'Lost': Why Ben Still Isn't The Villain Of The Story
But this episode also did something else noone thought possible, give us another side of Charles Widmore, as he helped John Locke off the island -- complete with a fake passport and Matthew Abaddon as his personal chauffeur. But are things as they seem? Does the revelation that Ben was the one to kill Locke, when he was at his lowest point and about to hang himself no less, combined with Widmore's sudden turn, finally solidify Ben's status as the true villain of the story? Not even close. In fact, it's classic 'Lost'. It's where producers of the show excel since just when you believe one thing, it all turns on a dime all over again. Rather, this sequence of events has been quietly brewing since the episode 'This Place is Death', when Jin hands over his wedding ring to Locke and tells him not to bring Sun back. Jin threatens to cut the rope leading to the bottom of the Orchid well and makes Locke promise, as he's leaving the island, that he is not to bring back Sun under any circumstances. Locke reluctantly agrees, seeing no other way out of the situation. But that's what separates Ben and our beloved simpleton John Locke. Ben is the mastermind, the unbeatable chess player we've come to love since we first saw him as Henry Gale in Season 2. And while Locke is a loyal servant to The Island, he's nowhere the thinker Ben is. So why does Ben plead with Locke not to hang himself only to kill John using the same cord minutes later? Because where Locke couldn't find a way out of keeping his word to Jin, Ben did. Ben needed to find a way he could bring Sun back -- without Locke breaking his promise -- and that's precisely what he did. With Ben doing the manipulating and Locke no longer 'alive', Ben set in motion his plan to get Sun back and with no such promise to hold him back, and took the same ring that was to prove Jin's death to establish he was still alive. In fact, Ben got Locke out of the situation he had put himself in not only without breaking John's promise to Jin, he managed to do what Locke couldn't -- get the Oceanic 6, minus Aaron, back together using his resourceful ways where Locke's pleading clearly just wasn't enough. Ben knew that once Locke was brought back to The Island, he would rise once again. Hence the comment from earlier this season that if his body wasn't brought back to the island, nothing else would matter. Ben knows how important Locke is to the war that is coming, but he also knew it was imperative to bring back the Oceanic survivors to the island, not only to save those that are left but ultimately save The Island, and he wasn't going to let Locke's promise stand in his way. Ben is simply willing to get his hands dirty for the greater good, where Locke is unwillling or unable, and that is why, despite appearances, Ben still isn't the villain and may, in fact, be the real hero of the story.
Many fans believe the latest episode of 'Lost', titled 'The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham', was the game changing episode we had been waiting for all along -- one that showed Ben's true colors.
February 27, 2009 | |
