That scene was awesome, i think its the first time i see Ben really scared of someone.
The instant that Dogen related his backstory I turned to my friend and said “They took his boy!”
And yes, Ben’s eyes getting even wider (which I did not know was possible) upon finding Sayid was great.
More Lapitus! And I think Jin’s episode is gonna be awesome.
Something occurred to me last night: Now in this final season we’re to believe Jacob’s people represent the “good” side of the equation, even after his people massacred the Dharma Initiative folks.
Or does “good” in Lost-land simply mean “protective of the island”?
It isn’t yet clear whether either is good or evil.
Worse, yet: apparently even Richard Alpert - Number Two - has been unaware of what this whole thing has been about - which means that the rest of the flunkies sure as hell don’t know.
So, essentially, the entire population has been taking it in faith - often with ferocious conviction - that all of their operations (atrocities, as you mention) have been towards the service of some important goal.
Forget moral ambiguity, they don’t even have an idea of what is going on.
It’s a cult.
When Unlocke told Sayid that he could have anything in the world, did anyone else think of Ben’s magic box that summoned Locke’s father?
Man, I’d completely forgotten about that thing.
Given that nothing happened with it, I suppose it could be explained as having been metaphorical, yeah?
HRose
5648
Only if you think he actually accepted that way.
My interpretation is that Sayid didn’t want to kill the other man, he decided right the second he saw Locke, not before. He sees a dead man (after the spook sounds and movements) and after a short hesitation he tries to kill him. He decides right there to do it because of what he sees.
I’m just brainstorming here, but what if the two sides are supposed to represent individualism (Smokey) versus collectivism (Jacob)? So Jacob recruits a mass of people to (literally) execute his will against the Dharma Initiative. Smokey appeals to self-interest to get people on his side. Both are tools that can be used for good (e.g., accomplishing complex goals only possible through cooperation, a lone voice refusing to yield to tyranny) and evil (e.g., unthinking obedience, narcissism & selfishness). Maybe there’s some weird converse rule for leaving the island – Jacob could only leave when alone, and Smokey can only leave with a group of sympathetic others.
Or the writers just figured it out a half-season before shooting began and are doing what they can to tie up loose ends and maintain interest.
I’m still leaning towards Smokey being evil, because he’s playing the “anything you want, I can make happen” card. That’s the Ego/Satan/Loki/Vader sales pitch. The Buddha/Lord/Balder/Kenobi goes for “yep, terrible shit happens, if I undid it you’d still be miserable because you’re looking for happiness in external stuff. My path won’t eliminate the suffering, it’ll make bearing it much easier.” The whole evil=black & good=white thing seems too telegraphed, though; I get the sense the showrunners would want to change up that cliche.
It’s as possible as anything else that might’ve been going on in his head, but there’s no evidence to that effect.
Pretty sure he even gives that reason to Unlocke.
In which case we could also interpret that he was bluffing just such, but what out of his character history would suggest that in contradiction to what the show explicitly presented?
So … Purpose, motivation, internal consistency aside for a moment - if Dogen was indeed the only thing preventing everyone and the sacred temple from being overwhelmed by His Dark Lord Himself, why the fuck was he not locked away in a goddamn lead bunker buried deep within the temple surrounded by fifteen Immortal Egyptian slaves and never allowed to step out the front fucking door to, say, hold direct audience with the crazy murder-girl who had to be forcibly ejected from the camp because she kept trying to split the residents’ heads open in the hopes of finding her baby inside?
Why did they not force him into a steel sarcophagus with a drinking tube and a long book?
And certainly not hang out alone in the tainted pool room with someone who just registered fifteen hundred Thetans on the car battery and is explicitly known to be in possession of a big knife.
(Which said Heart of the Temple had himself imparted earlier … Alone.)
At this point I’m fully expecting that the entire island is a crashed spaceship disguising itself as an island using the same nanobots that comprise the Locheness Monster, and they’re going to cop out with that whole advanced-technology-is-indistinguishable-from-magic thingy, because where else can they possibly take this in the handful of episodes that are left?
I’ve liked this season more than disliked it up until yesterday’s episode and now I have a bad feeling about where this is all going. I suspect I won’t like the ending one bit… here’s hoping they surprise me.
I watch this season and I can’t help but think “Vorlons vs. Shadows” 2.0. I hope it goes deeper than that.
Sheridan: “Now get the hell off our island!!!”
Jazar
5656
Sometimes you gotta just enjoy the moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0O9NVCVMwo
Hurley makes everything better …
That video actually reminds me of one of the things I’m really longing for from Lost. Those brief moments of levity amidst the perpetual horror and anxiety. When characters could interact with one another as friends. Tell some jokes, drive some balls, help one another knock together a shelter or ineptly attempt fishing.
Now everything’s always so goddamn angsty. Constantly.
Seriously? It was only like a couple of weeks ago that had Hurley and Jack interacting for like half the episode.
Yeah, there was some good material in there.
Hurley is like co-op.
Actually, that just sounds like religion in general.
