After tonight's episode I am beginning to think that Alex is the only one who was raised with a decent father, at least decent to her.
Here is a compiled list of everything we know about the characters fathers

Jack
Christian was a drunk and spent a majority of his life at the hospital ignoring Jack.

Kate
Her father was also a drunk and a very sick, disgusting man.

Sawyer/James
His father killed his mother, then himself leaving Sawyer all alone.

Locke
Didn't know his father until he decided to steal his kidney and throw him out of a building, snapping his back.

Claire
Christian wasn't around until he wanted to kill off Claire's mom, leaving her also all alone.

Hurley
Hurley knew him until he left when he was 10, and he came back after Hurley won the lottery, probably just to use him.

Ben
Roger beat Ben and could care less about his well being. He also made his life miserable with blaming him for the death of his mother.

Miles
Chang left his mom and Miles on their own and Miles never knew him, until now.

Penny
Widmore has obviously done something tramatic to Penny to cause her to hate him and have no relationship with him. He also tried to drive away Desmond.

Charlotte
Her father stayed on the island also leaving her and her mother alone and on their own.

Sun
Her father drove away Jin and kept her away from having her own life until she came into her own money and took over part of his business.

Sayid
His father was very judgmental and didn't treat him and his brother fairly or equally. As he said,"he was a hard man."

There are a few characters who we don't know about their father like Dan, Frank, and Desmond, so it will be interesting to see how they turn out.

I'm not saying Ben is in any way a good person, but we see that he really cared for Alex. All of the other fathers introduced have not been good, and I see this trend continue in this episode with Miles.

Anyone or anything i missed please add, and please tell me what you think this is all about.

I would say that Aaron was raised by a good 'father'. Yes I know that Jack wasn't there for the entire duration, but I don't see that having anything to do with Aaron. From what we have seen of Jack being a 'father', even though he didn't think he could handle it, I just think he did a great job raising Aaron for the small amount of time.

This is an excellent point. For all the horrible things Ben has done, it seems that he was genuinely kind to his adopted daughter.

After tonight's episode I am beginning to think that Alex is the only one who was raised with a decent father, at least decent to her. . . . I'm not saying Ben is in any way a good person, but we see that he really cared for Alex. All of the other fathers introduced have not been good, and I see this trend continue in this episode with Miles.

Um, not to be too snarky, but Ben was directly responsible for his daughter getting shot in the head. . . .I guess he loved her to death.

Well, up until the time he let her be killed, anyway.

You forgot about Jin's father, Mr. Kwon (http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Kwon). Although Jin was ashamed of his father for being just a poor fisherman, I would strongly argue that Mr. Kwon was a wonderful father to Jin. It was Jin's mother, not his father, who was the total screwup.

All of the other fathers introduced have not been good, and I see this trend continue in this episode with Miles.

Anyone or anything i missed please add, and please tell me what you think this is all about.As much of a drunk as Christian was, I do believe he loved Jack a whole lot.

I would say that Aaron was raised by a good 'father'. Yes I know that Jack wasn't there for the entire duration, but I don't see that having anything to do with Aaron. From what we have seen of Jack being a 'father', even though he didn't think he could handle it, I just think he did a great job raising Aaron for the small amount of time.No comment. :cool:

You forgot about Jin's father, Mr. Kwon (http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Kwon). Although Jin was ashamed of his father for being just a poor fisherman, I would strongly argue that Mr. Kwon was a wonderful father to Jin. It was Jin's mother, not his father, who was the total screwup.

Yes, you're right. That makes at least one decent father.

I would say that Aaron was raised by a good 'father'. Yes I know that Jack wasn't there for the entire duration, but I don't see that having anything to do with Aaron. From what we have seen of Jack being a 'father', even though he didn't think he could handle it, I just think he did a great job raising Aaron for the small amount of time.Are you getting this from fan fiction? He was only around briefly, then left and wanted nothing to do w/ Aaron before or after the little "playing house" interlude. That doesn't mean he was an abusive father...just that he wasn't any kind of father at all.

You forgot about Jin's father, Mr. Kwon (http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Kwon). Although Jin was ashamed of his father for being just a poor fisherman, I would strongly argue that Mr. Kwon was a wonderful father to Jin. It was Jin's mother, not his father, who was the total screwup.

Good one Sauk! Jin's father certainly did seem to be a good father.

I would also question Chang not being a good father. From what we've seen of him on the Island, he did seem to be a good father to baby Miles, taking his turn feeding him, readin him stories. I really think he sent Miles and his mother off the Island for their protection.

As for Charlotte's father, we don't know anything about him other than Charlotte and her mother left the Island. For all we know, he could have been a great father to Charlotte.

Desmond also seems to be a good father to Charlie.

We also haven't seen Juliet's father, Faraday's father, Widmore's father, just a little peak at Christian's father (who seemed like a nice enough guy for the two minutes we got to see him), Roger's father, Horace's father, etc. Heh. I know, this is getting a little ridiculous. But I do admit that, of the fathers we HAVE been shown on Lost, that they almost always turn out to be major donkey butts.

Again, Jin. His Father was a very good father....Just one that was not successful. I love Jin's Dad.

But certainly, the Dad track record sucks the lower fleshy sac on this program

Again, Jin. His Father was a very good father....Just one that was not successful. I love Jin's Dad.
Ah, but what would you define "success"? To some, the simple life of a fisherman, no matter how lowly, would be the epitome of living a "successful" life, especially in terms of some of the Eastern philosophies such as Zen, Tao or Confucianism.

We don't know much about Adam Rutherford either who was Shannon's father, but she sure seemed to have loved him. It seems he was a loving father also.

Woohoo for Jin's daddy! It's a shame though, that he was kind of shunned by Jin.

Also, to add to the bad dad list -- Sawyer was pretty rotten to Clementine! I was just about to wonder if any of our current LOST men would become good or bad dads.... and I remembered that.

Plus, Jack was NOT Aaron's dad, ever. And Aaron's real dad was jerky too.

You forgot about Jin's father, Mr. Kwon (http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Kwon). Although Jin was ashamed of his father for being just a poor fisherman, I would strongly argue that Mr. Kwon was a wonderful father to Jin. It was Jin's mother, not his father, who was the total screwup.

Glad someone mentioned this. Just did a rewind of the episode where Sun finds Jin's father and thought, wow, what a decent, stand up guy. Of course, the irony is that Jin is the one person who has a father he should really be proud of and he's ashamed of him but he does fix that lately when he visits him and apologizes. Anyway Sauk glad someone remebered Mr. Kwon.

BTW - Just to jump in on the other point...I would definitely define Mr. Kwon as successful...he is a decent human being who seemingly knows who he is and is at peace with it...how many people can say that?

Anyway Sauk glad someone remebered Mr. Kwon.I'm also a dad. I would be happy to be able to be as good a dad as Jin's father was to him.

I would say that Aaron was raised by a good 'father'. Yes I know that Jack wasn't there for the entire duration, but I don't see that having anything to do with Aaron. From what we have seen of Jack being a 'father', even though he didn't think he could handle it, I just think he did a great job raising Aaron for the small amount of time.

Daddies that leave are not good daddies period -no matter how good they were when they were there.

Daddies that leave are not good daddies period -no matter how good they were when they were there.

Better than nothing at all.

Such a horrible father, going crazy because he was guilty because he left his mother on the island. Reading to him at night, trying to figure out who was trying to kidnap him at all costs, protecting him as they got off the island because he didn't want anyone to get him.

Right.....so he sees his dead father roaming the earth and it makes him go crazy and guilty and Kate tells him that he can't be around Aaron. Such a horrible father.

No mention of Walt and/or Michael? That was one of the key father/son relationships for the first 2 seasons. Michael showed it sometimes awful ways, but he obviously loved his son. He was forced to part with him and once he got him back felt completely alienated from him. As messed up as some of the things that he did were, he did most of them to protect his son.

You forgot about Jin's father, Mr. Kwon (http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Kwon). Although Jin was ashamed of his father for being just a poor fisherman, I would strongly argue that Mr. Kwon was a wonderful father to Jin. It was Jin's mother, not his father, who was the total screwup.

Thank you for bringing this up! Mr. Kwon is probably the only stellar example of fatherhood in the entire show from the previous generation that we have seen.

Just to add a few comments:
We already mentioned Wayne, Kate's supposed biological father, but not Kate's stepdad Sam. Sam actually seemed like he was a great father, but he was absent a lot and he really hurt Kate when he told her she had "murder in her heart"--admittedly it was provoked by something huge, but it seemed really harsh the way he said it to her (like he believed she had been contaminated before she even had done anything bad--interesting perhaps to a future mythology point :confused:).

Many of our male LOST characters played father to Aaron on the island, from Charlie serving as the other half of the little family unit to Locke building the cradle to all of the characters that carried around and cared for little Aaron at various points (Hurley, James, Charlie, Jin).

Hurley seems to have reconciled with his father.

In general, LOST seems to go on the model of absent mommies and bad/hard daddies, but sometimes it switches the two around or combines them. Then, of course, dead parents gets mixed up in there as well as "absent" (like Shannon's father who was brought up).

One interesting thing is that a lot of the "bad daddies and mommies" seem to maybe have "good" intentions or other reasons we haven't seen for their actions. Michael is a classic example of this, as is Dr. Chang, and I think we're seeing more. I think we are starting to see a subversion of the idea that the parents were purely bad as we start to see that they might have had reasons that our LOST characters didn't understand at the time or at least understand as kids. I'm not excusing everything they did, some of the decisions were clearly bad, but as the story develops we are continuing to see this subversion.

Sun tells Claire that a mother should never leave her child in "Maternity Leave." Now she has left her child Ji Yeon in order to save Jin and bring him back. Kate and Jack's relationship in LA from Aaron's point of view might be similar to what Kate experienced as a child, although obviously a lesser scale. Mommy and substitute daddy fighting with each other in a dark manner--substitute daddy drinking, yelling, and accusing her of all kinds of things. (Note: I like Jack, just feel post-island spiraling out of control LA Jack is not a good version of Jack.) Then, after all that, the woman Aaron has always known as his mommy leaves him--for his own good and with noble intentions, but Aaron wouldn't know or understand that--he's too little. James doesn't have anything to do with Clementine because he believes he wouldn't be a good father for her and wants the best for her. He leaves her money, but oddly Cassidy didn't mention it, so perhaps they don't know about it. Pre-crash Walt thinks that Michael abandoned him when he loved him with all his heart and it was actually his mom that forced Michael to give him up. Post-crash Walt is horrified at what his dad has become, and he believes it is his fault because Michael's reason is he did it all for Walt.

I think there definitely is a generations theme going on--like Anakin Skywalker/Luke Skywalker. I also think there is an idea that pops up in LOST which is, "Do we become our parents? Are we responsible or will we pay for our parents' choices"?

Love that Mr. Kwon was brought up! I like the actor, so I wouldn't mind seeing him again.
I believe that when Sun visited him, it showed his character as the honorable person/good father figure, but I ask myself about the company he kept as a young man after seeing Jin's mother! Yike, he must of had an "off" day...


eta: Which brings me to Ben and Alex. I think Alex was the light of his life...
I think the point of it all is the protection of children...perhaps, putting children first...unselfish care.

"Daddy issues" is a huge theme of Lost.

As far a "good" fathers go....

Mr. Kwon (good call Sauk) Although he may or may not be Jin's biological father, he's a stand up guy.

Desmond seems like he's a good Daddy to Charlie.

Dr. Chang reads to baby MIles, gets up in the morning when the baby cries (as a Mom, this is HUGE). feeds him, changes him. I think Chang sent Mrs. Chang and baby Miles away to protect them.

Charlie was a good Daddy figure to Aaron. He loved that baby.

Michael tried to be a good father to Walt. Everything he did was to protect Walt and get him off the island, no matter the expense.



I don't doubt Ben loved Alex. And that he was good to her. But the fact of the matter is, he caused her death. Indirectly, but it was still his fault.

well, on the surface it might seem Ben is a caring father..... but in actuality he kidnapped Alex as a baby. Just as Kate had to step back and realize that she was only fooling herself by taking Aaron for selfish reasons instead of selfless. Taking a child is no way to start a parent/child relationship.

Again we have 2 people going through the same situation. Kate realized theerrors of her ways because of Cassidy pointing out to her that she took Aaron. Ben never had anyone point out to him that he stole a baby from it's mother so he was convinced he did the right thing.

Baby stealing does not make you "father of the year".

well, on the surface it might seem Ben is a caring father..... but in actuality he kidnapped Alex as a baby. Just as Kate had to step back and realize that she was only fooling herself by taking Aaron for selfish reasons instead of selfless. Taking a child is no way to start a parent/child relationship.

Again we have 2 people going through the same situation. Kate realized theerrors of her ways because of Cassidy pointing out to her that she took Aaron. Ben never had anyone point out to him that he stole a baby from it's mother so he was convinced he did the right thing.

Baby stealing does not make you "father of the year".

I mean, I don't know if he really "stole" Alex. He should kill Danielle, then he saw Alex. He took her to actually save her. Then Whidmore wanted Ben to kill Alex (the main plan). Ben couldn't do it. Now is the question was it his choice to keep Alex or could he also return her to Danielle :confused:

I like the idea that Ben stealing Alex has a parallel to Kate and Aaron. Makes the 'because he isn't your son' comment in LA more meaningful, somehow.

I agree with Sauk and the rest about Mr. Kwon: he had such love for Jin and such courage. We saw him giving Jin the best advice in LIT, when he told him to make amends with Sun and just take off with her to escape Paik. We saw how selfless he was later, when he told Sun he wasn't sure about being Jin's biological dad. The actor they took was fantastic too; I don't usually choke up when I have to read subtitles! :)

Michael can be classified as a 'good' father too, in that he went to extreme lengths to protect Walt. He messed up, but he was trying desperately to save his son. WAAALLLTT, after all!

Kate's real dad, Sam, counts too. And as others have said, Shannon clearly loved her dad.

I firmly believe Chang will send Miles and his mum off to protect them; he seems a really good father thus far.

Also, we're forgetting Charlie's da! He taught the kid how to swim, and showed a lot of love and patience in that short scene. :)

Such a horrible father, going crazy because he was guilty because he left his mother on the island. Reading to him at night, trying to figure out who was trying to kidnap him at all costs, protecting him as they got off the island because he didn't want anyone to get him.

Right.....so he sees his dead father roaming the earth and it makes him go crazy and guilty and Kate tells him that he can't be around Aaron. Such a horrible father.
Just out of curiosity here, MOS, and I mean no offense by this, but just who are you talking about? I've run all the possibilities I can think of through my head, but nobody fits the criteria you outline above. Are you talking about Jack? But Jack is not Aaron's father, and never has been. He's his uncle, of course, and like many uncles, is looking out for his nephew's interests. But father - sorry, I'm not buying it.
100%
No mention of Walt and/or Michael? That was one of the key father/son relationships for the first 2 seasons. Michael showed it sometimes awful ways, but he obviously loved his son. He was forced to part with him and once he got him back felt completely alienated from him. As messed up as some of the things that he did were, he did most of them to protect his son.
Yeah, I think Michael was a fairly good father. However, even good fathers sometimes find themselves having their kids torn away from them, like what happened repeatedly with Walt. And it's very hard to be a "good" father to someone when you have no contact at all with them for years at a stretch...
100%
I also think there is an idea that pops up in LOST which is, "Do we become our parents? Are we responsible or will we pay for our parents' choices"?
It's hard to avoid some of the "family karma" you're handed in this life, ain't it? (Speaking from personal experience) :undecide:
100%
Which brings me to Ben and Alex. I think Alex was the light of his life...
I think the point of it all is the protection of children...perhaps, putting children first...unselfish care.
I see Alex in a similar way as if she was a Mafia Princess. Nobody has better "family values" than the Mafia. But in the end, it DOES matter what you do in life, and if you go around doing nasty stuff to people, sometimes your family has to pay for it.

I just don't think Micheal's heart was in the right place....


He's MY son.

I'm gonna get MY son back.

They took MY son..

ect..

I always got the impression that he was more offended by having a possession taken away by his wife or the others than he cared about Walt.

Him dumping his guilt over Anna Lucia and Libby also fit with his motivations being selfish.

I just don't think Micheal's heart was in the right place....

He's MY son.

I'm gonna get MY son back.

They took MY son..

ect..

I always got the impression that he was more offended by having a possession taken away by his wife or the others than he cared about Walt.
I dunno - if someone stole my son from me, I'd pretty much go ballistic, too. Before I was a parent, I never quite understood just how it would feel to have your child taken from you. But now, being a dad, I can safely say that if my kid were stolen, I'd go completely insane. I would even, maybe, be willing to kill people to save my son and get him back.

I don't condemn Michael for what he did to get Walt back. However, even if what he did is understandable, that still doesn't condone what he did by killing Ana Lucia and Libby. A lot of violent crimes are committed by people who have, due to circumstances, been relieved of their good sense and judgement, and who act out in crazy ways. Sometimes courts of law will take such extenuating circumstances into consideration when rendering judgements on people who have committed crimes, but not always.

I am a strong believer in the notion that, no matter how "good" a person you are, if you're placed in the right situation, you're completely capable of doing very nasty and horrible acts. And we see this precise thing happen over and over in Lost.

Some of you that think ben is a good dad... well ben isn't even a real dad. he is a kidnapper. he kidnapped alex from her mom. then he told her for 16 years that her mom was dead. then when alex starts hanging out with carl he won't let her do anything with him. ben did save her from widmore though and then when she turned 16 he let widmore kill her ...so. :shrug::cnfused1::JC_thinking::a015:

Some of you that think ben is a good dad... well ben isn't even a real dad. he is a kidnapper. he kidnapped alex from her mom. then he told her for 16 years that her mom was dead. then when alex starts hanging out with carl he won't let her do anything with him. ben did save her from widmore though and then when she turned 16 he let widmore kill her ...so. :shrug::cnfused1::JC_thinking::a015:

I agree, Ben kidnapped Alex and and that right there precludes any "good" things he did for Alex. OTOH though, if he hadn't kidnapped Alex, she most probably would have died, as I'm a believer that the Island wanted her dead.

Looking beyond the kidnapping, which may be hard for some, Ben appeared to be a good father for the most part to Alex, from what we've seen, during her childhood years. Later on though, as Alex grew older, they obviously had their differences, but as any parent of a teenage daughter can attest, they are very difficult to raise at this point, and them telling you "I hate you", although hopefully not common, does happen. Ben keeping Alex away from Karl, imo, was Ben trying to make sure Alex didn't become pregnant, because he knows what happens to pregnant women on the Island. The way Ben went about it though, was a little devious, but then, this is Ben we're talking about.:biggrin:

To me though, I can't look past the kidnapping, even though it probably saved Alex, but this is another one of those moral gray areas. It brings up a great moral dilemma though, that is addressed in the movie "Gone Baby, Gone" which is a great movie, btw.

If a young child was kidnapped from an undesirable home, (druggie/abusive/uncaring parents) and years later the kidnappers were discovered but they are providing the child with a much more loving and stable environment, should the child be taken away from these loving parents (probably the only mommy and daddy the child remembers), and returned to the unloving home they were originally in?:JC_thinking:

no one who needs a comb over is a good father, trust...

The thing that slips my mind from time to time is how violent Alex was raised to be. They sort of forced her to knock Michael out with the rifle. I'm sure they thought their reasons were valid, but it's a pretty horrific way of growing up. Never mind the scene where Ben tried to force Locke into killing Cooper by knife in front of those little kids. What else was Alex exposed to her short life?

Seems like none of the father relationships are as bad as they first appear: We later learn that Christian loves Jack that Christian made trips to play with Claire when she was younger, it turns out Roger cares about his boy, Hurley's dad is CHEECH!!!, we have no evidence that Sawyer's dad did wrong by him, Chang was a very loving father at some point, and I'm guessing Widmore's fallout with Penny had to do with keeping her away from him in order to avoid the Others, also it seemed like Michael was a terrible dad, but he and walt ended up having a good relationship...sorta.

Now, how about the Mommy issues? Hurley's mom is cool. Locke's mom sucks. Jack's mom sucks. Charlotte left Aaron in the middle of a jungle. Kate's mom isn't very nice.

In conclusion, Hurley, as an adult, has the best family.
Alex def did have a loving dad and great community that loved her too (Richard said: Hey be careful you don't go flying"" or something with a huge smile. One of the best lines of the episode: the only time we've heard/seen Richard be sincerely happy and such)

However, in the end, it looks like the greatest family of all will be The Shepards.
Y'know....maybe Jack's mom isn't who he was told it was? DUH DUH DUHN

I'm not so sure about the great community. Didn't she help Claire escape so they wouldn't take her baby and kill her? Didn't she give Locke a gun to use against her father if need be? Didn't she tell Locke her father was a manipulator and a liar? Didn't her father have her boyfriend locked in a cage, beaten to a pulp, and then strapped to a chair a la Clockwork Orange?

I'm not so sure about the great community. Didn't she help Claire escape so they wouldn't take her baby and kill her? Didn't she give Locke a gun to use against her father if need be? Didn't she tell Locke her father was a manipulator and a liar? Didn't her father have her boyfriend locked in a cage, beaten to a pulp, and then strapped to a chair a la Clockwork Orange?

*shrugs*
Good points.

Well, Ben and Richard were nice to her. And Richard is awesome. Other than that, well played. Plus, I forgot that half of the Others prolly wanted her dead. The Others due right by themselves...I think?
We don't know jack $hit about the Others, do we?

I wonder when she "lost her innocence"?
100%
Remember: Ben didn't want Carl to get Alex pregnant cuz it'd kill her, he was lookin out for his baby girl...sorta...there must not be a single writer on this show that had a good childhood and family haha

I'm not so sure about the great community. Didn't she help Claire escape so they wouldn't take her baby and kill her? Didn't she give Locke a gun to use against her father if need be? Didn't she tell Locke her father was a manipulator and a liar? Didn't her father have her boyfriend locked in a cage, beaten to a pulp, and then strapped to a chair a la Clockwork Orange?

I never thought that Carl was actually Alex's boyfriend. They acted like more like brother & sister, which would make sense if they grew up together as the only children on the island.

However, she was obviously more comfortable with violence than the average teenager, so her life before the Losties arrived must have been less than idyllic.

I never thought that Carl was actually Alex's boyfriend. They acted like more like brother & sister, which would make sense if they grew up together as the only children on the island.

However, she was obviously more comfortable with violence than the average teenager, so her life before the Losties arrived must have been less than idyllic.

I think Alex and Karl were more than brother and sister. Karl talks about him and Alex hanging out in their backyard looking at stars together, and I don't know about you, but I've never done that with my sister, and when Alex tells Karl to go to the beach and warn the Losties about the upcoming attack by the Others in Greatest Hits they kiss, and again I've never kissed my sister like that. But hey, I guess all brother and sister relationships are different.;)

Then there was this dialogue between Karl and Sawyer in SIASL:


SAWYER: ..........So this girl, Sally Slingshot --
KARL: Alex.
SAWYER: Yeah. Do you love her?
KARL: More than anything.
SAWYER: Then go back to wherever the hell your yards are and get her back.
KARL: If I get caught -- they'll kill me this time.


Since it was in SIASL, I can understand how it may have been forgotten or overlooked.;)

I loved the Karl with Sawyer scenes.

I never thought of Alex and Karl as siblings, but that would provide another reason for Ben to not want them to be together--if they were somehow related and didn't know it. Disturbing as it is to think of, it's something to consider: "sort of" incest is a theme on LOST--remember Boone and Shannon.

I'll always wonder now if Karl was Sawyer's son. I know it's a big leap to take, but now at least it's feasible.

Charlie (Pace) had a good father.

Charlie (Pace) had a good father.

Maybe. Remember, the initial version we saw of Mr. Pace was a scary vision of him as the butcher like those from the Beatles cover, chopping baby doll heads off. He also belittled Charlie and told him he shouldn't pursue his dream of becoming a musician. Also, originally Charlie couldn't swim--then he could. Changed memories? I think that Mr. Pace is actually a very ambiguous father, just like many of our LOST characters' fathers.

I don't think Alex and Karl are brother and sister, but it would be a nice little Star Wars reference if they were. :)

I have always wondered how the Alex/Karl relationship would mirror the Ben/Annie relationship, if at all. Maybe something happened to Ben and/or Annie from which Ben wants to spare Alex. Maybe The Others (Richard? Jacob?) made them break up because Annie was an "outsider"... ironic, since Ben came to the island with the Initiative as well, but still possible.

I just found it kind of weird that we've seen Ben form the same type of relationship (seemingly) with Annie that Karl had formed with Alex, but then Ben very ostentatiously stood in the way of that relationship. There has to be reasoning behind it and I'm very curious to find out what it might be.

I'll take Ben at his word, for once. He didn't want his daughter to get pregnant.

The overarching metaphor of LOST is how to create a suitable future. That's why there's so many Bad Dads who did it wrong, and so much obsession with childbearing on the Island.

I'll take Ben at his word, for once. He didn't want his daughter to get pregnant.

But even that itself could have something to do with the Ben/Annie relationship. Lots of people have theorized that Annie was the first woman on the island to have the pregnancy issues that Juliet was brought there to fix, and it was Ben that got her pregnant.

It would be enough that he didn't want Alex to die, of course, but this would add another layer to it.

I loved the Karl with Sawyer scenes.

I never thought of Alex and Karl as siblings, but that would provide another reason for Ben to not want them to be together--if they were somehow related and didn't know it. Disturbing as it is to think of, it's something to consider: "sort of" incest is a theme on LOST--remember Boone and Shannon.

I don't mean biologically related, but just growing up together, apparently the only kids on the island, and so coming to think of each other as brother and sister. I also thought that they cast a gay actor to play Karl on purpose, but maybe not.

Well, I think we can all agree that it's way past time that TPTB give us some backstory on who exactly Karl is, no?

I don't think Alex and Karl are brother and sister, but it would be a nice little Star Wars reference if they were. :)

I have always wondered how the Alex/Karl relationship would mirror the Ben/Annie relationship, if at all. Maybe something happened to Ben and/or Annie from which Ben wants to spare Alex. Maybe The Others (Richard? Jacob?) made them break up because Annie was an "outsider"... ironic, since Ben came to the island with the Initiative as well, but still possible.

I just found it kind of weird that we've seen Ben form the same type of relationship (seemingly) with Annie that Karl had formed with Alex, but then Ben very ostentatiously stood in the way of that relationship. There has to be reasoning behind it and I'm very curious to find out what it might be.

Well, Ben is nothing like Karl. You speak as if you know anything about Ben and Annie, which we don't other than they were friends, but we officially don't.

Karl and Alex hooked up. We don't even know FOR SURE that Ben and Annie were ever boyfriend and girlfriend. I fail to see the mirroring. Ben doesn't want to kill babies because Ben doesn't want to kill babies. I doubt he needed Jacob to tell him that killing babies is bad.
100%
Well, I think we can all agree that it's way past time that TPTB give us some backstory on who exactly Karl is, no?

To be honest, I never liked him and never cared.
However, the way things are progressing, I'm pretty sure we'll see him as a kid soon. It could be interesting.
(note: not based off any spoilers or anything)
Maybe in a flashback or something, cuz he's way too young for Dharma time.

To be honest, I never liked him and never cared.
***Mod edited***

Just to make one thing clear here: as long as they follow the site rules, all posters are allowed to freely state their opinions in a thread! It's not your place to tell them what they can or cannot post about and someone having a different opinion definitely doesn't give you the right to be rude to them!

Yes, everyone please, no bashing each other. I just want to know what you guys think, I've seen some interesting theories so far, so please tell me your ideas.