Well we've known for a while that The Others can travel off island - remember Alpert in Miami on the TV with a newspaper and filming Juliet's sister and the baby? Also, Alpert was back on the island within an hour or so, leading me to believe that they do not travel by submarine or any other form that we would conceive. I'm thinking that the Orchid Orientation Video (on ABC.com) along with the polar bear being found in Tunisia are examples of how The Others might travel. Oh and there was also the recruiting of Juliet off-island. So it is absolutely no surprise to me that Ben is able to travel to/from the island.
The most important things from last week's episode:
* Kate, off-island in the future, is willing to STOP RUNNING (i.e. can't leave the state of California in her agreement with the DA). Before the island and on the island, all she ever does is run. The people who are "lost" on Lost are supposed to be finding themselves on the island, but it seems that Kate has found herself off-island in the future.
* Aaron makes it off, but not Claire? Why doesn't Jack want to see him (does he find out Aaron is is half-nephew?)?
* What is up with Daniel and Charlotte's memory testing at the end of the episode? In Daniel's flashback, it seems he is mentally unstable. When we first meet him on the island, there is a long pause before he answers the question "What is your name". Did Daniel have some mental affliction that the island is healing?
* Why 3.2 million and not 3.3, 3.4, or 3.5?!?!