Season 3, Episode 20: "The Man Behind the Curtain"

WOW. Great episode!!

Okay - the title of this episode is "The Man Behind the Curtain" - not to toot my own horn here, but hello! I have been calling Ben that this whole season, and pretty much every single thing that Locke said to him was practically word for word of what I wrote several months ago about Ben just making it up so that people would believe there was someone higher than him, and that he had no special power at all, he was a fraud, just a man behind the curtain pretending to be great and powerful, just like the Wizard of Oz. I think the Lost producers must be reading my blog and stealing my ideas. (he he)

Anyway, we finally get a look into Ben's past, and come to find out he actually was NOT born on the island. He always made it out like he is special because he was the only one left who was born there and knows the secrets of island, when in fact he was lying. Actually he reveals to Locke that most of the things he tells to the Others are lies. What does that mean? So, come to find out he was actually born just outside of Portland (what is the deal with Portland? That is where the Others told Juliette she was going) and his mother dies after giving birth to him prematurely in the middle of the woods. They get help from a passerby on the highway, who takes in his father, Roger and gives him a job with the Dharma Initiative. He thinks he is going to be doing research, and is upset to learn he is actually going to be a "work man" - so this is the famous "Roger WorkMan" whose skeleton Hurley uncovered in the V.W. bus he came upon a few episodes back.

So, Ben did in fact grow up on the island, and was part of the original Dharma Initiative group. We learn that the Dharma Initiative showed up on the island to do research, but that there were already "natives" living on the island, who they refer to as the Hostiles. (If you remember when Desmond came to the hatch, his former roommate Kelvin spoke about the "hostiles" as well.) The big question is who are these people that were there before Dharma got there, what are they doing there, and how long have they been there? Also why does Dharma call them "hostiles" - did they do something bad to them upon their arrival (kind of like the Others with the survivors). Anyway, the two groups cannot co-exist on this island. Why? What reason did the hostiles have for having to kill everyone in the Dharma Initiative? Did they think that what the Dharma Initiative was doing was "bad" in some way? This could be another case of good vs. bad. The hostiles thought they were "the good ones" and had to kill of Dharma because they were the bad ones. This is just like the Others making their lists of "the good ones" from the survivors camp and bringing them to be a part of their group.

We find out that Ben hates it there...he runs away from his camp, led towards his deceased mother - who he is able to "see" - only she tells him it is not time yet and not to go after her. He eventually finds Richard in the woods, and asks if he can become part of his group. Richard says he needs patience, and after what seems to be about 20 years, Ben finally becomes a part of the "hostiles." Very interesting that he was put to the exact same test that he is now doing to Locke. The hostiles tested his faith by making him kill his own father, as somewhat of a test - so that he could prove himself and could become one of them. Ben seemed to have no problem doing this, as opposed to Locke who couldn't do it himself. So Ben is just another example of someone whose father has deserted him and treated him badly and now he wants him to pay for it. As Ben told Locke at the end, he did what he had to do to survive. He knew his only chance to survive was to become one of "them" - which is exactly what Locke is doing.

I think that when Ben joined the hostiles, he had more of a plan in mind. As we have seen with Ben, he is great at observing, stays quiet when he needs to, and learns how to manipulate. I think that the whole time before become a hostile, he learned all about them. He was just waiting, patiently, to make his move. I think that, back then, their "leader" was actually Jacob. Many people have spoken of Jacob as a very great and powerful man. But I think that when Ben joined their group, he may have had the same type of thing happening as Locke is right now. He may have had that "special" ability on the island, that was a threat to Jacob's power. Knowing how smart Ben is, he eventually could have pushed Jacob out (or perhaps even killed him) so that he could become the leader. Ben, just like Locke, had spent his whole life being pushed around, sort of an outcast, and was refused the love of his own father. More than anything, he wanted to be powerful. So I think there was some major occurance that happened after he joined the hostiles - a fight or some kind of power struggle - but something big had to have happened where all of a sudden he is now the leader. Especially when it was Richard who found him in the jungle and brought him into their group, and now Richard is still there (and has not aged at all - very strange) yet Ben is now HIS leader.

I think that what we saw of Jacob kind of supports the whole Wizard of Oz/Man Behind the Curtain theory that I wrote about earlier in the season. Basically, Ben will do whatever it takes for his people to continue believing that he is "special" when in fact he is a fraud. He makes it out to seem like Jacob will only deal with him, because he was born on the island (a lie). Ben brought Locke there to test him, to see if he could in fact see Jacob. As I mentioned above, I think that Ben may have killed Jacob when he took over the hostiles, but his spirit is living on, and only those with special powers can see him. He could be the black smoke monster? As we have seen, the black smoke materializes into different form depending on the situation. If Locke could hear him, that makes him truly "special" because not everyone can see and/or hear him. That is why Ben was so upset to have found out that Locke did hear him, and which is why he shot him. He knows that if Locke truly has this ability, that he will eventually take over as leader and he cannot have that. Already we have seen that Ben has lost his power with the Others. They do not listen to him anymore, and when Locke beat up Mikhail and Ben called to Tom to do something, they all just sat there watching. For the first time, Ben has no authority over them, and people are starting to look at Locke as their leader, listening to HIM now.

Okay - back to the idea of only certain people able to see Jacob. We have seen several characters on the show who have "seen" the ghosts of the dead. Ben as a child saw his mother. And when Richard found him in the woods and he told her that his mother talked to him, he did not seem surprised at all. We have also seen Jack seeing the ghost of his father on the island, as well as Eko who saw his brother. All of these are people who feel somehow responsible for the death of the person who has come back to "see" them. However, as we have seen with the black smoke, it is able to formulate into different things. For example, when Eko's "brother" came back and talked to him, he told him "you are not my brother" - I think because he realized that it wasn't REALLY him, it was the form of him taken on by the black smoke. IS "Jacob" the spirit of ghost of these people who come back as the black smoke? I know it's far fetched and totally unrealistic (which the producers keep saying that everything on this show is possible, but I am starting to think that is not true. I mean, how "real" was that scene last night with Jacob? It's definitely taking on more of a sci-fi storyline, so I don't necessary think that everything that happens on this show is actually possible.)

Another thing - a pretty major thing, actually - if you rewatch the scene in Jacob's cabin in slowmotion, there actually is a man sitting in the chair. You can see him only for a split second, after you see Ben get pushed around. There is an older-looking man with a beard sitting in the chair. Go rewatch it in slow-mo if you don't believe me!!! I've even provided you the link. Click here to watch in slow-motion...you can clearly see the figure of Jacob, watch carefully at the 11 second mark.



(If you can't view the video on here, just go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=479HkrFTZiI

Here is also a screen-cap of him:







Anyway, Jacob says to Locke, "Help Me" - which to me emphasizes that he is either being kept there as a prisoner, or he is "stuck" or something. Ben obviously has lied to the Others, and he makes it out to seem that Jacob is someone who will only deal with him, but really he doesn't want people to ever see him, because he is keeping him there - or his spirit, or whatever he is - somehow, against his will. Did you notice the chains in Jacob's cabin? Also, remember the long trek it took for Ben and Locke to get there. Remember they crossed over that path of unidentified sand - what looked like lava - and Locke questioned Ben about it. Remember in Ben's flashback at school they were learning about lava, and the "volcano" right there on the island. If Jacob is kept in a cabin somewhere near the volcano, no one would ever be able to get to him. I'm also wondering if the "incident" that is referred to several times in the Dharma videos has something to do with the eruption of this volcano.

Oh, and Locke...totally not dead. Of course he is not dead. (He better not be!) I think that he will prove that he is truly "special" in that he will be able to "heal" from being shot in the chest. Just like Mikhail did not die. Just like Locke has already been "healed" of his paralysis. As Ben told him, maybe Jacob can save you - if he really is special. And I believe that he is. He will come back and the Others will all look to him as their leader now, pushing Ben out. Ben has already proven that he is not "special" and does not have the same abilities as Locke. Definitely going to be a big power struggle. Actually I think Ben may end up dead, I think Locke may kill him...especially now that he knows he is a "fraud."