Lost - S6E7 Dr Linus - Analysis

The title above may be a little misleading - I have a lot of great Lost stuff in the pipeline that should be coming up soon, and as such I am cutting back on the "analysis" part of the recaps. Instead, here is a few observations/questions raised from this week's episode. For more interesting, in-depth analysing, check out the Lost Blogging Collective instead.

Normal service should pick up in a few weeks.

Questions:

 - Why does the show continue to torment us non-Spoiler fans with these pre-episode "Guest Star" credits? "Alan Dale", so brightly reflected in Ben's microwave, completely ruined that surprise for me. Luckily, Alex appearing within minutes put a huge smile on my face - one that remained throughout the episode.

 - This 'Jughead' timeline hiccup is even more confusing than the 'Ajira' one. When did the Island sink? Wy isn't Ben an Other at this point? Are Jacob and Smokey alive in some form in the alt timeline, or did they disappear when the Island sank.

 - Alex turning up at Ben's house was a bit creepy. If he wasn't at the club, why did she wait so long to look for him if she was that worried?

 - Who are the six remaining Candidates? The choices seem to be - Jack, Hurley, Sun, Jin, Sawyer, Sayid, Locke, Frank. Choose your six from them, but just as with the Oceanic 6, I think the most obvious answer is the easiest - Ilana probably considers Jack, Hurley, Sun, Jin, Sawyer and Sayid as Candidates, despite Sayid's recent evil spree.

 - The Jack/Hurley/Richard side-story seemed a little out of place to me. Plus, both Jack and Richard were acting majorly out of character - Jack blindly following Richard and then blindly setting off the dynamite; Richard completely giving up on all he has lived for. Also, for a man wanting to die, didn't Richard seem a bit scared ultimately when Jack lit the fuse?

 - Did Jacob's touch make Richard immortal? Has his touch affected everyone else in this way, or is there something else going on? Is this why he didn't want to touch Ilana? Did Jacob touch Michael? Is this why Ben had to kill Locke? Can we say that Jacob's touch makes you unable to age and unable to commit suicide, and also unable to killed by Others or other Candidates?

 - Nestor Carbonell is the perfect actor to play Richard. Can you imagine Ian Somerhalder(Boone) in that role? Nestor is the only one I can imagine looking ageless throughout all these years.

 - I hope there is more behind Jack's decision to return to the beach than simplistic plot setting.

 - Why did Ben seem so eager to dig his own grave? I'd have spun that job out much longer. It also seemed a bit ridiculous that he could outrun Ilana, but whatever - trying not to nitpick.

 - Smokey seemed unconcerned about whether Ben joined him or not. At least we got some answers - Smokey's team is heading to the Hydra Island (maybe they plan on getting Ajira in the air?), and he perhaps needs someone to stay and take care of the Island before he can leave (maybe even two people, to replace Smokey and Jacob?).

 - I'm fairly convinced that this is a simple Jacob = Good, Smokey = Bad story. I'm going to do a post on the classical Jacob & Esau story sometime soon, but in that story Jacob is a bit of a villian, yet in the end is treated as something of a hero. More to come soon.

 - I love that Miles and Frank are just friendly to all comers. I wish we got to see more of the Freighter Four in general, they seemed even more ignored than the Tailies, who were tragically ignored. Sometimes I do wish Lost had spun their wheels over 7 or even 8 seasons, got a few Miles-centric "filler" episodes done before the end.

 - Smokey's telekinetic powers should be put to better use more often.

 - I also sometimes wish that Richard was a Terminator.

 - On second viewing, it seems that the revelation Jacob had visited Hurley may have been the straw that broke the camel's/Richard's back. "You spoke to Jacob?". Cue incredulous blinking.

 - While the point can be made that Ben could have blackmailed Reynolds into giving up his job and writing Alex's recommendation, while the point can also be made that Ben could have waited until after Alex went to Yale, both these points mean nothing when you consider the fact that Ben got played by Arzt. He was never going to come out the big winner, and was lucky to escape with his job and getting out of detention duty. In fact, I think we should be asking ourselves why Arzt didn't make the power play for Principal? (Maybe he likes his students more than he lets on?).