Lost: Trial By Smokey

With Ben as the focus of this week, I can’t complain . . . except I will because I thought the episode would have a little more oomph to it.  That’s not to say this was a bad episode because it wasn’t.  The switched dynamic between Ben and Locke shows why those two characters are the most interesting ones on the show.  We see a human side of Ben and are again conflicted about whether he’s pure evil or, like Darth Vader, still has some good in him.  Perhaps, he has done everything in the Island’s best interests, but I believe the jury is still out on that.

But now I’m talking too much, here’s what happened as Ben returns to the Island for judgment.

A long time ago, thirty years to be exact, a younger Charles Widmore yells at Richard Alpert for saving young Benjamin Linus.  Jacob and the Island wanted this, as Richard explains, and Widmore does not seem pleased.  When Ben awakes he wants to stay with the Others, but Widmore explains he can go back and still be one of them.

From here we catch various flashbacks of Ben’s life.  We see Ben and young Ethan (how did he leave Dharmaville?) go to kill Rousseau, but Ben cannot do it when he sees her baby, Alex.  Ben steals the baby and warns Rousseau to run in the opposite direction whenever she hears the whispers. Hmm.  Anyway, Ben brings Alex back to camp and Widmore asks why Ben didn’t kill them.  Ben argues for Alex’s life and questions whether Jacob or Widmore wanted the baby dead.  When Widmore won’t kill Alex, Ben gets to keep her and raise her as his own.

Our next scene is post-Purge and Ben is pushing Alex on a swingset in Dharmaville.  Richard tells Ben to go see Widmore off before he leaves the Island.  This is the day of Widmore’s banishment, who’s accused of fathering a child off of the Island (i.e., Penny) and regularly left the Island.  Apparently these are crimes there.  He warns Ben that some day Ben will also be banished because he couldn’t sacrifice Alex’s life a long time ago.  Widmore warns that if the Island wants Alex dead, she’ll be dead and there’s nothing Ben can do to stop that.

Flashforward to 2007.  Ben awakens in the Hybrid Station triage and is surprised to see Locke alive.  He brushes it off about believing versus seeing something; he broke the rules by coming back to the Island, or something, but Ben wants to be judged by the nameless smoke monster.

And so Ben and Locke set out to get to the Island.  Ben stirs up trouble with Cesar by suggesting Locke was not on the plane.  So when Ben and Locke go to take one of the outriggers, Cesar objects but crafty Ben stole Cesar’s shotgun and shoots Cesar in the stomach.  They escape and head for Dharmaville, where they meet up with Sun and Lapidus.

Locke doesn’t believe Ben wants to be judged for coming back to the Island, rather Ben wants to be judged for killing Alex–well, technically letting her be killed by the mercenaries.  Sun shows them the 1977 photo of the Oceanics back in time.  Ben looks surprised by the photo (weird) and Locke cryptically says he has a few ideas of how to find them.  Lapidus, though, isn’t having any of it and heads back to Hydra.

Ben tries to summon the monster by going into the chamber off of the secret chamber in his old house.  He pulls a plunger or flushes a toilet or something and says that he’ll be outside.  While we wait for the monster to arrive, I wonder if the Dharma people knew about this chamber when they built their houses.  The answer is obviously yes, but why?

After the monster’s train is late, Locke tells Ben they’re going to go to it.  Ben claims he doesn’t know where that is, but in a fun twist of roles, Locke does.  They make for the Temple and Locke and Ben go underneath–the same tunnel that pulled in the Frenchies years ago.  (Fun fact: The ruins we see are just a wall around the Temple.  We don’t know what it really looks like.)

Before they crawl down, Ben tells Sun that if she ever leaves the Island she should tell Desmond that Ben is sorry.  We know what that means (scroll down).  Ben falls into a lower chamber and enters the monster’s courtroom (with a nice picture of Anubis).  The black smoke surrounds Ben and he sees scenes of his life with Alex, including her death.  The smoke leaves and Alex is standing next to Ben.  They have a brief touching moment before she warns him to stop thinking about killing Locke again and to follow Locke’s orders.  He swears he will.

Ben emerges from the crypt still alive: he was judged and found not guilty.

Two other stories that we need to wrap up.

• Why was Ben bloodied when he got on the Ajira flight? Well, he went to kill Penny as revenge for Widmore killing Alex. Ben shoots Desmond but can’t kill Penny when he sees her young son, Charlie. (Just like when he saw Alex!) While Ben hesitates, Desmond–apparently not shot–tackles Ben and throws him into the water.
• Lapidus comes back to the Hybrid and learns that Ilana and others found weapons and are making to leave. When Lapidus can’t answer Ilana the Riddler (“What lies in the shadow of the statue?”), she knocks him out and tells the others to get everyone else because “it is time.” I wonder if I should be writing “Others” or others because something is funny about these people (i.e., I suspect they are the Others).

Next week we’re back in Dharmaville but Miles has an encounter with a mysterious corpse.  Spooky!

Season 5, Episode 12: Dead Is Dead (originally aired April 8, 2009)

For another take on this episode, check out I’m sure the monster will understand by Robin Reed.

For more on Lost, click here.

Wednesdays, 9/8c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC