#i'm in love with that shot of sayid

[davinaclare]

EVERY EPISODE OF LOST ↳ 1.06 - “House of the Rising Sun”

[fist-of-vengeance]

YES TO ALL OF THIS. ben is forever sabotaging himself by encouraging other people's worst tendancies and feeding into their delusions in an effort to make them more easily manipulatable and (maybe subconsciously) more like him. this could totally apply to his treatment of sayid as well, where ben tries to convince him that he's a killer by nature and will never be anything other than a weapon. and sayid eventually succumbing to that mentality IS WHAT CAUSES HIM TO SHOOT KID BEN IN THE PAST. WHICH IN TURN TRAUMATIZED BEN AND ROBBED HIM OF HIS INNOCENCE. ben literally caused part of his own trauma by refusing to accept that other people can change. because of course that would mean that ben himself can change. and he's not willing to do that yet.

thinking about how essentially every relationship john locke formed in the early seasons of lost has completely disintegrated by the time of his death.

of course there's his relationship with jack, which starts tense but manageable and culminates in jack pointing a gun at john's head and pulling the trigger. but even his smaller, less narratively prominent relationships either implode or drift apart. he bonds with walt in season one but then walt leaves the island, which is itself a severing of their bond since it was mainly based on being the only two people who wanted to stay. still, he goes and visits walt off the island so this is probably john's most successful relationship. I dont think i need to explain how he fucked up with boone, "the sacrifice that the island demanded." charlie viewed john as a mentor and claimed to trust him more than anyone on the island, but after the events of fire and water, that trust is destroyed and charlie despises him. at the same time we get john bonding with claire and having a pseudo-paternal dynamic with her, but their closeness basically drops off the face of the earth as he gets less and less involved with the other survivors.

his arc in the series is essentially a gradual distancing from everyone around him. it starts when he abandons hunting (providing for the others) in favor of trying to get the hatch open (it's extremely clear his primary motive isn't any survival applications but getting answers to the mystery). when they do open the hatch, he spends more and more time inside, underground, cut off from other people. he spends more and more time interacting with ben, a human mystery box that he's obsessed with cracking even if it gets him killed. he follows the proverbial white rabbit deeper down the hole and leaves his connection to humanity behind. the island and its mysteries become more important to john than anything or anyone else.

then in season three we get him claiming to go undercover with the others only to unceremoniously tell sawyer that he's actually going to join them. and it doesn't feel shocking, it feels inevitable. because john has spent the entire series becoming less and less connected with the people he arrived with. in that sense he actually makes a fascinating foil to juliet, who is introduced as one of the others and yet never really fits, she's increasingly sympathetic and kind in a way the rest of them aren't, her redemption arc feels so natural that she actually starts referring to her old people as "the others" like she's been one of the crash survivors from the beginning. her and john basically have inverse arcs, which is probably accidental but very neat.

in season five john tries to convince everyone to go back to the island, and fails spectacularly. and of course he does, because he was so consumed by obsession that he stopped maintaining his relationships, and in many cases actively alienated people (this is also basically what happened with helen) and now he can't wrap his head around why they're all so hostile to him. i am forever obsessed with the scene where he confronts kate and she brutally calls him out for wanting to return to the island because he doesn't love anyone. it actually struck me on rewatch how well the two of them got along in season one, and how badly their relationship has degraded by this point. john repeatedly casts aside interpersonal relationships in favor of his obsession with destiny, so when said destiny actually involves persuading the people he once shunned, he's at a loss. this is because john treats purpose as a supplement for connection, destiny as an alternative to love.

as an aside, this aspect of john's character kinda ties into my opinion that several lost characters can be read as allegorically neurdivergent under a certain lens. i know this was absolutely not intended, but as an adhd former gifted kid who struggles socially, there is something uncomfortably familiar about a character who allows their relationships to burn around them because of a single-minded obsession, especially as a result of being promised the fickle status of "special."

tl/dr: john locke is a doomed idiot and i love him

[youmovedthenachos]

the arrow, the hydra :)

Yippie ask game :D!

the arrow: who was your favorite tail-section character? who do you wish you'd gotten to see more of and learn more about? whose death hurt you the most? which character from the show as a whole do you get most defensive about?

I loved Mr Eko! I think he was very similar to Sayid in how a good person can become violent under extreme circumstances + how difficult it is to believe in a God that wants what is best for you when life put in your way such hardships (I grew up catholic in a third world country- it gets rough). I know his death was kind of a last minute fix, but I really liked his final words too.

I wish we had gotten to know more about Libby :(

And well- for getting defensive about a character it must be Jack.

Listen, I'll be the first to call him out in certain aspects: His system of values being centered around "being a hero" or "salve everyone" will always have misogyny in it because that's how the traditional male hero works, and Jack in many ways represents tradition. Also his control issues around women are scary (although these are things that he ultimately overcomes and that must account for something).

But I think people sometimes is extremely petty or cherry picking when complaining about him?

Of course he shouts, everyone is shouting all the time in this show. Of course he breaths heavily he is running up and down like 10 km a day. His voice is just his voice, it sounds fine to me lol. And don't make me start on the crying thing, most of us would cry even more and get less shit done.

(Note: I'm okay if anyone hate him or something, hating is fun, I'm just exageretting)

Also, considering how no one ever listens to him and how many hidden agendas everyone has on that show, he wasn't that bad of a leader. Like, of course the main cast is always into some trouble, but the other 30 extra survivors? They were doing fine for 3 seasons, and most did recognize him as having some authority.

Long answer, but I love him too much 😮‍💨

The Hydra: what animal were you most surprised we came across on the show? what animal are you most surprised we didn't see at all? if you could have any animal show up on the show and interfere with the narrative, what would it be and why?

I'm still surprised Vincent made it onto the final shot of the show lol

But in general I find it weird that almost no one had pets? Like in the flashbacks at least. And I'm surprised that they never encoutered a jaguar or tiger in you know, the jungle, where they live (Maybe the polar bears killed them?)

I think it would had been funny is some survivor just decided to adopt a random wild rabbit as a pet or some other weird animal (A baby wild cat?)

[liebgirl]

post season 2 lost character ranking let's goooo

jack clearly. nothing to say he's my favorite he's never getting knocked off the top spot. there is nothing he could do to make me love him less <3

sayid my close friend sayid! i love how he’s always right even when everyone is like woah category five sayid moment 🙄 literally believe him… he didn’t believe that man so he went out in the pouring rain to look for a hot air balloon and then dug up a grave to prove himself right all with the woman who shot his girlfriend like two weeks ago but he doesn’t blame her because he’s a) a feminist and b) knows who the Real Enemy is… that shit was crazy. they dug up a grave. in the pouring rain. and he was right.

ana lucia for the final time.... she was giving me everything in two for the road... ana lucia i would have kept you alive forever baby... when her and sayid went looking for that damn balloon that was like. one of the craziest things to happen all season. they could have become such a crazy good duo if she hadn’t been murdered. rest in peace forever babygirl i love youuuuuu 🩷

eko… literally when locke was obsessed with the button is was SO annoying but when eko was doing it i was like well let’s hear him out! and he WAS right. maybe the dynamite was a little extreme but well apparently that button needs to be pressed it would seem…

hurley <3 my buddy hurley! he’s just my buddy hurley!! and his girlfriend just died and hardly anyone gives a fuck…. he and sayid need to form a club.

kate.... girl you're flopping so crazy please come back to us... this is the highest i can put her right now it’s crazy how far she’s fallen. we need to stop the sawyer romance shit before i kill myself seriously.

claire! she’s claire!

charlie. getting a huge bump this time yay for charlie's redemption <3 things were very bleak there for a bit but i have faith he's coming back in a big way this season. um. for reasons i'm not supposed to know about but do

libby's also here for her final time rest in peace girl… my girl who did not ever get to do very much… but we loved her anyway rip to the libby backstory episode that never got to happen… love how she gave desmond a boat just because in the finale flashbacks she’s just so lovely and nice…

sun. imagine how this pregnancy storyline is about to go. i can’t even think about it. they’re gonna kill that thing aren’t they. like knock on wood hope that doesn’t happen to my friend sun it’s just. wow things are looking bleak. you know

desmond that freak! he crashed their plane! what the hell!!!!

alex is getting included this time because i am so interested by her... what's her deal.... cannot wait to find out!

locke kind of slaying lately. kinda dig his crisis of faith. i hope he starts getting haunted by the ghost of that gay man he let die. and i hope it's weird and fucked up

rose and bernard ranking low because well they do not do very much but rest assured i love them so dearly... they're always giving true love realness they're just lovely idk. we literally rank them as a pair it's beautiful...

danielle rousseau <3 literally her freak werido hermit hag realness. you wouldn't understand

jin. still giving your girl friend's shitty husband you wish she would leave but like he's better now i guess. but still.

ben. also known as henry. or that random new guy who’s name we don’t know. first of all how dare he be named ben that's a beloved book character to me. and also my cousin but that's not important if i liked every character with the same name as one of my damn cousins i'd hardly be allowed to hate anybody these bitches are irish catholic get serious. secondly i do think he's kind of a cunty antagonist... love how he's like the main guy of the others and sent himself in undercover to freak all these guys out. but well we also hate him obviously

sawyer in his classic spot at or near the bottom! classic! can always count on sawyer to be the worst huh...

michael. kill yourselfffffff oh my god. imagine getting ranked below SAWYER. that shit was DIABOLICAL work i’m never forgiving him i hope he suffers horribly

[octolingo-writes]

hi!! i’m your lost secret santa here with a few questions for you! :D

1. what are your favorite sayid / hurley focused episodes (individually and/or both of them together) do you have any specific scenes you like the most involving them?

2. do you have a song you associate with those characters (again, it can be for one or both or whatever you want!)

Just a quick warning, I talk about all of the events of this show in this answer, so people who don't want to be spoiled don't look!

what a pleasant surprise! My favorite Sayid episode (and honestly one of my favorite episodes overall) is Enter 77, the one where he and Locke and Kate go into the Flame Station, and I'm also a big fan of Sundown (where Sayid gets tortured by Dogen) mostly because of the scene it forms between him and Hurley--similarly, Hurley and Sayid's conversation after Sayid is shot is one of my favorites. I also love the sequence in the opening of Season 5, where Hurley and Sayid fight those intruders in Hurley's house (I think it was his house? or his apartment, something like that) and then Sayid gets tranquilized and so Hurley has to drive him around a lot

Sorry, I know that's a lot of scenes, but I figured I would give you lots of options! Basically, I love any scenes where Sayid finally lets his guard down a little, because this poor man just needs a hug to be completely honest, but I'm sure I'll love whatever I get regardless! Don't hold yourself too strongly to these ideas :)

Unfortunately, I don't have any songs I associate with them, sorry! I don't tend to think of songs and characters together, so that isn't something I've thought of before--

Thank you for the ask! If you have any more questions please let me know :)

[lost-inanotherlife]

ACT TWO.

In Act Two we discover that the police officer who was knocking on Kate's door is Kevin, her fiancé. The scene also serves to cast doubt on the much-discussed love triangle: Kate's relationship with Kevin parallels her relationship with Sawyer or Jack? Let's see.

KATE: You shouldn't have come here. KEVIN: Yeah, you're right. I've made a huge mistake, and I'm just full of regret right now. KATE: [Smiling] Seriously. It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. KEVIN: It's bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding. You, my friend, are naked. [Kate laughs and hugs him tightly. Shot of wedding dress in cover, hanging in bathroom.] KEVIN: Have you tried it on? KATE: I had to hold my breath to get the claspy things to clasp. So, I'm waiting for the very last minute. KEVIN: Well, it's about twelve hours, right? Might wanna get clasping. [Kate falls silent. Kevin strokes her hair.] KEVIN: Hey. I know its... it's been fast. But this is right. I know it's real. And I love you, Monica. KATE: I love you too, Kevin. transcript from lostpedia.fandom.com

You can't imagine how much I love this scene! First of all, big-ass foreshadowing that obviously this relationship is doomed: it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. Second huge red-flag is that Kate hasn't tried her wedding dress on because she can't breathe in it. She's waiting for the very last minute. I don't think this suggests that she's unsure about the wedding per se but it sure as hell tells us that she's not only fooling Kevin but herself too. She thinks she can escape her life, she can stop running away but the language she uses unconsciously reveals her secret state of mind: trying on a wedding dress requires more breath than running away from her past.

Kevin tells her that he knows it's been fast (just like "Slowly" suggested, it's a "fast love"), but he knows it's real. You sort of have to LOL at this and simultaneously feel sorry for Kevin too because he's just said that he knows their love is real while he doesn't even know her real name. Hilarious.

So who does Kevin stand for? According to the things we know so far, he's a gullible police officer who looks like the typical "good guy". He's surely an authoritative figure just like Kate's dad, Sam Austen, who's a soldier. And who is Sam parallelled to in "What Kate Did"? Yeah, you got it, our own very Jack Shephard, doctor and leader extraordinaire, aka another authoritative figure. And who runs away from authoritative figures? Yes, bravo, our own very Kate.

In the following scene we're back on the island where Pickett is coming to the cage to collect only Kate. Apparently, Sawyer's been given "the day off". Kate suspects something's up so she says they're a team and she won't go to work if Sawyer doesn't go with her. To that Pickett replies: "Lord knows I wouldn't want to break up the team". The "break-up" theme is established. But who will break up with who?

And for an episode titled "I Do" we have to have a funeral, LOL. In the third scene of Act Two we see Sayid, Locke, Desmond, Paulo and Nikki around Mr Eko's body. Locke thinks it's best if they don't bring it back to the island since "there's just been a few too many funerals lately". Sayid offers to accompany Locke back to the insland to get a couple of shovels. We have this little interesting dialogue here:

SAYID: So, what killed Eko? LOCKE: [Stops to drink out of water bottle] Folks back at the beach call it "the Monster". I don't really have a name for it. You don't believe in monsters? SAYID: I believe in what I can see. But obviously you have. So, why don't you tell me what you think it is? LOCKE: Might be what brought us here. SAYID: So, you think that this Monster decided that Eko was meant to die? LOCKE: I believe that Eko died for a reason. I just don't know what it is yet. SAYID: That's why you lied? We're not headed back to the camp, are we, John? LOCKE: Sure we are. Just need to take a little detour first. [Walks off again]

As I said, this episode is about make-believe so here we are reminded of the theme: Sayid believes in what he sees, John believes Eko died for a reason. But make-believe implies lies, deceptions and (lack of) trust, too. We're gonna have to bear those things in mind.

Finally, we're back on Hydra island where Sawyer and Kate are working. There's some commotion as the speakers blare "Warning". Pickett throws Sawyer and Kate on the ground and holds them at gunpoint (just like the make-believe police/officer scenario in Act one). He also mentions Jack over his walkie ("The doctor get out again? ") in order to evoke the ghost of Jack. Suddenly Alex comes up running and starts pleting the Others with stones. She asks Pickett what he did with Karl (although we the audience don't know yet it's him). She's eventually disarmed and dragged away but, before disappearing into the jungle, she screams the following to Kate:

ALEX: Let me go! Listen, whatever they say, don't believe them! They're gonna kill your boyfriend just like they killed mine!

Absolutely brilliant! Everything's tied up so elegantly, aaaah these Lost writers were so good at their job I hate them. Haven't I said that, yet? :P

So, of course, we're reminded that the Others are NOT to be believed because they're champions at making people believe what they want. Finally, a "boyfriend" is mentioned. Who does Alex thinks it's Kate's boyfriend? After her words the camera frames Kate and then immediately goes to Sawyer so we're led to believe that she's referring to him. However, are we to believe the scene, in other words believe what we see like Sayid does or are the writers making us believe things too? Perhaps are we like Locke and we believe that the ghost of Jack was mentioned for a reason that we just don't know yet and not to simply fill up some script pages?

To be continued!

"I Do" or when Kate and Jack almost got (figuratively) married

I've previously stated that I don't find "I Do" particularly excellent when it comes to Kate's flashback story. I still stand by that. From a creative point of view Kate reiventing herself as Monica and getting married to a police officer doesn't exactly scream "genius". Conversely, the idea for her flashback in "Left Behind" is way more compelling and allows us to see sides of Kate that aren't necessarily related to her interior romantic love life (in that episode Kate and Cassidy teams up to "con" Kate's mother in order for Kate to have a moment with her without getting arrested).

Having said that, "I Do" is, overall, a fucking great episode. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING is written and shot to perfection so I thought to write a little meta about it.

Now, before we move on to the analysis, let's please consider that the previous Kate-centric episode is S2E9 "What Kate Did". I wrote an extensive meta about it and you can find it here. For the sake of this meta, though, all you need to know is this: what Kate sees in Sawyer is herself, specifically what she thinks she is in the present moment based on the things she's done in the past, i.e. a "bad" person or a person capable of doing "bad" things; what Kate sees in Jack is her potential self, what she thinks she can become in the present moment and simply be in the future because she intimately thinks she's capable of being "good" and doing "good" things.

In "What Kate Did" she chooses the black horse representing her "dark" self, therefore she chooses Sawyer. In "I Do" she symbolically chooses Sawyer again but things get a litte bit more complicated because this time Jack says his "I do" and Kate finds that she can't quite say "I do" back yet, but she can't say goodbye to her potential either: in other words she can't leave Jack/her potential behind. You'll see what I mean in this meta.

ACT ONE.

The episode opens with the song "Slowly" in the background. We hear the following lyrics:

Tell me you love me again but this time slowly 'Cause you're talkin' too fast, baby, much fast Come on and squeeze me again but this time slowly 'Cause I like your grasp but it's much fast

You said that our love will grow together 'Cause your mine all mine

Foreshadowing: this episode will be about "I love yous" and about something that's growing.

It'll also be about make-believe as we see a 50s-styled Kate opening a box containing a wedding veil. A man knocks on her door and we see the following dialogue:

MAN: Police, open the door. KATE: [Nervously] Um. Everything's alright in here. MAN: Ma'am, we have reason to believe that someone extremely dangerous is in the motel. We're conducting a room-to-room search. KATE: [Starting to smile] I'm alone, officer. MAN: The person could be holding you at gunpoint, forcing you to say that. Please open the door. KATE: I don't think I should. MAN: Then you have three seconds before I break this door down. One... two... [Kate stands by and opens the door right before he says "three", revealing the policeman, Kevin.] KEVIN: Hey. Wanna get it on? dialogue from https://lostpedia.fandom.com

We the audience (who already know about Kate's past) are already tipped off to the fact that this is all fake. Kate is clearly wearing a mask, she's being someone else, someone who perhaps she'd like to be or, at least, she's putting on a new persona-dress to see if it fits. Spoiler alert: it doesn't. However, this is also extraordinarily real because Kate's indeed a fugitive, she might as well be "the dangerous someone in the motel" herself. Ironically, in the scenario where Kate is the dangerous person in the motel, she's also the person who's holding at gunpoint... herself, forcing herself to say stuff. Interesting, right? In other words, the show is telling us to pay close attention because the episode will play with the line between fiction and reality.

In the very second scene there's a defeated Sawyer throwing rocks without purpose. Kate sees something's wrong with him, he's slowly giving up. She tells him to get a fish biscuit for her, implicitly telling him: "Provide for me, be here for me, don't give up". Sawyer's not stupid and immediately retorts with a "Psh. What, you trying to keep me feeling productive?".

In the last scene of Act 1, we're introduced to the final protagonist of this episode, Jack, and we discover what's growing as the song alluded in the very first scene: "JACK: [To Ben] The tumor on your spine is borderline inoperable. And at the rate it's growing, that borderline goes away in about one week".

By the end of Act 1 we have all the info we need to understand this episode: it'll be about love, it's gonna make us believe things that are not true and the thing that's growing on Ben's spine will be the keystone to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

To be continued!

[simptasia]

Sorry I'm a bit late, but here's some Lost nonsense from my brain:

If Jacob's & MIB's adopted mum didn't adopt them, then a whole lot of mess could have been avoided.

Also.

Why didn't John's dad just say he was moving after he stole his kidney and see him like once a year? (That way if you need to borrow a lung later down the line the option is is there.)

Also.

If I knew my past self was gonna kill my son I won't let that happen. Screw the time space continuum, I'm doctor who-ing this nonsense.

And on top of that.

How come no one really tried to mess about with time in the 70s? I know there was a bit of "ahh don't effect the future" but like, if I was stuck in the past I'd have a go at screwing around with time. I'd be like suck it universe, there's no Internet and I've got people in the present I care about. I know alot of the Lost people had reasons not to, like Jin's trying to keep his family safe and Sawyer doesn't really have anyone outside of the island. But Julie's sister? Kate needing to find Claire? WHY WASNT THERE A DANIEL FOCUSED EPISODE ABOUT HIM TRYING TO CHANGE THE FUTURE AND SAVE CHARLOTTE THAT JUST MADE THE FUTURE HAPPEN MORE SO THAT THEN WHEN SAYID SHOT CHILD BEN I COULD HAVE BEEN ALL LIKE nah bro thats no gonna help, when instead I thought there was gonna be some funky timeline nonsense that I'm always here for AND THEN THERE WASNT. Also more Daniel.

Last thought (sorry I can't shut up)

Now I'm thinking about it, why was everyone's reaction to Sayid shooting child Ben as a bland "this is bad" ?? Im not trying to say it was good, but its like the whole 'go back in time and kill Hitler as a kid' argument? I thought characters would at least have thoughts? Like no one even talked about it beyond face value?? Or even had an emotion?? Everyone was just like: "this is bad, but let's leave him with his abusive dad" ???????????????

Epilogue Thought: i genuinely thought when Kate handed child Ben over to the Others she was doing to say something to him along the lines of what adult Ben said to her at the beginning of series 3 when they had breakfast together. (My memory is so bad, but it's something like "I wanted you to have a nice memory to cling onto because a lot of bad is going to happen.") And then it was gonna be like a weird time loop thing of who really said it first, like Ben doesn't remember them properly or anything (but it might help why he didn't just ask Jack for surgery help when they first crashed.)

lost spoilers ahead

Okay, first of all, how the fuck did you send a message this long. Whenever I send messages, I'm given a character limit???

If Jacob's & MIB's adopted mum didn't adopt them, then a whole lot of mess could have been avoided.

"Adopted", yes that the's word for it. And yeah... yeah. The entire plot of LOST, down the drain. Isn't it ironic, this show is known for so much daddy issues and all of this fuss was caused by mommy issues

Why didn't John's dad just say he was moving after he stole his kidney and see him like once a year? (That way if you need to borrow a lung later down the line the option is is there.)

Short answer: Because Anthony Cooper is a cunt

Longer answer: it's pooossible that anthony genuinely didn't wanna spend any time with locke at all. as you pointed out, this isn't pragmatic on his part. but he's a dick. he also has a history of not sticking around the people he's conned

If I knew my past self was gonna kill my son I won't let that happen. Screw the time space continuum, I'm doctor who-ing this nonsense.

I've had this same thought. Offense to Eloise, but I'm different.

like, yeah, even if it turns out to not be possible, there's merit in fucking trying to prevent this. like, morally, emotionally, i'd respect eloise if she'd fucking TRIED to not kill her baby boy :(((

legit, same, if i knew i was destined to kill my boy, i'd be like "no"

and at the very fucking least, i'd give the best life possible! which, paradox or no, is what a parent is SUPPOSED to do, eloise!!

not only does eloise not even try to not do this, what makes it so much worse is that she didn't allow him the life he wanted. you know he's gonna die young, bitch, let him have love and piano!

HES NOT EVEN ASKING FOR MUCH. free will??? please???

i Cannot talk about eloise without going on this rant, it seems

and the rest of ur message, i won't copy paste, but what ur saying about time travel. i'm kinda indifferent to a possiblity of them trying to change more but thinking about it, it's odd that they didn't Try more. however this can chalked up to like, not enough run time. but yes i'm all in favour of the characters ties to other characters mattering more. and charlotte mattering more. grrrr

oh boy the ben thing. well, i don't blame them for the This Is Bad thing. because it is. it's very bad to shoot a child. i wanna say, sayid is so fucking out of character when he does this. the writers mishandled sayid pretty bad in seasons 5 and 6, sigh. personally i don't believe its anywhere near okay to try to kill somebody because they're gonna be a bad person One Day. but yeah i am surprised there wasn't more of a debate about this in canon. we have people of different morals here... plus, it's a debate in real life. i'm in the "punish the people who have actually done something wrong" camp

it's fucked that he has to stay with roger though. i don't put that on our losties tho, overall i blame the others. because they could have accepted ben into the others way sooner and they really should have. richard could see this kid was suffering and they let him stay with his abusive dad. that's awful. then again, charles was in charge during this time period so that makes THAT make more sense but ugh

and finally. inch resting... i always saw kate's sympathy for little ben as 1. he's only a child, he's Not big ben. and 2. she grew up in an abusive home too so she sees a kindred spirit

regarding ben's memory, it annoys me how the writers felt the need to erase some of little ben's memories to supposedly Make It Make Sense but i felt that was unneeded. i think it's perfectly viable for ben to remember all the stuff that went down in season 5 but he never mentioned it because why the fuck would he. for one thing, he was henry gale at first, he's hardly gonna be like "oh hey are you the guy who shot me when i was a kid??" no, he'd keep his memories to himself. i think ben keeps a lot of things to himself for tactical reasons so i think the lost writers employed a get outta jail free card when they really didn't need to