Dr. Linus (9 Mar. 2010)

Ilana prepares to kill Ben after Miles reveals that Ben killed Jacob. In Los Angeles, Ben contemplates a power play at his high school. Meanwhile Richard and Jack share their secrets and experiences with Jacob and form an alliance.

Director:

Mario Van Peebles

Writers:

Jeffrey Lieber (creator), J.J. Abrams (creator),

Stars:

Naveen Andrews, Nestor Carbonell, Henry Ian Cusick

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Naveen Andrews	...	Sayid Jarrah (credit only)
Nestor Carbonell	...	Richard Alpert
Henry Ian Cusick	...	Desmond Hume (credit only)
Emilie de Ravin	...	Claire Littleton (credit only)
Michael Emerson	...	Ben Linus
Jeff Fahey	...	Frank Lapidus
Matthew Fox	...	Jack Shephard
Jorge Garcia	...	Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes
Josh Holloway	...	James 'Sawyer' Ford (credit only)
Daniel Dae Kim	...	Jin Kwon (credit only)
Yunjin Kim	...	Sun Kwon
Ken Leung	...	Miles Straume
Evangeline Lilly	...	Kate Austen (credit only)
Terry O'Quinn	...	John Locke
Zuleikha Robinson	...	Ilana Verdansky

Storyline

Ben deals with the consequences of an uncovered lie.

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Plot Keywords:

Napoleon Bonaparte | Elba Island | History Teacher | Elderly Man | High School Teacher | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 March 2010 (USA)

Filming Locations:

O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bad Robot, ABC Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

43 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Ben and his father are talking about what life could have been like if they had stayed on the island. Ben is changing his father's oxygen tank during the conversation. He goes to the cabinet, puts the empty tank away, and gets a new, "full" tank. He connects the new tank to the regulator and the gauge is briefly shown. The gauge shows that the tank is "in the red", which means that it is nearly empty.

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Quotes

[Miles told Ilana that Ben killed Jacob]
Ben Linus: You know, that psychic is totally unreliable. Miles actually tried to blackmail me once.
[Ilana does not reply and storms off]
Frank Lapidus: You make friends easy, don't you?

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Connections

References The Terminator (1984)
Hugo compares Richard to the Terminator

User Reviews

Inspiring good and evil Benjamin battle, excellent Michael Emerson performance, intense dual story and well synchronized editing, intriguing but rushed cliffhanger

A deal with Locke. In Sundown Sayid did a Faustian bargain. He could have rejected it but instead he decided to follow his troubled heart and accepted. Dr. Linus was a bit similar as Ben has always been a character oscillating between good and evil. One minute he's Dr Jekyll, the next he turns into Mr Hyde. Such a strange case was perfectly covered in The Constant, featuring Desmond Hume, but this time it was very different as it was about Linus the history teacher and Linus the island defender outcast.

The story used the same dual pattern as the past episodes. Linus really reminded me of Bill Gates as a teacher and it was quite funny at first but soon I forgot all about it as Michael Emerson performance was excellent, as always. The substitute, John Locke, was also featured and I really liked how their only dialog was a direct reference to what was occurring on the island. Indeed all along Ben had to make choices, hard ones. What would you be capable of doing to seize an opportunity ? It was quite interesting to watch Linus answering that bugging question because we all had or will have to answer it ourself one day.

So the urban arc was great but the island one was even better. First as expected the temple was no more and we saw the characters running wild in the jungle wondering where to escape. How can you survive such an abomination ? Should you have joined its team instead ? What's the point of being a Candidate when you're dead ? So the survivors had to think fast and move even faster. But don't get me wrong the episode wasn't as dark and brutal as Sundown. In fact it was far much more peaceful than I expected. The calm before the storm ? I don't know what will happen next but as often the cliffhanger really intrigued me even if I found it rushed. As for Ben of the jungle his story mirrored the teacher's one, even more than in the past episodes. The matter what he chose, good or evil, his character development leaded to some very emotional moments and Emerson's acting reached heaven or hell at times. His destiny is so captivating that I didn't know if I wanted him to conclusively become Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde.

To sum things up the eternal battle between good and evil will never stop to fascinate us. And when it's so well directed, written and acted you can only applause. Moreover we all know Lost is not an all black or white show so I'm sure either Dr Green or Mr Red will come back with a vengeance. But his twisted profile reminded me so much of Desmond that I can't wait to watch his featured episode. I don't know when it will air nor even if it will ever do and I don't want to know it because Lost is all about the mystery. We saw him in LA X for a few split seconds in the plane beside Jack and then he vanished. The world for a Penny !