Dr. Linus

Only three characters in the history of Lost have held the esteemed position as my favorite character. One of them is Benjamin Linus. But not unlike in the show, his time on top has passed. I still like Ben, but he seems to be drifting aimlessly of late. I have been hoping he would find a purpose or cause I could get behind. I think I got just that in “Dr. Linus”.

I fell in love with Ben back in Season 3. He was a man with a plan. He could always see 10 moves ahead of everyone else. He could pinpoint a person’s weakness and exploit it in order to get – literally – whatever he wanted. And he never let his own emotions get in the way. He was purely a thinking man. But the brief moments where he’d let his guard down, those were my favorite. When Locke demanded to see Jacob, or when he found out Juliet double-crossed him and his hand would start shaking or his horrible eyes would bug out a little more than usual, those were times where Ben was at his most vulnerable and you got a little peak at his cards. Ah, good times.

By Season 4, Ben was back to playing the prisoner like he when we first met him in Season 2, but he still acted like he was “right where he wanted to be”. He was still pulling Locke’s strings just like he did in the hatch armory. He was still in control. In vintage Ben form, he executed a plan with more steps than a Big Papi handshake to get out of captivity and back into the driver’s seat. He let Locke feel like he was calling the shots, but really, Ben was leading him exactly where he wanted him to go. Ben was still a sharp, conniving SOB with all the answers at this point. Once he got back to the Island in Season 5, all that was gone.

Off-Island Ben wasn’t the same guy as on-Island Ben. While he still has plenty of people like Jill the Butcher who will work for him when he needs them, he wasn’t giving orders and making the puppets dance like he did on the Island. To get back to the Island, he was totally dependent on Ms. Hawking, and even Jack, Kate and the rest of the Oceanic 6 – a look he does not wear well. After Ajira 316 crashed, it wasn’t long before he was bamboozled into following Locke and killing Jacob, all the while sulking around like a sad little puppy. In many ways Ben is still a child, and when he doesn’t get his way, he pouts. It was truly pitiful the way he asked Locke, “Why do you want me to kill Jacob, John?” It was like a punch in the gut hearing him submit to somebody else like that. It was not the Ben I knew. And I didn’t think I’d ever get the same rush from his character again.

That brings us to “Dr. Linus”. It was a good episode. A real good one. I’m going to like Ben flashes no matter what, especially if Roger Workman and Arzt are involved, and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. I totally bought into Ben as a history professor, and the way they integrated Alex and Locke and Ben’s lust for power and his selfishness all into this sideways world was remarkable. And awesome. I loved the parallels between his speech about Napoleon and his Island life, his plot against Principal Reynolds and his coup of the Widmore throne, and his decision to let Alex die and his decision to help Alex get into Yale. This is the type of episode that usually grows on me after a few viewings, and I look forward thinking about it again during my next rewatch.

It’s the decisions that Ben makes at the end of the sideways flashes and the Island events that make this the perfect cap on the story of Benjamin Linus. Let’s face it, Ben needed a new direction. I don’t think a mopey, neutered Ben was going to do anyone any good for the remaining 11 hours (gah!) of the show. So they set it up like Ilana was going to kill him. But I didn’t buy into that ruse. If I did, I would have been in full-blown freak-out mode like I was during “Dead is Dead” last year.

So Ben’s digging his own grave next to the graves of Boone, Shannon, Nikki, Paulo and all the others who haven’t made it to this point, and he sees the MIB lurking in the jungle. He tells Ben that there’s a rifle waiting for him if he wants to make a break for it, and that with his loyalty, he will give back to Ben what he’s always wanted – leadership of the Island. With a quick dose of magic, the MIB frees Ben of his chains and Ben makes a break for it into the jungle with gun-toting Ilana not far behind.

Ben makes it to the gun and turns just in time for a classic standoff with Ilana. She’d vowed to kill him because she found out he had killed Jacob. That’s when Ben changes his ways. He stops lying, stops manipulating. He puts all his cards on the table. He confesses to Ilana that he did kill Jacob, and he did it because he was angry and confused. That he was afraid he was going to lose the only thing that ever mattered to him – his power. That he had devoted his life to a man who he had never even seen and it had cost him his daughter, whom he learned he loved even more than his power only after it was too late. He tells Ilana that he’s going with Locke. “Because, he’s the only one who will have me,” he says. Maybe because she can relate to all that, Ilana replies, “I’ll have you.” She walks away. And Ben follows.

I think the last part represents the most critical piece of Ben’s character. Sure he wants his power, but more than anything (and like many of our other characters), he just wants to be accepted and to be loved. Jacob was the closest thing Ben had to a father, someone who he felt loved him. When his real father would only push him around and say things like “It’s kind of hard to celebrate on the day you killed your mom,” Jacob’s people took him in and gave him a home. So Ben devoted his life to Jacob and sacrificed much along the way. And when Jacob rejected him with a dismissive, “What about you?” Ben felt the last walls of that home come crashing down. Yes, Ben did some horrible things in his life. And although he claims it all was for the Island, a lot of it was obviously to maintain his grip on power and his position as Island Dictator. But I think that was because he felt that was the only way he could hold on to the only family he’d ever had, the only people who would ever have him. It’s no excuse, but I’m not here to judge. I’m just here to understand. And “Dr. Linus” has done as good a job as any episode on bringing a single character into focus.

So now Benjamin Linus seems to be in position for some sort of redemption. He has acknowledged the error of his ways. He has his priorities in order. And he’s on the right team. Who would have thought the first person to reject a deal from the MIB would be Ben, especially with such a tempting reward? Good for him. This is a Ben Linus I can get behind.

A few quick hits about the rest of the episode -

-Loved the scene at the Black Rock. Jack showed some good faith there. Not any of that, “The Island brought me here for a reason and that reason is to blow up this nuclear bomb so no of this ever happened!” faith. But real faith that he’s special, that the Island is special, that there are things about it that he can’t understand. He’s certainly showed a lot of sack this season. That’s the Jack of the good old days.

-I think we got some pretty conclusive evidence that Richard came to the Island on the Black Rock. He said it was the first time he’d even come back to it since he’d been on the Island, and he gave a pair of empty chains an extra long stare. It was also interesting to hear how spiteful Richard seemed toward Jacob. I can’t wait to get more on this back-story.

-Ben made the selfless choice in both the Island story and the sideways story. So, like Sayid, he seems to be on the path to meet the same fate in both worlds. Something to keep an eye on.

-Widmore’s coming to the Island. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Des was a stowaway somewhere on that sub.

-No Sawyer for the third straight week. “Recon” promises to change that. I’m giddy.