LOST
DR. LINUS
(Or How Ben Took a Stand)
by LindaM

Last night during Lost’s episode, Dr. Linus, it seems that old Blocke (my name for possessed dead Locke) made a big mistake – a statistical error if you will. Blocke saw the opportunity to make Ben the “Keeper of the Island” and offered the opportunity to him. I won’t tell you how yet, but let’s just say old then when old Smokey/Blocke left, he thought he had it in the bag. Ben was left with a decision that could change his life. The interactions of the people Ben was with has probably affected Blocke more than Ben! .

The episode, Dr. Linus , focused almost entirely on Ben. A short synopsis is as follows:
Sideways Ben is a teacher at the school who cares for his students at the school where Locke is substituting. Ben doesn’t like the way the principal does his job as he is constantly cutting corners of things that will benefit the kids. Ben gets some dirt on the principal and chooses to try to use it. When the principal threatens one of Ben’s favorite students, Alex Rousseau, Ben backs off but not completely. While the principal keeps his job, Ben uses it as leverage to get Alex a good recommendation and also the history club back.

On the island, Ben is found out. Mills tells Ilana, Jacob’s body guard for the potentials, that it was Ben who actually killed Jacob and not Blocke. Of course, we know that Blocke tricked Ben into doing it but Mills doesn’t see this. Ilana turns her gun on Ben and puts him shackles to dig his own grave. While Ben is doing this, good old Blocke appears and tells Ben that he wants him to become the island keeper. When Ben says he can’t get away, Blocke magically takes the shackles off and tells him where the gun is that can save his life. Ben makes a break for it with Ilana in pursuit. He grabs the gun but you can see that he doesn’t want to shoot. He used the gun to hold Ilana off while he explains what happened. She tells him he can leave and asks why he would. Ben tells her he has no one else that wants him. Ilana looks at him and says: I do. Ben follows Ilana back to camp and immediately helps Sun with the cover.

Which leads us to two big reveals. The other story tonight (yeah – there were three) deals with Jack and Hurley’s return to the temple. On the path, they meet Richard. Richard tells Jack he knows the way but instead takes him to the ship. There, he asks Jack to kill him with explosives which are in the ship. Richard tells Jack that Jack must set it off because Richard has been touched by Jacob (reveal 1). It seems that once Jacob touches you, you cannot kill yourself. Hurley asks Jack if he’s going to do it and Jack respond yes. He lights the dynamite but then sits down and asks Richard to explain. As he confronts Richard with the choice, Richard realizes he doesn’t want to die. Magically, the dynamite’s fuse stops burning (reveal 2 – Jack has powers)! Richard then tells them they must return to the beginning and leads them to the Ilana’s group on the beach.

This was a big story last night. It set into play some key elements that we have been waiting for. The cast is now divided into the good and the bad. The good seems to now have a leader in Jack who I honestly didn’t think realized it until last night. Blocke made a critical error by not knowing the heart of the one man he thought he could control – Ben. Add to that is the return in Widmore which we saw in the closing minutes of the show. Personally, I wish Jack had seen the submarine and sunk Widmore to the floor of the ocean!

I’ve said before that there’s a parallel running here between Lost and C. S. Lewis’s The Last Battle. This was seen again last night with Ben. In the story, Aslan and the kings and queens of Narnia move deeper into a New Narnia. While on their journey, they find a believer of the dark god who wonders how he got to Narnia. In the book Aslan makes the following statement: “Child, all the service thou has done to Tash, I account as service done to me.” While Ben had always thought he was doing Jacob’s will, he had lost his way because old Smokey was colored his vision with power and disdain for Jacob. When Blocke made the offer, Ben knew who he really was. He could have easily forsaken Jacob and Jacob’s way but found redemption instead. Now he is aligned with the good and Smokey has lost his island keeper.

And, let us not forget that Widmore is back. Is he the devil personified?

Oh, and now let’s also consider this. Of the names Jacob had written on the caves, Locke, Sawyer, and Sayid (with Kate and others) are firmly on old Smokey’s side. Jack, Hurley, and Sun are on Jacob’s side (with Richard, Mills, and Ben). Only one that’s missing is Jin and he was last seen in Claire’s camp (not at her side). The fight is on!

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