What Lies in the Shadow of the Statue: Dead Isn't Always Dead on "Lost"

"On you, my lord, with anxious fear I wait/And from your judgment must expect my fate."
- Joseph Addison

On last night's episode of Lost ("Dead Is Dead"), written by Brian K. Vaughan and Elizabeth Sarnoff, some of Benjamin Linus' missing backstory was tantalizingly teased out as we learned the truth about the abduction of Alex Rousseau, the friction in Ben's relationship with Charles Widmore, and the fate of Penny and Desmond.

And, oh, we got to see Ben and Locke climb into the cavernous underground beneath the Temple where Ben received his judgment from the nameless smoke monster and received his instructions from the island.

Ben has been one of the most complex--if not THE most complex--characters on the series to date and his motivations have been enticingly ambiguous since his introduction in Season Two. Last night's episode painted a somewhat different picture of Benjamin Linus, one in which he might not be wholly evil but still have some human emotion. Of course, this being Lost, it's a complicated humanity that pits the well-being of The Island above the life of Ben's own daughter.

So what I did I think of this week's episode? Put on your Dharma jumpsuit, grab yourself an oar, and let's discuss "Dead Is Dead."

Ben. I still don't trust Ben as far as I can throw him. Even after allegedly discussing his reasons for murdering John Locke minutes after preventing him from killing himself (he says he had knowledge that would have died with him and then didn't have time to convince him to hang himself again afterward), I am still not sure what to make of Ben. He quickly turns Cesar against Locke, preying on Cesar's suspicions and paranoia to make him believe that Locke hadn't been on the plane. Just why does he do this? In case Locke turns on him of course. Or he doesn't want to go along with Locke's plan about making sure that Ben gets his judgment from the smoke monster. As always, Ben is thinking ten steps ahead... and yet for once Locke seems to have more knowledge than he does, making their relationship very different this time around than it was when they were last on the island. And when Ben very shockingly shoots Cesar after stealing his shotgun? Well, it's his way of saying that he's chosen his next step. (Is Cesar dead? It certainly looks that way.)

Ben also tries to turn Sun against Locke as well and gain her trust if she ever wants to see Jin alive again. Yet he seems to be completely surprised when Sun shows him the Dharma Initiative orientation picture containing Jack, Kate, and Hurley; he had no idea that the castaways had traveled back in time nor that they were members of the Dharma Initiative. Which means that Ben didn't remember them from his childhood and that wasn't why he gave Michael their names in Season Two. Hmmm.

Loved that Ben's house was left the very same way that it was when we last saw it, the unfinished game of Risk still sitting on the kitchen table, and that Ben went back into the secret compartment behind his closet to summon the smoke monster as he did last season (when the Barracks where under attack by Keamy and his men). However, I couldn't help but wonder that when these homes were constructed (and the secret room containing Ben's passports, etc.), did the builder know of its proximity to one of the Cerebus, uh, sink drain? Were the Barracks built there for that very reason? In order to ensure that someone could summon the smoke monster? Very interesting...

Ben, meanwhile, doesn't want to receive judgment for killing John Locke... or even for attempting to kill Penny Widmore (more on that in a bit) but for standing by and allowing his adopted daughter Alex to die rather than give himself up to Keamy. As we see in the flashback, Widmore tells Ben twice that Alex is meant to die and he claims that Jacob wants her dead. When he's finally exiled from the island (although we still don't know why), he tells Ben that if the island wants Alex dead, she will be dead and that he can't fight the inevitable. So was Alex always meant to die at the hands of Keamy? Perhaps. It seems to me that if the island wanted her to live, she would have miraculously survived the shooting somehow. But she's dead, right?

Alex. When Ben receives the judgment of the smoke monster, his life is spared after he relives the moments that brought him there: images of taking Alex from her mother, pushing her on a swing, and watching her die. Afterward, the monster disappears. But in its place: Alex herself. Ben claims that "dead is dead" but we all know that's not the case on Lost and have seen numerous examples of when the dead have seemingly come back to life (Locke), appeared as some sort of spirit guide (Christian), or appeared in visions. So has Alex been subsumed into the island itself now? Is she a physical/spiritual manifestation of Ben's own guilt given human form? Or has she joined the shadowy realm of those clinging to the invisible thread between life and death, forming a sort of triumvirate with Claire and Christian? Interesting...

More than anything in his life, Ben feels guilty for the the death of Alex, even though he didn't pull the trigger himself. While he wasn't directly to blame for her dying, his inaction in the face of such danger for his beloved daughter speaks volumes about why he wants to be judged. After all, he took Alex from her allegedly insane mother (and told her to run if she ever heard the Whispers in the jungle), prevented Widmore from killing her, and raised her as his own. Sayid claimed that he stood by and let his daughter die but it's clear that Ben is being eaten away inside from his complicity in this matter. It's the one thing he does feel guilty about and feels that he should be punished for: not the shooting of Cesar, not the murder-by-proxy of numerous people, not the attempt on Penny's life. With Ben, it all comes back to Alex, to the promise of what children represent: a chance to undo the sins of the past. And yet he's willing to sacrifice this for what he perceives to be the greater good, the safety and protection of the island. Is this why he's spared from death by the monster?

The Smoke Monster. We learn in this week's episode that the monster doesn't have a name. Or at least its name is so old that it's lost even to the Others. In the chambers deep below the Temple (which is forbidden to be seen by outsiders), there's a sort of multi-holed vent from which the smoke monster emanated. Its presence is clearly linked to the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs that cover the walls of the chamber... and to one key panel which depicts the jackal-headed god Anubis summoning the smoke monster to him. That Anubis was an underworld god, charged with overseeing the Veil of Death, is significant here when so many matters seem connected to the afterlife... or lack thereof.

So what is the smoke monster then? A servant of Anubis himself? A wispy jackal capable of weighing the good and evil inside everyone and then pronouncing judgment upon them: life or death? It certainly seems that way. While we get some answers in this week's episode (along with somewhat hokey special effects), it's clear that we still don't know the full story here. Why didn't the monster appear at the Barracks when Ben summoned it using the sink hole behind his secret room? Why did it need Locke to lead Ben to The Temple in order to judge Ben? Was it significant that Ben return to the place where the monster had once healed him and restored his life? And why did Locke have to lead him there? Hmmm...

Locke. It's fantastic to see Locke have more of a leadership role than Ben for a change, to be the one with the answers instead of the questions. Which places Locke in a very dangerous position with Ben, who is used to being the keeper of secrets. It's clear that Locke has a connection to the island and to the smoke monster. He knows what must be done (though I can't help but wonder when Locke got to when Sun and Ben were outside the house) and it's Locke, not the monster, who appears outside. Coincidence?

Likewise, Locke seems to be the latest in a series of intended leaders for the Others, following in the footsteps of Widmore and Benjamin. Just as Widmore tells Young Ben, "Just because you're living with them doesn't mean you can't be one of us," the same applies to Locke as well. He too was healed by the island, he too was accepted into Jacob's confidence, he too was initiated into the mysteries of the island. He willingly accepts the miracle of everything that has happened ever since he set foot on the island and his resurrection is just the latest in a series of inexplicable phenomena. In fact, it's slightly eerie how unwilling Locke is to wonder what happened to him in the time between death and rebirth.

The Others. The Others, meanwhile, appear to assimilate whatever discarded clothing, buildings, or equipment they can find, rather like scavengers do, moving into the US Army camp after they kill the soldiers, taking over the Barracks after the Purge of the Dharma Initiative. Rather like jackals, themselves. Interesting, given the reverence they pay to Anubis, no? In this episode, we see them in a camp town, with a rider coming up on horseback, much more at home in the jungle than we've seen them before. The sight of them in their little camp made me wonder where the Others have gotten to since the events of Season Three. Richard was taking them to The Temple, so I can't help but wonder if they are all still there or have moved on since then. And just how did Ben manage to initiate a very young Ethan Rom into the Others? Very curious.

Penny. We learned just how Ben got those injuries before he boarded Ajira Flight 316 but I am extremely glad that the writers didn't kill off Penny Widmore... though Ben definitely went to the docks with the express intent to kill her as payback for the death of Alex. Hell, he even shoots Desmond before turning the gun on Penny and would have likely followed through with it if he hadn't seen Charlie. It's Charlie's presence which prevents him from murdering Penny, just as how years before, Baby Alex stayed Ben's execution of Danielle Rousseau. And the Desmond beat the living hell out of Ben before tossing him, bloody and beaten, into the ocean. (Go Des!) I am however, very confused how Desmond and Penny sailed from London... to Los Angeles.

Lost Literary Allusion of the Week: Desmond and Penny's boat is named for Charles Dickens' novel "Our Mutual Friend," which was intended to be the last book that Desmond read before he died... a copy of which Desmond had in The Swan and which contained an undiscovered letter from Penny declaring her love for Desmond and they fail-safe key.

Ilana. I'm really not sure what to make of Ilana, especially after she attacked Frank Lapidus when he returned to the camp. There has always been something that I didn't like about her, something underneath the surface that jangled my nerves, especially given her insistence that she and Sayid board that particular flight. Her question to Frank, "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" seems to resemble that of Desmond's riddle "What does one snowman say to the other?" So is it a code to see if Lapidus is on their side? Does Ilana work for Widmore? Did Eloise Hawking tip him off that the Oceanic Six was intending to return to the island? And just what is in that gigantic crate that Ilana and Bram (October Road's Brad William Henke) seem so intent on opening? Could Widmore have found a way to return to the island, after all? Or is Ilana working for what's left of the old Dharma Initiative, given the riddle's similarity to Desmond's snowman question? It goes without saying that the coded question to Lapidus is also clearly meant to reference the statue on the island itself as well. Is it Anubis who casts his shadow over the island?

Best line of the evening: "I'll be seeing you, boy." - Charles Widmore to Ben

What did you think of this week's episode? Were you excited by the reveal of the smoke monster or disappointed? Is there any shred of humanity left inside Benjamin Linus? Why does the island want him to be following John Locke? Discuss.

Next week on Lost ("Some Like It Hoth"), suspicions about a security breach intensify in the Dharma Initiatve following Ben's kidnapping from the infirmary; Miles is reluctantly forced to work with Hurley when he's asked to deliver an important package to a top Dharma official.