Watching Lost

Of the men characters, my absolute favorite would have to be Benjamin Linus, or Ben (or Henry), so effectively played by Michael Emerson (who has been nominated for his role).

Ben starts off as Henry and claims he got stranded on the island when this hot air balloon he and his wife were riding deflated and crashed. But we now know the real story behind Henry, who is actually, Ben, the leader of The Others. But there are still some mysteries about him that are not yet answered, like his relationship with Jacob, who seems more powerful than anyone else. Some facts about Ben that we now know are as mind-boggling as the things we dont know. Like, the fact that he can see dead people; or that Jacob, while appearing more powerful, seem to be under Ben’s control (why else would Jacob seek Locke’s help?).

Like Juliet, I like the ambiguous sides to Ben’s character. I find myself sympathizing with him, yet fearing him at the same time. Is his character to be trusted? Is he actually one of the good guys? Is his scheming ways necessary to complete the mission? What, in fact, is the mission?

IGN UK has this most recent interview with Michael Emerson where he assessed his character:

IGN TV: Some fans think Ben is a likely candidate for whose funeral Jack attended.
Emerson: Wow. I don’t know about that… That seems… hmm… I don’t know. Unless there’s some big changes in the course of the character between now and then, I can’t imagine that anyone would visit [his funeral].

IGN TV: When last we saw your character it was notable to finally have him in the midst of almost all the other regulars on the series. Was it fun to finally be among that whole crew?
Emerson: It is. I’m going to work with some of the people that I never got to work with before.

IGN TV: I was thinking about that. Like I couldn’t remember you ever having a scene with Claire or Jin…
Emerson: No, no. Or Rose or any of those characters. Also, it throws my character out of doors, which I’m not used to. The first part of this season we were filming a lot in the jungle, tramping around in rain and heat and blood and violence. It’s been so violent so far, the first part of the season, I can’t tell you…

IGN TV: People were very quickly fascinated by your character. Were you surprised by that strong initial response?
Emerson: I guess you never expect that. So much of the TV work you do is just sort of a paycheck and then you go home and it doesn’t really get talked about much except by friends and family. So of course I didn’t know when I first came out here that my character would have such staying power and that he would end up being so much talked about was surprising. I’m still sort of adjusting to that.

The full interview is found at IGN UK.

Lost, Michael Emerson, Ben on Lost