Yeah, that didn’t make much sense to me either. This thing can turn into a giant hand that picks people up, slams them down, and kills them good. It can’t be hurt by bullets. But somehow Keamy could get away?
Since we didn’t see the fight, maybe they used explosives, which Widmore could have told them about. Thing is, if it’s swarming you how exactly do you blow it up without being killed yourself?
-Joe
I’m think that Dharma was investigating whatever is going on with the heiroglyphs and all that. Remember that the hatch timer turned to hieroglyphics when the timer ran out. So I bet the doorway was there the whole time and then Dharma built around it.
I still don’t think the Dharma folk were all that benign (not that they deserved being slaughtered). I think they were screwing around with the folks in their various experiments; Candle seems untrustworthy; they seem real scared of those bigwigs back in AnnArbor; and of course they were quick to condemn Sayid to death. So were they investigating the old Egyptian stuff to harness Smokey to control time?
It was the Kevlar Krispies. Little Charlie just can’t get enough of them!
Good point, though it only makes me more confused in the end. We’ve so far not seen that Dharma is interested in anything other than “energy” on the island: aside from those glyphs and the possibility that they know about Ben’s secret room, we haven’t seen any evidence of them buying into the “mythology” of the Island. But then, we don’t really know what they know about the Hostiles, in the end.
And we do know that the glyph counter at least was probably put there after “The Incident” which is farther in the future of Dharma history than we’ve seen so far.
Oh they’re definately shifty. I just don’t know how deeply they understand the Island as anything other than super-cool science experiment for hippies looking to save the world.
More conclusions: since Widmore was cast off for having a daughter with someone who wasn’t “one of us,” then chances are that Ellie Hawking is not Penny’s mom. Ellie, as far as we can tell, was Daniel’s mom, but she was definately “one of them” at one point.
The recapper over at Television Without Pity speculates that Eloise Hawking is actually Charles Widmore’s sister, based on the way he snapped, “Shut it, Ellie!” to her back when we met them both in the '50’s.
Was it just me or when the smoke monstre started swirling around Ben did you expect him to yell “It’s beautiful!” then watch his face melt off?
I don’t recall Charlie and Walt being judged unworthy and consumed by the monster.
I must say, earlier in the series when I figured out that Ben was a Magnificent Bastard, he was catapulted to the top of the list of my favourite characters. And seeing him now more exposed and knowing that he doesn’t know what’s going on and still manages to manipulate people makes him even more interesting.
The Monster didn’t kill Charlie, nor Alex nor Walt. And let’s not forget that Eko was an irredeemably awfu human being for most of his life and Charlie wasn’t so great himself for most of the time. And that’s all assuming that you know what The Monster’s criteria for judgement is; Ben stated that he was going to be judged and his defence was that everything he did was to protect The Island. So if that’s true then The Monster is only interested in protecting The Island at any cost, dead “innocents” be damned.
Sure, but unless it was strictly for our benefit, we saw that Ben was a loving father who wanted to protect children.
He said Danielle was insane before they took the baby. I wonder if he was telling the truth and Alex was in danger - not counting the general island survival issues, but also just from her.
-Joe
I didn’t to say that Charlie and Alex were consumed by the monster: but they certainly now seem to be part of it, no? I was addressing the theory that Ammit, when it judges you unworthy (as it supposedly does to everyone who dies), makes you one of the restless dead, doomed to walk the earth forever. Doesn’t seem like old Charlie really deserves that fate.
I watched the Eko ep again, and remembered that not only has Eko done some pretty awful things, but he says straight out to “Yemi” that he is not sorry for them: that he did what he needed to survive, and asks for no forgiveness.
When Ben drained all the water out to summon the smoke monster, it reminded me of this demotivational poster, about dividing by zero. Completely coincidental, sure, but it seems like the Island represents the sort of mathematical weirdness that would go along with being able to divide by zero…
Ah, I get it.
I didn’t take the post-death appearances of those characters as their souls walking the earth against their will, especially Walt, who’s not dead. I chalked those appearances up as a separate Island phenomena, the island assuming those forms as a means to communicate with “important” people.
If that’s the case, it certainly seems like the monster is sort of… dishonest though, no? I mean, that Charlie really seemed to be making the case that he was really Charlie, dead but there. If that was the Island BS’ing Hurley, that seems pretty cruel. I wouldn’t want to be the Island’s friend anymore after that!
We all need to remember that Hurley is certifiably insane. It’ possible the Charlie isn’t an apparition at all. He might just be in Hurley’s mind.
Any thoughts on why the smoke monster killed the pilot way way back in the first season? That was the original encounter with him, right?
In the Dharmaville scene, right after the flashback where Ben brings Alex to confront Charles, there is a weird shadow on the wall of one of the buildings.
I am always weary of making shapes out of clouds, but it looks like the head of the man/dog God (Anubis?) from later in the episode. It is right over the window. To the left, is a fallen sign that says “processing center”.
I think the shadow is an attempt by the producers to mess with us. I cannot see that being an accidental shadow. I don’t think the dog/man was actually there, but it could be a hint to focus on that element of the mythology. Especially given Ilyana’s line at the end of the episode.
Am I alone in my madness?
I think it was because the writers hadn’t figured out what they wanted the Smoke Monster to be yet, quite honestly. I’m sure we could fanwank an answer somehow, but I just saw it as a way to try to hook viewers during the pilot.
good point Cuckoorex. I must say, I think the writers have done a good job of retrofitting everything. We know Ben was not originally meant to stay past three episodes, but since its become the Ben show I think the writers have juggled everything pretty well. Loose ends to be expected.
Another question: Any speculations on what happens next to Sayid after shooting Lil Ben? Will Smoke Monster get him?
I’d also like a little backstory on how Jin melded with the Dharmites. What story did he give them?
