or not of his participation. Today, I can say that he did not know of his part in MIB’s Loophole plan until this episode. I think he finally saw the light … pun intended. (ha, to see the light – to gain understanding … hmmm nice.)

    In fact MIB’s loophole, did have 3 components to it.

    1) Get Locke to trumpet his coming to the 1950’s Others, by speaking with Richard and Ethan (follow Locke and the compass during time flashes). This would cause a myth to be born among the Others, and Ben would inevitably hear that a leader would come to the Island to take his place. Setting up both Richard and Ben.

    2) After meeting Locke in the 1950’s Richard sets out to observe and look out for Locke. When Locke finally “lands” on the Island in 2004… and goes to the Others camp and decides to stay, causes Richard to accept that perhaps his 1950s meeting with Locke foretelling his arrival was indeed what Jacob wanted. That is why he helps Locke by giving him Sawyer’s file and helps Locke kill his father, which was a test Ben had set up to bring Locke down from the pedestal his was on… placed there by the myth that began when Locke visited Richard in 1950.

    3) Ben : Ben has been manipulated by MIB since he was a child. Seeing his dead mother, getting Sayid to shot young Ben and getting Richard to take him to the temple waters, are all part of his manipulations. Grooming Ben into believing that he was “special”. As well as, getting Richard to think that Ben should become leader, and going against Widmore as leader. I believe that Ben was lead to the Cabin by MIB. MIB was giving Ben the list and made Ben believe he was working for Jacob… but in fact was doing MIB’s bidding. Getting Widmore banished, getting the Others to move to the Barracks, getting Ben to try and solve the fertility problem … all things that eventually caused Richard to doubt that Ben was keeping the best interest of the Island in mind. This undermining of Ben’s leadership played nicely into MIB’s plan to make Ben primed to kill Jacob.

    Ben really only wanted to do what was good for the Island, but was played by a better con man. One that had many many more years to plan his actions. And who saw in young Ben an opportunity as Mother did when she was pregnant Claudia arrive at her doorstep. Ben will completely redeem himself by assisting in the destruction of MIB (and perhaps by finally asking Jack to take over his guardianship of the Island – thereby releasing Jack of his obligation to the Island so that he may be with Kate ?)

    As to why Ben shoots Widmore :

    1) Perhaps he realizes that he was never a leader and therefore the rules did not apply to him and so he could kill Widmore and avenge Alex;

    2) Perhaps he knew that shooting Widmore would not kill him, since they could not kill each other – but would serve to ensnare MIB in his end game plan to stop him.

    3) Perhaps Ben is really with MIB – that is not a possibility in my opinion.

  43. Carol from Boston says:

    Desmond isn’t the failsafe, he is the bait. Widmore is setting up Locke to believe that he has to kill Desmond. Desmond will lead him to a special elctromagnetic spot (perhaps the box). Something will happen there. Ben will sacrifice himself to kill Locke or save others, it will be his redemption. I believe the sideways world is their real destiny but to get there they have to make peace with themselves on the island.

    Ana Lucia is corrupt in the sideways, she is not a better person, she probably won’t remember the island. Sayid did redeem himself on the island so maybe now he can find happiness in the sideways.

    I think special attention needs to be made to the wording used to the losties about dying and losing everyone that matters to them. If the sideways world ceases to exist, their loved ones will as well (i.e. David, Faraday, Libby, etc.)

  44. Carol from Boston says:

    @coolpeace – great observations. I like you theory.

    re: Ben, he may have also shot Widmore to shut him up. He didn’t want Locke to know the reason Desmond was there. Plus he knows Widmore can’t die unless the island is done with him. He threw in the line about Penny partly out of anger and partly to throw off Locke.

    Miles seemed confused about Alex’s body. Maybe he senses she isn’t truly dead now or something.

  45. shanny mac 3T0 says:

    Was anyone else yelling at their flat screen “No Jack don’t drink it!!” ??

  46. aaron r says:

    @Mattfromnd i also feel like Juliet is going to show up at the concert as David’s mother. who else?

    and i’m not totally convinced that Jack is going to be the final choice, nevermind the water and the prayer/chant from Jacob.

    and who else is waiting for the BIG SURPRISE from Ben?

    back for the second run…

  47. Briand says:

    If MIB was posing as Jacob off island why does he still want to leave? It would mean he can leave any time.

  48. aaron r says:

    oh, and i thought of this this morning. remember when Widmore seemed unsure about Daniel’s musical talent, when commented on by Desmond?
    i feel like Widmore and Eloise (looking for a lot of her on Sunday) have their fingers on the pulse of what’s really going on, at least more than anyone else. well, Charles did…
    just thought of this, there sure are a lot of Charles characters.

  49. Brian in LA says:

    Great comments and podcast as usual. I’m with the rest that will really miss the anticipation of new Lost episodes and the community that you’ve built around the show.

    Most of my comments have been said by others above but one thought I had about Miles:

    I think Ben shot Widmore right as he whispered his secret to Unlocke because he could ask Miles to come back later and *read Widmore’s last thoughts* and tell him over the walkie-talkie.

  50. Carol from Boston says:

    @briand – I don’t think the problem has been Jacob leaving. Jacob doesn’t want smokey to leave the island. Jacob also has to protect the source. He can’t protect it if he is gone forever.

    Wouldn’t it be cool if Clare goes into labor at the concert and Jack helps her to deliver (and Kate) and a helicopter comes to take Clare and the baby to the hospital (like Desmond’s vision).

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