Ben-centric episodes are always stellar. “Dead is Dead” automatically joins “Walkabout”, “The Man From Tallahassee”, “The Shape of Things to Come”, and (of course) the pilot in the pantheon of great LOST episodes for me. Definitely the best of the season so far. A densely packed episode that gave us some critical information about the Island’s mythology.
By 1977, it seems the Island has already begun its rejection of Widmore as leader. We know Rousseau crashed on the Island in ’88; shortly thereafter she gives birth to Alex, whom Ben takes, much to Widmore’s chagrin. Perhaps Widmore’s leadership is questioned when it is revealed that he’s been giving orders (as in Ben’s order to kill Rousseau and her baby) that aren’t necessarily coming from Jacob or the Island or whom/whatever. Of course, it’s still a few years later (3-4 years I’m guessing, judging by Alex’s age on the swingset) when Widmore is ultimately “banished”. This would mean that when Widmore says to Ben that he’s spent nearly 20 years searching for the Island, it’s really more like 16 years. I guess Charles is just speaking in generalities that can only be uttered when talking on the phone to your arch-nemesis.
At any rate, the best scene of dialogue was Ben’s conversation with Widmore on the dock. It seems that Widmore was abdicated for his indiscretions (leaving the Island, having a daughter with an outsider, breaking the rules). His parting shot (“You cannot fight the inevitable.”) parallels our time-travel mantra, “whatever happened, happened”. I suppose there’s a certain fatalism that we’re going to deal with from this point forward.
Leave it to these writers to make Ben something of a sympathetic character. Just when you love to hate a guy. First of all, we discover that Ben’s decision to take Alex and spare Rousseau’s life was an act of grace and an outright defiance of Widmore’s orders. Furthermore, Ben’s plans to murder Penny are thwarted when young Charlie playfully bounds into the scene. In the end, Ben is unable to follow through on his promise to kill Widmore’s daughter before being bludgeoned to a pulp by Desmond. I have to admit: I really felt sorry for the guy.
But don’t worry: our episode showed us that Ben’s anything but a softy. Ceasar: we hardly knew ye. And per Ghost Alex, Ben was already plotting how to kill off Locke a second time. So which reaction is legitimate? Ben’s “I-believed-but-now-I-see!” response when he awakes to see Locke? Or his “I’m-just-as-surprised-as-you” speech he gives Sun? Personally, I’m pretty sure Ben knew what he was doing when he killed Baldy and boarded him on Ajira 316 (as a proxy for Christian Shepherd). But it’s a credit to Michael Emerson’s acting (and the show’s writers) that either interpretation is plausible. Ben’s lied so much over the years, it’s just impossible to know with him.
But the real key to this episode was the judgment scene. The hieroglyphics in the Temple look Egyptian (which isn’t the first time we’ve seen markings like this) and they also hearken back to the back of the statue we glimpsed earlier this season. Jeff Jensen at EW makes an interesting point: the Egyptian sun god’s name was “Ra”; Richard Alpert, our eye-liner wearing Other who happens to look part Egyptian…his initials are “R.A.”. Coincidence? You decide.
Anyway, Ben’s judgment scene was riveting. It seems Smokey judges you for your past through calling to awareness a series of critical moments from your past. In a way, the whole scene brought clarity to the show’s premise of flashbacks and flashforwards, each of which help us make our own “judgments” of these characters. Ben’s fate, it seems, is intextricably tied to Locke’s and the journey they will share together. That’s an adventure I’m really excited about.
Other thoughts:
- Is it just me, or is Island-Resurrection Locke different? Like, in a good way. I’m not sure how he has this innate knowledge of the Island now. But I believe he’s going to be the key here to getting the Oceanic Sixers back to the right time. With Ben as his #2, of course.
- Who knew summoning Smokey was as easy as sticking your hand in an Others-style cave commode? Weird.
- I knew I didn’t like that Ilana. What say she’s an agent of Chuck Widmore’s? Maybe this is all prelude to the “war” that Charles Widmore spoke of to Locke earlier in the season.
- “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” I have a feeling this question will be with us for the next several episodes.
- Next week’s episode is entitled, “Some Like It Hoth”. I love it.
already & not yet 
I agree. Best episode of the season.So, here’s my theory (this has nothing to do with any message boards or anything. I just watched the episode. This comes from my Western Civ class):The smoke monster is either Anubis or Ammut, eater of souls in Egyptian religion. In Egyptian philosophy, when someone dies they approach Anubis the judge, where one’s heart is weighed against a feather. If the heart is lighter then the feather, then they came make their way to the afterlife. If not, they are devoured by Ammut. I’m pretty sure the hieroglyphic scene portrayed below the temple was this judgment scene. Since Smokey obviously judges people then I’m guessing he’s Anubis, but we have seen him get quite Ammut-ish before.So why does it let Ben live but kill poor Mr. Eko. Maybe because Ben was sorry for what he did and Eko was not sorry for protecting Yemmi. And what about the poor old pilot. All he did was go off course because of the storm. I love episodes that make Ben out to be a decent guy. The writers have done such a good job making his true motives and intentions vague. I’m still holding out hope that he’s doing things for the “right” reasons. Or at least maybe he will redeem himself in some way.Interesting conversation that Ben and Sun had about Locke coming back to life, when Ben says “even here, dead is dead.” Is Locke really alive or is he in the same form as Christian? But wait, is Christian alive? So confusing.I don’t remember, did Jin tell Locke about the monster pulling Montand below the temple? Is that how he knew where to go?I was listening to the Darlton podcast from a few days ago. It’s cool, because Damon is set firmly in the “whatever happened happened” camp and doesn’t think you can change the future, while Carlton thinks there is free will and you can change things. I think that tension will continue to play out for the rest of the season. I’m interested to see what goes on with Llana, but it looks like next week we’re going back to ’77.
I think you’re right about the Anibus thing. I’ve read Jeff Jensen over at EW and he hits on the same thing. Nice call. So, are we to assume some sort of Egyptian connection to the Island? I know that when you leave the Island (at least through the donkey wheel), you end up in Tunisia. Maybe there’s another exit / entry point somewhere in Egypt? I’m thinking Ben was allowed to live precisely because he was sorry for what he’d done. As we saw, Eko was unrepentant for his sins. I’m undecided about Locke. Is he really “dead”, but now shares in some kind of Christian-esque existence between life and the netherworld until the Island is finished with him? Or is he actually alive, just as he was before? Is this further proof that Locke is “special”? And how about Desmond Hume? Is he made of steel now? Seriously, I think the Island intervened to save him (a la Jack and Michael) because it’s not “through with him”.
On Facebook, I was asked if it was possible that Ilana actually worked for Ben. That got me thinking about a few things. Here’s my cut and paste job from our discussion. As for Ilana, it could be possible that she works for Ben, although she acts as if she’s never heard of him when Sayid tells her about Ben. I suppose she could be lying, but if she’s telling the truth, then it’s probably a long shot that she works for Widmore either. It seems that people who work for Widmore have a great understanding about who Ben is and what he’s capable of. So now I’m thinking she’s working for someone else, maybe a reconstituted Dharma Initiative group bent on taking over the Island again.
I still am confused about the fact that last week, we find out that when Ben is “saved” as a kid, Richard says he’ll never be who he would have been. But it still seems like he has the same powers. Any comment?I’ve always been fascinated by hieroglyphics. So much to tell in those pictures.I don’t even think Locke himself knows if he is alive or dead. He doesn’t seem to act like Christian, because Christian always appears and disappears. Locke isn’t doing that.Do you think Ben could lie to the Smoke Monster just like he does to people? Do you think he pretended to be repentant, even though after the “judgment” when he talked to Alex, she still brought out the killing of Locke idea? My favorite dialogue of the night was when Ben kept on asking Locke questions, and Locke called him on it, saying that now Ben knew what it was like not knowing all the answers. Could this be a sort of remission from Ben knowing everything, like when Richard told Kate and Sawyer that he wouldn’t be who he was supposed to be?Hands down, one of the best episodes ever. Let’s hope the rest of the season has this much spice.
Lane,I think the point about Ben being saved is this: the Ben we’ve always known has been a lying, conniving, manipulator precisely because Richard saved him. It’s as if we’re not seeing an alternate 1977 timeline…we’re seeing what always happened all along. As Farraday says, “whatever happened, happened”. So that’s why the Ben we see in the present seems to be the same rascal. Does that make sense?Personally, I don’t think it’s possible to lie to the smoke monster. I think Smokey somehow examines your consciousness and brings to mind certain memories as it “judges” you. Knowing that Smokey has spared him, I suspect we’ll see a different kind of Benjamin Linus from this point forward.
Lane, if he is pretending then I feel sorry for him, because I think Alex/Smokey will rock his world if he messes with Locke.I just thought of this today. Remember when Shannon tried to shoot Locke way back in season one and he just kind of fell back, but was ok. Maybe the same thing happened with Desmond when his milk carton blocked Ben’s bullet. I guess it’s just the island stopping the bullet like it did with Michael, because they’re both “special.”