'Lost' - 10 Things We Didn't Know

Last night's Lost was centered around our very favorite back-from-the-dead character, Benjamin Linus. As usual, with every answer, Lost raised three more questions. Still, here are 10 Things We Didn't Know before last night. *SPOILERS!*

1. Ben Linus, in his alternate life, is a history teacher.

Also, he's giving his father gas to keep him alive instead of kill him (before, Ben killed his father with poisonous gas).

2. Ben and his father remember the island.

This is the first time we've seen people in their alternate future know anything about the island. This casts a strange light on ...

3. Alex is a student at Ben's school.

So, Ben's fate seems to be intertwined with Alex, whether they're on the island or not. The question is, when did Ben and his father leave the island? Does Ben remember being a father to Alex? It should also be noted that Rousseau is mentioned as Alex's mother, so Rousseau's in that alternate future as the mother in Alex's life, what she always wanted on the island.

4. John Locke is also at the school.

WTF?! John Locke encourages Ben to take down the corrupt principal and usurp his position. Is Locke going to start showing up in key moments in everyone's lives now, like Jacob did before?

5. Ilana and the candidates.

Back on the island, we learn that Jacob was like a father to Ilana. She was summoned to the island to protect the candidates, of which there are now six. She has Ben digging his own grave (with a really inefficient tool, I might add), so it's fair to assume that Ben is not a candidate to replace Jacob. In fact, although they were both taking orders from Jacob, Ben made the candidates lives pretty miserable. What was Jacob's purpose? Testing his replacements? Also, Ilana mentions that either Sun or Jin is a candidate. But not both. She doesn't know which; it seems she only has last names.

6. Lapidus was supposed to fly Oceanic 815.

Here's a mind-blower: Lapidus was supposed to pilot Oceanic Flight 815, but he overslept. He expresses his regret to Linus. "The island still got you in the end, didn't it?" Ben replies.

7. Buried treasure, Nikki and Paulo.

So, while Ben's digging his own grave, Miles mentions that the two nearby graves are Nicky and Paulo (Remember them? Wikipedia claims that they were killed off because the audience hated them.), that they were buried alive and that there is $8 million in diamonds buried on top of them. Nikki and Paulo appeared on this season's posters, so you can expect they'll be coming back from the dead soon.

8. Richard Alpert wants to kill himself.

"There's something I gotta do," says Eyeliner Alpert. "What?" says Jack. "Die," says Alpert. Alpert says that Jacob gave him a gift which has turned out to be a curse; we assume that it's eternal life and that he's been around a really long time. He also tells Hurley, who can talk to dead Jacob, not to believe a thing that Jacob says.

9. Ben must choose whether or not to sacrifice Alex, even in the alternate future.

On the island, Ben tells Ilana that all he wanted was power, though Alex was what really mattered, and Jacob took both. In the alternate future, Ben forgoes power in favor of saving Alex's future. Again, one wonders when he left the island. Does he remember raising Alex? Why are he and his father the only ones who remember the island?

10. Whidmore is on a submarine near the island.

Oh, Charles Whidmore (slash Mr. Meade from Ugly Betty). We had almost forgotten you. His employee (we assume) on the submarine says: "There are people on the beach. Should we stop?"

"No, proceed as planned," says Whidmore. What, is he gonna start killing people on the beach? Why? Oh, Lost, you torture us so well!

Image by BeZet via Wikimedia Commons.