Lost - "Dead is Dead" recap

OH MY GOSH.

Lost's latest episode, "Dead is Dead" has my mind spinning. I'm still not sure WHO is dead, WHEN they are dead, and what it means for the show!

I decided that to lessen my confusion, I need to briefly put things in order, because the show skipped around so much in place and time that I could hardly keep up.

Back in the 70's
Widmore is mad at Richard for rescuing little Ben, but apparently not too mad. They almost interact as equals. Widmore seems pretty superstitious about the cosmic sovereignty of "the island", just as Ben is in the present. Widmore is friendly to Ben.


What... suddenly we seem to be in the 80's? Maybe?
A young Ben but not kid Ben is seen with another kid in the jungle. He storms young Danielle's hide-out and takes baby Alex. He warns her that she'll hear whispers and she should run and stay away. It sounds as though she doesn't see anyone again from this moment until she meets Sayid on the beach. Poor lady. I genuinely feel sorry for her. I think we have her entire back story now.

When Ben brings the baby to the camp, Widmore is pissed. Ben apparently was supposed to kill Danielle and he didn't know she'd have a baby. He's apparently still a pretty nice guy. He stands up to angry Widmore in defense of Alex and questions whether Widmore is really following Jacob's orders (who do they think Jacob is at this point??)

Early 90's maybe?
Ben has taken up the role of Alex's dad, and he's apparently a good dad. He loves her. Widmore is leaving the island, and as we already know, he blames Ben for his being forced to leave. Ben says it's not his fault, Widmore broke the rules (part of that seems to be the existence of Penny as his daughter with an "outsider")and therefore has to leave. Widmore says Ben has broken the rules as well by saving Alex. He says one day Alex will die and then Ben will realize that "you can't fight the inevitable". Yet again, everyone on this freakin island believes in fate. Fate controlled by the island, though? In any case, we know Widmore speaks prophetically and Alex does die and Ben is kicked off the island... but then why is he allowed back if Widmore is not?

Pre-Ajira Crash
Ben calls Widmore and says he's going back to the island, and then threatens to kill Penny. He shoots Desmond, but apparently Desmond is needed still, because he is fine and sneaks up behind Ben when he threatens Penny, and beats him to the pulp-like state that he is in when he boards the Ajira flight.

The Present (or at least, we think it's the present)
Here we start where last week left off - Bloody Ben (hah, I like it, that might just stick) wakes up and looks petrified when he sees a dignified and apparently alive John Locke sitting beside him. Ben says he has broken the rules and has come back to be judged by the monster.

When Locke catches Ben searching his old office (hmm... didn't Cesar search the same place? What are they looking for?), he brings up his own murder. Ben immediately starts acting like a child caught with his hand in the candy jar, and starts making excuses for why he killed John. Yeah... I'd feel awkward too. In any case, he says he knew John would come back to life, but he had to kill John in order to get everyone back to the island (insinuating in the process that where John failed, Ben was successful). It was all "in the best interest of the island". Yeah... I don't buy it. Lies.

Once outside and around the Ajira plane crash people, Ben begins his wheedling ways again, and insinuates to Cesar that John is crazy and might be a dangerous island native. When Cesar later tries to stop Locke from taking a boat, Ben switches tactics and steals his gun and shoots Cesar, telling John he should consider that Ben's apology. Oh man - manipulative Ben is back. In any case, the two take off to the main island in an attempt to get to the monster. Locke seems to have gained some innate wisdom about Ben, his motivations, and the island. He knows Ben's guilt is not over breaking the rules of the island but over allowing his own daughter to be killed.
Locke and Ben run into Sun and Lapidus at Ben's old house. They show Ben the old photo of the Losties in Dharma, and BEN SEEMS SHOCKED. Ah hah, so he really did forget it all. I thought that he might have remembered them and known who they were when the plane first crashed on the island, but it appears that I'm wrong. Ben also seems terrified by the thought of Christian's guidance of Sun and Lapidus, while they return the shock when they see Locke alive and well. John "has some ideas" about how to find Jin and the Losties, but Lapidus is apparently an extraneous character and the producers kick him back to the beach.

Locke enters the secret passage way in his house and seems to pull up a drain and apparently speaks to ... something... and says "I'll be outside", the drain-pulling seems to be the signal that the monster has been summoned, but Ben doesn't know where the monster actually is (Locke does, though... hmm).
Hmm... Ben doesn't know a lot of things after all. He also didn't know Locke would resurrect. He doesn't understand it.

So.... if dead is dead, then Locke really was dead. Locke responds and says that he is now "the same man I've always been." If we take both of them at their word, then Locke has truly resurrected. Not sure what the significance of it all is... but ... it seems like the producers are trying to clarify Locke's life status.

Ben and Locke go under the mysterious temple in the same place the French dude was sucked into by the monster. Ben falls into a cavern, and there sees some crazy hieroglyphics, and then sees 'ole Smokey begin filling the room like a whirlpool. Like Eko, he sees scenes from his life in the whirling smoke, but his are focused on Alex. Ben is apparently emotionally undone, and when the smokey monster fades away he sees... Alex? Or at least Smokey impersonating Alex. She throws him against the wall and tells him to follow John Locke and NOT kill him. Ben swears to it.

Wow.

Meanwhile, back in the other camp we see our hot chick (forgot her name, I still think of her as the wife from The Namesake) partnering with apparently a bunch of the other Ajira passengers. Apparently there are a group of them that were planted on the plane without knowing each other, but they identify each other by the ability to answer the phrase "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" Lapidus is not a plant. How much do you want to bet they're all working for Widmore? We don't know of anyone else working behind the scenes at this point, even Abadon is dead.

When I get more time, I am going to write a post about what we've learned and what mysteries are yet to be solved. We're almost down to one more season!