Initial Reaction to "Dr. Linus"

Dr. Linus is a doctor? Didn't see that one coming! This episode was pretty awesome, though not as high-paced as I had anticipated. It was a very strong character episode, regardless of the pacing. Well, until the last two seconds when everything is all well and nice and everyone's hugging, and then the cheeriness is all blown to hell when Charles Widmore shows up to the party. Dude always has to ruin everything that's fun. Will he go on a baby killing tour around the island? Well, considering there are no longer any babies on the island at the moment... maybe he'll re-kill Claire's squirrel baby. That thing is the only thing that's more of a mood-killer than Widmore. But, I guess we'll only find out what his deal is in the weeks to come (Though probably not next week because they always like to do that to us. Grrrrr!). Enough chatter, let's get into it, Dr. Linus...

From Lostpedia

Here are some of my thoughts, questions, and theories on "Dr. Linus" (Some of which were written while viewing the episode.):

Questions:

• Who told Ilana that going to The Temple would be safe?
• Where did Richard Alpert come from? Where has he been all this time?
• What is Ilana's relationship to Jacob? Why was he like a father to her? How long did she know him?
• Why and when did Roger and Ben Linus leave the island?
• Was Roger never an alcoholic in the flash sideways? Was it the reason he and Ben have a good relationship?
• Did Ben's mother still die during childbirth?
• Does Roger get sick from not being on the island?
• How does Ilana know about the candidates? Did Jacob tell her?
• How does she know how many there are if she doesn't even know if "Kwon" means Jin, Sun, or both?
• Where the hell has Richard been all this time?
• Where the hell is Sawyer?
• How did Danielle Rousseau and Alex get to Los Angeles?
• How old is Richard Alpert? How long has he been on the island?
• Did he come to the island on the Black Rock?
• Why does Richard say not to believe Jacob?
• Does Jacob touching you make you not age?
• Why is MIB going to the other (Hydra) island?
• Will he use the runway that Ajira landed on?
• Why has Charles Widmore come to the island?
• What is his plan? Is he "Wallace"?
• Will Widmore meet MIB at the other island?
  

From Lostpedia

Notes:

• Ben is lucky that Frank Lapidus isn't trigger-happy.
• "He was standing over their dead bodies, holding a bloody dagger. So, yeah, I'm pretty sure." Ben
• If Jacob knew he was going to die, and the Man in Black was going to take over and kill everyone, why would he say to go to The Temple? This leads me to believe that someone else told Ilana to go there or she just assumed so.
• Dr. Linus teaches about Elba, where Napoleon faced his greatest test. Ben also faces his greatest test on an island. Nice parallel there.
• Come on, Darlton! Can we get a little Walt, please? Throw him in the background and I'll be happy. I know it wouldn't work because Walt is supposed to be like ten in this timeline, but still. I want to see Walt, dammit!
• William Atherton is the Principle. Awesome. He was in "Ghost Busters," "Real Genius," and "Die Hard."
• "The club isn't for them, it's for you." Principle Reynolds
• "I'm listening." Mr. Locke
• Bug-eyed Linus, Dr. Leslie Arzt, and John Locke are the new three amigos.
• I guess that's why Ilana collected Jacob's ashes. For Miles to do his work on them.
• "He was standing over Jacob's dead body with a bloody dagger. So, yeah, I'm pretty sure." Miles
• "Jacob was the closest thing I ever had to a father." Ilana
• "Uh-oh." Miles
• "Yeah, a fire will fix everything." Miles
• "You know, psychics are totally unreliable. Mils actually tried to blackmail me once." Ben
• "You make friends easy, don't you?" Lapidus
• They did a great job making Roger Linus look old.
• Ben keeps his father alive by giving him oxygen in the flash sideways, while on-island he killed his father by gassing him, causing him to suffocate. How ironic. Pretty cool contrast there.
• "This isn't the life I wanted for you, Ben. I wanted so much more. That's why I signed up for that damn DHARMA Initiative, and took you to the island. They were decent people. Smarter than I'll ever be. Imagine how different our lives would've been if we'd stayed? Who knows what you would've become." Roger
• They still went to the island. When did they leave?
• In the flash sideways, if they (Flight 815) never crash on the island, then Sayid is never there, and he never shoots Ben, so Ben is never brought to the Others by Kate and Sawyer, therefore never goes to The Temple to get healed, so he could have left the island with Roger when it was evacuated because of Jughead.
• So, Ben and his dad didn't have a bad relationship? Did Ben's mom still die during childbirth? She could have possibly died in another way, and perhaps Ben knew his mother, if even for a short time.
  
• Alex is one of Ben's students. I thought that was a very nice touch, and glad to see Alex again. Where is Danielle Rousseau? Come on!
• "God, you're the best, Dr. Linus." Alex
• Who goes to their teachers house? The only explanation that I can surmise is that they live int he same neighborhood, so that's why she knows where he lives. Although, I knew where a few teachers, and even some substitutes lived when I was in high school just because they lived near people I knew.
• "Trust me, if anyone wants to find him, it's me. But, I don't know where to look." Ilana "Why do you ant to find Jin?" Sun "Because, your last name is Kwon. So is his, and I don't know if I'm supposed to protect you, him, or both of you. You're candidates. To replace Jacob." Ilana
• Ilana says there are six candidates left. I'm confused. How does she know there are six when she just said that she doesn't know if "Kwon" means that she has to protect Jin, Sun or both of them? How could she know how many there are? The six could possibly be Jack, Hurley, Jin, Sun, Sawyer, maybe Kate (Her name wasn't crossed out, but she wasn't one of the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 or 42.), and Sayid, although I don't understand how he could be a candidate any longer, considering Dogen said that there is a darkness inside of him and he seems to be on MIB's side now.
• I wish they'd give Sun more to do than ask about Jin. This is feeling like "my boy" and "my baby" all over again. Sun is an awesome character. They need to give her better things to do than just look for Jin.
• "Cheese curds." Hurley
• Hurley is like the worst liar ever. Almost as bad as Kate.
• "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Richard
• Really, Richard? Why don't you try telling me?
• "At least he's not stalling." Jack
• Booty Babes. Nice.
• "The things people will bring on a trip." Ben
• The Chosen was a book in Sawyer's tent.
• Someone is always raiding Sawyer's stuff. Watch out, Ben, he's gonna be pissed.
• Nice touch with the Oceanic water bottle. 
• "Oceanic. I remember that plane breaking n half like it was yesterday." Ben "You know, I was supposed to be flying it. Oceanic 815." Frank "And why didn't you?" Ben "I overslept." Frank "Come on." Ben "Can you believe it? Imagine how different my life would be, had that alarm gone off." Frank "How different would it have been? The island still got you in the end, didn't it?" Ben
• I love the exchange between Frank Lapidus and Ben.
• I guess these are those big answers that ABC keeps claiming we'll be getting this season. (Movie Preview Voice) "Find out just how Frank Lapidus missed that plane..."
• It's really nice to see the beach camp again.
• How in the hell did Ilana make that damn shackle? She's crafty.
• Alex says her mom works two jobs just to pay rent and that she can't afford to to go Yale.
• "My mom works two jobs just to pay our rent. How am I going to pay for college?" Alex
• There was a ship in the History book that Ben was helping Alex study from.
• Pervert? Uhhh... that was totally awkward.
• "Isn't that totally gross?" Alex "Totally." Ben
• "You're not exactly tearing it up on the digging front, are you?" Miles "I'm not in a big hurry." Ben
• "What are you gonna do? You gonna write me a check on this banana leaf?" Miles "I can get off this island, and when I do, I have a vast network of people and resources that will get you that money. All you have to do is cut me loose." Ben "Why would I need your money when there are a couple of jabronies under there named Nikki and Paulo who got buried alive with eight million dollars in diamonds on top of them?" Miles
• "Ilana's going to murder me for killing Jacob. A man who didn't even care about being killed." Ben "No, he cared. Right up until the second the knife went through his heart. He was hoping he was wrong about you. I guess he wasn't." Miles
• Miles mentioning Nikki and Paulo=awesome. 
• "So, you're not time traveling?" Hurley "No." Richard "But, you look the same as you did 30 years ago. How is that possible?" Hurley "It's not easy to explain." Richard "Is this like a terminator thing? Are you a cyborg?" Hurley "No, I'm not a cyborg." Richard "Vampire?" Hurley "Jacob gave me a gift." Richard
• On Geronimo Jack's Beard, Jorge Garcia talked about improvising the "vampire" line into the dialogue and seeing if Nestor Carbonell would just go with it. Really cool to see that it got in there.
• So, Richard is from the Black Rock?
• I love the Dr. Arzt and Dr. Linus interactions.
• I also love the school teacher drama.
• "I want a good spot. I want Lamour's spot in the main parking lot. The one next to the maple tree. Not under the maple tree. Next to the maple tree. That way, I get the shade from the maple tree, but not all that tree crap all over the hood of my car. And I want aprons. I want lots of aprons. And I want some lab equipment that was built in this decade." Dr. Arzt
• "You know, you really had me fooled with that sweater vest. Linus, you're a real killer." Dr. Arzt
• For someone who's not in a hurry to die, Ben digs a pretty deep grave. And why is he digging his grave so neatly? I guess he wants to die in an orderly fashion.
• Richard looks at the shackles and chains inside the Black Rock, and there is some kind of etching on the wall in front of him. Perhaps some kind of claw mark or carving, but I'm not sure.
• "Were you here before?" Jack "Yes, and in all the time that I've spent on this island, today is the first time I've ever come back." Richard
• "Do not open that. There's dynamite in there. It's mega-unstable!" Hurley "I know." Richard "Well, so did Dr. Arzt, and I was wiping him out of my shirt two days later." Hurley
• "Jacob touched me. And when Jacob touches you, it's considered a gift. Except it's not a gift at all. It's a curse." Richard
• Is it just me or does this whole "Jacob touching" you thing sound really creepy?
• It can't be entirely possible that Jacob merely touching you suddenly stops you from aging because he touched Kate and Sawyer when they were kids (That sounds so wrong.).
• "I devoted my life, longer than you can possibly imagine, in service of a man who told me that everything was happening for a reason, that he had a plan; a plan that I was a part of, and when the time was right, that he'd share it with me, and now that man's gone. So, why do I want to die? Because I just found out that my entire life had no purpose." Richard
• So.... Richard basically knows nothing? Great. Kind of cheap, also.
• "Now, let's talk." Jack
• Good plan, Jack... ass.
• "This guy is crazy, and I know crazy." Hurley
• "When you change your mind, I'll be like a mile away." Hurley
• "I just came from a lighthouse, where my name was etched in wood on a dial, that turned a mirror, and somehow reflected the imagine of the house that I grew up in. Jacob's lighthouse. He got Hurley to bring me out there because he wanted me to see what was reflected in that mirror. For some reason, he wanted me to know that he had been watching me ever since I was a kid." Jack
• "I'm willing to bet you that if Jacob went through that trouble, that he brought me to this island for a reason, and it's not to blow up sitting with you here right now." Jack
• Ohhhh, there's crazy Jack!
• "Wanna try another stick?" Jack
• The Smoke Monster showing up=still cool as fuck.
• But, uh, how did he undo Ben's shackle? I guess he has delicate hands.
• Ben is lucky that Ilana isn't trigger-happy either, especially considering that she actually wanted to kill him.
• What decade did that laptop come from?
• "I want to explain. I want to explain that I know what you're feeling. I watched my daughter, Alex, die in front of me. And it was my fault. I had a chance to save her, but I chose the island. Over her. All in the name of Jacob. I sacrificed everything for him. And he didn't even care. When I stabbed him, I was so angry, confused... I was 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. I'm sorry that I killed Jacob. I am, and I do not expect you to forgive me, because I can never forgive myself." Ben
• "Just let me leave." Ben "Where will you go?" Ilana "To Locke." Ben "Why?" Ilana "Because he's the only one that'll have me." Ben "I'll have you." Ilana
• Extremely well acted by Michael Emerson and Zuleikha Robinson. Very believable.
• Totally thought that Ben was going to take the Principle's job and sell Alex out.
• Great moment with Ben. He's truly grown as a character and as a person. He's come full circle. Realizing his mistakes and feeling sorry for them, which makes me think he's going to die.
• What Ben always wanted happens in his flash sideways, which was for Alex to be happy. Ben finally sacrifices himself for Alex, instead of being selfish.
• I hope Principle Reynolds found Mr. Locke to cover for detention. The thought of that makes me laugh.
• "What about my parking space?" Dr. Arzt
• Perhaps, MIB wanted Ilana to kill Ben. Why put the rifle 200 yards in? Why not just give it to him, so he could shoot her?
• Miles had one of Nikki and Paulo's diamonds.
• So, they're the ones that lived at the beach camp before Sawyer and Juliet find it ransacked in Season Five. I hope we find out who shot at them in the outrigger canoe.
• It was nice to have another montage/reunion moment. We haven't had one of those in a very long time. Always gets me.
• No hugs for Richard or Ben. How sad.
• I actually really felt bad for Ben in this episode.
• What the hell, Widmore?
• Of course it's Widmore.
• Hey, Widmore? When you said "there's a war coming," you neglected to mention that the war was you.
• "Proceed as planned." Charles Widmore
• Michael Emerson is a frakking genius. Enough said.
  

This was a really strong episode for Benjamin Linus and Mr. Michael Emerson. I actually felt extremely bad and empathetic toward Ben, probably for the first time ever. This is the first time that I've actually liked Ben since he killed John Locke last season. I'm going to feel betrayed and become really angry and give up on him for good though if he's going to turn around and be evil again. You can't trust the dude. He always has a plan. I won't be surprised when and if he does it, but fool me a thousand times, Ben, and shame on me. Really. I was done with you when you killed John Locke and then you had to go and cry and make me feel bad about it. But, after all is said and done, I think that Ben got a lot of redemption in this episode, both on-island and in the flash sideways. Which makes me think only one thing... which is exactly what happens (almost) every time a character comes full-circle or has major redemption. They die. If Ben is going to die, I'd like to see him die in sacrifice to the island and the people that are on it. Perhaps, killing Charles Widmore (If he's evil.) and defeating the "Man in Black" (If he's evil too. I'm still not sure what the deal is.) would be an appropriate way for Ben to go out on a good note. But, he'll probably just sell his soul the the devil.