Lost Episode 6 Recap and Review

Lost Episode 6 Recap and Review
Disclaimer: Spoilers!
Dr. Linus (a Ben-centric episode)


I have no idea where to begin this post about our favourite villain. This has been hands down the best episode of the season so far. I’ll even go as far as to say one of the particular scenes towards the end of the episode was so heart wrenching and beautiful, that it may be one of the best performances in the series. I did cry during this episode…which is an exclusive club to be in for Lost: Boone’s death, Charlie’s death, s4 episode: The Constant (Penny and Des scene), when Claire and Hurley finds out Charlie is dead, and the season 5 finale when James holds onto Juliet for dear life. Now I can add Ben’s heartbreaking monologue about his guilt over Alex. But I digress. Things are really heating up on the Island. We are seeing a clear schism between the groups. Team Flocke or Team Jacob? Each character thus far has had a choice to make. Each character seems to take one side or the other. My only exception to that would be Hurley, whom, as usual, is just going along with the flow of things and seems swayed by neither side. Perhaps that would make him the choice candidate, but we still have 9 episodes to go! Good vs. Evil. Free will vs. Destiny. I don’t think these terms are quite as black and white as they appear. Anyways, onto the episode recap.

Flashsideways

Dr. Linus works as a history teacher at a high school. We first see him discussion the downfall of Napoleon Bonaparte, and his exile on the island of Elba ("Able was I ere I saw Elba."), stating that death would have been better for Napoleon than his loss of total power. After class, the principal (clearly an asshole) basically tells Ben to go fuck his history club, because now he has to cover detention. Oh, high school politics! In the teacher’s lounge, Ben sits with none other than our favourite science teacher, Dr. Arzt (in one piece, I assure you)! They talk about their mutual dislike for the principal, as well as Ben’s immense fondness for the students’ education. The substitute aka Locke, at this point, decides to stick his nose in other people’s business and suggests that maybe Ben should be principal.

Back at home, Ben tends to his elderly father, Roger. Roger seems to be a complete 180 change from the drunken sod we saw in Dharma. Speaking of Dharma, Roger and Ben both apparently still went to the island and participated in the Dharma Initiative. They mention how they left, which I can only assume is that either they left on the submarine before the bomb exploded, or perhaps it never exploded at all. It’s certainly very curious that the Island still exists or at least existed at some point in time of the Flashsideways sequences. I’m sure this notion will be revisited again during these final episodes. Anyways, a knock on the door leads to us seeing Alex again! Alex Rousseau is Dr. Linus’s top student and history club participator. They obviously are presented with having an extremely close and trusting relationship. Why Alex had to go at night time to her teacher’s house to ask about history club is beyond me. I’m pretty sure she could have picked up a phone but oh well.

During their morning tutoring session, Alex reveals (as if talking to her closest friend) that she saw the principal and the school nurse getting jiggy with it in the nurse’s office. Alex makes Ben promise that he won’t say anything, because the principal is writing her a letter of recommendation so she can try to land a spot at Yale. I should point out here that it was really beautiful seeing the interaction between them in the flashsideways. You can tell Ben feels very protective / fatherly towards her, and that Alex respects and is deeply loyal to Ben.

But hark! With this piece of office infidelity he has just heard, maybe he can bring down the principle and claim the position for himself! With the help of Dr. Arzt’s computer hacking skills (in trade for a better parking spot) they manage to break into the principal’s email and find many incriminating ones! Ben mans up and confronts the principal. He turns on that old charm and manipulation that made us all fall in love with Ben Linus, and tries to blackmail him to resigning and naming Ben the next principal. What none of us expected is that this old pervy principal has a card up his sleeves as well. He turns the tables on Ben, showing him an email from Alex, asking for a letter of recommendation. The stakes are simple: if Ben goes through with exposing him, then he will “torch” Alex’s future. Ben gets it RIGHT this time around, and sacrifices his own power FOR Alex. It’s very touching. Alex gets an absolutely glowing letter of recommendation from the principal, and Arzt gets Ben’s parking spot. Everyone is happy.

Ben and the Beach Crew

After escaping the little Smoke Monster mess back at the temple, Ben catches up with the aptly named Beach Crew – Ilana, Frank, Sun, and now Miles. He reveals that Sayid killed Dogen and the interpreter aka Lennon. They decide to head for the beach to make camp. Upon this hike to the beach, Ilana gives the bag of ashes from Jacob’s cremated body to Miles, and asks how Jacob died. Miles totally copped out and threw Ben under the bus by telling Ilana that Ben stabbed him to death. Nice one, Miles. On the beach, we get another question of sorts answered. Ilana tells Sun that they are Candidates to take over Jacob’s position, and she is charged with protecting them. She also mentioned how she wants to find Jin as well, because she does not know which Kwon the writing is referring to. Something she said here struck me as a tad bit odd. She tells Sun that there are 6 candidates left now. Originally, we were all led to believe that the 6 candidates were so distinguished by their number assignment: Locke (4) Hurley (8) Sawyer (15) Sayid (16) Jack (23) Kwon (42). That makes sense as being the 6 candidates. But, unless I heard incorrectly, Ilana said there were only 6 left now. We know that Locke has died, and we know that Sayid has been taken. Ilana knows all of this too. If we can eliminate Locke as a candidate, and we can assume that being “taken” puts you out of the running, then that leaves us with our 4 original candidates. By that logic, who are the other two candidates? I still feel as if we cannot totally dismiss Kate as a candidate, because she WAS touched by Jacob. Maybe I misheard, but I do think we can all agree that Locke is no longer a candidate. This would leave us with 5 candidates, albeit one of whom is clearly crazy. Something just doesn’t sit well with me about the 6 candidates left. Now, by this point in the series, I have never really fancied Ilana. Ever since seeing her in season 5, I never cared about her. This dislike of her PEAKED when she manacled Ben down in the Oceanic graveyard and, at gun point, told him to dig his own grave. She looked to Jacob as a father figure; alright I get it…but do NOT point a gun at Ben Linus!

Cyborgs and Vampires

Jack and Hurley begin to walk back towards the temple (Hurley, knowing some bad shit went down, is trying to stall them). They come across Richard, who tells them to follow him to the temple. Hurley asks the obvious question “Are you a cyborg or a vampire?” to Richard, because he does not age. Richard says that Jacob gave him a “gift”. Hurley casually mentions that he has been speaking to Jacob, which leaves Richard flabbergasted, telling Hurley not to believe a word Jacob says! He begins to march off very determined. Someone yells after him “Where are you going?” Richard replies, “To die.” This seems VERY reminiscent of season 4, when Sayid or someone asked Michael what he was doing on the freighter, and he said “I’m here to die”. Chew on that one for a minute!

Instead of bringing them to the temple, he brings them to the Black Rock. Inside, he looks with reflection upon the manacles and saying that he came on the boat but hasn’t returned until now. This confirms every fan’s believe that Richard came over on the Black Rock. That indeed he did! Richard gets out a stick of dynamite and starts raving about wanting to die. He says that Jacob “touched” him, which was a curse; not a gift. He cannot kill himself, but he begs Jack and Hurley to light the dynamite fuse for him. He says that he mindlessly followed Jacob, who told him everything happens for a reason. He told Richard that he had a plan, and would one day reveal the whole plan to him. Now that Jacob is gone, he feels as if his entire life has no purpose. Jack lights the fuse to the dynamite, puts it on the table, and tells Richard it’s time to talk! It feels good to have the badass, decisive, dominating Jack back! Hurley decides it’s probably best if he was at least a mile away, so he leaves. Jack looks determined, and slightly nuts, but he explains that Jacob supposedly led him to a lighthouse, where Jacob wanted him to see what was on degree 23. He saw the house he grew up in as a child, and so he knows that Jacob didn’t bring him back to the island to see all of this and to die. The fuse burns out and lo and behold, Jack actually got it right! So what does this say for our LOST Candidates? First off, they apparently cannot die while on the island (Locke died off the island, which I would assume makes immortality void). I don’t think that the way Jacob touched them is the same way he touched Richard (god, all this touching…you’d think Jacob would have been arrested by now!) Richard is ageless. Our LOST candidates, though apparently not being able to die, have aged. Sawyer and Kate were touched as children (oh god, nice word choice eh?) and they’ve obviously aged normally. This is all very enlightening for our already crazy plot!

Ben Digs a Grave

While beloved Ben digs his own grave, Flocke appears very stealth-like from behind him. Flocke says how he does not want Ben to die. He wants to leave the Island once and for all, along with all of his followers, but when he leaves he needs to leave someone in charge of the Island. Looks like Ben is a MiB candidate! With his magic fingers, he un-manacles Ben, telling him he left a gun in not too far into the jungle. He invites him to go to the smaller island and meet them all at the Hydra station. Ben decides to wait until Ilana is looking DIRECTLY AT HIM and makes his move. He runs into the jungle, finds the gun, and immediately points it at Ilana, who surrenders her gun. And now…

The Most Beautiful Scene on Lost
Ilana asks Ben what he is waiting for in shooting her. Ben goes into a very heart wrenching, moving, and emotional monologue. He recounts how he watched his own daughter die and did nothing to stop it (eyes watering). He had chosen the island over Alex, in the name of Jacob, but Jacob didn’t care (face contorting). Furious and confused, Ben stabbed Jacob because he was scared that he would lose the island…but he realized the only thing that really mattered (Alex) was already gone (a few tears at this point). He says to her, “I don’t expect you to forgive me, because I can never forgive myself.” (Now I’m sobbing into a pillow). Ben says that he is going to go to Locke. Why? “Because he is the only one who will have him.” (Oh God that is painful!). In a complete surprise, Ilana begins to walk away, saying that she will have him (now I don’t dislike Ilana anymore!). Ben decides to follow her.

WOW. This scene alone was one of the most touching, raw, and realistic scenes I’ve seen on Lost. Michael Emerson is one of the greatest actors of our time. Benjamin Linus is a PERFECTLY written character, and has so many sides, twists, and turns to his persona. Like that, Michael Emerson can perform every single emotion of Ben so PERFECTLY. Ben absolutely breaks down beyond any way we have seen before Ben, who has been so mysterious and seems to always have a scheme in his brain, absolutely dropped any and all rouse and revealed his true self tonight. All I can do is applaud the writing team, and give a standing ovation to Michael Emerson. I feel strongly that after this performance, he will surely be taking home his 3rd Emmy Award. I literally cannot go on about how phenomenal this scene was. I’m speechless!

REUNION
As I said, Ben decides to return with Ilana. Timidly, he offers his help to Sun in building her shelter, and she accepts. In a beautiful montage, set to fantastic music (the now academy award winning composer-congrats!) we see Ben helping Sun, Ilana breaking down into tears, Miles looking at his newfound diamonds (I love the throwback to Nikki and Paulo’s diamonds!) and Frank being Frank. Jack, Hurley, and Richard soon make their way to the beach where they have a heartfelt and slow motion reunion with Sun and company. All seems peaceful and well.

BUT WAIT! DUN DUN DUN!
Just as things are seeming peachy, we see a submarine scope emerge from the waters offshore and look at the beach folk. Inside, a man says to his superior “There are people on the beach, should we stop?” His superior says “No, we go forward as planned”. IT’S THAT OLD SLY DOG, CHARLES WIDMORE! Oh I do love a good cliffhanger!

My Thoughts
First off, this episode was EXACTLY what Lost fans were looking for. It had all the elements of the episodes from seasons past. It’s with this kind of episode that made us all fall in love with the series. I think so many things were revealed and really moved the season along for us, that I have a few questions at this time, but mostly I have points of thought.

I’d like to point out Frank finally revealing why he missed out on originally flying Oceanic 815 – he overslept! A simple thing such as missing his alarm in the morning stopped him from the fated flight. Of course, as Ben aptly points out, “the Island got him in the end!” It’s an interesting point, that no matter what, the Island did get him. It “course corrected itself” and brought him there anyways. That certainly makes an interesting argument under the Free Will vs. Destiny dichotomy.

I find it very interesting that the Dharma Initiative and the Island exists or existed at some point in time in the flashsideways timeline. So Why/how/WHEN did Ben and his father leave the Island in the flashsideways? The easiest explanation for this is that they evacuated the island right before the Incident. I really don’t think that could be the correct explanation. The way Ben and Roger talk about their departure from the island makes it sound like it was merely a choice, and that, had they wanted, they could have stayed and Ben could have really made something of himself there. This leads me to believe that when they left, the Dharma Initiative was still in full swing. Even if that is so, some of our LOSTies had to have been on the island in the past. We saw Ethan Goodspeed/Rom when he delivered Claire’s baby in the flashsideways. In order for him to be born, it would mean that Sawyer saved his mother from the others in 1974, and Juliet helped deliver the baby. Also, the Incident was caused by Jack throwing the bomb down the hole, and the evacuations were because Daniel told Dr. Chang to evacuate everyone, with Miles, Jin, and Hurley confirming it to him later. But if that is happened, then there would be no flashsideways or no Island in 2007. It’s all very confusing, I know. I don’t know…it’s some kind of vicious cycle that I can’t seem to crack. I’ll have to ponder that one a little longer.

Why is Flocke gathering everyone at the Hydra station?

How did Charles Widmore find the island again?

WHO ARE the 6 remaining Candidates? We have:
Reyes
Ford
Shepherd
Kwon
These are definitely Candidates. But that is only 4! If we are to believe that Sayid is no longer a Candidate now that he has been “claimed”, then who are our 2 mystery Candidates? I would only render a guess that Kate could still be a candidate, and that Richard is a candidate as well.

Still no sign of Sawyer or Jin…

Is Charles Widmore the person that Jacob was trying to help find the island in The Lighthouse? If so, then what does that say about Charles Widmore? Is he a good guy? Or is Jacob not such a great guy. Maybe Widmore is a candidate?

As of late, my argument for Jacob being solely good and MiB being solely evil seems asinine. I really don’t know who to trust (besides Ben, of course)!

Last, I’d like to rehash my theory last week about the Flashsideways being created by the MiB (and/or Jacob, as it were). Every character in a flashsideways seems to be getting something they have deeply wanted / having something fixed, so to speak. As I had said before, Sayid wanted Nadia alive, which she is. He atones for his wrongdoings in the past and pushes her towards his brother because he does not deserve her. Kate gets to help Claire and Aaron be together, which as of now, seems to be the only reason she came back to the island. John has come to terms with his disability, no longer has daddy issues, and is married to Helen, which are three important aspects of Locke’s life that were messed up in his previous timeline. Though we have yet to see Hurley’s flashsideways, we know that instead of interpreting the lottery numbers as a curse, he interprets them as lucky, and thus is a very lucky and successful man. Jack’s is a little vaguer. He has a son, whom he has communication issues with. He is obviously divorced, or at least is not with David’s mother anymore. In his flashsideways, Jack makes a special connection with his son, and gives him the praise that he always wanted from his father. This could be viewed in a way of moving past his issues with his father. There is obviously more to his story than we have seen yet. Finally, we have Ben! Last week, I told you to look for something Ben would want more than anything in the world in his flashsideways. I think we can all agree that, though the properties I suggested were slightly different, the principle of the matter is the same. Though Alex is not his daughter in his flashsideways, he is her close and deeply trusted teacher and a mentor of sorts. They have a very significant teacher/student bond and he feels very protective and fatherly towards her. Also, Ben is presented with a conundrum like he was on the Island. On the Island, he had the choice between his power of the Island, or Alex’s life. He chose the Island, Alex was killed, and obviously he fucked up on that one. In the flashsideways, he is given the choice between gaining power of being principal of the school, or Alex’s future. Here, he makes the right choice, choosing Alex over power. In his flashsideways, he was able to right his wrong. I think this is extremely significant in what the flashsideways are all about: righting wrongs!

Next Week: Tuesday, March 16 at 9pm/8c
Episode Title: Recon
Summary: Locke trusts Sawyer with a mission.

This is going to be an interesting episode I hope. The promos that I have seen so far don’t really give anything away. Looking upon the slated guest stars, I can discern a few things though. We will be seeing a whole slew of seemingly random characters. Cindy, the kids Zack and Emma will be in this episode, which points to us spending most of our time over at the Flocke Camp at the Hydra station. We also have Charlotte Lewis appearing in this episode, AS WELL AS Liam Pace, Charlie’s older brother. How and why these characters will be in this episode is beyond me. Three characters named “Ava” “Seamus” and “Zoe” will also appear. I can’t for the life of me think of whom they could be, so they must be new characters, perhaps some of the Others, or someone in a flashsideways. There is a slight possibility that with Liam appearing, then perhaps Seamus is the name of the drummer of Drive Shaft (the only band member who’s name has never been mentioned previously) In any case, this mix of cast looks like it could be an eye opener. My assumption is that it could be a Sawyer-Centric episode, but don’t hold me to that! In any case, Happy Viewings!