the Purge, take 2...

[fieldy32]

I don't know why more people aren't talking about this, but... what the hell was the whole "gas purge" all about?  So Ben was going to purge the whole island this time via the Tempest station?  Wouldn't that kill Ben too, not to mention his precious group, the Others?  Also, how the hell did Daniel and Charlotte even know that he was planning on gassing the whole island?  They seemed to know the exact time that this was going to happen too, based on the fact that they get there and only have minutes to deactivate the countdown.  Although, I must admit, I was extremely happy to find out that Daniel really is a good guy (for now)... I couldn't give a crap about Charlotte tho honestly, I was actually hoping that Juliette was going to shoot her.
Now, I haven't had the chance to rewatch the episode yet, so I may have missed some information about that whole incident. So if you saw or heard something I didn't, let me know.  Still... it seemed extremely odd to me, even for Ben.

[*MaZ*]

The count down only started because Faraday started messing with the system. It wasn't a count down pre-programmed by Ben.
My guess is that Faraday and Charlotte knew about the first gassing, and part of their mission was to disable that station so Ben couldn't repeat his feat, if he felt so inclined.

[cbw420]

i dont think Ben intended on Purging out the island

i think what charlotte said to juliet was more of a "you know ben can do this and will if he has to" type thing

i dont think it was planned or is a plan

[thebeann]

Agree with CBW...I did not get that there was a pending purge...only that it was a weapon that had to be disabled just in case. Probably in preparation for things to come...

[Lost-N-Detroit]

WAIT!
First of.... Ben didn't use the Tempest to "PURGE" the island the first time. Ben drives off with his dad and stops along the volanoe ridge at that point Ben and dad are talking about it being his mothers birthday and at that point Ben pulls a gas granade from his workers suit and slaps a gas mask on and pulls the pin. His dad dies instantly and it seems to be o.k. for Ben to breathe the air afterwards. Flash back to OTHERSVILLE and we find that anyone not with the PURGE has died and is lying scattered across the village. I would think that if the Tempest was used the first time Ben wouldn't have had to gas his dad.

[JF]

There is no pending purge. These guys are just clearing the way so Widmore Inc can move on in. Disabling an deadly island-wide gas bomb helps.

[thebeann]

WAIT!
First of.... Ben didn't use the Tempest to "PURGE" the island the first time. Ben drives off with his dad and stops along the volanoe ridge at that point Ben and dad are talking about it being his mothers birthday and at that point Ben pulls a gas granade from his workers suit and slaps a gas mask on and pulls the pin. His dad dies instantly and it seems to be o.k. for Ben to breathe the air afterwards. Flash back to OTHERSVILLE and we find that anyone not with the PURGE has died and is lying scattered across the village. I would think that if the Tempest was used the first time Ben wouldn't have had to gas his dad.

Haven't I asked you to not bring common sense and reason into the threads? Sheesh!

[Lostfanchrim]

WAIT!
First of.... Ben didn't use the Tempest to "PURGE" the island the first time. Ben drives off with his dad and stops along the volanoe ridge at that point Ben and dad are talking about it being his mothers birthday and at that point Ben pulls a gas granade from his workers suit and slaps a gas mask on and pulls the pin. His dad dies instantly and it seems to be o.k. for Ben to breathe the air afterwards. Flash back to OTHERSVILLE and we find that anyone not with the PURGE has died and is lying scattered across the village. I would think that if the Tempest was used the first time Ben wouldn't have had to gas his dad.

Haven't I asked you to not bring common sense and reason into the threads? Sheesh!

Me thinks the Tempest station is where the "others" got the deadly gas to fill those lovely cannisters for the purge.

[cbw420]

everything in this thread is true except for the first post LOL

no offense fieldy

[Staggerlee]

In regards to driving of with daddy to kill him, Ben may have wanted to do the deed himself b/c of his fathers drunken bitterness over the wifey's death bringing the lil' spawn o' the devil onto the earth, and his loving father way of letting Ben know he feels that way...every year...on his b-day

were the other orthers running around with canisters too? Or did they set off this "reaction" at the tempest the first time, gas spreads around island killing all?

Does Ben still have his little doll?

[Shakey]

WAIT!
First of.... Ben didn't use the Tempest to "PURGE" the island the first time. Ben drives off with his dad and stops along the volanoe ridge at that point Ben and dad are talking about it being his mothers birthday and at that point Ben pulls a gas granade from his workers suit and slaps a gas mask on and pulls the pin. His dad dies instantly and it seems to be o.k. for Ben to breathe the air afterwards. Flash back to OTHERSVILLE and we find that anyone not with the PURGE has died and is lying scattered across the village. I would think that if the Tempest was used the first time Ben wouldn't have had to gas his dad.

I think that Ben gassed his dad with the canister for that personal touch that his dad so very much deserved.. to show him that he's the one taking his life.  I think the Tempest was used before to gas the Dharma folks since it would have taken quite a few grenades to gas them all out in the open air like that.  I would think the area affected by the gas would be subject to wind conditions and using individual grenades wouldn't have been as effective as a widespread gassing.  The folks seemed to have died right where they were... personally, if I see grenades being tossed in my direction, I'm hauling ass.

[Lost-N-Detroit]

Refill canisters? Oh please.. there's not a snowmans chance in hell that they used the Tempest for a refilling station. That's like me saying that the Flame was a refill station for C4. Ah Wha? The Tempest was their power plant and the chemicals if used could bring another PURGE. But Dan and Charolette are there to take down the island defense sysytems for the next flood of freighter folk. Charolette once again pauses to long to answer the question about what they are doing there.

I've just jumped from a helicopter to save yous people lives. - Charolette

BTW didn't Dan look like he was going to cry when Juliet had the gun on him.

[Shakey]

Sorry, I see Stagger and I were basically writing the same thing (I didn't see his until after I posted).

[cbw420]

WAIT!
First of.... Ben didn't use the Tempest to "PURGE" the island the first time. Ben drives off with his dad and stops along the volanoe ridge at that point Ben and dad are talking about it being his mothers birthday and at that point Ben pulls a gas granade from his workers suit and slaps a gas mask on and pulls the pin. His dad dies instantly and it seems to be o.k. for Ben to breathe the air afterwards. Flash back to OTHERSVILLE and we find that anyone not with the PURGE has died and is lying scattered across the village. I would think that if the Tempest was used the first time Ben wouldn't have had to gas his dad.

I think that Ben gassed his dad with the canister for that personal touch that his dad so very much deserved.. to show him that he's the one taking his life.  I think the Tempest was used before to gas the Dharma folks since it would have taken quite a few grenades to gas them all out in the open air like that.  I would think the area affected by the gas would be subject to wind conditions and using individual grenades wouldn't have been as effective as a widespread gassing.  The folks seemed to have died right where they were... personally, if I see grenades being tossed in my direction, I'm hauling ass.

actually, based off of my experience in the military its quite the opposite, if they used the tempest (which i dont think is right next to othersville) not only would wind have to be blowing right, but these gases would eventually be above their head/eye level, the gas would rise slightly, so it would not have an effect

however, using gas canisters like Ben did with his dad would be more effective, and spread more easily from close distances then that of the tempest

[Shakey]

actually, based off of my experience in the military its quite the opposite, if they used the tempest (which i dont think is right next to othersville) not only would wind have to be blowing right, but these gases would eventually be above their head/eye level, the gas would rise slightly, so it would not have an effect

however, using gas canisters like Ben did with his dad would be more effective, and spread more easily from close distances then that of the tempest

I see your point but wasn't the system designed for this very purpose?  To gas the entire island?  Maybe there are many dispensers located around the island in order to create the required effect (instead of one central outlet for the gas)?