Widmore's Recruitment Policy..

[D-Roc]

...Is a shambles!!

I mean how can Ben just put a man on that boat..it's like he just walked on without any qualifications or CV (Naomi was too busy flirting, lol)

Makes me wonder whether most of the people on that boat weren't even specifically hired by Widmore or Abbadon (if the two are in lieu), but by some random recruitruiting firm on their behalf.

Schoolboy error.

All i'm sayin is that if you're after this island and you've got that much money and determination - would you really leave the backdoor open to one of your rivals sabotaging your quest for the island?

I know Ben's good, but it just seems incredibly lapse on Widmore part if you ask me

[lost-lover]

I agree. Especailly considering Michael got a package sent to him that was some sort of explosive device and no-one realised. I know it was a fake but still, you have to wonder why nobody realised.

[Hordriss]

Given the dangerous (and quite probably illegal) nature of Widmore's operations, they might not be in a position to be picky or ask too many questions, although judging from the captain's unfazed expression at the end of this episode I wondered if he didn't know full well who Michael really is. That must wait upon the next episode, however. Of course, this is all assuming Widmore is genuinely the mastermind. I remain open to the possibility that his name has been thrown in as a red herring and the boat might just be another of Ben's ruses (Possibly crazy, but I'll bet that it was at least one of the various plot twists Cuse and Lindelof toyed with while deciding the direction of S4).

[misspiggy]

Did the boat belong to Widmore, or did he hire it? If he was just hiring the boat, it probably came with some general deckhands. Although you would still think that they would check them out. Obviously Ben is better at faking passports than the Lost props team!

[D-Roc]

I think he hired it, so you're probably right in that it may have come with a few deckhands - although considering Kevin Johnson was recruited and Naomi did the checklist, it would seem that some thought at least went into the kind of person who was hired. I say this with Naomi and Abbadon's and Widmore's connection in mind.

I guess Abbadon was the main recruiter - Widmore's right hand man, as it were? ..and in turn he delegated the final part of that job to Naomi?

I still don't get Widmore though - it's almost as if he 'has' to leave certain things down to chance in order for this to work (or TPTB have cut corners!).

[KatesFate]

Naomi never even checked Michaels ID upon meeting him. I believe she just looked at her list and saw his name. She herself said that this was a covert operation when speaking to Abaddon. One would assume she would want to know as much as possible about everyone on board and that she would naturally ask for ID or papers.