As I Lay Dying: Revisiting "The Life & Death of Jeremy Bentham" and Your Comments

It is as though the space between us were time: an irrevocable quality. It is as though time, no longer running straight before us in a diminishing line, now runs parallel between us like a looping string, the distance between the doubling accretion of the thread and not the interval between.

William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying

Round two.

I watched "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" again, taking notes of course. I also wanted to address many (but not all) of your great comments from last week's post. If I had more time, I would love to respond to all of you individually!

IMAGINARY/REAL/SPACE TIME MAP

Caesar found the map in the Hydra island office; in fact, he seemed to be looking for it. Are we all on board with Faraday as the author/creator of said map? IS there a correlation between that and the infamous Swan hatch door map? Are those on the island affected by time shifts depending upon WHERE they are located between the hatches at the time?

AARON

The lack of concern for his whereabouts is a tad disconcerting. Jack was more concerned with returning to the island and a roll in the hay with Kate than the well-being of his own nephew. Abaddon, Ben, Hawking and even Widmore were insistent that EVERYONE who had left the island had to go back, and yet none have inquired about Aaron. Seems beyond odd.

BEN

Ben must have known that Locke had to 'die' in order to serve as a proxy for Christian Shephard on the Ajira flight back to the island - that is why he killed him. I assumed that he also had to know that the island wasn't done with Locke, that upon returning...Locke would reanimate. Then why say that he'd miss him if it was only temporary? Ben has left Locke for dead before...

Who is Ben's off island man, the one who was watching the O6 for him?

BENTHAM/LOCKE

He'd never been to the smaller Hydra island, but he was staring out at the main island so he knew where he needed to be.

In a previous episode, the 2 outrigger canoes were shown to be back on the main island (before Sawyer and co. took off one one of them). So does Locke lead some of the new Ajira folk from the Hydra island over to the main island via outrigger at some point?

Upon a second viewing, it really struck me that Jack, Kate and Sayid were quite mean to Locke...

• Jack: "Have you ever stopped to think that these delusions that you're special aren't real? That maybe there's nothing important about you at all? Maybe you're just a lonely old man who crashed on an island."
• Kate: "I think about how desperate you were to stay on that island. And then I realized...it was all because you didn't love anybody."
• Sayid: "Why do you really need to go back? Is it just because you have nowhere else to go?"

They better be careful....Locke is the Island's boy, and destiny can be a fickle bitch.

CAESAR & ILANA

Assuming that Walt's dreams about Locke are about to become a reality, were these two on the flight to keep an eye on or harm Locke after returning to the island? Were they hired by Widmore or Ben?

CHARLES WIDMORE

Ashlie inquired why Widmore didn't try to get back to the island himself via an event window/flight like the Losties, and if there are consequences if he chose to return. She's also wondering if Ellie (young Eloise Hawking) was exiled as well, or wants to go back.

My guess is that Widmore has tried to return many times with no success. He certainly has the resources, but that he was exiled must be related to his inability to go back. As for Hawking, I agree with Ashlie that perhaps she feels it is her destiny to guide the others back rather than returning herself. Or it could be that her son Daniel Faraday is her eyes and ears on the island, and she serves their mission better by being at home base. I'm also convinced that she has an integral connection to Widmore that has not been revealed.

CHRISTIAN SHEPHARD

Did Ben know that Christian was a living ghost after the crash, that he spoke on behalf of Jacob? Did the two ever meet?

Nurby notes that possibility that Ben's story about Thomas the Apostle may have been about Jack's inability to believe that his father is alive, and not about his disbelief in Locke and his message.

FRANK LAPIDUS

Doug (aka 1MileToGo) found it interesting that Frank took the flight manifest and wonders who else was on the Ajira flight...Widmore? Walt? Ms. Hawking?

My response is - great question! I hope that all of them were.

HYDRA ISLAND

In Season 3, when Sawyer and Juliet were put to work after being taken by Ben and the Others, Juliet said that they were helping to build a runway. It seems that even back then, Ben knew exactly what was going to happen.

RICHARD ALPERT

When he told Locke that he had to die in order to bring back and save his friends, he had to know that Locke's death would only be a temporary means to do so; that the island wasn't done with him...right?

ROXANNE

Many of you asked who she is. We haven't met her yet, but Ilana mentioned her name as one of the passengers from flight 316.

I am interested to find out if she's working with Caesar and Ilana on some unknown mission, given that she was "scouting" the beach for them after the crash.

SAYID

Who were the people that Ben was having him assassinate for two years? Were they associates of Widmore's?

WALT

When he visited Hurley at Santa Rosa after Locke died, he questioned why everyone was calling him Jeremy Bentham. But from what we saw during their brief encounter, Locke didn't tell Walt about his pseudonym. So did Locke visit Walt again? If not, how did Walt find out?

And I agree with all of you that he not only needs to go back...he has (without knowing it) and will.
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Thank you again for your comments - I love the feedback and discussion. As a reminder, if you are not comfortable leaving your theories and thoughts using your name, feel free to email them to me and I will post them anonymously for you.

Oh, and if you're at all interested in hearing me ramble on about Lost (as opposed to just reading my usual stream of consciousness), click here to listen to my guest appearance on the Sci-Fi Party Line podcast.

Have a nice week! See you late Wednesday night, if not sooner...

The Curious Case of Benjamin's Undone: LOST, Episode 5.07 ("The Life & Death of Jeremy Bentham")

Wow. That is about all I can muster and repeat.

Here are my initials thoughts and questions about tonight's new episode.

AJIRA FLIGHT 316

It appears as if the plane landed in one piece on the island....the question is, which island? Caesar & co. are on the smaller Hydra island, and Jack & co. are on the main island.

The plane also seems to have landed rather smoothly/safely. Was it somehow 'placed' there during the event window?

Hurley, Jack, Kate, Sayid and Sun 'disappeared' during the flash on the flight while other passengers remained and crashed on the island in the plane. Were they all 'placed' relatively uninjured on the island during the first crash too (815)?

CAR ACCIDENTS

Sadly, Locke has had very bad luck with regard to cars...

• Mom Emily was run down while 6 months pregnant with him; he was born prematurely
• Locke was hit by a car when he encountered his mom in a parking lot years later
• He was in a car accident in LA after Abaddon was shot

There have been numerous other Losties with car crash experiences as well:

• Michael was hit by a car in NY before flight 815; he was badly injured but lived
• Michael tried to kill himself by crashing his car in the future; same outcome
• Jack witnessed a car crash on the bridge before attempting suicide; everyone lived
• Kate and her doctor ex were in a car accident while escaping authorities; she was fine, he died
• Kate and the Marshall crashed in the rain when she saw a black horse on the road; she escaped, he was knocked out
• Kate crashed the farmer's truck when the Marshall caught up with them; she escaped, he was injured
• Claire and her mom were in an accident; she was injured, mom wound up in a coma
• Before being taken to the island, Locke's dad Anthony Cooper was in a car accident
• Hurley crashed his car after being chased by the police in LA; he was fine
• Shannon's dad crashed into Jack's future wife Sarah; he died, Jack miraculously repaired her back
• Juliet's ex-husband was hit by a bus; he died

OUTRIGGER CANOES

Who did they belong to?

In the future/past, when Sawyer & co. take the canoes and shoot at the people who are following them...will we find out that it was Lapidus and Sun? Does one of them get wounded by a Juliet shot?

PANOPTICON

By now, most of you know that I have a particular interest in Jeremy Bentham (his FB page and blog are still live, FYI). Last summer at Comic-Con, I had the opportunity to pose a question to Damon & Carlton about the selection of that name, and asked if they chose it because of the real philosopher Bentham's creation of the Panopticon. Here is their response:

"The panopticon is obviously, among other things, why we selected that name."

I've always considered the island to be a prison of sorts, and am fascinated by the idea that they are being watched and observed without their knowledge or permission. It certainly seems to be a more feasible concept with the current direction of the show than it was just a few months ago.

TUNISIA

There has to be more than one island exit location. How else do you explain how quickly both Alpert and Big Tom traveled to and fro? That submarine was not a very fast mode of transportation, no matter WHEN and where the island was in relation to the real world.

BEN

I have to say that I've always believed that Ben could really be one of the good guys. Until tonight, I was almost convinced. I'm not sure why I ever thought that way; we have not seem much evidence of good will from that man. Now I have a sinking feeling that not only did Ben go after and possibly kill Penny...he is responsible for the deaths of others' loved ones, like Nadia and Helen (I don't believe her cause of death for one second; come on, she's "where she's supposed to be."). Did he have Juliet's sister taken care of too?

Did Ben 'change the rules' by killing Locke?

Was he waiting to kill him after finding out whether or not he knew about Hawking?

Ben had to know that Locke wouldn't stay dead, that the island determines when he can die based upon the work he did on its behalf.

When the hell will the island be done with Ben and let him die? Hopefully we'll see Smokey or Jacob punish or torture him for his egregious actions at some point.

Did Ben place the obit for Bentham, or did Widmore?

Was he lying when he told Locke that whomever turns the Frozen Donkey Wheel can never return to the island?

If he was genuinely surprised to find out that Jin is alive, is that an indication that he no longer has anyone on the island feeding him information?

Upon his return to the island on 316, how is his relationship with Richard Alpert?

BENTHAM/LOCKE

Even though he is 'special,' he does not heal as quickly off-island.

CAESAR

Obviously he and Illana know each other. Did Widmore hire them to return to the island with Ben and the O5 (minus Aaron)? There is also mistrust between them...

He and Illana know who Locke is; when he gave his name, they gave each other the infamous Lost Look with Island Eyes of Special Secrets.

He went specifically looking for the drawer of Dharma maps; he's either been there before or was well instructed. Given that he found the Imaginary, Real & Space Time diagram, he is also familiar with the island's time shifts, but is pretending to be out of the loop when talking with Locke.

Is there any significance to the relationship between this new Caesar and Frank Lapidus, and Julius Caesar and Marcus Lepidus? If I'm not mistaken, Lepidus was one of Caesar's closest allies and second in command...

CHARLES WIDMORE

How did he know exactly WHEN Locke was going to turn the Frozen Donkey Wheel and exit the island via Tunisia? Does Future Faraday inform them?

Have his video cameras been installed long - did they capture Ben's previous arrival too?

In addition to financially backing Faraday, did Widmore also fund Charlotte's research too? Is that why she knew to look in Tunisia for the Dharma polar bear collar at the archaeological dig site? He is "deeply invested in the future of the island" after all...

We meet him at 17 years old on the island, when he was a soldier under Richard Alpert. Was he being groomed to become the leader of the island at that time? At what point did he assume that position? Was it with or without Alpert's approval/assistance?

If he was indeed exiled from the island, was that at the behest of Jacob or Alpert?

Did he exit via Tunisia as well?

Is he the one who is paying for and continuing the Dharma food drops? Not that we've seen any in a while.

At this point in time (in Tunisia), does Widmore know where Penny is or if Ben did indeed go after her as promised before returning to the island?

CHRISTIAN SHEPHARD

Locke reanimated upon arrival on the island; it appears that Jack's dad did the same after 815 crashed there.

FRANK LAPIDUS

We haven't seen Sun - did she go with Lapidus? If so, why? Did he know that Jack & co. landed on the other island...is that where they were headed?

He'd studied the flight 815 manifest when he was hired by Abaddon to pilot the chopper to the island. Did he then instinctively grab the 316 manifest after talking to Jack and realizing that he was going back to the island?

HELEN

Are we sure that she really died? It seemed like her tombstone was in the same cemetary where she and Locke attended Anthony Cooper's funeral...only, he wasn't dead.

HURLEY

I'm not sure if this is a continuity/production error or not, but prior to tonight, the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute on the show was located in Los Angeles; not in the actual city of Santa Rosa (which is an hour and a half north of San Francisco). When Jack went to see Hurley there, he didn't fly. It is not very relevant but of course I noticed it.

Is his drawing of Egypt going to come into play? Even though Jorge Garcia has repeatedly said that his first drawing of the igloo (last season) was entirely his idea, I still contend that it relates to Penny's team who found the electromagnetic anomaly while stationed in a frozen region.

In addition, geographically...Egypt and Tunisia are only separated by one country (Libya). Could it be that Egpyt is another island exit portal? And could the ancient 4 toed statue be related?

ILANA

Does she remind anyone else of a kinder, gentler Ana Lucia? She's also (allegedly) in law enforcement, and kind of resembles Ana's mom Teresa Cortez...a sister perhaps?

JACOB

What the heck is his role in all of this?

MATTHEW ABADDON

So if he was responsible for helping Widmore get people where they need to be, and made sure that Locke was on flight 815...did he and Widmore work with Hawking to determine the coordinates and event window that was occurring that day? Or Faraday?

ROXANNE
Who is she, is she working with Caesar and Illana, or is she the new version of a red shirt with a name that we'll never know?

WALT

After Ben and the others kidnapped him on the island, they asked Michael if he'd ever appeared where he wasn't supposed to. So was he actually traveling/transporting back to the island during his 'dreams' about Locke, without realizing it? Does he remember appearing to Locke after Ben had shot him, advising him to get up because he had work to do? Was that a 'dream' as well?

Does he return to the island? Could he have somehow been on flight 316?

If he does return, when and how will he find out about his father's death?

DID YOU NOTICE...

• In the pilot episode after the crash, Locke enjoyed an island orange. In this one, it was a mango.

• Upon arriving in Tunisia after turning the Frozen Donkey Wheel, Ben had an injured arm and Locke had an injured leg.

[insert huge Nerd Alert sign here]

• Locke as Obi-Wan Kenobi with his blanket head covering, sacrificing himself so that others will survive. Ben as Darth Vadar, killing Locke/Kenobi and turning him into a spirit of sorts (and a more powerful 'force'); another or future Jacob?

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I have SO much more, but I must get some sleep. Thanks again for stopping by and reading - I always appreciate your time and comments!

Prison Break: Bentham's Panopticon as the Island

I am very excited to announce that I am now a contributor on the great DocArzt and Friends' Lost Blog. I will be posting original content there on occasion, separately from this site.

Here is my first entry, an exploration of the real Bentham's prison system as it relates to Lost: Jeremy Bentham, the Panopticon and the Island.

LOST, Jeremy Bentham & the Panopticon (updated w/video)

On Friday afternoon during the EW Showrunners panel at Comic-Con, I had the opportunity to ask Damon and Carlton a question during the Q&A. For weeks I had been formulating an intelligent inquiry just in case, and one which I wished to actually verify from the source, if possible.

[Belated apologies to the guy who asked the question; apparently he studied Bentham in college and had a legitimate inquiry which just happened to mirror mine from the previous day. You can listen to his similar question here at the Jay & Jack Lost Podcast panel later that day...]

On Saturday during the official Lost panel, someone pilfered my question and offered it up as his own to Damon and Carlton in front of 6,500 fans and national media. There are hundreds of lingering questions one might ask the producers about; mine was very specific.

The following are my exact words. Special thanks to The Transmission podcast, who were nice enough to share the audio from that panel with everyone. My question appears at about the 21 minute mark:

"I have a very specific interest in Jeremy Bentham, and I know that you've chosen philosophers in the past that obviously (like John Locke and David Hume)...I'm wondering, I have two questions. One, who chose the name Jeremy Bentham, and b, was he chosen because of his creation of the Panopticon prison, where an entire society is being watched but they don't know it?"

And because Damon and Carlton weren't able to provide an answer to the guy at the Lost panel due to the Dharma interruption, here is the very satisfying response I received from Damon at the EW panel (thanks to TheODI, here is the video as well):

"At the end of Season 3, we see a piece of this obituary that Jack hands to Kate. And you see, you know, his thumb is obscuring certain parts of the name. I think you see the J and everything up until the THAM. So, we had chosen Jeremy Bentham a year ago together. We basically have a list of philosophers' names to be employed, and as soon as we knew that Locke was going to using an alias, it was sort of a given. And the panopticon is obviously, among other things, why we selected that name."

So why do I care? Because I just spent a month of my life online as Jeremy Bentham, based entirely on my belief that the island is a panopticon...which is why I asked that question in the first place.

But it's now water under the bridge. Mystery solved. So moving on.

LOST & Fringe Podcasts (updated again!)

I am thrilled and honored to have been asked to call in and speak on three podcasts about:

1. My recent experience as Jeremy Bentham online (a future conversation with the JoshMeister's LOST Blog and Podcast)
2. Lost at Comic-Con (now up on the Get Lost podcast)
   
3. The screening of J.J. Abrams' new show Fringe (for Tuning In With Wayne Henderson; air date unknown)
   

This is a first for me, and I definitely need to call in more often.

I've considered doing my own podcast, but I tend to speak entirely too quickly and go on various pop culture tangents, not to mention that I don't like the sound of my voice (well, on tape anyway).

I am Jeremy Bentham

To most of my regular readers (and friends), this might come as a surprise.

It is a VERY long story, but for the past month or so I've been quite busy with a secret side LOST project: http://jbentham.wordpress.com.

I'm off to San Diego for Comic-Con today through the weekend, but will elaborate in greater detail soon. I promise.

- Jo

p.s. Thus the addition to the new logo...