Lost Episode 3.16: "One of Us"
Original Airdate: April 11th, 2007

Finally.

That’s all I can think to say right now. Finally.

Well, it’s not ALL I can think to say, otherwise this would be one crappy review, and iPodObserver.Com may not send me my weekly check for $45,000 and those three kilos of the finest Peruvian blow.

But that simple word--FINALLY--is the first one that springs to mind when I ponder "One of Us." After weeks and weeks and whole damn seasons of wondering and hoping and my Internet Bitching Elbow acting up something FIERCE, we are finally given answers. Not all of them, and not even a lot of them, but a few.

And they’re good answers, too. They raise other questions, but not in that overt "Oh in your FACE mama!" way that Lost has so often employed. They’re not rubbing our noses in the fact that they know something we don’t, or that they know that we think that they know something we don’t, when they really don’t know crap and spend most of their days inhaling the aforementioned fine Peruvian blow a pint at a time.

No, these are just ANSWERS. Blanks are filled. There are "aha" moments involved. The questions they raise aren’t of the WTF variety, but instead add intriguing new depth and nuance to the characters.

Especially Benjamin Linus, a figure emerging more and more as the show’s central villain. While the island plot of the episode deals with an unexpected illness for Claire and a bit of "redemption" for Juliet, the flashbacks feature Ben prominently, as we learn of Juliet’s arrival on the island and her history of interacting with the strange collective known to the castaways simply as "the Others."

Remember Juliet’s sister, the one who Juliet was able to get pregnant through her research? It seems as though Ben and his operatives have been keeping pretty close tabs on her, as he essentially uses Juliet’s love for her sister as a form of emotional blackmail to keep Juliet on the island. Juliet is seen as being pivotal in solving the mysterious deaths of all expectant mothers on the island.

Perhaps the biggest question this raises is, of course, exactly WHY it’s so important for anyone to give birth on the island. Presumably, for some as-yet-unexplained reason, it’s believed that any child born on the island will be gifted with strange powers. At least, I seem to recall that’s what the Others maybe wanted Claire’s son, Aaron, for?

Who knows. This show is way too byzantine for someone with as bad a memory as I possess.

Regardless, it doesn’t take a miniscule understanding of Lost’s backstory to appreciate Ben Linus this week. Even though it’s a Juliet flashback episode, and she certainly gets her share of nice moments, this is one of Ben’s true shining moments, and a real low-key triumph for actor Michael Emerson. This series can be either a wasted or a hidden opportunity for actors, who must create performances often based on little information because of the show’s many unsolved mysteries.

For Emerson, the fact that Ben has been a contradiction and a cypher for so much of his time on the show, dating back to his days as Henry Gale and the is-he-or-isn’t-he-evil question marks that surrounded him, has absolutely inspired and informed his performance. Ben is a man who seems almost uncomfortable in his own skin, and maybe that’s just because he’s thus far the only character we’ve met who was actually born on the island.

(Now that I type those words, maybe Ben’s seeking another child born on the island because of some ability he possesses or wishes to possess? Sure would explain the strangeness of a woman cured of cancer and Locke’s dad popping up randomly out of nowhere...hmm.)

Ben has tons of great moments in this episode--the book club one-liner, which was classic even back in the first episode of this season when we didn’t know how it fit into anything at all, and his distracted shock at finding out he has cancer.

But his finest moment--and a fine moment for Elizabeth Mitchell, too, as Juliet--is that final scene, where Ben sits in the wheelchair and goes over his "plan" with Juliet. Emerson plays the scene with urgency, to be sure, but otherwise he’s nearly a blank slate--and that blankness is chilling, because we have no idea still what the ultimate goal of these Others might be. His final statement, "See you in a week," is creepy as hell.

Where did they go? What will they do when they come back? And what does Ben have to do with it all?

These aren’t the big hazy questions raised by a show that needs to learn a lesson in effective television plotting. These are tense, taught, answer me NOW questions, a rare moment where Lost’s larger mysteries dovetail with the show’s immediate week-to-week action.

It’s got me jazzed again about the show, at long last, even moreso than the Twilight Zone-ish one-off episodes I’ve enjoyed in weeks past. THIS is the potential of Lost, right here, hanging in front of our faces--to answer big, strange questions with small, sharp responses that keep us glued to the very edge of our seats.

iTunes Links:

Lost Series
Lost Season 3
"One of Us"

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.