was I the only one who found the interrogation scene hilarious?
Any way, the end was not too shocking in my eyes, the hints for that act were there for the entire episode- when Sayid was "fired" by Ben, when Sayid told Ilena that Ben is a monster and such.
I find it interesting the the actor who plays young Ben will appear in two more episodes this season. hmmm...

I seriously doubt that young Ben died. If you watch "Lost Untangled" for this episode, there is a very brief picture of him in what looks to be a hospital bed.

OMG.....What a Great Epi !!!!
Sayid should've gone and put two more bullets in Ben's head to be sure.

@Keely....ur r confused 1956 was the birth of Locke not Ben.

http://www.egyptologyonline.com/the_afterlife.htm
go wild, guys.

Ben wasn't born in 1956, his birth date is December 19th 1965, so him being 12 makes complete sense...I guess this isn't official but I got his birth date from Lostpedia here http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Benjamin_Linus

Excellent question, keely .... May Lindelof and Co. made another temporal mistake on date of bityh? Well, Time is relative!!

major problem
how is ben only 12 in 1977???!
he was born in 1956!!

Now when young Ben is dead what else is left for Sayid to do on the Island except for going back in Dharmaville and get him self killed. I have i felling that this is what will happen with him. Now you may ask why would he go back to a suicide, i think he will decide take this step because he has killed so many people and this is the only way for his redemption.

I would say that Ben was meant to be shot and that all that is happening needed to happens. and Ben is ALIVE!
But whe Ben doesnt recognize Sayid and the others, and why there where some Dharma things in Othersville in 2008.

It would be too confusing for me if they started changing the present...
the episode was cool better than Little Prince

To AgentM, he said he was going to call Ann Harbor, in Michigan which is where the University of Michigan is located and where the founders of the DI live, Karen and Gerald DeGroot.

About the episode, pretty slow obviously until the end...

This is the first time in a few seasons where I literally cannot guess what is going to happen next. The last time that happened was at the end of season 3. Ridiculous

There are two options...one they f-ed up the timeline...or two...Ben was meant to be shot.

Ben shot locke and he lived so you never know...no one can theorize anything right now...

We do know that they were meant to go back in time because they already went back in time...the proof of this is Charlotte remembering Faraday and the Runway being built...

What did Radzinsky say about calling someone else in to make the decision....who did he say? or what did he say?

ok I'm gonna throw out some rather bold predictions here. Either Sayid or Sawyer is not gonna make it through this season. Sayid makes a little more sense since his story is now "over," his task complete. Sawyer I think may be killed off cause they are showing A LOT of sawyer this season....not that thats a bad thing.

anyway this episode was ok. nothing really interesting happened until the end (which for me has been the trend with lost episodes of late). I'm inclined to agree with Faraday's rules whatever happened, happened kinda deal so that means Ben was either killed and is now in another state of being like richard or christian or new locke...OR....the island heals him from the wound. Seriously, why don't people EVER shoot the person they want to kill in the back of the head after they fall down in tv shows or movies? Its inefficient! CHECK TO SEE IF THEYRE ACTUALLY DEAD!! lol

tsollost: me neither, probably my least fav episode of this season. and yeh! i wanna see john locke again! in my opinion he is the legend of lost!

The foreshadowing when James tells Juliet "I have it all under control" I hope was just for this episode. I was really enjoying the new James but I have a feeling we are about to welcome back Sawyer.

eh, it was an okay episode.
the best part was sayid not hesitating to shoot ben.
the most interesting was the character "Oldam"(spellcheck?)
living alone in the woods away from the tech of dharmaville, sound familiar?
anyways it was an interesting character to introduce. i hope to see more of him.
like i said, i wasnt impressed or much excited while watching this episode.

Remember what Mrs Hawking said about the island moving, which was why they had to predict not where it was but where it was going to be? In addition to making it impossible to find the survivors as she said, it would explain the rainstorms that go from nothing to a downpour to nothing with no transitions, and in the case of the plane, the change from night to day.

MoleBB: I think there was also said that time travel wouldn't be part of the show - but maybe you're right. It is the same present, nothing's changed, it is supposed to be like this. But then there are quite a few things that need explaining.

Nemo: I too loved the Sayid revelation and his genuine laughter when telling them they used just enough!

If the plane itself timetravelled, why do everybode assume that it is in the present? I went back to the scene from the Lamppost to read the list of flights and to find out when the Ajira flight actually left Los Angeles. But the date and time of departure wasn't on the list. Only the coordinates. Anyone else know if the Los Angeles-present actually were in 2007, or if they were in 2008?

Sayid said he had been on the island 100 days from September 22 2004. If that is strictly 100 days, then they got off the Island New Years eve. Three years later they go back - which means very late 2007 or beginning of 2008. So when exactly must the new survivors be? And how much/little must they have timetravelled in the flash?

Nostradamus: That doesn't explain the shift from night to daylight in a second.

There was always a difference in time in getting to the island. Remember the freighter? It took a long time to get to and from the island even though it was visible from the shoreline.

Tiqui, even if they switched into an alternate present, than why is the daytime swichting? So there has to be at least a little bit of a timetravel...

I found it funny how Sayid told them the truth and nobody believed him haha.

Couple of points. I kinda liked it up to the point when Sayid realised 'his purpose' then it went awesome.

Tiqui - I think they found the bottle in the boat on the main island, so at some point the other two boats will probably head over leaving a bottle in one of them.

As for alternative futures/presents/time lines - I did read one interview on Sl-lost some time early on in the season when they mentioned that they were playing with the time line back and forth but that they didn't want to get into the alternative tandem timelines territory, can't remember excatly but something along those....lines....

Remember the flash when the Ajira flight landed? The plane was flying in the dark, and suddenly it was bright daylight. But the plane obviously didn't timetravel, since it is still 30 years after 1977. I just think the plane flashed from one present to the alternative present caused by the return of the losties to 1977. This would explain the numbers broadcasting during landing, why Locke is suddenly alive, and the Dharma signs on the doors in Dharmaville. It is an alternative present.

It does not explain, however, why Ben is still there - unless he survived the gunshot. Anyway there is a lot of storytelling to do to understand how this new present came to be.

One question that has been bothering me - didn't Juliet, Sawyer and the rest find the Ajira bottle on the main island? Why, when they obviously crashed on the Alcatraz-island?

And how would Daniels journal arrive at the Alcatraz island? Is that were he is in 1977, too?

Can't wait to find out!

Remember how Keamy killed Ben's daughter and referred to Widmore as "Breaking the rules"? Then, later, Daniel says that there are "rules" that cannot be broken, referring to the fact that "whatever happened, happened". Maybe Sayid broke one of these rules?
Maybe thats why Ben wasn't worried about his daughter being killed, because he thought that Widmore would not break the rules. Just an idea...

Excellent episode. Is young Ben dead? I'd say yes, because he will be able to explain to John Locke why he's not still lying dead in a coffin based on first hand knowledge.
As to why Sayid would shoot young Ben, if you had a chance to kill someone you considered an evil man while he was a boy, wouldn't you take it?
Loved the interogation scene. Brought back memories of Mulder trying to explain an x-file to skeptics.

It's interesting that this wasn't the first burning van in Dharmaville. I think Lil' Ben has been a bad boy since his run-in with Richard. The reason Ben's Dad is tough on Ben is because Ben has been a bad person his whole life.

I think of all those interconnecting relationships on Lost, the Ben-Sayid one is one of the most interesting. The man basically turned him into a hired gun after Nadia's death but you could see him hesitate when he saw Ben getting beat up by his dad. Ultimately, I think Sayid believes he is doing this for the greater good but the consequences of his actions (especially if Ben is truly dead) could be drastic.

I didn't think Sayid would actually do that...and he did!..I was shocked for a few seconds after the closing "thud".

I thought it was awesome episode! This is the only flashback we have seen of Sayid as a child, I thought it was pretty good as it reinforced, what type of person Sayid is.

It looks like all Ben wanted was a better life..

If little Ben isn't dead..I wonder if this a form of redemption for Ben and Roger Linus. Another Daddy and Son redemption story I think would be important other than the Jack/Christian story. For a fraction of a second I wonder if Sayid felt sorry for Ben, when his dad came to mop the cell floor.

This season keeps on getting better and better!

Great episode, but there might be a slight discrepancy: When Sayid mentions the Swan station, Radzynski says that they hadn't named the station yet, but in the orientation film for the new recruits in Namasté Chang has the Swan station logo on his lab jacket (at least, I'm pretty sure it was...)

Also, just a thought: Widmore said he was in charge until Ben tricked him to leave the island, so that means Widmore is in charge until after the purge. So does that mean the purge was Widmore's idea, or at least that he was in on it... or maybe it was all done behind his back to get rid of him. The others seem to like to go behind their leader's back.

Also, this was mentioned on Lost Initiative, but the people who didn't flash back in time when the plane crashed all had some kind of run in with Widmore. Those in 1977 did not.

is it Wednesday yet?

woot! I knew that was going to happen! I said it in a Comment Thread for Namaste and no one believed me. Oh well it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out.

Zion- the burning van was little Ben's diversion to break Sayid out of jail.
Are we sure that shooting Ben doesn't set up an alternative future? Or has that always been the way it was going to work out? Maybe this pushes Ben even farther to the dark side. And if the hostiles had plans for him, maybe this is enough to start a war.

I'm sure little Ben started the van fire in order to create a diversion so he could let Sayid out.

I am more confused than ever. I am glad we get to see Sayid past, but i don't get him killing Ben. Also i don't understand how the fire in the van started.

it was GREAT to finally see a syid episode! i think i have a new favorite losty. i was a little shocked to see him "try" and kill little Ben, though - be we all know hes not dead. and i love love LOVE the man sawyer has grown into! radzinsky is pretty much the most annoying person i know.

sad - two episodes with no locke...in a ROW

This is what I call a cliffhanger...
What a great episode. Excellent work by Naveen Andrews.
If you haven't seen the episode yet, I recommend to watch it without reading the spoilers.