Ben is overly curious about Locke’s use of his legs. I think that Ben may be conning Locke (which is the less obvious deduction from this episode). The man in the supply closet is not actually Locke’s father. Ben does indeed know how that man arrived on the island: it is the same process that makes other ‘visions’ on the island, like Dave and such. It’s the same thing that Walt used to appear places. It lets you hack an image out of someone’s mind and manifest it.
The “man from Tallahassee” is actually code for the adult man who can actually use the same manifesting-device that they tested Walt on. Ben used information from Locke’s file to get Locke to really start thinking about his own dad. Then right before opening the door, Ben really made that image sear into the forefront of Locke’s mind with his line, “I wanted to know what it felt like when your own father tried to kill you.” That was enough for the manifesting device to locke into a strong impression of Daddy Locke.
Update:
After a second watching, and a comment by Matt, I thought again about why Locke was dripping wet just prior to the explosion.
What if Locke knew a bit about cons since his own father jaded him. He knew that Ben was going to manipulate him into doing something…the C4 was way too easy to acquire from The Flame. Locke is playing along with what seems easiest and what is “set out for him” to do. That involved blowing up the sub, but what if he….did something between setting the explosive and being captured?
I am reminded of something I thought about after the episode where we were introduced to The Flame station. I think the video of Marvin told Locke some very important information regarding “the hostiles” after he entered Code 77 into its computer. Since exiting that station Locke has been acting slightly differently than usual. He lied about the explosives, he threw their prisoner into the sonic field without any hesitation, he lied to Kate & Sayid about “I’ll cover the back.” He’s even joking with Ben before and after being captured.
Where is the man who grew frustrated and pushed the dirty dishes to the floor? Where is the man who was crying to the heavens back in season 1, pounding on the hatch door? Where is the man saying, “I was…wrong”? Locke has more cards up his sleeve than Ben knows about, and I think Locke is going to play along with Ben until he can use the rest of the information he learned from the Marvin video at The Flame station.
