2010 March 10 | life, and a little more

Dr. Linus Recap

Mar 10

metalman777Lost recap, season 6 No Comments

“Dr. Linus” is the 7th episode of Season 6 of Lost and the 110th produced hour of the series as a whole. It was originally broadcast on March 9, 2010. Ben and Ilana deal with the consequences of an uncovered lie. Meanwhile, Jack and Hurleystumble across Richard in the jungle. (from Lostpedia.com)

In ”Dr. Linus,” Ben Linus was exposed as a soul who only has himself to blame for his woe-is-me bad self, whose corrupt nature is an accumulation of freely made choices. Which also means that Ben is also fully capable of resisting evil and selecting virtue, as well. His Sideways story was the proof. We were presented with a new version of Ben that was a truly decent man — a smart, idealistic teacher who cared for his students; a devoted son who cared for his ailing father, Roger Linus — but also one who yearned for a grander station in life
But then Ben made another choice: He bared his soul. He told the truth about killing Jacob, shared his rage over feeling betrayed by his Island god andhis shame for choosing Island power over his daughter, and then offered this heartbreaking explanation for why he was joining Mr. Evil Incarnate (Allegedly): ”Because he’s the only one that will have me!” Then Ilana did something that left Ben gobsmacked: She forgave him. ”I’ll have you,” she said, and walked away. Ben shuffled after her, as if sucked in by the undertow of her grace. He came to the outskirts of the Beach camp, then stopped and considered his options. Stay and serve in this humble little patch of heaven, or join Devil Locke and coldly play for a shot at living the ”Vida La Vida” once again. You always have a choice. This time, Ben made the right one — fulfilling, perhaps, Jacob’s dying thought hope that Ben had the capacity for change
Sideways Roger presented himself as a sad old soul who viewed his son as an underachieving talent but only blamed his own bad parenting choices for Ben’s fate. An improvement over Island world Roger? Yes. But I was left to wonder what it must have been like for Sideways Ben to grow up burdened by his father’s ambition for him. Regardless, we saw the result: Ben the Overeducated, Overqualified High School Teacher, dogged by enough feelings of inadequacy to deem himself a loser. I got the sense Ben saw his father clearly — clearly enough to feel a little resentment, but not so much that he hated him, or, like, wanted to drive him out into the jungle and gas him to death. In a clever flick at ”The Man Behind The Curtain,” we got a scene where the Good Son changed his ailing father’s oxygen tank and doted on his comfort. Bottom line: Sideways Ben was more like Florence Nightingale, less like Heinrich Himmler.
Categories: Sideways Island Sinkage; Parallel World Historical Discrepancies.
Analysis: Until last night, it had been safe to assume that both the Island and Sideways worlds shared the same history until 1977, which is when the time-traveling castaways detonated Jughead. But the Linus men of the Sideways world blew up that thinking. I took the story to mean that Sideways Roger and Ben left the Island prior to its sinking. But Island Roger and Ben were still on the Island when Juliet banged the bomb. Implication: If the two worlds share a common history, the fork in the road is sometime before 1977. Rebooted Theory: The divergence begins on that fateful night when some phantom stranger struck John Locke’s teenage mother, causing her to give birth three months early. That phantom stranger? I’m saying it’s Charles Widmore.
We got a reference to Napoleon in exile on Elba, neutered by the loss of his power. Island Ben would later link himself to the reference. But CharlesWidmore and Smokey also fit into Napoleon’s pantaloons. After all, Napoleon ultimately escaped from his Island prison and reclaimed France (if only for 100 days) — and both Widmore and Smokey are exiles wanting to get back to their respective kingdoms/homes. (Something to also think about: after Napoleon got booted out of power again, he was exiled to another, less desirable island, Saint Helena, where he would die of stomach cancer/ulcer/poisoning. Foreshadowing for Smokey or Widmore’s final fate?) (I’m telling you, that knife Sayid stabbed Smokey with last week? Dogen poisoned it.) (And didn’t Alex last night mention she was nursing a stomach ache while the principal and the nurse were… you know… ”doing it”?) Dr. Linus also spoke of the East India Trading Company, the powerful British business entity that was established to execute trade with India, but wound up ruling much of it. And we recall that Ben has long alleged that all Widmore wants to do is exploit the Island for his material gain… although I personally suspect what Widmore wants most the Island is to use it to cheat death.
Ben’s Sideways story mirrored his entire Island arc and even suggested many possibilities for the entire saga. You might even say Ben’s parallel world yarn works as a theory of Lost
Shortly after Rousseau had finished off the rest of her fellow French scientists and given birth to Baby Alex, Chief Executive Other Widmore ordered Ben to ”exterminate” both of them from the Island. He coldly dismissed baby Alex as an ”it,” as if she were an animal that would just be a drain on Island resources that needed to be devoted elsewhere. Yep: definitely sounds like a guy that ain’t about ”taking care of the kids.” So Ben balked. He couldn’t bring himself to murder. Ben clearly had developed a different vision for how the Others should be managing the Island and living their lives. Widmore dismissed Ben’s ”idealism” as sentimental and self-serving — about him needing to feel needed. But he didn’t stop Ben from taking on the project of raising Alex alone. Ben’s victory inspired him to dream bigger. And when he uncovered the truth about Widmore’s off-Island slick willying, he staged his coup and forced him into exile. He also moved the nomadic Others out of the wild and into Dharmaville. But Ben’s dream of settling down and playing house — modifying Others culture in such a way to service and fulfill his own desires and needs — was surely antithetical to the Others’ true purpose, and was most likely what earned the Others’ their baby-making curse from the Island/Jacob. Richard Alpert said as much when he encouraged Locke to make a play for Ben’s job. ”Ben has been wasting our time with novelties like fertility problems,” Richard said. ”We’re looking for someone to remind us that we’re here for more important reasons.”
While Ben and Arzt ate lunch and griped about Reynolds, it was the Substitute who spoke up and encouraged Ben to act on his dissatisfaction. ”Maybe you should be principal. It just sounds like you care about this place,” Locke said. ”And if the man in charge doesn’t, then maybe it’s time for a change.” When Ben wondered who, if anyone, would listen to someone like him, Locke raised his hand and flashed either his warm smile or mischievous, baiting one. ”I’m listening,” he said. I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING! I have no doubt the burning question that’ll be making the rounds in the Lost fan culture is going to be this: Is Sideways Locke actually…
THE MAN IN BLACK/SMOKEY/FAKE LOCKE…
Throughout his Others reign, Ben insisted he was hearing the voice of Jacob and heeding his will. He justified everything by putting it all on his Island god. But the time has come to begin wondering how attuned to Jacob that Ben has been — if he’s been attuned to him at all. In our real world, there are those who claim to know God and hear God’s voice in their lives, but they could be wrong. Doesn’t mean there isn’t a God, just that God ain’t talking to them. I suspect Ben is one of those people. ”What about you?” Jacob asked Ben last season. It sounded so dismissive. But Jacob could have also been challenging Ben on his self-deception, or basically saying, ”I’m sorry. Do I know you?” Ben’s either been faking his rapport with Jacob, or (and this is my theory) the supernatural entity that’s been speaking to him all along has been the Man In Black. Ben thought he was serving Jacob the Christ, but he was most likely the victim of a long con perpetrated by a snake oil-selling false messiah, Smokenstein the Anti-Christ, who was just using Ben in his master plan to escape the Island and live anew as a man in a separate reality, one with no Island and no Jacob to trap him: the Sideways world.
She called Jacob the closest thing she ever had to a father. Which means only one thing for certain: Jacob wasn’t her real father. He could have been her father in the God sense of father — a supernatural entity responsible for her existence and purpose. Maybe it’s more of a Godfather thing; she could beJacob’s consigliore (like Tom Hagen, a Ben-esque stray/outsider taken off the street and groomed into a top assistant), maybe his Luca Brasi. We have a few missing years on the Island — the three years between when the castaways began time traveling (late 2004/early 2005) and 2007. We also know that Ilana spent some time in the hospital with bandages wrapped around her face and Jacob visited her and tasked her anew with a mission. How did she get injured? I’m guessing she was on the Island during those missing three years fighting a battle that went badly, possible trying to keep Smokey bottled up. She is now charged with protecting the candidates to replace Jacob. Don’t ask her what it means: she doesn’t know or isn’t telling us. She was asked how many were left, she said six. Was she counting John Locke? Fake Locke? Jin and Sun twice?
While Ilana brooded and nibbled on mangoes, Fake Locke appeared to Ben and made him one of his Faustian offers: future management of the Island. I couldn’t tell if Smokey was being sincere; this promise would be the easiest to keep, but I was kinda getting the sense — or maybe just making the assumption — that the Monster had no desire to see the Island continue existing. Fake Locke’s screen time here was about equal to the amount of time Sideways Locke got with Sideways Ben. He also presented to Ben as a sympathetic, supportive ally. Ben’s survival instinct — and Somebody Wants Me!! instinct — kicked in. He ran to where Smocke had said he’d find a rifle. He got the drop on Ilana, but instead of shooting her, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a desire to explain himself — as if realizing for the first time what he really wanted: to be known, understood, and not rejected, even though he was about to reveal his ugliest inner bits. His confession was part self-laceration, part rage against the Jacob/Island machine: ”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.”
Saved, the once-lost, now-found wretch made the first of two heroic choices that represent the proper response to such a gift. The first: renouncing evil. Ben became the first person this season to turn down a FrankenLocke bargain. That’s going to have consequences. The second: sacrifice. He entered the beach camp and offered Sun his help putting up the tarp, just as his Sideways version would have easily, effortlessly offered assistance to one of his students.
It was hard to hear the line and not think Lost was saying something about its two-track, parallel world structure. Then Richard showed up and offered a third path. Jack followed. When Hurley asked if Richard could be trusted, Jack said, ”At least he’s not stallin’.” It was another wink at the audience in an episode full of them. Combined with the line about Napoleon’s Elba being the place where ”everything became clear,” I wondered if Lost was addressing anyone griping about the pace of ”answers” and saying, Don’t worry. Trust us. Okay?
Ironically, then, Richard’s path ended with… a lie. He took them to the Black Rock, which was not where he said was taking them, although it was where we’ve been wanting Alpert to go for a couple years now as we’ve wondered if the ageless Others came to the Island via the slave ship. (Another reading of Richard’s third way as a metaphor for Lost’s storytelling: We won’t lead you astray, but we’re not going the way you expect. We’ll be doing this ”answer” thing our way. ‘Kay?)
But I remain suspicious of Jack. When we last saw him, he was furious over the Lighthouse revelations. Now, after a long gaze out over the beach, it seemed Jack had thought over a few things and was totally activated to chase after all of the Island’s magic white rabbits — whether they look like his father or wear eyeliner — and see where they lead. Does Jack want to know Jacob’s purpose so he can faithfully fulfill it… or so he can angrily subvert it? He crackles with so much crazy mania, it’s hard to know if he’s a true believer or a great deceiver. Is it possible the title of the episode hints at an even more provocative possibility: that Ben, a.k.a. ”Dr. Linus,” has replaced Dr. Shephard as the story’s hero, while Jack has replaced Ben as its villain? Consider that sentimental slow-mo reunion sequence that ended the episode. We saw everyone in their huts and tents — including Miles, inspecting the diamonds he purloined from Nikki and Paulo’s grave (all $8 million of it? No going dutch on coffee with him!) — as Jack, Hurley and Richard approached. This moment was staged to deliberately echo the scene from the season 3 episode ”One Of Us,” when Jack, Kate, and Sayid returned from New Otherton, bringing Juliet with them. When the beach crew saw her, the happy-huggy moment abruptly ended, and everyone gave her the stink-eye (especially, ironically, Sawyer) — just like Jack and Ben traded suspicious looks in last night’s episode. We learned at the very end of ”One Of Us” that newbie Juliet was indeed shady; she had been sent by Ben to spy on the camp. (The moment was mirrored, I think, by having ”Dr. Linus” end with Widmore’s submarine spying on the castaways.)
Why might Jack be so angry? Oh, I don’t know. The same reason Sally Brown was so angry after spending all night in a pumpkin patch with Linus Van Pelt waiting for transcendent revelation to arrive. This Island thing — Jacob, Ben, everything — has made a big mess of his life, and he wants someone to take responsibility for it. He wants payback. Sally’s cry is his cry: ”YOU OWE ME RESTITUTION!” (1-15 from Doc Jensen at EW.com)
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But hey, we get our first real reference to the island here – and that’s big. Roger Linus confirms what bad CGI has already told us this season: Dharma does exist (or at least did exist) in the alternate timeline. Not only that, but both Ben and his father have spent some time on the island. What made them leave is unclear, but Roger goes extra-crazy-special out of his way to pointedly wonder (aloud and for our benefit) just what life would’ve been like if they’d “stayed on the island”.
When Miles approaches Ben with bananas and beanpods, the subject of Jacob comes up again. Here, Ben echoes what many of us have already thought: that Jacob didn’t really care about being killed at all. Miles immediately corrects him however, telling Ben: “No, he cared. He was hoping he was wrong about you.”This is highly interesting, because it seems to go against the original theory of Jacob knowingly accepting his own demise. If what Miles says is true, Jacob’s last words to Ben about ‘having a choice’ now carry a lot more weight. At the same time however, I find it difficult to believe Jacob’s not still pushing Ben from beyond the grave. Through the use of Miles, maybe Jacob is allowing Ben to know his disappointment for a very specific reason. Perhaps Jacob is trying to appeal to the good within Benjamin Linus, because bringing that good back to the surface again is the only way to successfully recruit him.
Illana is as confused about ‘Kwon’ as we are. Whether the name of the candidate 42 refers to Sun or Jin, Illana explains she plans to protect them both. How she’ll do this with a single rifle is beyond me, but maybe she’s got a sick dagger buried somewhere that we don’t know about.I also found it interesting that Illana said there were “six candidates left”. She already knows John Locke is dead AND occupied by the man in black, which would leave five at most. It left me wondering if Illana knew of a sixth candidate, and whether or not that candidate was Kate.
From our standpoint, replacing Jacob’s role seems to be a piss-poor job. Maybe Illana doesn’t see it that way, which is why she talks about it so openly. Later on this episode, we see the MIB talking about enlisting a replacement as well. So does the island need two replacements? A ying and a yang? Or are Jacob and the MIB really just two halves of the same entity, waging an internal, Tyler Durden-like war of fate vs. free will? Great question. But sorry, not this episode
Perhaps it’s because Ben was so far disconnected from the island’s roots (again, the barracks), or maybe it’s because the MIB just assumes every leader of The Others is as inherently power-hungry as Charles Widmore… but it turns out the dark man doesn’t really know Benjamin Linus. Because of this, he mistakenly assumes Ben’s greatest wish is to rule the island. Just as Sawyer’s biggest desire was to leave, and Sayid’s only wish was to be with Nadia again, the dark man approached Ben offering the one thing he figured a deposed leader would certainly want most: to regain his power.
The beach camp is a sacred place for us, and with very good reason. It represents the origins of the show we love so much, and memories of a more mysterious yet simpler time. It makes sense that LOST would begin and end in the same place, especially with all the circle and loop references scattered throughout the show. So when everyone ended up back here, including Jack and Hurley (and even Richard?) – it wasn’t all that shocking. Cue dramatic montage, and bring on the hugging.
Standing just outside the circle of trust, Richard and Ben are the newcomers. They’re fallen defenders of the island who’ve finally come to the realization that everyone’s been pretty much on the same team all along. The sides are being chosen up very quickly, and they’d better be… because here comes the periscope of Widmore’s sneaky sub. What havoc will he wreak? What shenanigans will he be up to? Not really sure, but having been off-island for so long he’d better be damned good at playing catch up.
Okay, here’s a guess: Widmore will unknowingly end up following the wrong side. As leader of The Others, let’s assume he’d been doing Jacob’s will (or thought he was) for the entire time he was on the island. But what if he was actually listening to the MIB, without even realizing it? What if he were taking baby-killing direction not from Jacob, but from his nemesis instead?Knowing what we know now, Widmore’s words to John Locke about the upcoming war now contain a more sinister connotation: “If you’re not back there, the wrong side will win”. It’s as if he knew (or was coached) that John Locke’s body was necessary to the dark man’s ultimate plan. In a way, Widmore participated in the MIB’s long con, whether he knew it or not. (16-21 by Vozzek69 at Darkufo)