I Am DB

Returning after five trying weeks off, our favorite vehicle for self-torture did not ease us back in gently. This episode was full speed ahead and there’s lots to talk about, so tuck in – this is a long one.

THE DOCTOR IS OUT
The episode began with a body washing up on the beach. It turned out to be the doctor from the freighter – his face bruised, his throat slit, and his color not-so-healthy. Faraday identified him for the others, and said he was alive the last time they saw each other. Jack asked when that was, to which Faraday replied (with his typical twitchy hesitance), “When is a relative term.” Indeed. Last time we saw the doctor, he was alive. But time on the freighter is not n’sync with time on the island, so for us, his death is yet to be seen. How will the good doctor make his exit from this tale? Could Michael have anything to do with it?

Speaking of doctors who don’t look so good, Jack wasn’t doing too well either. He diagnosed himself with a stomach bug, but by the end of the episode he looked like a Chestburster was about to explode through his ribcage. He’s one doubled-over convulsion away from Sigourney Weaver showing up with a flamethrower. What’s ailing him?

BRING YOUR STOLEN DAUGHTER TO WORK DAY
It began as a serene afternoon in New Otherton. Ben was tickling the ivories while Locke, Sawyer and Hurley played a friendly game of Risk. But before too long, the smoke would hit the fan. The neighborhood fell under attack from the freighter’s mercenaries, led by that magnificent bastard Martin Keamy (whose name I’ve been misspelling…and whose eventual, inevitable death I look forward to with glee). Turns out they were indeed responsible for the murder of Rousseau and Karl, and now with Alex as their captive, they stormed the gates. It must be said that even with all the fantastical things we’ve seen on this island, Sawyer and Claire surviving this attack was a stretch. I’ll gladly go with it, but come on – the gunmen picked off the nameless extras with one shot a piece, but couldn’t hit Sawyer at all? (Couldn’t? Or perhaps weren’t meant to?) And despite Claire’s house exploding, she managed to walk away merely shaken and bruised.

I’ll spare the detailed recap; you all know what happened. Keamy stood in front of Ben’s house with a gun to Alex’s head telling Ben over a walkie-talkie (delivered by Miles, now in the house with the rest) that if he didn’t surrender, Alex was dead. Ben called the bluff…and in an ice cold move that nobody – least of all Ben – actually expected, it was lights out for Alex. Keamy shot her in the head, leaving Ben genuinely stunned, uttering, “He changed the rules.”

We’ll miss Alex (and Rousseau, whose fate seems sealed with the death of her daughter), but I give credit to the creators for doing what had to be done in service of the story. Alex’s murder was harsh but effective. I do wonder if Damon and Carlton always intended this, or if they planned to develop the Rousseau/Alex storyline further at one time.

SMOKE IF YOU GOT ‘EM
After killing Alex, Keamy and his people retreated – why, I’m not quite sure. Couldn’t they have stormed the house? Or would that risk killing Ben and/or other people inside who they need alive? And if that’s the case, what was their plan to get hold of Ben now that Operation Daughter-As-Bait didn’t work?

Moments after the death of his “daughter,” Ben slips into his secret room – discovered by Sayid earlier in the season – and locks Sawyer and company out. He uncovers another door, covered in strange markings – hieroglyphics? – and disappears into a dark corridor. When he emerges from the secret room (sometime within the next 20 minutes, as the sun has gone down by the time he reappears), he is covered in soot. Acting like he wasn’t even gone, he tells the others to run for the trees when he gives the word. Then everything starts to shake, and in what may be one of my favorite shots in Lost history, the Smoke Monster careens through the forest and starts going to town on the freighter team hidden just beyond the tree line. Following Ben’s orders, the others leave the house and watch as the Black Smoke runs wild, flashes of light popping in the dark, a fleeing gunman literally grabbed by the billow and pulled back (a sight we’ve seen before, but one that’s new and shocking for Sawyer, Hurley, Claire and Miles). Unafraid, Ben sends the others on while he goes to say a final goodbye to Alex. As he approaches her and sits by her side, the smoke attack subsides.

What…the…fuck?

A fascinating new dimension has been added to the Black Smoke mythos, as it becomes apparent that Ben not only knows what it is (despite previously telling Locke otherwise), but can also summon it…or operate it…or do something that manipulates it. So where exactly did the hieroglyphic door lead, and what did Ben do to bring about his sooty advantage?

BENJAMIN LINUS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY
Ben’s flash-forward – to late October 2005 – began with him waking up on the cracked floor of the Sahara Desert, as if he had just been dropped there from the sheltering sky. How did he get there? Why was his arm injured?

He’s next seen checking into a hotel in Tunisia (where Charlotte once discovered a Dharma-tagged polar bear carcass) under the name Dean Moriarty, which seems to slightly disturb the woman at the front desk. He also needs to confirm the date – not just the month and day, but the year as well. Why would he be uncertain of the year? He starts to walk away, only to notice that the TV news in the lobby is reporting on none other than Sayid Jarrah, who says to the cameras that he just wants to bury his wife in peace.

Next stop: Iraq. Here we learn that Sayid found and married his old flame Nadia sometime after getting off the island, but she has just died and is being buried in Iraq. Ben confronts Sayid with the news that Nadia’s death, which occurred back in Los Angeles, was the work of one of Charles Widmore’s operatives…an operative who is also in Iraq, closely observing Sayid’s moves. We don’t know quite how Nadia was killed, but Sayid has lost yet another love, and is feeling wrecked. Wrecked enough to help Ben kill Widmore’s man….and wrecked enough to volunteer his services for additional killings that will chip away at Widmore’s network. Ben tries to dissuade Sayid, warning him, “Once you let your grief become anger, it will never go away. I speak from experience.” (Am I correct in sensing that the experience he speaks of goes back much further than the death of Alex?) Ultimately, he accepts Sayid’s help…which is probably just what he wanted in the first place, judging by the satisfied smile that creeps upon his face as he walks away.

So…was this all part of Ben’s plan? Was he looking for Sayid from the moment he landed in the Sahara, or did he only become aware of Sayid’s situation after seeing the TV news? As usual with Ben, I think he knows more than he’s letting on…remember, sometime after these events, he will be stitching Sayid’s arm in a Berlin animal hospital, telling him, “Need I remind you what happened the last time you thought with your heart instead of your gun?” To which Sayid will reply, “You used her death to recruit me into killing for you.” We must assume the “she” Ben references is Nadia. Given that fact, what role did Sayid inadvertently play in her death? Where was he when she died? Was he the intended target, or was her death meant to send him a message?

IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT
After finishing his business in Iraq, Ben moves on to London, where in the middle of the night, he infiltrates the penthouse apartment of Charles Widmore. How did he get the key? Did he acquire it himself at some point in the past (or perhaps the future), or was it procured for him? Widmore wakes up, not entirely surprised to see his guest. Even with his nightstand lamp on, the room is dark, and both men’s faces are half-illuminated – an effective play of light and shadow that adds a wonderfully sinister touch to the confrontation between these agents of intrigue. Widmore asks if Ben has come to kill him. “We both know I can’t do that,” Ben answers. Why can’t Ben kill him, and does that go both ways?

Ben accuses Widmore of being responsible for Alex’s murder, but Widmore refuses to take the blame, assigning it back onto Ben and saying “I know who you are, boy. What you are. I know that everything you have, you took from me.” These statements, and pretty much everything about their interaction, cement that Ben and Charles have a complex relationship which goes back quite a while. Ben announces that he will avenge Alex by killing Widmore’s daughter, teasing, “Penelope, is it?” as if he doesn’t know damn well what her name is. Whatever his relationship with Widmore is, it is up close and personal enough that Ben certainly knows Penny’s name. I wonder, though – does Ben know about her and Desmond? Is he aware of that connection? How much does he even know about Desmond at all? Are Desmond and Penny together now, and if so, where?

Widmore tells Ben that he’ll never find her. I want to believe him, but I worry about Ben’s resourcefulness. With Charlie’s death destroying my desire for an Anglo-Australian happily ever after scenario, all of my romantic hopes for this show are now pinned on Desmond and Penny. If Ben kills her…I’m just not gonna be okay with that.  I want to say it would be too much of a downer for Damon and Carlton to let it happen, but let’s face it – Lost has not been kind to long-separated pairs who reunite, whatever kind of love they may share. If it please the court, I submit defense exhibits A-C: A) Rousseau pines for her kidnapped daughter for 16 years. Within days of finally meeting, both are killed; B) Walt is kidnapped and Michael spends weeks of torment searching for him, eventually murdering and betraying his friends to get the boy back…only to lose him again after confessing his sins; and C) Sayid spends eight years trying to find the love he let go, and shortly after marrying her, she dies. If the pattern holds, Desmond and Penny’s tale could end up a heartbreaker.

So why doesn’t Widmore think Ben will ever find her? Has he expected Ben to target her, and therefore sent her into hiding?

“That island’s mine, Benjamin,” Widmore tells him. “It always was. It will be again.” Just as Widmore said Ben will never find Penny, so does Ben reply that Widmore will never find the island. “Then I suppose the hunt is on for both of us,” Widmore says.

Oh, and did you note the painting on the wall above Widmore’s nightstand? It’s the Black Rock. The same painting was on display at the auction where Widmore purchased the infamous pirate ship’s ledger. Remember that? The one that was being sold by the family of Tovard Hanso? Widmore seems to have a strong fascination with that ship. Could he be collecting anything that is part of its lore? Could such a collection include the island that served as the ship’s final resting place?

Ben leaves the penthouse, and so ends a thrilling encounter that ratchets up the mystery yet another few notches.

AND THE EMMY GOES TO…
I must take a moment and pay tribute to the unfailingly brilliant work of Michael Emerson, who plays Ben. Emerson was nominated for a Supporting Actor Emmy last year, but lost to Terry O’Quinn (Locke) – who should have won it for the show’s first season and was therefore due. That was fine with me. But if there is any justice in TV Land, Emerson’s name is being engraved on a statuette as we speak, with four other saps waiting to be nominated just to pad the category. Emmy nominations are chosen on the basis of a single episode, and surely this will be the one submitted as Emerson’s showcase. But let’s face it – this guy shines in every single installment, and doesn’t require big scenes to make a lasting impression. This season has been chock full of stellar Ben moments too numerous to list. A pitch-perfect facial expression here, a hilariously inventive delivery of a one-liner there – his performances are consistently priceless. If you still have this episode on your Tivo, watch the expression on his face when Locke and Sawyer come in and interrupt his piano playing. He gives them the look of a kind man whose best friends have just walked in and pleasantly surprised him…an expression so not representative of their relationship yet so quintessentially Ben, that it makes for a laugh-out-loud moment. It lasts maybe two or three seconds, but it is pure genius. Emmy better take notice of this guy.

LOOSE ENDS
So where are we at the episode’s end? On the beach, Faraday is caught in a lie, leading to his admission that the freighter crew had no intention of taking the crash survivors home. In the jungle aftermath of the Smoke Monster’s attack, Ben and Locke are ready to seek out Jacob for direction on what to do next. Sawyer decides he’s had enough of Ben and Locke’s secrecy, and decides to head back to the beach with Claire, Aaron, Miles and Hurley. But Ben and Locke know that they need Hurley to find the cabin, so after a tense moment between Sawyer and Locke, Hurley agrees to stay behind. (It was a kick to see Sawyer play the protector role in this episode – concerned about Claire, risking death to save her from the attack on the house, and threatening to kill Locke if he harms a hair on Hurley’s head.) I’m curious as to why Ben is so sure that Hurley will be able to find Jacob’s cabin, given that Locke was unsuccessful when he tried to go back there. Besides, shouldn’t Ben know where to go? Not to mention the fact that previously, he was reluctant to take Locke to see Jacob at all. Now he insists on it, and wants Hurley there too. Why? I also find it interesting that Locke goes along with Ben’s theory about Hurley. It’s fun to watch Locke’s continual frustration of knowing he has to trust Ben and follow his lead despite how many times it comes back to bite him in the ass. It kills him to admit it, but somehow he knows that Ben is right about needing Hurley to find the cabin, and he silently accepts the fact.

Other random questions and thoughts I’m left with:

– The $3.2 million arrangement between Miles and Ben seems to have been resolved.

– I was surprised that we learned how Ben and Sayid’s alliance came to be. I was sure that would be season five revelation.

– Will we ever find out why Ben stole baby Alex from Rousseau in the first place?

– When the Smoke Monster attacked, it seemed to be emitting bursts of light. The only time we’ve seen it behave this way (I think) was when it first appeared to Mr. Eko and showed him images from his past. Was it doing the same to the gunmen in the jungle?

– The jacket Ben was wearing when he landed in the Sahara was heavier than one might wear if planning a trip to the desert – just another thing about that scene that suggests Ben’s arrival there is sudden and unexpected. Also, the jacket bears the name “Halliwax.” You know those Dharma station orientation videos? You know the Asian doctor who appears in all of them? You know how he has a different name in different videos? Well one of those names is Edgar Halliwax – and if this doesn’t sound familiar to you it’s because a) you aren’t an obsessed freak like some people who are still typing this message at 12:37 a.m. the morning before he delivers it to you, and b) the Edgar Halliwax video has not yet appeared on the show. This video was unveiled last summer at Comic-Con, and refers to an as-yet-unseen-but-soon-to-be-seen Dharma station called The Orchid. Check it out. This is about two minutes long, and worth watching, as it sheds a clue on how Ben might have crash landed in the desert.

-E! Online’s columnist Kristin Dos Santos made a point I liked:

“Australia’s the Key to the Whole Game”: So sayeth Hurley during tonight’s game of Risk, and I sayeth we listen! Flight 815 originated in Sydney, por supuesto, as did Aaron and Claire, who are supposedly integral to what Lost is all about…Not to mention Charles Widmore’s obvious Aussie accent! (OK, that might be unintentional, since Alan Dale is from the Land Down Under in real life, but still.)

FINAL THOUGHTS
Whew. All I have left to say – scratch that; all I have time left to say – is that this episode ranked among the season’s very best, alongside “The Beginning of the End” and “The Constant.”

Tonight’s Episode: Something Nice Back Home