The Once and Future Charles

Considering the surprise (not really--thanks very much rules that force a guest star's name to appear in the beginning credits even if he shows up for only the last 5 seconds of the show) appearance of Charles Widmore at the conclusion of Dr. Linus, it appears I've got little time to put this post up.


And I want to. Because Charles Widmore is a tricky guy. And he's lucky enough to be played by three actors who all have the gravitas to make us viewers know that...this is not a dude to be trifled with. But its 2007 Charles that will be returning, and Alan Dale will be a very welcome injection of cold, unyielding will after the coming and going of whiny temple translators, the meekening of Benjamin Linus, and the (funny, but enough already) frequent 'Hurley asking cute questions that the fan community also wants to know' moments.

Recent developments do suggest possible motivations for Charles's actions. When Flocke tells Ben that when he leaves, someone must be left behind 'in charge of things', its a mythology reveal we hadn't heard of before, and also another piece in the puzzle of 'what MiB wants' (a post I'll try to write before next week). But...could Widmore be allied with Flocke and trying to angle his way into this (genuine?) position? Who knows. In Widmore's loyalties are...murky. Two separate posts, one titled 'Why Widmore really works for Jacob' and the other 'Why Widmore really works for MiB' could easily be written. Each would be very long and, and each very well buttressed with incidents in the show to support their respective arguments. So I won't do that here...I'll just go ahead and present:

THE CHARLES WIDMORE DOSSIER: QUESTIONS:

1. What is Charles Widmore’s goal?

2. Is he currently allied with either MiB or Jacob? Has he switched alliances in the past? It’s pretty unambiguous that Bram and Ilana are adherents of Jacob. Yet they tell Miles that Widmore is on the ‘wrong side’. But we know that Widmore (with Ellie? After Ellie?) led the Others for a considerable amount of time…and the Others are Jacob’s boyz.

3. What angle is Widmore playing? Why?

4. Did Widmore expect/anticipate that Desmond would be drawn to the Island. Is he aware of Desmond's specialness?

5. What rules do he and Ben refer to in their nighttime conversation? Are they the same rules as the barefoot forest boy reminds Flocke of?