Lost: Meet Kevin Johnson

Like last week’s episode Ji Yeon [BONUS LINK: Powell’s discussion of that episode], we started out with some misdirection concerning flashbacks and flashforwards, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Meet Kevin Johnson:

  • Questions answered
    1. Was Michael Ben’s man on the boat?
    2. I think we can say yes. Does this mean he was his *only* man on the boat? I think not.

      I still seem to think someone else (Sayid, perhaps) is also on Ben’s side. We won’t know until April 24th (or later) but I feel like maybe our friend the Captain already knew that Michael/Kevin Johnson was the saboteur.

    3. What happened to Walt?
    4. He got off the island and is living underground with his grandmother. That doesn’t explain his appearance to Locke, but maybe nothing has (or will). I’ll deal with that later in the post.

    5. Had we identified the correct Oceanic Six?
    6. Yes, we had. It just so happens there was an “Oceanic Eight” though it’s not clear yet if Michael & Walt will be the other two “survivors” that figure into the Six’s lies (of 8 people surviving the crash and 2 dying).

  • Libby?
  • Here’s where I start to have questions. Was Libby an astral projection (something akin to Jacob, Walt and some of the Others) or is she merely a figment of Michael’s conscience? Is she a ghost?

    Still, nice to see Libby. Her return has been hinted at by the producers for some time.

    And if Libby is appearing to Michael and Walt can appear on the island, will Walt appear to Michael?

  • Death(s)?
  • Could Michael have killed himself in Manhattan (or anyone off-island)?
    Can he really kill himself now?
    Why does he still have a death-wish?
    Why does Ben consider his killings righteous but Widmore’s (and Kate’s and Sawyer’s, et cetera ad infinitum) to be abhorrent?
    If Michael’s reaction is just fatherly protection taken to the extreme, why can’t it be forgiven (especially by a man who committed patricide)?
    Why does Tom think having Michael commit more murders (and suicide) will somehow absolve him of the previous murders of Ana Lucia and Libby?
    How much does Walt really know about his father and/or The Island?
    Who killed Rousseau & Karl? Ben? The Others? One of our Losties?

    At first when Karl died I felt ripped off. *This* was the big death? But Rousseau dying means we’ll never get her side/the full story about her crew getting sick. All we have is her cryptic Season 1 discussion with Sayid.

    And Ben’s pronouncement that Alex would be safe with her “mother” makes me truly think Ben killed her. He was testing her and she gave him up almost immediately.

    Previews for April 24 (and beyond) look really good. Looks like we’ll know why the Oceanic Six are the Oceanic Six and who gets killed and by whom. Can’t wait!

  • Maps?
  • Didn’t Ben’s map of the Temple (station?)/Sanctuary look incredibly similar to Charlotte & Daniel’s map to the Tempest station? Were they drawn by the same person? Does this mean one (or both) factions may have someone sharing information? Was the location of the Temple the same as the Tempest? Sure looks like it here.

    I’ll post a link to Ben’s map soon. I’m sure Lostpedia or The Fuselage will have it in the morning.

    UPDATE: Lostpedia has it, but it’s just a smidgen of the whole thing. They do have different logos though, so I’m conflicted.

    And here’s a great attempt at island-mapping by a dedicated fan. His ??? station would appear to be Tempest/Temple, given the maps we’ve seen this season.

  • Numbers
  • Kevin Johnson’s passport includes a familiar Hanso Foundation wink: the sequence HNSO12153 the exact same number as Ben’s fake Dean Moriarty passport from The Economist.

    The code Michael/Kevin inputs into the bomb: 71776. Help me figure that one out, please.

That’s all for me tonight. Chime in if you’ve got a pet answer, question, theory or name.

BONUS LINK: In case you haven’t seen it, the Orchid station orientation video. Could *this* be the Tempest/Temple?

8 thoughts on “Lost: Meet Kevin Johnson

  1. HunterMaxin says:

    Questions and Observations:

    Who do we believe is really the “Big Bad,” Widmore, Ben or Both (together or separately)?

    I’m willing to predict that Sayid’s “betrayal” of Michael – the consequences of which seem to lead to open war, and possibly already to death – will ultimately lead to Sayid working for Ben in much the same way Michael did. That decision will be the catalyst for Great Change on the island, that result will be a Sayid in need of some kind of redemption, if only from his POV.

    I’m not willing to give Danielle up for dead quite yet.

    For my money…early as it is…I’m beginning to suspect that, ultimately, Ben is going to be a hero of sorts in our eyes, when all is said and done. I haven’t given it much thought in terms of verifying this…so I’ll ask…Has Ben ever killed or directly and purposely caused the death of a single 815 survivor.

    He’s done “bad” things, but he is right that Ana Lucia and Libby was a decision Michael made. He’s had people taken captive, he’s been manipulative and dangerous…and he has had had people killed, but not the plane crash survivors.

    Is this right? And where does that put him in moral standing?

    If his cause – up til now the “protection” of the island from people he considers DEADLY dangerous (and not just to his people, but perhaps to mankind) – is just in some way (and it really might be)…is he really a proven enemy of Oceanic 815?

    I’m not saying he’s good, per se, but is he bad?

  2. I’m gonna agree with Hunter and say that, ultimately, Ben will really be one of the good guys.

    Unfortunately, I think his ultimate undoing will be his inability to discern the many layers of interested parties and factions involved in the “fight” for the island.

    I think he’s already juggling way too many balls and eventually his ability to mediate and control all of the aspects of the story will crumble as he falls back on his main goal: protect the island AT ALL COSTS.

    I think we’ll see *really* kill some folks, even innocents (which he espouses to not want) in the future. I think the revelation of his true intentions will be big enough to still sway us, but it will also make him just like Michael, Sayid and most of the Losties: someone with a heavy cross to bear.

  3. I don’t think we’ll ever get the big reveal that shows whether Ben or Widmore is truly in the right. Going back to that game of backgammon on the beach, one is light one is dark (but that doesn’t necessarily mean that one is good and one is evil, just in opposition).

    I’m with you Seth about the Captain not being very surprised about Michael being a traitor. Given the level of money Widmore has on this little project, I find it hard to believe they really didn’t vet their crew and just took a guy on board (even as a deckhand) without checking him out…

  4. Jessica says:

    My bet for who “killed” Rousseau and Karl – Mikhail. Like Tom told Michael, the island won’t let some people die and Mikhail has already come back to life how many times? He’s always been separate from the rest of the Others, and is always doing Ben’s bidding. I don’t think the underwater grenade explosion really killed him, and this would play perfectly into Seth’s theory that it was Ben who set them up to die when he told them to go to the Temple.

  5. *This* is why we need a community of viewers watching and commenting each week!

    Thanks for the reminder about “Patchy”/Mikhail, Jessica!

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