I looked back at the last time I wrote about The Shape of Things to Come, and this is what I said about Ben:

Some random thoughts from Season 4:

“Jin on the other hand is so desperate to leave that it ironically leads to his separation from his wife, him never seeing his daughter, and his & Sun’s eventual death. That’s some Greek-tragedy-level angst right there.”

So my point about second chances didn’t come through very well the first time around, but after your response, I think I have a good idea of what to say now.

I want to add a quote/scene from Bernard in Ji Yeon to what I was trying to say above, because I think he sums things up much better than I did:

A powerful theme revolving around the castaways, practically from the beginning, is getting second chances. Whoever they were before, for better or worse, they can start over now and find themselves. As we’ve seen through multiple discussions of these episodes, quite a few of the castaways took advantage of that…

“This is what I think is going on. Locke needs Sawyer as a “loyal lieutenant.” Locke knows that Hugo can be bullied, and will do as Locke says out of fear, but fear isn’t loyalty. Sawyer thinks he isn’t “with Locke,” but of course he is - and his remark does sound a lot like Claire’s Season 6 statement to Jack that…

Today I’m going to use some of your comments from a past Season 4 discussion to cover what I’m thinking about after watching The Economist and Eggtown last night.

OK, so you definitely made some fair points about why Hurley and company went with Locke, with a good summary of what led up to that. I certainly can’t and won’t refute that Hurley is sensitive about his mental health, and Jack did (unintentionally, I think) cut deep with his words.

“I don’t think Hugo did it just for Charlie’s memory. Hugo has had his eye on Claire from the moment Des & Charlie paddled towards the Looking Glass.”

“I think the Island, for lack of a better term, had created this massive “test” for them, and pretty much everyone, including Hugo, failed. The objective of the “test” for everyone was the same, although their choices would vary based on their situations.”

The main focus of the final three hours of Season 3 is on two characters, Charlie and Jack. These two started the Island portion of the show together, along with Kate, and for Charlie at least, that journey will be concluding here.

I’ve been thinking more lately about our discussions where the castaways continue to keep secrets from each other, but as I’ve been watching the latter half of Season 3, it seems like (at least offscreen) they’re sharing more with each other than we thought.

After watching The Man Behind the Curtain again, I’m at the point where there’s a pretty decent backstory for Benjamin Linus and that, combined with all his interactions with Locke, really shapes how fascinating he is, and how he was able to rise to be a leader in the Others’ ranks.

The second half of your post...I think we got our signals crossed a bit. What I’m referring to when Kate goes back for Jack is in Season 3 when he’s with the Others. They’re mostly in the same place throughout Season 4, other than when Kate goes with Sayid to get Charlotte, and she “scoobies” Hurley and then ends up…

Something that we’ve talked about a few times when we’re on topic for Season 3 has been Juliet going through the “school of Ben” and how she’s changed since she landed on the Island.

Yes, Juliet has the advantage of having a file on Jack, but my point was that Kate has actually gotten to know him personally on a deeper level. Juliet just has facts on him, but does she know what makes him tick, why Jack is built the way he is? She wasn’t there on the beach during the crash, so she hasn’t seen what…

In Flashes Before Your Eyes, a line came up that I’ve already heard once this season, and it’s one that I think goes back to what the writers found to be more interesting about the characters and the overall scope of the show.

“...for Jack & Kate, as well as Jack/Kate as a couple; the stitching-up scene is where it all starts.”

“I was just rewatching the scene where Kate & Sayid find Jack (after the Others have abandoned the Barracks), and I still don’t really understand WHY Jack allows Juliet to come to the beach camp with him, Sayid, and Kate.”