Ben takes care of aging Roger Linus, Alex stops by

In the flash sideways, Ben is making frozen dinners for himself and his elderly and ailing father Roger Linus. Ben tells him about having to watch detention as he switches out Roger's oxygen tank. Ben wonders if he's more of a loser than the burnouts in detention.

Roger then says that maybe if they stayed on the island with the Dharma Initiative, then maybe Ben could have become something greater and had a better life. He say the ironic line, "Who knows what you would have become?" As we know, on the island, Ben ends up killing his father.

Then, the doorbell rings and we get another surprise. It's Alex at the door, wondering what happened to history club. Ben agrees to meet her before school instead of after so she can study for her AP test. This is the first time (I believe) that Alex has seemed happy to be around Ben.

But back to the big question. So if Ben and Roger still went to the island, when did they leave and what were the circumstances of the departure? And what does this say about the effects of the hydrogen bomb? In theory, Ben was still on the island with the others when Juliet detonated it, so the depth of the changes seem to dig deeper and deeper into the past.

Roger Linus shoots Sayid, Jack opens fire on the Dharma folk

Jack and Sayid sneak through Horace's house after entering it through the hole in the tunnel. They look out the window and see Dharma security and other members running around. Sayid decides to don Horace's jumpsuit and try to blend in as they walk through the barracks.

As they make their way through the barracks, Phil is advising the security personnel on their assignments. Numerous people seem to look at Sayid and Jack in an odd way, but no one stops them until Roger Linus sees them. Roger screams at Sayid and points his shotgun at him. Roger says "You're the son of a bitch who shot my kid." Sayid tries to warn him that he's carrying a nuclear device but Roger shoots him in the abdomen before he can finish.

Jack opens fire on Roger and the rest of the Dharma folk who are now shooting at him and Sayid. He takes at least one guy down before he pulls Sayid behind one of the houses for cover. Jack reloads and grabs Sayid as he tries to make his way away from the shooters. He takes out another Dharma member before Hurley, Miles and Jin roll speed towards them in a van.

Jin opens the side door and tells them to get in. Jack tells Hurley to drive and they speed away. The back window is shot out as they make their escape.

Roger gets hammered on the swings, gets suspicious of Kate

Roger Linus is sitting on the swing set at the Dharma barracks getting hammered on Dharma beer. Kate being Kate, sticks her nose where it doesn't belong and goes to console Roger. She asks Roger if he's okay which he snidely responds saying that his son's been shot and has disappeared "So I'm far from okay." Kate tells him that she has a feeling everything is going to be okay. Roger get suspicious and says "What do you mean, a feeling?" Kate has a bad poker face and Roger asks her if she knows what happened to Ben. Roger asks why she's so interested in Ben. Kate apologizes and starts to walk away and Roger tells her that if she wants to help she should mind her own business.

Kate has just become a difficult character to watch because she continually makes mistake after mistake. She doesn't seem to learn from her previous mistakes. Now she officially has Roger Linus suspicious about what happened to Ben and her involvement in it.

Roger Linus freaks out when Juliet tells him Ben disappeared

Kate returns to the infirmary where Juliet is putting supplies away. Kate tells Juliet that they gave Ben to the others and that she thinks no one saw her and Sawyer. Kate also tells Juliet that Sawyer helped her. At that moment, Roger Linus rushes in with the supplies from the medical station. He says that all the vans were out so he had to run. That's when he notices Ben's bed is empty. Juliet tells Roger that she left for 10 minutes and when she came back, Ben was gone. Roger freaks out thinking that someone came and took Ben. He tells Juliet that he's going to security and knocks some supplies over on the way out of the infirmary. Juliet turns to Kate and says "Well, here we go."

So this seems to be the beginning of some problems between the Dharma folk and our losties. Juliet seems to recognize this by saying "Here we go." Actually, Phil was the first person who seemed to notice something wasn't right with the new recruits.

Juliet sends Roger to the medical station, Kate sets off with Ben for the others

At the infirmary, Roger Linus is pacing outside until Juliet comes out and tells him that Ben is stable. She gives him a list of items to go get from the medical station. Roger thanks her for what she's doing and then goes.

During the conversation, Kate is sitting not too far away. Juliet tells her that Ben is not any better, but he is stable. She says that she isn't going to be able to fix him. Kate suggests taking him off the island on the submarine, but Juliet says that it won't be back for a couple months. Juliet tells him that Ben is going to die. She then tells Kate that "they" might be able to help him, meaning the others.

Juliet and Kate take Ben on a stretcher and put him into a Dharma van. Juliet starts to go with Kate, but Kate tells her to stay because she has a life there and Sawyer would kill her if she got Juliet involved. Juliet tells Kate that when Sawyer realizes Ben's gone, she'll have to tell him the truth, but she'll give her as much of a head start as she can. Kate then drives off.

Here's what bothers me about this scene. How is it that they can load Ben into a van and Kate can leave with him without anyone noticing? The Dharma folk are supposedly on high alert after Sayid escaped unless they're all out in the jungle looking for him. Either way, it seems like someone would notice Kate leaving with Ben.

Kate donates blood for Ben, Roger opens up to Kate

Back at the infirmary, Juliet is trying to keep Ben alive. A nurse named Debra comes in and says that Kate is a universal donor and wants to give Ben blood. While Juliet is preparing to draw blood from Kate, she asks Kate if she knows why Jack wouldn't help Ben. Kate answers that if she understood why Jack does what he does, she wouldn't be sitting there right now. Juliet asks if something happened with them off island and Kate tells her that they were engaged. Juliet seems a bit taken aback by that piece of information.

Then Roger bursts in wanting information on how Ben is doing. Kate convinces Juliet to let Roger sit with her while Juliet checks on Ben. Roger tells Kate that Ben stole her keys and that Sawyer asked him where his keys were and he never asks a question if he doesn't already know the answer. Roger says that Ben busted Sayid out of jail and Kate asks why he would do that. Roger says "Because of me" and asks Kate if she has kids. She hesitates and answers no. Roger says he though he would be the greatest father ever but it didn't work out that way. Roger tells her that Ben's mother died the day he was born and Kate delivers an unconvincing "Sorry." Roger says he tried to do what he though Ben's mother would have done but "I guess a boy just needs his mother."

Then Ben starts gasping and Juliet says he's going into hypoxic shock. Debra forces Roger out of the infirmary and Kate just stares at Ben, stunned.

This scene was the first time we've really seen Roger speak about Ben with any feeling. It humanizes Roger much like we saw Ben slowly humanized in previous seasons.

Sawyer asks Roger if he has his keys, Juliet needs help to save Ben

Sawyer goes to the Dharma infirmary where Roger Linus is sitting outside. Roger says that Juliet told him to wait outside and Sawyer offers to go get an update for him. Sawyer stops before going inside to ask Roger if he has his keys on him. Roger can't find his keys and says that he must have left them at the house. Roget realizes at that moment that Ben took his keys and let Sayid out.

In the infirmary, Juliet is trying to stop Ben from hemorrhaging. Sawyer asks where the doctor is and she says that he/she is at the Looking Glass station until Friday. She tells Sawyer that she needs a surgeon to find the bullet damage and stop the bleeding. She's obviously referring to Jack. Sawyer leaves to get him.