The Man Behind The Curtain (S:3;E:20)

He Who, through the might and power of God, hath arisen before the face of all the kindreds of the earth, and summoned the multitudes to the Supreme Horizon, hath been repudiated by them and they have clung instead unto such men as have invariably withdrawn themselves behind veils and curtains, and busied themselves about their own protection.
(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 67)

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" - The Wizard of Oz

1) Ben wasn't born on the island (or what might or might not be an island?)...he was born 32 miles from Portland (Gales, Oregon? Henry Gale?), and Roger the Work Man was Roger Linus, who is Ben's father.

2) So what was with the little girl, Annie, offering young Ben an Apollo Bar, saying they can have as many as they like (kinda like Hurley as a kid...right?)? Is the Apollo Bar something that is part of the experiments they do on the island? And here's the question...did they bring Roger there for work, or did they want Ben for the experiments? Horace seemed to be a little more interested in Ben (and Horace looks like a female too...an ugly one at that).

2a) In Season One, Kate uses the name Annie in "Tabula Rasa". Many people thinking there is a parallel.

3) During the war-like scene when Ben is in his classroom, the Dharma people seem pretty confident that they'll protect themselves from the hostiles. Guess not, in the end.

4) Ben's sees his mother, Emily (Hey, Locke's mother was Emily too). He also sees Jacob. Is Ben special? Did Dharma know about this before he was brought to the island with his father, or was it just an accident? Ben seems to be special in the way Walt was special. And they definitely wanted Walt.

5) How does a young kid get the deactivation code for the sonic pylon fence?

6) Richard Alpert was the one that Ben ran into in the forest. Richard has been an "Other" longer than Ben has. He sure has aged much better than Ben has. What's the deal there...what power does Richard have? Anyone see that one Star Trek movie where they ended up on the planet where the people don't age? They are born there...they grow to about the age of 25-30, and then never age again. Then people who were banished, and were growing old were trying to gain control of the planet to stop their people from dying. Is this what they mean by being LOST in time? Is that what is LOST? The title may not refer to the people being LOST after a plane crash, rather that time is LOST.

7) So Ben killed his father, in tandem with the rest of the Hostiles killing all the Dharma-ites. Looks like Ben has Daddy Issues too. Is this why he wanted Locke to kill his father? At least Alex remembers his birthday...so he won't kill her. Does that mean that both of Ben's parents died on his birthday?

8) Mikhail's return, followed by him saying that the sonic fence wasn't set to "lethal". That kills the theory that the dead come back to life on the island.

9) What was that grey powder that lock played with before crossing its threshold?

10) This Jacob guy is a real tree-hugger. He doesn't like technology???? What kind of man is he? We do see him for a split second (see picture below).

11) Did Alex give Locke the gun, because she knew Ben was going to shoot him? Does Ben kill people he takes there, and then blames it on Jacob? Does Ben want Jacob all to himself?

12) Thank Lostpedia for these biblical references: Ben's mother dies giving birth to him and giving him a name. In Genesis 35, Rachel dies after giving birth to Benjamin and giving him the name Ben-oni which means the "son of my sorrow". Jacob a.k.a Israel then changes his son's name to Benjamin, which means "son of my right hand".

Ben throws Locke in a pit out of apparent jealousy over the favor of Jacob. In Genesis 37, Joseph's brothers throw him into a pit, because they are envious that Joseph has the favor of their father Jacob. Presumably, Benjamin was among the brothers who attacked Joseph in the biblical account.

13) Also from Lostpedia: The plot element of DHARMA arrivals being assigned their new jobs -- and one being angry about it -- is reminiscent of the protagonist Equality 7-2521 in Ayn Rand's novella Anthem. He wanted to be a scholar, and was in fact a brilliant scientist, but was assigned to be a street sweeper. My thoughts...I loved that book. I read it back in 9th grade and forgot the title. Now that I remember it, I'll have to go out and get a copy. It was all about people being bred to do work, and to be controlled. Apparently Liberty 30948573048543 (I forget the number) breaks free of that rule and creates a life outside of that controlled society.

14) A lot of dog references in this episode. Will we see Vincent again? Does he play a significant role?

15) I leave you with this final bit: Is Jacob the Monster? We saw from his silhouette that Jacob looks more like Locke. Is that why Locke is special? Is Jacob a representation of Locke stuck in some sort of time warp? Some think it's Magnus Hanso, who was a pirate that may have crashed the Black Rock onto the island. But, I think it's Locke. That's why the Others are so intrigued with him. Plus...to answer the first question...he could in fact be the monster too. To also answer an earlier question...that grey powder could be a barrier to keep Jacob within the circle. Many have referred to it as a Spirit Circle. Looks like time is playing a major role now.

16) Next Episode is called "Greatest Hits" and focuses on this character.