By Mark Potts

Damn you, Michael Emerson! Your acting leaves me conflicting. As Ben, I want to hate you for everything you’ve done. You’ve killed John Locke, you’ve tortured the Losties we love, and you probably had sex with Juliet (who is super hot) while being a complete dick to her. But yet, Emerson, you somehow make Ben completely human. I feel bad for you. You’re a victim of fate, of jealousy, an abusive father, and fear.

So is the tale of this week’s episode of LOST. I was quite pleased with another solid episode. It really feels like we are gearing up for some excitement.

We got to see how Ben’s life would have been in the flash-sideways. He is a history teacher who lives with his father. And his father is actually somewhat nice to him too. And Alex, who was the child he kidnapped on the island, is his student! (Why she does not speak French or live in France like we suspect her French mother Danielle Rousseau would be is another story and probably a fact we should just ignore).

And the principal is mean. After hearing from Alex about how the principal is going to the school nurse for check-ups (hot and steamy school administrator sex) Ben decides to blackmail him to get his job. But the principal says he will ruin Alex’s life by writing a bad recommendation. What is Ben to do? Think about himself or Alex?

Meanwhile, back on the island, Ilana finds out Ben killed Jacob so she is going to kill him (dang!) And she forces him to dig his own grave (double-dang!) When he is about done, Flocke shows up and tells him to come join him. He set up a rifle for Ben in the woods. Ben runs for it, Ilana chases. Ben grabs the gun but, instead of killing her, he explains why he killed Jacob. It’s freaking heart-tugging. I’m not going to say I had tears in my eyes, because real dudes don’t cry, it was just dust or something. But then Ben says he is going to Locke because he is the only one who will have him. Ilana immediately says, “I will have you.” And then some more dust flew in my eyes and Ben went back to the beach.

And off island, Ben didn’t take the principal’s job in order to save Alex’s future. I think this episode proves that Ben has never been a villain, just a confused man trying to stay in control in order not to be left behind. Will he redeem himself with everyone on the island? Time will only tell.

Elsewhere, Jack continues to do badass things. Richard wants to die, but has to have someone else do it. So Jack lights some dynamite, sits it between them, and says Jacob won’t let him die. And guess what? The wick on the dynamite miraculously goes out. Thank God, because this Jack is awesome. If Jack from the last few seasons had a chance to die, I would have been rooting for it. But I have a feeling Jack is going to come out as a hero in the end.
As my friend pointed out, LOST again has separated the groups into rival camps in the same locations. Jack is at the beach, Locke (Flocke, really) is with the others. They’re setting up for a fight, that’s for sure.

And at the very end, we see a scary submarine heading to the island. It’s Charles Widmore! That old bastard. What is he doing there? My nipples are already hard thinking about it!

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