While the most popular idea regarding what Ben did in his secret room is that he, somehow, called or summoned Smokie, I will propose something different and simpler:

He just opened up Smokie's cage, so he could go out and 'play' with the bad guys:biggrin:

He basically set Cerberus free for a while to take care of the intruders.

Regardless what its origin is, in this episode it showed no judging capabilites. It went straight on a killing hunt for the new kids on the block. And Ben's advice of getting away from the barracks while the dog does its job helps reinforce the idea that this time Cerberus wasn't in a judging-mode. It could have killed anybody else. So it seems to me that, the visions (with apparent intelligent features, like Yemi) and Smokie are not really related. Smokie acts, in fact, like a wild dog.


The question is: what does Smokie do after a session of 'playing and feeding'? Does it go back to its cage all by himself? Or is he now still loose? If so, how do you put him back in his cage?
Perhaps, there is a whole underground system that helps keeping him under control. Like some kind of electromagnetic 'cage and leash'. The mechanical sounds that we hear when he appears come from this machine. Also, perhaps there is some kind of timer associated with his special EM/Sonic enclosure. A device designed to force him to go back to his cage after a certain amount of time has passed. Perhaps it is sound-based. After let's say some 30 minutes of being free, the device sends a series of ultrasonic pulses into his 'body' forcing him to retreat.

If you think about it, this would explain his absence for most of the seasons episodes. Somebody (Ben?) lets him out only on special occasions when his skills are needed.

OK, you started off pretty good, but then got bogged down in a lot of maybe's and what if's.

I don't know about Smokey, whether he was summoned, or loosed, but I know this. He sure acted like he hadn't been fed for awhile, and he knew just where to go.

They (Ben Locke et al) didn't come outside until after Smokey passed by, they stared for a moment, then took off as told.

Nonetheless, as said elsewhere, Smokey bolting across the barracks courtyard like the Coors Lite Silver Bullet was the best scene of the series.

it seems the animators were not on strike during the time-out. That was the best looking smokey I've seen since the show began. :)

Well, this show is full of 'if's and maybe's' because we still don't have the full picture. Therefore we have to speculate on most of the facts we see.;) Thats precisely what differentiates this show from any other tv show in the history of Television. And that's why I love this show so much!

Nonetheless, as said elsewhere, Smokey bolting across the barracks courtyard like the Coors Lite Silver Bullet was the best scene of the series.

It reminded me of a train!!!! very cool scene indeed.



And you are right when you say he knew where to go.... It seems he goes straight to where there are new people. Perhaps he can 'sniff' them... After all he did the same thing the night Flight 815 crashed on the island. I wonder if Ben let him out, also...

The apparent connection between Ben and Smokey raises interesting new possibilities. Maybe Smokey scans were the way Juliet knew about the shrimp guy and "what happened in Basra"--that information wouldn't have been on Google.

Although neither Sawyer nor Sayid was seen receiving a visible scan, as Locke, Eko and Juliet did.

Who knows?

I believe that the 'scanning' is the way Smokie recognizes people. It might have been 'trained' not to attack certain people.
Another thing that I remembered... On the Blast Door Map there was a reference to a malfunction on the Cerberus System. I believe that what happened was that Smokie escaped from his cage and killed a few Dharma scientists.

This 'cage' that Dharma designed to keep Smokie locked up may consist of a tunnel-like infrastracture underneath the surface of the island. ( Ican't help but thinking of the Minotaur's Labirynth) The Cerberus Vents (CV) were put there for him to be able to come out and 'play' (in case he was needed) on the surface.
The normal state of these vents is CLOSED. What Ben might have done was simply to open some of those vents, the one closest to the Barracks (which according to the Via Domus Second BDM, it could be 'CV IV')
All the mechanical noises could come from (blast)doors and pressure valves opening and closing as Smokie moves above and below the ground.

I don't know about Smokey, whether he was summoned, or loosed, but I know this. He sure acted like he hadn't been fed for awhile, and he knew just where to go.

Maybe what Ben did was open one of many possible release vents for Smokey. He certainly told everyone in advance what area they needed to stay away from. As far as returning to his "doghouse", I'm reminded of -- I think it's Elric of Melnibone's sword Stormbringer -- the concept of weapon that, once drawn, cannot be returned to its scabbard until it has drawn blood. Perhaps this is the nature of old Smokey -- in which case, before you push his button, you better be sure you know what you're doing!

- mnw

For some reason, I have the feeling that Smokie didn't attack the Losties because they were near Ben, because Ben wasnt in a position where he needed help. In other words; regardless of whether the monster was told EXACTLY who to kill, Smokie KNEW who was going after Ben, and did everything in its power to stop them from getting him.

For all we know, Ben told them not to get near them because a stray bullet might have headed straight for them. Or because he didnt want the Losties to get anywhere near the men while they were killed. Beats me.

...He just opened up Smokie's cage, so he could go out and 'play' with the bad guys...

I don't think so. The barracks are inside the sonic barrier, and the other times we've seen Smokey he was outside the barrier.

I think smokie is always on a mission, no killing is random.
I dont think it would have touched Ben or the people with Ben, because they arent sacrifices the island demands... yet

Carlton Cuse (http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Carlton_Cuse): And there is references to the monster and the uh and these certain events and things that uh kind of indicate the way the monster travels around the Island and thats pretty definitive too

This is what Carlton said about Radjinskys map on the season 3 extras and i was reminded of it when Ben came out of is Narnia style wardrobe....

I don't think so. The barracks are inside the sonic barrier, and the other times we've seen Smokey he was outside the barrier.
? There are CV all over the island. He just open a few or the one closest to the barracks. Of course there shouldn't be none inside the barracks. That would be pretty stupid. Ben knew that the sonic fence was down because, of course, the bad guys were already inside!!!
100%
I think smokie is always on a mission, no killing is random.
I dont think it would have touched Ben or the people with Ben, because they arent sacrifices the island demands... yet


Ben told the gang that they should get away from there as soon as they could. I don't think he was worried about the intruders anymore because they were being taken care by Smokie. He was scared of Smokie itself. That's why he told them to run in the opposite direction from where all the action was taking place.
Smokie, according to this theory, is like an animal, and as such, is pretty unpredictable at times.


Now as far as WHO can control him.....


Jacob. He might be the only person on the island capable of 'communicate' with that creature. He is the only one that can calm the beast down...

Maybe this is why Ben learned to play the piano - wasn't that how Cerberus was calmed, by playing music?? :rolleyes:

Where does the earthquake fit in? It appeared to be on the same level as the one caused by Desmond not pushing the button in "A Tale of Two Cities."

Yeah, Booga, I was going to post something similar. We also saw an earthquake when Ben, as a boy, was in the classroom.

Where does the earthquake fit in? It appeared to be on the same level as the one caused by Desmond not pushing the button in "A Tale of Two Cities."

Yeah. I believe that it was caused by the same underground device that Smokie is 'attached' to. Now, is (was) there any relation between the Swan and Smokie? After all, the Egyptian symbols translated to 'Underworld', and Cerberus was the (3-headed) guardian dog of the underworld...

Also, it seems to be Egyptian symbols on the secret door Ben used...

To me this all suggests that Smokie is some kind of ancient life form and not a man-made device.
100%
Yeah, Booga, I was going to post something similar. We also saw an earthquake when Ben, as a boy, was in the classroom.

Mmmm. I always thought that that was some indication of a security breach by the hostiles, but perhaps, somebody inside the barracks used what is now Ben's 'door' to open Smokie's cage, so he could take care of the hostiles...

Think about it. Perhaps that's the reason why they chose that specific place to build the barracks and the sonic fence. Whenever they wanted to take care of intruders, being hostiles or anything else, all Dharma had to do was to turn on the Sonic Fence and go down Smokie's control room and open up the vents to let it go to the surface. They were totally safe inside, while anybody outside the fence was probably destined to be ripped apart by Cerberus.

I just remembered something, didn't Candle in the Dharma Welcome video mention something like 'particular wild life on the island'? Was he talking about Smokie?;) We know that it can be totally stopped by the Sonic Fence...


Also, I wonder how the hostiles dealt with Smokie prior to Dharma's intervention...

Was he roaming free? If he is controlled by Jacob, and Jacob is/was the ultimate leader of the Hostiles/Others, perhaps they could coexist peacefully....
But there is always the option that, maybe, the whole 'sealed' underground lair/tunnel that we have been speculating for ages actually predates Dharma itself.

An ancient civilization that inhabit the island centuries ago or even thousands of years ago might have built Smokie's cage and sealed its 'doors' a very long time ago....until Dharma came along....
And then the Incident took place...

The leak that Kelvin talked about caused some kind of Electromagnetic Anomaly/Explosion/Implosion that set Smokie free after being locked up for ages...

Dharma had some serious trouble on their hands...Eventually they might have captured it and, based on pure speculation from my wild imagination, one of Dharma's Parapsycological Station test subjects showed signs of being able to calm the beast down. Somehow he was able to 'talk' to this creature...
That person was, of course, Jacob.

Wouldn't it be cool if all that was actually documented on one of Dharma's orientation videos!!!

I think you are right, Fierro. Thank you for clarifying this for me. I wondered about Ben's order to head for the treeline. They all ran from Smokey as fast as they could, well after saying goodbye to Alex.

When Smokey dragged the shooter back into the trees, it reminded me of when Smokey tried to drag Locke down a hole. Do you remember how Locke trusted it, and he begged Jack to let him go with it? Before then, Locke was supposed to have looked into the 'eye of the Island', and he did not get hurt by Smokey. I wonder why?

I think you are right, Fierro. Thank you for clarifying this for me. I wondered about Ben's order to head for the treeline. They all ran from Smokey as fast as they could, well after saying goodbye to Alex.

When Smokey dragged the shooter back into the trees, it reminded me of when Smokey tried to drag Locke down a hole. Do you remember how Locke trusted it, and he begged Jack to let him go with it? Before then, Locke was supposed to have looked into the 'eye of the Island', and he did not get hurt by Smokey. I wonder why?
Jacob's orders?

I hope so, and I can't wait to see Locke, Hurley and Ben find Jacob!

I hope so, and I can't wait to see Locke, Hurley and Ben find Jacob!
You know?, about that...

In my The Temple, Jacob's list and Time Travel thread I kind of suggest the idea that there is a chain of events that need to happen in order to arrive at a certain specific outcome. This has been implied by Locke many times with his famous phrase 'we were all brought here for a reason'.
For example, Desmond: his destiny was not to merry Penny, go on the solo race and end up on that island, miss the timer and cause Flight 815 to crash on the island.
From what we know of the main characters, if any of them could have access to a time machine and be able to change the past, most of them probably would change things that would prevent them (even without wanting to) from ever taking Flight 815. That's why Ben doesn't want them inside the Temple, which could be a place from where course correctors (like Ms Hawkins) make sure nothing is changed so paradoxes can't be created.
Jack: as simply as it seems, he might have been needed to save Ben's life.
And why is Ben's life so important? Because he is supposed to do something else in the future.
Now, going back to Hurley...
Now it seems that he is vital to find Jacob's cabin. If he wouldn't have used the numbers, he wouldn't have been to Australia, therefore he wouldn't have ended up on the island.
Result? They might have not been able to find Jacob's cabin.


And what about Locke?

Well, it seems that he is able to hear Jacob, and perhaps being able to set him free, ultimately.