Lost Season Five: Episode 12

After watching "Dead is Dead" I feel somewhat embarrassed by my praise for last week's episode. As much fun as that was, "Dead is Dead" was a masterclass, mainly by Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn. This episode had a little bit of everything we love about Lost; the smoke monster, daddy issues, the leadership struggle between Ben and Locke and even a little bit of Desmond. Let's go through the awesomeness in chronological (whatever that means on Lost) order.

- A bloodied Ben gazes in surprise at a resurrected Locke. That surprise seemed genuine although, in what will be a recurring theme of this post, we can never be sure when Ben is lying. What followed seems to glib to be anything but a lie. Ben tells Locke, with cocksure confidence, that his masterful plan had worked: the only way the Oceanic 6 would have come back to the Island was if Locke died. And somehow Ben knew that Locke would come back to life. But, you might ask, why didn't Ben let Locke commit suicide. Well, he explains, he needed to get the crucial information about Mrs Hawking first.

- I'm going to do a lot of quoting from the brilliant dialogue in this episode. How about when Locke asks Ben about "the elephant in the room."? Ben's reply is delivered perfectly. "Well, I just didn't have time to talk you back into hanging yourself."

- Ben's manipulation of Cesar was also perfectly executed. He planted the seeds of doubt about Locke, swiped his gun and then used it to kill him. The Machiavellian Ben we know and love. Oh and not to forget Locke's one-liner when Ben explains he had to shoot Cesar because he was going to shoot Locke. "No sense in my dying twice, right?"

- Even before the smoke monster, in the guise of Alex, told Ben that he had to follow Locke from now on, the relationship between the two had changed. Before, Locke was the apprentice, trying to learn about leadership and the Island from Ben. He stumbled along the way and was manipulated many times. But his resurrection, and the obvious shock that caused Ben, has changed the equation. For once, it is Ben who is in the dark. See, I don't believe for a second that Ben had come back to be judged by the smoke monster. I think it was just another story meant to stop Locke from exacting his revenge. When Ben put his hand in the water to summon the smoke monster, I think he was just putting on a show that was sure to appeal to a mystic like Locke. But now Locke has more information about the Island than Ben. He knows (probably through Jin) where the smoke monster is and Ben has no choice but to go along.

- We've always considered Ben to be the know-it-all, someone well-versed in the mythology of the Island. I'm now beginning to think he might be a charlatan, something that should have occurred to me before considering the title of the Ben-centric season three episode "The Man Behind the Curtain." There are a lot of things Ben doesn't know: he doesn't know where the smoke monster lives; hell he doesn't even have a name for the thing. He told Sun that he never expected Locke to come back to life, which I happen to believe. He also says that he has no idea how the Losties could end up in 1977, although I think he's lying about that. Although little Ben might not remember who shot him, surely he remembers Le Fleur and the rest.

- Sure, Ben is a monster but this episode did a great job of humanizing him a little bit. Because of the absence of his dead mother, Ben has a weakness. We saw that when he took Alex but didn't kill Rosseau. We saw it in the great scene at the marina , where Charlie's presence saved his mother's live.

- How awesome was Desmond's smackdown of Ben? No question he deserved it, but has there ever been a character in television history who has been physically assaulted as much as Ben?

- When Sun mentioned Christian to Ben, he seemed genuinely startled. Here's a prediction. Christian is on Widmore's side and Ben killed him in Australia. He was ressurected just the way Locke was.

- What we thought was The Temple, is only a entrance meant to keep out people. Which led to another thought. Perhaps The Temple is actually a modern, anti-septic building and stuff like the entrance and the four-toed statue are meant to decieve people into thinking that The Others have been around forever.

- So, what is Ilena upto? I'm sure we're going to be wondering what is in the shadow of the statue for a long time. She must have been lying when she told Sayid she was working for the guy he killed. Who does she work for? Widmore?

- Another great quote: Lapidus saying, "As long as the dead guy says there's a reason, I guess everything's going to be just peachy."

- Eventually, Ben is going to die an ugly, painful death isn't he? There's just no way he can change his character and start following Locke.

- And to bring this post to a close, Ben's final line. "It let me live." He made it sound like a death sentence, the control-freak now reduced to being a follower. Ben certainly doesn't feel like he was spared. Given how guilty he feels over his role in Alex's death, and that he now has to obey Locke, Ben will consider his fate to be worse than being mauled by Ol' Smokey.