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'Lost': Letter from the Flame, Volume 7
Exciting times here tonight, peeps, with the triumphant return of "Letters from The Flame" to the blog here. For newbies, I'll explain the drill: it's where I directly answer YOUR burning Lost questions. Sure, the whole "reader ask, blogger answer" trope is hardly an original one, but I've never claimed to be original in the least. The most original I ever got was in buying the Smashing Pumpkins debut album when nobody knew who the heck the Smashing Pumpkins were. It's been a slow, downhill slide into conformity from there.
But hey, enough about my lack of originality: you have questions that need answering! But a quick programming note: we'll be rebooting "We Have to Go Back" next week, coupled with a special something I have cooked up mid-week that should hopefully entertain. So all you Desmond fans rejoice! You'll see him in another life when we go back to Season 2. But for now, onto the questions!
Why would Ben (as a "good guy") still want to work for the island's greater good? The island or Jacob or whoever cast him out! The long con has been pulled on both Ben and on Locke by something greater. So, why the loyalty to the island on Ben's part? What can the island give back to Ben for all his efforts? Annie? His mother? What is it that Ben wants?
Chris
I love that this is in fact approximately forty-two questions, which is appropriate, in that it's one of the Numbers. But I want to extract the "long con" part out of this question, because I think you're right: the forces behind Cabin Christian utterly and totally pulled a con on Ben, because Ben is a major threat to their ascendance on the Island.
A lot of this theory is based on the flimsy evidence of Jacob, and Jacob's working relationship, so rather than give you some pseudo-definitive answer, let me at least tease out a scenario in which the forces of evil (which I'll call Black Stone for reasons that will be apparent by entry's end) con Ben into banishing himself from the Island.
The plight of Ben mirrors that of Angel in Season 5 of the show that bore his name: both are at the center of a prophecy in which the chosen one is unclear. In Angel, the creation of two vampires with souls muddled up the Shanshu Prophecy. In Lost, both Ben and Locke are possible candidates for Island leadership. But "Island leadership" is derived, ostensibly, through divine birthright. They are, much like MacDuff, from their respective mother's womb untimely ripped. Both birthed to women named Emily. And both having a prescient, innate connection with the Island.
This posed a riddle to Richard Alpert, seemingly head of the "Get Our Leader Here Now" Committee on the Island. His instincts seemed to go towards Locke, but in the end, Locke's hesitancy to embrace the intellectual/spiritual side of his essence forced Alpert's hand, leading Ben towards the place of power among the Hostiles, forming what's now known as the Others through a combination of existing Island citizens and those recruited to follow their cause.
Now, this cause is what gets us to interesting places: at some point after Ben took over, an emphasis on childbirth entered the fray, eventually superceding everything else of import on the Island. This worried Richard, who had always maintained some skepticism about Ben's role. Ben, not stupid, sensed the dissension among the Others, but maintained power through cunning psychology and his unique relationship with the entity known as Jacob.
Ben's cancer was the first sign that his relationship both to Jacob and to the Island was tarnished, in some capacity. One can look back at the totality of Ben's actions after the crash of Oceanic 815 as one of increasingly desperate improvisation, with each move pushing him further out of Jacob's favor and splintering the already tense factions within the Others. Throw John Locke into that mix, and you have all the workings of a coup, one that fully formed with the Others largely decimated, Ben held captive, and Jack having contacted the Freighter.
Ben thought all this to be the work of a spiteful Jacob, but what if Jacob's cry, "Help me!" in "The Man Behind the Curtain" meant that Jacob really no longer had any meaningful power over the Island, and that some other element was holding him captive? One can look at the tense cabin scene in "The Beginning of the End," with Hurley gazing upon Jacob's frantic eye, as a way of looking into the metaphysical power dynamic playing out on the Island. Think "The Black Lodge" from Twin Peaks, with less dancing midgets and more creepy Christian Shephards.
This element, which I'll call Black Stone, presents itself to Hurley, and Locke, but not Ben, having made Ben feel rejected by Jacob. Thus, when the three encounter the cabin in "Cabin Fever," the Black Stone has convinced Ben he's no longer welcome, and allowed a naive man such as Locke to take orders unquestioningly once inside it. I honestly think if Locke had told Ben precisely what had gone on inside the cabin, the game would have been up. Instead, Ben glumly leads a path to the Orchid, banishes himself, all the while cursing an entity who needs his help more than ever: Jacob.
At some point between waking up in Tunisia and visiting Jack at the funeral home, Ben realizes the extent to which he has been fooled. I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Black Stone sent its general to the Island at some point after Ben turned the donkey wheel in order to purge (word used intentionally) those unworthy in its eyes. That general? Matthew Abaddon.
But Abaddon's presence doesn't answer your major question: what does Ben want? I won't even pretend to try to understand what makes that man tick, and I'm resisting very much turning him into the ultimate hero of the show (as many have over the course of the last season), but I do think you're right in thinking Annie has something to do with Ben's end game. While I won't assign him the role of hero, I won't deny him a few scraps of humanity, either. I've long thought that the fertility experiments centered around Annie in some fashion, either solving the mystery that killed her post-Purge (if indeed she survived it) or as a way to somehow bring back her essence (i.e., childbirth gives physical form to one of the Whispers, who are the souls of those who have died but can't "move on").
Now, for the reason I call the forces of darkness "Black Stone."
So, by series end, will one side truly gain victory over the other? Will we watch the final scene knowing that the Light side has won and balance has been restored to the Island/Universe? Or will we watch the Island drown in hellfire and sink into the sea, having somehow fulfilled its purpose?
JeffC
Here's why I love this question: it allows me to plug in a huge chunk of pop culture references I unwittingly omitted during my "Light and Dark" two-parter earlier in the week. And Lord knows I get sad when I can't go all Best Week Ever on you.
I'm calling the forces of darkness "Black Stone" because I think the key to the balance you're talking about lies in the two stones Jack found in "White Rabbit" on the persons of Adam and Eve. One black stone, one white stone. Thus, "Black Stone" and its now obvious counterpoint, "White Stone." Something about that pair, and those stones, stuck out even more upon rewatching Season 1.
I'm hesitant to say White Stone will "win," because that's potentially misleading. There are dozens of popular genre tales that feature two sides that are inextricably linked, to the point that normal notions of "defeat" simply don't come into play. The Matrix and the Harry Potter series stand out for the intricate, intertwined relationship of the main protagonist/antagonist. I won't spoil the ending of either for those of you who haven't seen or read those series all the way through, but both play off of the "For neither can live while the other survives" prophecy from Harry Potter and the Order of the Really Freakin' Long Book With Lots of Capital Letters Emphasizing Just How Loudly Harry Screams All The Time.
As such, the notion of sacrifice comes heavily into play. Couple that with the crazy video from Comic Con (Daniel Faraday in 1978???), and you have the very real possibility that two people that we currently know have to go back, armed with these two stones, and stave off whatever apocalyptic scenario is due to play out. In doing so, these people will lose their lives in order to protect dozens, hundreds, possibly millions of others. And they can only do so through a combination of Black Stone/White Stone, not through the defeat of one over the other. I don't think either can truly defeat the other, but getting them to once again exist in balance with each other will be the true end game of the show.
Knowing everything you know about season four and having just gone back through season one, which season ranks as all time best?
A-Rob
Oh boy, the shortest answer and one that will possibly spark the most discussion below. Up front disclaimer: I love me some Lost something fierce. All scores are from 1-10, with 1 being equivalent to "Stranger in a Strange Land" or "Eggtown" and 10 being equivalent to "The Constant" or "Walkabout." And all rankings are done knowing that a "5" in Lost terms would be like, the most mind-blowing episode of NCIS ever created. So it's all relative. Know that before you start throwing things at the screen.
1) Season 4 (9.0): Breakneck pacing. Huge revelations. A major ramping up/embracing of the sci-fi elements of the show. But "Eggtown" was straight-up horrible, and looking back, I'm sure "The Other Woman" doesn’t make a lick of sense. I'm reserving judgment until I see more Faraday/Charlotte stuff.
2) Season 1 (8.7): Marvelously plotted. It's easy to forget now how radical the flashback concept really was at the time. Some great character-centric eps with enough mythological mystery to keep one intrigued. But too many individual episodic misfires ("The Moth") and the seeming abandonment of plot threads only to smush them all together by season's end into a box that was too small to fit everything in.
3) Season 3 (8.5): I didn't mind the slow start, honestly. Everyone else seemed peeved. I would have been more peeved if they were back at camp by the end of the first episode, a trend most shows would have followed. But while the season eventually picked up, I got frustrated at times by important questions answered with a mere stare, or a snarky non-answer. The show seemed to be introducing more mysteries than answering existing ones. But it's hard to hate a season that ends the way it did.
4) Season 2 (8.0): Look, it's easy to hate on Season 2. But I don't hate it! Honestly! I gave it an 8, and that's a Number, and since the season was primarily about the way those Numbers dehumanized our Losties to the point of despair, it's an apt score for the season. I think I'll really enjoy working my way through this season starting next week, if only to see the season as the exercise in claustrophobia and distrust it was. But the Tailies were a failed exercise in injecting new life into the show, a lesson Heroes failed to learn, and ultimately, we were all as sick of the button as Locke was by season's end.
So there you have it: my rankings. Leave yours (and any thoughts about Black Stone/White Stone) below!
Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude, then peruses Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group.
Well thank you, first of all, for answering my question.
I don't pretend to know what goes on in Ben's head either. The man perplexes me and makes my head hurt just trying to piece together all of his actions to come up with "is he black stone or white stone?"
Ben gets ousted from his beloved island, supposedly because he knew he had no choice. However, now that he's off the island, he recruits the Oceanic 6 to help get him back by any means possible (Sayid).
I understand that he must kill Penny to restore the balance that Widmore upset by "changing the rules" when Alex was murdered. I do not want to see Penny die by any means but, I would like to see Widmore suffer just a little to avenge Alex's death. That, of course has nothing to do with the fact that I can't seem to figure out what's in it for Ben. If Ben ends up being the ultimate hero then what happens to the Oceanic 6, Locke, Desmond, Faraday, Miles and Charlotte? Do they all fall in line behind the exalted one, Benjamin Friggin Linus and live happily ever after?
Ben is perhaps the most complex character of any show ever. He's done evil things, he's done heroic things, and he's done things that make you go hmmmm. However, he has definitely been dissed by the Island, or somebody who considers him a big threat. Either way, he knows he can do his best work on the Island, and the Island needs him.
I agree that Abaddon may be the big bad for Season 5, and the reason for the 'bad things' whilst the Oceanic 6 were gone. There has to be significance to him telling Locke, "The next time you see me, you'll owe me one".
Here are my Season rankings (I opted not to use the richter scale):
1) Season 4 (answers, answers, and more questions)
2) Season 1 (how it all started)
3) Season 2 (Dharma and the Hatches really got me foaming at the mouth)
4) Season 3 (may have had the best finale, but started slow, and had probably the 2 worst episodes in the show's history)
Re: Ryan's "slow downhill slide into conformity." I give two quotes, authors not known, doesn't matter, nobody's going to look it up--
"If everyone is unique, then nobody is unique." Used by me mostly to slap politically-correct educational "experts" who think that all kids are special, and as a result end up trying to make every child as average as possible (rather than have some who are "gifted"), but also applies to those who are concerned about sliding into conformity, etc. Trust me, Ryan, nobody on this blog would ever accuse you of being in league with The Man...well, maybe THAT Man, but not THE...eh, you get the idea. :P
"I conform because the easiest way to destroy the machine is from the inside out." One of my personal favorites, since people who think I'm doing the same thing as everyone else are often taken by surprise when I shake up the entire works. Hey, I've prevented a school district that made the mistake of seriously pissing me off from consolidating with two neighboring towns for the last seven years now. Before I could do that, I had to "fit in." Then I got to work, and now, everyone who gave me grief is either no longer teaching, dead (natural causes in both cases) or in another district. Nothing is wrong with following the herd, if it either keeps you from getting the lion's jaws closing on your ass, or allows you to eventually change the rules of the game to fit your own way of doing things.
Hence the reason why this blog is so successful--it seems like the other lesser blogs on Zap2It, but it most definitely ain't. We rule. I mean, who else has coined a new word and had it spread...not like wildfire, but like a puddle of syrup that's dripping off the plate onto the table, perhaps. Btrwrth rlz!
Oh, and my season list? 4-1-2-3, same reasons as above. The only reason I'd change the order of seasons two and three is because I honestly can't remember in which one Ana-Lucia bit the dust. Whichever one she was in was the worst...well, the "least best."
Oh, and don't be hating on NCIS...my mom will come to your house and slap you silly. :P
Dark Disciple | Aug 14, 2008 8:43:51 PM | #I think it would be very appropriate if sometime in Season 5 (after having already visited Widmore), Ben goes off on his quest to find and kill Penny. And then he finds her and Desmond, and sees how connected they are. It reminds him of the love he has/had for Annie, and he decides to give up his hatred and revenge. This act is what causes him to reapply himself to protecting the Island and keeping it safe.
Or let's take this even further; what if killing Penny (which would escalate his conflict with Widmore) is just what the "Black Stone" wants? If Ben and Widmore are caught in an endless cycle of hatred, players in the backgammon game of Lost, then by continuing on their paths (his to kill Penny and Widmore's to find and control the Island) they're just extending that cycle. If Ben finally reached his goal and saw the game for what it was, he would realize that the only way to win is to stop playing, to walk away, to break the cycle.
And that is when he will see things as they really are, and decide to go back - with the Oceanic 6 in tow.
Other Sean | Aug 14, 2008 9:53:27 PM | #"...only do so through a combination of Black Stone/White Stone, not through the defeat of one over the other. I don't think either can truly defeat the other, but getting them to once again exist in balance with each other will be the true end game of the show."
Here here! I see this demonstrated in the caricatures that have become S4 Locke and Jack. The Extreme-to-the-Point-of-Doing-Dumb/Blind-Things Faith Vs Science. I maintain that they must come together in a cooperative way to 'succeed' or survive. If they continue to fight against each other, both lose.
I'm not assigning white or black, good or evil to either Jack or Locke, but rather expressing that "existing in balance" concept Ryan laid out above.
...of course, how you do that with a Dead Locke at the end of S4 is a bit perplexing....
djc | Aug 15, 2008 6:16:04 AM | #DJC-you do that with a dead Locke the same way as with a dead Shepherd: You get them back to the island. Christian seems to be moving around and doing whatever work needs to be done now that he's on the island adn he seemed pretty dead when the show began. I think the same thing would/could happen when the Oceanic 6 have their plane crash with Locke's coffin.
Lewis | Aug 15, 2008 6:38:09 AM | #Well, I guess I'm not convinced that the Dead Christian wandering the island is the same Christian he was before he died. Just like --assuming Cabin Claire is a resuscitated dead Claire -- Claire isn't the same. I don't think Before-Explosion Claire would have ever just left her BAYBEE in the jungle. That is the action of whatever is controlling her. (And I'm probably totally wrong on all counts, but if not....)
So just bringing dead Locke's body back to the Island doesn't mean that the Core Essence of Locke will be in command of his resuscitated corporeal self. Taking present-day dead Locke's body back to the Island wouldn't necessarily result in Man of Faith Locke sitting up and taking action to correct the mistakes.
My head starts to hurt because there are so many layers of players (physical and not) and the POTENTIAL combinations.... ugh.
"We must go back" ... in time? (ARG!)
And of course, if the wind blows from the east, I'll change my mind on just about anything I've 'decided' regarding Lost.
djc | Aug 15, 2008 7:44:02 AM | #Question:
Does having the hots for Cabin-Claire make me a necrophiliac? Just wondering.
Or does it make me a Necromancer?
Brian of the North | Aug 15, 2008 8:19:04 AM | #Thanks for addressing my question, Ryan. I really think you're onto something with the White Stone/Black Stone dichotomy.
To add to your pop culture references, the ending of the most excellent move "The Dark Crystal" also uses the same idea of the light and dark sides being connected and inseperable.
JeffC | Aug 15, 2008 9:36:32 AM | #It is like Biggie Smalls Vs. Tupac...
Live together die alone.
Carrie | Aug 15, 2008 10:06:49 AM | #It's kinda like Doc Venture & the Monarch.
Brian of the North | Aug 15, 2008 10:20:32 AM | #Even with everything it has put him through, I still think Ben wants the best for the island. His connection is so strong to it, he'll even go against his own judgment to do what he is told. But, the big question is if he knew Triple C would be in the cabin when Locke saw them. All signs are pointing to him not knowing they would be there and Locke believing Ben did know they were there.
Also, I'd like to know when Ben decided he had to go back to the island, or if he still has connections there. I'm sure he always wanted to get back, but what happened between turning the wheel and getting the group back together?
Oh, and that's my ranking also.
A-Rob | Aug 15, 2008 10:41:47 AM | #I am seriously in a fan.swoon from your light and dark and ben vs. cabin christian theory. I love it.
Pocket | Aug 15, 2008 11:07:29 AM | #1) Season 4 (answers, answers, and more questions)
2) Season 1 (how it all started)
3) Season 2 (Dharma and the Hatches really got me foaming at the mouth)
4) Season 3 (may have had the best finale, but started slow, and had probably the 2 worst episodes in the show's history)
ShaggySteve, thats the same way I would have voted the 4 seasons ...
Erwin | Aug 15, 2008 6:22:46 PM | #1) Season 1
2) Season 4
3) Season 2
4) Season 3
Season 1 has to be number one for me, because it's what got me so engrossed in the show in the first place and you can only appreciate the awesomeness of Season 4 after the crux of the show is set up in Season 1.
JeffC | Aug 16, 2008 8:01:47 PM | #This is really tough grading and ranking LOST seasons....
ugh...
1)Season 4 9.9
2)Season 1 9.5
3)Season 3 9.0
4)Season 2 8.5
I acutally thoroughly enjoyed the first 6 eps of season three as well... It was a story being told that led to later evetns that still reverberate through season 4... The others needed to break Jack to perform on Ben so they paired Sawyer and Kate to get Jack jealous... How Smart!
but yeah
Season 2 was also well done.. except for a few episodes that were so dull [by the way dull eps of LOST are as good as pretty much every other primetime show at the top of their game] i chose to forget their existence...
Namar | Aug 19, 2008 7:44:44 PM | #I seriously like the idea of the White Stone/Black Stone dichotomy and the two having to be brought together/integrated for "success." Tying this into "Adam and Eve" is primo; my husband keeps bring them up, and he's pretty intuitive.
meggins | Aug 25, 2008 12:27:17 PM | #
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