‘Lost’: All about the Benjamin

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Was that a twinge of pity I just felt for Ben, the steely eyed chief who has up until Wednesday’s episode been the least appealing Other? While Juliet has been a fierce but pitiable adversary, Ben has been perversely vapid, all menace and no soul.

Now he’s a man whose birth killed his mother, a loss that turned his father into a bitter, belligerent drunk.

But wait. The moment’s over. Ben gassed dad and then helped purge the rest of the Dharma initiative – a harmonious group that we learned took Ben and his father in after his mother died. They were studying the island’s “unique properties” and had little to do with the violent nature of The Others, a group Dharma members referred to as The Hostiles, alluded to as island natives.

And did he just shoot and kill Locke? Yep, I still hate Ben, but now finally I’m intrigued. Now I want more of him, the same way I crave three-dimensional villains like Baltar on “Battlestar Galactica” and Wilhemina on “Ugly Betty.”

His pitiful history proved every moment as engrossing as Juliet’s. As a young, quiet child, Ben’s visions of his dead mother lead him deep into the jungle where he is surrounded by the same whispers heard by survivors of Oceanic 815 in previous two seasons and is recruited early on by one of The Others.

Ben may even have a past love life, as suggested by a childhood friendship with Amy, a girl who made him a wooden doll of herself that he still keeps close.

Then there is Ben’s boss, who Locke is led to believe, is Jacob, who lives in a run-down house in the jungle. Jacob is straight-up sci-fi, an invisible force that when angered hurls things around his shack haunted mansion-style. But their relationship is murky. While reverential, Ben becomes enraged after he discovers Jacob secretly growled the words “Help Me” for Locke’s ears alone. Jealous much?

For anyone keeping count, that makes three solid episodes in a row. I’m starting to feel spoiled.

Next week: A “Lost” Battle Royale between the survivors and The Others. Who do we think are going to wind up casualties?

(Photo courtesy ABC)