# Lost 3.20: "The Man Behind the Curtain" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398 "2007-05-09T15:10:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/61 "2007-05-10T03:33:34Z")
[QUOTE=av8rmike] But what happened to Annie? ☹ [/QUOTE] Yeah, did Ben help the Hostiles gas his little girlfriend, too? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/62 "2007-05-10T03:33:42Z")
[QUOTE=Rubystreak] I’ve got it freeze framed on that one second shot of Jacob. I can’t tell anything. Heavily shadowed, wearing a purplish shirt, kinda looked like Dennis Hopper… [/QUOTE] Is this posted anywhere for us HD/DVR deprived folks? ---
**Author:** ![lexan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/73ab20/32.png) [@lexan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/63 "2007-05-10T03:35:45Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] Man, I have never liked a villan as much as I like Ben. I don’t root for him but he’s just fucking crafty. “I was smart enough not to end up in that ditch. That makes me smarter than you, John.” BLAM! [/QUOTE] That was great, but Ben made the classic supervillain mistake–he left before he was sure his target was dead! I screamed “Put one between his eyes, dumbass!” at that part. Here’s what I’m wondering about–Richard obviously knows Ben isn’t really a native of the island. So if he really wanted to take Ben down like he mentioned last week, why hasn’t he already tried to turn that knowledge against him? Do Richard and any other old school hostiles know about Jacob as well? ---
**Author:** ![Argen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Argen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argen)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/64 "2007-05-10T03:36:34Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] Is this posted anywhere for us HD/DVR deprived folks? [/QUOTE] [Here.](http://img525.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jacobid0.png) ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/65 "2007-05-10T03:37:09Z")
[QUOTE=lexan] That was great, but Ben made the classic supervillain mistake–he left before he was sure his target was dead! I screamed “Put one between his eyes, dumbass!” at that part. [/QUOTE] “Look at this, kid! Somethin’ I try to teach all my boys. Always put one in the brain!” ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/66 "2007-05-10T03:45:07Z")
I know a lot of people thought Hurley’s microbus episode was pointless filler…guess not. I wouldn’t count Locke out just yet. Mikhail was dead, too. Does anybody know if Terry O’Quinn has signed on for next season yet? (A quick Google search came up empty.) ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/67 "2007-05-10T03:45:48Z")
[QUOTE=lexan] That was great, but Ben made the classic supervillain mistake–he left before he was sure his target was dead! I screamed “Put one between his eyes, dumbass!” at that part. Here’s what I’m wondering about–Richard obviously knows Ben isn’t really a native of the island. So if he really wanted to take Ben down like he mentioned last week, why hasn’t he already tried to turn that knowledge against him? Do Richard and any other old school hostiles know about Jacob as well? [/QUOTE] Perhaps Ben wants to see if Jacob will save Locke? My WAG is that even though Ben is not a native of the island, at some point something happened to make Ben important to the Others. Perhaps because he was the only one who could see Jacob? Argen - Thanks for the link! From what I can make out of the clothing it looks old fashioned, like maybe Colonial or older. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/68 "2007-05-10T03:49:06Z")
[QUOTE=Rubystreak] Ben can see him but only Locke can hear him? [/QUOTE] Ben could hear him just fine. He responded to several things Jacob said to him. ---
**Author:** ![Argen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Argen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argen)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/69 "2007-05-10T03:49:41Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] Argen - Thanks for the link! From what I can make out of the clothing it looks old fashioned, like maybe Colonial or older. [/QUOTE] Of course. 🙂 I found a higher resolution capture, and I would _almost_ say that it looked like an older Locke. Almost. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/70 "2007-05-10T03:49:43Z")
[QUOTE=Argen] [Here.](http://img525.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jacobid0.png) [/QUOTE] Going back and rewinding, I managed to see it on frame by frame advance on my regular old VCR, too. He appears in about 6 or 7 frames – it’s right after Ben gets thrown to the wall, and then the camera pans back to Jacob’s chair. Definitely looks like older style clothes. Maybe Jacob came from the Black Rock. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/71 "2007-05-10T03:51:27Z")
I wonder if Jacob is off the Black Rock? His shirt suggests that he might be that old. It’s looking more and more like there’s some kind of time-warping involved with the island. And Jacob is just one more piece of evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Argen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Argen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argen)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/72 "2007-05-10T03:51:33Z")
And, after I think about it, it looks even **more** like Jack’s father, with facial hair. It would explain how Jack could have heard him within the dolphin tank thingy. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/73 "2007-05-10T03:52:24Z")
[QUOTE=randwill] Ben could hear him just fine. He responded to several things Jacob said to him. [/QUOTE] But he couldn’t hear what Jacob said to Locke. Sounds like Jacob can direct his “speech” at one person at a time, for their ears only? He talks to Ben, but now that he also is willing to speak to Locke, Ben probably sees Locke as even more of a threat to his own power and control. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/74 "2007-05-10T03:53:34Z")
[QUOTE=DoctorJ] I know a lot of people thought Hurley’s microbus episode was pointless filler…guess not. [/QUOTE] No it was pointless filler. Just because something that’s seen in one episode turns up in another episode doesn’t make the filler stuff any more interesting. Good writers cut out all the extraneous crap and leave only what’s necessary to tell the story. But, of course, we’re talking about TV writing here. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/75 "2007-05-10T03:56:34Z")
That’s another thing. Not only was Locke a threat to Ben in Jacob’s favor but Locke had just told Ben that he intended to out him as a fraud to his people. Ben had already seen evidence of Locke’s power and his loss of control earlier when Locke went fist-happy on Mikhail and Tom and Richard just ignored Ben when he wanted them to intervene. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/76 "2007-05-10T03:59:15Z")
[QUOTE=randwill] Ben could hear him just fine. He responded to several things Jacob said to him. [/QUOTE] Duh. :smack: He was jealous because Locke could also hear him. I think that Jacob looked like Locke with hair. ---
**Author:** ![Argen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Argen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argen)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/77 "2007-05-10T04:03:04Z")
Well, I guess we know who was playing Jacob: [Kris Kristofferson - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kristofferson) > [@](#): > > Also, Kris Kristofferson played “Jacob”, the invisible friend of Ben on the ABC hit drama series “Lost” So, has Kris Kristofferson played anyone so far? ---
**Author:** ![Argen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Argen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argen)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/78 "2007-05-10T04:04:55Z")
Granted, I guess anyone could have just thought he looked the same and updated it so those of us obsessed with Lost go nuts. Also, sorry for all these posts, I really need to subscribe. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/79 "2007-05-10T04:08:21Z")
[QUOTE=Menocchio] That’s what I heard the name of the guy that recruited Ben’s dad for the Island. I may be wrong. [/QUOTE] Just went back and looked at the beginning. Ben’s dad says something that sounds like, “Thanks again for the opportunity, Mr. Goodspeed”. (That might not be it, but it wasn’t Goodwin – definitely had an S in it). ---
**Author:** ![lexan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/73ab20/32.png) [@lexan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398/80 "2007-05-10T04:09:44Z")
[QUOTE=randwill] No it was pointless filler. Just because something that’s seen in one episode turns up in another episode doesn’t make the filler stuff any more interesting. [/QUOTE] I didn’t think it was pointless filler when it aired, but I decided it was a few weeks later, in the episode where Claire was trying to catch a bird. It was clear in that episode that Charlie hadn’t learned anything from the experience with Hurley–they said they were going to cheat death and break both their curses, but as soon as Desmond started telling Charlie about his visions, he was right back to living in fear of his fate. That kind of annoyed me. > [@Wile E](#): > > My WAG is that even though Ben is not a native of the island, at some point something happened to make Ben important to the Others. Perhaps because he was the only one who could see Jacob? That’s a pretty good idea, I think I agree. I suppose that’d be why Richard, and any of the other hostiles who had a problem with Ben, couldn’t move against him. Maybe Richard thought that Locke, being “special,” could have a similar ability or experience, and become Jacob’s new mouthpiece? And wow, Jacob sure does look like Dennis Hopper. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-3-20-the-man-behind-the-curtain/403398.md?page=5)