A number of people have mentioned how the painting resembled Karen DeGroot. Here are the best2 images I could make for comparison purposes.
Thanks to TheTailsection for the closeup of the hamster.
Request a ScreencapIf you would like to request a screencap please fill out the form below along with details of the screen you would like captured. We can't promise to do them all but I will try to do the interesting ones. Please leave as many details as possible to make finding the image easier.
NOTE 1 : Only request screens for up to the last 2 Episode
NOTE 2 : We cannot respond to every request but I hope to manage to post the most interesting ones.
NOTE 3 : Screencaps from Trailers and Promos can be found in the Spoilers Section
NOTE 4 : Please wait at least 2hrs after an episode has aired whilst we post our screencaps before requesting new ones, our team of screencappers normally capture over 90% of all requests
The Painting and Karen DeGroot
(Comments: 63)
Labels:
Karen DeGroot,
The Man from Tallahasse
Post Your Comment (looking for the old comment form?)
N O T E
Spoilers, Name-calling, personal attacks, spamming, excessive self-promotion, condescending pomposity, general assiness, racism, sexism, any-other-ism, homophobia, acrophobia, and destructive (versus constructive) criticism will get you BANNED from the party.
If you have a problem, do NOT post it in the comments, email me here.
Subscribe to our 
Follow our 
Sign up to our 
63 Comments:
hmm...look pretty similiar to the painting....
I forgot...Who is Karen DeGroot?
Why would a "hostile" have a painting of one of the Dharma founders?
maybe she is Ben's mommy
She and her husband are the founders of the Darma Initiative on the video in the Pearl & Swan.
that is 99.9% her. ben's mom?? interesting theory.
yep....it's her. And the story just keeps getting deeper.
So Ben switched sides during the purge. I guess he was instramental in the hostiles winning the war. That's probably why he's so important now. Wow. Ben really is scary.
It definately looks like her. It's hard to miss the cheeckbones and the hair.
I'll bet, though, that Ben didn't switch sides. We don't know who's side he's on. Mikail was telling the hostiles' story under his guise as a Dharma person and he's on Ben's side.
I'll bet Ben and his group are descendents of DeGroot's original mission team and the other Others are a much older group already on the island. That's why Ben's group is safe behind the sonic fence.
Ben's mom? Possibly, if these pics are of her from the sixties/seventies, that would make Ben what? in his thirties? He looks older to me but who knows?
Maybe he kept the painting to make alex believe that was her mother?
Great catch!!!
Remember that in the room 23 video (brainwashing scene), we see an image of Dr. DeGroot (Karen's husband I guess)... so I think that maybe anon who said that "I'll bet Ben and his group are descendents of DeGroot's original mission team and the other Others are a much older group already on the island" might be right.
i tink ben could in fact be karens son but he was subjected to experimentation on when he was a boy and older others (like the old lady from season 3 premiere) initiated the purge. he then eventually rose to power but i stand strong in my belief that ben is an experiment of dharma
I think the woman on the painting looks more like Helen..
she's probably Karen de Groot...look at the cheeks and the identical features of the face!
why would ben have a painting of helen?
Maybe he has the painting because that was the de Groot home on the island or even his mother...
what about the hamster she is holding?
If you dont believe its a hamster go to the tailsection.com where they are discusing it.
Its her!Wow!
Here's the close-up of that hamster:
http://www.thetailsection.com/hamster-of-mystery.jpg
Maybe the hamster is her pet, but it looks quite large!
Yeah, it's one of the giant hamsters prioviding them with electricity . . .
I think the picture looks more like Juliet. And given that she and Ben have a history together, that would make sense, wouldn't it?
However, I have no explanation for the hamster.
Why the hamster? Don't you guys remember what Juliet did? A pregnant male mouse? I wonder if it has something to do with it...if this hamster is one of this mice...and the woman is actually Juliet holding her "creation"...
BEN say he alwas have lived on the island. dharma esablish 70ies? I think Ben born in 60ies and already there when dharma showed up. The things we se is not Bens privatstuff only it could also belong to dharma people that lived in the barrack during golden days of dharma. Most likley Mr and Mrs DeGroot.
The painting is of Juliet's sister:
http://us.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/5503/RobinWeiga_Grani_11685773_400.jpg.html?path=pgallery&path_key=Weigert%2C%20Robin&seq=20
(referenced from another lost board)
Hmmmm.....there are 2 burning questions that arise with this painting: One, how old was Karen deGroot when she started DHARMA (say, 1969) with Gerald at the University of Michigan? We already know that, etymologically, the names deGroot and Magnus Hanso are related.....but my guess is that she was somewhere between 30-40, using the few pictures we've been given of her as a measure.....if we presume that she was closer to 40, then Ben could very well be her (and, PRESUMABLY, Gerald's) son, in which case she'd be anywhere from 70-75 and Ben somewhere between 45 and 50.
Two, while there has been a persistent habit of the blonde women in this show (Sarah, Penny, Juliet, Claire, even Shannon - but not Libby) resembling each other at least slightly, we now have to wonder if both Juliet and Rachel are somehow also deGroots, and well look at that, Alvar's daughter was ALSO named Rachel; possibly after a beloved aunt or common ancestor? To the best of my knowledge, we've never been provided with Juliet's maiden name, only her married name of Burke - since it is not difficult to see either of them as the painting's subject (depending upon how skilled we presume the painter to be at accurate replication of facial features) it's hardly unreasonable to strongly suspect that it was their destiny to visit, if not return to, the island.
It's Kates mum
The flower and pot, seems to levitate. I think this was a lab hamster and it is the hamster that make it levitate. It was a very special hamster and was important to be in a painting.
of course this is mrs deroth...Juliets sister? nah that renee swellweger look alike have differnt eyes.
That is not a hamster its a guinea pig. In double mening
So, Ben is a son of a male hamster? Hummm, this made of Juliet his creator?
its not a stupid hamster lol everyone is sayin that jus cause of bens sarcastic comment about electricity, its the male field mouse that Juliet impregnated, the woman does look like Karen DeGroot tho but im leaning towards Juliet.
It is a hamster. On second thought maybe it's a fish(jk) But seriously are you that blind,it's definetly a hamster.( a mouse and hamster are two different lookin rodents and this is a HAMSTER) I mean come on how many of us had hamsters as kids to not mistake that for something else?
I'm thinking Juliet too. In "lost in portland" Edmond says to Juliet that he knows what she's been doing but what he doesn't know is who's her guinea pig. A similar chair can be seen in her sisters apartment.
http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage-1251-528.html
The flower pot is not levitating LOL. Where have we seen the flowers before ? What kind of flowers are they? They seem to be quite prominent in the painting.
That is NOT a fieldmouse or any sort of mouse. It's much too big and it doesn't seem to have a tail It is, indeed, a Hamster.
Ben is good at twisting the truth and his comment about the giant hamsters will have been a twist of something else
I want to know where the pictures on the ends came from? I understand the picture was in Ben's apartment, but where did the other two come from?
Definitely a hamster... and I'd have to agree, she looks more like Rachel (Juliet's sister).
No way the DeGroots can be Ben's parents... the age difference doesn't work... unless that island made him realllllly age fast... guess that will explain Walt's coming back and looking three years older in three months.. ??.. :D
In the Dharma film, when the DeGroots are mentioned, it equates their work with BF Skinner's.
Skinner conducted psychological experiments-- stimulus was applied to a subject in order to get the desired response. His idea was that people will act a certain way when they are manipulated into doing so (the opposite of free will.)
IF the DeGroots' work was similar to Skinner's, then Ben may have some connection. He's all about stimulus=response. His manipulations of people show that he doesn't believe in their free will. He thinks that if he says the right thing, he can get people to do just about anything he wants.
The picture on the ends are of Karen Degroot. They're from lostpedia.
http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Karen_DeGroot
That is not a hamster! It's a Chinchilla.
Most likely Juliet's sister. Juliet wanted to take care of her. She could demand here sister must go with her. At the island her sister get well and grow her hair. Everything is super and they join the others. Ben and the sister become a couple. Ben make the painting. But something goes wrong, juliets sister and her newborn dies (the sickness or maybe Juliet's threatment is dangerous).
Juliet want to go home and Ben do not allow it. She see stuff in another way and eventually turn on the others.
That's not a chinchilla. It's much too small compared to her hands. It's a hamster. Short front legs, biggish ears, pointed face, no tail. Not a mouse nor a guinea pig nor a chinchilla. It is a hamster.
As to who's in the pic, I think it's more like Karen than any of th other suggested
OK... so NOW we know for sure it IS a hamster...
That might mean that the woman is:
1.- Karen DeGroot, as a scientist, she works with hamsters (guinea pigs) and might as well have adopted one as a pet (this is why the hamster is in the picture)
2.- Rachel (Julliet's sister) holding the male mouse (hamster) Julliet impregnated...
So... the hamster isn't helping us solving this one!!
AAAARGHHHH!!!!
KAREN DEGROOT!! ENOUGH SAID!!
If it turns out not to be Karen DeGroot, I would say Ben's mother or possibly even Karen's or Gerald's mother.
wasn't she also on the geronimo jackson's album cover?
Its Michael.
Its Smokey.
I think Ben's comments about the hamsters running things is a sly reference to the fact that the research Dharma is/was doing is centered on hamsters (and mice, etc.) from the reproductive angle--like Juliet's experiment. In a sense, the hamsters ARE the force running things because the research with them is why Dharma is here. Just a thought.
I bet this is a picture of the first hamster for which the Dharma Initiative (Karen DeGroot) successfully increased life expectancy. Maybe it is a really 'old' hamster that has lived well beyond the typical life expectancy of a hamster (2-3 years).
Also an interesting note: The Syrian or Golden Hamster, which is the most popular pet hamster, is currently endangered.
The polar bear is also a species that is threatened (currently listed as 'vulnerable').
Hamsters endangered? No way! How could that be? Man kids must be killing them left and right lol Mommy hammy when down the drain, great I gotta get a new one.
Mommy wanna see hammy fly?
Mommy look Hammy's like an icicle.
Mommy how do you set the timer in the oven?
Here's an idea:
Ben and Juliet have a history, right? perhaps they were married at one point and both lived in that house, so the painting is Juliet's, and it's a painting of Juliet's sister holding the pregnant field mouse. I know everyone's saying it's a hamster, but I just don't see it because of the look of the ears and the pointed nose. I don't think it's that far of a stretch, but I don't understand why Juliet would leave the painting behind and not bring it to her new house.
looks like a squirrel to me
Here is a pic of a mouse that I found that kinda looks like a hamster. So it's a toss up. (I still think it's a hamster.)
http://www.miceandrats.com/sat_faw.htm
hamster = smokey's dad
Maybe Ben wasn't joking about the hampsters on the wheel generating electricity?????
It's a painting of Rachel, Juliet's sister, whom she helped impregnate, along with the male mouse she also impregnated.
I have bad vision...but it kinda looks like the Hamster/Mouse has 6 legs, dont you agree? i kno it doesnt its just the color on its neck but it looks like it does
Mayb they made a smart Hamster and thats why its posing so paciently
-laura
Hamsters have one of the shortest gestation periods of all mammals. Perhaps Juliet was carrying on her mother's work. Her mother being Karen. This could make Juliet and Ben siblings.
Of course, we're making it much too easy for the writers as I'm sure real plot has yet to be written!
The barracks belonged to the others before the purge. durring the pearl film you can hear the doc say "after you have completed your eight hour shift you will be transported back to the barr" then it cuts off. That would explian the picture of karen degroot
-daniel
My vote goes for the painting depicting Karen DeGroot holding a hamster/guinea pig.
i read a book by bryan sykes the seven daughters of eve, and in it he talks about the fact that all modern domesticated hampsters decend from just one female syian golden hampster that was taken into captivity with three males as a replacement for mice in a science lab. anyway long story short hampsters multiplty fast and inbreeding always takes place.
so that might be some sort of far fetched clue. but iut is a golden hampster in the picture.
I'm going with Misplaced. I never thought Ben and Juliet were lovers but that they are related. I could also see Karen as their mother.