Lost: Dead and Alive

THIS is the episode of “Lost” we’ve been waiting for isn’t it?

Ever since it was revealed Locke was the person in the casket in the final shot from last season, we’ve been waiting for “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” which would explain how he ended up “dead.”

Maybe it’s the weight of the anticipation (on my part), but, except for a strong scene in near the beginning and a terrific one at the end, the episode was a letdown. In a season with two or three “A” episodes, “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” was a “B-/C+” for me.

I guess I was thrown off right from the beginning when the episode focused on the mystery man from the Ajira Airlines flight snooping around an enclosed space and hiding a shotgun from the law enforcement agent that had captured Sayid. (How disoriented was I? I didn’t even realize the man’s whereabouts signaled that flight 316 hadn’t crashed on the main island, but instead these people were apparently on the smaller island a few miles away where Jack, Kate and Sawyer had been held captive until I read it online today?)

Things didn’t get much better with the revelation that the man and woman (Cesar and Ilana) seem to know each other, which instantly brought the unwelcome feeling that we could be in for Nikki and Paolo: The New Class. I know it’s early and these characters might end up being fascinating, but they were definitely giving off a Nikki/Paolo vibe last night.

While I liked that the show didn’t wait until the final moment to reveal that Locke had been resurrected, having the camera swing around the mystery “man in the suit in the middle of the water” was cheesy. It was made even cheesier by having Locke remove a hoodie when he introduced himself. (I know Locke may or may not have mystical powers, but last time I looked he’s not a friggin’ Jedi.) Bad job by Jack Bender, the show’s best director.

One interesting development is the fact that, while Jack, Kate and Hurley landed in the Dharma-era Island, Cesar, Ilana, Locke and others appear to be sometime near the present. The evidence is in the outriggers on the beach (one of which was apparently taken by Lapidus and a mystery woman, who I’m assuming is Sun). Those were likely the same outriggers Sawyer and company found on the beach (along with the Ajira water bottle) when they were travelling through time and appeared to stop by the future.

The show then jumped into an extended flashback of Locke/Bentham’s time off the Island, instead of the usual Island/real-world back and forth. This strategy works when the off-Island portions are fascinating or told in an interesting way (Desmond’s “Flashes Before Your Eyes”), but I just don’t think last night was up to par.

The early scenes showed promise with Locke landing in the desert in Tunisia, having his broken leg fixed in a brutal way and having a chat with Charles Widmore, who had surveillance cameras set up in the Island’s exit point.

Widmore, usually the cold, powerful tycoon, seemed in awe of Locke when speaking to him. He spoke of their meeting in the 1950’s and told Locke he would bankroll his mission of getting everyone back to the Island. According to him, there’s a war coming, and it’s very important that Locke is there so that the wrong side doesn’t win. Widmore also revealed that Ben had apparently tricked him into leaving the Island, which would explain most of the friction between those two.

The issue, as it was last week when Ben and Eloise Hawking had Jack’s ear, is whether Widmore is to be trusted. Are any of these puppet masters worth believing? Widmore’s story seemed credible, but it’s also entirely possible that he’s playing Locke with the “you’re special” thing that everyone knows is totally his soft spot.

To aid his mission, Widmore gave Locke the services of Matthew Abaddon, the shadowy guy who’d freaked Hurley out in the mental health facility and had inspired Locke to go on his walkabout, which is always a thrill because I think actor Lance Reddick is fantastic. Abaddon explained that he was merely someone who helped people get to where they need to be.

It turns out that Widmore probably should’ve sprung for a debate coach or something to help Locke because his efforts to convince people to come back to the Island were weak, resulting in some odd, boring scenes.

The main thing I got out of the Sayid visit in Santo Domingo is that Naveen Andrews’ Spanish isn’t his strong suit. The visit to an oddly cruel and bitchy Kate was mostly a drag. I get that she wanted no part of the Island and wanted to keep Aaron safe, but DAMN! She asked Locke if he ever loved someone, which eventually led Abaddon to tell Locke that his beloved Helen had died. The best part, by far, was his funny visit to Hurley, who was absolutely convinced that Locke was really a ghost.

The visit to Walt was necessary since the character had mentioned to Hurley that Jeremy Bentham had been to see him. The only problem was that Locke never introduced himself to Walt as “Jeremy Bentham” (plot hole!) It’s too bad, because the idea of Locke sparing Walt a return trip to the Island because the kid appeared to have a normal life was kinda touching.

A little after that, Abaddon helped Locke get to where he needed to be by having his brains blow out and making Locke get into a car accident and wind up in the same hospital as an angry Jack. (And the show helped Reddick get to where needs to be - back on "Fringe.")

This emotional scene was somewhat effective, but I was mostly distracted by what was surely the beginning of Jack’s crazy man beard. I did tune back in to hear Jack’s WAY harsh assessment that they weren’t special and Locke was just a lonely old man. Locke DID get the last word in by relaying Christian’s message to Jack (who had probably already been seeing his old man walking around) and eventually inspiring him to go back to the Island.

Locke didn’t know he’d succeeded, so he set about hanging himself until a familiar frenemy jumped in. Ben told Locke he’d (kinda) succeeded, told him he was special (again, Locke’s soft spot) and saved his life. He also learned from Locke about Eloise Hawking’s ability to help them get back to the Island and that Jin was still alive.

It was the former revelation that seemed to make Ben snap and kill Locke. My girlfriend Erica is smarter than I am, totally distrusts Ben, and thinks that Ben killed Locke once he got enough information (about Jin and Ms. Hawking) to be able to convince the Oceanic 6 to come back and didn’t need Locke anymore.

I’m more of a fool and I like to think that Ben was meant to save Locke’s life because, for some reason, a suicide would not be a valid way for Locke to achieve his mission. I also can’t help but think of “Meet Kevin Johnson”, the episode that revealed that Michael would not be able to kill himself until the Island was “done” with him. Maybe Ben intervening was the Island’s way of stopping the suicide, the same way that fiery car crash stopped Jack from jumping off that bridge in the season 3 finale. Then again, if Ben killed Locke because he knew he had to die and that Locke wouldn’t be allowed to kill himself, why did he say, “I’ll miss you John. I really will.”

I know I trashed this episode pretty well, but whatever shortcomings it had was NOT the fault of Terry O’Quinn, who continues to be fantastic as Locke. He’s as adept at playing both possibilities that Locke is either a lonely old man or someone truly special. It’s especially a treat to watch him go at it with Michael Emerson. Cut the Supporting Actor Emmy in half and give it to both of them.

So what’d you think of this episode? Do you think Helen is really dead? (I do, but you never know with these people) Were you surprised to see that Locke's legs still worked off the Island? Where did Lapidus and Sun(?) go? Finally, why do YOU think Ben killed Locke?