when i was living this lie, fear was my game...
Ben’s running away from the temple, crashing through the jungle, when he finds Ilana, Sun, Miles and Lapidus. Ilana asks where Jarrah is, and Ben tells them Sayid killed Dogen and the translator. She wants to know if he’s sure. “He was standing over their dead bodies holding a bloody dagger, so yeah I’m pretty sure.”
They decide to head back to the beach.
=flashsideways=
“It was on this island that everything changed. And everything finally became clear.”
Dr. Linus is referring to Elba (anagram of Abel…), and telling his students about Napoleon, “Exile wasn’t the worst of his fate – what was truly devastating to him was the loss of his power. Sure, they allowed him to keep the title of emperor, but without any power it was meaningless; he might just as well have been dead.”
The bell rings and Principal Reynolds enters as the class ends. Something tells me we’ll want to see Bonnie Bedelia punch this dude in the face before the episode is over. Sideways Ben doesn’t seem to have much power to lose. Reynolds informs him that, due to events above his pay grade, Ben’s been assigned detention after school all week, effectively canceling his history club. Although there are only 5 kids in it, Ben feels the ones with ambition should be encouraged. “The club isn’t for them, it’s for you; it makes you feel needed. Unfortunately for now, you’re needed. In detention. Thanks for your understanding, Linus.”
What a dick. He is a dick, isn’t he?
“It’s Doctor Linus, actually.”
The shot of Ben getting his lunch from the fridge is one of the saddest in the history of the show. Just some sushi with his name written on it, and a jar of sauce with his initials on top. Ben’s mug has his name on it too... I mean I guess they’re trying to show how anal he is, how he takes control over everything he has the power to do so with, but it’s all very melancholy and bleak in a way. Humanizing… so yeah, I’m loving the directing in this episode. Anyway, here’s Arzt to liven shit up. He’s got some formaldehyde on his shirt – which is a step up from getting some Arzt on your shirt.
"You know what gets out formaldehyde? Nothing."
Doc Arzt, believe it or not, is complaining. About his shirt, about having lab equipment from the 50’s, about the science department getting no funds. Ben tells him it’s because Reynolds is an administrator who’s forgotten what the public school system is about. “Yeah, summers off in exchange for a crap pension.”
“No, taking care of the kids, that’s what important.”
Arzt tells Ben to keep dreaming.
“I know you’ve given up. I refuse to.”
Locke’s at the next table and has a suggestion, “Maybe you should be the principal.”
“So says the substitute.”
“Just sounds like you care about this place, and if the man in charge doesn’t, then maybe it’s time for a change.”
=island=
Ilana doesn’t believe Bens story of what happened at the statue. She gives Miles Jacobs ashes so he can do his thing. He does that thing, and tells her that Linus killed him. She asks if he’s sure. “Well, he was standing over Jacobs’s body with a bloody dagger so... yeah, I’m pretty sure.”
Ilana shoots Ben a look that could kill, if looks could kill, “Jacob was the closest thing I had to a father.”
Miles’ “Uh oh.” is an instant classic line, along with, “Guys, where are we?” and Hurley’s 1977 “uh...what?”
Hilarious.
L O S T
They arrive at the old beach camp. Ben is trying to get a read on Ilana, who is ignoring him. He attempts to weasel his way out of it, telling her how unreliable psychics are and that Miles tried to blackmail him. She walks away, still paying Ben no attention.
=flashsideways=
We get the mirror shot, in a microwave door. He doesn’t really acknowledge himself (like Sayid), however, only looking up when the timer goes off. He brings the meal out to his dad, who is attached to an oxygen tank and wearing incredible aging makeup. Great job there, for real. It’s an organic TV dinner, because Ben is trying to keep his dad healthy.
“Oh, it’s a little too late for that.”
Oh, the irony.
This dad is not a bitter drunk – but what changed... almost losing Ben? Because this IS the Ben that was shot and brought back with the spring on the island, right? But if 815 never crashed did Sayid ever travel through time and shoot this Ben at a young age? I lean toward this being the Ben we saw in 1977, and he and Dad just left on the sub along with Miles and Charlotte.
So it’s the same elder Linus too, and he sort of confirms it as Ben is changing out his oxygen tank for a fresh one. “This isn’t the life I wanted for you Ben, I wanted so much more. It’s why I signed up for that damn Dharma Initiative and took you to the island and we were with decent people, smarter than I’ll ever be. Imagine how different our lives would have been if we’d stayed.”
“Yes, we’d have both lived happily ever after.”
“No, I’m serious Ben. Who knows what you would have become.”
Ben turns on the gas from the new tank, “Now does that feel better?”
“Ah yes, thank you.”
Oh, the irony.
The doorbell rings... its Alex. She’s one of the five kids with ambition. They share some pleasant banter and seem to have a nice relationship. Ben agrees to help her study before school while he is busy with detention in the afternoons. “Thanks. You’re the best Doctor Linus.”
“My pleasure, Alex.”
He seems to have one of those déjà-vu moments as she walks away, or else he’s just basking in the glow of someone needing him.
=island=
Sun is desperate to continue the search for Jin, and is surprised that Ilana feels the same way. “Why do you want to find Jin?”
“Because your last name is Kwon and so is his, and I don’t know whether I’m supposed to protect you, him, or both of you.”
Sun doesn’t know what she’s talking about. “You’re candidates. To replace Jacob.”
“Replace him? To do what?”
“You’re the one selected; I imagine you’ll find out.”
She sounds bitter. Sun wants to know how many candidates there are. “Six. There are only six left.”
Hurley’s dreams of cheese curls are rudely interrupted when Jack wakes him so they can continue on to the temple. Hurley is being difficult and they’re arguing about in which direction the temple lies when Richard emerges from the jungle. Jack asks where he came from, and Richard says he wouldn’t believe him if he told him. “Try me.
“Not yet. If you want to go to the temple it’s this way.”
Jack starts to follow and Hurley doesn’t get why he would trust this guy.
"At least he's not stalling…”
Back at the beach Ben is going thru Sawyers old tent, checking out the library, or at least what’s left of it. There’s a Booty Babes magazine promising big bouncy beautiful buns – the “b” spot - going there - getting to the bottom of it – rear view mirrors.
Benjamin Disraeli – Justice is Truth in Action – which is just a quote, not a book, as far as I can tell.
Chaim Potok - The Chosen
Ben finds an Oceanic bottle and reminisces with Lapidus, who tells him he would have been the pilot on flight 815 if he hadn’t overslept, “Imagine how different my life would be had that alarm gone off.”
“How different would it have been? The island still got you in the end, didn’t it?”
Ilana comes over and points the gun at Ben. “Walk.”
She leads him to the graveyard and secures his leg to a tree, then tells him to start digging his grave.
=flashsideways=
Ben has his history book open to chapter 19, the East India Trading Company – with a painting of a ship that looks like the Black Rock. He stumps Alex when asking, “The East India’s Trading Companies power extended to all of India except for...”
Alex freaks out about her chances at getting into Yale, and how she’d even be able to afford it with her mom working two jobs just to pay the rent. No dad? How’d she end up in LA? Ben assures Alex that she’s one of the brightest students he’s ever had, “I don’t worry about your future at all.”
She says she needs a recommendation letter from that pervert Principal Reynolds, and explains by telling Ben that she caught Reynolds and the nurse having sex on school grounds. This Ben Linus goes into that Ben Linus’ calculating mode. He snaps out of it after a second or two and suggests they get back to work. “Shall we return to the high seas?”
=island=
We return to the high seas. Miles - maybe feeling a little guilty? - offers Ben some banana and green beans, then chides him for digging slowly - maybe not feeling guilty?. Ben’s not hungry and he’s in no rush. He gets that look in his eye and asks Miles if he still wants the 3.2 million. “What are you gonna do, you gonna write me a check on this banana leaf?”
Ben tells him he has a vast network off island that can get him the money if he’ll only set him free. “Why would I need your money when there are a couple of jaboneys named Nikki and Paulo who got buried alive with 8 million dollars in diamonds on top of them?” Ha!
Ben doesn’t know how Miles can be so aloof, “Ilana's going to murder me for killing Jacob, a man who didn’t even care about being killed.”
Miles tells him he cared, “Right up until the second the knife went through his heart, he was hoping he was wrong about you. I guess he wasn’t.”
Ilana breaks up the little chat by shooting the ground at Ben’s feet.
“Dig!”
Hurley is trying to get to the bottom of Richard as the three trudge though the dense jungle. “So, you’re not time traveling?”
“No.”
“But you look the same as you did thirty years ago, how is that possible?”
“Not easy to explain.”
“This like a terminator thing? You a cyborg?”
“No, I’m not a cyborg.”
“Vampire?”
Richard is getting irritated.
“Jacob gave me a gift.”
They arrive at the Black Rock. Richard tells the guys he led them away from the temple because everyone there is dead, but that he also didn’t see their missing friends there. He informs Jack that whatever he’s looking for at the temple, it’s not there. Hurley says Jacob hinted at that, and Richard asks if Hurley has talked to Jacob. Hurley confirms this, and Richard tells him not to believe a word he says. Thinking Smokey could take his form, or just untrusting of the real Jacob? Richard says there’s something he needs to do. “Need to do what?”
“Die.”
=flashsideways=
Arzt is miserably grading papers, mostly F’s, when Ben comes in to ask for a favor. He knows Arzt is good with computers and wants him to hack into the principal’s account. He confides that it’s to collect incriminating evidence so that he can usurp the ‘throne’ – Arzt has a few demands, like a better parking spot- it all feels kind of like a Buy More subplot, in a good way. Some Jeffster would make it even better. Ben agrees to the deal and Arzt is excited, “You really had me fooled with that sweater vest! Linus, you’re a real killer.”
Déjà vu-ey ness again, sort of – or just the inherent evil conniving Ben bubbling to the top? Maybe once the island was sunk the Springs and whatever they ‘changed’ forever in someone were just eradicated, so Ben doesn’t have that ‘corruption’ any longer?
=island=
Killer Ben is standing shackled in his nearly completed grave.
Richard and the others are inside the belly of the Black Rock, Richard holding the chains with pain in his eyes. He tells Jack that in all the time he’s spent on the island today is the first time he’s ever come back, pretty much confirming he was from the Black Rock originally. He opens up a crate of dynamite and Hurley freaks out. He tells Richard it’s unstable.
“I know”
“Yeah well so did Dr Arzt, and I was wiping him out of my shirt two days later.”
Richard tells them that he wants them to kill him, as he can’t do it himself, “Jacob touched me, and when Jacob touches you it’s considered a gift, but it’s not a gift at all, it’s a curse.”
So the blast killed Juliet because she wasn’t touched by Jacob in the flashbacks?
Jack wants to know why he wants to die.
“I devoted my life, longer than you can possibly imagine, in service of a man who told me that everything was happening for a reason, that he had a plan, a plan that I was a part of and when the time was right that he’d share it with me; and now that man’s gone. So why do I want to die? Because I just found out my entire life had no purpose.”
He asks Jack to light the fuse, promising it’s long enough for them to get away. Jack agrees to help, lights the fuse, and then sits down with Richard, “Now let’s talk.”
Hurley freaks as the fuse burns down, “Jack dude we gotta go guys crazy and I know crazy. Dude you're gonna blow up!”
He assures Hurley they’ll be all right. “If you change your mind i'll be like a mile away.”
Jack tells Richard that they’re not gonna die, and launches into the story about Jacob sending him to the lighthouse to see his childhood home in the mirror.
“For some reason he wanted me to know that he had been watching me since I was a kid. I have no idea why, but I’m willing to bet you that if Jacob went to that trouble that he brought me to this island for a reason, and that is not to blow up sitting here with you right now.”
Crazy Jack closes his eyes as the fuse burns down and out. Can’t die, like Michael.
“Wanna try another stick?”
“All right Jack, you seem to have all the answers, so now what?”
“Go back to where we started.”
Ben’s still digging as UnLocke, in another grand Smokey entrance, appears before him. He’s gathering a group and they’re leaving the island, but once he’s gone someone needs to be left in charge. He can’t think of a better man for the job than Ben. He releases Ben from his shackles and gives directions to a gun in the jungle nearby, telling Ben not to hesitate, because she won’t. He disappears and Ben runs into the jungle, with Ilana taking chase.
=flashsideways=
Ben confronts Principal Reynolds with some scandalous emails and lays out his plan for taking over. Reynolds counters by threatening to keep Alex out of Yale; effectively destroying her life, or at least her dreams, “So, I put the ball back in your court. You can execute (button) your little Machiavellian maneuvers, go for my job; sit at my desk. But alas, there will be an unfortunate side effect. I will torch Mrs. Rousseau and her future. Is my job, my power, that important to you? So, what’ll it be, Doctor Linus?”
Will Ben want power so badly off-island that he’ll betray Alex again? It’s kind of like the flashsideways’ are the mirror images of the island redemptive journeys in the first few seasons. Same soul searching, different location. That should have been clear to me before but I didn’t really see it. Another hint that the Flashsideways-verse is the main story now and the island drama this season is more akin to the flashbacks of yore?
=island=
Ben reaches the gun in time and forces Ilana to drop her weapon. What follows is an Emmy waiting to happen. Michael Emerson can monologue like no one else on television. Seriously.
“I want to explain that I know what you’re feeling. I watched my daughter Alex die in front of me and it was my fault. I had a chance to save her, but I chose the island... over her? All in the name of Jacob. I sacrificed everything for him. And he didn’t even care. Yeah, I stabbed him I was so angry, confused, I was terrified that I was about to lose the only thing that had ever mattered to me; my power. But the thing that really mattered was already gone. I'm sorry that I killed Jacob. I am, and I do not expect you to forgive me because I can never forgive myself. Just let me leave.”
Ilana has tears in her eyes, she knows he’s sincere. Her acting here is almost as good as his, and it probably helps to be reacting to Emerson laying his soul bare (assuming they shot this together). She wants to know where he’ll go.
“To Locke.”
Revulsion crosses her face, “Why?”
“Because he’s the only one that’ll have me.”
“I'll have you.”
(I really gotta do something about the dust in here. That was stunning – in the same league as "You bow to no one." and "That’ll do, pig.")
An astonished Ben follows Ilana back to the beach... perhaps thinking about Napoleon, “Sure, they allowed him to keep the title of emperor, but without any power it was meaningless; he might just as well have been dead.”
=flashsideways=
Ben enters the darkened principal’s office, turns on a light and picks up Reynolds name plaque, looking kind of disgusted. Alex knocks at the door and comes in; she’s looking for the Principal, who wrote her an amazing letter of recommendation. She’s sure that Ben had a hand in it somehow.
“No, it wasn’t me, Alex. But I always say you’re a great student, obviously I wasn’t the only one who noticed.”
Reynolds bursts in and Ben takes a small measure of control and power in this life, even if it’s just over history club, “Principal Reynolds found someone to cover for detention, isn’t that right?”
Alex seems to have one of those déjà vu flickers as Ben leaves the office. Arzt is bummed about the parking space.
=island=
A weeping Ilana returns to the beach with Ben. He offers to help Sun with her tarp and she accepts. Miles has the diamonds. Razzle freakin' dazzle. What a fucking payoff there, in both regards. Who knew Nikki and Paulo would tie into the last season in any way other than zombies… Jack, Hurley and Richard show up at the beach in slo-mo. They all greet each other warmly, except for Ben, who stands off to the back of the group and makes some uncomfortable eye contact with Jack.
A periscope rises from the water off the beach and gets the group in its sights. The man operating it asks if they should stop.
Charles Widmore tells him, “No, proceed as planned.”
L O S T
They decide to head back to the beach.
=flashsideways=
“It was on this island that everything changed. And everything finally became clear.”
Dr. Linus is referring to Elba (anagram of Abel…), and telling his students about Napoleon, “Exile wasn’t the worst of his fate – what was truly devastating to him was the loss of his power. Sure, they allowed him to keep the title of emperor, but without any power it was meaningless; he might just as well have been dead.”
The bell rings and Principal Reynolds enters as the class ends. Something tells me we’ll want to see Bonnie Bedelia punch this dude in the face before the episode is over. Sideways Ben doesn’t seem to have much power to lose. Reynolds informs him that, due to events above his pay grade, Ben’s been assigned detention after school all week, effectively canceling his history club. Although there are only 5 kids in it, Ben feels the ones with ambition should be encouraged. “The club isn’t for them, it’s for you; it makes you feel needed. Unfortunately for now, you’re needed. In detention. Thanks for your understanding, Linus.”
What a dick. He is a dick, isn’t he?
“It’s Doctor Linus, actually.”
The shot of Ben getting his lunch from the fridge is one of the saddest in the history of the show. Just some sushi with his name written on it, and a jar of sauce with his initials on top. Ben’s mug has his name on it too... I mean I guess they’re trying to show how anal he is, how he takes control over everything he has the power to do so with, but it’s all very melancholy and bleak in a way. Humanizing… so yeah, I’m loving the directing in this episode. Anyway, here’s Arzt to liven shit up. He’s got some formaldehyde on his shirt – which is a step up from getting some Arzt on your shirt.
"You know what gets out formaldehyde? Nothing."
Doc Arzt, believe it or not, is complaining. About his shirt, about having lab equipment from the 50’s, about the science department getting no funds. Ben tells him it’s because Reynolds is an administrator who’s forgotten what the public school system is about. “Yeah, summers off in exchange for a crap pension.”
“No, taking care of the kids, that’s what important.”
Arzt tells Ben to keep dreaming.
“I know you’ve given up. I refuse to.”
Locke’s at the next table and has a suggestion, “Maybe you should be the principal.”
“So says the substitute.”
“Just sounds like you care about this place, and if the man in charge doesn’t, then maybe it’s time for a change.”
=island=
Ilana doesn’t believe Bens story of what happened at the statue. She gives Miles Jacobs ashes so he can do his thing. He does that thing, and tells her that Linus killed him. She asks if he’s sure. “Well, he was standing over Jacobs’s body with a bloody dagger so... yeah, I’m pretty sure.”
Ilana shoots Ben a look that could kill, if looks could kill, “Jacob was the closest thing I had to a father.”
Miles’ “Uh oh.” is an instant classic line, along with, “Guys, where are we?” and Hurley’s 1977 “uh...what?”
Hilarious.
L O S T
They arrive at the old beach camp. Ben is trying to get a read on Ilana, who is ignoring him. He attempts to weasel his way out of it, telling her how unreliable psychics are and that Miles tried to blackmail him. She walks away, still paying Ben no attention.
=flashsideways=
We get the mirror shot, in a microwave door. He doesn’t really acknowledge himself (like Sayid), however, only looking up when the timer goes off. He brings the meal out to his dad, who is attached to an oxygen tank and wearing incredible aging makeup. Great job there, for real. It’s an organic TV dinner, because Ben is trying to keep his dad healthy.
“Oh, it’s a little too late for that.”
Oh, the irony.
This dad is not a bitter drunk – but what changed... almost losing Ben? Because this IS the Ben that was shot and brought back with the spring on the island, right? But if 815 never crashed did Sayid ever travel through time and shoot this Ben at a young age? I lean toward this being the Ben we saw in 1977, and he and Dad just left on the sub along with Miles and Charlotte.
So it’s the same elder Linus too, and he sort of confirms it as Ben is changing out his oxygen tank for a fresh one. “This isn’t the life I wanted for you Ben, I wanted so much more. It’s why I signed up for that damn Dharma Initiative and took you to the island and we were with decent people, smarter than I’ll ever be. Imagine how different our lives would have been if we’d stayed.”
“Yes, we’d have both lived happily ever after.”
“No, I’m serious Ben. Who knows what you would have become.”
Ben turns on the gas from the new tank, “Now does that feel better?”
“Ah yes, thank you.”
Oh, the irony.
The doorbell rings... its Alex. She’s one of the five kids with ambition. They share some pleasant banter and seem to have a nice relationship. Ben agrees to help her study before school while he is busy with detention in the afternoons. “Thanks. You’re the best Doctor Linus.”
“My pleasure, Alex.”
He seems to have one of those déjà-vu moments as she walks away, or else he’s just basking in the glow of someone needing him.
=island=
Sun is desperate to continue the search for Jin, and is surprised that Ilana feels the same way. “Why do you want to find Jin?”
“Because your last name is Kwon and so is his, and I don’t know whether I’m supposed to protect you, him, or both of you.”
Sun doesn’t know what she’s talking about. “You’re candidates. To replace Jacob.”
“Replace him? To do what?”
“You’re the one selected; I imagine you’ll find out.”
She sounds bitter. Sun wants to know how many candidates there are. “Six. There are only six left.”
Hurley’s dreams of cheese curls are rudely interrupted when Jack wakes him so they can continue on to the temple. Hurley is being difficult and they’re arguing about in which direction the temple lies when Richard emerges from the jungle. Jack asks where he came from, and Richard says he wouldn’t believe him if he told him. “Try me.
“Not yet. If you want to go to the temple it’s this way.”
Jack starts to follow and Hurley doesn’t get why he would trust this guy.
"At least he's not stalling…”
Back at the beach Ben is going thru Sawyers old tent, checking out the library, or at least what’s left of it. There’s a Booty Babes magazine promising big bouncy beautiful buns – the “b” spot - going there - getting to the bottom of it – rear view mirrors.
Benjamin Disraeli – Justice is Truth in Action – which is just a quote, not a book, as far as I can tell.
Chaim Potok - The Chosen
Ben finds an Oceanic bottle and reminisces with Lapidus, who tells him he would have been the pilot on flight 815 if he hadn’t overslept, “Imagine how different my life would be had that alarm gone off.”
“How different would it have been? The island still got you in the end, didn’t it?”
Ilana comes over and points the gun at Ben. “Walk.”
She leads him to the graveyard and secures his leg to a tree, then tells him to start digging his grave.
=flashsideways=
Ben has his history book open to chapter 19, the East India Trading Company – with a painting of a ship that looks like the Black Rock. He stumps Alex when asking, “The East India’s Trading Companies power extended to all of India except for...”
Alex freaks out about her chances at getting into Yale, and how she’d even be able to afford it with her mom working two jobs just to pay the rent. No dad? How’d she end up in LA? Ben assures Alex that she’s one of the brightest students he’s ever had, “I don’t worry about your future at all.”
She says she needs a recommendation letter from that pervert Principal Reynolds, and explains by telling Ben that she caught Reynolds and the nurse having sex on school grounds. This Ben Linus goes into that Ben Linus’ calculating mode. He snaps out of it after a second or two and suggests they get back to work. “Shall we return to the high seas?”
=island=
We return to the high seas. Miles - maybe feeling a little guilty? - offers Ben some banana and green beans, then chides him for digging slowly - maybe not feeling guilty?. Ben’s not hungry and he’s in no rush. He gets that look in his eye and asks Miles if he still wants the 3.2 million. “What are you gonna do, you gonna write me a check on this banana leaf?”
Ben tells him he has a vast network off island that can get him the money if he’ll only set him free. “Why would I need your money when there are a couple of jaboneys named Nikki and Paulo who got buried alive with 8 million dollars in diamonds on top of them?” Ha!
Ben doesn’t know how Miles can be so aloof, “Ilana's going to murder me for killing Jacob, a man who didn’t even care about being killed.”
Miles tells him he cared, “Right up until the second the knife went through his heart, he was hoping he was wrong about you. I guess he wasn’t.”
Ilana breaks up the little chat by shooting the ground at Ben’s feet.
“Dig!”
Hurley is trying to get to the bottom of Richard as the three trudge though the dense jungle. “So, you’re not time traveling?”
“No.”
“But you look the same as you did thirty years ago, how is that possible?”
“Not easy to explain.”
“This like a terminator thing? You a cyborg?”
“No, I’m not a cyborg.”
“Vampire?”
Richard is getting irritated.
“Jacob gave me a gift.”
They arrive at the Black Rock. Richard tells the guys he led them away from the temple because everyone there is dead, but that he also didn’t see their missing friends there. He informs Jack that whatever he’s looking for at the temple, it’s not there. Hurley says Jacob hinted at that, and Richard asks if Hurley has talked to Jacob. Hurley confirms this, and Richard tells him not to believe a word he says. Thinking Smokey could take his form, or just untrusting of the real Jacob? Richard says there’s something he needs to do. “Need to do what?”
“Die.”
=flashsideways=
Arzt is miserably grading papers, mostly F’s, when Ben comes in to ask for a favor. He knows Arzt is good with computers and wants him to hack into the principal’s account. He confides that it’s to collect incriminating evidence so that he can usurp the ‘throne’ – Arzt has a few demands, like a better parking spot- it all feels kind of like a Buy More subplot, in a good way. Some Jeffster would make it even better. Ben agrees to the deal and Arzt is excited, “You really had me fooled with that sweater vest! Linus, you’re a real killer.”
Déjà vu-ey ness again, sort of – or just the inherent evil conniving Ben bubbling to the top? Maybe once the island was sunk the Springs and whatever they ‘changed’ forever in someone were just eradicated, so Ben doesn’t have that ‘corruption’ any longer?
=island=
Killer Ben is standing shackled in his nearly completed grave.
Richard and the others are inside the belly of the Black Rock, Richard holding the chains with pain in his eyes. He tells Jack that in all the time he’s spent on the island today is the first time he’s ever come back, pretty much confirming he was from the Black Rock originally. He opens up a crate of dynamite and Hurley freaks out. He tells Richard it’s unstable.
“I know”
“Yeah well so did Dr Arzt, and I was wiping him out of my shirt two days later.”
Richard tells them that he wants them to kill him, as he can’t do it himself, “Jacob touched me, and when Jacob touches you it’s considered a gift, but it’s not a gift at all, it’s a curse.”
So the blast killed Juliet because she wasn’t touched by Jacob in the flashbacks?
Jack wants to know why he wants to die.
“I devoted my life, longer than you can possibly imagine, in service of a man who told me that everything was happening for a reason, that he had a plan, a plan that I was a part of and when the time was right that he’d share it with me; and now that man’s gone. So why do I want to die? Because I just found out my entire life had no purpose.”
He asks Jack to light the fuse, promising it’s long enough for them to get away. Jack agrees to help, lights the fuse, and then sits down with Richard, “Now let’s talk.”
Hurley freaks as the fuse burns down, “Jack dude we gotta go guys crazy and I know crazy. Dude you're gonna blow up!”
He assures Hurley they’ll be all right. “If you change your mind i'll be like a mile away.”
Jack tells Richard that they’re not gonna die, and launches into the story about Jacob sending him to the lighthouse to see his childhood home in the mirror.
“For some reason he wanted me to know that he had been watching me since I was a kid. I have no idea why, but I’m willing to bet you that if Jacob went to that trouble that he brought me to this island for a reason, and that is not to blow up sitting here with you right now.”
Crazy Jack closes his eyes as the fuse burns down and out. Can’t die, like Michael.
“Wanna try another stick?”
“All right Jack, you seem to have all the answers, so now what?”
“Go back to where we started.”
Ben’s still digging as UnLocke, in another grand Smokey entrance, appears before him. He’s gathering a group and they’re leaving the island, but once he’s gone someone needs to be left in charge. He can’t think of a better man for the job than Ben. He releases Ben from his shackles and gives directions to a gun in the jungle nearby, telling Ben not to hesitate, because she won’t. He disappears and Ben runs into the jungle, with Ilana taking chase.
=flashsideways=
Ben confronts Principal Reynolds with some scandalous emails and lays out his plan for taking over. Reynolds counters by threatening to keep Alex out of Yale; effectively destroying her life, or at least her dreams, “So, I put the ball back in your court. You can execute (button) your little Machiavellian maneuvers, go for my job; sit at my desk. But alas, there will be an unfortunate side effect. I will torch Mrs. Rousseau and her future. Is my job, my power, that important to you? So, what’ll it be, Doctor Linus?”
Will Ben want power so badly off-island that he’ll betray Alex again? It’s kind of like the flashsideways’ are the mirror images of the island redemptive journeys in the first few seasons. Same soul searching, different location. That should have been clear to me before but I didn’t really see it. Another hint that the Flashsideways-verse is the main story now and the island drama this season is more akin to the flashbacks of yore?
=island=
Ben reaches the gun in time and forces Ilana to drop her weapon. What follows is an Emmy waiting to happen. Michael Emerson can monologue like no one else on television. Seriously.
“I want to explain that I know what you’re feeling. I watched my daughter Alex die in front of me and it was my fault. I had a chance to save her, but I chose the island... over her? All in the name of Jacob. I sacrificed everything for him. And he didn’t even care. Yeah, I stabbed him I was so angry, confused, I was terrified that I was about to lose the only thing that had ever mattered to me; my power. But the thing that really mattered was already gone. I'm sorry that I killed Jacob. I am, and I do not expect you to forgive me because I can never forgive myself. Just let me leave.”
Ilana has tears in her eyes, she knows he’s sincere. Her acting here is almost as good as his, and it probably helps to be reacting to Emerson laying his soul bare (assuming they shot this together). She wants to know where he’ll go.
“To Locke.”
Revulsion crosses her face, “Why?”
“Because he’s the only one that’ll have me.”
“I'll have you.”
(I really gotta do something about the dust in here. That was stunning – in the same league as "You bow to no one." and "That’ll do, pig.")
An astonished Ben follows Ilana back to the beach... perhaps thinking about Napoleon, “Sure, they allowed him to keep the title of emperor, but without any power it was meaningless; he might just as well have been dead.”
=flashsideways=
Ben enters the darkened principal’s office, turns on a light and picks up Reynolds name plaque, looking kind of disgusted. Alex knocks at the door and comes in; she’s looking for the Principal, who wrote her an amazing letter of recommendation. She’s sure that Ben had a hand in it somehow.
“No, it wasn’t me, Alex. But I always say you’re a great student, obviously I wasn’t the only one who noticed.”
Reynolds bursts in and Ben takes a small measure of control and power in this life, even if it’s just over history club, “Principal Reynolds found someone to cover for detention, isn’t that right?”
Alex seems to have one of those déjà vu flickers as Ben leaves the office. Arzt is bummed about the parking space.
=island=
A weeping Ilana returns to the beach with Ben. He offers to help Sun with her tarp and she accepts. Miles has the diamonds. Razzle freakin' dazzle. What a fucking payoff there, in both regards. Who knew Nikki and Paulo would tie into the last season in any way other than zombies… Jack, Hurley and Richard show up at the beach in slo-mo. They all greet each other warmly, except for Ben, who stands off to the back of the group and makes some uncomfortable eye contact with Jack.
A periscope rises from the water off the beach and gets the group in its sights. The man operating it asks if they should stop.
Charles Widmore tells him, “No, proceed as planned.”
L O S T
posted by karmacomedian at 9:47 AM
