Okay, I'm going to try and go in chronological order with my comments/discussion but we'll see how that works out.
So first, in a continuation from last weeks episode, young Ben is seen recovering from his gunshot injury/temple recovery. Ben seems to not remember what had happened either in the Temple or the shooting which makes me wonder what happened in the Temple that made him forget his experience as well as lose his innocence?
Around 1989, Ben enters Rousseau's little hut in an effort to kill her, as ordered by the Others. However, Ben notices she has a baby (Alex) which makes him have a change of heart and let Rousseau live, yet taking Alex with him back to the Others, showing that Ben did not lie about stealing Alex in season 4. Upon leaving, he warns Rousseau about the whispers and that if she hears them, she should "run the other way", showing that Ben and the Others knew about the whispers. Maybe they didn't know their origin but they definitely knew enough to know that they were bad. Though, why would the Others want to get rid of Rousseau, did they fear her or just want her out of their way? Also, if we assume that Widmore was the leader of the Others at this time (and in so, had a connection with Jacob) why would Ben refuse to kill Rousseau if it was "the will of Jacob"?
We later find out that about 10 years later, Widmore was exiled for "breaking the rules". Specifically for regularly leaving the island and having a family off the island (a "daughter with an outsider"…Penny). Widmore tells Ben that he will have to one day choose between Alex and the island, much like Widmore chose family over the island...for now, anyway. This scene gives the audience great insight to the relationship between Ben and Widmore over time and how Ben is slowly taking over Widmore's power. As with all other Ben/Widmore scenes, we have to wonder who are really the "good guys"? Ben...or Widmore?
Flash to 2008: Ben arrives at Desmond's boat and calls Widmore telling him that he's about to kill Penny in revenge for killing Alex. As he proceeds to go towards Penny, he pulls out his gun and goes on to tell her that he's going to kill her because her father killed his daughter. As he prepares to shoot Penny, Ben sees Charlie coming out of the boat which makes him have a change of heart about killing Penny, being that he would take away her child much like Widmore did to Ben.
Desmond then gives Ben a piece of his mind (and fist!), throwing Ben into the water. Overall, this scene gave us some much needed information and closure about Ben's bloody face and arm while boarding Ajira 316. I for one (as well as other viewers), were a little concerned about Penny being that we hadn't seen her for awhile.
Now on the Hydra Island, Ben reveals to Locke that he came back to the Island to be judged and that he needs to get to the main island to do so. Refusing to let Ben and Locke travel to the island, Caesar attempts to draw his gun, however Ben has it and shoots him in the chest (go Ben! It needed to be done). They leave the Hydra Island and arrive at the dock on the main island, noticing the outrigger used by Sun and Lapidus. Inside Ben's old house, Locke and Ben see Sun and Lapidus. Oddly enough, they say that Christian told them to follow John Locke. Earlier, Christian had told them that if they wanted to see their friends, they had "a long journey ahead of them". I'm still wondering, what is that long journey? Also, how would Christian know about it as well as Sun needing to follow Locke? Something's up here being that Locke is acting so calm and peaceful. Since being "revived" he seems to know the answers to everything...even more than Ben, to a point.
Later, we finally get to see what's behind Ben's secret door. After waiting since season 4 to find out, I was a little disappointed with the whole draining water thing. I was expecting something more mechanical and explained being that Ben was covered with soot rather than sewage water. Hopefully, the water draining has more to be explained.
Apparently not listening to Ben anymore, the smoke monster does not appear when summoned which makes Ben, Locke, and Sun travel to the Temple to go to the monster instead of it coming to them. As Ben goes into the Temple, the sounds of the monster are heard as he notices hieroglyphics. Soon after, the smoke monster rises out of a small stone grate inside the chamber. It starts to surround him and shows him images of Alex, Wdmore, etc. from his past, much like previous encounters with some of the other characters in past seasons. After awhile, Alex appears when the smoke monster vanishes (my belief is that "Alex" in this case was a from of the smoke monster used to get inside Ben's head) and makes Ben promise that he will follow Locke's leadership, or she will "destroy" him. The phrase about "destroying" Ben made me think that "Alex" was the monster because I doubt that Alex/Alex's ghost would say "destroy"...it's just a very smoke monster-like word. Ben later reunites with Locke and informs him that the monster "let him live".
Finally, we see llana on the Hydra Island ask Frank, "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" Being as confused as the audience, Frank could not answer and llana knocks him out. Now, I for one have believed that llana knows way more than she lets on to. Especially with this whole little riddle thing she has going on now. If the statue that she's talking about is in fact the four-toed foot statue, that definitely proves she knows alot...maybe too much. On the other hand, if this statue is just a metaphor...well, I have no idea.
Okay, so with such an episode packed with answers and questions, let's finish with some questions:
1. What is the smoke monster's relation to the Temple?
2. Why does the Monster demand that Ben follow John Locke?
3. How does Locke know where the Monster is?
4. Is the smoke monster’s temple the same temple that Ben ordered the Others to in season 4?
5. How did Christian know Locke would come?
6. What is the meaning of Ilana's question to Frank?
7. How far back does the island go to Egypt (notice more Egyptian references/hieroglyphics in the Temple)?
Of course, there are tons more tiny questions throughout this episode, but these are some of the major ones that could possibly be of great importance in future episodes.
Though only 4 main characters had speaking roles in this episode, it was nice to get to see some Ben/Locke interaction after not seeing either of them for a couple episodes. Once everyone is reunited, it's going to be interesting to see how the writers keep everyone's storylines together with equal time devoted to each one.
In the end, Dead Is Dead was one of my favorite episodes so far. If next weeks episode is going to be half is good, it has alot of live up to.
Namaste
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