Episode 7 - Dr. Linus
14 March 2010
Review
Present: Ben rejoins Ilana's group but she soon discovers who really killed Jacob. They head back to the beach and she makes him dig his own grave. MIB appears and offers Ben the chance to look after the island once he is gone. Ben turns the tables on Ilana but is desperate to explain why he killed Jacob. Once he does she forgives him and he chooses to stay with her. Meanwhile Richard finds Jack and Hurley and takes them to the Black Rock, which he admits is where he came from. He wants to kill himself but says he can't. So Jack lights some dynamite for him but then stays claiming he doesn't think he will die.
Flashback: Dr Linus, teacher of European History is treated poorly by his boss Principal Reynolds. Locke suggests perhaps Ben should take his job. Ben looks after his ailing father Roger and cares for his most gifted student Alex Rousseau. When she reveals that Reynolds is having an affair with the school nurse, Ben decides to blackmail him with the help of Lesley Artz. But Reynolds offers Ben a choice, either he can have his job or he will write a good recommendation letter to Yale for Alex. This time, Ben chooses Alex.
The Good: A wonderful episode. The attention to detail in the writing is excellent. It may seem simple but to place Ben in the correct emotional context in both realities, faced with making a choice was beautifully accomplished. Ben's acting of course carried the day to even greater heights and the result is an emotional climax that has been missing all season. The story touched me and that's that extra level which makes an episode great.
I think the key to this episode working, beyond the acting and writing, is the way Ben's emotional state is drawn to match what he has been through. Unlike Jack, Locke and company, we didn't know Ben in season one. We have no blueprint for his major issues and internal conflicts. Once they were presented to us at the end of season three (320), they seemed to be about how damaged he was as a child. We came to see how the island allowed the bookworm to become a leader and how he would do anything to protect both the island and his own position. It was almost an afterthought that he was a father to a stolen baby and that his rebellious daughter ended up at Martin Keamy's gunpoint (409). Her death came mid-season and so suddenly that it didn't seem to be one of the core emotional issues of the show. As we had seen Ben address his guilt over her death (512) there was added surprise to seeing this story.
But in Ben's speech to Ilana (see Best Moment) he explains how her death affected his feelings toward Jacob. The guilt over letting her be killed has resurfaced when he began to wonder if he had sacrificed her for the sake of a false idol. That speech tied together Ben's emotional state so clearly that even the most hard hearted probably felt for him.
Everything surrounding that moment and Ben's choice was built piece by piece in an expert way. We discover that Roger Linus made the choice to leave the island, implying that a choice was made which actually gave him and Ben a better life and relationship. The irony was strong of course that Ben used gas to prolong, not end, his father's life in this reality. Locke was on hand again to encourage Ben to fulfil his potential. And this was season one style Locke, cutting through the pretence and just pointing out to people who they could be. Again the irony that he could inspire the man who spent so long trying to cut him down in another world.
Artz too got another chance to shine and Ben ended up cutting a deal with him, just like the plots and schemes we saw him hatch on the island. Just like on the island Ben decided to use unpleasant means (blackmail) to further a good end. But instead of putting those good ends to one side for the sake of power, he put what was right first. Again it was expertly written to present the ideal dilemma. On the island Ben justified the deaths of many people because it was in the service of a greater cause. In the flash sideways he could have rationalised that he could do more good by becoming Principal than by "just" helping one girl. But instead he chose to do right first and help her, giving her a chance to live, where he once condemned her to death.
The emotional state he was in was drawn so beautifully. He even rewards Artz for his part in the plan with his parking space. It was a nice touch to drive home further that he is putting moral rightness ahead of all else. The wider image was of a small man, who had got a sight of real power and influence. But he did the noblest thing and ended up walking away from that office slumped in defeat but having won a greater victory. Similarly on the island, he feels the need to confess to Ilana. He needs to justify what he did out loud and get it off his chest. In shame he will go and serve MIB but when Ilana offers him the chance not to, he takes it. He knows that MIB is using him the way he used others. Perhaps it's not too late to undo some of what he has done. Now he appears back on the beach humbled and willing to bow his head and help Sun rather than plot his next move. It's powerful stuff in both worlds because it is made so clear why he is doing what he is doing, what it means to him and how he has changed.
This story further puts forward the case that Jacob is good and the MIB not so much. MIB deceived and manipulated Ben and is at it again here tempting him with power. He offers Ben the chance to be in charge of the island, despite telling Sawyer that the island didn't need anyone (604). Perhaps it is another lie. Meanwhile Jacob was hoping, despite years of mistrust, that Ben would do the right thing and not kill him. That news may have given Ben some renewed faith that Jacob was the right man to follow. And of course, Ben's story in the flash sideways was about as just and "happy ending" as you could imagine.
Richard Alpert's return to the Black Rock was a big, if expected reveal and promises a fun episode exploring the islands past. His suicidal desire allowed Jack to step up and play the man of faith which is clearly a big moment. I was very glad to see that the clearly impossible discovery of the lighthouse had shaken Jack to his core. Finally after smoke monsters and time travel, Jack saw something which he could no longer deny or rationalise. Now he knows that Jacob is real and he is here for a reason. It's taken a while but that is quite the moment for Jack to have reached. The dynamite scene itself was tensionless (because clearly neither would die) but it served its purpose just fine. It also puts Jack in the state Jacob wanted him to be in, another clue that Jacob's plan is still working out.
I loved the way Ben said "totally" to Alex when she was telling him the story of seeing the Principal getting it on with the nurse. So many thoughts were racing through his head yet he had to act like the news would not get passed on in any way. A delightful bit of scripting and acting. I liked Ben's attempt to bribe Miles, I thought that showed his desperation to live and good continuity. Speaking of which Miles' ability allowed him to scoop up some of Nikki and Paulo's diamonds, which was a plausible decision. Hurley whisking off some clearly invalid theories about Richard's nature was fun. The return of Charles Widmore is very welcome because he is intimately involved in many of the show's mysteries so that should encourage viewers that more answers are coming.
There was a greater theme which the episode aroused which I really liked. That seems to be that your choices in life do matter. As much as the flash sideways seem like little happy endings designed to please fans with all the name dropping and checking, they also seem to be about choices. Roger says here that he chose to leave the island. Fate didn't just kick him off he chose to and perhaps, judging by their relationship, he chose not to blame his son for his wife's death. Similarly Ben asks Frank how different his life really would have been if he had piloted Flight 815. After all, here he is marooned on the island anyway. But that logic cuts both ways. Off the island despite a better relationship with his father, Ben ends up scheming and plotting to overthrow a leader in order to gain power. The show seems to be saying that tragedies and strange circumstance can of course affect who you become but you can chose how much life can affect you. I thought it was a nice situation to see the once powerful Ben rubbing shoulders with lowly Artz rather than more exotic companions like Richard or Mikhail. There is a really positive uplifting message being told here (I think), which is about your choices and behaviour dictating who you are and can become. Which of course sounds like Jacob's stated philosophy.
The Bad: There were a few of those Lost non-question moments. Ben is revealed as Jacob's killer. Yet no one asks why he did it or when or how a supernatural being could be killed. Frank and Sun might still be in a position to ask who Jacob is. Jack continues his stubborn trend of not asking questions. You would think he might just ask his old friend Hurley why he was stalling instead of just ignoring him. Ditto Richard Alpert who you think might have wanted to quiz Hurley on how he spoke to Jacob, what Jacob had to say and give his suicide a rain check.
The Unknown: Ilana seems to have been given a "Who's Who" of the island before she arrived. The way she addresses Miles is as if she read his biography on the back of a baseball card, which makes you wonder where she got her information from. She describes Jacob as being like a father to her which will need to be explained too.
Did Jacob touch Michael? Is that why he couldn't kill himself (408)? Jack (322) and Locke (507) had similar trouble. Widmore's return brings to the surface questions about "the rules" again (409). Credit to Ethan from Brooklyn who suggested that perhaps Alex was a candidate and killing a candidate was against the rules. Perhaps candidates were the ones who jumped through time too. That would explain why Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid joined their friends in 1977, because candidates stayed on the same track as the jumping island (what with them being potential Jacobs). If true that would mean Kwon is definitely Jin.
Did the Incident sink the island? Without Jughead to prevent the breach perhaps that is what happened. Ben mentions his vast network off the island; I still want to know who they are and why they follow.
Best Moment: Ben points his gun at Ilana and insists on explaining why he killed Jacob. His acting is terrific. Wide eyed, full of remorse and desperation for someone to understand. When she sees that he too has sacrificed a lot for Jacob she forgives him. And by proxy it's as if Jacob has forgiven Ben. The key is that he now realises that it wasn't his power that was important, but Alex's life. Her acting is good too, in mourning but not losing sight of what is important. She offers redemption to him and the wonderful line "I'll have you" was a refreshing choice. It seemed to cut through all his sentiment with an even simpler one, that he was welcome to join her on the good side now that she knew the truth. Acting, writing, overall plot points were all spot on. This was the intended emotional climax of the episode and it worked.
The Bottom Line: One of the major aspects of good storytelling is to get you to relate to a character's emotions to the point where you feel something too. Ben's story is made both clear and relevant here. His journey toward redemption is a joyful thing to see, an uplifting and moral story about one man's life. The context of his flash sideways seems clear. In another world, in some second chance at life, he did the right thing earning redemption in viewer's eyes for what he did in the past. A wonderful episode.
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