The Man Behind the Curtain

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“The Man Behind the Curtain”

Lost episode

Young Ben arrives on the island

Episode no.

Season 3
Episode 20

Written by

Elizabeth Sarnoff & Drew Goddard

Directed by

Bobby Roth

Guest stars

Nestor Carbonell
Andrew Divoff
M.C. Gainey
Jon Gries
Doug Hutchison
Samantha Mathis
Carrie Preston
Tania Raymonde
Marsha Thomason
Sterling Beaumon
Madeline Carroll
Jenn Boneza
Gregory Suenaga
Diamante Kielo

Production no.

320

Original airdate

May 9, 2007

Episode chronology
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Lost (season 3)
List of Lost episodes

"The Man Behind the Curtain" is the twentieth episode of the third season of Lost, the 67th episode of the series. It was first aired on May 9, 2007. The episode was the first to feature flashbacks recounting Ben Linus' back-story.

1 Plot summary
- 1.1 Flashback
2 Production
3 References

[edit] Plot summary

The Others, at their new camp, appear somewhat shocked as Locke arrives carrying his father's body on his back. He meets with Ben, who tells him that the true leader of the Others is named Jacob. Locke demands that they go to Jacob, but Ben tells him that is impossible. Soon after, Mikhail stumbles into the camp and tells Ben about Naomi, claiming the sonic defense system's power was not set strong enough at the time to kill him. Locke says Ben can't take care of that problem right now, because they are on their way to meet Jacob. Ben is forced to take Locke with him, after Locke beats Mikhail unconscious while several of the onlooking Others do nothing to intervene.

At the survivors' camp, Sawyer plays Juliet's tape for Sayid. They visit Juliet's tent only to find she and Jack are both missing. Kate shows up and begins to defend Jack; Sayid tells Sawyer to play her the tape. Later that night, the survivors are introduced to Naomi and the tape is played for all to hear. Just then, Jack and Juliet return to the camp. Juliet tells Sawyer to play the other side of the tape, which is Ben's plan to kidnap Sun and, possibly, Kate. Sawyer seems especially disturbed by the idea that Kate would be taken by the Others. Jack reveals that he had learned of this earlier, and that he had kept it a secret because he did not know what to do about it yet.

One of the few frames where Jacob is visible

Ben and Locke arrive at Jacob's "house". They enter, but Locke cannot see anyone inside. Ben tells him that Jacob is sitting in the chair beside him. Locke, growing frustrated and angry, tells Ben that the chair is empty, and that he is crazy and pathetic. Just as Locke is about to exit the house, an odd and deep voice says "Help me". Locke pulls out a flashlight, which Ben had warned him not to do (saying that Jacob "dislikes technology"). Suddenly, objects in the room begin to violently fly about and windows shatter, and Ben is flung against a wall. Briefly, a strange man sitting in the chair is seen, resembling Jack's father. Locke runs out of the house and Ben exits soon after. Locke still doesn't believe Jacob is real, thinking that Ben was only "putting on a show" for him. Disgruntled, Locke begins to head back to the camp with Ben.

Locke notices that Ben is leading him along a different path. Ben admits that he was not born on the island and that he wants to show him where he came from. They arrive at a pit full of skeletons clothed in DHARMA uniforms, and Ben tells him that he helped kill his own people when it became clear that the DHARMA workers and the natives couldn't cohabit. Ben shoots Locke, who falls into the pit, and then demands to know what Jacob said to Locke. Locke says, "Help me," briefly frustrating Ben before clarifying: "He said... Help me!" Ben replies, "Well I certainly hope he helps you, John!" Ben departs, leaving Locke for dead.

[edit] Flashback

In the flashback, the episode begins with Ben's birth, as his mother, Emily Linus is in labor in the middle of the woods, 32 miles away from Portland. After the birth, Emily is in pain and bleeding heavily. Her husband, Roger, carries her and the baby to the roadside, where a car carrying Horace Goodspeed and Olivia Goodspeed soon stops to help them. Emily tells Roger to name the baby Benjamin, and then dies on the side of the road.

The next flashback shows Ben, at around age 10, arriving with his father at the Island, to work for the DHARMA Initiative. They are greeted by Horace. Ben attends school on the island, develops a friendship with a young girl named Annie. During a school lesson on volcanoes, being taught by the teacher Olivia Goodspeed, the "hostiles," also known as "natives" of the Island, attack the barracks.

Later in the flashback, Ben sees a vision of his dead mother on the island, which prompts him to sneak into the forest in search of her. He encounters Richard Alpert, one of the supposed "hostiles". Richard tells Ben to not be afraid and asks him if he is lost. The young Ben says that he is looking for his mother, later explaining that she had died when he was a baby, and tells Richard that he does not like the DHARMA Initiative; he wants Richard to take him to their camp. Richard tells Ben that if he truly wants this, that he must be patient, and wait for his time to come. Ben listens to Richard, and returns to the DHARMA Initiative.

We see an older Ben, now a young man, at the barracks on his birthday. He helps his father Roger load a blue Volkswagen van, the same van Hurley found, years later, during the events of "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead". His father has forgotten his birthday yet again, but once Ben reminds him, he tells him that they will go do "father and son things" once they've finished their work for the day. They drive the van up to a hill, park, and begin to relax. Ben asks his father if he blames him for the death of his mother. Roger refuses to answer him, and Ben, fed up after years of neglect and abuse, at 16:00 hours pulls out a gas mask and tells his father goodbye before filling the van with gas, killing his father. Ben returns to the barracks where all the DHARMA workers have died from the same gas. Alpert and his men emerge wearing masks, and it's clear they have been working with Ben.

[edit] Production

The part of Emily Linus, Ben's mother, was played by actress Carrie Preston, the real-life wife of the actor Michael Emerson. They had also worked together in other works, such as the 2004 film Straight-Jacket.^[1]

[edit] References

^ Audio commentary for "The Man Behind the Curtain", Season 3 DVD set of Lost

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