WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. DON’T READ UNLESS YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, UNLIKE THE RED-EYE WHICH SPOILED AN IMPORTANT EPISODE OF HOUSE FOR ME BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T WARN ME WITH SUCH A WARNING AS THIS AND I’M STILL REALLY PISSED ABOUT THAT.
SUMMARY
This episode is Ben-centric. We learn that for whatever reason, the Island, in saving Ben, neglected to leave him the memories about how he got shot in the first place; this answers the whole “why he didn’t remember that Sayid shot him” thing. If you ask me, it’s a pathetic cop-out to attribute such mysteries to the “power of the Island” without explaining, like, why. Then, a really creepy Charles Widmore with hair talks to little Ben about stuff.
Next, we come back to Ben and Locke. Ben explains that by coming back to the Island, he “broke the rules” and wants to talk to “the monster” to be judged. Locke accuses him of selfish motives, and intuits that Ben is really searching for forgiveness for killing his daughter.
We get some pretty revealing flashbacks about how Ben obtained Alex. Essentially, he flat-out steals her from Danielle, instead of killing her and her daughter. He steals Alex to save both Danielle and Alex. We also get some really cute flashback scenes of Ben and Alex’s relationship as she grew up – everything from adorable pushing her on a swing to typical teenage rebellion. On a side note, the producers do a horrible job of making Ben look like a twenty-year-old. It’s just way too difficult to take thirty years off of that guy’s life, no matter how dark or long his hair is. It’s called, “suck it up and hire another actor.”
We also learn how Ben’s face got beat up. Apparently, right before getting on the plane, he went after Penny Widmore to try and get back at Charles Widmore for sending mercenaries that ended up killing Alex. He threatens to kill Penny, but can hardly do it when he sees that she has a child. Then Desmond tackles him and beats him within an inch of his life.
Back in the present, Ben and Locke meet Sun and Lapidus in Ben’s old house. (Sun was instructed by Christian to wait there until Locke came). Sun hangs out while Ben and Locke go chasing down the monster. They find it underneath the temple, and it surrounds Ben to “judge” him. Instead of judging him for all the other horrible things that he’s done, (like, you know, killing his dad, killing all of DHARMA, lying to everyone, being a generally evil sonuvabitch), the monster focuses on Alex.
Then Alex comes back to life (creepiest moment ever) and threatens Ben that if he doesn’t do exactly what Locke says, she’ll kill him. Then she disappears.
Quotes
Best Pwn: Locke, after Ben explains at length why he killed Locke in the first place: “I was just hoping for an apology.”
Closest that Ben Comes to Having a Heart: Ben: “It’s not an it, this is a child.”
Easiest to See as Dirty Innuendo: Locke to Ben: “We’re not going into your temple, Ben – we’re going under it.”
Questions
What lies in the shadow of the statue?
Hey, Lost producers, remember Claire Littleton? Yeah, so, where the fuck is she?
What’s Locke’s connection to the Island? What is he there to accomplish?
How did the Others split up? Obviously, one half stays with Alpert and the rest go with Ben – what’s the back-story there?
How will Jack, Kate, Sawyer, etc survive the eventual destruction of DHARMA?
Can Miles really talk to dead people? Why? How is this going to affect everything? If he can talk to dead people, can’t he just find out like, everything anyone would ever need to know?