Lost 5.11: "Whatever Happened, Happened"

Thursday, 02 April 2009

By John Keegan Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.   Some fans were concerned, after the previous episode, that the producers and writers were going to violate their own time travel rules by letting Ben die. Of course, the more reasonable explanation was that they had already considered how to make it all fit together before putting pen to paper. When dealing with an island with miraculous healing properties and rather strict time travel rules, the solution to Ben's plight wasn't particularly hard to predict. Sometimes, though, knowing the outcome doesn't mean losing the tension within a story, because getting there is not always so predictable. Ben had to live; the characters themselves make that clear time and again during the episode. How Ben survives is the question. The writers did a perfect job of demonstrating why the principle of "whatever happened, happened" is so damning, especially when they know what the future will hold. For the Oceanic Tribe, Benjamin Linus is practically the devil in flesh. The writer evoke the classic Hitler question when dealing with Ben: "If you could go back in time to when Hitler was young and defenseless, would you kill him to save millions?" Sayid's answer is certainly obvious by now, and one can only assume that he'll pay the price for it, sooner or later. But Jack also makes the choice in this episode, and he doesn't try to be coy about it. Nor does he apply one bit of pragmatism to it; he all but sits in a corner and sulks, letting Sawyer and everyone else deal with the problem instead. Because everything is connected, and "whatever happened, happened", Jack's decision not to save Ben (and to a lesser extent, his stubborn attitude) directly leads to the circumstances that turn Ben into the man/monster that he becomes. Granted, it's not quite that simple; the seeds were already within Ben, thanks to his father's brutality and his desire for something more. But this is the moment of truth. It's not just Jack, however. Sawyer is directly involved, because he has come to see the Dharma Initiative and Juliet as "his people". It's hard to grasp it entirely, but in fairness to Sawyer and his fellow survivors, they've lived much longer with the Dharma Initiative than they did with the Oceanic Tribe. It makes perfect sense that Sawyer would save Ben on Juliet's behalf. In a way, the Oceanic Six suffered much more than Sawyer's crew did, once the time travel stopped. Kate, of course, is led to this decision by her guilt and grief over leaving Aaron. Surprisingly, this episode is probably one of the best for Kate, perhaps going back to the very beginning of the series. The reason is simple: Kate is finally showing signs of real character development. She came to the self-realization that she kept Aaron for her own selfish reasons, rather than what would have been best for him. Kate's biggest problem has always been her penchant for finding purpose and meaning in others. She has defined herself in relation to other people, particularly men. She has shown moments of independent action here and there, but she never had a definitive and self-actualized purpose. So she became, in many ways, the trophy to be won in the ongoing struggle between Jack and Sawyer. Kate's decision to return to the island had nothing to do with Jack, thankfully, and had everything to do with making things right and finding her own destiny. One might say that returning to the island to find Claire and return Aaron to his mother is still suborning her own path to serve another's, but this is not the same thing. Kate held on to Aaron so that someone would need her. Letting Aaron go was about letting go of that need within herself. The fact that Sawyer is with Juliet removes a key temptation for Kate to slip back into familiar patterns. Making the choice to save Ben, standing up to everyone in the process, Kate is doing what she needs to do to accomplish the goal she has set for herself. It's a small step, but in time, this could (and should) lead to a stronger Kate. Of course, that doesn't make it any easier to see her leave Aaron behind. It's good to see Kate taking charge of her life to a greater degree, but Aaron is losing the only mother he's ever known. She also took quite the chance in setting up Claire's mother to take Aaron. What if Claire's mother didn't want to raise Aaron? It's hard to imagine that she wouldn't, but the possibility remains. More importantly, Aaron is going to have some serious issues. He lost a father figure when Jack left, and now he's losing his "mother". Abandonment issues, anyone? And it's still quite possible that his real mother is occasionally stopping by in dreams and spirit form! (As the parent of a young boy, this was easily one of the most heart-wrenching moments in a long time.) At least she's set up an extended "family" for him. Kate's relationship with Cassidy and Clementine was a great red herring, but it also implies that Claire's mother was being left with something of a support system. Sawyer's request to Kate was not much of a surprise, but it paid off well. Cassidy made it very clear that Sawyer's growth as a man is a work in progress, regardless of how much he's changed since the crash. Turning back to Ben, Richard's comment about how Ben's memory will be erased and "his innocence will be taken" is quite interesting. It would be tempting to apply the memory-alteration to Ben's memory of the Oceanic Tribe as a whole, but that doesn't ring true. It's more likely that Ben simply wouldn't remember Sayid shooting him. It debunks a few good theories on Ben's future motives, but many others remain intact. (In fact, this is probably why Ben is obsessed with Juliet; the enigmatic "her" could have been Juliet herself!) Ben's restoration promises to peel back some of the mystery surrounding the Temple and the island itself. Logically speaking, it could tie into everything that happened with Danielle's team, after they entered the Temple to save Montand. Richard also seems to be acting on his own authority, in a way that would be counter to the wishes of the leader(s) of the Others at the time, Charles Widmore and Ellie (the blonde from "Jughead", whose name sounds awfully like a nickname for Eloise, doesn't it?). There's also the small matter of Richard's role among the Others, which may explain his autonomy. It has been hinted that Richard has the responsibility of choosing who will lead the Others; the leaders themselves can, if they desire, choose Richard's replacement. It could be that this somehow facilitates the process of preparing Ben to become Widmore's replacement (in lieu of Locke). If so, it continues to underscore the utility of the plot device at the heart of the season.

 

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