LOST-Theories.com

Ben’s use of the word “living” is absolutely bizarre.

— bond

This is the third time I’ve watched “Through the Looking Glass”. I just picked up on a little something. Ben tells Jack that if he radios for help “every living person” on the island will be killed.

Ben’s use of the word “living” is absolutely bizarre. Would you ever expect that a dead person could be killed? Why is it necessary to make that distinction? The LOST writers are FAR too crafty to accidentally have Ben say “living person”. The converse of Ben’s assertion is that the dead people won’t be killed. We may surmise from this that at least some of the island’s inhabitants are dead somewhere else, but alive, or in limbo on the island.

And by the way… Charlie programmed the jamming equipment code the last time he was on the island.

Key characters

Short Name Full Name Episodes Theories
Ben Benjamin Linus 3.20, 4.9, & 3” href=”/episodes/theres-no-place-home-parts-2-3/”>4.13 1726

Key episodes

# Title Aired Central character Theories
3.22 Through The Looking Glass 5-23-2007 Jack 1252

Comments

  1. losttime Jan 30, 2008 10:02 p.m. Comment: 1

    Great pick up there. I missed that entirely.

    It seems like a common theme, eh? The producers said that Christian Shephard was dead, but not in the sense that we know it.

    How can someone be ‘dead’ but not in the sense we know it? Christian’s certainly been up to a lot of things since he’s been dead. He suddenly stops liking his coffin, walks around, talks to a dog as if expecting it to understand (wtf? it does) and in the flash foward, he also appears to have a job at the hospital.

    Maybe Ben was just being a drama queen, stressing the point. You often hear statements as such, particularly in sci-fi : ‘Every living thing on this planet will be destroyed.” Still not sure.

  2. MRTZL20 Jan 30, 2008 11:45 p.m. Comment: 2

    Charlie did it the last time he was on the island?

    Please explain.

  3. Veruca Jan 31, 2008 12:30 a.m. Comment: 3

    Yes, please explain the Charile thing. Really intriguing. Ditto “every living person”

  4. AngeloComet Jan 31, 2008 2:03 a.m. Comment: 4

    I think Ben’s phrase was just for dramatic effect. It sounds better than “they’ll kill everyone”. By every living thing he may have potentially been including all animals, too. This is a television after all. It is designed ostensibly to produce dramatic entertainment - sometimes the script emphasis as much.

    For Charlie to have programmed the jammer code pretty much means you ascribe to the loop theory of the Island. It’s one I sometimes like and other times can’t see ever working out - I’d be intrigued to hear more about how you justify it as plausible in your head.

  5. Joe Jan 31, 2008 3:16 a.m. Comment: 5

    Bond — It’s absolutely nothing.

  6. Veruca Jan 31, 2008 3:22 a.m. Comment: 6

    Every living person” ( not thing, btw) could be for dramatic effect, but it’s a redundancy, and a fairly amateur one at that. Seems to me the writers on the show are uncommonly careful about word usage. Jacob, for one, certainly isn’t living in any traditional sense. (Though I don’t suggest that he’s a ghost, either. )

  7. delirium Jan 31, 2008 3:39 a.m. Comment: 7

    I very much like the ‘Michael, the Freighties and Rescue – Another Benipulation?’ theory claiming that Ben truly wants Jack to make the call.

    I think Ben’s goal is trying to acquire the satellite phone (with broken jamming equipment, a satellite phone in the hands of the losties is a major PITA) and by playing the drama queen (“Don’t call the boat or we all die”), he makes Jack forget there is a 3rd possibility: dial 911 or somebody else NOT on the boat.

    Also: don’t forget that Mikhail tried to steal the satellite phone in a sneaky way.

  8. schaeridis Jan 31, 2008 6:35 a.m. Comment: 8

    Ben always talks that way. I don’t think it was intentional.

    But the Charlie bit is really interesting! His reaction while he was entering the code was indeed awkward and I support all sorts of theories about what happened when Desmond traveled back in time.

  9. wtfsignmeup Jan 31, 2008 6:45 a.m. Comment: 9

    I thought the way Ben said that was significant, Bond. It keeps me thinking that not everything is as it seems.

    PS, I loved losttimes definition of Ben as a drama queen :)

  10. ccumatt Jan 31, 2008 6:55 a.m. Comment: 10

    bond - the fact that you have watched the episode multiple times and missed this kind of bothers me…as does the fact that you double posted. It is likely that “every single living person” is simply for emphasis and dramatic affect. Notice that when you make a big deal out of “living,” which does not seem necessary to include in the phrase, you are not making a big deal out of “single,” which is equally unnecessary.

  11. tree_sneakers Jan 31, 2008 7:22 a.m. Comment: 11

    Ben’s “every living person” line seems like it comes right out of the original Star Trek series. The overly dramatic line would be best served up by William Shatner.

  12. Occam Jan 31, 2008 8:56 a.m. Comment: 12

    Ben just means Vincent won’t be killed. And that after Vinnie eated his dad’s arm… ;-)

  13. Occam Jan 31, 2008 8:59 a.m. Comment: 13

    Gosh… My English is becoming mighty rusty… Did I just typed “eated”?

  14. denirobrach Jan 31, 2008 10:40 a.m. Comment: 14

    i know it must have felt good to feel like you really stumbled onto something but ben saying that im going to have to fully agree with angelocomet and say it was for dramatic effect. would you really want lost to be some kind of ghost island, how silly is that.