Lost: Season 3, Episode 20 "The Man Behind the Curtain" Review

 "I was one of the people that was smart enough to make sure that I didn't end up in that ditch."

-Ben Linus

"The Man Behind the Curtain" kicks off in a flashback to the birth of Ben (Michael Emerson), where we learn his mother died just after he was born.  Years later, Ben's father, Roger (Jon Gries), gets a job working for the Dharma Initiative, so he and Ben move to the Island.  Ben is miserable there as Roger is always drunk and emotionally abusive and he starts seeing the ghost of his dead mother.  When he goes into the jungle to look for her, Ben meets Richard (Nestor Carbonell), who is somehow the same age he is in 2004.  Ben wants to join the Others and Richard says he will have to be very patient if he wants to do that.

Years later, Ben and Roger take one of the hippie vans out into the jungle to drink beer and celebrate Ben's birthday.  However, Ben gasses Roger and leaves his body out in the jungle.  He returns to the Barracks where Richard and the Others have gassed the entire Dharma Initiative.

In the present, Ben discovers the tape of instructions he made for Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) is missing.  Before he can investigate, Locke (Terry O'Quinn) returns with the dead body of his father and demands answers.  Ben only says that he isn't the real leader and he answers to someone named Jacob, who only Ben communicates with.

Mikhail (Andrew Divoff) enters the camp to tell the Others about Naomi (Marsha Thomason).  Before Ben can react, Locke announce to the camp that he and Ben are going to go see Jacob.  Mikhail protests, so Locke beats him up.  None of the Others step in to help Mikhail or Ben and Alex (Tania Raymonde) even gives Locke a gun to protect himself.

Ben takes Locke to an old cabin in the jungle and talks to someone sitting in a chair, but Locke can't see anyone and thinks Ben is faking.  As he turns around, he hears a voice say, "Help me," before the cabin starts shaking.  For a brief moment, Locke sees someone in the chair and flees.  Ben takes Locke to a mass grave with the bodies of the Dharma Initiative inside, steals his gun, and shoots him.  Ben forces Locke to tell him what he heard in the cabin before leaving Locke for dead.

On the beach, Sawyer (Josh Holloway) returns to camp with the tape Juliet made.  As he and the other survivors confront Jack (Matthew Fox) and Juliet, she tells them to flip the tape over, which reveals instructions from Ben that the Others are coming to take any pregnant women.  Juliet reveals she told Jack everything after she went to the Staff with Sun (Yunjin Kim) and Jack hadn't said anything because he didn't have a plan, but he does now.

What Works:

We finally get a peak behind the curtain at Ben Linus and see how he became the way he is.  I was surprised at how sympathetic they made Ben the first time I watched this episode.  Sterling Beaumon, who plays young Ben, does an excellent job at making us feel for this character.  It doesn't make him any less of a villain in the present, but it makes us care about his story beyond just Michael Emerson's performance.

Speaking of Michael Emerson, he's fantastic as always, but the spotlight is finally his and it's a wonderful show.  Not may actors could pull off talking to an empty chair, but Emerson does with flourish.  His final scene with Roger is one of my all time favorite Ben scenes because we actually hear the hurt coming from Ben.  It's not something we get a lot of on Lost.  Plus learning that Roger the skeleton is Ben's father is a fantastic reveal.

The final scene at the mass grave is an excellent cliff hanger.  We haven't seen Ben this violent since he tried to kill Ana Lucia, but straight-up shooting Locke?  That's next level.  It's an awesome way to end the episode.

Finally, the "can we trust Jack?" storyline comes to a close.  I love this storyline and to see Sawyer and Sayid (Naveen Andrews) getting an angry mob going is thrilling.  But as Jack does, he defuses the tension quickly and makes us seem a little silly for every questioning his motives.   It's well done and a satisfying way to end this arc.

What Sucks:

My only problem with this episode comes from the character of Annie (Madeline Carroll).  I really like the friendship she and Ben form.  It's a sweet relationship and the producers teased that she was very important to the show...and we never see or hear from her again.  There is never any resolution to this story.  We don't really know what happens to her or learn anymore about her impact on Ben.  It really feels like a missed opportunity.

Platinum Polar Bear:

The Platinum Polar Bear goes to the most competent character in an episode.  For "The Man Behind the Curtain", I'm giving this award to Richard Alpert for getting Ben to join his side and help take down the Dharma Initiative and for stepping back and allowing Locke to weaken Ben's control over the Others.  This is Richard's first time winning this award, which ties him for 14th place with Charlie, Boone, Michael, Libby, Bernard, Alex, Ben, and the Man in Black.

Verdict:

"The Man Behind the Curtain" does a great job of humanizing Ben, while still elevating his threat level.  All three storylines are great and really push the story along with an exciting cliffhanger.  I do wish the Annie story had been brought back into the show, but this episode has still definitely got it going on.

 9/10: Great