Brandon Otte's Blog

Lost: The Man Behind the Curtain

What the hell kinda creep show was that episode!!!!!!! OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!

Locke is dead! Well, at least that’s what the episode would have us believe by the final credits. I watched at work and therefore have no insight into his actual deadness from the “Scenes from Next Week.” But, for all intents and purposes, Locke is dead, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

What an episode!

With the announcement that the producers and writers of lost have the rest of this season and then only 48 more episodes to go before the series winds down, they’re making good on their promise to answer a few questions – or at least shake a few things up. Let’s take a look at a few of the questions that got answered this week:

What happened to the DHARMA Initiative? Well, they died. They were killed by the insurgents, or the original inhabitants of the island. According to one of the DHARMA cronies, they don’t know who these original inhabitants are or why they came there. But those inhabitants included Batmanuel and various other faceless worker drones. They gassed the DHARMA folks with some sort of toxin that made them bleed through the nose. They then came into DHARMA village, dumped all the bodies in a mass grave and seized the buildings for their own use.

Who are Ben’s parents? Roger Work Man and some dead lady. I know this wasn’t a big question in a lot of people’s minds, but it loomed large in mine. If Ben was born on the island, his parents must be important I assumed. Turns out, though, that Ben wasn’t born on the island at all. In fact, he was born somewhere outside of Portland, a few months too early. Uncle Rico and some Blonde lady were out hiking in the woods when she decided it was time to pop one out. She died in childbirth, and Rico met the guy who would eventually connect he and Ben to the DHARMA project and bring them to the island. That relationship implied there’s a lot more back story to the characters of Ben, Rico and Mr. Goodsby (which I believe they called the DHARMA guy). When Ben and Batmanuel came back to dispose of the bodies, Ben calmly closed the eyes of Mr. Goodsby.

Who is Jacob? Well, we didn’t really get a complete answer on this one. But as far as I can tell, Jacob is either some sort of creepy telekinetic ghost, or part of Ben’s brain gone haywire. I guess it depends on who or what you believe while watching one of the creepiest Lost segments ever. Ben took Locke to an abandoned cabin, where he started talking to an empty chair. Eventually, Locke called Ben’s bluff and pulled out a flashlight, which seemed to anger “Jacob.” That’s when things started getting freaky. There were a lot of jump cuts and things flying around. But I could have sworn I saw a human form in that chair by the end of the sequence. I can’t wait to get home this afternoon and check it out on the Tivo.

What were the Others going to do to the 815ers? Turns out, they were about to come in and take down some of the ladyfolk – specifically Sun, but also possibly Kate and various others. Juliet told Jack about the plan, but he didn’t tell any of the other 815ers. When they confronted Jack with the tape of Juliet’s notes to Ben, Juliet explained how things were about to go down. Jack responded with “Looks like we have some catching up to do,” which certainly implies we’re about to learn a little more about what happened to him in Othersville.

Why didn’t Eye Patch Man die? Because the phaser was set to stun, not kill, silly.

I think those were the big’uns that were addressed in this deliciously great episode. All these answers are wonderful, but it certainly brings up a lot more questions. For instance, I assumed that Batmanuel was ‘bout the same age as Ben. Turns out, he was an insurgent when Ben first came to the island. Also, we now have a new love interest for Ben in Annie, who gave him a carved wood doll that he still carries around with him. She was never addressed when the purge took place.

There’s also fun little facts like Jack being treated as a savior by the 815ers (Sun’s “Jack would never do anything to hurt us,” comment was pretty cool). Also, we learned that Uncle Rico was the guy that Hurley found in the van (and we found out that Ben killed him and that he was an alcoholic). We also learned that Ben was abused as a child. We also learned that the Submarine is old. There were also all sorts of new names and faces to try and remember this week (courtesy of the nametags worn by DHARMA employees). In fact, we learned quite a lot this week, and I know I’m forgetting something.

Here are some fun Bible facts for you (according to Wikipedia and Bible Gateway): Jacob was the son of Isaac. After betraying his brother Esau, he wrestled with God in the desert. Once he returned to his homeland and was forgiven by his brother, he had 12 sons – the twelve tribes of Israel. Of those sons, Benjamin was the youngest. His mother Rachel died in childbirth (hmmm...). Here’s Jacob’s blessing on Benjamin as Jacob died: “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.” (Cheery!)

After weeks off of reporting on the island, I come back with a post that is less plot and more geekboy fandom. I make no apologies.

Here are the questions (more than usual this week):

1. Is Locke really dead?
2. What happened to Annie?
3. Why did Alex give Locke a gun when they went to see Jacob?
4. What the heck really happened when they went to see Jacob?
5. Who were the original inhabitants of the island? Are they really connected to the Adam and Eve that the 815ers found in the caves?
6. What did Jacob or Ben mean when he said "Help Me" to Locke?

Posted by Brandon O at May 10, 2007 9:09 AM