Did We Witness ‘The Incident’ in Man Behind The Curtain?

SPOILERS AHEAD – Don’t read if you haven’t seen “Man Behind the Curtain”

What we saw happen in Ben’s flash back must have been “The Incident” that was spoken about in the “Orientation” tape.

The only explanations that I can come up with about the continued food drops marked “The Dharma Initiative” is that there’s someone out there that either doesn’t care what happened to the original team (which I doubt), or the more likely explanation that someone convinced whoever was in charge that “The Hostiles” got in, killed everyone, and he was the sole survivor.

If one of the people in the Dharma Inititive on the outside was the person that initiated the killing of the original Dharma group, they would be in a good position to convince others on the outside to continue funding. Why would they do that? Because they saw something about the island that they thought they could use for their own purposes, probably something radically different than what the original Dharma was trying to do.

Man Behind The Curtain Spoilers

Spoilers ahead

Oh my… Ben sure does have some … interesting… things happen on his birthday.

That was nothing like what I expected it to be, the show had a bunch of things that I never saw coming. None of my previous predictions were right (except the ones about Juliet, and the disembodied voice), but that’s OK. I probably would have been disappointed if that were the case because what DID happen was a lot more surprising.

First, I was completely blown away by the fact that Ben helped kill the Dharma Initiative people. The continued shipments of supplies to the island either mean that Ben and “the original inhabitants”, as he put it, have kept up the appearance that it’s still around, or something. What they did, and how they did it, well, that’s another mystery.

Second, I thought for sure that we’d see Jacob tonight. The fact that we only heard him after Ben turned his back was great too… Keep that mystery going. Was that really something named “Jacob” or is this a “Norman Bates” Ben has pulled on everyone?

Whether Jacob is real or not doesn’t explain anything about the obsession with pregnant women on the island.

It sure seemed to me like Richard looked pretty much the same as when Ben first met him. Was that just a fluke, or what?

Say that Jacob is really some sort of ghost….

Could the “original inhabitants” of the island be entities like Jacob, only taking corporeal form? Could Richard be one of these things?

Is Ben doing what he’s doing now to help those things (and maybe Jacob), get off the island?

If Jacob is NOT a ghost, that could only mean that Ben is the one that said the words “Help Me” and is Norman Bates, only shorter. Ben repeatedly asking “What did Jacob say” doesn’t really convince me that we can rule Ben out of what’s happening.

I’m not really sure where that leads things in the series, but there you have it.

As for Locke… Wow… Locke sure has a knack for being completely sure about things, and being very very mistaken in the end. I hope that he doesn’t end up dead in that pit, because it sure would be disappointing to see that character off the show.

Update: Kali.Amanda points out we DID see Jacob. Here’s the picture:

The Band Show

On American Idol tonight, they announced that they’re taking submissions for bands to send in demo tapes for a new program, which I think is called The Band Show. Say that fast, and it sounds like The Banjo…. I bet we hear a couple of those. Anyway, be on the lookout for that.

Locke as Ben’s Replacement?

Oh man…

I was thinking about what might happen in tonight’s episode, “Man Behind the Curtain”, and something occurred to me: What if Locke is Ben’s “replacement”?

Think about this a minute…

If The Others are really being lead by this entity named “Jacob”, and Ben is his right hand man, would Jacob be happy with Ben right now?

Think of all the things that have happened since the survivors of Flight 815 got on that island. The Hatch was blown up, multiple other “hatches” were found, and The Others were discovered as more than they appeared to be.

Now, you get this guy Locke who was on the island for a very short time before he was healed. Most people take a couple of days to do that… Now, sure, that’s still pretty quick, but not nearly as fast as Locke was healed.

Jacob’s not too happy about what’s been going on, and here we have someone who at least appears to be very “in tune” with the island. That would make Locke a prime candidate for taking over as the leader of “The Others”.

Notice that I said “entity” named Jacob. I’m not convinced we’re going to find out Jacob is anything more than a disembodied voice at this point.

We’ll see in a few hours from now…

Predictions for “Man Behind The Curtain”

Tonight’s the night we’re supposed to find out more about the Dharma Initiative, Ben, and Jacob (who we’ll meet tonight).

So, quick prediction time:

1) We’ll find out that Ben has been on the island a LOT longer than we previously suspected.

2) Juliet might be going through the motions of helping Ben, but we’ll find out that’s just for show and she’s going to join the crash survivors.

3) Ms. Klugh isn’t dead.

4) Ben’s obsession with babies on the island is partially due to the fact that someone he loved died because of her pregnancy.

Two Words That Will Change Locke’s Life

Jeff Jensen has a great preview of what to expect in “Man Behind the Curtain” over at EW.com, and I’m especially intrigued by the following:

LINDELOF: More importantly, we meet Jacob — the elusive, unseen, presumed leader of The Others — for the first time. This is a character who is every bit as significant to our universe as the Emperor was to the Star Wars universe. Jacob is a guy who is going to have a very significant ongoing sort of story value in our show.

And lest you thinking I’m wussing out by just giving you reheated goods — here’s a dish of freshly caught coy, just for you:

”Locke will hear two words tonight,” says Lindelof. ”Those words, and the fact that he hears them, will change his course on the island forever.”

What are those two words? My guess is “Welcome Back”

Interview with Lindelof and Cuse on Mapping Out LOST

Entertainment Weekly has a brief interview with Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof about the decision to end LOST after three more season.

They also talk about the rest of this season, and even specifically say we’re going to start getting some answers.

“And more importantly, we meet Jacob — the elusive, unseen, presumed
leader of the Others — for the first time. And this is a character who
is every bit as significant to our universe as the Emperor was to the Star Wars universe — a character that you didn’t get to meet until Return of the Jedi
but was referred to all through the preceding films. Jacob is a guy who
is going to have a very significant, ongoing sort of story value in our
show.”