'Lost': My recap for 'He's Our You' is now live

Ryan,

I'm sure this whole episode has your undies in a bundle in some form or another, and I thought I'd envoke the poker theory of "calling blind," and put out some ideas before I've even had a chance to read your commentary. I have a partner helping me count the cards, ShelbyM, who's played at this table before.

Well, the obvious WTF moment that one must address first is actually the thing we saw last. How in the world could Sayid possibly punch Jin, they have no bad blood? OK, of course I'm kidding. Just as we're starting to get used to the idea of the "Ben knowing everyone in 1977 throwing this show into a universe that is completely beyond words," we shift straight into "Young Ben dies at the hand of a man who is about 3 years old living in Tikrit, Iraq, only a couple of years away from killing a chicken." Honestly, I was like you last week, thinking Ben knowing the Losties in 1977 could be something from which the show could never recover, but this new twist really makes that look kind of pedestrian. However, I've got a feeling that we could have seen the explanation of why New Creepington looked the way it did when Sun and Frank decided to buy a time-share from Cabin Christian (In this economy, you can't give those things away). If Ben is dead, and it looks like he's dead, then did the Others/Hostiles have a plant on the inside that could help them convince the DI that "life's such a gas?" ARE time-shares in New Creepington such a steal because Ben never fulfilled his destiny of becoming a genocidal maniac? Are the people who he personally killed now alive again? If so, why would the DI (now seemingly not to be purged) leave such a paradise like Whisper Island? What about Ben who Locke found a couple of episodes back? Does he disappear like the photo in Back To The Future? Is there blood dripping from my nose again? I thought I had that taken care of.

The person with whom I watched the episode (not ShelbyM, who is about 1,000 miles away from me) speaks Russian. When Sayid shot the dude who tried to bribe him to save his life, he walked out of a building that had a sign that my friend was able to tell me had something to do with pharmaceuticals. Something like "Old Man Pharmaceuticals," but he was shaky on the "Old Man." He wasn't able to decipher the word on the sign next to the gate where Sayid walks in and sees Ben. Does this support the idea that Old Man Widmore is into pharmaceuticals as part of his little worldwide domination aspirations?

Hope that wasn't too long, but ShelbyM and I just had to get that out.

sorry Ryan, posted this in the wrong place.

So you are saying that Ben should have recognized Sayid in 2004??? I know how you come to that conclusion, but remember they just met in 1977 ... which means Big Ben would just remember about Sayid in 2007, not before that! I am sure there will be a scene where he will confront him ... has to be, if not it would not make sense ...

Another thing ... you say that if Ben is not dead this would put this episode at a weaker level than if he was dead ... why is that?

I was a little blown away by the confirmation that Sawyer and peeps KNEW that 'lil Ben was living there, know a purge is in the future and are cool with it! But perhaps everything has changed?...

I'm torn on the "whatever happened, happened" thing. I've been sticking to it and enjoying that idea as being something very different from the Star Trek and Stargate which mess with that kind of thing all the time.

My favorite moment was the stoned Sayid giggling telling everyone he was from the future and they were all going to die. Creepy for them - very amusing for me.

Of course - Ben getting shot (dead?) was shocking kind of satisfying, but I'm still in shock and will need time to process it before I can say anything about it. I'll probably just wait and see.
Dang!

If I heard correctly, Lil Ben said that he "hated his father". Past tense. I felt they may have been trying to show that the past can be changed as Ben's interaction with Daddy in the cell prompted an early termination of Roger Workman. I thought this was enough to show that things could change..then Sayid blows away Lil Ben and I'm all like..uh..what?

We've seen now, on more than one occasion, that Horace wears a jumpsuit with the Arrow logo. However, he's a mathematician and as per Chang's orientation film, the Arrow's primary purpose is the development of defensive strategies against the Hostiles/Others. So just what is the nature of Horace's work over there?

So here is my theory...

The island saves Ben, which is why he tells anyone who will listen the he was born on the island. The "new" Ben was re-born on the island after he is saved.

This is the reason that Richard made him the leader, it is what proved he is special.

My other guess is that Juliet has something major to do with saving Ben. That is why Juliet "looks just like her" (as Harper said) and why Ben has such an attachment to Juliet.

As to why Ben did do or say anything to Sayid in the Swan when they first met. Ben is a very patient man. He's biding his time. He knows that Sayid will "get his" in the end. Now I fear for Sayid's life. Or that is why Ben killed Nadia.

Should be "As to why Ben did NOT do or say ..."

Just had the "is he dead?" convo with my office-mate (don't judge me!). And, as much as love the show, we've all seen that no one is dead until the writers deem it so.

Here's what we have to go on regarding interventions into the past and how they affect the present or future:

- Desmond wakes up with a memory of having talked to Daniel outside the Swan station. But is his memory special, because of Desmond's timespace uniquenes?

- Charles remembers Locke's incursion into the Others' camp in 1954. We don't know whether or not he suddenly remembered this in the present or carried the memory with him all those years.

- Sayid shoots Ben. Supposing he doesn't die, we again don't know for sure whether or not 2007 Ben will suddenly remember this incident, or if it's something that he carries with him for 30 years.

My own theory on things is that maybe aside from Desmond, these things are allowed to happen because they ALWAYS happened. That is to say, time traveling incursions by future peoples are actually a part of the history of the Island. So, how can Sayid actually shoot young Ben? Because he always did. Plain and (brain bleedingly) simple :S

So, like I said, the question remains: has older Ben always carried the memory of the shooting with him, or will he suddenly remember in 2007? I think the shooting is a big part of what make Ben the type of person he is today, so in my mind, he's always known who Sayid was and what he did.