Break

I’m taking a break this week to prepare for a second job interview. I do regret breaking my promise to write every day, but my average is still well above 108 words per day. And for the record, writing about Lost every single day is tough!

The Plot: Season 5 (Richard's Others)

The last time we see the Others is when Locke returns to the island after being gone three years. The Others seem different this time around when Locke finds them with Richard camped at the beach. They seem weaker and more passive. Perhaps it is because they all portrayed by extras. They also seem younger, which may be my imagination or just another casting quirk. But I’m amazed how quickly they become Locke’s sheep. Locke is there leader, but he’s been missing for three years and I assume Richard called the shots in his absence. Mr. Friendly or Patchy or even Pickett would been more loyal to the status quo. I wonder if that’s part of the difference between Ben led Others and the Others without him. Goodwin said he once served in the peace corps.[1] Mikhail served in Afghanistan.[2] Maybe Ben purposely stacked the Others with ex-military. Those soldiers were all taken out by the castaways during the war. What’s left is a batch of rookies that Richard recruited. The question is, how did the Others populate their membership before Ben took over? If the Ben forgot why the Others were on the island, what was Richard doing with his people for three years when he was the unchallenged alpha male on the island?

[1] “The Other 48 Days”
[2] “Enter 77”

The Plot: Season 5 (Richard's Others)

The last time we see the Others is when Locke returns to the island after being gone three years. The Others seem different this time around when Locke finds them with Richard camped at the beach. They seem weaker and more passive. Perhaps it is because they all portrayed by extras. They also seem younger, which may be my imagination or just another casting quirk. But I’m amazed how quickly they become Locke’s sheep. Locke is there leader, but he’s been missing for three years and I assume Richard called the shots in his absence. Mr. Friendly or Patchy or even Pickett would been more loyal to the status quo. I wonder if that’s part of the difference between Ben led Others and the Others without him. Goodwin said he once served in the peace corps.[1] Mikhail served in Afghanistan.[2] Maybe Ben purposely stacked the Others with ex-military. Those soldiers were all taken out by the castaways during the war. What’s left is a batch of rookies that Richard recruited. The question is, how did the Others populate their membership before Ben took over? If the Ben forgot why the Others were on the island, what was Richard doing with his people for three years when he was the unchallenged alpha male on the island?

[1] “The Other 48 Days”
[2] “Enter 77”

The Plot: Season 4 (Others vs. Keamy)

As this extended Others Week ends, I want return to the last time we saw the Others. My discussion has dealt almost exclusively with the first three seasons because the Others largely disappear after the Others’ raiding party is blown up. This post asks, where do the Others stand in the post-Ben era?

As Locke’s prisoner in the barracks, Ben downplays his importance and insists that the Others are still strong. He tells Locke that if the Others still wanted him as a leader, they would have stormed New Otherton long ago.[1] But if the Others are so strong, why do they wait so long before taking out Keamy’s team? Because once the remaining Others, led by Richard and back in their jungle-wear, attack Keamy’s commandos, the Others easily kick ass. As always, the Others inflict their greatest damage without guns. They kill two commandos with jungle traps Ewow style.[2] They take out another with the taser and Omar is blown up by grenade.[3] It’s not even clear why Richard needed to Kate and Sayid’s help when the Others expertly appear out of the jungle like the animals we once thought they were. I guess Kate helps pull Ben out of the line of fire. I have no doubt the Others could have killed Keamy on their own, but maybe Keamy would have taken out Ben in the process if Kate hadn’t gone in first as a decoy.[4] Interestingly, when the Richard does try to kill Keamy with a gun, he fails. Richard shoots Keamy in the back multiple times, but Keamy survives only to be stabbed [5]to death later by Ben.

[1] “The Other Woman”
[2] “There’s No Place Like Home”
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.

The Plot: Seasons 1-3 (Dead Others)

Back near the end of war, there is a small Others-Castaways encounter overshadowed by the big explosions of the final attack. Desmond, Charlie, Hurley and Jin encounter Mikhail in the jungle. They are looking for the just parachuted in Naomi and Mikhail is searching for the Others’ new camp after his first near death experience. Charlie is the hawk not wanting to trust Mikhail who has offered to help treat Naomi’s injuries. Desmond is the dove. These roles make sense as Charlie and Desmond are on opposite ends of the personally affected by the Others’ dastardly deeds scale. Desmond, getting all enlightened on us, says that the survivors have actually killed more of the Others than vice-versa.[1] That’s what this post is about. Tallying up the butcher’s bill.

At the moment Desmond makes his pronouncement, the castaways have killed seven Others. Charlie killed the first one. He shot Ethan while Ethan kneeled on the ground weaponless, post Jack’s ass-kicking.[2] We know Ethan is not a good person. Ethan drew first blood across the board: he kidnapped Claire and almost killed Charlie. He also helped Ben kidnap Alex and was eager to do more.[3] Most importantly, he did kill Scott. So they’re 1-1.

Actually, if the tailies are properly counted, the survivors were already ahead. Mr. Eko killed the two Others trying to drag him into the jungle and Ana Lucia killed another when they came back for the children.[4] Charlie is right though; the Others started it. Goodwin gets them back by murdering Nathan.[5] Ever wonder if Juliet knew her boyfriend was capable of cold-bloodedly snapping another man’s neck? Then Goodwin goes down. Rewatching the tape, I cannot decide who started the fight between Goodwin and Ana Lucia. They get to the point where they both know Goodwin has been exposed as an Other. They stare at each awkwardly for a moment and then lunge at each other. Then Goodwin dies by jumping into her spear.[6] That makes the count 5-2. But that doesn’t count all people the Others’ kidnapped: 13 people including two children. The only ones we have seen since are the children. It’s possible the Others simply exterminated the other 11.

Sawyer kills an unnamed Other in the jungle while following Michael into the ambush.[7] The Other is fleeing when Sawyer shoots in a futile attempt to prevent the Others from learning the survivors are on their way. Sun kills another one very soon after that. She shoots Colleen when the Others sneak onto Desmond’s boat and Sun is caught alone facing a gang of armed Others.[8] That makes the count 7-2. One could put Ana Lucia and Libby in the Others’ column since Michael shot them while working for Ben, but I am going to accept Ben’s argument that he never ordered Michael to kill them and there were other, non-lethal ways for Michael to free Ben and save Walt.

Ironically, after Desmond and Charlie’s conversation, the survivors’ total shoots up even more and the Others’ add only one name to their column: Charlie. The survivors kill all 10 Others who raid their camp.[9] Five or 6 are killed by the dynamite, one or two are shot by Jin, Ryan is run down by Hurley, Jason gets his neck snapped by Sayid and Sawyer shoots Tom Friendly.[10] The last death is the most illuminative. Sometimes, it does seem like the Others are playing by different rules. Sometimes the war reminds me of an old Humphrey Bogart film where people take turns holding guns like a game of tag, forgetting that a gun is only good if one intends to use it. The Others’ rarely intend to use their guns on the survivors. They just went the survivors to freeze, be held prisoner, be searched, etc. The survivors take it all deadly serious. So when they have guns, they use them. The Others keep screwing with survivors’ heads, making themselves scarier and jumping out of shadows, and then whining when they get shot.

[1] “D.O.C.”
[2] “Homecoming”
[3] “Dead is Dead”
[4] “The Other 48 Days”
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] “Live Together, Die Alone”
[8] “The Glass Ballerina”
[9] “Through the Looking Glass”
[10] Id.

The Plot: Season 3 (final battle with the Others)

Maybe dominate is too strong of a word to describe the role played by the Others-Castaway war in the 3rd season. The survivors’ beach was a peaceful place most of the season. The war was over and survivors lost. The only action was over whether the Others would execute Sawyer. I previously described how Jack got Sawyer and Kate to escape. But that was at best a prisoner break. This post is about the final battle.

Ben does have a small point when he protests the Others’ innocence. Ben never sent a full army after the castaways. Instead, he has used infiltrators to wreck the most amount of damage: Ethan, Goodwin, Henry Gale, and Michael. The Others’ have also triumphed when the castaways have stumbled blindly into the Others’ territory.[1] The final battle includes of all these elements: an army, an ambush and a double agent. It begins with Kate, Locke and Sayid all getting captured during their mission to rescue Jack from the Others’ barracks. It’s entirely unknown to me why Kate thought the three of them could take on the entire Others’ camp. Anyways, when he has them all prisoner, Ben is the decider. Locke just blew up his submarine so it only seems fair that Ben keep them all prisoners as punishment. Or he could let them go and resume some sort of truce. Instead he sends all of the castaways back to their camp, but with Juliet as his latest infiltrator. He arranges any elaborate ruse to make it seem like the Others’ have abandoned Juliet.[2] That is a decision guaranteed to blow up something.

Ben’s motives are not even pressing. He just wants information on the survivors’ other possibly pregnant women, such as Sun and Kate, so the Others’ can kidnap them like they kidnapped Claire.[3] Once he has the information he needs, Ben sends his 10 best men and women to raid the survivors’ camp. He is finally sending an army after the survivors. And he orders them to kill any survivors who try to the stop them from taking the women.[4] The Others are the bad guys. This isn’t a conflict based on a misunderstanding. This is a war fought because Ben is still trying to get the Others’ to breed.

Of course, we all know what happens next. Juliet confesses everything to Jack, including the upcoming raid.[5] They get Rousseau to deliver dynamite from the Black Rock.[6] Then after Karl warns the survivors that the Others are coming a night early,[7] Jack leads the survivors to the radio tower while Sayid, Jin and Bernard stay behind to spring the trap. They denote two of the piles of dynamite, killing seven of the Others, before they are captured.[8] But then Sawyer and Juliet return to help. The two of them argue over their plan of attack as Hurly shows up to save the day in the Dharma folks’ over VW bus. Hurley runs down one Other, Sayid snaps the neck of another Other with his legs, and finally Sawyer shoots Tom Friendly for “taking the kid off the boat”.[9]

I know Ewoks suck, but that ending is Lost’s Return of the Jedi moment. The previous season’s cliffhanger had been a grin and bear it Others’ victory akin to The Empire Strikes Back. This time, the underdogs defeat the better trained evil empire lead by the scoundrel, the babe and fuzzy sidekick. Instead of an Ewok dance, Hurley does a cannonball.[10]

[1] See “The Hunting Party”, “Live Together, Die Alone”
[2] “Left Behind”
[3] “The Brig”
[4] “Greatest Hits”
[5] “The Brig”
[6] Id.
[7] “Greatest Hits”
[8] “Through the Looking Glass”
[9] Id.
[10] “The Beginning of the End”

The Plot: Season 2 (The Others-Castaways War)

The lists are not the only aspect of the Others’ behavior illuminated by understanding Ben’s schemes. The entire Others-Castaways War is an outgrowth of his personality. The big war started at the very end of the 1st season when the Others, led by Tom Friendly, kidnap Walt, shoot Sawyer, and blow up the survivor’s raft with Michael and Jin around it. Everyone survives, but Mr. Friendly’s line, “We’re going to have to take the boy,” is the catalyst for most of what happens next.[1]

Of course, there was Ethan’s attack on the survivors. But they are semi-convinced that Ethan acted alone. The unrevealing of Rousseau’s black smoke con actual prompts Charlie to declare there are no Others.[2] Nearly at the very moment the Others are kidnapping Walt, but the rest of the survivors won’t know that for sometime. The only one with an inkling is Rousseau. After she gives Aaron back to Charlie, she insists that the Others are coming for the boy. Even she probably doesn’t realize she had the wrong boy. There are two possible explanations for the Others’ kidnapping Walt. The first is that Ben already had his plan to use Walt to force Michael to betray the survivors. Second, Ben really did want Walt because he has a thing for kidnapping children. Notice that the Others’ under Widmore had no such policy. Widmore wanted Ben to exterminate baby Alex.[3] Widmore’s Others also still lived in the jungle. So it isn’t until Ben takes the Others into the island’s suburbs that Ben starts a family. Ben wants to take the Others’ legit. I think he hopes that as the Others become a stable community rather than a tribe the cycle of new leaders deposing old ones will stop and he’ll be left in charge.

Normally I insist that the Others’ are solely responsible for any violence in their clashes with the survivors. But in between Walt’s abduction and the capture of Jack, Kate and Sawyer, there are so moments when the survivors escalate things. Sawyer’s long con to steal the guns and medicine from Jack and Locke involves his faking an attack on Sun.[4] Nearly a month later, Sun still believes the Others attacked her right outside the survivors camp and that anything bad, like the death of Nikki and Paolo, might properly be attributed to the Others.[5] After Sun’ attack, more people, including Steve, sign up for Jack and Ana Lucia’s army to fight the Others.[6] This is only time the whole being an Other is all relative, Jacob’s adversary is right, humanity is doomed, etc. argument has some merit. The survivors, led by Jack, choose war over peace because of a crime the Others never actually committed. But they don’t go to war, partly because Sawyer stole the guns, even if he doesn’t admit to faking Sun’s attack. Peace remains until Ben comes into the survivor’s camp calling him Henry Gale.

Henry Gale remains a vague character during first few appearances but everything we see is consistent with Ben’s overall development. It doesn’t take long for Ben to exploit Locke’s gullibility. He asks Locke multiple times why Locke lets Jack make all the decisions[7]. As a result, Locke has one of his classic, not seen by anyone else tantrums.[8] Locke even brings in Ana Lucia into his hatch without Jack’s permission.[9] So we have to be careful that it’s just more manipulation when Ben calls Locke “one of the good guys” and says that Ben was coming for Locke when he got trapped in Rousseau’s net.[10] But in this case, I believe Ben.
Ben’s primary motivation is to stay in control of the island. To do that he first needs to surgery to remove the tumor on his spine. But Ben sees his illness as first and foremost a conspiracy to remove him as the leader. Locke’s accession to leader is part of that conspiracy. Because even though Locke doesn’t know it in 2004, he will eventually go back to 1954 and start the self-fulfilling prophecy that he is destined to be the Others’ leader. But Ben probably knows it. Daniel kept a very detailed journal of his travel through time that the Others came into possession of in 1977 and was later found in the Hydra Station by Caesar.[11] Ben is also seen writing in a journal.[12] Perhaps the Others are meticulous record keepers. Or it’s like that old joke: when you get kicked out as leader of the Others you write two letters for your eventual successor in times of emergency. The first letter says blame me. The second letter says everything that has happened in all recorded history and everything that will happen in the future.

Because Ben needed children and because he needed to see his potential successor John Locke and because Ben needed surgery, all the pieces came together for Michael to kill Ana Lucia and Libby. Yes, it was Michael’s decision. But he was the Others’ agent at that point. Ben was the always man behind the curtain who started the great Others-Castaway war that dominated the 3rd season.

[1] “Exodus”
[2] “Ma
[3] “Dead is Dead”
[4] “The Long Con”
[5] “Expose”
[6] “The Long Con”
[7] See “Maternity Leave”
[8] Id.
[9] “The Whole Truth”
[10] “Two for the Road”
[11] “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”
[12] “Through the Looking Glass”