I had considered some of that, but Richard has been with Ben all that time. Surely he’d know if Ben was talking to a faux Jacob instead of the real thing. Especially since we now know Richard is sort of Jacob’s go between. Would Richard really just stand around without saying “you realize that’s not Jacob you’re talking to don’t you?”
Then there is the issue of Jacob not really telling anyone anything about Widmore, that I can recall. I don’t know whether to take that as a sign he’s a wildcard of some sort, a secret agent of some sort(either of Jacob or Flocke), or a non factor in Jacob’s mind.
Senjak
6302
When alternate reality Eloise told Desmond to stop asking about Penny, she said that his interest in Penny was evidence that someone had broken the rules (or words to that effect). Since then I’ve been expecting Eloise to reveal that the alternate reality is fake (possibly even some form of magical jail), and it was created with rules which must be followed or it stops being wish-fulfillment land.
Another problem with killing characters as we near the end of Lost, in addition to the “does death even count in this reality, or is it the other one that matters” confusion, is the fact that we still don’t have enough information to keep score. The ambiguity which was often intriguing at the beginning of the series is a liability now, because it prevents us from assessing the impact of (potentially) major events, like the death of a character, on anything else in the story. Instead of increasing tension, deaths under these circumstances run the risk of decreasing audience connection to the story.
Is the main-character carnage giving anyone else flashbacks to the way Joss Whedon likes to end a series?
Richard’s wife showed up, so although Michael said that all the ghosts on Definitely-Not-Purgatory-Island did bad things there, it’s apparently possible for someone who died elsewhere to visit. Maybe Locke is waiting for a situation of “Use the Force, Luke” importance.
garin
6303
As far as Ben/Widmore goes, there’s also the small matter of Widmore’s soldiers killing Ben’s adopted daughter.
I’m pretty sure in the Lighthouse episode Jacob made a reference to someone needing to get to the island. I think he may have been referring to Desmond more directly than Widmore, but in either case I think he was fully expecting the sub people and I think they are part of his grand plan, though it is very possible Widmore doesn’t realize it (or maybe he does… since he does seem to know Desmond is very important, etc).
I may be forgetting something but I don’t think there’s any specific statement made in the show that suggests Ben believes the cabin belongs to Jacob. He certainly tells Locke and maybe others than it is Jacob’s cabin, but Ben lies a lot.
At this point I believe that Ben was knowingly “with” Smokey for a while now, which is why he could call him in to the barracks when those military guys were there and it all probably ties into when he got that tumor or whatever in his back Jack had to operate on, like Jacob had forsaken him or something and Ben had been playing Smokey’s side all along though Richard and others didn’t know it, though they still have to explain what all that business about getting Locke off and back on the island was really about for all of this to really mesh.
It will be really interesting to see if they can actually tie all of this stuff up together in a semi-reasonable way with so few episodes left.
I may be forgetting something but I don’t think there’s any specific statement made in the show that confirms Ben believes the cabin belongs to Jacob. He certainly tells Locke and maybe others that it is Jacob’s cabin, but Ben lies a lot. I believe the other reference to it being Jacob’s cabin was a dead-Horace sighting, but logically that must have been Smokey wearing a Horace suit who said he was building “Jacob’s Cabin”.
At this point I believe that Ben was knowingly “with” Smokey for a while now, which is why he could call him in to the barracks when those military guys were there and it all probably ties into when he got that tumor or whatever in his back Jack had to operate on, like Jacob had forsaken him or something and Ben had been playing Smokey’s side all along though Richard and others didn’t know it, though they still have to explain what all that business about getting Locke off and back on the island was really about for all of this to really mesh.
It will be really interesting to see if they can actually tie all of this stuff up together in a semi-reasonable way with so few episodes left.
JD
6307
I believe the other reference to it being Jacob’s cabin was a dead-Horace sighting, but logically that must have been Smokey wearing a Horace suit who said he was building “Jacob’s Cabin”.
According to Lostpedia, “Horace appeared to Locke in a dream.” So, Smokey involvement is not a requirement I guess.
Can I ask a question? Aren’t the post-atomic-blast Losties (the ill-fated Jin and Sun among them) all still back in the late 1970s, or did I miss something?
Edit: on the other hand, clearly some of them are the returnees to the island from this decade (from the 2nd plane crash) so when did the timelines meet up again? After the blast?
Nope, the blast moved everyone back to the present (2007?).
nabeel
6310
If you remember in the season premier, they all woke up at the site of the imploded hatch, so they came back to present time. And of course, they coincided with the rest of the people like Sun and Lapidus who were already in present time.
Episode description that Zap2It has for this week’s show:
Locke’s motivations are finally revealed.
Any ideas on if the Box-that-can-give-you-anything-you-desire will pop up again (from the Locke’s dad/original “Sawyer” episode)?
If you listen to the podcast, they don’t like that so much. It’s up there with Kate’s Plane in the list of things that they wish they had never mentioned in the first place. I think they want for you not to think that that is an important thing at all any more.
Also on the podcast, the people wonder why Kate isn’t a candidate so that will be covered. No hard confirmation on The Fahey’s death (somebody asked in an email why nobody was talking about him when they got to the surface), but some vague hemming and hawing. Sun and Jin are definitely one hundred percent dead, and they sort of backhandedly confirmed that Sayid was either dead or we were really, really supposed to think he was.
bloo
6314
I always took that as bullshit from Ben, masking his communications network, submarine, and non-island connections.
drewl
6316
I heard some depressing news on a radio show this morning that the creators are never going to wrap up alot of the questions that have plagued us because they don’t have enough time.
Spoiler? Really?
Even ignoring the fact that “Episode description that Zap2It has for this week’s show” should be sufficient for you to deduce that a spoiler MAY follow, I think what he wrote after that doesn’t even come close to qualifying as a spoiler considering it doesn’t actually reveal the dude’s motivations and how surprised could you possibly be that the motivations of Flocke (and very likely Jacob! Spoiler!) will be revealed soon when there are only 3 episodes left in the series?
I call no spoiler. WMC’s guide description is even longer. SHOULD I SPOIL IT!@?@
Damn. I didn’t even mention the guest star. I’m just glad we’re maybe going to finally find out why Still Unnamed Mysterious Evil Guy Who Is Also A Deadly Fart is such a bastard. Maybe. This is Lost, though.
