The Doctor is Always In

LOST Season Six, Episode Seven: Dr. Linus.

Well then. Now that we’re super famous, I’d better make this good. If you’re just joining us, I’m going to recap last night’s LOST offering, “Dr. Linus,” an episode that featured the best alternate reality storyline thus far, some killer Locke moments, a faithless Richard and Nudie Magazine Day.

Maggie didn’t love it. I thought it was awesome. Allow me to try to prove her wrong…

MY FAITH IS GONE

Last night’s Island story began with Ben in a very Jack-ala-Season-One position: lying prone in the jungle, terrified. He somehow survived Smokey’s wrath in the Temple (which I don’t think is a coincidence because, well, this is LOST), and he tells Ilana, Frank, Sun and Miles that Sayid has killed Temple Headmaster Dogen, and Lennon, the Assistant (to the) Regional Other.

Of more importance, Miles uses his sixth sense to indict Ben as Jacob’s killer, thus spinning Ilana into a new dimension of vengeful and pissed off. Miles gets the line of the night here for his sarcastically-ominous, “Uh oh!” which, for me, instantly recalled this classic Stewie moment from Family Guy (the parallel happens at the :35 mark).

Beach Please
The happy travelers settle on a beachfront property, determining it the safest place to regroup. Sun (who somehow gets worse at acting every week) pleaded with Ilana to find Jin. Finally, we have a third party who is interested in making this reunion happen, as Ilana revealed that she was still tasked with protecting the candidates, of which Sun, Jin or both are still possibilities. (Remember, the name on the cave and wheel simply said “Kwon,” and didn’t clarify which.) Hopefully, Ilana’s involvement will expedite a resolution of the Jin and Sun story, if only to spare us more scene-killing lines from Sun. Ilana also confirmed that there are only six candidates remaining: Jack, Sawyer, Kwon, Hurley, Sayid and Locke, who she is apparently not counting out of the race quite yet.

Quick side note: did you notice what Ben found amidst Sawyer’s old stash? No, not the issue of Badonkadonk Quarterly. The other piece of literature. It was “The Chosen,” by Chaim Potok. Wikipedia informs us that, “The Chosen' tells the story of the friendship between two Jewish boys growing up in 1940’s Brooklyn. Reuven Malter, who has a mind for mathematics, wants to become a rabbi and follows modern methods of studying Judaism. Danny is a genius son of a Hasidic Rabbi, Reb Saunders, who expects him to take over his position as tzaddik eventually.” A predestined position of authority over a given people who follow with steadfast reverence? Methinks this makes a must-have addition to our summer reading list.


Richard Alpert’s “Special Purpose”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Island, Jack contemplated his next move while visions of cheese curds danced in Hurley’s head. Begrudgingly, Hurley agrees to follow Jack back to the Temple, but not without a few attempts at obstruction.

They’re subverted quickly, though, by the sudden appearance of Richard, who looks markedly different. No, he still doesn’t age. But his haggard visage, his breathless, desperate instructions and his general listlessness were the marks of a man who had lost his faith. And that’s exactly what’s happened to Richard. As he later explained, he wants to die, because Jacob – the man he had followed for a majority of his (unusually long) life – was dead. And when Jacob died, so did Richard's chances for purpose, meaning, answers and direction. The ageless wonder was now destined to an eternal life of meaninglessness, and he didn’t want to end up like the Man in Black – imprisoned in a hellish nightmare for the unforeseeable future with no purpose.

Dy-no-mite!
To that end, Richard takes Jack and Hurley to the Black Rock, hoping they’ll assist him in his grizzly goal. Why can’t he just kill himself? Because Jacob touched him, and Jacob’s people are apparently not allowed to commit suicide. (Side note: was Michael (who also couldn’t commit suicide) blessed by Jacob?). Someone should write an essay on different cultural and religious attitudes toward suicide and what they might reveal about LOST. Someone. Not me. I’m busy.

Richard went on to explain that the “gift” of life from Jacob was really more of a curse. Additionally, Richard dropped a hint that the Black Rock was his place of origin, saying, “Of all the time I’ve spent on this Island, today’s the first time I’ve ever come back.” I expect confirmation of this – one way or another – sooner than later, but I actually have an inkling that Richard’s presence on the Island predates that of the Black Rock, which crashed there in the 19th century.

Eventually, Richard gets around to that whole assisted suicide bit, asking Jack to light a long fuse attached to some Black Rock dynamite and then run away. Jack surprisingly obliges, but doesn’t take Richard up on the second half of the offer. Instead, he stays with Richard for a chat. After lighting the fuse, they discuss Jack’s purpose, and what Jack found at Jacob’s lighthouse. As the fuse shortens and the tension mounts, Jack’s becomes almost maniacally convinced that he’s invincible in this situation. Faith-shaken Richard isn’t so sure, but just as the dynamite is about to be ignited, the fuse dies. And Jack and Richard do not. So Richard, now malleable and suggestible, decides to follow his new Man of Faith, Jack, back to the beach. Or as Jack put it, “back to where we started.”


Can You Dig It?
Before Richard, Jack and Hurley can arrive, Ben Linus has some work to do on the beach. Namely, he’s been tasked by Ilana to dig his own grave. Which she will soon fill. With his body. After she kills him. And you think your job sucks.

Ben holds court with Frank, and even quickly invokes Faraday’s “Whatever happened, happened” theory when Frank tells him that he was originally supposed to fly Oceanic 815. When Frank imagines how different his life would’ve been had he not overslept that morning, Ben counters with the assertion that, “The Island still got you in the end, didn’t it?” This was a nice little nod to the idea of course correction – something I’ll touch on later in my discussion of the alternate reality story.

As Ben digs into his grave, Miles digs into Ben’s fragile psyche with the emotional dagger of a revelation that Jacob “was hoping he was wrong” about Ben right before Ben plunged that dagger into him. At this point, I knew Ben wasn’t going to die. It was a confirmation that Ben wasn’t done being important. Not yet.


And if you needed further proof of that, guess who showed up next? FLocke, who played to Ben’s feelings of worthlessness by suggesting that, when FLocke and his followers found escape, Ben would be a great candidate for Island Protector. “Hey, you want this Island? I’m not doing anything with it.” FLocke essentially reiterated the insinuations that Jacob made about Ben’s diminished importance last season, telling the downtrodden Linus that once he was done with Island, the table scraps were all his. But hey, a purpose is still a purpose. And Ben took the bait, with the intention of joining Team Flocke on Hydra Island for further instructions.

Follow Me
But after luring Ilana into the jungle and training a well-placed rifle right between her eyes, Ben Linus finally broke down. He told Ilana that he killed Jacob because Jacob had robbed him of a meaningful life. He explained that he had sacrificed his daughter – and everything else he loved – in the name of Jacob and the Island. But Jacob didn't even care.

He went on to describe Ilana’s “father figure” as a superficial, callous, uncaring manipulator. When he stabbed Jacob, he was “so angry, confused and terrified that I was about to lose the only thing that had ever mattered to me: my power. But the thing that really mattered was already gone.” You could see these words pierce through Ilana, as she began to see chinks in the armor of her once-infallible leader, Jacob. And in a rare moment of weakness, she caved. She told Ben he didn’t have to settle for the exploitative acceptance that Locke was offering; that she would take him in.

Things aren’t good right now for Jacob. Last week, his two lead protectors were murdered by Sayid. This week, his two most fervent admirers lost their faith in him. First Richard, then Ilana. And that’s after he lost Ben’s trust last season. It would seem that our initial inkling to characterize Jacob as “good” and the Man in Black as “evil” was premature. I maintain that their morality is not so black and white. Both have good and bad qualities, as well as competing and morally ambiguous motives.

But I think the lesson here is to ask questions. To not buy any one thing part-and-parcel – whether it’s a person, an institution or a belief. If that’s the worldview that LOST’s creators are purporting, it may seem like a cynical one. But it’s utilitarian realism at its finest: if the entity you idolize can’t truly improve your life, are they really worth sacrificing for? Last night, Richard and Ilana joined Ben in saying, “Hell no.”

Sub Rosa
So as this darker portrait of Jacob emerges, we have to reexamine everything about him. For instance: I wouldn’t have guessed that Jacob would align himself with one of the Island’s most tarnished and flawed leaders. But lo and behold, last night ended with the arrival of just such a man, Charles Widmore, in a submarine. And remember, it was Jacob who warned that someone was coming to the Island. Are we to believe that Jacob knew it was Charles? If so, Jacob’s squeaky white clean garb has just been further besmirched. Charles Widmore disgraced his people with an off-Island affair, and was banished by Ben Linus. So why would Jacob want him back?

Then again, Ben Linus ain’t exactly the most trustworthy guy in the world. Perhaps his exile of Widmore was misguided, and Jacob is now making amends by allowing Charles to return.

It all points back to the ambiguity of the motives and methods of the Island’s keepers. But Charles Widmore is at one knot and closing, and I can’t wait to see where this thing ends up.

HANGIN' WITH DR. LINUS

I loved the alternate reality universe last night. Loved it. A warped-mirror Ben Linus, high school politics, an uncharacteristically attractive Alex Rousseau. I mean, dude, we even got some Arzt on us.

Same Song, Different Verse
The thing that struck me about Dr. Linus’ life was how closely it mirrored every major element of his on-Island life.

In fact, right from the start, when Dr. Linus began by uttering the words, “It was on this Island that everything changed,” you knew this story arc was going to be a big, juicy metaphor. Ben continued lecturing on Napoleon Bonaparte, saying, “Exile wasn’t the worst of his fate. What was truly devastating to him was the loss of his power… He might just as well have been dead.” Right. What other vertically-impaired leader on an Island could this describe? Hell, even the assignment on the blackboard pointed to Ben’s alternate shenanigans. It said, “Places to locate.” Here’s some more:

• Dr. Linus was relegated to detention supervisor instead of focusing on his pet project, the History Club – much in the same way that Island Ben was forced to pay undue attention to the pre-natal fatality issue instead of serving and protecting the Island.
• Dr. Linus didn’t believe in, trust or care to follow his supervisor (Principal Reynolds, who was focused more on budgets than beakers) much in the same way that Island Ben couldn’t buy into Charles Widmore’s ruthless leadership style.
• John Locke was “substituting” for Richard Alpert as the “teacher” who encouraged Ben’s usurpation of his superior.
• Ben used the sexual indiscretion of his superior as a wedge with which to supplant him. Charles Widmore’s off-Island affair was Principal Reynolds nurses’ office tryst. When Alex told Ben about this, I couldn’t help but hear Ralph Wiggum say, “Mrs. Krabappel and Principal Skinner were in the closet making babies and I saw one of the babies and then the baby looked at me.”
• And in the most obvious example, Ben has a sincere, caring, fatherly relationship with Alex, despite an absence of biological connection. On the Island, she’s his “daughter.” Off it, she’s his prized student.

The list goes on, people. Hell, Ben even gassed his father in both storylines. Except last night, the gas was used to save Roger Linus, not kill him. Side note: Roger’s revelation that, in this reality, they still go to the Island but choose to leave, was really interesting. It’s confirmation that the Island still existed, Dharma-and-all, but that Roger and Ben just left. What happened differently in this iteration of the story to prevent Ben from seeking solace from Richard and the Others and ultimately massacring his own people? Again, I’ll get to that later. Don’t you like when I say that? Over-promise, under-deliver. That’s how I roll.

A Change of Plans
But while all of Dr. Linus’ life played out like a cover band reprising Island Ben’s greatest hits, one song definitely sounded out-of-key, right?

In this reality, Ben confronts his superior with the damning evidence of misdeeds that could lead to his demise. But Principal Reynolds counters with a threat of his own: to prevent Alex’s admittance into Yale. Once again, Ben’s loyalty to Alex was tested. Would Ben once again choose to sacrifice Alex to satisfy his own ambitions? Surprisingly, no. This time, Ben took the high road, selflessly bowing out of his blackmail request and paving the way for Alex to get a kick-ass letter of recommendation from Principal Reynolds.

Interesting. Dr. Linus – disguised as a ruthless, cardigan-clad history teacher – seemed destined to emulate his alternate Island self. But when it came time to act in the best interest of the little girl he can’t help but love, he actually chose her over himself. He didn’t spare her from Keamy’s gun, but he did spare her from Principal Reynolds’ spiteful wrath. How was alternate reality Ben (Dr. Linus) suddenly imbued with this sense of goodness? For the answer, I’ll turn to Daniel Faraday.

THE VARIABLE

Whatever happened, happened. You go back in time and you know how certain events will unfold. But no matter how much you try to change them, you can’t. Because the universe has a way of course-correcting itself, and whatever is supposed to happen, will happen. This was the battle cry of Faraday and his mother, Eloise Hawking, for a long time. Last night, we saw Ben live that out. It seemed his life was destined to present him with a certain set of challenges – whether they be set on a mystical Island or a public high school.

But last season, Daniel Faraday revised his socio-mathematical theory just a little bit. He said that while certain important milestones were unavoidable, we did have the ability to change how they happened. Or as he explained it to Jack:

“Whatever happened, happened. All right? But then I finally realized... I had been spending so much time focused on the constants, I forgot about the variables. Do you know what the variables in these equations are, Jack? Us. We're the variables. People. We think. We reason. We make choices. We have free will. We can change our destiny.”

That’s it. In the cosmic equations of our lives, certain events, people, feelings and predispositions are inevitable. They are the constants in our personal equations. For Ben, this includes everything I mentioned above that was common to his on-Island and Dr. Linus realities (trouble with an authority figure, relegation to meaninglessness, a connection to Alex, a desire to dethrone those in charge in order to take power, etc.).

But, like Faraday, perhaps we focused too much on the constants and not enough on how our own free will can drastically alter the circumstances of our pre-ordained realities. Last night, Dr. Linus altered the variable in his equation slightly. He chose, on his own free will, to be selfless instead of selfish. He chose to spare Alex, instead of sacrifice her.

And maybe this “variable” theory explains why Ben and Roger are off the Island in this iteration of time. Whatever anger and vengeance Ben felt toward his father on the Island – this time he reacted to it differently and chose not to let it lead him to a dark place. Or maybe Roger, in this iteration of time, chose not to hold Ben accountable for his mother’s death. Just a thought.

So the lessons of time travel constants and variables can be applied to the more relatable human experience. For LOST, that carries heavy implications. Specifically, Jacob has said that people have to “want” to do something. He told Hurley that Jack had to discover what his purpose was on his own, that he couldn’t be told. He told Hurley, in the taxi cab, that he didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to – that the decision to get on Ajira 316 was his and his alone. In fact, it seems Jacob’s entire philosophy centers on getting certain people to select the correct variables; that is, to make decisions of their own accord. But Jacob has motives. He wants people to make the decisions that ultimately serve his grand purpose. Based on what we know thus far, that purpose involves finding a replacement for his role as Protector of the Island.

So Jacob must prove that man is capable of progress using nothing but his own free will. But the Man in Black believes that free will is man’s downfall. Will LOST choose to name a winner of this argument?

That’s a fairly deep discussion, and an ambitious one for a TV show to take on. But in the end, maybe the show is intended to make us form our own opinions about this debate. Ironically, the answer to this question in LOST might rely on our own free will to decide for ourselves.

Namaste.
Charlie