All the others that were there when Colleen died had some shocking reaction except for Ben. Tom put his hand over his mouth, Pickett got all mad and Juliet was very miserable. However, Ben was just blank. And I also think he was taking saddistic pleasure when he let Jack stay with Colleen's body for a long time. He wasn't mad or sad whatsoever...
Why do you guys think he reacted this way?

I think Ben has just conditioned himself (or he has been conditioned) against any sort of very strong, overpowering emotion such as that. We know that he does have good tendencies (i.e. helping Locke after the blast door came down on his leg), but he is the leader of the Others. He has a job to do, and if he lets his guard down, that may compromise his ability to do that job effectively. Just my opinion, anyway.

I think Ben has just conditioned himself (or he has been conditioned) against any sort of very strong, overpowering emotion such as that. We know that he does have good tendencies (i.e. helping Locke after the blast door came down on his leg), but he is the leader of the Others. He has a job to do, and if he lets his guard down, that may compromise his ability to do that job effectively. Just my opinion, anyway.

See, I'm not sure if any of his emotions are genuine. I mean, he pretty much faked his emotion about his "dead wife" when he was still henry gale. I think when he is showing some sort of "goodness," it is faked for some other ultimate gain.

IMHO I think that he "befriended" Locke for the same reason why he "befriended" Jack, and why he is now showing Sawyer the "secrets" of the island. He needs something from all of them.

That's just what I take form his character.

See, I'm not sure if any of his emotions are genuine. I mean, he pretty much faked his emotion about his "dead wife" when he was still henry gale. I think when he is showing some sort of "goodness," it is faked for some other ultimate gain.

IMHO I think that he "befriended" Locke for the same reason why he "befriended" Jack, and why he is now showing Sawyer the "secrets" of the island. He needs something from all of them.

That's just what I take form his character.

Ah, another lex. Welcome! I agree. The only true emotion we've seen from Ben is anger. He excels at that, though!

I totally agree. He's very good at "faking" emotion, but I am not sure that we have seen any "true" emotion from him aside from anger.

The guy did grow up on the island, and so is probably a little bit off when it comes to showing human emotions at all. That being said, I think his thinned lips probably were as visible an expression as he ever gives in that sort of situation. He couldn't've been surprised, not after seeing the gunshot wound, so he was probably already well into the planning-on-how-to-deal-with-this phase.

We have no idea if he really grew up on the island. He could easily be lying to Jack. Based on his speech I'd of guessed he was from Ohio.

Ben's reaction to Colleen's death was just like his reaction to Juliet being held at broken dish point, it's empty, even, and cold. He's a wicked man.

What a fine actor. The best actor of a series rich with fine acting.

In his role as a leader, he doesn't allow himself to bear any emotions. And he had to plan the next steps.

But why shackle Jack to her body? This could be excruciating for and most of you, but Jack is used to death. All surgeons are. The woman brought to him had major internal bleeding, I brought in too late, carried precariously through a jungle... Jack would not feel guilty. I believe the only reason he was kept shackled was just so Ben could think of what he'd do later with Jack.

See, I'm not sure if any of his emotions are genuine. I mean, he pretty much faked his emotion about his "dead wife" when he was still henry gale. I think when he is showing some sort of "goodness," it is faked for some other ultimate gain.

IMHO I think that he "befriended" Locke for the same reason why he "befriended" Jack, and why he is now showing Sawyer the "secrets" of the island. He needs something from all of them.

That's just what I take form his character.

Good point. We only see in Henry a lot of anger and a very fake emotions.

What a fine actor. The best actor of a series rich with fine acting.

In his role as a leader, he doesn't allow himself to bear any emotions. And he had to plan the next steps.

But why shackle Jack to her body? This could be excruciating for and most of you, but Jack is used to death. All surgeons are. The woman brought to him had major internal bleeding, I brought in too late, carried precariously through a jungle... Jack would not feel guilty. I believe the only reason he was kept shackled was just so Ben could think of what he'd do later with Jack.

Really good point, Irene. He was probably just frustrated he couldn't have the use of his hands to clean up the body!
And Jack bore no responsibility or guilt for her death. Like he said, she was a lost cause and doomed before she reached the table. Maybe Benry wanted Jack to meditate on what his people (the other Losties, assuming they didn't know it was specifically Sun) had done.

And I haven't looked at a closeup, but it looked to me like Benry was actually smirking when Colleen died. My I don't like him.

I just can't decide on Ben yet. He either intrigues me, or terrifies me, to no end. And more often than not, it's both. :eek:

I thought Ben looked as though he was already deciding what to do next - with Jack, with the Losties, within his community, etc. Colleen's death was an 'unfortunate incident' but he was ready to take advantage of it and he already has, somehow. To me he looked frighteningly displeased, then very calculating, and then (I too thought I saw that smirk!) rather sadistically satisfied with whatever he had come up with.

Benry is a scary, scary man

Even with Jack cuffed to Colleen's gurney, at least her body was covered up so Jack wasn't just staring at it for the duration. Jack has no interest in Colleen other than doing his duty as a doctor to help out where needed. Ben's blank response is very intriguing - there's lots going on in that mind, but little is revealed at a time.

I think Ben has just conditioned himself (or he has been conditioned) against any sort of very strong, overpowering emotion such as that.

This might also indicate that perhaps Juliet, Zeke, and Pickett all grew up in the outside world, and it was the first time they were witnessing something so major happening to one of their own.

Benry, on the other hand, assuming he was raised on the island from the time he was a very young boy, could be more accustomed to seeing such gruesome death amongst "his people," and has become desensitized to it.

This might also indicate that perhaps Juliet, Zeke, and Pickett all grew up in the outside world, and it was the first time they were witnessing something so major happening to one of their own.

Benry, on the other hand, assuming he was raised on the island from the time he was a very young boy, could be more accustomed to seeing such gruesome death amongst "his people," and has become desensitized to it.

Very good point, but I don't think that growing up on an island can erase the ability to love, or care or feel emotion. It can certainly pervert everyday social skills, but the feeling of loss is a very selfish emotion by definition, and it's hard to get rid of those--they are just human nature. Even a panda will mourn the loss of a baby.

I think there is something much deeper, sinister, and perhaps very complicated within Ben. Why he is the way he is might be revealed later (in a flashback!?) but perhaps we'll understand more then.

And I agree-he is a brilliant actor. I am very impressed. I didn't like him (as a character) at first, but he intrigues me now.

The reason why Ben doesn't react the same as everyone else is because he's Psychotic. If he did grow up on the island he would have less then normal personal skills. If he didn't grow up on the island he still could have poor skills from many different factor growing up.
It is well documented that those individuals who are genuenly Psychotic/Skitsophrenic (sorry for the spelling I'm in a rush) do have poor interpersonal skills, show little to no emotion and are adapt at lying for use to minipulate others and get what they want.

However, Ben was just blank. And I also think he was taking saddistic pleasure when he let Jack stay with Colleen's body for a long time. He wasn't mad or sad whatsoever... On the contrary, I personally did not see even the slightest glint of pleasure in his face. He also did not seem blank to me. He looked like he was highly focused on the situation at hand and strickly preventing any show of emotion on his part.

What a fine actor. The best actor of a series rich with fine acting.

In his role as a leader, he doesn't allow himself to bear any emotions. And he had to plan the next steps. Agreed. To maintain his appearance as a strong leader, he had to be calm and in control. He also seemed highly focused on Jack's reaction to the situation.

But why shackle Jack to her body? This could be excruciating for and most of you, but Jack is used to death. All surgeons are. The woman brought to him had major internal bleeding, I brought in too late, carried precariously through a jungle... Jack would not feel guilty. I believe the only reason he was kept shackled was just so Ben could think of what he'd do later with Jack.Perhaps so that Jack could see that sometimes you just can't save somone. It was giving Jack a situation where he simply could not win and would have to accept that a failure was not necessarily his failure. Juliet's line was probably scripted by her or Ben so that Jack would be forced to voice that it was not the doctor's fault.
Also, he may have wanted Jack to see that the Others are human, too, and that the Losties can be killers.

The only time that Ben seemed to smirk, it was in reference to Jack's situation, not Colleen's death.

i think they all had less than emotional reactions. juliet didn't cry, zeke or whatever his name is just looked a little off, and even danny/pickett was only slightly emotional. and they used times when they were supposed to be fighting for colleen's life to further their experiments with the losties. it reinforced by belief that the other's have some way of overcoming death, so they are not that worried about it. i think they might have some way of cloning themselves, and that is what juliet is doing (fertility medicine and cloning often go hand in hand). when danny and zeke were sitting with colleen and they brought jack in, danny seemed to be saying goodbye to her anyway. then when zeke pulls him away, i sweak that zeke said something like, "don't worry, they got it." not "they've got it", as in they are taking care of it, but they "got" it, like they took what they needed from her to bring her back (dna or something).
this may be totally off base, but i've always had this suspicion that the other's don't really die and may be clones (hence ben saying he's been on the island his "whole life" when he seems to be older than any of the dharma stations are.

WOW, eddie that is some far out thinking, lol.


Anyway, I just think Ben has a bigger view of the overall picture and that one person's death is not a big deal to him. After all, they are here, supposedly to save mankind and alter the Valenzetti Equation.

First off, anybody who hasn't enjoyed the Lost experience videos yet I HIGHLY suggest going to youtube and typing in Sri Lanka LOST and it'll come up. Very cool, very twisting but it also makes more sense with the way Ben is.

Dharma is setup to make a better world, the island is the testing grounds. The valenzetti equation is the theory behind it all with these constant numbers 4,8,15,16,23,42. They are trying to change the constants so that the world will not bury itself and end mankind. From what i've gathered and talked over i believe the constants are the actual way that people reason, think, and are essentially "wired". This island is reworking all the people on it, to try and make a society that wont destroy itself. I believe maybe Ben shows no emotion cause he is the closest thing they've come to changing the constants, not necessarily cold and coniving like we all are known to think, he's just been taught differently. He's wired not to use that kind of judgement in any decision making, thus making his whole "perspective" different as Ben put it. Just think about how that would feel to be taught your entire life a whole different way. The dharma = one true way.

He's also observing Jack because Jack thinks he's here to save someone. The 2nd promo gives it away way too easily "I'm hear to save someone aren't i". No.. hes not. At least not Ben. Way to convienent.

The reason why Ben doesn't react the same as everyone else is because he's Psychotic. If he did grow up on the island he would have less then normal personal skills. If he didn't grow up on the island he still could have poor skills from many different factor growing up.
It is well documented that those individuals who are genuenly Psychotic/Skitsophrenic (sorry for the spelling I'm in a rush) do have poor interpersonal skills, show little to no emotion and are adapt at lying for use to minipulate others and get what they want.


I think you intended to use sociopaths there, not schizophrenic. Schizophrenia is a disorder where the person tends to be delusional and paranoid, with skewed perceptions of reality. Sociopath's have a limited range of human emotion, which leads them to be unable to empathize with others. Psychopaths tend to be sociopaths, which is why they don't feel guilt for their actions.

I had an old boss tell me the secret of sales ... if you can fake sincerity, you have them.

I think Benry is the master of his emotions ... a necessary skill for someone involved in cons. This is clear in his "Henry Gale dead wife" speach, the "Him" speach at the hatch, rabbit shaking, and more.

"You are good "Sawyer" ... but we are better" (or something like that)