Dr. Linus

WOW. That is all.Talk to you next week.

Okay, just joking. Dr. Linus was the first episode to feature a character in the side time other than the survivors of Oceanic 815. May I admit that the writers did NOT disappoint on any level? I'm sorry for the tardiness of this post as well. Life has been a bit hectic of late, but better late than never, right?

We've already seen Ben off the island in the side flashes, notably in The Substitute, and you gotta admit that you were just as intrigued as I was. Were you wondering if he was a power hungry megalomaniac? Were you wondering if he'd ever been to the island? If so, how and when did they leave? I'm sure we'll never get the answer to those questions. Onward, we go!

"What was truly devastating to him was the loss of power. Sure, they allowed him to keep the title of Emperor...... but without any power it was meaningless. He might as well have been dead" ~ Dr. Linus talking to his high school history class about another megalomaniac who went by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. And all I could think about for about 10 minutes was poor beaten Ben on the island. Ben in side time may have a doctorate in European History, but he lives a sparse life employed as a teacher and supporting his father.

But things aren't good for Ben on the teaching front. He gets little respect from his superiors and is forced to drop his history club to "step up amidst cut backs" to supervise detention. Okay, how cool is it that Dr. Leslie Arzt is friends with Dr. Benjamin Linus in side time? Who in their left, right or drunken mind would have ever thought that could be a possibility? Nope, I didn't see that one coming. I was half expecting Arzt to befriend Locke, but I see he sat separate from the regular teachers. Yet, I found it ironic that John Locke indicated that he would follow Ben Linus as a principal.

ALEX!!!!! We got to see Alex again as one of Dr. Linus' star students who lives with her mother (who works four jobs to make ends meet). She loves history and wants to go to Yale. She needs help in the form of a very good reference letter and the only person who can give it to her is the Principal. But the principal is playing a game with the school nurse, so Ben uses the knowledge to blackmail him into "retiring".

I found the fact that Ben failed at his blackmail attempt very interesting. Again, it's all about power and though Ben wanted that power to improve the academic faculty and better provide for the students, he wasn't meant to be an administrator. Blame the island. Blame fate. Blame Alex for sending an e-mail to the principal requesting a letter of recommendation on her behalf.

I held my breath when Ben was forced to chose. Take down the principal or ensure Alex got her letter. I wondered how he would choose. I tell you, my ears were popping and my eyes were bulging until he chose Alex's future over his own desire for power. FINALLY! I thought.

Even in side time, Ben is gassing his father. Only this time he's providing life giving oxygen. One thing is perfectly clear in the side flash, Ben and Roger have a much more traditional father son relationship than even we could have imagined. We learn that they were indeed part of the Dharma Initiative in their pasts, and they left the island. What we don't know is why they left, but I'll hazard a guess that it was some sort of accident that had put his son in danger. I am assuming that since there was no mention of Emily, Ben's mother, that she still died on the day Ben was born (or possibly shortly after). The major difference here is that Ben's issues with his father were not evident.

In original time, Miles spills the beans and tells Ilana that it was not Smocke that killed Jacob, but Ben. Ben denies the deed, but the jig is up and there's much to be done. The rag tag group are heading back to the beach camp where the territory is familiar and the ocean is at their backs. Once there, Ilana creates an island version of the ankle monitor and ties Ben to a tree (how many times has Be been tied to a tree?), telling him to start digging his own grave. She's really ticked at him and Ben sees that he has no way out of this bind (literally and figuratively). Ever trying to escape paying the consequences of his actions, he even tried to bribe Miles with that 3.2 million buckaroos and, once again is foiled when Miles tells him about the diamonds buried with Team Razzle Dazzle (Nikki and Paolo for those of you who haven't heard me refer to them as such). Poor Ben. I actually felt sorry for him. And, to make matters even worse, the clicking starts and along comes Smocke to make him an offer he can't refuse. Or can he?

Here's the thing. Ben's been learning a few things upon his return to the island and I think he is a changed man. He knows a few things now that he didn't know before he left (and if you think of it, he left of his own volition so he was never really banished). Smocke comes along, uses his "magic" to free Ben from the tether and gives him an out. Ben makes a run for it but Ilana catches up to him and they have a face off, each pointing a gun at the other. But here's the kicker. When Ben explains what happened inside the Four Toed Foot and admits that he doesn't really want to go to Smocke's camp but feels it necessary because no one wants him, Ilana shocks us all and as much as forgives him! Wow, did not see that coming. Nope, not at all. And the fact that Ben decides to try his luck with the crew he is already with tells us that his aspirations of being a great leader are gone.

Elsewhere on the island, Jack and Hurley are trying to make their way back to the temple. Hurley is stalling as much as he possibly can, knowing what Jacob told him about the bad person and the temple. They can't figure out which way to turn when they meet Richard Alpert, in a rush to get as far away from the temple as he can. He's seen the carnage there and, without Jacob to guide him, is lost and without purpose. He says he'll take Jack and Hurley back to the temple, but instead leads them to the Black Rock. Interestingly, this is the first appearance of the "slave" ship since season three. Seems so long ago.

Anyway, Richard, without purpose and no longer the confident honey we all know and love, does what any lost soul does when faced with adversity. He's going to commit suicide by way of having someone kill him. Apparently, when Jacob touches you he takes away your ability to kill yourself. Gee, what a guy. Jack follows Richard into the ship, lights the stick of TNT and sits down facing Richard. At first I thought Jack was going to take the easy way out and be a casualty of Richard's suicide by murder, then I realized that Jack's new found faith, if not his purpose, was protecting him. He knew that he would not die. He was willing to take the risk and put his fate in the hands of the island to make his point. The look on Richard's face when the fuse went out just before reaching the TNT was one of incredulity and renewed faith.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I can see a Jack and Richard friendship through the ages. I'm not sure if they are peers, but each of them have something that compliments the other. Jack tells Richard they have to go back to where it all began. The beach. Imagine that, huh?

Right now we are seeing our people getting into place. Jack, Ilana, Hurley, Sun, Ben, and Richard are all on the beach.

Sawyer, Claire, Jin, Kate, Not-The-Same-Sayid, and Smocke out in the jungle.

We can definitely see the alignment of sides happening.

And then there's the new arrivals. As Jack, Hurley and Richard arrive at the survivor's camp we see another faction arrive as a submarine surfaces. I knew it would be Chuckie on board that Submarine. I had only one question. Was that the Galaga, or did Chuckie Widmore have another sub made?

DID YOU NOTICE?

Dr. Linus is the first episode to focus a side time on someone other than an 815 survivor.

The actor who plays Roger Linus has portrayed him as a young man (at Ben's birth) to an old man. The longest interval of any other character!

Ben just keeps gassing his father! In the Purge it was to kill him, but in the side time it was to keep him alive with oxygen.

QUOTABLE QUOTES:

Ilana: Where's Jarrah?

Ben: I'm fine, that you.

Ilana: Where is he?

Ben: Considering that he just killed Dogen, I don't think he's going to be joining us.

Ilana: Are you sure?

Ben: He was standing over their dead bodies holding a bloody dagger, so yeah, I'm pretty sure.....

Ilana to Miles after he read Jacob's ashes: Are you sure?

Miles: Considering he was standing over his dead body with a bloody dagger in his hand, yeah, I'm pretty sure.

Hurley: Hmmm, cheese curds.....

BEN: I watched my daughter Alex die in front of me. And it was my fault. I had a chance to save her. But I chose the island over her. All in the name of Jacob. I sacrificed everything for him. And he didn't even care. Yeah I stabbed him, I was... so angry...confused...I was terrified that I was about to lose the only thing that had ever mattered to me - my power. But the thing that really mattered was already gone. I'm sorry that I killed Jacob. I am, and I do not expect you to forgive me because...I can never forgive myself.

ILANA: Where will you go?

BEN: To Locke.

ILANA: Why?

BEN: Because he's the only one who'll have me.

ILANA: I'll have you. [She leaves, he follows]

JACK: Wanna try another stick?

RICHARD: All right Jack. You seem to have all the answers. Now what?

JACK: We go back to where we started.

And, my all time favourite?

HURLEY: So did Dr Arzt. And I was wiping him out of my shirt two days later.

I included this because Sun's smile says it all!

QUESTIONS:

Why and when did Ben and Roger leave Dharma and the island?

Does Jacob's touch mean that no one can kill themselves?

How did Danielle and Alex end up living in LA? Does this mean that Alex wasn't born on the island?

How did Widmore find the island again? Did Eloise help him? Or does the island have two or three pre-determined locations that it keeps moving to?

So, what did you think of Dr. Linus? Did you enjoy seeing Ben ripped to pieces and then, upon forgiveness, being rebuilt into a decent man?

Did you enjoy seeing Dr. Arzt again? Was he still annoying?

All screen caps from Lostpedia and LostMedia.