I have lots of wacky ideas this morning.
At first I was disappointed by Jacob. After all, I was expecting some massive big event, not a supernatural one. However, after thinking about it more, it seems more significant.
Ben is a Dharma kid. He happens to meet Richard (a young Richard? Was the dirt an attempt to hide how old he was by the TV crew?), and it seems the two have been working together for years, since it was Ben who let the Hostiles in to gas the Dharma people. I think that Richard is the other leader, the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, but no one else knows about it except for Ben. Jacob is a ruse that the two have cooked up to help maintain control over the others, and Ben was genuinely shocked when Locke heard Jacob speak. Is "Jacob" really the Island itself, and that's what Locke heard?
I think this episode may have given insight into the whole birth thing too. Given the nature of natives, one assumes that means people who are already living there and assumes having kids as well. Perhaps the descendants of a shipwreck like the Black Rock? Is the inability of Ben's people to have kids a punishment by the Island for their purge? What a fitting punishment, for someone whos own mother died during childbirth to watch the same event over and over and over. On a similar line...what happened to Annie? Did Ben save her from the purge? Is she the original Eve of the childbirth problem...did she die giving birth to Ben's baby?
As for Locke...I'm torn about whether he'll live or die. Given the mortality rate of gunshot victims on the Island, things don't look for him. However, if Jacob really is the Island and Locke really heard him, the Island might save him after all. I'm betting we won't find out until next season!
Lastly...I didn't catch what Mikhail said after Ben asked him if he wasn't supposed to be dead. Can someone enlighten me?
Now...feel free to punch holes in my ideas
