"Dr. Linus"

“Man, you really had me fooled with that sweater vest! Linus, you’re a real killer!”

Greetings Losties!

Well, well, well - last night was just plain RAD! All about my favorite character, Mr. Benjamin Linus, and one of my all-time favorite actors, Michael Emerson – squeeeee! “Dr. Linus” has been one of my favorite episodes this season, with the only lacking component being the absence of Sawyer – where the heck is he!?!? The episode pulled together many elements and helped me make a bit better sense of the flash-sideways concept.

First, we got the “evil” character of Ben facing the music – everyone knows he killed Jacob and it’s his time to pay for ALL the people he’s killed in his relentless protection of the island (including his step-daughter, Alex). Before, he was offered a choice as to whether or not he should kill Jacob, and he chose the path of “wrong” – plunging a knife into Jacob’s chest. This time, he’s offered the choice again – to go with Evil Locke/Smokey/Man in Black (AKA Flocke) or to stay and face his punishment (AKA Ilana’s big gun). At first it seems like he’s going to pick the Flocke-route, because he doesn’t feel like he’ll be allowed to stay alive with the Ilana group. But, when he finally gets Ilana to listen to him (albeit at gunpoint, but still, she’s listening!), his story of why he did what he did allows Ilana to forgive him. My boy, Ben, finally gets the redemptive plot arc that I knew he’s get… Okay, I didn’t know, but I sure as hell hoped he would (because a character I love this much just can’t be pure evil…)!

This Ben, so in need of redemption because of his awful deeds, is juxtaposed with the Off-Island Timeline (Timeline A) Ben. And in Timeline A, when the island’s underwater, Ben is a really nice guy! Except for that whole would-be blackmail thing, he’s the guy who makes everyone coffee, the guy who really cares about his students, the guy who befriends the lowly substitute in a wheelchair, the guy who gets roped into monitoring detentions instead of tending to his History Club, the guy who advises a History Club in the first place, the guy who takes care of his sick father with love and affection, and the guy who would give up his shot at achieving his own ambitions because it would come at the expense of a student who he really cared about, Alex Rousseau (Alex! Alive! Yaaaaay! I miss her.) Part of me feels like the whole reason the writers did this whole flash-sideways things is so we can reconnect with our old favorite, yet dead, characters. Or so they could reconnect with their old favorites...

Now, what I found a bit confusing was where exactly did the two timelines split? It would seem, according to Roger Linus, that Ben and Roger did indeed go to the island with the Dharma Initiative, but left the island before it sank. However, wasn’t Roger’s hatred of Ben formed on the day he was born, the day that his wife Emily died giving birth to Ben? Ben seems to be about the same age as John Locke, so did the events change BEFORE 1954 or after? Was the hatred between the two ever there? Because I didn’t seem Emily in the picture, so it would seem that she died already. And if they were on the island during the Dharma days, DID BEN STILL GET SHOT BY SAYID?!? And was he still healed/changed forever into an Other at the Temple in the mysterious Spring of Life (or death in Sayid, Dogen, and Lennon’s cases)?

The way these two timelines spliced together this week was kind of awesome. The redemptive arc of Timeline B being contrasted with the Ben-is-a-good-guy-doing-good-guy-things story of Timeline A. We got two different Ben’s – one white, one black. And yet both showed hints of the other side bleeding through – Timeline B Ben (on-island) knows he’s a bad guy because he did all these bad things in the name of the island, but the fact that he acknowledges why he did what he did and how it’s wrong helps redeem him. He changes course and allows himself to be a part of the “good guys” – when in the past he’s been so content to be the leader of the “bad guys.” This is a huge change. The other Ben, Timeline A Ben, (it seems) has always been a good guy. He tries to do some bad guy manipulation, but is immediately trumped by a bigger badder guy (the Principal – the dickless guy from Ghostbusters – yeah!). He abandons his schemes in order to keep the greater good on track – he won’t sacrifice Alex for his power in this world, the way he did in his old world. He tried to be bad, but it just wouldn’t stick, and yet he’s also able to turn the situation into a mini power play – at least getting him out of being the detention monitor! It was fun to watch Ben and not hate his actions – at least for me!

I loved the whole Napoleon reference – the idea that title without real power is meaningless. Which kind of foreshadowed his blackmailing the principal – the principal gets to keep the title (like Napoleon), but Dr. Linus is taking back the power – or taking back his History Club and letting someone else cover detention. I wonder if the show wanted us to use this reference to make us think about Ben, or is really a Flocke/Jacob reference? Will Flocke not be happy until he’s dead? Hmm… I know there’s more to this idea, I just can’t get my head around it right now.
I had hoped for a bit more Locke/Flocke/Ben interaction, but instead we got these few poignant moments where the two connected. Ben’s whole blackmail the principal plan is perpetuated by the substitute, Locke. Which is weird, because it’s similar to Ben killing Jacob, which was also perpetuated by Locke, only he wasn’t really Locke – he’s Flocke. So, could Locke in the off-island Timeline really be the Man in Black???? Woah! Maybe Smokey made it off the island after all…

I liked how Arzt’s life had barely changed from timeline to timeline – and NOT just meaning that in one timeline he’s been blown up by some old dynamite. In both, he’s a high school science teacher. The only main difference is that in the original timeline he

seemed to like his job, yet in the new/improved/shiny timeline he’s a bitter teacher who doesn’t see the point.

Every time Ilana threatened Ben, I was like “NOOOOOOO! Stay away from BEEEENNNN!” And thankfully, she must have heard me, because after hearing his side of the story, she offered him forgiveness. Granted, she also held him at gunpoint as she made him dig his own grave, but when he said that he’d done all he’d done for the sake of the island, she ultimately seemed to forgive him. She offered him a new choice – to stay with the “good” guy group.

And on the flip side, this isn’t the first time Ben’s played a doctor. Remember in the “The Economist” when Sayid gets shot and has to go to Ben to get stitched up? I think it’s such a trip to see him go from Dr. Mengele to Dr. Feelgood – just shows how much-deserved Michael Emerson’s Emmy was – it steals the show with ever blink of his bulging eyes. I REALLY hope he finds something cool to work on after this, I’ll miss watching him perform.

Let’s just do a mini-recap of events from this week, since I’ve already started rambling about things I saw.

Timeline A (Off-island) –

• Ben’s established (again) as Dr. Linus, high school European History teacher.
• Ben’s being used and abused by the school Principal.
• Ben takes it, but complains to his buddy, Arzt, at lunch.
• The Substitute teacher – Locke, overhears him complaining and tells him that HE should be the Principal.
• Ben ponders this...
• Ben feeds an old/sick Roger Linus a TV dinner and changes his Oxygen tank – they seem to get along well it’s WAY cute!
• Alex stops by Ben’s house to see why he wasn’t in history club – she needs him to tutor her for the AP test. Ben agrees – they have another WAY cute interaction.
• Later, Ben and Alex are in the library studying for the AP Euro test. She mentions that she’d REALLY like to go to Yale, but that she needs a good recommendation from an alumni to go there. She REALLY needs a scholarship because her Mom’s way poor.
• She knows the Principal went to Yale and wants him to write the letter. Then she tells Ben that the Principal is a perv because she heard him getting it on with the school nurse once, when she had a stomachache.
• Ben confides in Arzt that the Principal is a perv, and gets him to help him in taking over. They’re going to hack into the Nurse’s email to see if she and Principal have been all lovey via email.
• Arzt agrees to help him, as long as he gets a new parking spot, new aprons, and new lab equipment. Ben agrees.
• Ben goes and tries to blackmail the Principal. The Principal one-ups his attempt, by saying that he’ll “torch” Alex in his Yale recommendation if Ben doesn’t back the hell up. What will he choose? The leadership position or Alex? He’s been put in this position before…
• But this time, he makes the altruistic choice and gives up being the Principal. Principal Reynolds wrote Alex the most incredible letter of recommendation and she’s probably getting into Yale.
• And he hands off the detention duty to the Principal, reclaiming his slot for the History Club – Yay! Not a total loss!
• A cranky Arzt is bummed out that Ben didn’t go through with the plan – bitching about his parking space. Ben offers to give him his own spot. Gazing off at a happy Alex, filled with fatherly-love. Awww!
• But seriously, who is this guy and where’s MY Ben Linus?!?

Timeline B (On-Island)

• Ben runs into Ilana, Miles, Lapidus, and Sun in the jungle.
• Ilana has Miles do a reading of Jacob’s ashes, to see how he died.
• Miles tells her that Ben killed Jacob (gasp!)
• They all head to the Oceanic 815 beach, where Ilana hands out jobs to everyone except Ben, and then starts gather cables and locks. Ben asks her if there’s anything he can do.
• She ignores him.
• Sun asks Ilana how long they’re planning to stay at the beach, because she has to find her husband.
• Ilana tells Sun that she needs to find him more than Sun does, because their last names are Kwon, and it’s her job to protect them because she’s not sure which one of them is the candidate. She’s clearly the candidate protector, and the candidate who is selected will be replacing Jacob.
• Ilana says there are six candidates left.
• Cut to Hurley and Jack. Hurley wakes up to Jack urging them to head to the temple. Hurley doesn’t seem so anxious to return there, and asks for breakfast.
• Jack says no, Temple first!
• Hurley keeps trying to divert Jack from getting to the Temple.
• Richard pops out of the bushes, being all cryptic. He tells them to follow him to the Temple (except they totally don’t go there).
• Jack follows, because, “At least he’s not stalling…” – Which is totally calling Hurley out on his misdirection attempts. ALSO, it’s kind of like the viewing audience calling out the writers – Stop stalling already and give us some answers!
• Back to the Beach – Ben sifts through Sawyer’s old tent. He finds several books – The Chosen (by Chaim Potak), a book by Benjamin Disraeli, and a Booty Babes magazine (“Big Bouncy, Beautiful Buns”! and “Getting to the Bottom of It!”) – Heh!
• Ben finds an old Oceanic 815 bottle of water. Lapidus shares that he was supposed to be flying the plane.
• Lapidus wonders how different his life would be if he had been the pilot on that flight. Ben points out that it wouldn’t have been very different, since the island got him in the end anyway! Ben has a great glimmer of understanding – a brief moment of being awed by the island’s power. This makes Lapidus smirk.
• Then their conversation is cut short by Ilana putting a gun barrel to Ben’s throat and telling him to walk.
• They go to the makeshift cemetery, where Ilana ties Ben to a tree and forces him to dig his own grave.
• Ben is, naturally, moving pretty slowly at digging his own grave. He is NOT anxious to die!
• Miles comes over to visit, offering up some food to Ben, who says he’s not hungry.
• Ben offers Miles the $3.2 million dollars that he’d once been blackmailed for (back when Miles first landed with the Freighte Folk). Miles declines, stating that he can always take the $8 million in diamonds that Nikki and Paulo were buried with – HA! Even from beyond the grave, we can’t escape from that lame-ass storyline…
• Ben says that Ilana’s going to kill him, all for killing Jacob, a man who didn’t even care about dying.
• Miles contradicts Ben’s opinion of Jacob, saying that Jacob DID care. Very much. And that he’d had hope for Ben, even in his final moment. Jacob was hoping he was wrong about Ben.
• Ben keeps digging (because Ilana almost shoots him, on purpose).
• Back to Hurley, Jack, and Richard – Hurley’s asking Richard why he doesn’t age – SWEET! I heart answers.
• Richard (FINALLY!) explains that he doesn’t age because Jacob touched him and gave him a gift. WHA!!!!??? So does that mean all our favorite Losties will never age either? Cool.
• Jack asks Richard what he knows about Jacob. Richard, glibly, answers that he knows Jacob’s dead.
• They arrive… at the Blackrock. Not the Temple. Richard tells them that he lied, because everyone at the Temple is dead.
• Jack is quite vexed by this info.
• Richard is a bit stunned, but says that Sayid and Kate weren’t amongst the dead, and that whatever they’re looking for at the Temple isn’t there.
• Jack calls out the fact that Hurley knew something was up with the Temple. Hurley admits that Jacob hinted at it.
• Richard, very alarmed, warns Hurley not to believe anything Jacob says. With that, he resolutely takes off towards the old ship, saying there’s something he needs to do.
• Jack asks him what, he replies “die.”
• Back at the cemetery, Ben is drenched in sweat and fear – he keeps digging.
• Cut over to the Blackrock where Richard is gazing around the shackles of the ships, lost in memories. He says he’s been here before, but in all his island time he hasn’t been back to visit.
• Hurley, remembering the original trip out to the Blackrock – the one where he got covered in Arzt when the dynamite exploded – urges Jack to leave.
• Richard says that he can’t kill himself, he’s not allowed to/he can’t because Jacob touched him. He views Jacob’s touch as a curse and wants to die because he’s devoted his life to Jacob’s plan – a plan that he was a part of and that would be revealed to him later. But now, Jacob’s dead, so what the heck is the plan?!? He wants to die because he feels his entire life has had no purpose.
• He begs Jack to light the fuse for him. Jack says okay, lights the fuse, and then sits down and demands answers. Aw yeah! Jack stepping up and growing a pair! I REALLY like the new/improved Jack!
• Richard seems very bothered – it’s clear he knows that Jack is a candidate, so he can’t in good conscience let Jack die.
• Hurley bails out, Richard says Jack should go, too.
• Jack throws all his cards on the table and tells him that he doesn’t think either of them will die. That his name being on the lighthouse dial was proof that Jacob had a grand destiny for him – that Jacob wanted Jack to know he was being watched.
• Jack rationalizes that if Jacob went through all the trouble to bring him to the island, it’s probably not to get blown up in the hull of the Blackrock. Good call, Jack!
• Richard questions the risk.
• Jack, now the man of faith, says he’s not wrong. He closes his eyes as the fuse gets shorter and shorter.
• At the last minute, the flame burns out – no ka-boom! Jack was right. Woah.
• Richard, perplexed for once, says since Jack has all the answers, what’s next?
• Jack says, let’s go back to where we started (AKA the beach)
• Cut to Ben, who’s hearing the tikka tikka of Smokey.
• He turns to see Flocke, who’s hidden from Ilana’s view, smirking at him. Ben asks what Flocke is doing there.
• Flocke replies, “Visiting.”
• Flocke asks Ben the same question. Ben replies, “Digging my own grave.” – I always find Locke-Ben exchanges pretty funny. I think I have a VERY warped sense of humor!
• Flocke wants to know why Ben’s digging. Ben blames Flocke for making him kill Jacob, and points out Ilana, saying that she’s one of Jacob’s bodyguards and now she wants to kill him.
• Flocke expresses that he doesn’t want Ben to die, that he’d gone back to the statue to get him, and that he wants him to run the island after everyone in his new crew leaves it.
• Ben’s Achilles heel, island leadership, is exposed.
• Flocke frees Ben, tells him to meet them at the Hydra Station, and to run into the jungle, where a gun’s been left for him to escape with.
• Ben BOLTS through the jungle, with Ilana right on his tale.
• Ben gets to the gun and flips the script on Ilana – now she’s the one with a gun pointed at her.
• But, Ben doesn’t shoot – he just wants to explain.
• In a FABULOUS monologue, Ben explains how he lost Alex. How it was his fault because he chose the island over his daughter, all in the name of Jacob.
• That he sacrificed everything for Jacob and Jacob didn’t care.
• That he stabbed him out of anger, confusion, and fear that he’d lose the only thing he ever cared about (his power), but losing Alex was the only thing that really mattered.
• He doesn’t expect Ilana to forgive him, because he doesn’t forgive himself.
• Aw Ben! I forgive you!!!! (Sorry, that wasn't the show, that was all me!)
• Ilana wants to know what Ben wants. Ben begs for her to let him leave. She wants to know where he’ll go.
• Tearfully, he answers, to Locke. She asks him why, and Ben sobs, “Because he’s the only one who’ll have me.”
• Ilana, also tearfully, comes to a conclusion in her mind and half-whispers, “I’ll have you.” WOW. Pure forgiveness and utter grace. Ben bares his soul and finds redemption.
• At this point, he can go either way, follow Ilana, or head to the Hydra. And this time, he chooses the right path. He follows Ilana.
• Back at the camp, the mood is filled with a weird energy – no one’s quite sure how to accept Ben back into the fold. But they do, and we get that same music they play when they want us to get sentimental.
• Slow-mo shots of each character – Lapidus, deep in thought; Miles, examining the diamonds (taken from Nikki and Paulo); Ilana, holding Jacob’s ashes and crying. When, at the musical crescendo, Hurley, Jack, and Richard appear around the bend!
• The shot is set up EXACTLY the same way at the shot when Sawyer, Kate, Jack, and Juliet returned from New Otherton. Same music. Same cut to Sun, as she drops what she’s doing in amazement (rightfully so, remember she hasn’t seen Hurley or Jack since Aijira 316). The whole thing is EXACTLY the same, only the situation/characters are different! Love it.
• They all hug and such – Lapidus and Jack do a manly shake. Ilana and Jack acknowledge each other with a nod of understanding.
• Cut to Ben, looking much like Juliet did the first time they ran this scenario. He’s standing apart from the group, not involved in all the huggy action.
• Cut to a long shot – making it seem like the group is being watched from afar.
• Which they are.
• It’s a submarine. And who’s in charge of it?
• Charles Widmore.
• WOAH!
• DUN! Bad robot!

Okay, so that didn’t really condense anything. This episode felt like it was setting us up for BIG things. I’ve read a few rumors that sound incredibly promising

• We’ll find out ALL about Richard’s history/island history is Episode 9 and 15 (Episode 15 is supposed to be REVOLUTIONARY television – NO series regulars in the entire episode, possibly ALL about the Man in Black (think we’ll EVER get to learn his name) and Jacob!
• Jack’s Baby Mama might be either Kate or Juliet (my money’s on Juliet, who’s off with her new boyfriend, Sawyer, going dutch for coffee – hey, I can dream!)
• And lots of people are going to die. Soon.
  

Let’s just get to –

TARA’S BIG LIST OF LOST QUESTIONS

1. If Locke really wanted Ben to join his crew, why didn’t he look for him earlier? It’s been awhile…
2. Why is Flocke gathering his people at the Hydra station on the other island?
3. How does the Flocke group really plan to leave the island forever? Is it going to be some sort of Heaven’s Gate mass-suicide deal?
4. Why is Charles Widmore going to the Island?
5. How did Widmore find the Island? Eloise? Daniel Faraday? Is he dead in the new timeline?
6. Is Widmore the "friend" Jacob mentioned that was coming to the Island?
7. What is Charles Widmore's plan, when he said, "Proceed as planned"?
8. Why and when did Ben and his father leave the island?
9. How did Danielle Rousseau and Alex end up in Los Angeles? And why are they all poor?
10. Ben’s relationship with his Dad seems so good in the alternate timeline, did his Mom not die in childbirth? Or is Roger just nicer?
11. When did Roger and Ben leave the island? And why?
12. Did Ben still get shot in the off-island timeline?
13. Is John Locke in the off-island really John Locke, or just Smokey in disguise?
14. When Jacob touches you, is it always the same gift?
15. Is Hurley really talking to dead Jacob? Or is it just another device of the Man in Black to manipulate the situation?
16. What caused Jack’s turn-around? One minute he’s smashing lighthouse mirrors, the next he’s playing chicken with a stick of dynamite – WTF?!?
17. Will Ilana ever really forgive Ben? And will Ben ever really be embraced by the group?
18. Ilana said that Jacob was “like a father to her” – what’s the origin of their relationship?
19. Did Alex actually get into Yale? And can’t Ben just reblackmail Reynolds after she gets in?
20. Who are the six candidates? Do Sun and Jin count as one?
21. Where the heck is Sawyer? I swear, this has been THREE episodes with him! He’d better be back next week! The promo alluded to him saying something like “You and me, we’re getting off this island” – assuming he’s talking to Kate. Although, I have a feeling that’s just a tease. That he’s saying that to her because he’s really on Flocke’s team and wants to leave. She’ll get wide-eyed and try to get him to make a run for it – just wait, I’m calling it now!

Well, that’s all for this week Losties! Love him or hate him, Ben Linus makes for one hell of an episode! Yay!

Namaste!