Audio Recap:The Man Behind the Curtain Audio
Flashbacks in Italics
Ben's Flashback - Ben is Born
A man and woman appear to be in a jungle. The woman is in hard labor. The man says, "Emily, you can do it. Now push! You can do it! Come on now. There you go."A baby cries and he says, "It's a boy."
Emily is in a lot of pain. He puts the baby in her arms.
"Roger, it hurts," she says. He sees that she is bleeding a lot.
"Emily, no one knows we're out here. We got to get back. Can you hold the baby?" he asks. "Hold him tight." He picks her up and runs through the jungle.
A truck honks the horn and he comes to a road with lots of traffic. A sign says PORTLAND 32.
A car with a man and a woman in it stops. Roger says, "She went into labor and she wasn't due yet. She's bleeding."
"Okay, get her in the car," the man says. "Let's keep her warm." They wrap her in a blanket. "How's the baby?"
"Fine, I guess, I don't know," Roger says.
"Roger, Roger," Emily says.
"I'm right here," he says.
"Call him Ben," she says. She dies.
Ben's Birthday
Ben looks at a wooden doll. Richard comes into his tent and says, "What've you got there?""It's a birthday present," Ben says. "Mine just happens to be today. You do remember birthdays, don't you, Richard?"
"So do you want me to bring the tape back to Juliet?"
"What?" Ben puts down the doll and takes off his glasses.
"The tape, with the instructions for Juliet.
Do you want me to bring it back to the medical station?"
Ben is frazzled. "I recorded it yesterday before we left. I thought you already took it!"
"No."
Ben gets his cane and goes out of his tent. "Where's Tom?" He sees Tom. "Tom, have you seen my recorder?"
Tom doesn't answer. He's staring at something. Ben turns to see Locke walking towards him with a body over his shoulders.
"You said," Locke says, "that if I killed my father, you'd tell me everything I wanted to know about the island." He drops the body at Ben's feet. "So, why don't you start at the beginning?"
The Man Behind the Curtain
Ben pours two drinks. "I know I promised to tell you everything, John. I wish it was as simple as taking out a dusty old book and opening it up." He hands Locke one of the glasses, but Locke doesn't take it and instead Ben sets it next to him."Why don't you just tell me?"
"You probably think that I'm the leader of this little community," Ben says. "But that's not entirely true. We all answer to someone, John."
"And who might that be?" Locke asks.
"His name is Jacob."
"Okay then, take me to Jacob."
"I can't do that."
Locke gets up and Ben asks where he's going.
"Hell, Ben, if you won't take me, maybe someone else will. I'll just go and ask Richard."
"Why would Richard take you? He doesn't know where Jacob is. He doesn't talk to Jacob."
"Then who talks to him?" Locke asks.
"I do," Ben says.
"You're the only one who talks to him?"
"That's right."
"And no one else knows where he is?"
"I was born here on this island. I'm one of the last that was. Most of these people here, I brought them here. So Jacob talks to me, John. He tells me what to do. Trusts me," Ben says.
"And no one else has ever seen him?"
"That's right."
"How convenient," Locke says. "You know what I think, Ben? I think there is no Jacob. I think your people are idiots if they believe you take orders from someone else. You are the man behind the curtain, the Wizard of Oz. And you're a liar.""And what might you base that theory on, John?"
"Because, if you were telling the truth, your hand wouldn't be shaking."
Ben uses his other hand to stop his shaking hand.
Ben's Flashback - Namaste
Ben is a boy and walks with his father down the dock, away from the submarine. They go under a sign that says Namaste and The Dharma Initiative. They see lots of Dharma boxes, and several blue Dharma buses. They are greeted by people saying, "Namaste".They come upon the man who had been driving the car that tried to help Ben and his mother the day Ben was born. Roger greets him by his last name, Goodspee, and thanks him for the opportunity. He says to call him Horace.
Roger tells Ben that he had been there the day Ben was born and he's doing them a big favor. He gave Roger a job. Roger explains that Ben doesn't say much.
"That's okay," Horace says and asks if Ben is hungry. "After you're done processing, we'll have some lunch. You're going to love it here."
Later, Ben and his dad stand in a room with other people, watching a television set. Marvin Candle speaks and the utopian village is in the background. Marvin says, "For your own safety, we ask that you stay within the confines of your living quarters. Our Barracks are surrounded by a high frequency sonar fence to protect us from the island's abundant and diverse wildlife. You are now a member of the Dharma Initiative--"
Roger turns and says, "What kind of wildlife you think this is protecting us from?"
"Roger Linus," someone calls, and Roger goes to a table with a sign above it that says Assignments.
Marvin says, "There are properties on this island that exist nowhere else on earth. Our mission is to study these properties for the betterment of mankind and advancement in the world."
Ben looks at the big registration sign on the wall. He sees people getting shots.
"Hey," someone says, and Ben sees a girl about his age. She's wearing a Dharma shirt. "You're new, huh? I'm Annie. Want one?" She hands him an Apollo Bar. "We can have as many as we want."
"Work man!" Roger says. "What is this? Work man? I'm a janitor?"
"I'm sorry Mr. Linus," a woman says who is wearing a Dharma uniform that says her name is Opal and she's a nurse.
"Goodspee told me you people were doing experiments changing the world. I didn't come her to clean up after you!""Look, if anything else opens up, you can feel free to apply for it," Opal says.