Yes, I think they specifically put that in the scene to answer that question. It was very deliberate. From http://lost.cubit.net/:

He pointed a gun at them.

If someone pointed a gun at my wife and child, they'd owe me at least an apology.

So that picture of them (from the 70s) has been hanging on the wall in camp the whole time and none of the Losties ever saw it and thought, "Hmmm, that's kind of strange"?

Here's something to think about:

When Ben sees 815 break up over the island, he seemed pretty certain what to do. Maybe he already knew somehow that Sawyer, Jack, Kate, Juliet and the others had been survivors of some future plane crash.

Did Miles look at the picture frames in S4 before he went up the stairs? He didn't seem to notice that they were different when he came down. None of them looked at the picture I guess.

I agree that the Penny/Ben scene seems completed, but I would like to poit out that they have gone back and added to a previous flashback before. The final scene of season 3 was Jack yelling to Kate that they had to go back, and the first scene of the season 4 finale picked up right aat that point and added Kate going back to talke with Jack more.

Actually, after Ben gets out of the water, he calls Jack and tells him he's been sidetracked and to please go pick up Locke for him. If Ben was done with Desmond and Penny he would've simply cleaned up and went right to getting Locke and going to the airport. It could be interpreted as him just running out of time but he already knew he was going down to Long Beach to kill Penny then come back up to L.A. and get Locke. He couldn't have been in the water that long without drowning. My belief is that he was going back to finish the job of killing Penny after talking with Jack. That is what he was apologizing for (to Sun).

Sure. Remember when they showed us Jin going on his first job where he was supposed to kill the guy and he only beat him up? Then, he gets home covered in blood and Sun thinks the worst as he is cleaning in the sink. Jin says he must do whatever her Father says to do for their marriage. Originally, we only saw the portion that led us to believe Jin killed the guy. Later, they showed more of the flashback to reveal he only beat him up. Sun didn't know the truth which led to her wanting to leave him. That's one example.

Anyone got screen caps of the hieroglyphics around smokey's lair? Also in some of the shots (where the camera is facing Ben closeup) I thought I saw statues down there but it was too dark to see. Anyone got a screen cap of that brightened up or was I just seeing stuff?

A few random thoughts

-Seems like the faith vs science thing is coming back into focus (Others=Faith Dharma=Science)
-Recall the blast door map has multiple references to Cerberus. While not Egyptian, we all assumed it was just the name for Smokey. Could it be Smokey is supposed to actually be the mythological Cerberus?
-What Lies in the Shadow of the Statue? The Outer Wall of the Temple was immediately what I thought of.
-What was the line Ben said to Danielle about if she wanted her child to live, anytime she heard whispers to run?

Uh...he f'ing shot the dude.

I don't think the apology is for shooting at Desmond. I don't even think it's exactly about pointing a gun at Penny. I think the apology is about Ben realizing at the moment he saw the child that he was acting just like Charles. He was about to do the thing he refused to do on the island -- kill a mother.

Don't kid yourself. The island saved him, much in the same way Michael couldn't kill himself before he completed what the island wanted of him. Desmond's work with the island isn't over yet.

I know, but I think Richard is a higher power than that.

But why would they have trusted Ben at all? They would've grabbed him as soon as they got on the island, no?

Exactly. I don't get the sense that the apology is anything more than for attempting to kill Penny.

I don't think it was even for attempting to kill Penny. He was apologizing to Desmond for shooting him.

If he wanted to apologize for attempting to kill Penny, he would have had Sun
tell her that he was sorry.

I'd find it pretty out of character for Ben to do the whole 'apologize to Desmond' thing, just for shooting him and pointing a gun at Penny. For Christ's sake, he just blew away a guy who was acting in his defense. Where's the 'please figure out who that dude's family is and apologize to them for me'? Ben's done a lot of evil things and, directly or indirectly, killed a lot of people. I don't see him apologizing for a non-fatal gunshot and threatening someone.

Now that I remember the picture frame changing with Miles in season 4, it seems even more obvious that the picture frame changed in Dharmaville as well.

I think the losties never get off the island in the 70's.They have to die in the purge. Wouldn't you think they'd want to stop themselves from reaching the island in the first place if they ever got off?

Hi there everyone... did anybody notice the background music when Ben's in the underground room with all the hieroglyphs?( With Anubis summoning Smokey).. it's the same music tat's usually played when Richard appears in a scene.. like when he comes to meet little John, back in 'Cabin Fever'.. could tat mean tat Richard is indeed Anubis or is somehow related to Smokey... or maybe i was just too dazed by this episode... Anyway.. Cheers to the writers of this ep... And.. Michael Emerson is indeed a great Actor!!

your sister is dumb. that is all.

After re-watching the scene on the beach at the beginning, where they are messing with that big crate, I think it's definitely guns or something else that was put on the plane for those people - and "those people" around the crate are in the employ of Whidmore or somebody else. And I don't think Cesar was one of them.

It's the magic box.

Ben threw his junk in that box.

Good catch. I think showing Smokey going back to his 'cage' and Alex appearing behind Ben is a hint that Alex is not Smokey incarnate. It could very well be that Richard is able to take other forms.