But let’s get down to business. Ladies and gentlemen, dead is dead.
Tonight’s Episode: Dead is Dead
Last week, Miles made sure that we understand a key piece of the time travel equation: that “whatever happened, happened.” In what will be a classic Lost scene from season 5 in my book for years to come, Miles and Hurley went back and forth, leaving us to identify with Hurley, yet ponder-then-accept the explanations of Miles. What does it mean to say “whatever happened, happened”? Well, according to Miles: creepy little Ben was always shot by Sayid; Jack always refused to help Juliet out with the surgery; Sawyer and Kate always decided to take him to Richard Alpert; and Richard always took him into the Temple. Seems simple enough, right?
Well, not exactly. Miles also touched on something else…that although history is already written/decided for the Dharma Initiative folks, 1977 is now the ‘present’ for our survivors…which means they can die…
And that, my friends, brings us to tonight’s episode, “Dead is Dead.” It looks like we’re going to get another pseudo lesson in the nuts and bolts of time travel. While it may seem so simple and fundamental at first glance, I’m wary that they are making such an effort to make sure we, the audience, understands the concept (see obvious episode title). Why wary, you ask?
Well, I think it might mean someone is going to die tonight.
And if I am understanding the lesson of the episode title correctly, if anyone dies this week, in any time frame, they are dead. Dead is dead. It happened.
But I could be very wrong. (See: John Locke coming back to life, which I’ll touch on in a bit.)
Wait…you seriously think someone is going to die??
I know, I know. I appear to have gone off the deep end. And let me tell you that I hope I’m wrong. But let’s prepare ourselves for this by thinking it through. For starters, there are definitely some characters that I would categorize as safe:
(1) Miles – This guy needs to use his I-can-talk-to-the-dead powers to speak with the following people: Jacob, Christian Shepherd, Claire, and probably many more spirits we haven’t met. He’s totally safe.
(2) Daniel Faraday – He is even safer than Miles. We haven't seen him for weeks (really bugging me, by the way), and know he will eventually sneak into the Orchid station to do...something. Faraday has a lot of story left.
(3) Jack -- So, we still don’t know why Jack came back to the island. And we definitely need to see Jack encounter now-living Locke. Jack’s not going six feet under tonight…I promise.
(4) Hurley – Similar to Jack, we haven’t been told why Hurley returned to the island or how he found out about Ajira 316. He’s not going anywhere.
(1) Sayid – Unfortunately, this one is pretty obvious…and most of you have picked up on it. Sayid’s backstory was finished a couple weeks ago, he completed what he thinks was his purpose (shooting little Ben), and he is currently in the dangerous position of running around this messed up island by himself. Things are not looking great…
Man, this is a freaking ALL-STAR list of characters, including four characters that have been around since episode 1 of season 1…and one who (I believe) is the most interesting and best-acted character on the whole show. Eeeek, this is going to be crazy.
That is unless, of course, no one dies.
Sidenote to Charlie: writing previews and speculating can be frustrating sometimes!
Guest Stars Tonight!
Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Tania Raymonde as Alex, Sonya Walger as Penelope "Penny" Widmore, Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Sterling Beaumon as young Ben, Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana, Said Taghmaoui as Caesar, Melissa Farman as young Danielle Rousseau, Brad William Henke as Bram and Matt Hoffman as Jed.
Alrighty, so this list opens up a whole new can of worms. Looks like we might be all over the map-of-time tonight. Unfortunately, this might suck since there is a high probability that we won’t have a significant amount of advancement anywhere. But nevertheless, it looks like we will see: Richard Alpert and little Ben inside the Temple (1977); some interaction between Ben and young Danielle (late 1980s); some scenes involving Alex as a teen (it is the actress we’ve seen play Alex before, not a ‘young’ version) (2000ish); Ben interacting with Penny…and probably Desmond, too (2008); and some action with the Ajira 316ers (2008).
All in all, the guest stars seem to indicate this we are looking at some major moments (oh man, just like Charlie's final centric-episode “Greatest Hits”?????) of Ben’s life.
I will also point something else out that seems unimportant, but it caught my eye. No Dharma members appear on the guest star list this week. After three weeks focused almost entirely on the Dharma storyline, maybe we’re getting a break from 1977 this week.
And if you scroll back up, you’ll see that the only one remaining is Benjamin Linus.
The Description for Tonight
To atone for sins of the past, Ben must attempt to summon the smoke monster in order to be judged.
Sweet mercy, what a fantastic description!! Let’s break down each clause…
“To atone for sins of the past…”
My first inclination (nay, the first very lengthy version of this post...) was an overview of the sins of Ben’s past. I was thinking about stuff like the Purge and all the other crap he has done over the years (I was at crap #19 when I stopped my list). This (I thought) would provide a nice opportunity for Ben to relive his mistakes and atone…not to mention a logical segue to flashbacks. But then I realized that it actually doesn’t make a lot of sense to do it that way. I hope I don’t lose you on this (it is a little time-travel-y): if Ben is atoning for sins he committed before 2005, wouldn’t he have ‘paid’ for them a long time ago? He summoned Smokey once before that we know of (when Keamy killed Alex)…so if Smokey had any "outstanding issues" with Ben’s sins, wouldn’t he have punished Ben at that point?
For this reason, I wonder if the sins he needs to atone for happened between the Frozen Donkey Wheel turn (2005) and the return to the island (2008). As far I can remember, Ben has committed two major atoning-is-definitely-needed sins (you'll note Sayid's '05-'08 murderous spree is not on here because Ben didn't technically commit those sins...):
1. Maybe killing Penny (Gosh, I hope I am wrong...)
2. Returning to the island
In regards to the #1, I would remind you that when Keamy killed Alex, Ben told Widmore that he had "broken the rules." It is possible that there is an eye-for-an-eye Article of the Island Constitution. But, it is also possible that since it was technically Keamy who actually killed Alex, Widmore could somehow get off from any sort of punishment. Follow me on this, though. If Ben kills Penny, he did it himself, and he might have some pretty serious consequences.
And if I am understanding the lesson of the episode title correctly, if anyone dies this week, in any time frame, they are dead. Dead is dead. It happened.
But I could be very wrong. (See: John Locke coming back to life, which I’ll touch on in a bit.)
Wait…you seriously think someone is going to die??
I know, I know. I appear to have gone off the deep end. And let me tell you that I hope I’m wrong. But let’s prepare ourselves for this by thinking it through. For starters, there are definitely some characters that I would categorize as safe:
(1) Miles – This guy needs to use his I-can-talk-to-the-dead powers to speak with the following people: Jacob, Christian Shepherd, Claire, and probably many more spirits we haven’t met. He’s totally safe.
(2) Daniel Faraday – He is even safer than Miles. We haven't seen him for weeks (really bugging me, by the way), and know he will eventually sneak into the Orchid station to do...something. Faraday has a lot of story left.
(3) Jack -- So, we still don’t know why Jack came back to the island. And we definitely need to see Jack encounter now-living Locke. Jack’s not going six feet under tonight…I promise.
(4) Hurley – Similar to Jack, we haven’t been told why Hurley returned to the island or how he found out about Ajira 316. He’s not going anywhere.
(5) Juliet – There are still too many questions about Juliet…what she knows, where she has been, etc. She is definitely keeping secrets that need to be revealed before she’s killed. She’s safe this week.
(6) Sun – Her ambiguous and bizarre scene in the weathered Barracks with Frank and Christian cannot be the end of her story. Christian said she has a journey ahead of her…and that journey won’t be taken/resolved this week. Sun is sticking around.
(7) Locke – Okay, so technically, Locke might already be dead. But he is obviously of some greater importance to the island and whatever great battle is forthcoming. Clearly, Locke has a lot left to do.
Okay. If they are safe…who isn’t safe?
This leads us to the following characters that have some element of potential-tragic-danger surrounding them:
(7) Locke – Okay, so technically, Locke might already be dead. But he is obviously of some greater importance to the island and whatever great battle is forthcoming. Clearly, Locke has a lot left to do.
Okay. If they are safe…who isn’t safe?
This leads us to the following characters that have some element of potential-tragic-danger surrounding them:
(1) Sayid – Unfortunately, this one is pretty obvious…and most of you have picked up on it. Sayid’s backstory was finished a couple weeks ago, he completed what he thinks was his purpose (shooting little Ben), and he is currently in the dangerous position of running around this messed up island by himself. Things are not looking great…
(2) Kate – It kills me to say this, but last week really wrapped up most of the loose ends on her backstory. She has grown up. She learned lessons. She has been redeemed. Her love "square" storyline shrunk significantly last week (especially with Sawyer). And the worst of it is, if she didn’t have this ‘mission’ to find Claire, she would have no storyline right now. Even that could be resolved by a deathbed wish from Kate to someone (Maybe Sawyer? Asking him to return the favor?) to promise to bring Claire back to Aaron. (I know you’re so mad at me right now, Charlie, because she would be another ‘hot girl’ to die…sorry…)
(3) Sawyer – Again, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Sawyer’s situation is a lot like Kate. He’s grown up. He’s learned the lessons. He fits in. He is in love with Juliet. He is in charge of Dharma security. All of these character developments are suspicious in my book. Granted I personally think there is more of Sawyer’s story to tell…but again, what is his storyline right now? While Jim LaFleur was a major player earlier in the season, his life is starting to unravel. Anyone else see him (gulp) dying a hero’s death?
(4) Jin – Tragically, I did not put Jin on the safe list with Sun. And it hurts my heart. Is there a good reason Jin should die? No way. But again with the storyline argument: what would the impact be on this story if Jin wasn’t there? There really wouldn’t be any, from my perspective. I don’t think it is likely he will die, but I don’t know…and for the record, I will seriously CRY if he dies. (Attention boys at our Watch Party: it will probably be the ugly cry.)
And finally…
(5) Benjamin Linus. Okay, kids. Sit back and get comfortable.
Tonight’s episode is going to be Ben-centric, which immediately shoots him to the top of my who-might-die list. The previews and guest star list (awesome, by the way) show us that we are going to fill up multiple question marks in his backstory, from Ben stealing Alex from Danielle to ‘tying up loose ends’ at the marina before Ajira 316. In my book, the biggest question mark in Ben’s past is what happened between him and Widmore on-island…how he allegedly ‘tricked’ Widmore into leaving. Anyone else hoping for a huge Charles Widmore presence in this episode to answer this question?? Cross your fingers!
I clearly need to prepare myself for a death. Who is it going to be??
Okay. If you want me to actually rank the most-likely-to-die characters in order, I would predict:
(1) Sayid
(2) Sawyer
(3) Ben
(4) Jin
(5) Kate
(3) Sawyer – Again, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Sawyer’s situation is a lot like Kate. He’s grown up. He’s learned the lessons. He fits in. He is in love with Juliet. He is in charge of Dharma security. All of these character developments are suspicious in my book. Granted I personally think there is more of Sawyer’s story to tell…but again, what is his storyline right now? While Jim LaFleur was a major player earlier in the season, his life is starting to unravel. Anyone else see him (gulp) dying a hero’s death?
(4) Jin – Tragically, I did not put Jin on the safe list with Sun. And it hurts my heart. Is there a good reason Jin should die? No way. But again with the storyline argument: what would the impact be on this story if Jin wasn’t there? There really wouldn’t be any, from my perspective. I don’t think it is likely he will die, but I don’t know…and for the record, I will seriously CRY if he dies. (Attention boys at our Watch Party: it will probably be the ugly cry.)
And finally…
(5) Benjamin Linus. Okay, kids. Sit back and get comfortable.
Tonight’s episode is going to be Ben-centric, which immediately shoots him to the top of my who-might-die list. The previews and guest star list (awesome, by the way) show us that we are going to fill up multiple question marks in his backstory, from Ben stealing Alex from Danielle to ‘tying up loose ends’ at the marina before Ajira 316. In my book, the biggest question mark in Ben’s past is what happened between him and Widmore on-island…how he allegedly ‘tricked’ Widmore into leaving. Anyone else hoping for a huge Charles Widmore presence in this episode to answer this question?? Cross your fingers!
I clearly need to prepare myself for a death. Who is it going to be??
Okay. If you want me to actually rank the most-likely-to-die characters in order, I would predict:
(1) Sayid
(2) Sawyer
(3) Ben
(4) Jin
(5) Kate
Man, this is a freaking ALL-STAR list of characters, including four characters that have been around since episode 1 of season 1…and one who (I believe) is the most interesting and best-acted character on the whole show. Eeeek, this is going to be crazy.
That is unless, of course, no one dies.
Sidenote to Charlie: writing previews and speculating can be frustrating sometimes!
Guest Stars Tonight!
Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Tania Raymonde as Alex, Sonya Walger as Penelope "Penny" Widmore, Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Sterling Beaumon as young Ben, Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana, Said Taghmaoui as Caesar, Melissa Farman as young Danielle Rousseau, Brad William Henke as Bram and Matt Hoffman as Jed.
Alrighty, so this list opens up a whole new can of worms. Looks like we might be all over the map-of-time tonight. Unfortunately, this might suck since there is a high probability that we won’t have a significant amount of advancement anywhere. But nevertheless, it looks like we will see: Richard Alpert and little Ben inside the Temple (1977); some interaction between Ben and young Danielle (late 1980s); some scenes involving Alex as a teen (it is the actress we’ve seen play Alex before, not a ‘young’ version) (2000ish); Ben interacting with Penny…and probably Desmond, too (2008); and some action with the Ajira 316ers (2008).
All in all, the guest stars seem to indicate this we are looking at some major moments (oh man, just like Charlie's final centric-episode “Greatest Hits”?????) of Ben’s life.
I will also point something else out that seems unimportant, but it caught my eye. No Dharma members appear on the guest star list this week. After three weeks focused almost entirely on the Dharma storyline, maybe we’re getting a break from 1977 this week.
This would eliminate our 1977 survivors from my who-is-going-to-die list.
And if you scroll back up, you’ll see that the only one remaining is Benjamin Linus.
The Description for Tonight
To atone for sins of the past, Ben must attempt to summon the smoke monster in order to be judged.
Sweet mercy, what a fantastic description!! Let’s break down each clause…
“To atone for sins of the past…”
My first inclination (nay, the first very lengthy version of this post...) was an overview of the sins of Ben’s past. I was thinking about stuff like the Purge and all the other crap he has done over the years (I was at crap #19 when I stopped my list). This (I thought) would provide a nice opportunity for Ben to relive his mistakes and atone…not to mention a logical segue to flashbacks. But then I realized that it actually doesn’t make a lot of sense to do it that way. I hope I don’t lose you on this (it is a little time-travel-y): if Ben is atoning for sins he committed before 2005, wouldn’t he have ‘paid’ for them a long time ago? He summoned Smokey once before that we know of (when Keamy killed Alex)…so if Smokey had any "outstanding issues" with Ben’s sins, wouldn’t he have punished Ben at that point?
For this reason, I wonder if the sins he needs to atone for happened between the Frozen Donkey Wheel turn (2005) and the return to the island (2008). As far I can remember, Ben has committed two major atoning-is-definitely-needed sins (you'll note Sayid's '05-'08 murderous spree is not on here because Ben didn't technically commit those sins...):
1. Maybe killing Penny (Gosh, I hope I am wrong...)
2. Returning to the island
In regards to the #1, I would remind you that when Keamy killed Alex, Ben told Widmore that he had "broken the rules." It is possible that there is an eye-for-an-eye Article of the Island Constitution. But, it is also possible that since it was technically Keamy who actually killed Alex, Widmore could somehow get off from any sort of punishment. Follow me on this, though. If Ben kills Penny, he did it himself, and he might have some pretty serious consequences.
As far as the 2nd sin, we’ve been told that if you leave the island, you can never come back. Perhaps Ben coming back to the Island is an example of him breaking the rules (same Constitution, different Article) and he needs to plead his case for returning or else face the consequences.
Does this mean that the Island Constitution is totally okay with killing people, stealing babies, manipulating people, etc., as long as you are doing it for the island’s well-being? Um, apparently. But if you start acting on your own, following your own emotions or looking out for your own interests instead of the island’s, you have to stand before the island judge to plead your case…and the judge’s name is Smokey.
“…Ben must attempt to summon the smoke monster…”
Does this mean Ben will return to that hidden room in the Barracks where he summoned Smokey last season? Me thinks yes. But why the word ‘attempt’? I mean, he was pretty successful when he tried this before. Is Smokey going to pout? Is Smokey not going to come out? Will Smokey being having a bad day?
Or has Ben lost his ability to summon Smokey????
Hmmm…
“…in order to be judged.”
Remember right before Eko died, he saw his life flash before him through Smokey, via all those images from his past? I’m guessing Ben is going to get something similar. Either Smokey is going to give Ben a get-out-of-jail free card, or Smokey is going to go all crazy and throw Ben into numerous inanimate objects. This judgment is going to be a moment of truth for Ben.
My apology for using a swear word, but I think shit is going to hit the fan tonight!! (And I love it!!)
Does this mean that the Island Constitution is totally okay with killing people, stealing babies, manipulating people, etc., as long as you are doing it for the island’s well-being? Um, apparently. But if you start acting on your own, following your own emotions or looking out for your own interests instead of the island’s, you have to stand before the island judge to plead your case…and the judge’s name is Smokey.
“…Ben must attempt to summon the smoke monster…”
Does this mean Ben will return to that hidden room in the Barracks where he summoned Smokey last season? Me thinks yes. But why the word ‘attempt’? I mean, he was pretty successful when he tried this before. Is Smokey going to pout? Is Smokey not going to come out? Will Smokey being having a bad day?
Or has Ben lost his ability to summon Smokey????
Hmmm…
“…in order to be judged.”
Remember right before Eko died, he saw his life flash before him through Smokey, via all those images from his past? I’m guessing Ben is going to get something similar. Either Smokey is going to give Ben a get-out-of-jail free card, or Smokey is going to go all crazy and throw Ben into numerous inanimate objects. This judgment is going to be a moment of truth for Ben.
My apology for using a swear word, but I think shit is going to hit the fan tonight!! (And I love it!!)
So what do you think is going to happen??? Comment away!
Namaste,
Maggie
Namaste,
Maggie
2 Snarky Comments:
I agree with you that someone may die tonight and am not afraid to admit that no matter who it is a tear will be shed, maybe more than one. If Ben did in fact kill Penny, wouldn't that motivate Desmond to return to the island for a redemption killing? I don't know, just a thought.
Either way, I am really looking forward to tonight's episode, I think it will change a lot of what we know about the island.
And what about Rose and Bernard? Seriously, could they be the ones that died? I mean we haven't seen them in oh so long.
So I'm thinking this is going to be one of the top episodes of Lost so far, joining the ranks of The Constant as a major game changer!
Also what about Frank for the possible death? He's seemed to have filled his destiny of bringing the survivors back to the island. His backstory was that he knew the original pilot and didn't believe the cover story. After finding and rescuing the survivors, he proved to himself that the plane didn't go down as reported. Not a whole lot of mystery remaining for him.
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