Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A+ | 1 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT L'chaim!
By Cindy McLennan | Season 5 | Episode 12 | Aired on 04.08.2009
The feel of The Ten Commandments disappears in all the smoke. Now, Ben, who first told us he was Henry Gale, seems to be playing Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. He hears and sees past scenes of his life as Smokey surrounds him. Twenty-four year old Ben tells Widmore that he didn't tell him Rousseau had a child and asks what he was supposed to do. We see Widmore's face as he says, "Kill it!" Ben's voice echoes that she's not an it but a child. Next, we see Ben push little-girl Alex on the swing. Next, the face of teenaged Alex appears and she tells Ben she hates him and wishes he were dead. She's replaced by a calmer Alex who says, "These people, you said they were dangerous. More dangerous than you?" She evaporates and it's time for the grand finale. Keamy holds Alex hostage and she pleads for her life. "Dad, they're serious. They killed Karl, and my mother. Please, Dad, help me." Ben cries as he hears his past self say, "She's not my daughter. She means nothing to me. So if you want to kill her, go ahead and..." A shot rings out and Alex falls to her death. Smokey rattles and ticks and the smoke clears as he returns to the stone from whence he came.
Ben's torch flares back to life, startling him, but not as much as the young woman's voice, behind him. "Daddy?" He turns to see Alex. He says her name with such love. She smiles a small smile and says, "Hi, Dad." Ben says, "Oh, Alex. I'm so, so sorry. It was all my fault." She moves closer and is it just me, or does it look like they're going to kiss and not in a parent/child way? Shudder. Thank goodness that doesn't last long. Instead, Alex says, "I know." Ben's frightened, and he should be. Alex grabs him by the collar and shoves him up against the wall with more strength than seems humanly possible for that slender young woman, but seems totally possible if she's, oh, say, a Smoke Monster. Ben's torch falls to the floor. Alex-monster says, "Listen to me, you bastard! I know that you're already planning to kill John again and I want you to know that if you so much as touch him, I will hunt you down and destroy you. You will listen to every word John Locke says, and you will follow his every order. Do you understand?" Speechless, Ben finally manages to nod, but that's not enough for the Alex-monster. "Say it! Say you'll follow him!"
Ben says, "Yes, I will. I'll follow him. I swear." Alex-monster shoves him against the wall one more time. Ben closes his eyes and holds a hand up, defensively, in front of his head. His face betrays his fear, pain and shame, all at once. He cringes and waits for his final judgment, but nothing happens. He opens his eyes to find the Alex-monster gone. Amazed, he picks up his own torch and starts to walk back in the direction he came. From above, Locke calls his name three times as he lowers a vine down into the hole. Finally, Ben walks into his view. Locke asks what happened. Ben says, "It let me live." Locke looks at him in shock, but nobody's more shocked than Ben himself. Dun Bad robot!