Ep 512 - Unless You're John Locke, "Dead Is Dead"

The Tease

Ben's judgment passed! Ilana's mystery deepens!! Penny's fate revealed!!! All this, plus some pretty fantastic improvised lying from Ben, all in "Dead is Dead."

1977

The story opens with fairly ridiculously manly Charles Widmore riding into the Others' jungle camp like some bad Joan Wilder romantic hero. He's right peeved at Richard for bringing Ben to the temple to heal and then the camp to convalesce, but Richard shuts him up with the magic words that Jacob wanted him to do it. Charles can't argue with Richard's logic that "the island chooses who the island chooses." So Charles goes in to make friends with young Ben. Ben is apprehensive at the thought of being sent back to his dad, but Charles reassures him, "just because you’re living with them, doesn’t mean you can’t be one of us. You should be dead, but this island, it saved your life."

Aside Number 1 - Not much revealed here, except for the Others/Hostiles' pre-barracks existence as tented nomads, and Widmore's fascination with really bad haircuts. Perhaps the seeds were already being planted here for the extermination of DHARMA, with thoughts of young Ben as the infiltrator they would need. A running theme throughout this episode was that, perhaps, it was Charles, and not the island, who wanted non-Others wiped out. Indeed, we get the sense that it was young Charles who led the charge to kill the army encroachers in 1954. This was who Jacob put in charge?

1988

Ben and young Ethan, sporting ridonculous 80s haircuts, spy on Rousseau’s makeshift camp. Ethan offers to do it for Ben if he wants (and really, for a kid as young as Ethan was to be so bloodthirsty should have been a sign to the Others that he might someday go off the reservation like he did with Claire and Charlie). Ben stalks sleeping Danielle with a Luger, but is surprised to see baby Alex. Danielle awakens and accuses him of infecting her people. As he holds her at gunpoint, Ben takes Alex. He tells Danielle to be grateful she's still alive. "If you ever follow me, if you ever look for me," he warns, "I’ll kill you. And if you want your child to live, every time you hear whispers, you run the other way." With that, Ben is gone.

Aside 2 - There are several interesting things about this scene. First, it's odd that Danielle didn't seem to recognize Ben as the individual who stole her baby when she saw him again 16 years later. Sure, she went pretty bonkers, but would you really forget the last human face you saw before 16 years of isolation?

Also, Ben's acknowledgement of the whispers is quite telling. Again, I'm pretty lost on just what the whispers really are. My theory that they're the time-lost voices of Sawyer's group doesn't seem to work anymore. But at least now we know that they're real, because Ben acknowledged them. And we also know why Rousseau was so freaked out by them.

Finally, we see the first inkling of Ben's one weakness - he has a thing for moms.

Ben and Ethan bring baby Alex to the Others camp. Charles is displeased that Ben didn't kill Rousseau, and less than moved by the "complication" Ben found in Alex. Charles insists every decision he’s made has been about protecting the island, but Ben challenges him by asking if killing Alex is what Jacob wants? If so, insists Ben, then Charles should do it. But Charles just walks off. Richard sees this defiance, and something seems to register for him.

Aside 3 - Richard's role continues to fascinate. Here we see one of several of his slow-burn coups starting to foment. Charles clearly has started to form agendas beyond those of Jacob and the island. But along comes Ben to take his place...

Early 1990s

As Alex grows, Ben pushes her on a swing. Richard says the sub’s about to leave, and suggests Ben doesn’t have to see "him" off, but Ben insists he does. Charles is being escorted off in handcuffs. Ben accuses Charles of leaving often, breaking rules, and having a daughter off-island. Ben says he (i.e. unlike Charles) would sacrifice anything for the island, but Charles immediately challenges that claim by asking if he'd sacrifice Alex. Ben reminds him that he, not the island, wanted Alex dead, and Charles says he hopes Ben’s right, or else Alex will end up dead, and Ben will end up where Charles was there, being escorted off.

Aside 4 - It's now apparent that Widmore lied to Locke about how he was forced from the island. Ben did not, in fact, trick him into turning the wheel. Rather, the Others as a group ousted him, and took him away in their purloined DHARMA sub, the Galaga. It's perhaps little wonder Charles was willing to kill anyone who got in his way when he sought revenge on Ben - clearly, the Others, as a whole, were complicit in his exile.

I'm also struggling to sort out exactly what "rules" Charles changed when Alex was killed. From this farewell exchange, it certainly seemed that Alex's mortality was far from a settled thing. So then why was Ben so shocked that Keamy killed her?

2007

At a marina, Ben calls Charles, and insists he’s returning to the island, just as soon as he kills Penny. He says he’s looking at Our Mutual Friend right now – the name of the boat Penny’s on (and, we know, the only Charles Dickens book Desmond never read, because he was saving it to be the last thing he ever read). As Ben approaches the slip, where Penny is on deck, Desmond, unloading groceries, sees him and shouts. Ben shoots Desmond through a bag of groceries, then goes to Penny. "Don’t move," he orders, "mot another word." Penny pleads that she and Charles have no relationship. Suddenly little Charlie emerges. Penny pleads with Ben not to hurt him. Ben sees Charlie, and suddenly his mommy weakness causes him to hesitate in the one mission he spent the past two years of his life trying to accomplish. Suddenly, Desmond tackles him, and beats him bloody. Des tosses Ben into the water, and Ben, smiling, lets himself float away.

Aside 5 - per this week's podcast, we're not meant to believe that a carton of milk is any way bullet-proof, and Desmond may not be in as good shape as his rage-and-adrenaline-filled attack on Ben made him look.

Of course, the mystery of how Ben got so beaten and wet before meeting Jack at the airport is now solved. Moreover, Penny's fate has been revealed, and I, for one, am relieved that Lost didn't kill her off. You do not mess with Des-Pen. They provide the only bit of hope we've seen thus far on the show.

It's also great to see that, for one brief instant, Ben's soft spot for mommies (probably the result of his never having had one) overcame his baser instincts.

Two Days Later

Adult Ben wakes up to Locke, where we left off last week. Ben doesn't miss a beat. "My God," he shouts, "you’re alive!" Ben insists he knew Locke would return from the dead. When Locke asks why he seems so surprised, Ben insists, "because it’s one thing to believe it, John. It’s another thing to see it." Ben explains he was trying to go back to the main island because he broke the rules, and came back to answer for what he'd done. "I was going back to be judged." When John asks by whom, Ben responds, ominously, "we don’t even have a word for it, but I believe you call it... 'the monster.'"

Aside 6 - Ben's story here would be almost believeable if 1) he wasn't Ben, and 2) he didn't say the exact opposite later this episode...

On the beach, the 316ers, led by Ilana are working on moving a crate. They refuse Ben’s offer of help, and, cheerily, of tells them to "have a great day." He finds some water. Ceasar approaches. He asks about John, and says John said Ben killed him. Seeing his opportunity to cultivate some mischief, Ben feigns shock. "I killed him? Really? Because he looks fine to me." Ben pretends not to remember him from the plane. "What if he was already here, before we crashed?" Ben suggests John may be crazy, deranged, but Ceasar shows him his purloined shotgun, and says he has Ben’s back.

Aside 7 - would Ben even know how to introduce himself to someone without manipulating him or her?

In the Hydra station, John catches Ben retrieving a picture of him with Alex. John, who's gotten rather cocky since his resurrection, says he hopes they can talk about the elephant in the room. Ben insists killing John was the only way to get him and as many of the others as possible back to the island. "If all I had to do was die," cross-examines Locke, "why did you stop me from killing myself?" Ben says it was for the information crucial information Locke had that he couldn't allow to die with him. "Once you’d given it to me, well, John, I just didn’t have time to talk you back into hanging itself." Ben says he doesn’t know where the rest of the 815ers are, but he knows they came, and it was in the best interests of the island that they did. “I was just hoping for an apology,” smiles Locke, mischievously. He says he’s decided to help Ben, to do what he says he was on his way to do. "If everything you’ve done has been in the best interest of the island, then I’m sure the monster will understand."

Aside 8 - even when Ben's lying, there's usually some amount of truth. Here, it seems he was "mostly" telling the truth, i.e., his explanation for why he stopped Locke from killing himself only to murder him one conversation later actually makes a bit of sense. He learned from Locke that Jin was alive on the island, and that the Oceanic 6 were being gathered by Eloise Hawking. We also get the sense, not only that Ben was lying about having an interest in being judged for his transgressions, but also that Locke knows it, but is enjoying making Ben twist in the wind like this.

They uncover one of the outriggers. Ceasar and three others question what they’re doing, and insists they not go. Ceasar demands John sit down and tell them why he knows so much about the island. Ceasar reaches for his gun, but Ben suddenly has it, and he ...shoots Ceasar(?! OMG, WTF?). Ben then insists he and John are taking the boat, and he tosses the gun to John. “Consider that my apology.”

Aside 9 - did Ceasar just get the Nicky-Paolo treatment? Was this really his sole purpose for being in business class with the O6ers, Ben and Ilana? To get shot on the beach? Or is Ben's gun loaded with rock salt or something similarly stunning but non-lethal?

John and Ben paddle over to the pala ferry dock, and tie off. John notices the other boat, and Ben tells John about Sun and Frank having gotten there first. They discuss Ben's injuries, and Ben says, "I’ve found that friends can be significantly more dangerous than enemies." Ben says they’re heading to his old house, the only place he can summon the monster. John says he thinks Ben’s lying, that he doesn’t think Ben cares about rules (i.e. leaders of the Others who leave can't return), and that he really wants to be judged for killing his daughter.

As they approach New Otherton, John asks whose idea it was to move into the barracks, noting it doesn’t seem like something the island would want. They suddenly see a light from Ben’s house, and a shadow moving in Alex’s room. John suggests Ben check it out. Ben enters, and finds things much as they were left after Keamy’s attack, Risk game and all. There is movement in Alex’s room, which turns out to be Sun. Frank shows him the DHARMA initiation photo from 1977. Ben claims not to know Jack, Hurley and Kate were in DHARMA. Sun says Christian told them to come to the house and wait for Locke. Ben tells them to look outside, and they see Locke standing and waving.

Aside 10 - Ben's reaction here seemes markedly less forced than his hasty stories to Locke were. I have to believe he really is surprised about his former adversaries having joined DHARMA (though less so about their being 30 years in the past). Which is odd, because he certainly grew up around several of them. This brings up the whole "lost memory" thing from last week. Is Ben lying here? It's deliciously frustrating how hard it is to tell at any given moment.

Also, there is a clear indication that Ben recognized the name, Christian. What connection does

he have to Jack's dad?

Locke joins them, and there’s a lot of silent staring. John says he doesn’t know how he’s there, but there's a reason (an observation that doesn't soothe Lapidus). Frank urges Sun to go back to the plane with him, but John says finding Jin means staying with him. Frank says he’s leaving with or without her, but she stays. Frank warns her to watch her back, and leaves. John says Ben has something to do first. Ben reluctantly agrees, then opens his double-layer secret passage. He presses into the ancient tunnel, and lights a lantern. Descending, he enters a crawl space, then emerges in a cave filled with muddy water. He reaches into the water, and ...opens a drain? The fluid empties out, and Ben says, into the drain, "I’ll be outside."

Aside 11 - It's hard to imagine that emptying muddy bath water was how Ben summoned smokey before...and yet, there didn't seem to be anything else in that cave to manipulate, and this was where Ben went before calling Smokey to take out Keamy's men...

Ben emerges, and John is gone. Sun says Jack must have lied about John being dead, but Ben assures her he’s sure John died. Sun asks if he knew John would be resurrected, and Ben insists he had no idea. He insists the island has healed the sick, but nothing like this. "Dead is dead. You don’t get to come back from that, not even here. So the fact that John Locke is walking around this island, scares the living hell out of me." Ben wanrs sun to get inside, because what’s coming out of the jungle is something he can’t control. The bushes start to rustle, but ironically (or not), it’s only Locke. Ben says he knows how to summon the monster, but not where it actually is, but Locke insists he knows, and they need to go to it.

Aside 12 - Ben was considerably more believable when he told Sun he didn't know Locke would be resurrected than when he told Locke the coverse earlier. My take is that Ben really did think he pulled off the perfect island crime - exile, murder of the man who usurped him (as he had Charles), and unpunished return. Too bad that Locke fella keeps insisting on a visit to the monster...

In daylight, Ben asks John how he knows where they’re going. John says he just knows. He points out Ben doesn’t like having to ask questions, and blindly following someone, hoping he’ll lead him to where he needs to be. "Now you know what it was like to be me." Ben says he thinks he knows where they’re going, "where they brought me as a child, where the island healed me." Sure enough, they arrive at the temple. Ben says the structure we've seen a few times now is actually a wall his people built around they temple, to keep people like Sun from seeing it. Ben starts to head on to the actual temple, which is about a half mile further along, but John says they’re not going into the temple – they’re going under it. And he refers to the hole Montand had been taken into. Ben, suddenly fearful, asks Sun a favor – if she ever leaves, tell Desmond he was sorry. She asks for what, and Ben says, tearily, “he’ll know.” Ben descends.

Aside 13 - on the last exchange, by this point in the episode, we hadn't actually seen the resolution of Ben's attack on Penny. This left us with the cold thought that Desmond lived, but Penny (or, gasp, Charlie) didn't. Phew!

Now about this notion that the Others built the wall to keep newbies out of the temple. One of three things is at play here - either Ben is lying (always a possibility), or the Others have been there a very, very long time, or the ancient Egyptian decor is pure theatrics.

I'm also intrigued by the notion that we haven't yet actually seen the temple, a place of ever-increasing mythological resonance for the show.

Finally, did you get, as I did, the sense that Ben knew the hole under the wall was where Smokey was, but he was trying to head for the temple to avoid the confronation he was being marched towards here?

Frank returns to the beach. One of the other survivors says Ilana and three others found guns and claimed to be in charge. Ilana and a couple of the others hold Frank at gunpoint. She asks, in one of the most awesome, non-sequitur lines the show has produced, “what lies in the shadow of the statue?” He can’t answer, so she decks him, and tells her companion to get everyone else and tell them it’s time, and Frank’s coming with them.

Aside 14 - Ceasar may have died prematurely, but Ilana is suddenly upping her game. A few weeks ago I suggested she was, directly or otherwise, working for Widmore when she nabbed Sayid. Now it seems we're seeing the set-up for the war both Ben and Charles said was coming. But I have to wonder if Ilana even knows who either of them is? After all, she's had a few chances to take out Ben, but showed no sign of even recognizing him. Could a Widmore operative not know his chief rival? As for Frank, I'm reminded of Ghostbusters, when Bill Murray smacked Dan Akroyd and said, "Ray, when someone asks if you're a God, you say 'yes!'" Here, when someone unexpectedly pulls a gun on you and asks you what's clearly a code phrase, the correct response is to at least take a guess. That tactic saved Bilbo Baggins from Golum. It couldn't be any worse than not knowing here!

Anyone else wonder what does lie in the shadow of the statue? I've seen it suggested online that some thing it's the bomb, "Jughead." But since I think Jughead is buried near the Swan hatch, while the statue was on the shore, I don't think this is right...

Ben tells John he’s right about why Ben needs to be judged. "All I had to do was go out of the house and go with them. But I didn’t do it. So you were right, John, I did kill Alex, and now I have to answer for that. I appreciate you showing me the way, but I think I can take it from here." Ben moves on, without John, and says he’ll meet him outside if he lives. The floor suddenly gives way, and Ben falls through. John asks if he’s okay, and Ben, taking on the role of an Indiana Jones-type hero all of a sudden, says, "never better." John leaves to find a something to help him get out with. Ben hears a blowing sound, then stands up. The room is filled with hieroglyphs, which seems to surprise Ben. Ben seems able to read or make some of them out. He approaches a large placque, appearing to depict the Egyptian god Anubis talking to a fairly formless monster. His torch blows out, and black smoke comes from a vent. It’s electric, and it envelopes Ben. Ben reexperiences much of his past with Alex, in much the same way Eko experienced his past in Africa when faced with Smokey. Ben is in genuine pain as he sees Alex die again, the first sign of remorse we've ever seen on Ben. Then smokey suddenly recedes, and Ben’s torch relights. Alex suddenly appears behind him. He apologizes to her, and says it was all his fault. She says she knows, then shoves him up against a pillar. "Listen to me you bastard," she growls at her "dad". "I know that you’re already planning to kill John again, and if you do, I will hunt you down and destroy you. You will listen to every word John Locke says, and you will follow." Ben swears he will follow John, and cringes…and then Alex is gone. Ben picks up his torch. Locke returns, and feeds him a rope. Ben stares up at John. Locke asks what happened. And Ben says, meekly, “it let me live.”

Aside 15 - and there's the secret - unlike Eko, Ben actually felt humbled when confronted with his past, and even, as I noted before, a little remorseful. It killed him that he defied what might have been the island's wishes in sparing Alex as a child, only to develop such hubris about his actions that he felt it would be impossible for her to die when he put her in harm's way.

It was great to again see Tania Raymonde on Lost. Alex's death was one of the most shocking and unsettling moments I can recall seeing on television. Here's hoping she'll be to Ben from now one what Head-6 was to Gaius Baltar on Battlestar Galactica.

As for what, exactly, this version of Alex is, and why Ben seemed a little less surprised than one might expect at seeing her - she's obviously very similar to Yemi, and, to some extent, to Christian. Is she one and the same as Smokey? I don't know - the monster had receded into a vent at one side of Ben, and Alex suddenly appeared on the other side. Are the monster and the personalized apparation(s) two sides of the same coin, or in cahoots?

I'm also struck by the fact that Ben, our purported villain, in this episode clearly went on the hero's journey (see Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces). Ben was called to adventure (his return to the island), refused the call (tried to avoid smokey), was assisted by a great aider in Locke, and was forced to journey into the underworld (smokey's lair), only to die and be reborn. Folks, if Campbell is right, then Ben just became a hero in the Lost myth, in a sense, following a tragic/heroic story much like Darth Vader, who fell from grace only to be redeemed again at the end of his story.

And with that blatant Star Wars reference, I'll leave you with another - the title of next week's episode is "Some Like it Hoth," a clear wink to the ice planet in "The Empire Strikes Back." The episode appears to (at last) focus on Miles Straume, his ghost-whispering talent, and why it was he went to the island. Until then, loyal Lostophiles, Namaste!