Lost - "Dead Is Dead"

Hey everyone! Sorry about the two week sabbatical, but I'm back! Let's start by looking at what happened while I was away.

Previously on Lost, Sayid was being held in the Dharma brig for being a Hostile, and there he hung with sad, young Ben. Ben engineered a distraction to break Sayid out and help him escape. Sayid went along, but unfortunately he did so because he just realized what his reason was for coming to the island: to shoot and kill Ben Linus. Sayid was only 1 for 2 though, popping a cap in Ben's chest and leaving him for dead. Ben was rushed back to Dharmaville where he needed some kind of miracle-working, expert surgeon. But Jack was not interested in operating on Ben, even though if Ben died the universe could explode or something, so Kate, Sawyer, and Juliet snuck him off to Richard Alpert, who offered to take him to the Temple, where his memory would be changed and his innocence would be lost.

So with that out of the way, let's get going with a question: What lies in the shadow of the statue? The answer is probably not Ben Linus, bedcause he seems to lie everywhere else too but with that awkward segue, let's delve into Dead Is Dead, another Ben episode, and a damn good one, even if its really hard to decode. Making Ben, especially freaked-out season 5 Ben, the center makes it especially tough to figure out the truth from the lies, but let's try. Before we get into that, however, we start with a flashback to Ben's post-Temple experience, where an irate Other wants to know why Richard went ahead and healed Ben. Richard says its because Jacob wanted it done (meaning Jacob was at least around since 1977). Then the Other goes to have a conversation with Ben and we learn that the well-coifed adventure man is none other than Charles Widmore.

Meanwhile, in 2007, Ben sees Locke, still alive and well, and does his best to play it off as part of the plan, playing the part of misunderstood hero with a side of Doubting Thomas. "Believe is one thing, John, but actually seeing it" explains Ben well enough to keep Locke from selling him out to Cesar and the Ajira braintrust, even if he's way past the point of trusting Ben. Meanwhile, Ben made nice with Cesar, more to keep his options open I think, and recovered a picture of him and Alex from the Hydra.

Its there where Locke finally confronted him about the whole murder thing and Ben's explanation was pretty much what we'd all surmised. Ben needed the information he got from Locke and then "didn't have the time to talk you into killing yourself." I'll buy that, although it also seems like there was something about that information that made Ben want to kill Locke (maybe he wanted to keep Locke from meeting Eloise Hawking?). Locke, however, just wants to help Ben do what he came here to do: summon the monster.

See, Ben claimed to Locke that he has to be judged for returning to the island, even though its against the rules. The judge? "I believe you call it the Monster." However, I think Ben was just trying to tell Locke what he wanted to hear in order to get help getting back to the island. We'll revisit that later, since their excursion got cut-off by Ben's new BFF (that would be Cesar) and a couple lackeys. Ben pops Cesar after stealing his gun and he and Locke get away.

Meanwhile, the flashbacks gave us a few juicy bits of backstory. First, it turns that Ben was the Other who came and stole Alex from Rousseau, warning her to run away whenever she hears whispers. However, that wasn't the plan, since then-leader Widmore wanted Ben to kill Rousseau and any children she may have lying around. Ben couldn't bring himself to do it (which makes sense, given his own mother-issues) and questions whether that's really what Jacob wants. Meanwhile, Richard watched with interest, the same way he did when Ben and Locke squabbled back in Season 3. We skip what looks to be a few years to when Widmore left the island and it turns out...Widmore's a damn liar. Instead of being tricked into turning the wheel, Widmore was exiled by Ben and the Others for crimes including leaving the island too much and having a child with an outsider (both things that Ben did). I'm beginning to get the feeling that leading the Others kind of sucks, what with the people always trying to take your job and the fickle ghost-deity you have to answer to.

Back in the present, Ben and Locke arrived in the remains of Dharmaville where they found Lapidus and Sun, who were told by Christian to wait for John Locke. Ridiculous, right? Because of the whole dead thing! But there they all reunite and Lapidus roundly decides that he's had just about enough and guns it back for the Hydra Island. Sun sticks around, because Locke's going to reunite her with Jin, but "Ben has something to do first."

We finally get to see how Ben summoned the monster and it involves going through the secret passage in his study (it ultimately connects to the conservatory) and into a chamber with a large puddle of water. He reached in and pulled some kind of plug and the water travelled down the hole. I really wish I had something more to add here, but I've really got nothing. While he's waiting, Ben tells Sun something very different from what he said to Locke earlier: that he had no clue Locke would come back to life. "Dead is dead," said Ben, giving the episode its title, "you don't get to come back from that." Given Ben's freaked out behavior and what we'll learn later from Alex/The Monster, I'd tend to believe that this is the truth. There's something very special about John Locke and the attention hog/control freak in Ben doesn't like it one bit.

So there's some russeling in the bushes and out comes...John Locke. A subtle nod at the theory that the Monster can manifest itself in the form of dead people on the island? More on that below. Locke gets impatient and decides to take Ben to where it lives. Ben doesn't know, but viewers will remember from "This Place is Death" that the monster resides in a little cavern underneath some old looking walls. Those walls? They keep outsiders away from The Temple, that mysterious Others home-base that we've heard so much about. Locke shows Ben the hole and guides him down it, but before heading down, Ben tells Sun to tell Desmond that he's sorry.

Sorry for what? Well, in the flashbacks we learn that Ben did indeed pay a visit to Our Mutual Friend, the boat that Penny, Desmond, and Charlie live on. Ben, classy guy that he is, calls Widmore to let him know that he's about to murder Penny and return the island. Then, as he heads to the boat, he runs into Desmond and pops him one in the chest (its somewhat confusingly staged, but I'm pretty sure Desmond was hit by that bullet). Then he goes up to Penelope and gives her his big spiel when...he catches sight of Charlie. And Ben's heart grew three sizes that day (or something) and he decides not murder Penny. Seconds later, Desmond arrives and beats the everloving shit out of Ben, before tossing him in the water, thus explaining the blood and bruises and arm.

So Ben goes down to the cave and soon finds himself in a room covered in hieroglyphics (did anyone else get a Raiders of the Lost Ark vibe?) including one that would seem to depict Smokey. Speaking of the devil, the puff of smoke creeps into the room and surrounds Ben, showing him scenes of his past with Alex. See, although Ben didn't want to do this at first, he eventually came around to the idea because he still feels incredibly guilty over Alex's death. I was convinced that Ben was getting the Eko treatment and Lost and I would no longer be on speaking terms, but somehow, Ben survives. Then Alex appears in the room (or maybe its still the Monster). Ben apologies and says its his fault, to which Alex responds that she knows. Things then take a violent turn when Alex slams Ben up against the wall and tells him that she knows he's planning to kill Locke again and if he doesn't follow every order the bald one gives him, he's dead. So we end with Ben, looking up at his new leader with a mix of awe and loathing, saying "it let me live." The control freak now forced to quit cold turkey (shades of the Jack-Sawyer reversal?).

So that about does it for this episode, which was filled with mythology and pathos, as Ben episodes tend to go. It was also one of my favorites of the season, thanks to the show finally giving us a strong character episode and a strong story episode. I know this season's been kind of different and, at times, wonky, but its really been hitting its stride and I'm excited to get back to the time travel craziness next week (Miles episode!)

A

The Theory-Down:

5. WHERE THE HELL ARE ROSE AND BERNARD? I have to assume that they aren't dead, because they could have shown us the bodies or even had a line or something if they wanted to go in that direction. I know some people think they're Adam and Eve, but while that would be endlessly awesome, I think we'd have seen them die in Jughead (remember Jack said they were probably 40-50 years old, although Jack says a lot of things). My theory for now is that they're living with the Others, but whatever it is, it had better be good.

4. So, I missed recapping the whole Ben thing, but I think we have pretty definitive evidence now that the Losties are not changing the past, they were always there. Sayid always shot Ben and Juliet, Kate, and Sawyer always took him to Alpert.

3. So, does Ben remember being shot by Sayid? I know Alpert said that he'd forget things, but in the post-Temple flashback he remembered Dharma and his father and he later talked about being taken there. I, for one, think and hope that he does. First of all, its the most logical way for Lost's time travel to be taking place. Second, it makes Ben that much more messed-up of a person if he was actually training and shaping Sayid into the person who would later shoot him. Finally, I think it explains a lot about how Ben knows so much about the Lostaways. And is it really that hard to believe that Ben was able to play it cool for three seasons and not divulge to these people he remembered from his past that he remembered them?

2. We're still just getting bits and pieces of Widmore vs. Ben, but I think this episode pretty much set up Team Ben as being aligned with the island. Why? First of all, he was allowed to return. Second, the island had the chance to kill him and didn't, so as long as he follows Locke I think he'll be one of the "good guys." And third, Ben was unwilling to kill children, so he seems to have at least a scruple or two more than Widmore. We also learned Widmore lied about his exile, even if the exact whys and hows are still unclear.

1. Time for a couple Temple theories (which I bet we'll see before the season's end). My frontrunner, right now, is that the Temple is going to be some kind of awesome, futuristic (or at least anachronistic) building, which would just be awesome. But Noel Murray at the AV Club had an alternate theory that behind the wall is basically the "backstage" area and that Ben et al really are just putting on a show. There's some legitimately magical things about the island that they don't understand (the monster, the healing), but everything else (like Jacob) is a show meant to give them authority. Its interesting, but for now I'm sticking with futuristic building.