Dead is Dead, Initial Reaction

Awesome. Desmond, Penny and little Charlie aren't dead. By the time Ben told Sun, "Tell Desmond Hume I'm sorry," I was sure that at the very least, Penny was as good as dead. But, nope, they pulled the old switcheroo on us. What a relief, and hopefully they're all alive for good. I honestly think that it would be a huge mistake on the writers part to kill off one of the best character stories on the show. Not only that, but I think that it's imperative that Ben has a human side to him, that his one weakness is women and their children because of his own story. Moving on from that, I enjoyed this episode and really got into it for the first time in a few weeks.

Questions:

• If Charles Widmore didn't leave the island via frozen donkey wheel, then how did he know that the exit point was in the desert in Tunisia?
• Did Richard edge Widmore out in favor of trying to make Ben the new leader?
• What is the significance of what lies in the shadow of the statue? Is it some kind of code? Like what did one snowman say to the other snowman?
• Do Ilana and the other survivors of Ajira Flight 316 have the sickness?
• Does Ilana work for Charles Widmore or someone else?
• If Charles Widmore is the one in charge, then why does Richard Alpert speak to Jacob?
• Why did Jacob stop speaking to Richard and move on to Ben when he took over?
• How and why exactly does one take over as the leader?
• What is in that crate that Ilana and the survivors seem to be protecting?
• If Ben can summon the smoke monster, then can it come out by itself or does it have to be summoned? If so, has Ben been calling it every time it has attacked someone?
• So, the whispers are the others? Did the others control them?
• Why did Widmore want Ben to kill Rousseau?
• Why did Ethan get to join the others?
• How are Ben and Ethan with the hostiles before the purge?
• Why does Danielle Rousseau remember the story of Alex getting taken incorrectly? Why does she say that she's never seen other people on the island when she's clearly seen Jin and Ben? Is she just crazy or was she the one with the sickness?
• Did Ben really know that Locke would be resurrected when he came to the island?
• Why doesn't Ben remember that Hurley, Jack and Kate were in the Dharma Initiative in 1977? Why and how was his memory from that time erased?
• Why is the Processing Center sign still hanging in the barracks in present day?
• Does Ben know who Christian Shephard is? Was he on the island once?
• What are Locke's ideas to find Jin and the rest of them?
• So, basically you flush a toilet to summon the smoke monster? Why is Ben's house on top of it? When was it built there and why is it underneath a Dharma house?
• Who is Penelope Widmore's mother?
• Why can't Charles Widmore go back to the island but Ben can?
• Is John Locke really alive? Or is he undead like Christian Shephard?
• What is the significance of the hieroglyphics?
• Why did the smoke monster let Ben live?

Notes:

• Dead is dead, except it really isn't when you're John Locke.
• Ben has a weakness for mothers because his mother died, which is why he couldn't kill Danielle Rousseau after he realized she had a child and why he couldn't kill Penny when he discovered little Charlie on the boat.
• So, Charles Widmore as banished from the island for making regular trips off the island and mating with outsiders. Ben also made trips off the island, so he was possibly rejected by the island partly for that reason, but was too powerful to be banished.
• Ben seemed to be genuinely surprised that Locke was alive.
• It was nice to see Alex again, even if it was smokey.
• Speaking of Alex, she totally dominated Ben and scared the crap out of him.
• Desmond beat the crap out of Ben!
• Ben knows what the whispers are.
• Locke outwitting Ben is pretty fun and it's interesting that Locke finally knows more about what's happening on the island than Ben does. Who's the man now, dog?
• Also, Locke calling Ben out on being judged for Alex's death, questioning why Ben and the hostiles would move into the barracks because it doesn't seem like something the island would want, and that he didn't imagine Ben leading his people from behind a desk because it seemed a little too corporate.
• Desmond and Penny's boat was called Our Mutual Friend.
• Good bye, Caesar. It was nice not knowing anything about you.
• It was cool to see what Ben really did when he went into his secret room to summon the smoke monster and came out all dirty.
• So, Charles built Widmore Industries when he left the island, which is how he got so rich.
• If Locke is undead, that could possibly be why he knows so much about the island so suddenly, also appearing to people like Christian Shephard. Now, only to figure out what the hell is going on with Christian so it will all actually make sense.
• I loved how Ben says that he can't control what comes out of the jungle, and then John Locke appears.
• The Temple apparently has a wall around it, built by the island natives.
• Apparently Ben was planning to kill Locke again. Dude, maybe you should chill out on the killing for a while. Just listen to Alex and follow John Locke.

This episode was probably one of my favorites of this season.