LOST Season 6 Episode 6 "Dr. Linus"

Who would have thought Ben would end up on the "good" team?
After killing his father and hundreds of others in the Dharma Initiative, the serial killer we all love is on our side. This is good news to me. Ben has done so much wrong but he has finally faced up to it, and I think we all know there has been good in him all along. It still seems strange that he is on Jacobs side after he killed him.

We finally know that Richard came on the "Black Rock" ship we have seen since season 1, and we also find out that living forever has not been as great as it seems. Richard wanting to kill himself and Dogen's speech before he died lead me to believe there has been a lot of deception from Jacob and the Smoke Monster, which is interesting because one is pegged as good and the other evil. Beyond this, Richard says that "it's considered a gift to be touched by Jacob." So what does this mean for Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, etc? Do they have eternal life as well or do they get a different "gift"? We will find out soon enough.

Other food for thought:
Jacob touched all of the Losties before they went to the island. He touched Hurley after he had already been to the island when he met him in the cab last season. Is this significant?

What do the "flash sideways" have to do with anything? Is this just an alternate reality created by the bomb set off in last seasons finale, or will our characters somehow end up in this other reality or vice versa.

Things to note in the alternate reality:
Ben did in fact go to the island and cares for his father. How did the island sink and what caused Ben and his dad to leave before it occured?

Also, Locke says his father is invited to his wedding, so he clearly became paralyzed some other way. You don't invite the man that paralyzed you and stole your kidney to your wedding.

Last note:
Widmore is back to the island. Which team will he play for? I'm going to assume Jacobs because of his previous position with the "others", and also the fact that he wanted to protect John Locke in season 5. He may have known that the smoke would take him over if he died.

We still don't know who "Wallace" is unless it was a code for Widmore. We also don't know who the blonde boy is, nor where Desmond will come into play in the final episodes.

Next weeks episode is called Recon, and I can't say with any real certainty what is going to happen, they have continued throwing curve balls this season and your guess is as good as mine. There is a trailer and sneak preview below.