Season 5, Episode 10: "Whatever Happened, Happened"

The title of the episode, "Whatever Happened, Happened" - once again, the idea that while they are time traveling, they cannot change the future. Whatever happened in the past, happened. They can't change it. FATE determines their paths.

So I mentioned this in my post last week - how I thought Ben wouldn't die - and because of FATE that he would still go on to become "evil Ben" in the future. I still believe that, and now - I think it is because of Sayid's actions - that has further perpetrated Ben into his spiral of destruction. I said this last week, and I'll say it again - after Sayid shoots young Ben, that just gives Ben further motivation to want to join the Hostiles. He obviously knows now that Sayid is NOT in fact a member of the Hostiles, especially after he saw him talking to Jin which would have made it clear they knew each other. So...I think this would be reason to further cause Ben to want to go against the Dharma Initiative even more - now that he thinks one of "them" actually shot him and tried to kill him. Ben was this sweet innocent little boy, but Sayid turning on him and trying to kill him could have been what caused him to kill off the entire Dharma Initiative. After a childhood filled with emotional abuse from a father who never really loved him, and then being turned on by the man who he was trying to HELP, this could have played a part in the way that Ben turned out in the future. So, once again we see that fate plays an interesting twist here - because Sayid thought he was going to change the events of the future by killing Ben, but in fact he just led him right into the future that he was meant to live. So, by trying to keep Ben from turning into his future "evil" self, Sayid actually makes him into his future evil self!! (Cue the eerie music here...Dunh Dunh DUNHHHH!)

I also thought it was really interesting - and perhaps ironic - that Juliette, Kate and Sawyer all go to great efforts to save Ben's life - even though they know that if he lives he will still grow up to be the awful man that he was. However, they cannot let a child die. (Even if it IS Ben). This goes to show that they are all GOOD people. Ironically, it is Jack who does NOT want to try and save him - so this makes him out NOT to be a good person. Jack has almost become the way that adult-Ben is. He has this complete and utter disregard for human life - that "so what?" attitude that we have seen with future Ben when he knows that innocent people could die. Jack, who was our leader, our hero, is a "different" person on the island. Kate even mentions she does not like this new Jack. Interesting that he has become his own worst enemy: Ben. He went from being the man who always wanted to fix everyone, to not even trying to save an innocent child's life. And now we are starting to see the good vs. evil in those on the island. Juliette, Kate and Sawyer, who do everything they can to help Ben, truly are GOOD people. And Jack...does this mean that he is one of the "bad" ones???

So, when Richard Alpert takes in Ben, he says that he will have no memory of this...but I'm wondering if he will in fact remember. He could have "recruited" Juliet to the island because he remembers her as the doctor who tried to save him as a boy. And this is why he had such a crush on her for so long. He never wanted to let her go...maybe that's because he knows that deep down she is a good person and she would try and save him if he ever needed help. Also, remember he was always nice to Kate - when the Others first captured her and he sent her nice clothes and had a private breakfast for her on the beach - he could have "remembered" that she was the one who fought to save him.

Now, when Richard Alpert takes Ben into the temple...this is also where we saw Danielle's "team" go after being chased underground by the smoke monster. When they emerged they were "different" people and turned on Danielle. She kept saying they had changed, even her own husband, who pointed a gun at her and was about to kill her. That is why she had to kill them all. She has always mentioned this "sickness" and how her entire team turned on her. After they went underground to the temple, they were different people. And now we see that's where Alpert is taking Ben. So perhaps this is also another reason that causes Ben to "change." Alpert tells Sawyer that he will lose his innocence. Maybe the smoke monster gives people an "evil" side, taking away their sensitivity chips.

Moving on...I had to laugh out loud with Hurley's whole reference to Back to the Future and looking to see if his hand was disappearing. Just because I have referenced that so many times and I think the producers probably threw that in there to be funny. Because so many people are trying to figure out this whole time travel thing by comparison to Back to the Future, and now the characters are doing just the same thing even as they are time-traveling! LOL

I still was kind of unclear on Miles' explanation of the two timelines, though. Basically he was saying that everything they are going through has already happened, and they can't change things, that they can't die, etc. because "what's happened, happened." That would explain the whole Sayid shooting Ben, though...and as my explanation up above how even though Sayid tried to change the future, he couldn't - that what's going to happen is going to happen regardless of their actions. Things are still going to play out the way they always did. But if these things have happened before - does that mean that everything is just a big cycle that keeps repeating itself? So the survivors crash on the island, then leave, then come back but it's 30 years earlier. So is this all going to happen again? A new set of survivors crash on the island...are they going to have the same experiences, leave the island, then come back again into the "past?" Repeat again. Like they were describing before, it is like time "skipping" on a record player. Does everything just keep repeating itself in a big circle?

I'm glad we finally learned more about Kate's story off the island (with Aaron.) This clears up the reason why Kate returns to the island. As we know, she initially refused to go back to the island and wanted nothing to do with it, but then mysteriously shows up to Jack's house the night before the flight and says she will go, as long as he never asks her what happened to Aaron. Now we know that she returned to the island to find Claire - because she wanted Aaron to have his real mother. Kate just needed him for herself, to help "save" her after returning to the real world (since she was a convicted felon) - the Aaron story helped save her. And we also know from way back in Season 1 that the psychic told Claire that she must raise Aaron herself. That if he was raised by another, something bad would happen. So Kate, once again, is doing something "GOOD" by wanting to help Claire and Aaron reunite. I also thought it was interesting to see her relationship with Cassidy - Sawyer's baby mama. I had a feeling that was what Sawyer whispered to Kate on the helicopter, about making sure that his daughter was taken care of. I was surprised to see that Kate continued a friendship with Cassidy, however, and especially that she told her the truth about what really happened on the island.

Also thought it was interesting that Alpert and the Hostiles mentioned Charles and Ellie...and Richard said that those two are not the only ones he takes orders from. So, Widmore and Ellie are calling the shots here? We know they were on the island back in the 50s, although we're not sure when (or why) they left. But obviously they do have more involvement than we were originally led to believe. Which further complicates the story line of Ben vs. Widmore and why they are at odds with eachother. If Widmore was part of the Hostiles, and Ben is taken in by the Hostiles and eventually becomes their leader, what happens in the future to make Ben and Widmore want the other dead?