Time Travel and Character Motivation

I've been re-watching Season 3 in my spare time. I am especially paying attention to Juliet's back-story and her time on the island.

Now, we all heard the "you look just like her" and other comments that many people took to mean Juliet = Annie replacement. Watching with new eyes, I see that Ben has a pained look when he tells Juliet that she can't leave the island in the episode "One of Us." Could it be that Ben already has memories of Juliet from his time as a child?

When Desmond woke and suddenly remembered that Daniel talked to him at the hatch 'front door,' I assumed that the time travel memories only kick in after we see it happen in real time. However, this assumption may be very wrong. Desmond, as we have heard, is special. Perhaps, the meeting is suddenly in his memory because it was not really supposed to happen at all and did not happen in the original time line.

Our heroes going into the past, however, always happened. Therefore, Ben has always known what is going to happen. He is in an almost (I kind of remember a line that a few Dharma people changed sides) unique position to be alive and still remember DI Juliet.

I don't think Ben remembers Jin though; perhaps the message to Desmond resonated through time to save Jin, which made the French chick's crew go to the Temple instead of the Black Rock (remember the epi when Doc Arzt blew up? She mentioned that her crew got "sick" at the Black Rock), and maybe also changed some other details we've yet to see or realize.

Now, what if Ben is trying to re-create all of this because he believes that things have to happen in just the way they did originally? What is the point of letting Juliet go if she still has to become part of the crash survivors and go back in time to Ben's childhood (and maybe do something important to save his life?). Ohhh, that little tizzy fit when he says "you're mine" sounds like a childhood crush to me.

In fact, could the island mother deaths be something hatched by Ben just to intrigue Juliet enough to take the red pill (erm, drink the drugged juice)? The whole 'mothers who get pregnant off-island are safe' could be a Ben-ism to cover for Claire or other successful island births. Perhaps, had Claire not gotten away, Ben would have done something to harm her after all. I've never been fond of the purge gas being used as a reason for mothers and babies dying for a number of reasons. First, because there are other mammals on island who seem completely unaffected. Second, because gas used for such a purpose should have dissipated and should either affect or not affect new women (post purge) on the island no matter where they became pregnant.

In short, if we take what we know now and look to the past of the show, the possible motivations of all of our characters change. I think we may be on the brink of discovering something key to Ben's personality and motivations. Perhaps, he's not a bad guy after all - but don't tell him you heard it from me!

Can't Sleep - So I'll Obsess About Lost

I have such a bad case of insomnia. It's a good thing I have Lost to think about! I have a few thoughts rummaging in my head. These are mainly notes to myself, but why not share with all 2 readers of my blog. . . *wave*

One came to me as I was commenting on DarkUFO:

I think she [Ellie] may be Eloise Hawking (and possibly Daniel's mum as well).

Somehow I see Ms. Hawking as a neutral character (representing destiny and the absence of free will) who is as likely to help Ben as she is to help Widmore; no matter what she does or which side she takes, she believes that things will "course correct."

Daniel could be her son and could also represent free will. He shows his willingness to change things by contacting Desmond and creating a new memory and by trying to find loopholes in the "rules" of time. I believe he will start taking this even further in future episodes, especially with Charlotte's life on the line.

His slowness in recognizing her could be related to how much time they actually spent together; he may have grown up only seeing her occasionally.
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I'm also thinking about the idea that Locke was shot in the leg near the drug plane and that is the exact spot where he has trouble walking when we see him go there for the first time with Boone.

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Could the voices (one of my personal favorite mysteries) be the time travelers? One voice heard occasionally sounds like Sawyer. The only thing that makes me think this is incorrect is that there is an obvious "Hi Sis" that sounds like Boone right before Shannon is shot. Boone is, obviously, dead at the time and not part of our current group.

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Does there have to be a dead person along for the ride when people crash on the island (Jack's Dad, Locke, probably dead slaves on the Black Rock, etc)?

I said before that the coffin Jack finds and beats to pulp in Season 1 looks a lot like Locke's coffin (white interior, same wood, etc). How would that fit into what we know about island physics and time "rules?" Could some of the debris near the cave be from them coming back to the island?

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