LOST 6.7- "Dr. Linus"

Spoiler Alert...Blah,blah,blah....









Wow, this was a good one.
 I have always liked Ben. Even when he was being evil, there was something I liked about him.I think maybe it's because there was this bizarre purity in his manipulation ? I don't know what it was, but I was always pulling for Ben, and I was actually sorta depressed on Tuesday night when it looked like he was gonna join NotLocke's posse. I actually was more upset then when Sayid turned evil, I think only because Sayid's turning was sort of out of his hands, and Ben's, while made in a moment of self preservation and desperation, was still a choice.

But let's back up a bit first.

Island:
  Did anyone else think that Miles was going to lie about Ben killing Jacob? I kept flashing back to his attempted bribery of Ben in Season....3? Or maybe it was 4...I'm not sure anymore, but anyway, I was a little surprised when he told Ilana that Ben killed Jacob.Does Miles know that Ben killed his Dad in the Purge ? DID Ben kill Dr. Chaing in the purge ? Do we know? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone ? Bueller? Bueller ? Bueller?

  I loved the way Miles said "Uh-oh" when Ilana told Ben that Jacob "was the closest thing I ever had to a father." he was like a sassy kid on a '70's  sitcom.
  I also thought it was interesting that Jacob hoped that he was wrong about Ben until the moment Ben stabbed him.
  One other Miles question: I have not been able to go back and watch it again, did he say that Nikki & Paulo were buried alive, or did he just say that they were buried with diamonds?

 The one real problem I had with this whole Ilana/Ben thing was why Ilana would stand so far away while he was digging. Not a big problem, but it seemed a bit odd, and mostly so that Ben could run and get to the rifle. Though I must admit that I thought there would be no rifle when Ben got there.

  I did like Ben's plea to Ilana, and I liked that she was willing to have him in the fold(though I suspect it was as much to keep him away from Locke as anything else). Though one certainly must question Bens' motives, a sit is hard to think he would turn down the chance to be in charge of the Island, but I am hooping he's just smart enough to know that NotLocke is not to be trusted, and not that he is going to sabotage Ilana & crew to help out NotLocke.

  I did feel bad for Ben as he was explaining his actions to Ilana, and that little speech makes me think that he actually does regret things.

  Bne helping Sun when he returned to the camp raised my same questions about what exactly Sun is up to, and that was only intensified when that scene was followed by the BIG REVEAL of the episode....WIDMORE!!!!! Do you think that Widmore is the person that Jacob wanted to help find the island? Was Widmore banished against Jacob's wishes? Whose side is he on? Was he helping Locke knowing that Locke was a pawn for the MIB?

  It was good to see Richard again, and to finally get our answer that he did arrive on the island via the Black Rock.  Glad that Jack wouldn't let him die.Pretty cool to see a beach reunion again.

  Ilana said that she was there to protect the Candidates to replace Jacob, and now there are 6...Who are the 6? 1.Hurley 2. Jack 3. Sawyer 4. Kwon(Jin or Sun) 5. Kate ? 6. ? Is it Lapidus? he said he was supposed to be flying Flight 815, and the Island did manage to get him there another way(TWICE,actually).

 Alternate Reality:

   First of all: Great to see Doc Arzt, Alex & Ben's Dad again.I was a little bummed that we did not get to see a non-crazy Rousseau, but we can't have it all, I suppose, and maybe we'll get to see her in another episode.
 And does William Atheron(the guy who played the Principal), ever NOT play a dick? Ghostbusters, Real Genius,Die Hard...Now LOST,jeepers, what a creep.

  I think this was my favorite alternate reality episode so far. I liked how tightly it tied to both the back story and current episode on the Island.

  It was interesting to see Ben as someone who was uncomfortable with the kind of blackmail/manipulation that was second nature to him on the Island.And I must admit, for a split second, when he entered the Principal's office, I thought he had disregarded Alex' future and taken Reynolds' job anyway. Very glad to see that he didn't. I did like the use of the phrase "unfortunate side effect".

  Also liked Locke being the one who planted the seed of Ben being the Principal. Very clever.

  Alright, so what did I miss ? What did you guys think ?