Alex Part 3: The Renegade Other
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By AngeloComet
- Alex Part 3: The Renegade Other
- Created: Nov 14, 2007
- Last updated: Nov 4, 2008
- After episode: 3.22: Through The Looking Glass
- Status: Current
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Let me tell you a story about how a girl became a renegade.
— AngeloComet
With this piece I am going to highlight and form reasoning about Alex’s role within the Others, and how she has been exploiting this position for her own ends. I shall track Alex’s motives as a secret ally to the Oceanic 815 survivors before I come upon a final point that potentially undermines my reasoning.
My big admission up front is that I believe there is a major aspect to Alex that we are not aware of. It’s this big unknown that most likely prompted her to begin her insurrection against her own people (people she must, really, consider to be family, so this treachery is no small matter). However, let’s pretend like this black hole of knowledge does not exist. Instead, let me tell you a story about how a girl became a renegade.
First question. Why was Alex with The Others? And by ‘with them’ I mean out in the field with them; in the Staff Station (where she aided Claire) and part of the team that intercepted Michael (where she assured him about his friends). She’s a sixteen year old girl. She’s the boss’daughter. What the hell is she doing out there in such danger? A punt of an idea goes that Ben sent Alex out (she’d no doubt proved herself a practical and capable sort) so she would be away from Karl. Possible, but I’m afraid Karl’s a subject for a later Alex theory, so how about this alternative. . .
Alex wasn’t supposed to be at the Staff Station. She went there by herself, investigating, and discovered Claire being kept, drugged. Knowing that pregnant women die in childbirth at the hands of The Others her mind is made up - they should not kill Claire. So Alex helps Claire escape as best she can. “You’ll thank me for this one day,” she says, and I think she means it. And it is this act, this one rebellion, that sparks off the renegade in her. (Don’t forget, I’m pretending there’s not a black hole of knowledge here!)
Remember when she was with the gagged Michael and blindfolded Kate? When Tom presented Jack, Locke and Sawyer with the ring of torches? What happens is Tom demands, “Bring her out, Alex,” - meaning Kate - and in the jungle Alex acts scared so Pickett takes Kate out, and this leaves Alex with brief time alone with Michael.
Alex - Is Claire okay? Did she have the baby? Is it okay? Is it a boy or a girl?
That one little ploy, for me, reveals so much. These are the most pertinent questions she has for Michael, and she tricked Pickett so she could ask them. Alex is on the side of the survivors apparently out of nowhere, but it’s really because she’s invested in Claire. (If we’re going to hazard guesses about the ‘black hole’ of knowledge about Alex, I’d say childbirth issues play a fair part.)
Of course, there’s another viable reason why Alex is a renegade. It’s in her genes. She’s her mother’s daughter. Imagine how proud Danielle would be of her little girl if she could take a stroll around the Hydra Island and see the camouflage holes Alex made to secrete herself away from The Others. You just know that the little boat she uses to travel to and from Hydra Island is all her own work. It’s Alex’s nature. All of Ben’s upbringing can’t undo what’s instinctive.
Or can it?
All good Lost episodes have a twist ending. Remember that moment when Jack was in his underwater cell, left alone, just after Sawyer and Kate had been doing the bad thing in the cage? And in Jack’s cell the ‘broken’ intercom crackled into life and informed him the door was open? Well, he went out of his open door and found Kate and Sawyer together and this pretty much set into motion his resolve to do the surgery on Ben. Back to that voice on the intercom. I don’t know about you, but that sounded to me a lot like Alex’s voice.
Maybe it wasn’t. But what if it was? What would that mean for our supposed renegade? Our apparent Oceanic ally? Does it mean she would willingly work in tandem with Ben’s goals? Was everything she did done with such hidden agenda? Or was it, like I think, just a moment where she was used by Ben?
Alex - That’s what my father does. He manipulates people. He makes you think it’s your idea, but it’s his.
I say she learned this lesson the hard way. She’s been a pawn in Ben’s games. Somehow he used her implicit renegade impulses against her, knowing she would try and set Jack loose. Somehow he let her know the door was open and Jack was unguarded. He probably made her think she was being clever, but really she was doing what he wanted. That’s how I justify it. By the end of season 3, Ben tells her “I’m delivering you to your new family.” Probably this is what he had intended for some time, but there’s no doubt she had inklings to do it anyway. She’s a renegade no more. Unless there’s more twists in her tale and the Oceanic survivors are adopting a traitor into their midst. . .
Interesting stuff! +1
Nice idea. I’m really looking forward to seeing a Danielle flashback. A lot of info will come from that. I want to see the build-up to her shooting her huband/father of her child. I wonder how Alex will take this news when/if she finds out.
+1
interesting theory. I agree that there are several factors behind Alex revolting, but I think you do need to also factor in her separation from Karl and the way Ben had him treated (brainwashing, banishing, etc.)
Could the “black hole” be that Ben reached back to his own past and told Alex that her mother died in childbirth and that’s why she helps Claire? +1
A few things I’d like to point out:
Perhaps Alex’s rebellion has something to do with what the Others did to Karl, I don’t know.
I think Alex’s statement, “That’s what my father does. He manipulates people. He makes you think it’s your idea, but it’s his.” says it all AC. She knows she has been Benipulated before.
I want to know more about Karl’s story. Where did this cat come from? He couldn’t have been conceived on the island if we believe the pregnancy issue. Did he arrive with someone as an infant just prior to the purge?
It’s what, 2004 for our Losties? I would place Karl’s age at 16 to 18 which would mean he was born in 1986, 87, or 88. I think it has been guesstimated that the purge occurred in 1987.
Cool stuff as usual AC. I look forward to your indepth analysis of Karl.
Reaz: Alex knows that women die during childbirth, and knows The Others seem prepped to do a procedure on Claire Alex is certain will result in Claire’s death. Her ‘rescue’ actions, her renegade motive, were driven by this. Point taken about the actual death during pregnancy, but the point didn’t seem pertinent to where I was going.
My Alex Part 2 post discussed what Alex believes about her biological parents. Some good points came out of the comments there, too (better than the ideas in my post, in my opinion).
Alex’s actions pre-dated what we’ve seen happened to Karl (being locked in cage, then put in Room 23) so though he may have been an attributing motive in season 3, it doesn’t explain why Alex ‘turned’ before this.
Maybe she is just a rebellious teenager.
Ben would have gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for those damn kids! :)
Scooby dooby doo!
Nice work AC. I don’t have much time so can’t do the usual research but could the black hole be Annie. Perhaps she thought she was her mother and she died during child birth of her baby brother or sister. That would make her want to help Claire. Yeah Yeah i know huge stretch and lots of assumptions.
No, LJ, it’s a good point. I had intentions to position Annie as Alex’s mother (biological or not) in the previous Alex theory, but I was running long with it. I’m sure there’s a picture of a woman in Ben’s place; I presume this is Annie and adds credence to the idea she lived there with Alex and Ben. A neat little family. Annie’s death the catalyst for Alex to question her Island life? Sounds extremely plausible to me.
(Now I think of it, when Sayid told Alex she had her mother’s eyes, Alex remarked back that her mother was dead. It was Sayid that said “I’m sure that’s they told you,” inferring that Alex never knew her mother. Alex could have been talking about Annie. Wow. I really like how that sits together!)
Good stuff, but I have one question. If Alex was allowed to help intercept Jack and Sawyer and Kate, then why wasn’t she ever allowed near the Hydra? Do the others know that she helped Claire escape? I mean, they obviously know she helped Karl, Kate and Sawyer escape, but that was later. How come she went from being an Other to a secret Renagade to out-of-the-loop?
Alex was on the island. http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Alex
Let’s not discount the idea that Alex could be Ben’s apprentice and everything we have seen Ben do, he could have taught to Alex. It could be case of teacher and pupil going head to head. Ben playing Alex and Alex playing Ben with the outcome still unknown.
That Danielle-Alex reunion was one of the worst moments in the series.
The trolls are killing us. If you want to help do something, please check this:
http://lost-theories.com/theories/2007/nov/14/turn-key-argument-boycott/
Shamballa, I understand that Alex was on the island. (Were you responding to me? I was asking why Alex was included with the Others on the Island, but not on Alcatraz. She was treated like a kid that “wasn’t supposed to be there”. Porque?
She was on “Alcatraz”. Please use the link.
Thank you Will, we got it now. Your message has been seen by all.
Alex was used by Ben, twice, for the exact same act.
The reason Claire was abducted was NOT to steal her baby. She was abducted to plant the remote disease so that Juliet would be welcomed into the Losties camp after healing Aaron. That means that Alex was positioned there to set her free. Ben knew how she would react. The entire process of an operation etc etc was a ruse designed to get Alex to set Claire free, making both Claire & Alex think it was their idea, when really it was Ben’s.
The same exact situation happens with Sawyer & Kate.
It is important to note, however, that we have NO knowledge of whether or not Alex is loyal to Ben. There remains the chance that Alex did all of this because Ben asked her to(perhaps he promised a reunion with danielle). Perhaps Ben saw that down the line he would need the Losties to trust Alex, which they most definitely would now do in a tight situation. It is just as likely that Alex is NOT to be trusted. Yes, there’s a fifty percent chance that Ben positioned her and took advantage of her rebellious tendencies, but it’s also possible their relationship was planned out in advance by Ben.
Doesn’t it seem odd that the Others just let her roam free with a sling shot? Not really their style is it? I think it’s possible that she and Carl are lying their asses off, under Ben’s direct control.
I know she was on Alcatraz. How does that answer my question? Maybe I missed something. I don’t even care anymore.
Rise, disagree completely.
If the Claire kidnap was not to take the baby, why send Ethan back out after her? He died for his efforts. The Others surgeon. He was important. The ‘implant’ was a decent safeguard, but I still think the baby was the prize.
AC, Nice theory and great debate! I used to feel that Alex was totally against Ben, but now firmly believe that she is “with him” more than she is “against him”. Her role is very similar to the role Juliette plays for Ben. Both are conflicted by their feelings of duty and obligation vs. their wants and desires. As a sixteen year old girl, I believe the rebellious side of Alex, particularly as it pertains to Karl, is self explanatory. Up until the season finale, Alex is doing Ben’s dirty work, as is Juliette. Will Season 4, adjust their alliances? Should be interesting.
So you’re saying they implanted a disease as a failsafe? How was it a failsafe exactly? It didn’t get them Aaron back!
Why didn’t Ben manipulate Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Michael, or Locke…..5 people he forced to do things…..into stealing Aaron from Claire? He’s had ample opportunity to take Aaron since Claire escaped.
As for Ethan, it always seemed to me that somehow(sorry, wish I could be more specific here)he paid for secretly wishing Claire could stay. His confession to her seemed so sincere and secretive that I expected him to die soon after, and die he did. The medical facilities also seemed staged, and Ethan telling Claire that she would only lose Aaron if she left him behind seemed rather peculiar to me. Why even suggest it if you plan on taking the baby no matter what? Wouldn’t it be more prudent to avoid even the slightest suggestion that Claire might lose her baby? The offer must’ve been a sincere one, which means they didn’t plan on taking Aaron.
the voice could be Alex’ s voice but coz Ben told her to so that jack could see them and do the surgery