A number of things 'clicked' for me with episode 4.04. There are still plenty of gaps, but an outline emerges.
1) We know from Bens flashback that his Dad was recruited to be a low level Dharma functionary - the maintainence man, actually.
2) We also know from that flashback that Ben was directly responsible for betrayal and destruction of the Dharma folk.
3) We also know that Ben has a 'connection' with the island something like that of Lockes.
4) We know that even though the orginal Dharma folk are long dead, Dharma brand merchandise has been falling out of the sky (literally) ever since. This gives rise to the question 'Why would Dharma continue to supply an operation in which everybody is dead?'
5) Going back a bit, we know that first Kelvin and then Desmond were both very very concerned about some sort of devastating plague on the island. Kelvin, at least, appeared to be legit Dharma personel - although, one who'd been abandoned for a very long time. Note, though, that Kelvin, possibly unlike previous Swan station personel, was apparently posted to this station from off the island, and episode 4.03 shows some serious 'time' issues between the island and the rest of the world. This, however is secondary.
6) We know that the 'Others', up until the destuction of their submarine, were able to come and go to the island at will, and had some sort of 'infrastructure' going in other countries.
7) And most importantly, Ben *LIES*. He has lied extensively in almost every episode he has appeared in, and has shown great skill in manipulating people (most recently with Locke in episode 4.04). Once or twice he has actually boasted about this skill of his.
Putting this together:
The Dharma people had apparently been in a state of war with the 'hostiles' since coming to the island. (from Bens flashback).
Ben arranged for the 'hostiles' ('Others') to wipe out the Dharma presence *ON THE ISLAND*.
Then Ben put his marvelous skill at deception and manipulation to work. Somehow, he convinced the *mainland* branch of Dharma that the 'purge' was far less successful than it really was. Probably, this false story was along the lines that all but a couple of the Dharma bases had been wiped out by a plague and the survivors attacked by the hostiles. The remaining Dharma people had a resistance to the plague and a very shaky truce with the 'hostiles' was now in effect, and that the remaining Dharma folks were in dire danger if they left these last remaining redoubts.
The mainland Dharma folk though put such a high importance on the research that they wished to continue with it.
Ben told them this might be possible...with certain heavy restrictions.
So...Dharma continues to send people and supplies to the island - with Ben in control.
The thing with this approach, though, is it argues against the 'Freighter People' being part of the mainland Dharma operation, because presumably those people would already *know* how to get to the island, even if they did believe it a plague zone overun with 'hostiles'.
The 'Freighter People' knew about the island - but not how to get there.
1) We know from Bens flashback that his Dad was recruited to be a low level Dharma functionary - the maintainence man, actually.
2) We also know from that flashback that Ben was directly responsible for betrayal and destruction of the Dharma folk.
3) We also know that Ben has a 'connection' with the island something like that of Lockes.
4) We know that even though the orginal Dharma folk are long dead, Dharma brand merchandise has been falling out of the sky (literally) ever since. This gives rise to the question 'Why would Dharma continue to supply an operation in which everybody is dead?'
5) Going back a bit, we know that first Kelvin and then Desmond were both very very concerned about some sort of devastating plague on the island. Kelvin, at least, appeared to be legit Dharma personel - although, one who'd been abandoned for a very long time. Note, though, that Kelvin, possibly unlike previous Swan station personel, was apparently posted to this station from off the island, and episode 4.03 shows some serious 'time' issues between the island and the rest of the world. This, however is secondary.
6) We know that the 'Others', up until the destuction of their submarine, were able to come and go to the island at will, and had some sort of 'infrastructure' going in other countries.
7) And most importantly, Ben *LIES*. He has lied extensively in almost every episode he has appeared in, and has shown great skill in manipulating people (most recently with Locke in episode 4.04). Once or twice he has actually boasted about this skill of his.
Putting this together:
The Dharma people had apparently been in a state of war with the 'hostiles' since coming to the island. (from Bens flashback).
Ben arranged for the 'hostiles' ('Others') to wipe out the Dharma presence *ON THE ISLAND*.
Then Ben put his marvelous skill at deception and manipulation to work. Somehow, he convinced the *mainland* branch of Dharma that the 'purge' was far less successful than it really was. Probably, this false story was along the lines that all but a couple of the Dharma bases had been wiped out by a plague and the survivors attacked by the hostiles. The remaining Dharma people had a resistance to the plague and a very shaky truce with the 'hostiles' was now in effect, and that the remaining Dharma folks were in dire danger if they left these last remaining redoubts.
The mainland Dharma folk though put such a high importance on the research that they wished to continue with it.
Ben told them this might be possible...with certain heavy restrictions.
So...Dharma continues to send people and supplies to the island - with Ben in control.
The thing with this approach, though, is it argues against the 'Freighter People' being part of the mainland Dharma operation, because presumably those people would already *know* how to get to the island, even if they did believe it a plague zone overun with 'hostiles'.
The 'Freighter People' knew about the island - but not how to get there.
