Lost: Back to School

If there’s a better TV actor than Michael Emerson working these days, I don’t know who that person is.

Ever since he introduced himself as Henry Gale in the middle of season 2 (even WAY back then, characters on this show were pretending to be someone else!) Emerson has scared us, made us laugh and creeped us out. He’s made us love him, hate him, hug him, root for him and root for someone to kick his ass (which they have, repeatedly).

Last night, he made us cry. And by “us”, I mean me (and possibly my girlfriend Erica – but I don’t want to throw her under the bus). You know precisely the scene I’m talking about, but we’ll get to that later.

“Dr. Linus” dealt with ***SPOILER ALERT*** Ben Linus’ Island and Sideways story, which we’d gotten a glimpse of through the Sideways John Locke saga. While it may not have been as action-packed as last week’s “Sundown”, I actually thought “Dr. Linus” was a strong and worthy complement to that episode.

For example, “Sundown” ended with an artful, slow-motion sequence of Locke assembling his team and heading out (to Hydra Island, we learned last night). “Dr. Linus” ended with a great old-school, slow motion sequence of (#1 candidate?) Jack going back to “where it all started” on the beach and meeting up with the rest of the “good guys.” (Props to newly-minted Oscar winner Michael Giacchino for his music during these slow-motion sequences.) Having Widmore hovering not too far from the Island’s shore at the end was a great touch, since he’s the one who told Locke (and us) that a war was coming.

Also, pretty much ANY episode that showcases the reigning Emmy winner for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama is a good one. His talents were put to good use in a storyline that ended up being a bizarro version of Sayid’s Island and Sideways storylines from last week.

Where Sayid appeared to be doomed no matter what reality he existed in (he didn’t go looking for Keamy in Sideways world – Keamy’s guys picked him up and basically forced Sayid to kill), Ben got a chance to do the right thing in both the Island and Sideways worlds and made the correct choice.

All that being said, I don’t think this episode was perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Though I generally enjoyed Ben’s Sideways storyline (I loved that he appeared to have a good relationship with his father, but still managed to gas him), the stakes there were a bit twee for my taste.

I mean, I’m sure going to Yale was a big deal for Alex Rosseau, but the plot machinations were a bit too contrived for my taste. European history teacher Ben had decided (at Sideways Locke’s urging) to snatch the principal job from the douchey guy in charge. (You can tell the guy was a douche because he was played by William Atherton, who played douches in “Die Hard” and “Ghostbusters” – nice to see him bring his shtick out of the 80’s.) Anyway, Ben learned from star student Alex that the married Principal Reynolds was “doing it” with a nurse in school and intended to use that information to blackmail him out of the job. Instead, it turns out Principal Reynolds, a Yale grad, had the power to send Alex to Yale by writing a letter of recommendation. Ben had to decide whether to go for the principal job and crush Alex’s dream or sacrifice himself.

I get the idea (and I think it’s pretty clever) that all this Sideways business was intentionally trivial when compared to the obvious Island parallel that had Ben sacrificing his daughter’s life for the good of the Island. I just didn’t care for the way everything worked out in a perfectly neat either/or scenario. (Also, though I liked Arzt’s riff about getting the parking spot NEXT to the tree, not under it, less is more with that character.)

Although Sideways Ben yearned for greater things (his father expressed regret about leaving the Dharma Initiative and appeared to want more for his son), he seemed at ease with smaller victories (no detention duty!) in a way that reminded me of Sideways Locke.

Unfortunately, Island Ben still had a way to go before he reached that level of comfort.

After a quick session with Jacob’s ashes, Miles (Ken Leung manages to steal a high volume of scenes when you consider his character is rarely the focus – I liked him referring to Nikki and Paolo as “jabronis”) revealed that Ben was the one who’d killed Jacob. The reaction from the group was curious. Sun and Frank were disappointed, but not surprised (like when you have a teenage son who screws up all the time).

Ilana’s reaction was curiouser. She waited until the group got to camp (and until Ben had disapproved of Sawyer’s porn) and ordered him to dig a grave for himself. She was going to shoot him for killing the closest thing she’d had to a father. Fortunately for Ben, Anti-Locke made a cameo and, having a knack for what people want, magically undid his chain and offered him the job of running the Island once he was gone. (I love Terry O’Quinn, but the repeated cheesy entrances of the Smoke Monster and the undoing of the restraint made him come off like a cheesy magician last night.)

Ben made a run for it, found the rifle Anti-Locke had indicated and appeared ready to shoot Ilana. However, all Ben wanted to do was explain. He wanted to explain how he had been angry because he’d sacrificed his daughter’s life in service (apparently) of Jacob, who had seemingly dismissed him when they finally met. (“What ABOUT you?”) He wanted to explain about how he didn’t expect Ilana to forgive him because he couldn’t forgive himself. Most importantly, he was going to join Anti-Locke because, “He’s the only one that will have me.”

The reason this exchange made me cry is because it felt like a rare, unquestionably genuine moment for one of the shiftiest character in the history of television. Also, props to Ilana for accepting him. (Ben looked absolutely shocked.) I’m also thinking this breakthrough for Ben wouldn’t have been possible without Jacob’s sacrifice. It may have taken longer than Jacob wanted (and it cost him his life), but it appears as if Ben is finally on the right path.

I’m now looking forward to an apparent alliance between Ben and Jack (Ben was conspicuously standing off by himself as the rest of the group reunited) as well as Ben and Charles Widmore, assuming Widmore is coming to the Island and is on Jacob’s side. (I’m assuming that’s the case since Jacob didn’t seem too distressed about the person who was coming to the Island in “Lighthouse.”)

I’m especially interested to see where Jack goes from here, given that he appears to be immortal. I’m not saying he’s on the same non-aging level as Richard Alpert (there’s some noticeable gray in Jack’s hair), but it appears that Jacob’s touch has done something special for Jack, the same way it did for Richard. It also appears as if staring out at the ocean (as he did at the end of "Lighthouse") did end up giving Jack a clearer picture of what to do.

In fact, Jack’s apparent inability to kill himself or die (just yet) is very reminiscent of Michael’s story in “Meet Kevin Johnson” where he learned from Tom that he couldn’t die until the Island was done with him. If Jack is the leading candidate (as I suspect) then there’s no way a puny dynamite stick in the Black Rock was going to kill him. (It also helps explain why Dogen was able to Heimlich that poison pill out of him.)

Jack’s bold stunt seemed to reinvigorate Richard, who’d lost all faith and was ready to die upon learning of Jacob’s death and the apparent lack of meaning in his own (LONG) life. Watching Richard in the Black Rock and fondling the chains inside ship (“Nice to see you out of those chains, Richard”) in this episode also made me more eager than ever to check out the upcoming Richard-centric installment.

In short, this episode was a triumph thanks in large part to Emerson’s characteristically excellent work and a little bit of sweet redemption for one of my favorite characters.

So what’d you think of this episode? Who do you think are the remaining six candidates that Ilana mentioned? (I’ve got Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, Jin, Sun and Sayid.) Would you rather be gassed in a Dharma van or be forced to eat organic microwave turkey? Isn't it oddly comforting to know that Ben wears the same style of eyeglasses, no matter what the timeline? Finally, whose team do you think Widmore will join? (He’s got a sub, so he can easily go to either the main Island or Hydra Island.)