Recap: Dead is Dead

I was supposed to go to bed 19 minutes ago.

Smokey Cares

So "the monster" is a just monster, who judges and forgives? So I guess that means Eko and Montand were bad seeds that Smokey saw fit to eliminate. Here is where it gets interesting, after a quick dabble of research on ye olde lostpedia, I discovered that the blast door map featured a "Cerberus System" and 4 instances of the initials "CV", in 2007 the producers confirmed that Cerberus was what Kelvin and Radsinsky used to refer to Smokey, and "CV" stood for "Cerberus Vents". Obviously, this is what we saw tonight, the panel covered in small holes which Smokey seeped through, was clearly a CV. I need to do some further research to see where the other 3 CV's are!







Dead is Dead— NOT!
I love the title of this episode because the writers are constantly saying "dead is dead" themselves. Anytime they're asked about characters that died maybe coming back, and if they're "really dead". That's their answer. So I guess Locke is above those standard rules, officially. The only other character that they've expressed as being outside of that rule is Christian Shepard. What is his deal?!


The Softer Side of Ben
In my opinion, this was the first time we truly got to see Ben and his real motives. Up until now it's been a guessing game of whether or not he was being genuine or lying (he ever lied to Ceasar in this episode). When ol' Smokey surrounded him, we got to see what mattered to Ben: Alex. It was all reinforced by flashbacks of him saving Alex and even saving Rousseau (by telling her to run the other way when she heard whispers), and then going so far as to nearly avenge Alex's death, but ultimately failing because (it appeared) he realized it was wrong. All unimpressive CGI aside (and man, was it terrible) the Smokey scene was pretty epic AND revealing. Ben has a heart after all. Will he follow Smokey's instruction and follow Locke?

Smokey, the Ghost Maker
I also think this episode offered the definitive proof that all the odd ghosts that have appeared on the island are incarnations produced by Smokey as guidance or judgement. Are the ghosts off the island produced by Smokey?

3 Different Actors, 1 Very Bad Widmore
He's definitely being set-up to be a VERY bad man. The sort that tells a flunky to do his more difficult tasks, like killing a woman and her baby. However, how can we overlook the parallel to Ben and Locke? Ben told Locke that he had to kill his father, then to perpetuate this chain, Locke, in-turn, got Sawyer to do the dirty work. These island leaders are a bunch of buck-passers!

Another interesting thing, was when Ben mentioned that Widmore had offspring with an "outsider". I guess this confirms that Penny is not related to Eloise Hawking and her mother is not anyone we've met on the island. Widmore also claims that it was the island that wanted Alex and Rousseau dead and that they would die anyway. Is this to be believed, since they have both been killed OR not believed since their deaths occured years after Widmore ordered their deaths according to his orders from the island?

Pen & Des
Theory confirmed: Ben DID go to kill Penny for revenge when we saw him mysteriously bloodied before the Ajira flight. No big surprise. We did learn that he was unsuccesful in killing anyone (thankfully!) and that Desmond is a bad @$, but I guess we already knew that. Yay.

File Under: Time Travel, We Still Don't Get It
When Sun showed Ben the Dharma class of 77, he acted as though he was surprised and didn't know how they were there. So, either he's lying (I can't think of a reason for that in this situation) or he's telling the truth, which means he has no recollection of them in his life as a child. I don't really know what that means as I am in the Hurley/Miles boat of confusion. If it makes sense to you, please enlighten us all.

Et tu, Brute?
Back at the people we don't care as much about camp, Ben gave Caesar the ol' 'didnt' see that coming' shot in the gut. He might not be dead though (see lil' Benji). That was sudden, and I kind of like it when our guys get the job done so we can move onto more important portions of the story. Ilana is shaping up to be the next Ana Lucia. What's her deal? Where are they taking Frank and what the crap does "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" mean. Poor Frank! Maybe Ilana is an Egyptian!