Parallel Linus

"Dr. Linus" had lots of fine moments, but it also had the same problem that this whole season of Lost has had. The show might be setting up a war, but so far it's mostly people positioning themselves. Don't get me wrong--there's been action, and there've been revelations, but the overall sense of purpose the show had from the start is in shorter supply than usual.

At the beginning, the survivors had a simple problem. How do we get off the island. Also how do we survive while we're trying to get off the island. As we learned about these characters and many others besides, the story got incredibly complicated. But for the first three seasons, the main characters still had this simple motivation. Then, once they got off the island, they had another motivation--getting back and getting together to deal with whatever the island might throw at them.

But now, in the final season, where it's finally time for the big showdown, the only one who really knows what's going on is fake Locke, and he's not telling. The rest of the leads walk from one end of the island to the other without knowing what the ultimate plan is.

This episode was Bentric. Like all the mainland tales so far, his was one of redemption. And Ben probably has more redeeming to do than any other character. He killed his dad, forced out Widmore (and ran the Others without necessarily being sure of what to do--he just knew he wanted power), left Goodwin out too long and let his daughter die. Oh yeah, he also killed Locke, Jacob and everyone on the freighter.

This episode, more than any other this season, played up the parallels between the two stories. I'm not sure if this is good or bad--was the show too obvious, or does Ben's redemption offer such such significant themes that you have to play them up?

Also, a lot of fans want to know will we ever see the masterful, kick-ass Ben against. Up till season 5, when he ran up against Evil Locke, he could take on all comers. He could manipulate anyone into doing what he wanted, from assassinations to spinal surgery (though that last one was iffy), and if he found himself supine in the desert and two hostile guys with guns rode up on horses, he'd soon have the upper hand. But ever since he was told by his ghost daughter to leave Locke alone, and then "tricked" into killing Jacob, he's been surprisingly meek.

We start with Ben on the run in the jungle. I half-expected it to be on the mainland--wouldn't be the first time Lost has pulled that trick. But no, Ben is running from the destruction at the Temple. He sees a torchlight procession--Ilana and the gang, whom he's been separated from.

Ben explains to Ilana that Sayid killed Dogen and Lennon. I wonder how well Linus knew those guys. So long ago he sent his Others off to the Temple. How much say did Ben, the leader, have in installing Dogen head of the joint?

Ben suggests the gang hang out at the Beach, since the Temple is a no-go. Miles has complained about all the walking back and forth, but, just as Juliet suggested, it's better to have a plan than no plan.

Now we cut to altaBen, teaching history class. He's talking about Napoleon, and notes that being an emperor with no power exiled all alone is as good as being dead. They're clearly telling us something here. Ben is stuck on an island, and he's lost his power--is he gonna end up dead this episode? Able is he, but will he avoid Elba?

Principal Reynolds, played by William "Dickless" Atherton, calls him over. He cancels Linus's History Club and gives him detention work. This is pretty humiliating, especially for a guy with a doctorate. Teaching high school? What is this, Breaking Bad?

Ben is eating Japanese food (hmm) in the lunchroom and he has a discussion with another Dr. by the name of Arzt. Of course--he's a teacher, where else would be? It's clear Linus cares about the kids (as opposed to Arzt) and substitute Locke suggests Ben take over as principal. A light goes on in Ben's head, like how busboy Goldie Wilson looked when Marty McFly suggested he'd become the mayor.

Back in the jungle, Ilana is suspicious. Ben repeats his lie about who killed Jacob. Ilana knows Miles talks to the dead (just how much info does she have--I guess her gang picked up Miles before he came to the island, so this makes sense). She's got his ashes--I wasn't aware Miles' talent worked on ashes, but why not? And it works on Jacob--is he a man? Miles reads the thoughts and I half-figured he'd keep his mouth shut, all the better to blackmail Linus with. Nope, he comes out with it--Ben killed Jacob. Ben won't be able to lie his way out of this one, though he tries.

It's not clear just what Ilana's relationship with Jacob was, but she says he was the closest thing she had to a father. Looks like Ben may be killed before the credits.

Speaking of which, I watched them, and it was a big mistake. There were a lot of well-known guest stars, above all, Alan Dale, who plays Widmore. So you wait the whole show for him to appear, and it's just a few seconds for a cliffhanger.

Anyway, on the island, the gang hits the beach and Ben gets the cold shoulder. They're gonna make camp, but what after that? Wait for Smokey to come and kill them?

Ben waits for a microwave meal in altaWorld. And looks at his reflection in the oven! Ha, his turn! He's taking care of his sick old dad, Roger. (He's helping him with his oxygen tank. Pretty different from the time he put on his own oxygen mask and gassed his father.) They talk about their old days in the Dharma Initiative. I think this is the first confirmation we'd have of the DI in altaWorld. Roger thinks his son might have accomplished something if they'd stuck around. Irony. Or is it? By the way, do they know the island is now underwater?

Now who should drop by but Alex. (So Rousseau is on the mainland? In L.A.?) She's one of his best students and they have a rapport. They set up a study session. More redemption on the way, and more residuals for Tania Raymonde..

Sun asks Ilana about Jin. Good question. I mean, why would she even hang out with this gang otherwise? Interestingly, Ilana spills the beans (beans we didn't know she necessarily had--magic beans?). She knows the names of the candidates, and her job is to protect them. However, this being Jacob, it's far from clear she's been told what they're candidates for. (And considering how successfully she protected Jacob, I don't know if I'd want her protecting me.)

There's more. (Even low-action episodes have plenty of revelations this season.) Jin asks how many candidates are there, and we get a straight answer--six. I assume, with Locke crossed off (something Ilana was quite aware of) that means Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, Kate, Sayid and Sun/Jin. I guess Claire has long been crossed off. Does that mean they should cross off Sayid as well?

Ilana says these six are the only ones left. Does that mean they started with 360 and the rest have been killed, claimed, or whatever? And if they die, does that mean the whole game is over, or do they start with a new list? Does Jacob's death preclude a new game of backgammon?

Meanwhile, Hurley is dreaming of cheese curds when Jack wakes him up. (By the way, following the Lost tradition, almost all those characters we saw last week don't figure in today's story. For that matter, it feels like a month since we saw Sawyer.) Genius boy Jack wants to go back to the Temple. You'd think Hurley might tell him about Jacob's warning, but he doesn't want to reveal that sort of stuff to Jack. Hurley does want to eat. Jack says they can eat on the way. As we now know, food is no problem on the island.

Hurley tries to slow Jack down, but it won't work. Why follow--they can't go back. Then Richard shows up. It's fun to see Richard, who's always been so calm, be totally freaked out this season. (He and Ben are in similiar situations.) He says he'll lead the two to the Temple. Hurley asks if Jack trusts this guy, and Jack says "at least he's not stallin'." Or it could be "at least he's not Stalin." You never know who you'll run into on the Island. And if Richard honestly wants to lead them to the Temple, he might just be Stalin.

Ben talks to Lapidus. One of the few guys who'll talk back. We also see an old porn magazine, along with a copy of Chaim Potok's The Chosen. I've read the book, and it's not that related to the action, but after the Ilana/Sun scene, the title's meaning is obvious. (Jacob was like a dad to Ilana, but he still wouldn't make her a candidate. Maybe it's best not to be one.)

Lapidus spills more beans. He was supposed to flight Oceanic 815. He overslept. But, as Linus notes, the island got him anyway. Is that how it always works, or does the altaWorld show other possibilities?

Now Ilana marches Ben at gunpoint to Boone Hill, where she chains him up and makes him dig his own grave. He'd complain, but he doesn't want to make trouble. This is the moment where Ben fans really missed the old boy. I mean sure, Ilana is tough--she captured Sayid and knocked a door down that Miles was holding shut--but Ben Linus used to be able to handle situations like this. With ease. Now he just seems pathetic. He's said he always has a plan, but so far the plan seems to be do what the lady with the gun says.

We're back with Ben tutoring Alex in the library. She's got a sob story of how her mom has to hold two jobs just to pay the rent. Did her mom get off the island after shooting Alex's father, come to L.A., and then have trouble finding a decent job because of her heavy accent?

Alex knows some dirty secrets about Principal Reynolds. Aha! Ben can use this to destroy Reynolds, just like he usurped Widmore. Has this been the same old Ben all along?

Back at the island, more digging. I'm not sure if we've ever seen this much digging on the show. They've buried a lot of bodies, but it usually happens pretty quickly. Miles drops by. Not sure if he wants to feed Linus or mock him. The old Ben would have killed him. Now he just takes it.

Linus isn't hungry. Only Hurley needs to eat on this island. Anyway, he offers Miles the $3.2 million requested from the old shakedown. You'd think Miles might bite, except he's read Nikki and Paulo's minds (Nikki and Paulo!) and knows they were buried (alive) with $8 million in diamonds. (Which the other survivors already turned down.) Guess we're going to see even more digging.

More important, Miles let's slip that Jacob, right before Ben killed him, was hoping he wouldn't--even though Jacob expected he would. So I guess all this free will jazz means a lot to Jacob. This seems to affect Ben. He was wrong. He figured Jacob didn't care about him ("what about you?"), but he did. While Jacob didn't try to save his own skin, he was rooting for Ben to do the right thing. Though Jacob's no fool. If Ben stayed his knife, Smokey's machinations go out the window. But just in case, Jacob had a back-up plan, i.e., season 6. Good idea to have a back-up plan when you're counting on Benjamin Linus.

Hurley's asking Richard if he time traveled. Funny thing is, Richard is one of the few who didn't. Hurley asks him he's a cyborg or a vampire. Nope, neither. Not aging is a gift from Jacob. (Incidentally, it wasn't that long ago Island time when Richard told Jin he saw her friends die many years ago. How should he react when he sees they're all alive again?) I'll take Richard's word for it, though I'm not sure if I'll take Sayid's word that he's not a zombie.

And the gang comes up the Black Rock. Richard lied (which is good--if he was leading them to the Temple, that would have meant he's dead and taken over by Smokey). By the way, Hurley couldn't trick Jack with a "short cut," but Richard completely fooled him.

Richard was at the Temple and saw everything. Funny, we didn't see him there. It sure seems whenever a bunch of people die on the island, even when Richard is nowhere near, he likes to claim he saw them all die. I guess he got to the Temple a little late, though it seemed to me he had the jump on everyone. He did notice Kate et al weren't among the corpses, only extras were.

Hurley spills the beans that he spoke to Jacob about the trouble at the Temple. I like this scene--three guys, all with different motives, all with different secrets. Sayid once told Hurley not to believe anything that Ben says. Now Richard tells Hurley not to believe anything Jacob says. Really? Even an essentially back-from-the-dead Jacob? Anyway, it seems Richard, Jacob's faithful follower, no longer believes. In fact, he's fallen so far that now he just wants to die.

Back to school. Linus conspires with Arzt to access emails and gather evidence against the Principal. Linus will take over (banishing Reynolds) and Arzt will get a better parking space. I guess that'll be his redemption. He calls Linus a "real killer." A bit heavy-handed, but so true. At least when he's not digging his own grave.

Inside the Black Rock, Richard looks around for the first time since he arrived on it. Though he does seem to know that someone later put a lot of dyamite in the hold. I guess as the Others' advisor he'd be aware of that.

He wants to die, but the island won't let him kill himself. We've seen how Michael couldn't kill himself in a somewhat similar situation. (Wouldn't this be a chance to Bill Murray it up and jump off cliffs. Actually, you can still be in great pain, as Michael discovered--you just won't die.)

More to the point, Jacob's gift was touching Richard. So that's how it happened. And it was fine all those decades when he believed Jacob had a plan, and he was part of it--even though Jacob (unlike Evil Locke) was not the kind of guy to let you in on the plan. I guess it's all that free will jazz again. But Richard now believes, with Jacob dead and Smokey running free, that there never was a plan. For all we know he's right. Still, it's tough to lose your faith. This means Jacob's touch is a curse, not a gift. Calling King Midas.

So Richard wants to die, but Jack has to light the fuse. Makes you wonder what happened to all those others Green Miley survivors who have been touched? Well, Jack, a little maniacal, has a theory. (And he doesn't even know he was touched.) After contemplating the Lighthouse, Jack believes Jacob had a plan for him too. He lights the fuse and sits down to talk. Hey, Richard, what did you expect? Jack is the kind of guy who'll detonate an H-Bomb to prove a point. Or didn't you see that?

So Jack doesn't believe he'll die, either. Why would Jacob watch him since he's a kid just to blow him up in the Black Rock? (But Jacob's dead, Jack.)

The fuse dies out. I thought it might have been better to have Richard stop it because he now believes again after hearing Jack's testimony. Anyway, Richard will listen now. Jack wants to go back to where they started. I'm guessing that's the Beach.

Smockey appears before Ben, who's a little testy about digging his own grave since Locke talked him into killing Jacob. Locke explains he wants Ben to be in charge after everyone leaves the island. He cares so much, he should be principal. 1) You mean the island won't be under water? 2) You mean you won't kill everything left behind? 3) You mean an uninhabited island needs someone to watch out for it?

Anyway, Flockey is offering Ben Napoleon's deal--exiled to an island, an emperor over nothing. AltaLinus said better to be dead. But it's still a lot better than digging your own grave.

Locke waves his hand and the chain is off. This is a new trick for Smokey, but considering what he can do, it's a minor one. He tells Ben they'll be getting ready at Hyrda island. (What are they preparing for? Hasn't he killed everyone already?) Ben can run into the forest, grab a nearby gun, and get away. (For a second I thought this might lead to other half of the outrigger scene. I suppose it will eventually.)

Ben makes a break for it. Ilana is caught off guard--the guy was supposed to be chained up, after all. Ben gets to the gun. (I thought Flocke might be tricking him, but why bother if he's gonna die anyway?). He spins around on Ilana and has the drop on her (though she's carrying a rifle herself).

Dr. Linus goes into the Principal's office and plays his blackmail card. Reynolds, suprisingly, has a counter-offer. He'll write a glowing recommendation for Alex, which will get her into Yale, or destroy her. So Linus has a choice--save himself, or Alex. Where have we seen this before? If they hadn't killed Keamy last week, maybe he could have made the offer.

Back on the island, the old Ben would have executed Ilana already. Maybe made her dig her own grave first. Ilana is certainly ready to die. Jacob fans are always ready to die--sometimes it seems like they can't wait. Ben just wants to explain. He saw his daughter die, and it was his fault, so he knows how bad she feels. He chose the island over his daughter, all for Jacob. He sacrificed everything, and Jacob didn't care. (Or so he thought.) Confused, he struck out, trying to protect the only thing he'd ever cared about--his power. But, like Sayid, like Sawyer, like so many on the island, what really mattered to him was already gone.

He doesn't expect forgiveness. In fact, he can't forgive himself. He just wants to leave, and go to Flocke, the only guy that'll still have him. Ben, from being the top guy, has sunk to his lowest. Somewhat unexpectedly, Ilana shows forgiveness. She'll let him back. You're almost expecting this is a ploy, and she'll shoot him once he lets his guard down. But she's serious, just as Ben was.

At this point, it's hard to believe Jacob isn't "good" and Smokey isn't "bad." But I'm sure they both believe in what they're doing, and they probably represent two sides of the same game.

Back to Dr. Ben. After a feint, we find out the truth. Ben helped Alex, not himself. He's too noble to even take credit in front of a grateful Alex. Though he won't take crap from Reynolds anymore, either. ("Now what's all this crud about no movie tonight?") Total redemption. Arzt is a bit unhappy, but seeing Alex walking happily into the sunset is worth it.

Back at the Beach, looks like Linus will (slowly) be accepted back into society. Let's hope he can enjoy it before they're all wiped out.

Then we see a classic bit of first season Lost. The old gang returns to the Beach Camp, walking in slow motion, with music on the soundtrack. This was probably my least favorite thing in the old days (and I blogged about it). It basically said the plot was over for the night. But here, when this might be the last reunion of these people, it got to me. (Sun runs to hug Hurley. Or is she just going around him to see if Jin isn't somewhere back there?)

Then, straight out of a Bond film, a periscope peeps out of the water. I probably could have guessed who was in the sub, but thanks to the credits, I knew Widmore had finally made his way back. Is this the guy Jacob's expecting?

LOST

Considering how quiet and moody much of the episode was, I'm surprised to see how popular it is across the interweb. A lot of that, I think, is due to Michael Emerson, who, along with Terry O'Quinn, always manages to make his big moments riveting.

It was directed by Mario Van Peebles. A bit surprising, but really no big deal. Even when name directors do an episode of a well-established show, the show wins out (as it should). If you didn't know Barbet Schroeder directed an episode of Mad Men, could you have told?

In "Dr. Linus," we saw three followers of Jacob--Ben, Richard and Ilana, who'd given up their lives for him--come to despair. But they all came out the other end, ready for a new challenge. Was this episode a turning point, and the Jacob side of the battle is ready to start making its move?

More and more, people seem to be saying the alternate world is actually an epilogue. What happens to everyone after the battle is over. Perhaps, and it sorta makes sense. But it's a bit of an anticlimax (even if it came as a surprise). Wouldn't it be hard to keep that up all season? There are still about ten hours left. Even after they show us what happened to Sawyer, Hurley and the Kwons, we've still got a lot of time to deal with. Presumably, the altacharacters will have to interact more. And eventually get involved in the fight with the alter kockers?