- I thought a few weeks ago that we’d be heading back toward a more traditional flashback narrative, but didn’t think we’d be getting pre-Island flashbacks too. The Young Sayid flashback wasn’t really necessary and didn’t add anything anyway. I find it unfortunate that Sayid, an awesome character, has just pedestrian flashbacks, almost at a Kate or Charlie level.
- The kid playing Young Ben does a pretty good impression of how I would imagine a young Michael Emerson acting.
- The book that Young Ben gave Sayid was “A Separate Reality.” I have never read, and have no idea what it’s about, but is this an overt reference to the possibility that the future we have already seen may not come to pass based on things that happen in this past? (Especially considering the end of this particular ep.)
- Sayid = Henry Gale
- “A 12 year-old Ben Linus brought me a chicken salad sandwich. How do you think I’m doing” – Sayid, in the line of the night.
- Awesome seeing Roger Work Man again, as he went even further in his quest for the title of worst father of all-time in a show chock full of terrible daddies.
- Did the hostiles take children back then? During the discussion about killing Sayid, were the DI just talking about protecting their kids in general, or were they being more specific in that the hostiles kidnap kids?
- “Or I call Ann Arbor.” A reference to the DeGroots? Are they mythic figures in the same way that Jacob is? Are they real?
- Also, I do not trust Amy. Not even a little. Love Reiko Aylesworth, but I have a bad feeling about her character.
- MacCutcheon = everybody’s favorite scotch
- I miss regular Ben. It was nice seeing him in the flashbacks, but I miss in-control, one step ahead of everyone Benjamin Linus. (And who knows if we’ll see him again, based on the implications of the ending.)
- The “He’s our you” interrogation scene with Oldham was fantastic. Sawyer’s uncomfortability (a word or not?) translated directly to the audience. I loved the reactions that everyone else had to Sayid’s truth-telling and Naveen Andrews’ performance in this scene. He says he arrived on a plane, that he was here before, that he knows about the stations (and Radzinsky has great reactions to this knowledge) and that they are all gonna die, and he knows because he’s from the future, which he states very matter-of-factly. Really nice scene.
- Took me about 10 seconds, but I realized that young Ben provided the flaming van as distraction.
- “That’s why I’m here.” When Sayid said this, I initially thought that FutureBen told him that this was going to happen to him and that he had to bring Young Ben to the Hostiles. Guess I was wrong.
- Two more gems from Sayid: “Are you sure we’re going to Guam?” and “Can we get the next plane?” (Plus, his facial expressions in this scene were hysterical.)
And that gets us to that ending – and boy, was that an ending. Had I not discussed Sayid’s intentions with Angela during the commercial break, I don’t think I would have seen it coming. Probably because I really can’t believe that he really did it. If anything, I thought the gun would misfire or something or he would miss or anything other than Young Ben ending up shot dead on the first attempt. Maybe the Island doesn’t like Ben after all.
Anyway, I think this can play out in a number of different ways:
The Island intercedes and saves Ben’s life, a la when Locke was shot by FutureBen.
Jack saves Ben’s life and that’s one of the reasons why he was sent back in time with Sayid. I suppose Kate or Hurley could do this too, but Jack’s the doctor.
Ben dies and the future is changed.
Ben dies and becomes a spirit like Christian and (presumably) Locke.
I find #4 to be the most interesting and least plausible, if only because I’m pretty sure that Darlton have said that if you die on the Island, you stay dead, and while there have been visions of those who have died on the Island, they have never appeared to be corporeal and FurtureBen is certainly corporeal.
I also don’t think it’s #3 because I don’t think they would so easily eliminate Michael Emerson and FutureBen from the show. And it would change a whole damn lot of the future. (Unless you consider option #5, discussed below.)
I think #1 and #2 are equally likely, but I like #2 more and it fits in more with the whole “destiny” theme of the season. What I am most curious about is if this is the way it always happened. That would mean that FutureBen always knew that Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, etc. would show up at the DI at some point. I don’t know where I stand on this because I could see Ben always knowing this and keeping it under wraps because it would have sounded like crazy talk. However, I’m not sure how to read his future actions, especially off-Island, if this is true.
Also, I wonder, assuming Young Ben does survive, if he will take this to mean that the Island was telling him to be more patient – perhaps a real turning point in becoming the Ben Linus that we now know. Also, I wonder if he survives this, if this event helps shape him into the lying, manipulative, back-stabbing, information close-to-the-vest-keeping guy that is Ben 2007. Could Ben 2007's actions with Sayid have been pushing him toward this action? It could be read that Ben 2007 was trying to anger/enrage Sayid. I wonder...
But back to the ‘separate reality’ reference earlier in the show – maybe this could be explanation #5. If there’s more than one reality now, FutureBen could still exist in one and Young Ben be dead in another. I don’t know what this really means for the show, but if true, I would guess that the realities spilt somewhere around here, because as Christian showed Sun last week, Jack, Kate, etc. were part of the DI in Sun’s past. Honestly, while I think this alternate is potentially really cool, I’m not sure I want the show to go this route because it’s hurting my head to think about it.
But not that I’m actually thinking about it, I wonder if this “war” that Widmore has referred to is not just between two opposing groups, but between two competing realities, and the one that wins decides the future. I’m gonna draw a picture to illustrate what I mean…
I also wonder if this relates to the “unpredictable” result that Ms. Hawking referred to if the return flight to the Island was not done exactly the same way as 815. But I think I’m getting a little carried away and writing without thinking about it clearly. Maybe in a few days, I’ll read this and realize it makes no sense, so I think I’ll stop now.
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