I liked the Sideways stuff last week, but this was the best one yet — even with the wholly unsubtle Napolean lecture (I laughed, I’ll admit it, but seriously?). This is probably because it directly related to things that had happened and were still happening on the island. Most importantly, Ben is given a(nother) chance to save Alex, under a similar if not as violent set of circumstances — he’s faced with the choice between his own power and destroying her life. And Sideways Ben chooses wisely. I wasn’t the only one whose heartstrings were tugged on repeatedly while watching Ben tutor Alex, was I?

But then Island Ben chooses wisely as well, after an entire episode in which his attempts to cajole, persuade, bribe or blackmail — all of which have been successful in the past — are soundly rejected. And he returns to the group on the beach not as a leader, or anyone in charge of anything, but as one of them. And left out of the reunion, though I think Jack notices him there, at the end.

In the Sideways World, we learn that Ben and his father had indeed gone to the island to be a part of the DI, but then left. Why? Ben’s father is also a decent man, just as we can presume Locke’s father is, so I wonder if the Sideways World is like everyone’s second chance. Anyone who was on the island prior to Juliet detonating the bomb somehow gets a do-over. (Arzt was already dead, so he remains the blowhard he was before.) (Oh, Arzt.)

Sideways Ben relies on microwaveable dinners and store-bought sushi. I seem to recall Island Ben being a pretty good cook, so that’s interesting in a “huh” sort of way.

And there was just that one moment, when Arzt gleefully tells Ben “you’re a real killer!” as they plot the dethroning of Principal Reynolds (William Atherton — inspired casting, that) where Ben looks down and to the side as if maybe he sort of remembers that in some other configuration of his life he was literally a killer.

What else…

The big scene with Jack and Richard is important for a few reasons. First, Richard indicates that if Jacob touches you, you can’t die. Or rather, you can’t take your own life. Jacob touched Locke, Locke WAS going to kill himself but Ben interrupted him. And then Ben killed Locke. So that much is consistent.

This makes me wonder whether Jacob had previously touched Ilana, and wore gloves when he came to visit her in the hospital because he couldn’t touch her again, like Ned on Pushing Daisies. (I miss that show. Can a current show crossover with a cancelled show? Because that would be awesome.)

It also occurred to me last night that Jack and Richard are a lot alike, in a sort of Ben/Locke way, but I didn’t write that thought down and now I don’t remember why I thought that.

But that scene between them reminded me of a couple earlier episodes — it’s Jack who initially wants the timer in the hatch to run down because he thinks nothing is going to happen if it does; later it’s Locke who is so convinced. It also shows how far Jack’s come since Season 1 — that was a pretty huge leap of faith he took there, and while he’s always HAD faith, he never really put much stock in it before. But now — he got whatever it was that Jacob wanted him to get. He knows that he’s got some sort of purpose there, even if he doesn’t know what it is. He sounded exactly like the Locke of old.

And now I’m pretty sure we’re not going to get any special Richard episode, because it’s pretty clear that he did arrive on the Black Rock, as a slave (remember Smokey’s “Good to see you out of those chains”). It’s also clear that he never knew what was going on at all, the whole time he’s been on the island — which is actually pretty surprising, considering how the show seemingly set him up as the one who did have all the answers.

There are only six candidates left: One of the Kwons, Jack, Hurley, Sawyer, Kate, and . . . Frank? Desmond? Walt? I think signs are pointing to Frank, considering the conversation he has with Ben, where Ben points out that even though Frank missed his chance to pilot Oceanic 815, the island got him in the end.

For what it’s worth, the books in Sawyer’s old tent are Chaim Potok’s The Chosen (OF COURSE) and something by Benjamin Disraeli. The title appears to be Justice and Truth in Action, which is not the title of anything Disraeli wrote. One of his more famous quotes is, however, “Justice IS truth in action.” So again, interesting in a “huh” sort of way.

Aaaaaaaaaand Widmore. Widmore! So it was WIDMORE that Jacob was referring to, when he told Hurley that someone was coming to the island, and needed help getting there. And then when Jack smashed the mirrors, Jacob assured Hurley that this person would find another way. Indeed. Submarines don’t need lighthouses.

BUT: Widmore is one of the good guys? He had been in Jacob’s camp, way back when, before he was exiled for whatever it was (fathering a child off island, I think. Right?) Is it possible that Widmore and Ben were always on the same side, i.e. against the Man in Black, but jockeying for who was going to be the Chosen Candidate? And I’m still a little confused by what Ben meant then, after Alex was killed, that Widmore “changed the rules.” Anyone?

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Lost – What They Died For
2. Thoughts on Lost – “The Substitute”
3. Thoughts on Lost – “Lighthouse”