“he first sent Desmond back as a guinea pig to find the island, then a plane full of people, then a freighter full of mercenaries. Now Ilana and her ilk…”

How the hell could Widmore have predicted that Desmond would find the island?

But there’s a small part of me that thinks we’re missing something obvious…

Why are we assuming that the Smoke Monster is a good guy? Remember when Ben said, “You don’t know the first thing about what this island wants.” ? That makes me think the island, like all the characters on the show, is not all good or all bad but motivated by something that we have not been shown yet.

I am with you about Widmore and why/how he got to be “The” Other. And you put it perfectly that Widmore considers the Island his possession.

Nikki said: “he first sent Desmond back as a guinea pig to find the island, then a plane full of people, then a freighter full of mercenaries. Now Ilana and her ilk…”

Widmore Industries also was one of the sponsors of Henry Gale’s Balloon!
How many people has he sent to the island?

Nikki said: “When Widmore was banished from the island for breaking the rules (and then couldn’t find it again, leading me to believe someone turned the FDW to hide it from him, or maybe “The Incident” hid it from him)”

And I had another idea about Widmore. It may also explain the apparent timing problem with him repeatedly saying he had been looking for the Island for almost 20 years. What if Widmore was looking for the Island before he even left the Island?! We don’t know how Widmore, Ben, Richard, Tom, etc., travel off the Island. Maybe the mechanism has nothing to do with the traveler knowing where the Island is physically. So even when Widmore was using this mechanism to travel to and from the Island, he may not have know where the Island was physically. Or like Mrs. Hawking said “where it was in time”. Lostpedia connects Widmore to Hanso who is connected to DHARMA. What if Widmore had something to do with DHARMA? I wonder how DHARMA knew so much about the Island. They built Dharmaville directly over Smokey’s chamber? Where did they get the information about the ‘unique properties” and the “exotic matter”? When was the sonic fence built? Did DHARMA know about Smokey and the Others before they even arrived?
Oh and about his off Island family? The actress who plays Penny was born in 1974. That was like 20 years before Widmore was banished. 20 years?! No wonder the Others were so pissed off! lol

I posted a comment about this theory on another site, but didn’t get any replies. Am I crazy?

Thank you, Nikki for explaining so perfectly Ben’s reasons for coming back to the Island and Widmore’s. And the differences between Eko being judged by Smokey and Ben being judged by Smokey. You said it PERFECTLY!

@Jangras – Great connection with Jack’s tattoo and what Widmore said to Young Ben!
Not a perfect match, but still a great catch!

@Jacy – I agree that it seems to me like Ben didn’t know John’s body had to go back until Mrs. Hawking told him. (I bet he forgot all about John’s body until after he talked to her. Then got Jack’s attention with the obit) And we know Locke had to die because Richard told John that in one of the flashes, right? And do we presume Richard knew that because that flash was in the future after Locke told him the story of how he got back? Sorry, didn’t mean to open a can of worms with that…

I am still on the fence with whether or not Ben expected Locke to be resurrected when he got back on the Island. I can see it both ways.

Thank you again Nikki for the great recap!

It doesn’t mean Ben is good or bad, but that Smokey approves. It’s akin to you having a friend that you significant other doesn’t like. You think he’s a good friend, she thinks he’s a jerk.

Ben has been unfairly judged bad because he was an “other” but not just an other “The Other.” Ben has been painted “BAD” beacuse he lies and manipulates. However, he does this for the ultimate goal and the ultimate good here, which is of course the island.

Ultimately, “Dead Is Dead” has put the definitive light on Ben — he’s a good guy. Smokey had a chance to judge him and the only thing it showed Ben — presumably the only thing the Monster had an objection to — was his relationship with Alex. And unlike Eko who showed no remorse nor any regret for his actions (although he felt he was right) Ben absolutely did and was given a deserved reprieve.

Ben Linus is a good guy!

Desmond’s old Swan mate Kevin Inman served in Desert Storm (we saw him in Sayid’s flashback). Then was recruited into Dharma. It would be very odd to think Dharma was still bringing new recruits in to the Swan station even after the main group had been Purged from the barracks, etc.

Again, not a big issue, but it does clarify one piece to your column…which is great btw.

If Ben really wants Locke alive, why is he trying to kill him again?

How would you know what the original plan is or isnt? Why do you watch this show? Why do you come to this site? Stop being a hater. Get a life, if you dont like the show stop watching and stop telling us about it.

If he really didn’t want him to live again, why bring him back to the island at all? Why keep the body cold in the meat locker? Why worry about preservation? Clearly he knew Locke had a chance of coming back to life. Yes, he’s surprised to see him there, but as he put it, it’s one thing to believe, it’s another thing to see it. Millions of people believe in God. But if God suddenly appeared to them in their bedrooms, do you think they’d just casually wave at Him and say, “hey”? No, they’d be as shocked as Ben was. It’s a confirmation of belief, and still worthy of shock. I think he’s lying to Sun.

You could be right, but I think he’s a different person now that he’s undead.

Can you go into depth on the original plan for Lost and how this changes a major part? Kinda of presumptuous on your part to say that what happened on Wednesday wasn’t always intended.

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