4.11

(Go back to 4.10 or back to index or forward to 4.12 Part 1.) 

Several things revealed and/or confirmed in this episode.  I’ll try to cover everything but I may miss a few things.  Just fair warning.

John was born prematurely.  Ben was also.  If babies on the island would deliver as prematurely, they might not die.  What is the connection between all of these things?

We see the doctor alive on the boat and we see the moment when Dan’s Morse code transmission comes through.  So far, electromagnetic signals between the island and the boat have been synchronized in time.  Thus we can assume that the moment we hear the Morse code coming over the phone was the same moment Dan was sending the code in a previous episode.  Therefore, we know that the doctor’s corpse traveled back in time as it floated through the island’s “EM bubble” toward the beach.  This is the first time we’ve seen this happen.  Until now, objects or people traveling to or from the island have arrived in the future relative to observers on the boat and on the island, not in the past.

So far, the bubble isn’t showing any pattern in how it works.  The interval of the time dilation seems to be random, as does whether or not the object passing through the bubble will go forward or backward in time.  It may be that the interval or direction of the time dilation can be determined by the heading taken to or from the island, since presumably a particular heading can be used to avoid time dilation effects altogether.  There are many things about these temporal effects that still aren’t clear.

Michael still can’t be killed.  He’s still useful to the island somehow, apparently.  The fact that he’s dodged yet another bullet (literally) deepens the mystery as to why Alex wasn’t spared… or, more to the point, the mystery as to why Ben was so shocked that Alex wasn’t spared.  Throughout this episode Ben hints at ways that the island has abandoned him.  His “dreams” went away.  He got sick.  He no longer knows how to find Jacob.  He even mentions Alex’s blood being on his hands.  But when Alex died Ben didn’t blame the island.  He blamed Widmore directly.  Was Alex’s death simply the last straw that told Ben once and for all that everything that was happening to him WAS proof that his time as keeper of the island was passing?  As if until that point he’d been in denial? He does say that when he shot John he should have known it wouldn’t kill him, but he wasn’t thinking clearly.  If the death of Alex was the moment when Ben finally had to admit to himself that his reign was over, when he said that Widmore changed the rules, did he mean that Widmore had successfully overthrown him? In this episode we do see that a man who works for Widmore (Abaddon) is responsible for planting the idea in John’s head that eventually placed him on the doomed flight from Australia.  It’s become apparent that Widmore knew or intended that flight 815 would arrive on the island.  Did Ben somehow figure out soon after the crash that the survivors were “sent” by Widmore, explaining his immediate combative stance toward them? Is this how Widmore “changed the rules”, by sending John? By sending John before he was ready?

The purge occurred in 1992 according to Horace Goodspeed.  He’s the one who built the cabin, apparently.  When Jacob took possession of it (double entendre intended) is a mystery, but Horace says Jacob has waited for John a long time.

When Ben mentions he used to have dreams it seems to confirm what many have suspected… that Ben sometimes had extraordinary means of knowing the future.

John survived being born prematurely beyond all odds, already showing he’s “special”.  So... is this the connection to the pregnancy issue? Was some force (Ben? Jacob? The island?) fiddling with pregnancies with the aim of bringing about a premature birth that would reveal the child as "the chosen one"? Ugh... who knows...

Richard shows up the day John is supposed to come out of the incubator.  We can probably  assume this is Richard since he shows up later in John’s life and actually introduces himself as “Richard”.  Any suggestion that it’s anyone other than him at this point would seem rather silly, but so far the explanations for who or what he is aren’t terribly satisfying.  Is he a man who doesn’t age? How does that work? Hints in the show that the DI was doing life extension experiments don’t really help here.  Is he a time traveler? Ben’s trip to the Sahara seemed to utilize a mode of conveyance that changed the position of his location in space AND time, but his question to the hotel clerk regarding the date of his arrival suggested that his method of traveling to the desert might not have been a perfectly reliable way to travel in time (it didn’t even seem like a reliable way to travel in space).  So we still don’t know if the show is going to introduce classic time travel into the plot (as opposed to the, so far, “accidental” and mental kinds).  I’ll speculate more on Richard later.

John’s interest in backgammon starts early.

I find it difficult to believe that John wouldn’t remember Richard from his early life.

In any case… it’s clear that John’s flashbacks are supposed to show us that he’s struggled between accepting his destiny and desiring a different one.  So strong is his destiny, in fact, that objects that appear to be things that WILL belong to John ALREADY belong to him.  (This is another clue that suggests Richard might be visiting from the future, although this notion doesn’t make perfect sense since, presumably, if John had passed the test, he’d have gone with Richard to the school, not traveled forward in time… I suppose it’s possible that John would have gone to the school while Richard returned to his “own time” but that seems awkward plot-wise.)

We know John took great pride in the fact that he was told his destiny was to be a hunter (rather than a farmer) when he lived on the commune.  Apparently his desire to have a “heroic” destiny also started early.  But it was clear that John was supposed to select the “Book of Law”, not the knife, in Richard’s test.  And the fact that John has been playing the hunter since he arrived on the island indicates that John has continued to fight with his destiny… further suggesting that he hasn’t been ready to become protector of the island… fitting in with the notion that he was sent to the island by Widmore, not so much called to the island BY the island.  Just because Jacob was waiting for him doesn’t mean John was ready.  Recall he visited Jacob without being “summoned” by him… and he couldn’t see Jacob.  And in this episode he still doesn’t see him.

Getting back to Richard… let’s say that the way he gets about is via bilocation… similar to Walt (who Ms.Klugh revealed could bilocate… the fact that Walt can do this is known).  Let’s also say that it was by way of some bilocation machine that Ben arrived in the Sahara.  Apparently Ben’s bilocation experience involved the manipulation of space, so it also involved the manipulation of time, meaning that time dilation can be a byproduct of the bilocation process (although it might not always happen).  So what if bilocators like Walt can do so in space OR time if they choose? Richard could have the same ability as Walt.  Or… he could be bilocating in time and creating copies of himself at various points in history.  (I’m presuming that Walt’s method of bilocation doesn’t leave copies… classic bilocation doesn’t… but bilocation brought on by a machine might… this plot device has been used, actually, in a recent film but I won’t say which so as to avoid a spoiler for any of you who haven’t seen it.)  Anyway… these are just random thoughts as I try to tie all of this stuff together.  The plot elements in the show are still strewn fairly wide.

Ben denies being responsible for the Purge based on the fact that he didn’t order it.  He also suggests that the leader before him was the one who ordered it.  Who was that exactly? Richard? Jacob? Widmore? (Although Widmore seems to be sympathetic to the DI.)

Apparently Widmore didn’t know precisely what would happen when he sent his boat, but, rather, he knew several possible scenarios and sent a “secondary protocol” just in case (sporting a DI logo?).  Of course, bringing about a particular future is tricky business.  Perhaps Widmore DID know precisely what would happen but also knew that it would come about only by parsing out information.  We know that Widmore also has “dreams” and perhaps this is how he knows what will happen? All difficult to tell at this point.

John’s a Geronimo Jackson fan.  Or at least the person whose locker he was locked in was.

The mascot of his high school is a knight.  Interesting.

Teen John acts a little like he recognizes Richard’s last name, but he wasn’t given his last name in their first encounter.  Again… I find it odd that Adult John wouldn’t remember Richard on the island.

Why does Frank think it’s so unbelievable that Widmore put the plane on the bottom of the ocean when he already thinks it’s a hoax?

What is being attached to Keamy’s arm?

So… is the tiny boat that Sayid takes the way the Oceanic 6 get off the island? That’s… interesting…

Ben thinks that what’s happened to him is destiny.  And yet he was surprised by some of what’s happened to him.  So obviously while he accepts that the things that happened to him HAD to, he hasn’t always known what was going to happen.

Abaddon seems pretty certain he’ll run into John again.  Why’s that?

We were told the captain couldn’t be trusted.  But he seemed pretty helpful to Sayid and Desmond before he was killed.

What happened to the shot the captain got off, though?

“Doctors are the worst patients.”  Wow.  That’s got to win the nomination for the most clichéd line in the show ever.

Frank’s payload lands on Claire’s tent.  Coincidence?

Along with other clues in the episode, Ben’s proclamation that his time is over confirms the notions of many that Ben was once chosen for his role on the island and now it’s John’s time to take over.  Until now this notion was frequently suggested (as with John’s opportunity to kill his father) but not really stated outright.

Christian isn’t Jacob, but can speak on his behalf.  What’s THAT about? (Edit:  It has occurred to me that perhaps the reason Christian was speaking to John was because part of what John was supposed to get out of visiting the cabin was a message for Jack.  If this is the case, it seems likely this message would be the same or similar to the one Christian delivered personally to Claire, the one that's made her all comfortable and happy in a dark cabin without her son.  It further seems likely that this message is intended to encourage Jack to stay on the island.  Which suggests that Claire remained on the island because she, like Sawyer, chose to. Which further suggests that Kate TAKES Aaron from Claire and the island, perhaps thinking her unfit to raise the boy if she is crazy enough to think staying on the island is a good idea, this spinning off from the bonding between Kate and Aaron that will take place as Claire is away.)

Christian confirms that John was chosen.

Claire looks pretty comfortable in the cabin with her father.  I don’t know what Christian showed her, but whatever it was really convinced her he could be trusted… and that she could leave Aaron alone in the woods.  She acts a little like “drugged Claire” from when Ethan kidnapped her.  She and Christian share a “knowing glance” when John asks how he can save the island.

I think it’s funny that with all the time weirdness going on a character like Christian would say, “We don’t have time for this…”

Hurley shares part of his candy bar with Ben. That killed some time.  Good job, writers.

So now we have a better idea of what Ben meant when he told Widmore he’d never find the island.  Apparently the thing can move.  How? In what manner (spatially, temporally, perceptually, literally, etc.)? It’s anybody’s guess.