DonnaK:  The usual….

SPOILER ALERT!!!! SPOILERS LURK BELOW!!!! STOP READING IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED!!!!!

I know I missed last week’s run-down, so I’m going to have to cover both last week and this week in the next day or two to play catch-up. My apologies, but I think you all can understand why I got behind. :(

“Dead Is Dead” is honestly one the crucial episodes I’ve been waiting for for some time. I’ve been dying for some clarification about how and who the island “chooses” and who it has now chosen to be its “representative”, for lack of a better term. It also answered a lot of long-standing questions about the relationship between Ben and Charles and hopefully put a lot of doubts and speculations to rest. I loved this episode from beginning to end and wouldn’t have changed one damn thing about it. I’ll try to keep this brief, but you know how long-winded I can get when I get into something good. So, without further ado, the list.

—I’m going to start with the past segments as they provide all the context for the present and answer quite a few questions. We begin in the past right after the island saved young Ben’s life. Charles rode into camp on horseback and had a brief showdown with Richard, who coolly informed Whidmore that “the island chooses who the island chooses”. Whidmore somehow didn’t seem overly impressed with that answer to me. It seems to me that if the island, either through Jacob or other means, deems something to be so, then it MUST be so. The island is, in a sense, infallible within the context of this world and in particular with The Others. To question that word is akin to questioning the word of God - it just isn’t done. And yet Whidmore shows doubt here and, later, both questions and defies the words and rules of the island. I promised a post a while back where I was going to go into some of the God metaphors used on Lost, but I was still missing some important pieces at that time. This episode I think gave me enough of the pieces I think I’ll need to write that post and go out on a LOT of limbs to make some predictions. But here’s one for you right now. There’s been a lot of discussion going back and forth about who the bad guy is - Whidmore or Ben. I think this episode gives us the final answers to that question. Whidmore is the bad guy, and Ben is good. That’s my early prediction and I’m sticking to it like glue.

—The next scene we saw was a young Ben and younger Ethan outside Danielle’s tent. Clearly Ben had been sent here to kill Danielle, but couldn’t do it the moment he saw the child. He spared Danielle, after a few nefarious words of course, and then took baby Alex for himself. This “defiance” of course made Charles, who seemed to be the “leader” of The Others (not counting Richard, of course) angry as hell. He wanted to know why Ben hadn’t killed Danielle and why he stole the baby. Ben claimed the island never said anything about killing the baby and wouldn’t back down to Charles, no matter how angry Charles got. Richard sat in the background, watching the scene unfold with tremendous interest. Ben was of course right - the island didn’t want Alex killed, and, given that we know how much help Danielle gave the island’s prized Oceanic crew, we know it didn’t want Danielle killed either. Ben chose correctly - Charles chose poorly. One more point for Ben and one less for Charles.

—Flash-forward (in the past) to a slightly older Ben pushing a young Alex on a swing-set, looking for all the world like the perfect father. Richard approached Ben to let him know “someone” was about to be taken away. That someone, of course, was Whidmore, who was being escorted to the sub in handcuffs. Ben spoke to the very bitter Whidmore, who protested his banishment from the island to Ben. Ben calmly explained to Charles that Charles had simply broken too many of the island’s rules and decrees. Whidmore had been leaving the island regularly and had fathered a child - who we all know to be Penny - with an outsider. It was for these repeated crimes that Charles had been banished from the island. This directly puts the lie to everything Whidmore said to Locke in “Jeremy Bentham”. Ben did NOT expel Whidmore because of a feud. He did NOT use the wheel to send Whidmore away. Whidmore never knew where that wheel, if used, would send someone because he was taken away by sub. Whidmore’s entire story to Locke was a lie, from beginning to end. Contrast this to Ben, who, since his character was firmly established, to my knowledge has never directly lied save for when he said that Alex meant nothing to him. Again, points to Ben and points taken away from Whidmore. At the end of the scene, Ben stated categorically that he would do anything to protect the island, and Charles told him he wouldn’t sacrifice Alex. Ben reminded Charles that the island hadn’t wanted Alex dead, Charles had. And, clearly, since Alex was still alive and lived until Ben’s mistake in judgment - and Charles’ wrath - took her life, the island did not in fact want Alex dead. More points for Ben here.

—Flash-forward to the marina scene just before Jack and company were getting ready to board the plane to Guam to get back to the island. Jim and I were both right - Ben did call Charles from the docks and he did want to kill Penny in retribution for Charles killing Alex. I think he might have even done it, except the moment Ben saw baby Charlie all the resolve just rolled off his face. All the props in the world to Michael Emerson for the amazing acting he did in this scene. I felt his conflict all the way through it. He knew he shouldn’t be attacking Penny or Desmond, but his emotions got away from him. He wanted his vengeance, but he can’t bring himself to cause harm to children. Desmond, who of course wasn’t harmed in the slightest by Ben’s ass-backward gunshot at him, attacked Ben, punching him repeatedly and throwing him in the water. In the end, Ben couldn’t do it - he couldn’t hurt someone that the island didn’t want hurt and he couldn’t take vengeance for purely personal reasons. Interesting….

—Onto the present day. Locke woke up Ben, who looked completely stunned to see Locke alive. Ben tried to convince Locke that he had felt sure that the island would have resurrected Locke, but the shock on Ben’s face was hard to miss. I do think that Ben believed that Locke was supposed to come back to life, but seeing it truly happen is indeed something all together. It had to be a shock, to say the least. Locke wanted to know why Ben returned, and Ben replied it was to be judged by the “monster” for breaking the rules. Now, this is something that Charles would never have done - submit himself for judgment by the island. Ben knew he had done something wrong when he lied and that lie led to Alex’s death, and he was prepared to answer for it. More points for Ben….

—Ben cozied up to Caesar on the beach and made enough implications about Locke’s sanity that Caesar revealed his weapon to Ben. Big mistake.

—Locke found Ben rummaging through his old office in the Hydra station looking for a picture of Alex. Locke wanted to talk to Ben about “the elephant in the room”, i.e. why Ben killed Locke. Ben told Locke pretty much exactly what I had thought back in the “Jeremy Bentham” episode - that Locke needed to die for the island, but that Ben needed particular information from Locke before he died. I still don’t think that Ben wanted the murder to go down the way it did, but, as Ben said, he will do anything in service to the island. Locke was glib and said he had just wanted an apology and that if Ben was right and this had been what the island wanted the monster would forgive him. This is of course true. If everything Ben has done has in fact been good and true and both for and in the interest of the island then he would be spared. Ben’s journey to the monster was akin to going to confession and seeking absolution for his sins. The only question here was… would the island absolve him?

—Ben and Locke, while trying to leave the Hydra to get to the main island, were confronted by Caesar and a group of men. Ben, who of course had stolen Caesar’s gun, ended up shooting poor Caesar in order to get away. What interested me about this and the previous exchange with Caesar is why Ben felt the need to provoke Caesar the way he did. Did Caesar need to die? If so, why? It seems he did, because Ben was never judged or questioned for that decision. Was it done so Ben could get the weapon from Caesar to facilitate the next series of events at the Hydra? I’ll get to that in a minute….

—Ben and Locke reached the docks of the old Dharma station and The Other’s camp while Ben was in charge. Locke made a show of putting on his own shoes instead of Christian’s (nice touch) and asked why The Other’s had moved in here after the Dharma massacre as it didn’t seem like something the island would have wanted. Ben got indignant and told Locke he wouldn’t know what the island would want. Locke grinned and simply said “are you sure?”. Oooooo… alpha fight! Ben has been the island’s protector and voice for so long I don’t think it had really sunk in yet that Locke might be the new “chosen one”. This is a great mirror of the Jack/Sawyer fight going on in the ‘70s - Jack was so used to being the leader that he just cannot accept or do anything to help Sawyer be the new leader that he is. By contrast, Ben was now faced with Locke taking over his *looong* time leadership role… and was not only willing to consider it but actively followed Locke throughout the next part of the story. More points for Ben….

—Ben and Locke met up with Sun and Frank in Ben’s old house. Sun showed Ben the picture of the Oceanic crew in the ‘70s, which seemed to stun him more than a little. Sun then told Ben about meeting Christian and about Christian’s instruction about how John Locke would lead them to Jin. Ben, rather stupefied, showed Sun that Locke was alive and well and right outside. Locke assured Sun he could get her to Jin. Ben, now incredulous, demanded to know how, but Locke remained cryptic. Frank left to go back to the Hydra and Sun remained with Ben and Locke. Ben, while waiting outside for the monster, spoke with Sun and expressed his amazement at Locke’s resurrection and knowledge, saying he’d never seen the island do anything like this before. And yet… he continued to follow Locke. I think it’s important to note just how stunned Ben was throughout this and the following segments. He seemed completely thrown off guard by even the implication that not only was the island giving others instructions to follow Locke but that Locke seemed to know things he himself didn’t. And yet, despite his stupefication, Ben kept right on going and followed Locke. Yet more points for Ben….

—Quick jump back to the Hydra station, where Frank returned to find an uprising. Ilena - who had been the one escorting Sayid on the plane and clearly worked for Ben - had a cache of guns and were arming themselves. When Frank confronted them she coolly asked him “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” Frank didn’t know and got knocked out for his trouble. The shadow of the statue? Huh? That’s a new one, and an interesting one at that. It looks like we’re going to find out more about that bizarre statue after all….

—Locke emerged from the jungle and told Ben he would lead him to the monster. Ben, still stunned at Locke’s knowledge and confidence, followed without question, and was even more amazed when Locke led him and Sun to The Other’s “temple”. This was the place Ben was healed and also the place where the monster had dragged Danielle’s people when they first arrived on the island. Locke directed them to go under the wall, and Ben followed after giving Sun the instruction that if she ever got off the island to apologize to Desmond for him. Again, Ben simply followed Locke without question and even admitted that Locke was right - Ben was here to be judged not for returning to the island but for allowing Alex to die. Ben seems to be willing to give up all power and authority to Locke….

—Ben fell through a break in the floor and came face to face with a huge altar picturing the Egyptian god Anubis and what looked like the smoke monster. The entire temple was decorated in hieroglyphics - looks like everyone who called the statue and ancestry of the island to be ancient Egyptian was right. The monster appeared and took the form of Alex, who first forgave Ben and then slammed him into a wall and told Ben to follow every word and action Locke did and never to harm him. Ben agreed and the monster disappeared. Ben was judged and spared - he did indeed act in the best interests of the island all along. He was forgiven for his one error and he now knows that Locke is the new leader, which he has accepted. The points for Ben keep piling on….

What a fantastic episode! This really brought so many issues to the forefront and did an amazing job and answering many questions while still keeping us guessing about the big picture. Lost has a consistent level of quality that few shows have, and it’s so refreshing to see such quality programming every week.

Okay… floor’s open! I want to hear everyone on this one - there’s a lot to talk about! What did you all think of these developments? Let me have it!