LOST 6.7 – "Dr. Linus"

WRITERS: Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
DIRECTOR: Mario Van Peebles
GUEST CAST: Nestor Carbonell, Tania Raymonde, Daniel Roebuck, William Atherton & Alan Dale

[SPOILERS] Ben (Michael Emerson) undoubtedly ranks as one of Lost's most compelling, fascinating characters and a great villain, in that he's so difficult to pin down. Ever since he knifed Jacob to death in season 5's finale, I get the feeling Ben's starting a journey of redemption this year, and "Dr. Linus" provided plenty of evidence to support that theory. Intriguingly, his present-day storyline and that of the "flashsideways" followed an emotional parallel, and both culminated with the same note of optimism that Ben's deliverance is at hand...

X-Timeline '04: Ben, Alex & The Principal

This week's sideways storyline focused on Ben, who in the X-reality has become an impassioned European history teacher whose position at the school is constantly undermined by the hateful Principal Reynolds (William Atheron), whom he also blames for the school's lack of resources and poor staff management. Inspired by substitute teacher Locke's (Terry O'Quinn) support over taking over as Principal someday (another example of the characters helping each other positively in this reality), the affable version of Ben starts to edge closer to the scheming character we know from the original timeline; devising a plan to oust Reynolds by threatening to expose a sexual relationship he's having with the school nurse. However, once Ben's attempt at blackmail had been made, Reynolds countered with a threat to deny Ben's favourite student -- Alex (Tania Raymonde), his dead adopted daughter in the original timeline – a personal letter of recommendation she needs to attend university. Is Ben's quest for power so great that he'll ruin the life of someone he cares for?

In some ways this storyline was pretty thin and had a few holes (like why couldn't Ben, as Principal, write a similar note of recommendation for Alex when he replaced Reynolds?), but it was otherwise a very interesting look at what Ben may have become if he'd never stayed on the Island. Indeed, it was revealed by Ben's sickly father Roger (Jon Gries) that they had both been part of DHARMA a long time ago, but had left for reasons unknown -- a decision Roger has come to regret. Emerson was, naturally, wonderful. I particularly enjoyed his relationship with Alex, and is felt remarkably uplifting when Ben chose a compromise with Reynolds to ensure Alex's future was secure.

The Island '07: Jack, Hurley & Alpert

In the present, Jack (Matthew Fox) and Hurley (Jorge Garcia) were makng their way back to The Temple from The Lighthouse, when they were intercepted by Alpert (Nestor Carbonell), who offered to lead the way. In fact, Alpert had lied and instead took them to the shipwrecked Black Rock, which is confirmed as the means he arrived on the island, "in chains" as a slave. After centuries spent following Jacob's every word (given a "gift" of immortality), convinced there was a masterplan to explain even the most arbitrary command, Jacob's death has hit Alpert extremely hard. He's now convinced his life's not worth living and needs Jack's help to commit suicide, as he can't just kill himself (shades of Michael's off-island predicament in season 4's flashback, no?) However, having seen his childhood home reflected in Jacob's Lighthouse, Jack's faith that he has a greater destiny has been restored – leading to a dangerous test of faith, involving a lighted fuse on a stick of dynamite which Jack is convinced won't explode if he's correct about providence guiding him. And, indeed, the fuse mysteriously fizzled out before it reached the explosive.

It was a minor storyline, really, but performed very well by Carbonell and Fox. The latter often comes in for criticism from fans, but I think Fox has been doing solid work with whatever he's been given, and since season 5 onwards Jack has felt more nuanced and interesting to me. Now that Jack appears to have an unshakeable belief that Jacob's death itself was part of a grand design, bodes well. Finally this season, it feels like we have a character who may not have all the answers, but is ready to accept things will become clear and take a proactive role. And there's something rather fun about seeing Jack convince Alpert that there's a reason to live, as it's Alpert who's always been seen as the person with answers. The only irritation to me about this subplot was the almost throwaway explanation for Alpert's apparent immortality, which feels like it's as simple as a supernatural being giving him eternal life in exchange for unwavering loyalty. Hopefully this will be fleshed out in a futur episode, as it felt a bit pat.

The Island '07: Ben, Miles & Ilana

Ben's current situation took a terrible step backwards, as he caught up with Ilana (Zuleikha Robinson), Miles (Ken Leung), Sun (Yunjin Kim) and Lapidus (Jeff Fahey) in the jungle having all fled The Temple's massacre by Locke, and was blamed for murdering Jacob after Miles used his psychic abilities to determine how Jacob died using the ashes Ilana collected from the Statue's firepit. Ostracized, Ben joined the group back at the beach but discovered his punishment for killing Ilana's "father" would be to dig his own grave and await his execution at Ilana's hand. Help to escape this ignoble end come from Smoke-Locke, who arrived to offer Ben a place in his group, as they're all planning to leave the Island and need someone like him to remain behind as the Island's new custodian. Ben's shackles were removed and he ran off into the jungle to find a rifle Locke had stowed away for him, chased by a furious Ilana, which led to an intense face-off in a clearing at gunpoint, where an emotional Ben tried to explain why he killed Jacob.

This was a fine strand of the episode, mainly because Ben's just so sympathetic and beguiling as a character. His story arc has been one of Lost's most fascinating and I'm actually more excited to see what happens to Ben than I am most of the regulars we started this journey with back in season 1. Ben's breakdown and honest over why he decided to kill Jacob was wonderfully portrayed by Emerson, and you couldn't help but rejoice when Ilana offered him the hand of friendship. It seems that Ben's now sided with Jacob's "team, and I'm willing to bet he'll have a significant role to play as we race towards the series finale.

In Summation

"Dr. Linus" was quite possibly the best season 6 episode yet, despite a few moments that felt silly in the X-Timeline, but a showcase for Michael Emerson is rarely a waste of time. Ben's dual storyline worked very well, particularly in how it subverted our expectations by keeping Ben's honour in the "alternate" timeline (which I still say is an extended coda to the whole series, post-finale), and it left us with a brilliant moment of excitement as a submarine approached the Island containing Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) himself. It'll be interesting to see if he's on Jacob's side, his Enemy's, or if he has an entirely different agenda with the Island.

Questions, Questions, Questions!

-- How did Charles Widmore find the Island again (it had moved from its previous location in season 4), and what does he plan to do when he's there? And is he the person Jacob intended Jack to "signal" with the Lighthouse?

-- Why is Locke heading to the Hydra Island with his group?

-- When and why did Roger and Ben leave the Island in the X-Timeline? It must assumedly have been before whatever incident caused the Island to sink underwater. Or were they part of DHARMA, but never went to the Island?

12 MARCH 2010: SKY1 (HD), 9PM