Back to the present, where Benry wakes up to see Locke and is clearly surprised. He claims that he knew Locke would be resurrected, but Locke’s not buying it. He does look awfully surprised for somebody who was expecting this turn of events. Benry claims he’s going back to the Island to be judged, but he states that his sin is returning to the Island. Yeah, that’s not exactly his biggest sin there. I like that the Others don’t have a name for the Monster – clearly, they would rather not talk about it.
On the beach, Ilana and some guys are moving a big metal box. What the heck is in that box? Several scenes happen around this box, and nobody will say what’s in it. That box had better be awesome! Benry shows up to chat, and it’s always hilarious watching him try to have pleasant interactions with people. It’s like watching a horse ride a bicycle, you know? Caesar has some questions for Benry, and he tries to paint Locke as a threat, even suggesting that he was already waiting there for them. Caesar shows Benry his shotgun, by way of reassuring him. Poor, easily manipulated Caesar…
Flashback. Benry and young Ethan are poking around in the dark. Benry rushes Rousseau’s tent, and Rousseau does not react well. (By the way, note that she says that he “infected” her people – keep in mind, the timeline puts this before the Purge, so Benry hasn’t gassed anybody yet.) Benry can’t bring himself to shoot her, and instead, he takes the crying baby. We see a shot of Rousseau’s music box, and Benry gives here a warning: “Every time you hear whispers, you run the other way”. Remember Rousseau panicking at the whispers early in the series? We’re starting to tie some things together now!
In the present again, Benry and Locke are in Benry’s old Hydra office. Locke wants to have a talk about that time Benry murdered him. Currently, Benry’s story is that he knew the Island would bring Locke back, and his death was the only thing that would assemble the Oceanic Six. That’s certainly a possible interpretation of how that scene went down. He then explains that he stopped Locke from killing himself because he had critical information – which appeared to be the name of Eloise Hawkins. And then, hilariously, “I didn’t have time to talk you into hanging yourself again”. This episode is really funny, actually. I love Locke and Benry just sniping at each other.
Locke has decided to help Benry get back to the Island to be judged, and Benry seems less than enthusiastic about that. “That’s not something you want to see”. At this point, I can’t decide if seeking judgment was ever in Benry’s plan, or if events just got away from him and he was forced into it. The fact that so much of this episode was spent with the biggest liar on the series really muddies up the stated motivations.
Outside, Caesar has no intention of letting Locke use one of the boats, and Benry suddenly takes a submissive posture, as if Locke has captured him. This looks like it’s going to go horribly wrong when Caesar goes for his gun. Only, Benry actually has the gun and shoots Caesar in the chest. And then he tells Locke “Consider that your apology”. Ha! I love that Benry basically created a situation that would let him kill somebody, rather than just getting the boat. He exacerbated tensions just for an excuse to shoot somebody. For Benry, murder is always Plan A.
Locke and Benry arrive on the dock, and Locke is curious about Benry’s arm. You’d think at this point Benry would be thrilled that somebody cared enough to ask about his injuries, but instead, he won’t give up any information. So Locke just continues his streak of being right about things and suggests that Benry is actually there to be judged for letting his daughter die. And whether that was Benry’s original plan or not, the suggestion hits home.
Another flashback. Benry and Ethan bring the baby back to camp, and Widmore is furious. Hey, you know how there’s a debate over whether Widmore or Benry is the real bad guy? Well, Widmore is demanding that Benry shoot a baby. Benry stands up to him, though Widmore still believes that the Island wants Alex dead.
In the present, Locke asks Benry why they moved into the Dharma houses. He doesn’t think the Island would approve, and Benry answers “You don’t have the first idea what this Island wants”. No, but I think we’re getting closer. They head to Benry’s house when they spot movement in the window. In a nice touch, Hurley and Sawyer’s game of Risk from last season is still spread out on the table. Benry enters what used to be Alex’s room to find Sun and Frank waiting. When they show Benry the 1977 Dharma picture, he’s surprised to see Jack, Kate, and Hurley in the picture, he seems surprised once again. So either he’s faking or he’s missing many memories from his childhood. Even if he didn’t remember Sayid shooting him, you’d think he’d remember Hurley serving him lunch every day.
They explain that a man named Christian told them to wait for Locke, who they know to be dead. Frank is really funny through this whole scene. He does not have time for any mystical nonsense. What’s even funnier is when they look out the window and Locke gives them a friendly wave. Hee. Once Frank finds out that Locke came back from the dead and has some ideas as to how to get them back in time thirty years, he just gives up and heads back to Hydra. You can tell Frank hasn’t spent enough time on the Island – it’s adorable the way he thinks he can actually get the plane’s radio working and contact somebody.
Benry seems less and less eager about being judged, but Locke is quite insistent. So he opens up the secret room, and the even more secret room behind that. Isn’t it great that Benry has a secret room with a secret tunnel inside it? This is a guy who puts his hide-a-key inside a hollowed-out oak tree and then builds a wall around the tree. Anyway, we’ve seen this door before, when he unleashed the monster on Keamy and the soldiers. This time, though, we follow Benry inside. At the bottom of a staircase is a muddy pool. He drains the pool and talks into a hole – “I’ll be outside”. Man, it was easier to get into CONTROL headquarters…
A flashback brings us Benry pushing young Alex on the swing. Richard “Batmanuel” Alpert tells him the sub’s about to leave, which interests Benry very much. Widmore is being escorted to the sub, and Benry comes to say good-bye. Widmore’s angry about his banishment, but Benry claims he “broke the rules”. Seems Widmore has been leaving the Island on a regular basis, and even fathered a daughter in the outside world. OK, that helps. I haven’t been able to figure out where Penny came from unless Widmore left the Island much earlier than he did. Now we know he’s been making a lot of trips, and must have been doing so for years and years. Penny is older than Alex, so Widmore had already started taking his trips before that last flashback.
Also, back in “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”, Widmore indicated to Locke that Benry had tricked him into leaving the Island, and even (to my mind at least) implied that he’d left by turning the wheel and appearing in Tunisia. This is most definitely not true. So between lying to Locke and his pro-Baby Shooting platform, I say we’re safe keeping Widmore in the “bad guy” column.
Locke and Sun are waiting outside the house, with Locke nowhere to be seen. Sun is trying to justify everything by saying that Jack lied about Locke’s death. Benry confirms he was most definitely dead, but he had no idea that the Island would bring him back. So he either lied to Locke or to Sun. Or maybe he partially lied to both. Locke comes back from the jungle and tells Benry he can bring him to the Monster.
Now, there’s some debate as to whether Locke is really Locke or if Jacob is using his body as he seemingly did with Christian. Locke certainly seems to have a lot of answers now, but I’m of the mind that he’s really Locke. For one thing, the resurrected Locke overlaps with Sun’s meeting with Christian. (And yes, maybe Jacob can bi-locate. As soon as you start talking about Jacob, there’s a lot that’s left undefined.) But for me the main thing is that Locke is still recognizably Locke. He acts like Locke, while Christian does not act like Christian. He’s not always drunk, for one thing. I’m interested to know what people think, but I’m working from the assumption that Locke is Locke.
Hey, Benry’s at the Marina. This is what I’ve been worried about. He calls Widmore to let him know that he’s about to get revenge. Oh, man. There’s Penny, out on the boat. By the way, their boat is named “Our Mutual Friend”, which is the one Charles Dickens book that Desmond hadn’t read.
On the Island, Locke pokes at Benry a little. Benry doesn’t like that Locke knows more than he does. He doesn’t like having to blindly follow somebody and put his faith in somebody who might not have his best interests at heart. Locke sees the irony. They arrive at the temple, or rather, the wall around the temple. They’re going under the wall, straight down the Monster Hole. (Which is the name of my death metal band.) Yep, that’s the same hole that we saw a while back, when the Monster grabbed one of the Frenchmen. As Locke and Benry descend, Benry asks Sun for a favor. “Find Desmond Hume, and tell him that I’m sorry”. My viewing group absolutely freaked out at this, because we’ve been very worried about what happened to Penny and Baby Charlie.
And here’s the flashback we’ve all feared. Benry shoots Desmond, which isn’t a great start for us. Sure, most of the damage seemed to be to the groceries, but still… Benry points the gun at Penny, and he actually apologizes for bringing her into this. The only thing that saves her is Baby Charlie showing up. Benry is not going to shoot a woman in front of her child. This is very important – Benry puts down the gun. He decides that revenge isn’t worth the cost. He makes a very rare decision to behave like a human being. Of course, one second after he does so, Desmond gives him a fantastic beatdown. This is pretty gruesome, even for a guy who gets beat up as often as Benry. Finally, Desmond tosses him into the water. All right, that means the Hume Family is OK, and they just may get their happy ending. I can’t tell you how happy I was to see that.
Frank arrives on the Hydra Island, and one of the New Lostaways rushes out to meet him. Apparently Ilana and some of the others got their hands on some guns, and it’s gotten out of hand. When he finds Ilana, she asks him “What lies in the shadow of the statue?” And then her sidekick (according to IMDB, his name is “Bram”) demands that he answer the question. Yes, this is a serious question that she’s asking him, one which demands an immediate answer. Frank doesn’t even know that there is a statue, so he has no good answer. Ilana beats him with the butt of the rifle and instructs Bram, “Tie him up – he’s coming with us.” Boy, it sure seems like Island Madness broke out while Frank was gone, doesn’t it? The 316 survivors just got more interesting…
As they walk through the temple, Benry admits to Locke that he was right – he’s there to be judged for what happened to Alex. Again, I don’t know if that was the original plan or if it just ate away at Benry. Anyway, he falls through the floor. As Locke goes to look for a rope, Benry explores the basement. We see hieroglyphics, including a panel that seems to show a jackal-headed creature facing what might be a very abstract Smoke Monster. Smokey’s been around for quite a while. Also, the carvings look Egyptian, which is consistent with what we’ve seen elsewhere – in the past, the statue held an ankh and seemed to have a Pharaoh’s headdress.
There are dozens of small holes arranged in a grid, and as Benry approaches, the Smoke flows out. It surrounds Benry, and shows flashes of his relationship with Alex. After it shows her death, the Smoke retreats. Benry cries “It was all my fault”, and Alex responds “I know”. That’s right, Alex is in the room with him. She throws Benry against the wall and threatens him. She knows that he’s planning to kill Locke again, but if Benry lays a hand on him, Alex will hunt him down and kill him. She demands that he follow Locke, no matter what. Benry agrees, and Alex disappears.
I think it’s safe to assume that Alex was the Monster. Just like when the Monster took the form of Eko’s brother to judge him. But in Mr. Eko’s case, he refused to ask forgiveness from the Monster. He was defiant, and the Monster killed him. Benry, when confronted, did exactly the opposite. He admitted guilt, he begged forgiveness, and so he was spared.
It’s been my theory that the Monster and Jacob oppose one another, and the battle we’ve been hearing about is between those two forces. However, both Jacob and the Monster have thrown their support behind Locke. Either those two forces aren’t at war, or else the war will be decided by John Locke. Much like the way Benry and Widmore both tried to win Locke to their side with similar claims, Jacob and the Monster might be fighting over him. Whether there’s a war or not, this episode makes it clear that Locke is incredibly important to the Island. Man, I knew I picked a winner!
The next few days will bring repeat viewings and more thought. I’m sure there’s more to be said about the nature of the Monster and Benry’s emotional arc through this episode. We’re coming up on something very big, and this is going to need further analysis. And then there’s the idea of Jacob/Locke/Smokey as a version of the Trinity. We’ll get into all that next time.
And next week, it looks like the episode centers on Miles. It looks like he’ll be meeting with Dr. Marvin Candle, which is going to be big news around these parts. People are embracing the idea that Dr. Marvin Candle is Miles’ father, so this should be fun.
Seriously, what does lie in the shadow of the statue?
