Season 3 Episode 20

Season 3 Episode 20 – The Man Behind the Curtain

Let’s get the regular Losties out of the way first. Long story short, Sawyer returns with the tape of Juliet. When Jack and Juliet show up she tells Sawyer to flip the tape:
Ben: “Juliet it’s Ben. I’m sending three teams to extract Kwon the night after tomorrow. We won’t have time to run Austen’s sample so if you determine that she or anyone else is pregnant mark their tents and we’ll take them too. Good luck.”

Juliet apparently informed Jack of the situation and now he has a plan.

On to Mr. Ben Linus
Ben was born off the Island. We see a sign reading “Portland 32” so we can guess it’s either Oregon or Maine. Portland is where Juliet left from to get to the Island, Maine is the home of Stephen King whose books have made appearances on the show.

His mom’s name is Emily. His dad his Roger, you may recognize him as Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite. As Roger rushes to save his wife he meets Horris Goodspeed. As Emily dies she tells Roger to call her son Benjamin.

Many years later Ben and his dad join the Dharma Initiative and come to the Island. While registering we see an orientation video being played. Here are the audible parts:
Marvin Candle: “Welcome to the Island. For your own comfort and safety we ask that you stay within the confines of your new living quarters. Our barracks are surrounded by a high frequency sonar fence to protect us from the island’s abundant and diverse wild life. You are now a member of the Dharma Initiative. Every morning you’ll be given a new code that will allow you to cross outside the fence in case of some disaster… there are properties on this island that exist no where else on earth. Our mission is to study these properties for the benefit of mankind and the advancement of world piece. Most of you will be working on the mainland. Should you be assigned to supervise a study… 3 times a day…”
I’m assuming the 3 times a day discusses the Pella Ferry that would transport people, as mentioned in the Pearl Station orientation video. After this Ben’s dad gets his uniform and becomes Roger Work Man… the skeleton Hugo and Jin found in the crashed van.

During registration Ben meets Annie. She gives him an Apollo Chocolate bar. Avid fans of Lost will know we’ve seen these several times in the show (Boone eats one the first day of the crash. Shannon refuses to because she doesn’t want to get fat).

We then see Ben in Dharma Elementary school learning about Volcanoes. Apparently the Volcano on the Island erupted many years ago. During class the “Hostiles” attack. That evening Ben sees his dead mother through his bedroom window.

On Ben’s birthday Annie gives him a wooden sculpture of himself. This is the last we see of Annie so I’m thinking we’ll see her again in flashbacks next season. Clearly Ben’s dad isn’t big on celebrating his birthday:
Roger Linus: “Kind of hard to celebrate on the day you killed your mom.”
Ben runs from the house and to the fence where again he sees his dead mother:
Emily: “It’s not time yet Benjamin.”
Is it just me or is she dressed a lot like Alice in Wonderland? Maybe that’s why when Ben returns with the code (54439) he uses his white rabbit to test the fence first. He also used a white rabbit to trick Sawyer when he was held captive.

Ben then runs through the jungle looking for his mother. He then hears the whispers. I don’t think we’ve heard the whispers since the episode where Eko was killed. Within a few days someone on the internet will slow down and transcribe these whispers and I’ll post them here when they do. As Ben stops in the jungle he sees who we believe to be Richard. If it is Richard he as aged well. Another question; if it is Richard how did Ben eventually become the leader? A question for next season I guess. Ben tells Richard his mother died off the island but he has seen her here. He then asks Richard to take him with him:
Richard: “Maybe that can happen… you are going to have to be very patient.”

Many years later Ben is now a Work Man. It is again his birthday and he goes with his father on a delivery run. He asks his dad if he truly blames him for his mother’s death:
Roger: “What do I know?”
Ben: “You know I’ve missed her too. Maybe as much as you have. But the difference is that for as long as I can remember I’ve had to put up with you. And doing that required a tremendous amount of patience.“
Ben then puts on a gas mask and cracks a can of CTP (Cytidine triphosphate) ending the life of Roger Work Man. This is why he was so adamant about Locke killing his own father I suppose. While he was gone the hostiles apparently gassed the rest of the Dharma Initiative. The hostiles are dressed like savages but Richard is clean shaven. Does this mean they were pretending too? The hostiles bury the bodies in a large ditch, but Ben tells Richard to leave is father in the jungle.

Now back in real time, it is once again Ben’s birthday. Locke has returned with his own father’s dead body, and wants Ben to tell him the secrets of the island. Locke calls Ben a fraud:
Locke: ”The Man Behind the Curtain… the Wizard of Oz.”
There have already been references to the Wizard of Oz on the show. For instant when the Losties originally captured Ben he told them his name was Henry Gale. Henry Gale was Dorothy’s uncle in the movie. He also said he crashed in a balloon. This was one of the ways Dorothy tried to escape Oz.

Mikhail returns to camp. He verifies that Naomi is not an Other by informing Ben of her landing. When she said “I’m not alone” she was referring to her ship just off shore. He also says that he is alive because the pylons were not set at a lethal level.

Locke tells Mikhail Ben is busy and is taking him to see Jacob. He then gives him a beat down to prove his point. Before they leave to see Jacob, Alex gives Locke a gun. I guess she knows what her dad will try to do:
Alex: “Happy birthday Dad.”

Jacob’s camp is surrounded by what looks to be gun powder. Inside Ben starts to talk to an empty chair. Locke thinks it is a bunch of nonsense and starts to leave. Then Jacob speaks: “Help me.” Locke still believes Ben is crazy and turns on his flashlight. And with that the place goes poltergeist. And for a few seconds you can actually see Jacob sitting in his chair. CLICKING HERE will take you to slow motion video of the scene.

So they leave Jacob’s cabin and Ben takes Locke to where all the Dharma folk are buried:
Ben: “This is where I came from John. These were my people. The Dharma Initiative. They came here seeking harmony but they couldn’t even co-exist with the islands original inhabitants. And when it became clear that one side had to go… one side had to be purged, I did what I had to do. I was one of the people that was smart enough to make sure I didn’t end up in that ditch. Which makes me considerably smarter then you John.
[SHOOTS JOHN] What did Jacob say to you?”
Locke: “Why did you do this?”
Ben: “Cause you heard him. Now I need to know what he said.”
Locke: “Help me.”
Ben: “John I’m not going to ask you again. What did he say to you?”
Locke: “He said help me.”
Ben: “Well I certainly hope he helps you John.”
Looks like Locke is “special” and Ben is not happy about it.

Next week: Season 3 Episode 21 - Greatest Hits – Charlie flashback
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By next week I’m going to carve a wooded sculpture of myself for everyone, then “we never have to be away from each other.”