why ben works so fast in the orchid and more evidence of ben's apathy toward his daughter's death

No, I didn't mean you...just seems like most people I've talked to! Oh, and I just finished re-watching the ending, and we do have a time problem on our hands! Ben says goodbye to Locke after he had blown up the dharma compartment (or whatever that thing is), and before he sends Locke on the 2 mile walk (and the camera cuts away from Ben after they part ways). So, when he's furiously putting the metal pieces into that compartment, that was before he said goodbye to Locke and before Locke's 2 mile walk. So, if he was in a hurry to blow up that room, he was in "hurry up and wait" mode. In other words, there had to be at least 20-30 minutes that transpired between him blowing up the compartment and turning the wheel. I think I'm going to post this as a theory. What in the world was he doing for that 1/2 hour AFTER he had blown up the compartment???

kristen: your are relentless! good idea re posting a theory; I hope you get some good comments and feedback

Relentless, too funny! Do I know you? You're right on. Relentless and absolutely, unhealthily obsessed with this show. For some reason this season it's worse than the previous 3...if this continues I'll be indistinguishable from flash-forward Jack.

Retro - I think understanding the medium by which Lost is shown (television, which demands audience ratings and network agreements, which feed into the content) and the dramatic or emotional thrust by which certain scenes or episodes are driven by (for a killer emotional kick, I think writers will bend the rigidity of certain characters, or real world logic for knockout action sequences) it's right to take the production of Lost into account.

We do it, sometimes, when disputing whether something was deliberate or a mistake (such as editing the timing of Locke's 2-mile walk in conjunction with Ben's descent to the 'wheel room') but I think there's certain dramatic licence allowed for such things.

Lost is not a documentary. If the writers need to make Locke arrive with The Others before Ben turns the wheel, they'll make his 2-mile walk faster than it could have been - because dramatically it makes sense and it keeps the show moving.

I certainly think it's a fascinating angle - but one that really only the writers and directors of the show could properly substantiate.

I bring to mind that classic scene in Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Everyone knows this story, right? Where Indy chases Marion in a basket, and suddenly finds himself facing this sword-wielding fighter. The swordsman does all kinds of fancy tricks, and the script initially had Indy and he fight properly.

On the day, however, the story has it that Harrison Ford/Spielberg/George Lucas had a bad case of diarrohea from Indian food and so cut the whole scene short and had Indy just shoot the fighter and move on.

A classic scene from a practical production incident. Funny how things can turn out.

Ac: But, it suggests that while we the viewers see a wrapped up world (apparently obey its own scientific forces, maybe releated to extreme phenomena that this world may experience), that external influences, as the lost ark story suggested, maybe one external influence is the message of the show, which I think we can start thinking about.

You can read Moby Dick as a story about a story to slay a white whale. It is ridiculously detailed, whole chapters giving you all the details you want to know about boat rigs. But it is also about something else, maybe you can put your finger on it, maybe you cant, but that something else flows page to page chapter to chapter, influencing the events.

Lost is a tv show. But we can do it.

AC: They could take dramatic license and make him walk 2 miles in less than 5 minutes, or they could have just left out the part about the 2 miles...Ben could have just as easily said "walk due east of here and you'll find Alpert waiting for you." Indy killing the bad guy with the gun makes sense because the guy still dies-no inconsistencies created in the storyline. I think if this was an accident it was a huge goof on their part to have happened in the season finale, as they know how we like to pick every last detail apart. Maybe they left it open in case they need to go back and have Ben do something during that time period next season.

Maybe Ben took time out and brushed up on his desert bandit defend and attack techniques that he figured would come in handy.

LOL...I'm picturing Ben in place of Dirk Diggler in his infamous scene in front of the mirror in Boogie Nights: "I'm a star. I'm a star. I'm a star. I am a big bright shining star. That's right."

Yeah I think he was moving fast. I think that not moving fast would seem lazy and would have dulled the scene and the importance of it.

I wouldn't put it past Ben to have a plan though, because as he said himself "I always have a plan"