Well, remember, Mikhail did say that, apart from him being a member of Dharma, everything about his story was true. Assuming he's not lying, of course...
It seems pretty clear to me that the Dharma Initiative no longer exists. All the stations and outposts we've seen are stocked with outdated equipment, and most of them have fallen into disrepair. However, Ben and possibly Juliette still have some kind of contact with the outside world, and food deliveries keep happening on some automated schedule, which raises more questions.
My theory continues to be that the Others are descended from Dharma Initiative test subjects, who rebelled and forced the project to be shut down. Ben's little town in the mountains seems to be a brand new experiment: some sort of ideal community, where the general populace does not have knowledge of the outside world and are just allowed to develop in a vacuum at the behest of some outside agency. I don't think it's Dharma conducting the experiment, but some kind of successor entity (perhaps the Hanso Foundation). However, it seems that this experimental society is dying; this is why they kidnap castaways, and this is why they brought a fertility specialist to the Island. Ben's actions and knowledge of the outside world seems to imply that he knows his community is an experiment, and the fact that Ethan was allowed to leave the Island to look for Juliette may imply that as well. The fact that the Others seem to be able to leave the Island if they want to further implies that they DON'T want to, that they simply believe there's nothing worth seeing beyond their perfect community. It remains to be seen if Ben is complicit in maintaining the facade, or if he genuinely has the best interests of his community at heart.
As for the possibility of Sayid lying to woman in order to escape, I don't think he was. Once again, it's a case of getting to know a character before we knew all the details of their backstory, so that we want to believe they aren't capable of such a horrible thing. I think he DID torture her, and I think he genuinely did regret it. Remember, Sayid was a patriot; he loved his country and believed that he was working for the greater good by interrogating enemies of the state. He knows otherwise now, but that doesn't mean he wasn't a monster once.
It seems pretty clear to me that the Dharma Initiative no longer exists. All the stations and outposts we've seen are stocked with outdated equipment, and most of them have fallen into disrepair. However, Ben and possibly Juliette still have some kind of contact with the outside world, and food deliveries keep happening on some automated schedule, which raises more questions.
My theory continues to be that the Others are descended from Dharma Initiative test subjects, who rebelled and forced the project to be shut down. Ben's little town in the mountains seems to be a brand new experiment: some sort of ideal community, where the general populace does not have knowledge of the outside world and are just allowed to develop in a vacuum at the behest of some outside agency. I don't think it's Dharma conducting the experiment, but some kind of successor entity (perhaps the Hanso Foundation). However, it seems that this experimental society is dying; this is why they kidnap castaways, and this is why they brought a fertility specialist to the Island. Ben's actions and knowledge of the outside world seems to imply that he knows his community is an experiment, and the fact that Ethan was allowed to leave the Island to look for Juliette may imply that as well. The fact that the Others seem to be able to leave the Island if they want to further implies that they DON'T want to, that they simply believe there's nothing worth seeing beyond their perfect community. It remains to be seen if Ben is complicit in maintaining the facade, or if he genuinely has the best interests of his community at heart.
As for the possibility of Sayid lying to woman in order to escape, I don't think he was. Once again, it's a case of getting to know a character before we knew all the details of their backstory, so that we want to believe they aren't capable of such a horrible thing. I think he DID torture her, and I think he genuinely did regret it. Remember, Sayid was a patriot; he loved his country and believed that he was working for the greater good by interrogating enemies of the state. He knows otherwise now, but that doesn't mean he wasn't a monster once.
TEAM SG1 LIVES
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