Okay some thoughts:

Didn't Michael try to kill himself in an ep last season and someone told him that the island wouldn't let him?

Perhaps same principles applied to Locke. Maybe the rope would have torn or something if he had tried to commit suicide.

Okay, can someone clarify for me the deal with Widmore, Ben, and the Others?

Richard is with the Others who recruited Ben, right? Richard sanctioned the killing of Ben's camp. At an earlier time, Richard and Widmore seemed friendly, so are we to understand that there was a split in the camp and that Richard and the people who went with him were "Others" and Widmore and the people aligned with him were the ones Ben eventually killed or kicked off the island?

I wonder if Walt will become a Matthew figure in the future. Clearly he is still seeing the future, so maybe that's how Matthew helped Locke on his walkabout?

FWIW, I think Ben came there deciding to kill Locke. He took off his jacket before helping Locke down off the table. I thought that was a weird gesture. Why take off your jacket THEN? And then he kills him and cleans up? I don't think the mention of Faraday's mother had anything to do with it. I believe the only surprise Ben had was that he now knows that Widmore knows about Hawking.

I thought that Ben only stopped Locke from killing himself because he needed to know how Locke was planning to get back. When Ben left, he thought he would be exiled fro the island forever. As soon as Locke gave up the name, Ben didn't need him anymore, other than as a returnee, and apparently decided that a corpse was as just as good for that purpose.

Widmore knows about Hawking?

I'm really curious about how Widmore came to leave the island. When we got Ben's backstory before, it seemed like the Others needed a leader and he showed up.

I'm wondering if we're going to come full circle, and the reason that Widmore is exiled has to do with some action that our Time Bouncers are going to take in the past (I know we saw Faraday back then, and now we're seeing Jin in Dharma-gear.)

I'd love there to be some circularity to it all.

I thought that Ben only stopped Locke from killing himself because he needed to know how Locke was planning to get back. When Ben left, he thought he would be exiled from the island forever. As soon as Locke gave up the name, Ben didn't need him anymore, other than as a returnee, and apparently decided that a corpse was as just as good for that purpose.

This is how I took it, -t.

Widmore knows about Hawking?

Yes. He gave the name and address to Des. We didn't hear the name said, but Desmond went to see him for "Faraday's mother's" name and whereabouts.

I think Hawking is young Ellie from the island (who had Daniel at gunpoint and took him out to the jughead bomb).

Richard is with the Others who recruited Ben, right? Richard sanctioned the killing of Ben's camp. At an earlier time, Richard and Widmore seemed friendly, so are we to understand that there was a split in the camp and that Richard and the people who went with him were "Others" and Widmore and the people aligned with him were the ones Ben eventually killed or kicked off the island?

Well, Ben killed Dharma. I don't know who else he killed, but he seems to have at least engineered Widmore's exile.

Ben took really good care of Locke's body. I'm pretty sure that Ben knew that Locke would reanimate upon hitting the island. I don't think Ben really thought he was doing Locke harm.

I wondered about that too, but Ben did say that he would miss Locke. I don't know.

I wondered about that too, but Ben did say that he would miss Locke. I don't know.

He could have meant for helping convince the others to come back. Though given John's success rate...

I'm pretty sure that Ben knew that Locke would reanimate upon hitting the island.

Maybe. Ben couldn't see Jacob, could he see Christian?

I think Ben generally finds dealing with live people, with their penchant for doing things that arenot what he wants them to do, unsatisfactory. He needs a motive to keep someone alive more than a motive to kill.

Or so it seems to me right now. I'm really tired.

The last thing Locke remembers is Ben killing him. That's not gonna be a warm fuzzy reunion.

Thanks for the refresher, Cindy. I was pretty sure I was forgetting some important details.

Why is it when I see new characters introduced on LOST now (as opposed to a year ago or, say, HEROES), I now say "Bring em on!", instead of feeling a sense of dread? Ditto for wacky time-shifts.