'Letters from the Flame': 'Lost' about 'Dr. Linus'? I have your answers

We're coming up on another episode of "Lost," but it's not too late to go back to "Dr. Linus" and answer a few of your burning questions. In today's mailbag: Alex! Ilana! And a certain denizen of a certain sub. No, not the $5 foot-long variety. This isn't a "Chuck" blog, people. I thought we'd established this by now.

How did the principal know that Alex could be used as a bargaining chip against Ben? There are lots of students in that school ... Why choose Alex?
Artz
 
Given that there were only five students in Ben's after-school History Club, I assumed that Reynolds just kept tabs on those five in terms of being able to hold them over Ben's head.
 
Why do you think once Smocke came to Ben that he told Ben he should kill Ilana if he had the chance when I would think that Smocke could just as easily kill her like he did to all those who stayed in the Temple? This is the second chance that Smocke could have easily killed her...the first time being right after he came out of the statue and walked off with Richard into the jungle...so why hasn't he killed her yet considering she is a threat to him?
Jacoby
 
I went back to watch her scene with Jacob in "The Incident," and he doesn't touch her. Not sure if that's because he already HAS touched her, or the nature of her injuries in that Russian hospital make touching her impossible. Nevertheless, if Smocke COULD kill her, I feel that he would. It never occurred to him that Ben could change, because in his mind, people CANNOT change. His recruits so far have confirmed his theory, but Ben's the first to break with Smocke's plans. Not Claire. Not Sayid. Not Sawyer. (Maybe.) But BEN. Amazing.
 
Do we think that, had Locke gone through with his attempt to hang himself in "Jeremy Bentham," he would have failed (a la Richard's "I can't kill myself but you can do it for me")?
 
Also, is it possible that Jacob wanted to die at this point -- that this is the "progress" needed to get to the proper end?
Deb
 
I suppose you could look at Ben's entrance into the scene as proof positive that Locke's plan DID fail. After all, Jack's suicide was prevented by a car crash, not a physical inability to jump. But trying to "prove" this is impossible: The cause-and-effect cycle keeps circling back on itself in instances such as these.
 
As for the second question: Absolutely. Here's my take: Jacob needs people to stop needing him, plain and simple. He's lifted them up as far as he can take them, but for progress to reach the end point he clearly envisions, he needs to take himself out of the equation. It's the age-old saga of the wise elders removing themselves from the scene so the young hero might reach his/her full potential. See: Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, etc.
 
When Alex was killed, it seemed to me that Ben was surprised. He seemed to believe that it was impossible for Alex to be killed there, and I think he said something like "he changed it." In this episode, he suggests he chose the island over Alex, indicating he knew she was going to die. Do you think we'll ever get an explanation for the "he changed it" line after Alex's death?
Tom
 
With Widmore's return to the Island, I think we'll start getting a download on what the "rules" are, both in terms of Ben/Charles, but also Jacob/The Man in Black. I bet that if Smocke had made Charles the offer he made to Ben as the latter dug his own grave, Ilana would have a hole in her chest right now.
 
Ben's shock in that scene was a matter of his shattering of faith over an intense, personal loss. He truly felt that by believing in the Island, in believing in his status as leader, in believing in the unseen entity of Jacob, that Alex couldn't die. Maybe he thought he could talk his way out of it. Maybe he though Keamy's gun would inexplicably jam. But he felt that his decision to save Alex was "blessed," if you will, by the Island, and with her death started the long, slow decay of faith that only ended with Ilana's forgiveness this past week.
 
But now that Charles Widmore's on the scene, let's look at a few questions readers had about his re-insertion into the "Lost" mix.
 
WHEN is Widmore coming from? We know Widmore got to the island via sub, don't know what for or who he'll join ... but when is he coming from? The original 2007 timeline? Or from the sideways timeline?
Jacobita
 
2007. For starters, I think introducing people from two different timelines would be a huge mistake. Secondly, only one person can "see" both timelines now, and that's Desmond. Maybe Des imparted what he saw to Widmore, which could be why Charles is there now. (Of course, who's to say that Des and others aren't in another part of the sub now? Penny? Eloise? Wait for it...wait for it...Walt? I know. The latter's a pipe dream. But it's a pipe dream I love. So give it to me for just a little while longer, thankee sai.)
 
Any takes on which side Widmore is on? Are we assuming he is the one Jacob said was coming? I guess he really didn't need a lighthouse.
Lisa
 
One thing I didn't see though ... we know Jacob sent Hurley/Jack to the "lighthouse" to put up a sign for someone who was coming to the island. After Jack broke the mirror he said that "they'll find another way" ... does this mean that since we saw the sub coming in with Widmore inside -- that Widmore is on Jacob's side?? If not, is someone else coming? I always thought/wanted that person to be Desmond and/or Eloise ... what do you think?
Lostie47
 
Well, the last time we heard about anyone coming to the Island, it was in "Catch-22," and I think we know that Naomi wasn't exactly summoned by Jacob. In any case, the lighthouse was not intended to guide whomever Jacob referred to in that episode to the Island: It was a fake-out designed 1) to get Jack and Hurley to safety, and 2) to let Jack understand his importance in the war to come. Whatever the lighthouse's previous purpose was, it was not employed during the episode "Lighthouse."
 
As for the question of whose side Widmore's on: I'd like to think that he's trying to be on the side of good, but ultimately will succumb once again to his baser impulses. It's just more interesting to watch him try to help while everyone questions his motives, then have him stab them all in the back once he's earned their trust. I think once the show fills in the gap that explains his attitudes toward Locke in "Bentham," then we'll have our full answer.
 
OK, this doesn't really have anything to do with this episode, but what do you make of Christian's ultimate role in this battle? From what you've said so far, it seems that Christian/Cabin Christian was just a temporary vessel for MIB to make his initial recruiting moves before morphing into Smocke. But I have to believe Christian has a bigger purpose here (especially considering his two kids are apparently the main peeps on both sides). Maybe I just don't want to believe Christian is simply a way for Jack to work through his issues and rise to his complete self, but I'm still waiting for his ultimate payoff.
A-Rob
 
I'll have a lot more to say about this in the next Great "Lost" Debate, in which Rick Porter and I are going to look at the history of bad parents in the show and how the sideways timeline might be attempting to rectify that. Instead of looking at the seemingly small triumph of Jack over his daddy issues, look at the way in which the elder generation(s) on the show have utterly failed their offspring. It goes well beyond a simple "my daddy didn't love me enough" and onto "my parents left me a world that was worse off than the one they inherited."
 
When the show talks about "destiny" and "free will," what it may be talking about is the age-old dichotomy of "nature" versus "nurture." It's difficult to see we have the ability to choose when so many things are out of our control. As my podcast compatriot Todd VanDerWerff pointed out in his recap of the episode, "We all have the ultimate decision over our own lives, but we're also limited by certain factors, by where we're born, by the kinds of people we have as parents, by the very makeup of our physical and mental beings." The people we see in the sideways timeline are recognizable, but still different due to the factors that Todd lists.
 
In some ways, Jacob's removal of himself from the playing field (with the small, yet notable exception of his conversations with Hurley) mirrors the need for people to remove the stigmas inherited from their parents, those roadblocks that have prevented them from evolving into the type of people needed for Jacob's work to truly end. But here's the catch: It's not merely Jacob who needs this work to end. It's humanity as a whole that needs it. That's the secret that The Man in Black cannot grasp, and that's why Team Jacob still has a fantastic shot to triumph.
 
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Photo credit: ABC