Lost Season Three Episode 20 'The Man Behind The Curtain'

A truly cracking episode. The show is really setting itself up for a triumphant finale in a couple of weeks. As always we have a couple of questions answered, but find them replaced with about 20 new ones.

The episode features a Ben flashback. We see how he was born 32 miles from Portland. His dad, Roger, needs help as his wife is seriously ill in labour. A man and a woman stop their car and help, but they cannot save Emily (Ben's mother). Just before she died she asked Roger to call the baby 'Benjamin'.

A few years later, Ben and his father are welcomed to the island by The DHARMA Initiative. Horace, the man who stopped his car for them on the day Ben was born, greets them. Other members of the Initiative are busy moving boxes. They pass through a sign saying, "namaste!" and watch a video starring the same man who appeared in the Swan and Pearl station videos. Much to his annoyance, Roger is given the job of 'Work Man' and it's at this point we realise that Roger was the body found in Hurley's camper van. Ben met a girl called Annie.

Later, in a class, Annie helps Ben to safety when an alarm sounds and men with guns begin to walk past the window. She tells him it is the hostiles and it will be okay.

At night Ben is in his bedroom. He hears Roger arguing with Horace outside the room. Roger says "while driving back from The Flame we drive into the middle of a shoot out!" Horace tries to explain that they are having some skirmishes with the natives. Roger says it isn't what he signed up for and throws an empty beer can on the floor. Horace reminds him that Ben is receiving a very good education. Roger retorts that he doesn't give a damn about Ben's education, demanding an extra $30,000 more in "hazard pay." Eventually, Roger tells Horace to get out of his house. As Ben turns his face towards his bedroom window, he is shocked to see his mother outside, staring in at him. He stumbles backwards, knocking over a chair. When he looks again, she is gone.

On Ben's birthday he opens a present from Annie. He opens the gift box to find two wooden dolls, one male, one female, which have clearly been made by hand. Annie explains that the dolls would mean that they "never have to be apart." She takes the doll of Ben and gives him the doll representing her. When he arrived home later that evening, he finds his father asleep on the couch, surrounded by empty beer cans. Roger stirs and sees the gift box on the table. He apologises for forgetting Ben's birthday, adding that it's hard to remember it, because it's also the anniversary of when Ben killed Emily. Ben seems used to this routine too, as Roger goes on to say that Emily was only 7 months pregnant when she gave birth to Ben. Roger is unhappy she is gone, and that he is stuck on the Island with Ben. The words from his father prompt Ben to run out of the house. He runs to the sonic fence, but stops just before he reaches it. He hears a brief whisper, then his mother appears on the other side of the fence. He goes to move towards her but she shouts, "Don't!" She says it's not time yet. Ben yells to her, then turns to go back home. After Christian Shepherd and Yemi, Emily becomes the third dead person to appear on the island. On the Internet, people are suggesting that these people are actually the monster!

Defiant, some time later, Ben appears to have prepared an escape, as he later returns to the fence, armed with the deactivation code. After entering the code, he removes a white rabbit from his bag, using it to test that the fence is indeed turned off. Once the rabbit gets through without injury, Ben follows, running out into the jungle amidst whispers. Suddenly, Richard Alpert appears by him, clearly scaring Ben. Richard, however, remains calm, and Ben begins to speak to him. He asks if Richard is one of the Hostiles, though Richard jokes that Ben probably doesn't even know what that means. In their conversation, Ben says he is looking for his mother and that he has seen her, even though she is dead. Richard tells Ben to go home but Ben then asks if he can join Richard. Richard tells him that it might be possible, but that Ben would have to be very, very patient.

Years have passed and Ben, now a young man, is dressed in a DHARMA uniform which shows he is now also a Work Man like his father. He helps his father load a blue DHARMA VW van with beer bound for the Pearl station, and then confronts his father about forgetting his birthday again. Roger seems embarrassed and sheepishly suggests they go for a drive together after their work is done, to have some father-son time. Ben says that he'd like that. Later, Roger drives Ben in his van to a hill and parks up there. Roger comments on the beautiful view as he swigs beer from a can. Ben asks Roger whether he truly does think its Ben's fault that Emily died. Roger answers, "What do I know?". Ben glances at his watch, which shows the time as exactly 4 o'clock. Roger notices Ben looking at his watch and jokingly asks Ben if he has a date. Seeing that Ben didn't find the comment amusing, Roger says that he will do his best to remember Ben's birthday next year, but Ben coldly responds by saying he doesn't think that will happen. He tells his father that he's missed Emily too, but the difference for Ben is that he had to put up with his father for all those years. Ben tells Roger it took a lot of patience before calmly saying goodbye and putting on a gas mask. He then takes out a gas canister and sets it off, which causes his father to bleed from the nose and mouth. Ben remains in the vehicle and calmly watches Roger die.

Ben returns to the barracks where all of the DHARMA workers are lying dead. It appears they have all died suddenly in the same manner as Roger. Ben slowly moves around the area and when he sees Horace, Ben reaches out and closes Horace's eye lids. Alpert and his group emerge all wearing gas masks. Richard looks at his watch then takes his gas mask off. The rest of the group do the same and Richard asks Ben if they should collect Roger's body. Ben tells Richard to leave Roger there. The group begins to move the DHARMA Initiative bodies.

Back on the island, Locke returns with the body of Anthony Cooper. He delivers Cooper's body to Ben, just as he was asked and then demanded to know everything about the Island, having held up his end of the deal and tells Ben to start from the beginning.

Outside, Mikhail runs into camp shouting for Ben. Ben seems unperturbed by Mikhail's appearance but tells Mikhail that he thought he was dead. Mikhail says he was fortunate that the pylons were not set to lethal. He looks up and sees Locke. Mikhail demands to know why Locke is there. Mikhail tells Ben that Locke tried to kill him. Ben says that Locke has joined them and asks Mikhail where he's been. Mikhail tells Ben that several of Locke's people have an injured woman who parachuted onto the Island. He says that her helicopter crashed into the water, that her ship is 130 kilometres to the west and that she has a radio phone. Ben seems surprised and very concerned by this news. Ben suggests that, rather than immediately taking action, they will see to it in a couple of nights time as they will be heading to the camp to take the pregnant women anyway. Locke uses the opportunity to force Ben's hand, announcing in front of the entire group that Ben was going to take him to see Jacob instead. Mikhail seems offended and questions why Ben is taking Locke to see Jacob. Locke responds by stepping forward and beating Mikhail unconscious. When Ben orders Tom and Richard to intervene they do nothing.

They eventually reach a small house at night. Ben tells Locke to turn off his flashlight because Jacob hates technology as much as Locke does. As Ben lights the oil lamp that is hanging outside the wooden hut, he warns that after opening the door there is no turning back, but Locke remains determined. Inside, Ben introduces Locke to Jacob and gestures towards an empty chair. There appears to be nobody else in the room but Ben and John. The contents of the room are very old, there are jars on a windowsill containing red liquid. Ben proceeds to chat to Jacob and argue, whilst Locke stands in complete disbelief that Jacob exists. Locke accuses Ben of putting on a show but Ben insists that there is someone sitting in the chair and that John is too limited to see it. Locke tells Ben that he is pathetic and turns to leave but as he does so he hears a voice saying "Help...me". Locke asks Ben to repeat himself but Ben says that he didn't say anything. Ben seems shocked that Locke had heard a voice. Locke shines his flashlight onto Ben's face, and the room suddenly starts to shake. Ropes and chains shake on the wall, chairs rock and windows smash. Ben's lantern falls to the floor and catches fire, not long after the fire is magically extinguished. Ben also appears to shake someone in the chair telling him to stop and that he has had his fun, immediately after which he is thrown hard against a wall by an unseen force. Locke sees a man sitting in the chair for a brief moment. He stumbles outside in fear and confusion. The chaos stops as quickly as it began. Ben calmly follows him and hangs up the (now intact) oil lamp outside the house. Locke asks what on earth was in there. Ben simply replies that it was Jacob.

The next morning Ben and Locke are walking through the jungle. Ben asks Locke what Jacob said. Locke responds by telling Ben that there is no Jacob, that everything that happened at the house was a trick and that he is going to expose Ben as a fraud. Locke also notices that Ben is leading them back by a different path. Ben tells Locke that there's something he wants Locke to see first. Locke says he seen enough but they keep moving. On the way, Ben admits that some of the things he has said on the Island were "not the truth". He admits to never having been born on the Island like he said. They finally reach the thing that Ben wanted to show Locke. Locke gazes down into an unfilled mass grave full of skeletons, DHARMA jumpsuits still visible on some. Ben explains that the skeletons are the remains of his people, The DHARMA Initiative. Ben says they came here seeking harmony, however, they could not even coexist with the original inhabitants of the Island. He explains that when it became clear to Ben that one side had to go (had to be purged) he did what he had to do. He says he was smart enough not to end up in a ditch like the DHARMA Initiative. Ben states that this also make him smarter than Locke. As John spins round and pulls his knife, Ben shoots him in the lower left abdomen, in the kidney area. Locke falls backwards into the pit of DHARMA corpses. Ben calmly asks what Jacob had said to John. As he lies amongst the corpses, John asks Ben why he "did this". Ben says he did it because John "heard him". John manages to say "help me" but Ben doesn't realise that John is repeating Jacob's words. Ben points the gun at an already severely injured Locke and demands to know what Jacob said to him. John raises his hand and says that Jacob said, "help me". Ben replies to Locke that he had better hope that Jacob will help before turning to leave.

Sawyer, returning from helping Locke, hides in the trees and grabs Sayid's attention. He explains about the tape, and later the two let Kate in on the revelation. They talk about where Jack and Juliet are, and Kate admits that she told them about Naomi. At night, the whole camp is in uproar about Naomi, as well as her story about the plane having already been found. As Sawyer plays the tape, Jack and Juliet return. Everyone questions them, but Juliet tries to explain that she is actually helping them. They turn over the tape and hear that Ben plans to lead a team to kidnap all the fertile women. Juliet reveals that she has already told Jack about it, and that they were still thinking of a plan.

With two weeks to go things are getting ever more complicated. Is Locke dead? Who is Jacob? Is Juliet on the Losties' side after all? Ben keeps saying that he was the last one to be born on the island, but we know that Alex and Aaron have been born there.

The last couple of episodes have a Charlie and Jack flashback...