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Riddle me this. What’s better than a John Locke-centric episode of Lost? I’ll give you a hint. It’s manic, bug eyed and black and blue all over.

That’s right. A Ben Linus episode! And last night’s was a humdinger. Drawing out a portrait of Ben as power-hungry manipulator and conflicted do-gooder, ‘Dr. Linus’ isn’t just the best episode of this last season (so far), it may be one of the best episodes of the show period.

There were a few answers given, some tantalizing plot threads discussed, and some juicy character development outside of Ben. What makes this one so terrific though, is its extraordinary sense of symmetry and design, which goes a long way towards revealing to us the texture and context of the sideways universe.

The week opens with Ilana finally learning, via Miles’ inconsistent paranormal ability, that Ben was the man truly responsible for Jacob’s death. She doesn’t take this well, and Ben, despite obvious attempts to worm out of it, finds himself chained to a tree and digging his own grave. Things aren’t looking good for him at all, and Sun, Jin and Lapidus don’t seemed moved to help out.

In the sideways world, there’s Ben as a history teacher (a plot development learned from the Locke-centric ‘The Substitute’) and he’s lecturing his students on Napoleon (not Dynamite, despite the reappearance of Uncle Rico as Ben’s dad) and his time on Elba–the point in the war where the leader was starting to look sidelined and ineffectual. The Ben of this reality can relate well to that feeling, as he’s a bookish nerd who still lives with his dying father (at least they mostly get along this time), is harassed and belittled by a boorish principal (William Atherton), and seemingly has only one friend in brainy student, Alex Rousseau. Wait, huh? Alex, really?

Yes. Seems that the Powers that Be running things have decided not only to give Ben his ‘daughter’ back in a sense, but also provide him with a scheming buddy in Leslie Arzt, and encouragement and confidence from a fully human John Locke. The sequence where Locke suggests to Ben that maybe he should be the principal is a very crucial and well-developed scene. We can see by the look on his face that Ben’s probably had long, long daydreams where he held that very position, but there’s still a bewildered surprise about him that someone else would even dare verify a thing. It’s not a prestigious position, but to Ben, it would give him run of the island, so to speak. The seed of dissent has been planted, and watered by the acknowledgement of his good intentions. He has walked this road before, in another life, with devastating consequences.

Although this Locke was probably doing no more than making conversation and airing some of his own ‘make-your-own’ destiny turmoil, the scene echoes a later scene in the episode, back on the island, where the Dark Locke offers the chained Ben a chance to join his people and have free reign of the island when he and the others leave it. When he does escape and is cornered in the woods by Ilana, Ben tearfully tells her why he killed Jacob and the deep regret he has for what he did.

And in that moment something happened that I’ve never seen happen on Lost. Benjamin Linus told the whole, honest truth. Not truth as he saw it or truth couched in lies to manipulate others to an end. He laid bare his soul, left himself vulnerable, and there was a deep sense of heartache to his answer of “He’s the only one that will have me.” When Ilana says “I’ll have you”, I finally saw her, not as Jacob’s bodyguard, but his acolyte. Unlike the honeyed tongue of deceit wielded by the Dark Locke, Jacob only provided the path and choices to those that would follow him. They had to do the rest.

What surprised me most is that Ben does follow her out of the clearing and the first thing he does is attempt to help Sun with the shelter. He was doing something not for manipulative reasons or under threat of force, but because he needed to. Ben, in all realities, wants a place to belong and because the place he occupied was always so powerless he naturally assumed his place of belonging would be among the powerful. Now, he’s quite honestly the lowest bit on the food chain. In some ways though, he’s probably never been more free and empowered. He isn’t making choices based on fear or mysterious, veiled instructions.  Tonight, in both scenarios, Ben Linus started to learn the importance of ‘live together, die alone.’

The resolution of the sideways storyline was satisfying in the way it condensed the trials and struggles of Ben Linus on the island, and it wrote a new ending. When faced with the choice to wrestle his long coveted power away from Atherton’s skeevy Principal or sacrifice Alex at the altar of his own ambition, he chose the road best for her. In the end, he’s standing there in anonymity, a silent hero who made the right decision.

Also, I’ve begun to notice that as the sideways world progresses, more and more connections are being forged and the characters are starting to behave similarly in both realities. Last week Sayid was a killer in both worlds and last night Ben Linus finally found his moral compass, twice. It seems very likely that sideways world is some kind of experiment or training ground, designed perhaps by Jacob or whatever force Jacob works for, although the purpose of it all is still not clear. How else to explain the completely coincidental pairings of characters who wouldn’t have emotional connection with one another save for the island?

There are some interesting clues dropped in tonight’s episode, including a book that Ben finds on the beach called ‘The Chosen by Chaim Potok.  The really compelling thing here is what the book is ultimately about.

***SPOILERS FOR THE CHOSEN FOLLOW*** The Chosen follows two young Jewish boys growing up friends in 1940’s Brooklyn. Reuven Malter is a would-be mathematician who wants to grow up and be a rabbi. Danny is brilliantly smart and he’s the son of Reb Saunders, a Hassidic rabbi who wants his son to take over his position one day. The oddest bit of Potok’s book is that Reb, Danny’s father, raises him in silence, never speaking to him outside of discussions involving Jewish law and the profession for which he’s grooming him. Danny struggles all of his life with that issue, and in the end it revealed why his father imposed the silence.

He felt his son’s intelligence was far beyond his compassion for others. In order to make his son experience emotional want, he did not speak to him and closed him off. When they reconcile later, he sees that his son has come to care deeply for others. ***SPOILERS END***

So, a silent father with a mysterious, unspoken agenda, is working estrangement for the good of his child? Is that what’s happening to Ben now? If Ilana hasn’t given up on him, despite being a repeat offender in the murder department, maybe Jacob hasn’t either.

Other stuff of note: Richard Alpert WAS a slave on the Black Rock, or at least it was heavily implied that was the case. He also hasn’t been back since that day. Jack Shepherd has a John Locke moment where he calls someone’s bluff in the name of faith and belief. I loved that scene.

Interestingly, did anyone note the anagram suggestion when Ben wrote Elba on the blackboard? Inside there’s a rearrangement that makes Abel, the biblical guy who was killed by his brother’s own ambition and jealousy over not being favored. Ben and John played out a similar tragedy a few seasons ago. And there’s the thematic tie-in with Abel to the concept of sacrificing/murdering one’s own family as a result of your own pride and resentment. That was echoed several times, including Ben’s acknowledgment that ultimately it was he who killed Alex. Also, the warring siblings motif goes further on Lost, reaching out to the biblical models of Jacob and Esau that are playing out back on the island.

This week’s episode even ended on a great high note. After wondering if he was ever going to return, I watched Charles Widmore come sailing right up in his submarine, no doubt with devious plans of his own. I’m riveted to see how all of this plays out.

So what do all of you think? What clues did you pick up on? What are your thoughts on Ben’s actions in both worlds? What part will Widmore play in the final end game?

Let’s hear your thoughts and theories in the comments below. I’m going to be collecting and compiling my favorite theories posted, and will include them in a upcoming article that will show up sometime prior to the final episode.

Check out the rest of the Lost recaps for Season 6 here:

Lost 6.1 & 6.2: “LAX ”

Lost 6.3 “What Kate Does”

Lost 6.4 “The Substitute”

Lost 6.5 “The Lighthouse”

Lost 6.6 “Sundown”

Lost Producers hint at final season spoilers and answers