SAWYER: What do they want?Whoa! Awesome! After several episodes of watching Ben physically and emotionally get the crap knocked out of him, proponents of the "Don't underestimate Benjamin Linus, he's already 100 steps ahead of you" theory were finally vindicated. Looks like Ben knows more than he let on. Go figure.
BEN: Me, James, they want me.
LOCKE: [Gun still pointed] How do you know all this?
BEN: Because I have a man on their boat.
We're Going Home Walt. We Are Going Home.
But who is the man on the boat? Maggie hinted at several suggestions in her post last Friday (Kelvin, Michael, Minkowski, Annie, Mikhail), and I've got my theory, too. Maggie hinted at it, but I think it's a definite possibility that the "man on the boat" is none other than... Michael Dawson, the daddy dearest of Taller Ghost Walt.
I know, right? Here's what I'm thinking. For one thing, ABC and the LOST powers that be have made no secret of the fact that Harold Perrineau will be returning for Season 4. Pun alert: you'd have to be living under a Black Rock not to hear that (God, what have I become?). This has led to rampant speculation as to how his return will play out, and how they will write him back into the story. When we last left Michael, he had sold out his fellow survivors in order to get Walt back. He and Walt were promised a safe exile from the Island as they set off on a compass bearing toward home.
So how then, if Michael and Walt were promised a trip home, could they return to the Island? Side note: Walt is scheduled to return, too, though it is unclear if it will be actual, living, breathing, flesh & blood Walt or ghosted, creepy, deep-voiced spiritual-guide-of-Locke Walt. But why would Michael (and Walt?) choose to return when all they wanted was to get off the Island? Answer: they didn't choose.
Benjamin Linus Modus Operandi 101 says, "Find what people are emotionally invested in, then exploit it." I don't have to connect these dots for you, do I? Because my idea is this: Ben knows that Michael desperately wants to establish a relationship with Walt. He's using that as leverage to make Michael (and perhaps, eventually, Walt) do his bidding. And the first assignment: get on this boat, find out who these people are and what they want, then report back to Ben.
The Son Also Sets
So - other than trying to figure out how the hell Michael got from his little dinghy to the freighter - that makes sense, right? What doesn't make sense, to me, is how Walt plays into the picture.
But hold on. Flash forwards have shown us how Jack and Hurley regretted leaving the Island. And Ben has promised multiple characters - most recently Sawyer - that a life off the Island would be, at best, a life unfulfilled. Could Walt end up regretting leaving the Island? Maybe he misses the Island because it was the one place he could really harness and use his abilities, and because on the Island, he had a parent who paid attention to him and even a creepy Uncle Locke who taught him to throw knives. The kid has spent a life being ignored, despite showing obvious signs of extraordinary abilities.
Not buying it? Try this. Obviously, the Matthew Abaddon Island Rescue Ops group wants to keep the Island - and its Oceanic 815 inhabitants - a secret. It's possible that Abaddon intercepted Michael and Walt and sent them back to the Island (against their will). That would actually play into Ben's hands, giving him the opportunity to promise Michael true freedom - if not for himself, at least for his son.
Chime In
What do you think? Can you shoot some holes in the "Michael is the Man on the Boat" theory? The comments section awaits your systematic tearing apart of my theory and your own ideas about who it could be. Discuss!
P.S. Gold Star to the first person who comments on the Ryan Adams reference. Scratch that, two gold stars.
Namaste.
.charlie
3 Snarky Comments:
When it comes to your theory, I don't know that a lot of holes can be punched in it. It makes a lot of sense.
As an alternative, though, I think it would be wicked cool if one of the Fantastic Four turned out to be Ben's man. Or in the case of Charlotte, Ben's woman. Of course, if Charlotte was Ben's contact, he would know that she's not "on the boat" now, wouldn't he? So maybe it's one of the other three? If it is one of the other three, my guess is Daniel Faraday. He's way too nervous.
We still haven't met Minkowski, though, right? He's another possibility.
I'm just saying, the Michael theory holds the most water, but there's at least a slight chance it's another of these new and unknown characters.
When it comes to the Ryan Adams reference, that's easy, tiger. I'm pointing to it right now. There it is, we are only one push from the nest. But instead of two stars, can I have two hearts? :-)
Bret.
Let's write a Ryan Adams blog. That was excellent.
Also - very interesting point on Faraday... something's up with him.
charlie-
do you really need a third blog? for reals. you're going to have to get two more dogs, and name one O Street and the other one some ryan adams song that i don't know. i'm sensing a pattern.
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