S6E6 - Dr. Linus

Okay. Is it just me or was this episode a little... underwhelming? I mean, we got a couple of answers, but I guess I was expecting more from a Benjamin Linus episode. Or shall I say...

DOCTOR LINUS

DEGREE: European History

SCHOOL: University of Boooooring

STRENGTH: Caring for others

WEAKNESS: Blackmail

Seriously. Ben's flashsideways had after-school special written all over it. He's the only one who truly cares about the students. He's pigeon-holed by the evil principal. He hatches a plan to become the new principal then changes his mind when he realizes it may hurt one student's bright future. Yawn fest. The student was Alex, but by now we're used to significant people from the "main" reality popping up in each other's what-ifs. Looks like instead of being stranded on the island during her science expedition, Rousseau wound up living in the good ol' U S of A and is working two jobs just to keep a roof over her daughter's head. (I wonder if she had to wind up shooting her baby daddy, just like in reality A?) Anyway, all I can say is, she must have been a pretty crappy scientist if she has to pull two paychecks to make ends meet.

I suppose the point of the flashsideways was to parallel his life on the island and to make up for her inadvertent sacrifice by sacrificing himself (sort of). While touching, I feel like we could have gotten a little more meat to go with that one scrawny side dish. The only thing worthwhile was his dad's lamentation about leaving the island, a half-explanation of how Ben is still alive. Again though, I wonder if that was before or after the bomb? You would think that any alterations to the timeline began once the bomb was detonated and rippled outwards after that, but I'm just going to chalk this up to timetravelsucks and move on. Nice to see that yet another father/son relationship (Locke's too?) is better off with the island at the bottom of the ocean. And by better off, I mean Ben hasn't trapped him in a van filled with deadly gas yet. As a matter of fact, I just realized he is keeping him alive through the use of a gas in reality B (nice touch, writers).

(Sidenote: What is the modern day equivalent of an "after-school special" anyway? Is that what the ABC Family channel is for or maybe one out of any four movies featured on Lifetime?)

DOCTOR ARZT

DEGREE: Science Education

SCHOOL: ITT Tech

STRENGTH: Not blowing up

WEAKNESS: Shady parking spaces

Speaking of other characters... with only 9 episodes left, it seems like it's just enough time to feature everyone twice. Let's see... we've already had Jack, Locke, Kate, and Sayid. We had the one in the beginning with everyone then this Ben one (whose story doesn't seem to extend in interest beyond the end of this episode) bringing us to episode 6. So we've got Hurley and Jin/Sun left. Once they've been featured (presumably episode 7 and 8), everyone (minus Ben) has a chance to have one more episode about them until the finale. Sorry, this is me just thinking out loud. I seriously have little to say about this episode.

DOCTOR SCHOLLS

DEGREE: Advanced Foot Technology

SCHOOL: University of KickingAssAndTakingNames

STRENGTH: Arch support

WEAKNESS: Unexplainable odors

Ilana and her crew decided to "get back to the basics" and go for a long walk on the beach. Literally. Let's see, from this bit of the show we've got Miles telling Ben that Jacob "hoped he was wrong" about him just before he plunged the knife into his heart. Hmmm... so I still wonder if Jacob dying was all part of his "bigger plan." I mean, you've gotta think he saw it coming to some degree if he's gone through the trouble of finding his replacement, right? Of course Ilana's none too happy about learning of Ben's involvement claiming Jacob was the closest thing to a father she had. We're going to almost have to see an Ilana flashback at some point, right? Remember last season when Jacob approached her in a clinic while she was recovering from who-knows-what all wrapped up in bandages and he asked her for help? That seemed too significant to just let go. Maybe we'll get another Jacob episode to fill in the gaps... fingers crossed. Anyway, Fake Locke offers Ben escape from Ilana, but oddly not escape from the island. Apparently once Fake Locke leaves, someone still needs to remain "in charge" of the island. How's that for a new twist? I'm assuming he's not referring to the candidates since Ben is not one. Anyway, Fake Locke has been exhibiting a let's-blow-this-popsicle-stand mentality, so the fact that he even cares about what happens after he leaves is surprising. Of course that is assuming he was telling the truth and not just sweet talking Ben. Part of me thinks he was blowing smoke (no pun intended) up his butt, but it's hard not to believe the one person offering relatively straight answers.

DOCTOR ZHIVAGO

DEGREE: Internal Medicine

SCHOOL: School of Hard Knocks

STRENGTH: Poetry

WEAKNESS: The ladies

If you like love triangles, this book/film is a classic. The story of a love-torn man set against the backdrop of war-torn Russia. I, for one, am glad that the Jack/Kate/Sawyer triangle is on the back burner this season. I'll allow perhaps two minutes of dialogue to wrap up whatever angst they need to wrap up and be done with it. I never fully bought into Jack/Kate and I totally prefer Sawyer/Juliet. What? How does that relate to this episode? Good question.

DOCTOR KEVORKIAN

DEGREE: Pathology

SCHOOL: University of Michigan Medical School

STRENGTHS: Oil painting, Jazz music

WEAKNESS: "Early Mortality Assistance"

So, one of maybe two big reveals for me was Richard's explanation of Jacob's "gift". Apparently he does not age because he was touched by Jacob. Now that seems pretty interesting, especially given that we saw Jacob touch his candidates a few episodes ago, though I can't recall if he touched little Kate or not in last season's finale. Either way, apparently this doesn't grant immortality since Richard can die, he just can't do it himself. Gee thanks, Jacob, but what good is immortality if ANYONE CAN KILL ME, BUT ME? Another thing I found pretty telling was his reaction when he entered the Black Rock and his answer when Jack asked if he'd been there before. I think it's a fairly safe assumption that he was part of the original crew (or perhaps a slave) on the ship when it first came ashore.

DOCTOR MOREAU

DEGREE: Veterinarian

SCHOOL: Cayman Island Medical

STRENGTH: Vivisection

WEAKNESS: Animal-hybrid revolts

If you like shipwrecks on islands where all sorts of mysterious experiments are taking place, this book/film is a classic. What? Oh yeah... the recap.

DOCTOR SHEPARD

DEGREE: Spinal Surgery

SCHOOL: Reluctant Leader Institute

STRENGTH: Obsession with fixing things

WEAKNESS: Obsession with fixing things

Very interesting change of heart for Jack, though I guess it's less of a change of heart and more of a culmination of the last season and a half. He had one leg on the destiny wagon last season, trying to convince everyone that they needed to return to the island, but his little speech to Richard and trick with the dynamite seemed to seal the deal. He's been hitting the Destiny Juice hard since the Lighthouse and there's no turning back for him now.

With Jack/Hurley/Richard popping up at the end, looks like we're seeing the beginnings of a mini-reunion at the beach. Sorry Richard and Ben... no hugs for you. The last and maybe biggest reveal of the episode is at the very end. Widmore has found the island and apparently has a plan to do... something. Any ideas? Oh, and is

it just me or is this season just a lot of walking and talking with the "good stuff" packed into the last two minutes?

DOCTOR WHO

DEGREE: Sonic Screwdriver Operations

SCHOOL: Time Lord University

STRENGTHS: Two hearts, Twelve lives

WEAKNESS: Human sentimentality

If you like time travel... okay okay...

Again, between Jacob's manipulations and Fake Locke's promise-you-the-world attitude, I'm thinking they're both bad news at the end of the day. My hope is the LOSTies get fed up on both ends and join forces, maybe have a peaceful protest back at the beach. Hmm... protest posters... if next week's episode is as blah as this one, I think that would be quite a fitting recap theme. Until then...