**See Part One “The Island” below this post.
LOST REUNIONS
“Him destroying the island. You destroying him. It doesn’t matter. You’re gonna lower me into that light, and I’m gonna go somewhere else. A place where we can be with the ones we love and not have to ever think about this damn island again.” – Desmond
A couple of episodes ago when Desmond was in that Widmore electro-box thing and there was a big white flash, I’m thinking Desmond caught a glimpse of Sideways world and what it really meant. That’s why he wasn’t afraid of Smokey, that’d why he didn’t care what Jack or FLocke did to him. He knew that if he died he could be with the people he loved in a place where everything made sense and there was peace.
I would love to type on here that I figured out what the Sideways story was or I had a guess as to what it might be that was somewhat close to what it turned out to be pulling a Benjamin Linus on you. Truth is, I had no idea. But before we go into all that, I want to talk about the great Lost reunion, aka Sideways guys remembering their past.
I cried so many times during that episode, pretty much anytime someone got their memory back. Charlie and Claire really got to me, reminded me of the old days of Lost and just how much I’ve missed Charlie Pace on the show. Sun and Jin’s was equally hard and emotional to watch. I really liked that we didn’t see everyone’s moment of realization. Boone seemed to know what was going on – though maybe that was his vampire knowing showing through J. Sawyer and Juliet’s reunion was electric and beautiful as was Kate’s. The only one that didn’t hold much water for me, and I’ve read this elsewhere as well, is Sayid and Shannon. While it was cool to have Shannon there, I never was interested in their relationship and I never bought into Sayid loving her, especially after all the pining he did for Nadya. But I get why it had to be her in order to make the whole Sideways thing make “sense.”
While most of the characters had these revelatory moments due to connections with memorable moments of love, there are a few notable exceptions to that…I think. Ben Linus seemed to have flashes of the island when Desmond beat him. This has to be so familiar to Ben at this point that maybe that’s his big psychic connection to the island. Did Alex bring out the full memory for him? I don’t remember if that was part of last week’s episode or not. If so, then Ben would also fit into the group above.
Locke, however, had a different experience and it was absolutely necessary for it to happen that way. Locke’s revelation came when he could wiggle his feet in the hospital room, reminded him of that first moment on the island when he realized he was not paralyzed. His connection had nothing to do with anyone but himself. Even in death, Locke was special. Like Jack said, Locke had been right all along. Too bad Ben killed him.
Of course, Jack’s was the most important of all but I’m saving the whole Jack thing for a bit later.
“I’m very sorry for what I did to you, John. I was selfish and jealous. I wanted everything you had.”
“Well, if it helps, Ben… I forgive you.”
Since Season 2 we’ve been fortunate to see Terry O’Quinn share the screen with the wonderful Michael Emerson. Every scene they have together seem to have extra weight, to soar above other scenes and to make you have to catch your breath on the commercial break. I was thrilled that we got one final scene between the two, and how touching it was! I was thrown by Ben telling Locke to get out of the wheelchair, that he didn’t need it anymore but I think I get it now. It was a) a chance to see Locke get out of the wheelchair he was confined to through so much of his life and b) Ben acting, for the last time, as a representative of the island’s magical powers. Only in the Sideways world, the island’s magical powers were instead Jack’s surgical ability. The smile Locke gave Ben when he stood up was priceless and heartwarming.
“If the island’s going down, I’m going down with it.” – Ben
I know I’m spending a lot of space on Ben but since this is Regarding Benry and he is my favorite character and, well, this is my blog I’m gonna go for it. J
I’m incredibly intrigued by how Ben’s character ended and not only that he didn’t die, something I was sure was going to happen and looking forward to. So that Ben didn’t die, that he stayed on the island and became Hurley’s Richard Alpert, that he found his purpose not in a position of power but in a position of aid was indeed very poignant. All along Ben had been so good at saving himself, lying to everyone including the Smoke Monster to stay alive. All he ever wanted was to belong and even though our Losties saved him from that tree, he knew he didn’t belong on that plane leaving. His home was the island. Who knows how Ben died. I love that. I get to decide how he went, I choose that he went heroically and without betraying any more people.
And then there’s Sideways Ben (SBen). SBen only interacts with Locke, Alex, Danielle, Desmond and Hurley. I suppose we could assume that he interacts with Jack at the hospital though I don’t think we ever got to see it. With how much Ben tormented all these people on the island, he is still part of the group consciousness enough to be included in this Sideways world. Though I don’t think any one of them would have admitted it while alive, Ben was part of this significant time that bonded them all together.
Yet not enough for SBen to walk into that church. He told Locke that he still had a few things to figure out. Wonder what he means by this. Is Ben not ready to “leave” or does he feel like he is not worthy to go into that room with all those people? I think Ben hadn’t come to terms with his life yet (understandable since he has so much to reconcile with). It was awfully sweet of Hurley to come out and let Ben know he could come in with seemingly no hard feelings – there are no hard feelings in Sideways world. Hurley gave Ben the validation it seemed he never got while alive. Even in death Hurley is cheering people up. So the last image we get of Ben is sitting just outside the group, observing and thinking way too much. Again, it was kinda perfect.
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I’m doing one final post coming shortly so please come back for it later this afternoon! 
