Does Ben follow Sayid wherever he goes to kill people? Seems a bit redudndent, yet there he was in Berlin and whoa, he happened to have access to an animal hospital to stitch Sayid up? That aspect of the show was more Bourne Identity than Lost.

And another thing: Ben knows how to remove a bullet from someone's shoulder?

Maybe Ben was giving Vincent his heartworm pills and distemper shots on the island....

Dogfood1

In the episode when Ben visits Mikhail at his little house, Ben and Mikhail are communicating to an Other who was off island (in America I think?). Anyway, Ben told that person to get back right away and there was some talk about how long it would take them (I don't have specifics but it wasn't more than 2 hours).

This combined with the Dharma polar bear skeleton in Tunisia gives me enough proof to think that Ben has his own way of traveling off island to whatever place he chooses and that the trip doesn't take long. I assumed that Sayid got in contact, told Ben he was hurt, and Ben told Sayid where to meet him. I think the vet clinic was just a convenient place.

If someone's jumped on this already, sorry.

When Sayid goes to have his bullet removed, I don't think he's in Berlin. What are the odds that he can just wander over to where Ben is to get worked on?

He was in the Sechylles (sp?) to kill the one guy and then he's suddenly in Berlin. We never see him travel, and Ben is where he needs him, all set up to help him.

My point is I think he's using a special mode of transport to get to where Ben is...he was freshly shot and just happened to shamble over to Ben's 24 hour bullet removal?

I'm going to go back to the Dark Tower and say there's some sort of portal Sayid is using to get to Ben and using said portals to jump off to his next assignment. Ben wouldn't follow him around the world.

Could he be going back to the island? Maybe, but where ever Ben is, I don't think it was Berlin. Ben's special closet and Sayid's discovery of it points to this. Wouldn't someone on the island notice Ben heading off with a nice suit and wads of foreign currency if he was just going down to the sub? I think Sayid is using a portal...too bad it will be a long time before we know.

JR

Well he wasnt in the Seychelles because we saw snow on the ground and we saw a german road sign. He really was in Berlin.

there aren't beach front golf courses in Germany are there?

pretty sure the golf course wasn't Berlin. he was in the snow when he said he "made contact" with Elsa then dumped the phone.

The episode with Elsa was surely set to be in Berlin. Even the radio tower was visible in the background of the scene after Sahid dropped the phone and the camera moved to a long shot of the street's alignment. The scene with Ben as doctor was not established in Berlin, neither on another place except the sanctuary. So this could be Berlin as well. The most obvious interpretation is that Ben is there with Sahid. There were no hints for a portal, i guess.

And who knows if Sayid even made it to the freighter. Yes, he is one of the O6, or at least he claims to be. But what about Bens statement about trusting them and what happened. Could he be referring to trusting them to take him to the (or a) freighter? Does something happend to Sayid between taking off the island and landing back in the US or wherever. Something that might make him jump around in time like Desmond. LOL sorry if this is sounding too "Quantum Leap" just a thought

he's the new Jumper

there aren't beach front golf courses in Germany are there?
pretty sure the golf course wasn't Berlin. he was in the snow when he said he "made contact" with Elsa then dumped the phone.

There aren't beach font golf courses like that in Germany. There aren't beaches like that here in Germany in the first place ;)
The Berlin scene was set pretty thoroughly though. Even the road signs were all in correct German. And Elsa explained Sayid the way to the Potsdamer Platz, which she certainly would have found odd if they hadn't been in Berlin. My guess is that the later scenes also take place in Berlin because there's no indication that they went somewhere else.
And considering that Sayid had a bullet in his shoulder, I don't think he travelled very far to get to Ben. My take is it all happens in Berlin.
Probably Ben set up shop there be closer to Sayid and the operation so that he could involve himself if necessary.

If someone's jumped on this already, sorry.

When Sayid goes to have his bullet removed, I don't think he's in Berlin.


When Sayid enters the clinic theres a poster in the background. It says "Let us help you to recognize your dogs best friend" its in german, so i'm pretty sure he's still in Berlin (or Germany at least)

ah, ok. if there's something in German, i'm going to assume he's in Berlin.

I don't think that the two murders, Seychelles and Berlin, were necessarily that close in time or chronological. Flash Forwards may have different rules in the lost world. I doubt if Sayid needs a portal to travel.

Mr. Avellano or Avenue asked, "Is this your first time in the Seychelles?"

Sayid's conversation with Elsa referenced Berlin.

This does bring up an intriguing question. Does Ben travel around the world along with Sayid to provide backup? Or do they have some sort of safehouse/veterinary office that they access from anywhere by extraordinary means? I agree with honkyg--we can't necessarily assume the vet's is in Berlin, and if it is, that raises more questions than it answers.

What is Ben doing in a veterinary hospital?

Think about Mr. Bunny from that one episode. Maybe he's just an animal guy, or it's a good cover.

Also his voice changed a couple times during the last scene. He sounded like Christian Shephard. At first I thought, maybe Ben comes back to the US and pretends to be Jack's dad ("get my father down here and let's see if I'm drunker than him") but then i remembered that 1) Ben is not a drunk and 2) Ben is in animal lab not a hospital
the caged up animals added a creep factor to this scene. This whole scene added about 50 questions to my perception of LOST.

It is normail in all mob books to have a doc in an animal hospital. It is a great cover and nothing out of the norm. Covers the blood, sound, and all the happenings of an illicit wound. i.e gun shot wound. can't head to a regular doc, head to the vet.

Maybe it's an experimental lab?

Maybe it's an experimental lab?


Good thought, it would be cool, but I get the impression it's a vet/kennel.

I, for one, didn't detect Ben's voice until the last second. True, they did distort it some, but I was fully shocked for that scene. Anyways, because of that, when I was trying to figure the scene out, my first response to the fact that they were in a vet's struck me as...lol...somewhere you can go and it's off the record, no OHIP card required (Canada reference, insert health care alternative here). After all, Sayid Jarrah is high-profile, and...an Assassin.

I took the fact that Sayid was able to get to Ben so fast as meaning that they were in Berlin. Why Berlin, I don't know. (Although that was one of the destination locations on the Oceanic Billboards)

Maybe Berlin is the most central country for those on Ben's list so he set up his HQ in Berlin.

I was also trying to read the signs to determine the language. Too far away to read, but it could have been German. Berlin? What's in Berlin for Ben?

Could be they were just using the facility. Looked to be closed for the night.

That one golden puppy did look like a mini Vincent...:rolleyes:

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Laughter_in_the_Dark#In_Lost

Hurley picks up a book and reads it in "Flashes Before Your Eyes". It came out of Sawyer's stash.
"Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus......."

Albinus, Linus these names are connected somehow too in 14th century history, but what it means I have no clue.
Ok & Ben was in an animal hospital & Rattus norvegicus albinus means Sex Determination in Rats & Ben is a RAT in the Michael Jackson song. OMG I'm heading into the Twilight Zone.

Vets have similar medications and equipment to hospitals. Seems like a logical place to take care of your employees without arousing suspicion.

I just assumed it was a Vets that they had used to get the bullet out, I cant imagine Ben actually working there. So does that mean Ben travels around with Sayid?

I didn't notice the animals, but it was pretty obvious to me that it was Ben's voice. Not that that lessened the excitement. I thoroughly enjoyed jumping up and down thinking "Ben is in charge again!!!!"

I can't wait to see the events as they unfold, to see how Ben turns the tables and gains all the cards so to speak.
If Sayid is his assassin it makes me wonder what he asks of the other five other than their silence.

Could be they were just using the facility. Looked to be closed for the night.
Seemed like it. But whatever is the case, the signs were definitely German.

The episode with Elsa was surely set to be in Berlin. Even the radio tower was visible in the background of the scene after Sahid dropped the phone and the camera moved to a long shot of the street's alignment. The scene with Ben as doctor was not established in Berlin, neither on another place except the sanctuary. So this could be Berlin as well. The most obvious interpretation is that Ben is there with Sahid. There were no hints for a portal, i guess.

So does this mean that the production crew actually filmed some of the scenes in this episode in Berlin? I took a good look at this screenshot (http://bp3.blogger.com/_RrObyQ3XzcY/R7WucG3EfYI/AAAAAAAATxY/fr5X63rK0gQ/s1600-h/lost.s04e03.720p.hdtv.x264-ctu.mkv_000551801.jpg) of Sayid crossing the street after he disposed of the cell phone, and it really doesn't look like any place in Honolulu that I am familiar with, and I lived there for a few years. They could have (of course) placed the snow all over the ground to make it appear authentic - and if it was filmed in Hawaii the snow is doing a good job of looking like it's melting. But the background buildings - and the radio tower you mentioned - all look very foreign from what I've seen in Honolulu. Does anyone know for certain about this?

No, they would have got the plates for the cars, some road signs and bought some snow.

They did the same for Britain too but were let down by the road markings, it was obvious to anyone over here that it was filmed in the US but probably not anyone outside the UK.

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Laughter_in_the_Dark#In_Lost
Hurley picks up a book and reads it in "Flashes Before Your Eyes". It came out of Sawyer's stash.
"Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus......."

Albinus, Linus these names are connected somehow too in 14th century history, but what it means I have no clue.
Ok & Ben was in an animal hospital & Rattus norvegicus albinus means Sex Determination in Rats & Ben is a RAT in the Michael Jackson song. OMG I'm heading into the Twilight Zone.

I just saw a commercial for the anniversary of THRILLER >>> and I am singing.. "Ben the two of us need look more..." thanks to your mention. :eek2:
I think your onto something with the book.. there's something in all the books we've seen- content, titles, or something to do with them that I think is or will be significant.
For the present time, I'm believing that Sayid and Ben are in Berlin - though why they are there or why they're working together is unclear - I believe whoever is the "threat" must be headquartered there or something.
Also.. Albinus - brings thoughts of Linus and of Alvar to me -- though that's stretching it!

Yh i think that when Sayid found the secret room it points to Ben being able to travel the world under fake names undetected. So he wouldnt have to use a portal. I think thats what the room was hinting to.

So does this mean that the production crew actually filmed some of the scenes in this episode in Berlin? I took a good look at this screenshot (http://bp3.blogger.com/_RrObyQ3XzcY/R7WucG3EfYI/AAAAAAAATxY/fr5X63rK0gQ/s1600-h/lost.s04e03.720p.hdtv.x264-ctu.mkv_000551801.jpg) of Sayid crossing the street after he disposed of the cell phone, and it really doesn't look like any place in Honolulu that I am familiar with, and I lived there for a few years. They could have (of course) placed the snow all over the ground to make it appear authentic - and if it was filmed in Hawaii the snow is doing a good job of looking like it's melting. But the background buildings - and the radio tower you mentioned - all look very foreign from what I've seen in Honolulu. Does anyone know for certain about this?

I'm not familiar enough with Berlin to say for sure that it's a Berlin street. The Funkturm (the tower in the background of that screenshot) is the real deal, but they could have put that into the picture in post production.
The streetsign and the signs on the shops are all in perfect German as far as they're readable, and the style of the building might also fit certain areas of Berlin.
What I'm not so sure about is the yellow line on the sidewalk (if we have those markings, mostly they're plain white or furrowed, but also white. I've never seen yellow markings on the sidewalk before, but it's not impossible.
The plates on the white Mercedes don't look German, though. I didn't pay enough attention to all the plates in the episode, but German plates have a fixed system. Letter-Letter-number. In case for Berlin, it might look something like B-LN-4815 or something, though the length of the second set of letters and of the numbers might vary. Then again, there's a lot of diplomat and tourist cars in Berlin as well.
I don't think they filmed in Berlin, but there's no way to be sure where exactly it was.

I'm not familiar enough with Berlin to say for sure that it's a Berlin street. The Funkturm (the tower in the background of that screenshot) is the real deal, but they could have put that into the picture in post production.
The streetsign and the signs on the shops are all in perfect German as far as they're readable, and the style of the building might also fit certain areas of Berlin.
What I'm not so sure about is the yellow line on the sidewalk (if we have those markings, mostly they're plain white or furrowed, but also white. I've never seen yellow markings on the sidewalk before, but it's not impossible.
The plates on the white Mercedes don't look German, though. I didn't pay enough attention to all the plates in the episode, but German plates have a fixed system. Letter-Letter-number. In case for Berlin, it might look something like B-LN-4815 or something, though the length of the second set of letters and of the numbers might vary. Then again, there's a lot of diplomat and tourist cars in Berlin as well.
I don't think they filmed in Berlin, but there's no way to be sure where exactly it was.

THanks for the reply. So I'm thinking that they've used a street in Honolulu, imported the snow, and then added the radio tower and other background landmark features later through computer graphics. Pretty much the same thing they did when they shot the scenes in London when Penny and Desmond were getting their photo taken next to the Thames River - it turns out it was filmed next to the canal behind Waikiki Beach. Heh.

The sign outside the room where Sayid receives treatment from Ben says "Operationssaal".

What is the translation?

People have suggested that this scene was not in Berlin. But the sign is in German.

Thanks

"Operationssaal" is definitely German, it means "operating room." (Or "operating theatre" for non-Americans. ;))

Oh?

Other than Sayid's treatment, I wonder why dogs are being operated on?

Is this just safe house, or is someone interested in experimenting on dogs?

Oh?

Other than Sayid's treatment, I wonder why dogs are being operated on?

Is this just safe house, or is someone interested in experimenting on dogs?

I would say it's a veterinarian's office serving as a safe house.

And, like, you know, veterinarians do operate on animals and stuff. So I don't think there's a deeper meaning.

Perhaps

I too think (contrary to the opinion of other Lage posters) that we were shown what was supposed to be a standard veterinarian's clinic, specializing in the treatment of dogs. There are posters on the walls that talk about adopting homeless dogs, and the lab and equipment all would be found in any standard well-equipped veterinarian clinic.

However, there is that whole business of why the dogs in the cages (and in the poster photos) all have very similar colors and markings on their coats. That makes me believe that although this may be on the outside a standard veterinarian clinic - and may very well be conducting a business with normal clients as a "front", that there is something else going on behind the scene that we don't really know about yet.

The place is just one of Ben's safe houses. What i'd like to know what is Ben's name in his german passport. Benjamin Gottlieb?

I have to really wonder how somebody can't understand "operations saal" = "operations room" without knowing german. I think it's so obvious.

P.S Number 6 in german is also 6

The place is just one of Ben's safe houses. What i'd like to know what is Ben's name in his german passport. Benjamin Gottlieb?

I have to really wonder how somebody can't understand "operations saal" = "operations room" without knowing german. I think it's so obvious.

P.S Number 6 in german is also 6

Gee, you guys are tough. I honestly did not know the meaning of "saal". I guess you know everything. Tell me - what is the black smoke?

Google has some translation tools you can use....

http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en

Gee, you guys are tough. I honestly did not know the meaning of "saal". I guess you know everything. Tell me - what is the black smoke?

Google and Altavista translation tools suck.

http://dict.leo.org/ is the way to go.

Thanks guys. Good info for me.

Actually, you guys are missing a subtle part of the translation. In *conversational* German, Operationssaal means "fully armed and operational battlestation."

I'm afraid this battlestation will be quite operational when Jack and his friends arrive.

:biggrin:

Huh? That's news to me - and I'm a native speaker... :confused:

I am German and can confirm that "Operationssaal" means operation room or hall. "Saal" is used for huge rooms -mostly for dancing halls- Since nobody is very happy it is normally abbreviated with OP. I doubt that a small animal practice would call it this way. It is usually called "Treatment Room" "Behandlungsraum".

I haven't seen a high resolution pic of the dog poster on the wall. All I can decipher now are the larger letters which say something like: "Please let us help them so we...." (I assume that the rest means "...so that we can help other dogs"), There are some other posters in Ben's treatment room. It seems to be something generic. I can decipher "...that can threaten your family..."

BTW: Why is Ben in Berlin? Does he actually run an animal clinic? The dogs are of different races. Are they going to be trained or "genetically manipulated"?

BTW2: When Sayid crosses the street on Berlin you see a sign with German wordings. While the wordings are absolutely correct it doesn't make any sense with the trespassers triangle atop of it. The triangle says: "Beware of trespassers" while the sign underneath says (besides the times): "Inhabitants with parking licenses free for Zone 29". In connection with the triangle sign above it would mean: "Trespassers with parking licenses for Zone29 might cross the street at any time."
Haha.... The correct sign above should be a "No parking" sign like this one.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Zeichen_286.svg

Still, we are talking about Germany, where nonsense street signs are not THAT unusual..

Just a little example: http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,769789,00.jpg

(as a true lostie I chose a picture from "Der Spiegel" ;) )

Why are signs with people riding horses nonsense?

The blue sign says: "This is a special path for horses"
The one with the red border says: "No horses allowed"

I'd call this nonsense...

Just saying, such a weird streetsign constellation as mentioned above could actually be found in Berlin if you just looked closely...

Yeah. We do have these weird street sign constellations here in Germany, where a sign either states the blatantly obvious, or doesn't make any sense in the given context, or makes no sense at all, or makes no sense in composition with another sign placed next to (or underneath) it.

The common term for this is "Schilderwald", which roughly translates as "signpost forest" or "street sign forest". Because there's way too many of them so they form a whole forest, and you can't see the wood for the trees anymore.

Seems like an elaborate setup for such a short scene!

THanks for the reply. So I'm thinking that they've used a street in Honolulu, imported the snow, and then added the radio tower and other background landmark features later through computer graphics. Pretty much the same thing they did when they shot the scenes in London when Penny and Desmond were getting their photo taken next to the Thames River - it turns out it was filmed next to the canal behind Waikiki Beach. Heh.

Seems like an elaborate setup for such a short scene!

They did the same thing for Charlie's scene when des saw him playing guitar for the crowd on a street in (supposedly) England. The season 3 dvd shows how they covered the palm trees with a plaster mold to look like trees that would be growing on a street in England, telephone booths, the whole nine yards...all filmed on location in Hawaii.

That's one of the reasons that it takes so long to film the whole season...each season is like filming 12x2 hour movies.

People who need treatment for gunshot wounds that cannot go to the hospital, where it will be reported to the police need the services of a Doc who will work after hour and quietly. A Vets office is perfect because it has the instruments, operating theater, drugs, etc and sterile.

I thought it odd that Ben was a vet...

Maybe that helps explain the polar bears. Ben was doing experiments on them.

I thought it odd that Ben was a vet...

I think it's odd that Ben doesn't have his goons do this kind of grunt work. He always had them do it in the past (Richard, Ethan, etc).

Perhaps the island has been compromised and Ben is on the lam in the real world.

Otherwise I think he'd be kicking back drinking Margaritas on the Island like he usually does while his cronies do his bidding. LOL:cool:

Most likely that Ben is traveling with Sayid and sets up base wherever he can.

I wouldn't want Ben to touch my dog!