Richard is old School....

10:38 PM

How old is Richard? He knew Ben as a child and aparently he is one of the original inhabitants of the island. He hasn't aged at all.
Why is Ben there pseudo leader? Is it because he saw his mother?
Really great episode.

Yes it was.

Richard only changed his haircut, that was really weird.

And as for Ben, I don't know what's up with him. That whole Jacob scene was dodgy but I believe that Jacob is the Smoke.

Richard (who is really handsom by the way), is one of the hostiles! Oh my gosh! Richard meeting Ben in the jungle had to have been 40 years ago. Are the people who originally from this island blessed with long life, and no aging??? This episode was really good. My brain just about exploded! Ha ha

Wo, I wonder if they don't age??

: o

I wonder if Richard has four toes! Yeah that was a shocker. The way I see it is, smoking appeared to Ben as his mother because Ben is special somehow. Why else seek him out specifically? There must be a reason. Unless he was just the one Dharma person they could use to betray the other Dharma people. Once Ben met Richard in the jungle and told him he'd seen his dead mom, Richard realizes like that Ben is the 'one'. (One what? I dunno) So he tells him to be patient and tells him to wait 10 years (or so) and then kill your dad, not sure if Ben knew they were going to wipe out all of them, probably. Ben then becomes their leader because he was chosen by Jacob? There must have been another of the hostiles that was in touch with Jacob though before Ben. And now it seems Jacob has chosen Locke. Which drives Ben up a wall. Even Ben's peeps look at Locke as a leader. Ben is the evil dark one and Locke is the good light one.

I think little miss Lost in Hazzard hit somewhere close to home. It is apparent that Ben is mad that Locke can communicate with the Island (Jacob). I think Ben used to have the relationship with the Island that Locke now has. I reference back to Ben standing over the mass grave. He looked down at Locke and said somethng to the effect of, 'Maybe Jacob will help you.'

I also found it odd that Ben didn't hear Jacob when Locke did. Perhaps the first part of Ben's actions in the cabin were a farse. If he had previously communicated with Jacob there, he would know the drill. I say this because Ben acted as if he expected Locke to see and hear Jacob at first. However, when Locke actually did hear Jacob, Ben was shocked and outraged.

This is a stab in the dark, but maybe Ben hasn't been able to communicate with Jacob since shortly before Locke showed up. Maybe that is why the Island wouldn't heal his cancer.

Why did Richard not age at all? Ben looks older than him now. I find that very creepy. It makes me wonder about this time loop thing again.

It appears that Richard and probably the natives/hostiles do not age in the same manner as other humans. That might have put them at odds with Dharma, as I am sure the dharma researchers would have wanted to study them and run experiments on them to determine why they did not age. I think that Ben masterminded the whole purge. He was the insider, he had the access to the poison gas and the masks....not the hostiles. They took their cues from him in order to rid themselves of the enemy. He is a evil manipulative man, and has lied to everyone.......... I think it is about to catch up with him.

11:43 AM

Yes, maybe Ben couldn't see him! Great thought! And he was being a big faker after realizing that Locke couldn't see Jacob. Ben was nervous about taking him there for fear he'd be replaced. I said in another post that both Ben and Locke were asked to kill their dads. Ben was capable of murdering his own father. Locke was not. One is evil and one is good.

Very true!! Maybe Jacob is now preferring Locke over Ben and so poor little Ben is mad!!! "sorry, I don't wanna play with you anymore, I have a new best friend"...