Thanks DieAlone. Maybe not Vincent, Looks like a Bloodhound to me...

And very interesting whoever said that Locke can hear him and Ben can see him... really interesting. Cain and Able is a good analogy too, now that we know what Cain did

is it possible that Ben has never been able to hear jacob and thats why he looks so stunned when locke says, "what did you say?" maybe locke is a missing link in communicating with jacob?

Jacob is imprisoned in that shack. The circle of ash (or whatever it is) is keeping him there. My guess is that Ben did this to him, which would explain why he is so upset that Locke can hear him. If Locke can hear him, Locke can help him escape. This would take power away from Ben. Ben wants to be the top dog, but this seriously threatens Ben's power over the others. Therefore Ben had to take Locke out of the picture.

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"Destiny, John...is a fickle b!tch." - Ben Linus

I don't think Ben knew Locke saw him... or if Locke did see him for that matter... he never let on.

Wowowow! Ben did seem to be having a one-way conversation, didn't he?

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PIZZA?!?! Now that's what I call a TACO!!!

Did you see how Ben stepped OVER the ash, not in it. A careful, deliberate act.

i think maybe ben could be jacob. Maybe ben has two souls and can not control one.

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Hurley: What about the B-O-D-Y-S?
Michael: What are spelling, man? Bodies?
Walt: B-O-D-I-E-S.

Hurley: Dude, you've got some Artz on you.

Bernard: I'm a dentist, not Rambo.
Rose: And don't forget that!

Ew, very silent hill. That whole scene kinda was.

All this talk about smokey, do ya'll remember when smokey tried to abduct Locke? I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure Locke was really cool with it at that point, like he trusted it was the answer to the islands secret, not a threat. But then smokey kills Eko and it's all what the heck all over again.

Well, we know that Smokie judges people (remember it asking Eko to repent for his sins in the guise of his brother), and if it decides you are unworthy...

We also know that it leaves certain people alone. Remember the scene when Juliette and Kate were handcuffed together in the stand of trees, and it seemed to take pictures of Juliette then leave.

It seems to have an agenda--killing off people it thinks are bad, and protecting (or ignoring) the good ones.

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"Destiny, John...is a fickle b!tch." - Ben Linus

I've noticed Smokey often appears when there is an argument or fight going on. Charlie and Eko were arguing when he showed up and Eko stared him down. Kate and Juliet were fighting when he showed up. I think there are other examples but I can't remember off hand. I think Jacob controls smokey. And the more I think about it the more I think Ben wasn't able to hear anything Jacob said that particular time. If you try to guess what Jacob's half of the conversation was it doesn't really make sense. He would've been saying things like 'why did you bring Locke here?' And Ben certainly didn't act afraid of Jacob once he entered the shack which was odd. I don't think he was nervous about seeing Jacob, he was nervous about introducing Locke to him for fear of losing his leadership role.

Just a thought, but what if jacob is locking Ben out, as a punishment. Ben may have communicated with him at one time, and then had a falling out. We really don't know waht preempted the strike on Dharma, I mean, why right at that moment did Ben decide to start the 'mission'. It may have nothing to do with it, but who knows.
Ben may have encircled the shack with Ash to keep Jacobs smoke monster from killing Ben while he visited, or tortured, Jacob.. Or maybe the dust was magnetite(sp?), and acts like the fence around the Barracks... That may be why Ben was nervous to go to the shack, but seemed fine once he was beyond the mysterious ashen border.