Ben is running thhrough the jungle like a little girl. He met up with Ilana, Frank, Sun, and Miles. Ilana asked about Sayid. Ben said that Sayid killed Dogen and Lennon. When asked if he was sure, he said he saw him by their dead bodies with a bloody dagger, so yeah, he was pretty sure.
In L.A.
Ben is giving a lecture about Napolean’s exile to Elba. “Without his power, he might as well have been dead.”
Schedule shift. He needs to supervise detention all week long. Budget cuts mean double duty. “It’s Dr. Linus, actually.”
Arzt teaches there, too! Substitute Locke suggests that Ben should be the principal because he cares about the school. If the man in charge doesn’t care, maybe it’s time for a change.
“Who’s going to listen to me?”
Locke raises his hand. BWAHAHAHA.
The island.
Ilana wants Miles to tell her how Jacob died. Handed him a bag of Jacob’s ashes.
“Linus killed him.” Just used Ben’s line about standing over his dead body with a bloody dagger. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
And they’re leaving Ben behind. Jacob was the closest thing Ilana had to a father.
Daylight. Ben wasn’t left behind, just left to bring up the rear without a torch. They’re at the beach. It’s a mess. Ilana’s looking for tools and building shelter.
In L.A.
Doesn’t Ben know it’s not good to stand that close to the microwave? He’s visiting his dad Roger. Nursing home? Guess not. Looks like his dad lives at home. Needs an oxygen tank.
“This isn’t the life I wanted for you, Ben. I wanted so much more.” Talks about the DHARMA Initiative. “Imagine how different our lives would have been if we had stayed… Who knows what you would have become?” Parallel… This time it’s an oxygen tank, it’s not poison gas.
Alex is at the door. She’s in history club. The AP test is on Friday. He agreed to meet her for tutoring in the library at 7:00 in the morning. Huh.
The island.
Sun wants to talk to Ilana, who is in a very bad mood. Ilana doesn’t know if she’s supposed to protect Sun, Jin, or btoh of them. She doesn’t know which one is the candidate to replace Jacob. “There are only six left.”
Hurley is dreaming about cheese curds. Jack wakes him up. “We can make the Temple by nightfall.” Hurley wants to take his time, but Jack wants to hurry. Hurley follows.
Richard! All three think the Temple is in a different direction.
“Dude, do you trust that guy?”
“At least he’s not stalling.”
Ben found Sawyer’s porn stash, I think. Frank didn’t fly Oceanic Flight 815 because he overslept.
Ilana has a rifle to Ben’s neck. “Walk.” Execution time? There’s the graveyard. She’s going to make him dig his own grave. Now that’s just cold.
In L.A.
Tutoring session. Ben thinks that Alex is being a bit overdramatic about the importance of the AP test. He doesn’t worry about her future at all. (Her mom works two jobs just to pay the rent.) She just called the principal a pervert. She was in the nurse’s office when the principal and the school nurse were getting it on in the other room. Ben promises not to say anything.
The island.
Ben is digging his own grave. Ilana is standing watch with her rifle in hand. Miles has come to torment him. “Hope you like green beans and banana, because it’s all we got.” Ben is trying to buy him off with that $3.2 million he wanted. Miles knows about the diamonds buried with Nikki and Paolo. Funny, he didn’t mention them being buried alive.
Right up until the moment the dagger went through his heart, Jacob hoped he was wrong about Ben.
Hurley wants to know if Richard is a cyborg or a vampire. (Ha!) Wants to know why he still looks the same as he did 30 years ago.
Richard lied about going to the Temple because everyone at the Temple is dead. He was just there. No survivors. But maybe their friends made it out alive. Richard is no longer a believer when it comes to Jacob. Tells Hurley not to listen to him.
Richard has something he has to do. Die.
In L.A.
Arzt is grading papers. They’re all failing, apparently. Ben wants Arzt to hack into a faculty email account to find out about the school nurse. “Are you going to help me or not, Leslie?” Arzt will help in exchange for a good parking spot, some good aprons, and new lab equipment. “Linus, you’re a real killer.”
The island.
The Black Rock!
Richard is looking at the shackles. Today is the first time he has ever come back to the ship. I knew we’d be seeing dynamite when we saw Arzt. Richard can’t kill himself, even if he wanted to. He wants Jack to kill him. Jacob touched him, which gave him a gift. Except it’s a curse. He devoted his life in service of a man who told him that everything was happening for a reason, he had a plan that he was a part of. Richard would learn about it when the time was right. But now he wants to die because he just realized it was all for nothing. Jack is willing to take part in this… euthanasia.
“Now… let’s talk.”
(So is it safe to assume that Jacob touched Michael, and that’s why Michael couldn’t kill himself? And that Locke would never have been successful at hanging himself, which was why Ben had to do it?)
“Jack, dude, we gotta go. He’s crazy, and trust me, I know crazy.”
Jack doesn’t think that either one of them are going to die. He explains about coming from the lighthouse. Richard tells Jack he’s taking an awfully big risk. “I’m not.” So Jack is OFFICIALLY a man of faith now. He believed that he wouldn’t die because Jacob brought him to the island for a reason. And he didn’t. His own little version of Russian Roulette. “Wanna try another stick?” He wants to go back to where they started.
Smokey pays a visit to Ben at his grave.
Ilana isn’t being a very good guard right now, eating a mango while Locke is talking to Ben. Locke wants Ben to watch over the island when he leaves. Oh look, his leash is gone. Locke wants him to go to Hydra island. There’s a rifle there waiting for him to shoot Ilana with it. A trick? Ben’s on the run.
In L.A.
Ben wants the principal to read something. 30 emails over a three month period. Ben thinks that the lascivious acts that took place on school property would be frowned upon by the school board and his wife. But he won’t talk if he resigns and recommends Ben for the job. The principal is blackmailing him back… Alex wants a letter of recommendation from the principal for her application to Yale. Dr. Linus has to make Sophie’s choice, it seems.
The island.
Ben is running for his life. There’s the rifle. Will Ben shoot her? He wants to explain that he knows what Ilana is feeling. He had a chance to save Alex, but he chose to save the island over her… and Jacob didn’t even care. He stabbed him because he was angry, confused, and terrified. The thing that already mattered was already gone. He’s sorry that he killed Jacob and he doesn’t expect to be forgiven. He can’t forgive himself. “Just let me leave.” He wants to go to Locke because Locke is the only one who will have him. Man tears.
Ilana will have him.
Bewildered, Ben follows Ilana back to the beach. He never expected he would be given another chance. Redemption?
In L.A.
The principal just sent a glowing letter of recommendation for Alex. Ben at least weaseled out of detention duty to get history club back. Offers Arzt his parking space. (Just a thought… what’s stopping him from giving those emails to the school board now?)
The island.
Ben walks back onto the beach. Sun, Frank, and Miles are a little surprised to see him. Puts the rifle down and offers to help Sun with the tarp. (It’s a tarp!) Frank builds a driftwood fire. Miles has the diamonds. Ilana is crying.
Here come Jack, Hurley, and Richard. The slow motion reunion is almost like when Jack and company returned from their captivity with the Others.
The submarine.
“Sir. There are people on the beach. Should we stop?”
WIDMORE!
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