Ben has come off a little wimpy, even effeminate at times, mostly relying on his manipulation over brute strength but I guess he showed us that he knows how to use his rod.
Remember the orientation films for the Dharma stations? There was an asian guy in the films who went by a different name in each film. He called himself Dr. Marvin Candle and Dr. Mark Wickmund in the Swan and Pearl movies. There’s also a film for the yet-unseen Orchid station which can be found on the internet. He calls himself Dr. Edgar Hallowax in that film. I forgot that we haven’t actually seen that film on the show yet.
aka Marvin Candle…
aka Mark Wickman…
The guy in the Dharma videos.
Why is that?
-FrL-
Purely speculation, but keep an eye out for Sawyer reading a SDMB favorite sometime soon. Perhaps a not so friendly Aziraphale Linus and Crowley Whitmore?
Favorite moment:
Paired with the expression on Hurley’s face afterwards… 
Shoot, I actually meant for Ben to be Crowley and for Aziraphale to be Whitmore, but really the good/evil thing flip flops every episode but who knows? Though I did like how in that last scene they split Ben’s face 50/50 in light and shadow.
Also, the Smoke Monster’s pure badassness simply can’t be touched.
Ben reminded me a bit of John from John from Cincinatti. Whatever he needs to have in his pocket is there. If he goes to a hotel anywhere in the world and wants to be an elite guest, he is. Did anyone else get that vibe? Maybe a bit of the mysterious box that makes your dreams come true is attached to him?
Excellent episode.
Sawyer was strangely protective of both Claire and Hurley this episode. Braving gunfire for Claire early on doesn’t seem in character. Pulling a gun on Locke for hurley is a little more in character if it’s a pissing match.
I’m getting so, so tired of the cliche of having two guys pull guns on each other. Locke has a gun on Sawyer, and Sawyer makes a sudden move to draw his own gun - Locke should shoot him instantly, no hesistation. That is not a move you make for dramatic effect. For that reason, since Locke should kill him, if Sawyer is going to choose to draw that gun, he should be willing to immediately shoot Locke.
Was that a cool secret passageway or what? Ben’s just full of surprises.
Liked how Hurley solved the problem of not being able to open the door for Sawyer and Claire. Picked up a chair and breaks the window. Need a crib? Grab a hamper, add pillow and Wa La, instant crib.
So, Australia is the key to the whole game. Hmmm.
I’m assuming it was for the same reason that Michael couldn’t kill himself last episode. For whatever reason, the Island won’t let certain people be killed.
I’m trying to figure out the layout of Ben’s house. Ben goes into the secret room, which seems to be on the first floor. (It’s off what I assume is his bedroom.) But then he opens the hidden panel in the wall and reveals a tunnel. Is the secret room on the first floor or in the basement?
You’re assuming that secret room is ANYWHERE in our dimension.
What’s the significance (if any) of all of the candle references, Candle, Wickman, Hallowax? Has that been explained? I’m an inconsistant watcher, sorry if this has been covered.
Forgive me, but I don’t understand this. Can you say more about what you’re referring to? Was Australia mentioned in this episode? I must have missed something.
Excellent episode by the way. I liked many aspects, but most of all the explanation of how and why Sayeed becomes an assassin for Ben. As speculated earlier in this thread, I also think that Ben had Nadia killed and manipulated the entire chain of events – his telling smirk while walking away after Sayeed comes over to his “side” leads me to the conclusion that Ben again was the master manipulator.
And whatever Ben had to do to summon the smoke monster in the cave / secret room, sure was dirty work. He went through the door clean and came out covered in filth.
Lastly, Michael Emerson is the best bad guy ever to appear on television. Though it’s weird that the writers continually say how Ben was supposed to be a much smaller role (latest cite is an interview in Entertainment Weekly). Yet they also say they have always had the concluding few scenes of the story in their heads. It’s weird to me because Ben has come to assume such a central role in the story arc. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next couple of seasons.
When they were playing Risk. Maybe it was a throwaway line. Maybe not. Probably was. Or not.
Ah yes. Thanks. It didn’t register as anything more than a throwaway line to me – I’ve often said it myself while playing Risk. 
Sorry for the double post. I don’t see how that would fit. Ben gets deposited in the desert. Goes to the hotel. Not even sure what year it is. He sees Sayid on the TV mourning his wife. I don’t see how Ben could have set it up. More likely he is just using what he finds to his advantage.
Yes, possibly a throwaway line. But it brought to mind this very minor spoiler from the producers, also from Entertainment Weekly:
“Mysterious things are happening to Claire that set up the next few episodes - and the next few years, too.”
Fantastic episode (as Ben focused episodes often are). Sprinkle in a significant amount of Sayid and you have gold.
I was so proud of the fact that I almost instantly realized that they were playing Risk, and laughing because I have made the same analysis about Australia, that I totally missed the significance of it.
Best line of the night, “Oh, so you DO speak English?”
Most of the high points have been hit. Can’t wait until next week.