Michael Emerson‘s performance as Ben continues to astound me. It’s not a surprise that Ben is one of the creepiest characters on TV. What caught my attention this week, however, was how Ben seems to be at his creepiest when he’s being friendly. I think the small moment on the beach when he was talking with Ilana was downright disturbing, and it only consisted of him smiling and telling her to have a nice day. Kudos, Mr. Emerson.
As with most of the episodes that focus on Mr. Linus I thought this was a great installment.
Well, all that speculation of what exactly happened between Ben and the Humes was revealed in this episode, and I am happy to report that no one ended up dead. Thank God. I can go on loving Lost without any reservations. I do have to say, though, it never gets old watching Ben get punched in the face. Whether it’s Jack or Desmond or anyone else, it’s always fun, and somehow satisfying.
Just as satisfying was Ben’s encounter with the smoke monster. It was very reminiscent of Ecko’s encounters with the mysterious entity. They were both judged, having flashes of their lives shown back to them by the cloud of black smoke, though Ben’s was a little more vivid. After the smoke disappeared, both Ecko and Ben were visited by dead relatives. It seems that the smoke monster likes to conjure up images of dead friends and family to make its point even more clear. I thought it was fascinating that Alex seemed so angry with Ben. Was this a representation of how the island is feeling toward Ben? Ecko’s vision of Yemi certainly didn’t act like that. It will be fun to see how long Ben can stay good on his promise to follow Locke and do whatever he says. The smart money says not too long.
There was one other thing that caught my attention in this episode: the crazy that seems to be happening on the beach. Clearly something is wacky with Ilana. At first glance, it almost looks like she is suffering from the same “sickness” that Rousseau’s crew came down with after spending some quality time with Smokey. We’ve never seen the smoke monster on the Hydra island, so I don’t think that’s the culprit. I wonder if Ilana has just been hiding something all along. And more importantly, what does lie in the shadow of the statue?
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Apr 08, 2009 @ 22:31 EST5EDT
Ben is awesome! I so love Ben!
Awesome episode, the only way it could have been better is if Sun wasn’t there. The Locke and Ben episode. Plus Sun should have killed Ben, I would have, he’s a liar and a mass killer, and the fact Sun even talked to him at all is shocking.
I think the beachies are “others” returning. They were looking to see if he knew the code.
I kinda thought they were Widmore’s folks, is that who you mean? Ben did not seem to recognize them, so it seemed that this was their first time there, and they were acting on Widmore’s code.
The apparition of Ben’s daughter was somewhat scary, I halfway expected her to bite his face.
And Bob, I too enjoy it when Ben gets beat on. What a great character Ben is!
*POST AUTHOR*
The more I think about it the more I think they are working for Widmore. It would make sense with Ilana hunting and capturing Sayid, who was himself hunting and killing Widmore’s people.
penny is only alive because she had a kid. ben does kinda have a heart.
also, its cool that he warned rousseau about the whispers. & the smoke monster scene was badass!
i’m pissed that ben pretty much forgot the last 3 years or more of his life & doesnt remember sawyer, juliet, miles, & jin. how convenient…
Am I the only one who hummed the wicked witch / cranky lady on the bike theme from The Wizard of Oz during the smoke monster scene? All I could think about were those faces, reminding me of the people Dorothy saw spinning around in the tornado. I’m kind of a Lost hater, though….
i’ve never seen the wizard of oz so i have no idea what you’re talking about. i saw Tim Man tho, i’d like to just keep that as the version of the wizard of oz in my mind.
*POST AUTHOR*
The memory loss has some interesting implications though. If Ben really doesn’t remember any of them being in the DI (and that’s a big if), then it means that they are probably not going to be with the DI much longer… hmm…
yeah i’m guessing they probably left. but it’s still pretty convenient for him to lose at least the last 3 years of memories.
Lets see:
-Young Ben had three years interaction with ONE 815er, ONE of his own people and TWO freighter people (who he never saw in 2004 IIRC) And really, would he have had THAT much interaction with Security and a chick from the motor pool? Not likely.
-Sayid is the only 06er that he had any interaction with before being shot/taken to the temple so then that was the only person he had to really forget.
-Do you really remember the face of every adult you knew when you were a kid? Even if he did remember Saywer and Sayid from 77, why would older Ben think they were the same? Even knowing what he knows about the island would he ever think of connecting the two?
It was great to see Ben with some fresh faces to manipulate. I love it when he screws with peoples minds.
Is Charles Widmore inside that huge crate they were guarding?
Illana is clearly working for Widmore as far as I am concerned.
Asking the statue question is the code words for being an Other I would imagine.
Here is how I figured she works for Charles.
1. Ben calls Charles and tells him he is gonna kill Penny.
2. Charles knows that Des is in LA
3. Contacts Illana in LA and says “find one of the 06 and get on a plane” or some such.
4. She proceeds with the mission as such.
Illana also seems cut from the same cloth as the gal who jumped from the helicopter onto the island.
So I have a question – Why did Ben need to steal Roseau’s Baby ? Also … did we get the full story of how Ben got Widmore removed from the island ? Was is strickly because Widmore got caught going to and fro (and had a kid)… or was it something else ?
We certainly got a lot of temple time in the last episode. Any speculation on the original inhabitants ? I am thinking lost isle of Atlantis.