My Unenthusiastic Look at Last Night’s LOST
April 9, 2009 by Kath Skerry
I’m just going to go ahead and chalk this up to someone pissing in my cheerios this morning. For the first time in a long time, I was rather disappointed in LOST. I thought the episode lacked the excitement and storytelling that has been so apparent this season. Perhaps my expectations were set a little too high. I figured an episode centered around the life of Ben Linus would be fascinating. In the end it came off as weak and a bit too bizarre for my liking.
Here on GMMR we celebrate the diversity of opinion. I emphasize this because I’m thinking my opinion is going to be smacked around like a bad kid on Christmas. I’ve read many a Facebook update, Tweet and review from people who really dug last night’s episode. To each their own.
Ben’s backstory was a little less exciting than I hoped it would be. We learned that he kidnapped Alex right from the arms of Rosseau and he raised her as his own daughter. Ben watched carefully over Alex as Charles Widmore had one ordered her dead. In the end maybe it was the island that wanted her dead. Ben didn’t do anything to stop it and he seems guilt ridden. He offered himself up to the smoke monster and his life was spared…on the condition that he follow the gospel according to John (Locke).
The supernatural elements of LOST have always been my least favorite aspect, and therefore my own bias might have tainted my view of last night’s episode. The smoke monster scene, while surely fascinating to some, had me rolling my eyes so far back into my head that I was seeing the wall behind me.
I was glad to find out (a) then Ben didn’t kill Penny and (b) that he doesn’t have some semblence of a heart. Sometimes I wonder.
Sorry for the quick and dirty low down on LOST but for some reason my lack of enthusiasm for the episode has left me unable to write much more. It’s not that I hated the episode. I didn’t. I just didn’t find myself particularly loving it. Maybe it needs a second look? You tell me.
As always, I’ve opened the comments for you to share your thoughts.
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i was a bit let down by the smoke monster. it was too much like the tornado in the wizard of oz. i expected to see mrs gulch riding her bicycle.
Glad to see your take today as it pretty much sums up my reaction as well! I was left a little let down by the Ben episode. I also had pretty high expectations though. The episode just didn’t hold my attention like I thought it would. I agree though that it doesn’t mean I didn’t like the episode, just wasn’t what I expected. Perhaps I also need a second look.
I kinda got the feeling that Ben wanted smokey to kill him. The whole episode seemed like a build up to Ben dying, but alas, that did not happen. I was also glad that Ben did not kill Penny and her family. So smokey has been around sonce the heiroglyphic days? It was nice of someone to build it a grate to come out of. What was that? Also, what was the drain thing Ben had beneath his house? I agree it was a slow episode.
I forgot about the ridiculous drain! Pull the plug on the drain to summon smokey? That was just weird.
The past two weeks of Lost have been consequences of expectations. I have not been a huge Kate fan since Season Two. However, Evangeline Lilly’s performance, along with interesting answers about her character’s motivation for returning to the island, made “Whatever Happened, Happened” a delightful surprise. It didn’t hurt to have Hurley & Miles’ discussion of time travel, either.
The prospect of having a Ben-centric episode set my expectations into overdrive this week, especially on the heels of Young Ben’s recent journey. I agree with Kath that the end product was underwhelming. At various points, I was taken completely away from the crux of the story.
The entire smoke monster subplot lacked suspense or consequence. From the method by which Smokie was released, which reminded me of a bad home improvement show on HGTV, to the CGI disaster that was Ben’s confrontation with his judge & jury, I conjured bad memories of SciFi Channel mini-series gone bad.
Finally, I was disappointed that Ben’s sneak attack on Penny was shot in broad daylight. I understand that the timing of the other scenes forced this scene into the afternoon hours. However, I never had the feeling that Penny or Desmond could be struck down under those circumstances. Ben’s persona fits much stronger with the kind of person who would murder someone in the dead of night, rather than face them eye to eye.
I pretty much loved it, though the sci-fi aspects have never been off-putting to me.
I can see that not everyone would love the last five minutes. But I thought any bit of hokiness was offset by the amazing acting abilities of Michael Emerson, as he reacted to the emotionally disturbing experience. For example, the very last line, where Ben says “it let me live.” As in, it didn’t kill him, but he still failed.
And every bit of dialogue between Ben and Locke was great.
I kind of agree with Billiam…I think the problem is that we’ve seen Ben in control, we’ve seen Ben lie, cheat, steal, and survive….other than when Alex died however, we’ve never seen him, well, lost…made to play second fiddle to Locke..who was enjoying every moment of it….I liked it myself…and his profound disappointment may have came not only from the fact the creature let him live, but the circumstances by which he has to live…I think Michael Emerson is playing this part so well that Ben’s disappointment and angst became ours.
when you said “it was too much like the tornado in the wizard of oz. i expected to see mrs gulch riding her bicycle”, it rings a bell for some reason. You gave me deja vu about something and I can’t think what it is.
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