Episode Review: LOST:"Dr. Linus" (Season 6, Episode 7)

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2004 Timeline-
Ben is trying to teach history to high schoolers- he obviously cares about his job and his students. Dr. Linus is put upon by the principal, who is a burned out administrator with delusions of adequacy. In the teacher's lounge, Arzt (!!!) and Locke encourage Doc Ben to become principal. He goes home and talks to his dad. His dad mentions that he brought Ben to the Dharma initiative and the island to improve Ben's lot, but they left early. Alex Rousseau is a member of his history club at school. He is tutoring her for the A.P. exams She's shooting for Yale, but is having difficulty. She refers to the principal as 'pervert'. Ben asks why she'd say that; Alex had heard the principal and the school nurse 'going at it'. Ben takes this information to blackmail the principal out of his job, but the principal holds Alex Rousseau's future in his hands. Ben Folds. (HA!), but Alex gets her letter of recommendation from the principal, and Ben has a little more 'juice'.

2007 Timeline-
Ben, Ilana and company are running through the jungle, trying to escape Smokey. During a rest stop, Miles reads Jacob's ashes and determines that Linus killed him. Ilana reveals to Sun that she is supposed to protect the candidates. Sun really would like to know what they are candidates for… and we still wonder whether Sun or Jin is the candidate. Jack and Hurley are wandering around when Richard pops out of the bushes and starts guiding them toward the temple, or so he says. He steadfastly avoids talking about himself, saying that his seeming agelessness is a gift from Jacob. Turns out he's also steadfastly avoiding taking Hurley and Jack to the temple. He has been there, and everyone is dead. He also seems to be a bit disillusioned with Jacob (and probably a bit irritated that for a dead man, Jacob doesn't seem inclined to shut up) Ilana takes a break from being a bodyguard and forces Ben to dig his own grave. Ben tries to bribe Miles into changing his story; Miles blows him off, pointing out that Nikki and Paulo had a fortune in diamonds buried with them. Richard walks them to the Black Rock, where he opens up the dynamite. He's having a crisis of faith that's making him suicidal. He asks for Jack's help in killing himself. Jack complies, but decides to have a conversation after lighting the dynamite's fuse. (Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to tell your life story, Richard, before you self destruct….) Jack explains to Richard that he understands that Jacob has a purpose that extends beyond his death, and that Jacob won't let them blow up. Sonofagun! They don't blow up! Smokey McLocke gives Ben a chance at freedom. Ben runs for the jungle, finding a gun where Smokey left it. When he gets the drop on Ilana, rather than shoot… he explains that he killed Jacob because Jacob betrayed him when Alex was killed. He had faith in Jacob, and everything he valued was taken away. Surprisingly, Ilana decides that he can stay among the living, and with her party. Jack, Hurley and Richard also join Camp Jacob, reuniting with the others on the side of (I was going to say 'light' , but I'm not sure that's true.) A periscope surveys this happy scene… and in the submarine, Charles Widmore and crew.

Observations:
Earlier this week, at one of our staff meetings, I posited a theory which is bearing some fruit: I believe that Michael (Ben Linus) Emerson , Naveen (Sayid) Andrews and Terry (Smokey) O'Quinn are the mysterious force behind Josh (Sawyer) Holloway's and Matthew (Jack) Fox's much improved acting ability. R1 studiously ignored it, opting instead for hula dancing on the conference table. R3 had a bit more interest, but was easily distracted by my laser pointer. Sigh. Anyway, I think I have more ammunition for that theory tonight. Michael Emerson's work on Ben Linus this evening was beyond anything I've seen him do before, He portrayed Dr. Linus in such a way that he was obviously Ben, but very much a Ben that had never had to go through the dreadful things that we witnessed in the 'main' timeline. And over in the main timeline, we saw Ben confess, repent and be redeemed in an utterly convincing and moving way. Ben was 'on the island' in the alternate timeline too… but was it the same island? I wonder... In another, but lesser, tour de force from Nestor (Batmanuel, Richard) Carbonell, we learn that he was 'touched' by Jacob, giving him effective immortality. He cannot kill himself, even though he wants to die. He, like Ben, feels betrayed by Jacob. Richard believed that Jacob had a plan, and J's death seemed to belie that. When Jack, in a sudden burst of faith, shows Richard that Jacob's machinations are still working by playing chicken with a stick of dynamite. Interesting that Jack is now a man of faith and McLocke is pragmatic now. Jacob seems to endow some of his 'pawns' (for lack of a better word) with powers. I think Miles, Hurley and Richard were all gifted in order to make Jacob's reach extend beyond his own death. One thing that might get lost (ha!) in all of this: Ben believed in Jacob, and everything he did, he did because of his faith. When he said to Michael WAAAY back when:"We're the good guys", he meant it. It seems to me that when we leave this series, we'll be left with some of the big questions- Is it right to do evil for good's sake? Can we synthesize faith and reason, or will they always be at odds? Who invented liquid soap, and why? Overall, a quality episode… though it didn't seem to move the arc forward as much as I thought it would, but the Michael Emerson one-man-show made it worthwhile. What did you think? Sound off!
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