Hot damn, was that a great episode or what? Maybe we’re biased because we are so partial to Ben, but if Michael Emerson isn’t nominated/awarded an Emmy for this episode it will be a crime. The Sideways-verse was particularly interesting this episode, not only as a character study of Sideways Ben, but also for its direct references to the Dharma Initiative and the Island. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, go grab yourself a microwave dinner (careful, it’s hot!) and settle in for an awesome episode. If you’re all caught up you’d better ditch that grave-digging stick and hurry on down to the rest of this blog!
The Sideways-verse: Where European History just got real sexy
Sideways Ben is teaching his students about an island where everything became clear: Elba, where Napoleon was exiled to and faced his greatest test – his loss of power. So many correlations can be drawn to the original timeline right off the bat – Ben’s exile (when he turned the frozen donkey wheel), his loss of power when usurped by Locke as leader of the others, and also Widmore’s exile from the island (which was, of course, caused by Ben). At the end of the class Principal Reynolds comes in and asks to speak to Ben. Reynolds says he needs Ben to cover detention all week. But what about the History Club which meets after school? Those kids need him! Reynolds basically tells him to suck it – or, you know, that the school is short on money and resources and no one really cares about his club. He thanks “Linus” as he leaves. Hey, that’s “Dr. Linus”, thank you very much.
In the teacher’s lounge Dr. Leslie Arzt (I totally called that he would work there!) is trying to wipe away a formaldehyde stain and complains about the lack of aprons and outdated equipment. This was retrospectively hilarious when Hurley later referenced how they spent days whipping Arzt off their shirts (in Exodus, Part 2). Ben says that Principal Reynolds is an administrator, not a teacher – that he doesn’t care about the kids. Ben refuses to give up on his principles. The substitute, aka Locke, suggests that Ben should be principal.
Ben: What do you mean, I should be the principal?
Locke: It just sounds like you care about this place and if the man in charge doesn't, then maybe it's time for a change.
Ben: I appreciate the sentiment, but who's going to listen to me?
Locke: I'm listening.
Later that evening Ben microwaves a turkey dinner at home. Check out this week’s reflection! We almost missed it entirely.
The dinner is for his father, Roger Linus. Say what? Roger, who is hooked up to an oxygen tank, talks about how he had wanted more for Ben. That was why he signed up for the Dharma Initiative and brought them to the island. He says that they were smart people, and seems to remember the time on the island more fondly than we know he should should.
“Imagine how our lives would have been if we'd stayed... Who knows what you would have become.” ~ Roger
Well, we all know the answer to that. Methinks Roger would prefer the way things worked out in the Sideways timeline if he had to choose. The door bell rings and Ben greets Alex Rousseau (hey girl!), who wants to know why Ben wasn’t at History Club. She is disappointed because she was hoping he would help her prepare for a big test. He offers to help her study the next morning before school in the library. Their relationship is so warm and friendly that it makes me at little sad Alex was never this close to him in the original timeline.
In the library Ben quizzes Alex on The East India Trading Company. When she can’t answer a question she momentarily flips out and says that it isn’t “just a test.” He mother has sacrificed so much for her, working two jobs, and without a scholarship she’ll never be able to afford to go to a good college, let alone Yale. Ben reassures her by saying that she is one of the brightest students he has ever know and he doesn’t worry about her future at all. He offers to write her a letter of recommendation, but she says that the only recommendation that matters is from a Yale alum, which is why she’s already asked “that pervert” Principal Reynolds to write one for her. Whoa, wait a sec. Ben asks her what she means by “pervert” and worries that he’s done something to her. She says that it’s nothing like that, but asks him to keep this a secret. She tells him that one day when she fell asleep in the nurses office she work up to hear Reynolds and the nurse doing it in the room next to her. Totally disgusting, right?
Later that day Ben goes to Arzt and asks if he can hack into faculty email accounts. He reveals that he thinks Reynolds might be having inappropriate relations with the nurse on school grounds. Arzt realizes that Ben is making a play for power. He’s impressed that Ben is going through with it, and he negotiates that if Ben becomes principal Arzt gets a better parking spot, lab aprons, and equipment from this decade. Ben agrees.
“You had me fooled with the sweater vest. You are a killer.” ~ Arzt
Ben confronts Reynolds with three months worth of emails proving he has been having an affair with the nurse on school grounds. He threatens to show these to the school board and Reynolds’ wife unless he resigns and recommends Ben for his replacement. It’s a bold move, not unlike the one that Ben pulled on Widmore in the original timeline, which resulted in Widmore’s exile and (way further down the road) Alex’s death. Reynolds responds by showing Ben an email from Alex requesting a letter of recommendation for college. He says that if Ben follows through on his threat he will “torch” her in his recommendation. He wonders which is more important to Ben – Alex’s future or his own power?
On another day we find Ben alone in the Principal’s office, and we think for a moment that he might actually have gone through with it. After all, he did sacrifice Alex’s life in the other timeline – would it be any different here? Alex comes into the office and is surprised to find Ben there. She just wanted to thank Principal Reynolds for the great recommendation and wonders if Ben had anything to do with it. Ben denies any influence over the letter. When Reynolds comes into the office Ben says he was just dropping off the detention sign-up sheet as he asked. Not to come out of this completely powerless Ben affirms to Alex that they have the History Club back because Reynolds has found someone else to cover detentions.
Arzt is upset because he isn’t getting his new equipment or parking space. Ben offers him his space. He watches Alex leave the Principal’s office. Was her happiness worth his sacrifice? Absolutely.
Original Timeline: Don’t piss off Ilana
Ben frantically runs through the jungle away from the temple massacre. He trips and falls along the way, but eventually manages to catch up with Ilana, Frank, Miles, and Sun. They ask him where Sayid was and Ben tells them that he killed Dogen and Lennon, so he doesn’t think Sayid will be joining them. Ben suggests that they head to the beach camp where they can have their backs to the water and its familiar territory (um, it’s familiar for Sun, and maybe Ben a little, but that’s pretty much it). Ilana agrees and they head back in that direction. A little while later Miles asks Ben what that thing was that attacked the temple. He says it’s the same thing that killed the men at the statue. Ilana interjects that it killed Jacob too, right? Yeah, of course, Jacob too. Ilana is reasonably suspicious. She hands Miles the bag containing Jacob’s ashes and tells him to find out how Jacob was killed.
Miles confirms Ilana’s suspicions and says that Ben killed Jacob. Ben tries to deny this, and says Miles is lying or mistaken, but he isn’t even remotely believable. What happened to the smooth talking easy liar Ben used to be? Ilana says that Jacob was the closest thing she ever had to a father. Bitch is pissed. She turns her back on Ben and keeps walking.
When they arrive at what is left of the beach camp Ilana sets them all to work on food, shelter, tools, etc. Ben tries again to convince her of his innocence, saying that Miles once tried to blackmail Ben. She ignores him. Sun asks Ilana how long they are planning to stay at the beach, because she needs to find her husband (yeah, Sun, we know). Ilana says she wants to find Jin too. She explains that she needs to protect the candidates and since both Sun and Jin’s last names are Kwon she doesn’t know which one she is supposed to protect. She tells Sun that one of the candidates will take over Jacob’s duties, which will become known to the candidate that is chosen. She says there are only 6 candidates left.
Ben starts searching Sawyer’s old tent and comes across porn, a couple of books, and a bottle of Oceanic water. He tells Frank, rather nostalgically, that he remembers he plane breaking in half like it was yesterday. Frank tells Ben that he was supposed to be the pilot of that flight, but he overslept. He wonders how different his life would have been if he had woken up on time, but Ben points out that the island got him in the end. Just when we were getting out hopes up that Ben and Frank can be new BFFs, Ilana comes along and ruins everything.
She leads Ben by gun point out to the graveyard. She throws him to the ground and chains him to a tree with a makeshift shackle. She orders him to pick up the shovel-like instrument and start digging his own grave. A while later Miles wanders by and offers Ben some food. Ben doesn’t have much of an appetite since he’s about to be executed. He tries to bribe Miles into releasing him, saying that he can get them off the island and pay Miles the 3.2 million dollars he once tried to blackmail him for. Miles dismissed Ben’s offer, saying there is 8 million dollars worth of diamonds in Nikki and Paulo’s grave. Does he know this because Sawyer told him, or because Nikki’s and Paulo’s voices spoke to him? Either way, we later see Miles with a diamond, so does that mean he actually dug up the grave? Gross. Ben says that Jacob didn’t even care if he lived. Miles sets him straight.
“Right up until the second the knife went through his heart Jacob was hoping he was wrong about you. I guess he was right.” ~ Miles
Ilana fires a warning shot and Miles scurries away. Later MIB shows up, standing just out of Ilana’s sight, and tells Ben that he went back to the statue to get him but he had already gone. He tells Ben that he is leading people to the Hydra station. He says they are leaving the island and he wants to leave Ben in charge. He says he has left a gun for Ben 200 yards away in the jungle. MIB disappears.
Ben takes a look at Ilana, their eyes meet, and he makes a run for it. He reaches the gun in the jungle and gets the jump on her. She drops her gun and braces herself for Ben’s shot. He doesn’t shoot her, however. He apologizes. He wants to explain that he knows what she is going through, and that he wishes he hadn’t killed Jacob.
“I watched my daughter Alex die in front of me and it was my fault. I had a chance to save her. I chose the Island over her. All in the name of Jacob. I sacrificed everything for him, and he didn't even care. I stabbed him. I was so angry. Confused. I was terrified I was about to lose the only thing that ever happened to me, my power. But the thing that really mattered was already gone. ...I can never forgive myself.” ~ Ben
He doesn’t ask for her forgiveness, he just asks that she let him leave.
Ilana: Where will you go?
Ben: To Locke.
Ilana: Why?
Ben: Because he is the only one who will have me.
How could your heart not break for Ben at that moment? Ilana says that she will have him. I know large group of people at
ONTD_Lost who will also have you, Ben. No worries. He goes with her back to the beach and gives Sun a hand adjusting a tarp on a shelter. A slow-mo reunion takes place a few moments later. More on that in the next bit.
Chillin’ at the Black Rock
Hurley is napping in a field, dreaming of either cheese curds or cheese carrots depending on whether you believe our closed captions or our ears. Either way, there’s cheese involved. He tries to make Jack take his sweet time returning to the temple, since Jacob warned him that someone bad was on their way there. He tries to lead him down a different path that will further extend their travel time. Richard pops up, much less frantic than last time. Jack asks where Richard came from, but Richard says he wouldn’t believe him if he told him (tell me, tell me, I’ll believe!). He says Jack and Hurley are both wrong about which direction they should head and to follow him. While the walk through the jungle Hurley asks how it was possible that he hasn’t aged in 30 years. Is he a vampire? A cyborg? Richard says it is hard to explain, but it boils down to that Jacob gave him a gift. Here’s the thing – Hurley never met Richard in the ‘70s, so Jack must have brought that up while we were hanging out in the Sideways-verse or something.
Soon they arrive at their destination, which turns out to be The Black Rock, not the temple. Richard admits that he misled them because everyone at the temple was dead. There were no survivors. He said Kate, Sayid, and Miles were not there, maybe they escaped earlier. Jack asks if Hurley knew about this and he says Jacob might have hinted at it. Richard is very surprised to learn Hurley has spoken with Jacob. He tells Hurley not to believe anything Jacob says. Richard heads off towards the ship saying there is something he needs to do: die.
Inside the ship Richard touches some chains (his chains?) and says that in all the time he has been on the island this is the first time he has ever returned to the ship. Richard starts playing around with the dynamite despite Hurley’s Arzt inspired warnings. Richard explains that he can’t kill himself (he drops a stick of the unstable dynamite as proof). That’s why he needs their help. He has attached a fuse to the dynamite long enough for Jack and Hurley to escape to a safe distance. He just needs one of them to light it. He tells them that he has spent all of his life, which trust him has been a VERY long time, in the service of a man with a plan. Jacob promised to one day reveal the plan to him, but he never did. Now Jacob is dead and Richard has realized that his long long long life has had no purpose. Hurley wants to leave, but Jack lights the dynamite. After trying and failing to get Jack to run with him, Hurley heads off into the jungle. Jack, however, isn’t going anywhere. He has a theory that the dynamite won’t go off. He tells Richard about the lighthouse and how he had seen his childhood home in the mirror. He says that is Jacobs had gone through so much to bring him and Richard to the island it had to be for a reason, and the reason wasn’t to be blown up. Jack calmly closes his eyes while a panicking Richard watches the fuse.
It flickers out just before reaching the dynamite. Jack Shepard, man of Faith. Who knew? Jack says they could try another stick if Richard wanted. Instead they agree to head to the beach camp.
When they arrive at the beach camp there is an old school, music swelling, beach reunion. Sun hurries over to hug Hurley. Everyone greets each other, except poor Ben who stands a million miles away. Someone hug him! I’m looking at you, Richard. This scene was strikingly similar to the beach reunion at the end of the season 3 episode “One of Us” where Jack, Kate, and Sayid returned from New Otherton bringing Juliet along for the ride.
Dramatic Cliffhanger
During the reunion our eyes were suddenly assaulted by some horrible CGI (why does Lost fail so hard at CGI?) of a submarine moving parallel to the beach. A man looks at the group on the beach and asks if they should stop. Widmore (whose appearance would have been much more dramatic if we hadn’t seen his name in the opening credits) says no. They should proceed as planned.
Eastereggs, Sidenotes, and Questions
- Ilana says there are only 6 candidates left. Was she counting Locke (which she shouldn’t), or was she counting both Sun and Jin? Or is there yet another candidate that we don’t know about? Her numbers aren’t matching up.
- The book in Sawyer’s tent that Ben reaches over to grab the water was The Chosen by Chiam Potok.
- Why did Roger and Ben leave the island? Was little Ben still shot in this timeline? Was Roger still and drunk abusive horrible father? I’m still proceeding with the theory that everything was the same in both timelines up to the point when Juliet detonated the bomb. So why does Roger look back so fondly about the island? He was pretty pissed at the Dharma Initiative and life in general last time we saw him in 1977.
- Is Widmore the person Hurley was supposed to help find the island? That would mean he is team Jacob. I was pretty confident that Widmore was team MIB based on his insistence that Locke needed to return the island for the sake of the coming war. Is he on his way to join Team MIB at the hydra station? Is he actually just team Widmore, and he only cares about the island for himself? If he isn’t the person Jacob told Hurley about, is there someone else on their way still?
- Are we getting close to the outrigger shoot out seen last season (The Little Prince)? If so, will we found out who is on the other boat? Juliet shot one of these. Is it one of our people?
PS: This was the blog’s 100th post!
