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posts about #thelifeanddeathofjeremybentham more → John Locke Gets Played Like A Card
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John Locke Gets Played Like A Card |
02/27/09
02/26/09
LOCKE: We can all share this island together. Didn't you ever learn to share? Now I want you all to say you're sorry.
WIDMORE: Sorry.
BEN: Sorry.
BLACK SMOKE MONSTER: Me sorry.
THE END
02/26/09
There are two forces on the Island; Jacob and whatever the heck Christian is. When we first see the interior of Jacob's cabin in "The Man behind the curtain" the camera takes time to point out the mason jars on the windowsill, the dog painting and the rocking chair. When we see "Jacob's" cabin again in "Cabin Fever" none of those things are there but instead we get a big stuffed chair in which Claire is sitting in. Not only that, every time Jacob's cabin appears there is a circle of iron filings around it. However, when we see Locke go look for the cabin, he finds the circle but no cabin. And then in "Cabin Fever" Locke finds the cabin again but it has no circle.
There are two cabins.
It was the other force who said, "Help me" to Locke and not Jacob. And this is why Ben didn't hear it since he is with Jacob. In fact, Locke freed the other force by bringing in the flashlight in the cabin. Technology, or better yet, the batteries within the flashlight disrupted the balance and put it in favor of Christian. The other force, Christian, escapes.
Widmore is with the other force. That's the reason why he was kicked off the Island. Not because Ben kicked him out but because Jacob kicked him out. He is the "him" that Widmore mentioned in "I was exiled by him." What I think happened was that Widmore had a deal with Dharma Initiative to take over the Island from Jacob and Alpert. In turn, not only would the other force of the Island help Widmore but with the DI, he would rule the outside world as well. Because who ever controls the Island has the power over space and time. Basically, you become a god. However, this backfired. Widmore and his followers were exiled with Hawking being one of his followers. And DI was cleansed from Island. Think of it like the renegade angels being banished from heaven after Lucifer became too big for his britches. The not-Jacob was imprisoned on the Island.
Now Jacob has told Ben that Locke would be coming to the Island. And that the man is actually an unknowing pawn of Widmore. See, future Widmore realizes that when he first met Locke, Locke said, "Jacob sent me." Only that since Locke was from the future, Jacob didn't send him but the other force did. However, to make sure that Locke gets to the Island, he sends Abandon to make the arrangements for Locke. Because Locke is the tie between Widmore and the force on the Island, therefore, the Island, itself. Jacob tells Ben that the other force will try to take over and will get Locke to move the wheel. If Locke does this, the Island goes to Widmore. Jacob says that no matter what Ben has to prevent Locke from turning the wheel.
Even if it means Ben turning the wheel himself and being shoved into exile. Ben doesn't like this and tries to steer away from the plan. He gets cancer which is Jacob's way of saying, "You better listen to me, boy." Ben tries to kill Locke to prevent him from turning the wheel. But the other force who took the form of Walt saves Locke. Ben realizes that he has to tail Locke. He allows himself to become Locke's prisoner. Which is why Harper told Juilet that Ben is "exactly where he wants to be."
Then the mercenaries comes and Locke goes to the cabin. He's told to move the Island. Ben knows that this is exactly what Jacob told him would happen. Ben tricks Locke into allowing him to turn the wheel. The Island goes "bloop".
Now off the Island, Ben keeps an eye on the 06 to make sure Widmore doesn't hurt them or use them as a way to get back on the Island. Ben believes because he turned the wheel Jacob is back in charge. Locke is the leader of the Others. The Island is safe from Widmore.
Then Locke comes back to the regular world. Widmore is the first to find him. Widmore thinks that Locke knows exactly what is going on and that Christian told him everything. Which is why he said that "him" remark. However, after Locke said, "Richard told me I was supposed to die." Widmore realizes that Locke is still a pawn in the dark and plays along. "I don't know why he said that." Out of all the people on this show, I think it's a safe bet to say whatever Jacob wants Richard wants. So if Widmore is against Richard's words, he is against Jacob.
When Ben finds out Locke is in the regular world, he is at first in awe. He thinks since Jacob is in control of the Island, he can return home. But then he hears that Jin survive. Ben knows that Jin was not supposed to have survived the freighter blow-up. Time which is supposed to be fix is unraveling. And if time is unraveling so is space. And if that is happening, we are all screwed. But Ben knows that Locke can somehow fix things. He is the key to everything. (Yeah, puns are happening. Locke is the key.)
But then Locke tells Ben that he is suppose to find Hawking. It is then that Ben realizes that Jacob is not in charge of the Island but Christian is. And Locke has returned to be used as a bridge between Widmore and Christian. This is why Ben kills Locke. To prevent the man from meeting Hawking, who Ben is sure is still in cahoots with Widmore. Ben knows that once Locke returns to the Island he will come alive again. This is why he took the body from the funeral parlor and placed it in the care of an Other. He needed someone to guard Locke so that Widmore and Hawking could not tamper with the body.
However, this backfires. Hawking is indeed in cahoots with Widmore. She tells Jack to put something of his father's on Locke's body so that Locke can be "a proxy for Christian." This is why Hawking didn't want Ben to hear the conversation.
Now Ben knows that he has to return to the Island. His turning of the wheel was in vain. He has to help Jacob gain control of the Island before Widmore gets it.
That's it.
Widmore is evil. Ben is good in the grayest sense. And Locke is the key to everything.
02/26/09
02/26/09
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02/26/09
02/26/09
I never thought I'd hear someone complain about Lost giving out too much information.
02/26/09
Yeah, so much for the "THEY NEVER ASK ANY QUESTIONS!!" complaint, eh?
02/26/09
As for believing everyone, you are being overly simplistic. He (grudgingly) went along with Widmore because A: he needed his resources to complete his task, thanks to the broken leg and the whole 'officially you're dead' thing, and B: everything he told him jived with what Jakob and Christian had already told him. As for Ben, at the point when he came in, John was attempting to hang himself. He was broken, but desperate for any other way out, the way dying men are. Sit with a terminal cancer patient during their sometime, and you'll get Locke's performance last night as well as I did. Ben wasn't all that convincing, but did just enough of a good job to talk him out of what he really didn't want to do. But now John is back on the island. Back to the place where he can make a difference, where he feels he was always meant to be. His faith has been renewed, and his convictions restored, and Ben is in some deep doo doo.
Finally, as for your complaints at the speed at which the plot has been traveling lately, GAH! The hell are you talking about?! The plodding, directionless pace of season 3 almost killed the show, and if not for the total revamp that's been carried thru from season 4, I wouldn't even be watching, let alone enjoying this season as much as I have been. Granted, exposition is a cheap way of getting out the story, but sometimes it is just necessary in order to move things along, and thank god for that. I think Widmore is just a damned Maguffin anyway, and am more then pleased to see his part of the story breeze by so we can get back to the people that are interesting.
02/26/09
Totally agree.
Thanks for writing it so I didn't have to.
02/26/09
02/26/09
WRONG.
Both Linus and Widmore lie, yes. But they use the truth just as deftly when it suits their ends.
That's a far bigger problem.
02/26/09
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02/26/09
Locke may not be as special as he wants to be, but he is some special, at least to/on the island.
And Lapidus survived the crash. Yay!
02/26/09
why why why is anyone trusting that widmore got tricked into getting booted off of the island? How did ben know how to get off of the island and not Widmore so that he could eventually trick him into it? We havent been conditioned like we have with Ben to know when Widmore is lying. Maybe he was tricked, maybe he was leading, but come on, why would he send these merciless soldiers to his own island to kill his own people? (sure, they were only after ben, but they didnt seem to discriminatory about who they were putting bullets into).
Also- Widmore orchestrated the whole Oceanic 815 crash, he knew that the plane was going to go through the proper coordinates, etc. and probably with Eloise Hawking's help (my theory on her in a moment). First of all, i wont be surprised when we find out Abbadon hand a hand in getting a lot of our losties on the plane. Secondly, am i misunderstanding about the fact that the plane crashed because of the one time desmond forgot- or almost forgot- to push the button? How did Widmore know desmond wouldnt push the button? Does widmore have any idea desmond was even on the island? Did widmore send him there, knowing he would play an intregal part in all of this. I guess he probably did, again with hawking's help. So are there two ways to get to the island, one by being overhead when the button isnt pushed or being in a plane thats a "proxy" for another one? Wow I am rambling here and way off of my point.
Back to Mrs. Hawking- I think that she was probably kicked off of the Island with widmore (or however they left it) and Ben hadnt considered this. Saying her name caught him way off guard. So what did he say to her to make her think he was safe? Who's side is she on?
And if widmore has always known how to get back to the island, why doesnt he just go back?
For some reason my thinking keeps coming back to Desmond. Why was widmore in no way surprised to seem him when Desmond waltzed into his office? Or even more, or even a little bit surprised, when Desmond was asking for daniel's mother, eloise Hawking? And how would ben know to follow desmond to get to penny?
And what timeline are the Ajira people on? An empty hydra station? boats? we almost never saw any of our losties rifling through dharma folders. That would have answered a lot of questions.
Love Cesar, the new Jack, and Illana, the new kate. I imagine the reason walt saw everyone wanting to hurt Locke is because ben will wake up and turn everyone against him.
And now for the allegory. If the christian allegory pissed people off last episode, this one should have been starting riots. Richard and Christian telling Locke that he has to die if he wants to save his people, his continuous splaying of his arms while he is about to step from the table, then again when he is on the floor after ben has killed him. Continuous references to "his people." And finally rising again.
My mind is still racing, trying to make sense of it all. But i will, i promise.
02/26/09
The same way that Richard knew Locke was born in 1956 and in what hospital. Pre-destination paradox. Lost seems full of them now. I bet the entire show can be explained this way.
"And what timeline are the Ajira people on?"
They're in the Island-present, 2007 or 2008 or wherever Jack and Kate et al would have gone if they hadn't gone back in time.
02/26/09
Are they trying to stave off some massive earth ending temporal paradox by having everyone be at the right place at the right time?
02/26/09
As shoelace 414 said, someone who's trying to reproduce the Oceanic 815 crash.
"So, is Locke really "special" - or do Ben and Widmore understand that this is the best way to manipulate him to do their dirty work?"
He's special *and* he can be manipulated by being reminded he's special. Remember, he can talk to Jacob, and Ben at least knows that.
"Are the Losties just pawns in a bigger game?"
Sure. But so are Ben and Widmore. The Island is jerking everyone around.
(And I just had a vision of a possible finale: a Babylon 5-esque situation where the puppets - the castaways - tell both the "good" puppet masters - whoever's behind the island - and the "bad" puppet masters - Ben and Widmore - to just cut the strings and go the hell home.)
02/26/09
02/27/09
I'm hoping for a finale that ends up showing us which of the current characters turns out to be Adam & Eve in the past.
02/26/09
Season 3 Finale. Jack has been doing it for a while. Ben is just using the information to lie to him, again, to get information from him, again, before killing him, AGAIN.
Locke is an IDIOT.
02/27/09
No, I think Jack really did start trying to get back to the island after Locke's visit. He appears to have been a welcome member of the hospital staff at the time of Locke's crash, but when we see Grizzly Jack after Locke's death, he's clearly Persona Non Grata for something, and best guess is Locke's message had him hitting the bottle pretty quickly.
02/26/09
Kate: "Something awful has obviously happened to me and Aaron and I need to lose myself in mindless sex. Never ask me why and I'll come to the island."
Jack: "Cool! Want some breakfast? "
or
Jack: "Sun! What are you doing here at the airport?"
Sun: "Leaving behind my only child so I can get on a plane that I'm pretty sure is going to crash, likely killing a lot of the people around us, all because of my obsessive need to find my husband."
Jack: "Yay! We're all together! This is gonna be great!"
I swear, I like him better as a beardy alcoholic…
02/26/09
02/26/09
OK, I'll admit, you can explain away a little of that with the "It's been three years of trying to put the whole thing behind me, I don't want to rehash it now" logic, but...come on. A whole island disappears before your eyes, and you're not even gonna ask?
02/26/09