James Mason + Herbert Lom = Michael Emerson?

Normally, I don't bother dabbling in theories about Lost. I prefer to sit back and just enjoy letting the show unfold and play out without wracking my brain for maybes - and this season, that's more enjoyable than ever. They've really stepped things up. As a tight sci-fi serial, it's 100% back on track, and I haven't enjoyed it this much since the first half of season 2. That's not to say I don't think about it as it unfolds; there are an awful lot of apparent subtexts to Lost that shape and strengthen the tale.

But something hit home during last night's episode, "The Shape of Things to Come". As villain/hero/mastermind Ben Linus (the fantastic Michael Emerson) was sitting at his piano, I had an epiphany (maybe) that may (or may not) have been under my nose all along: Ben is Captain Nemo!

Think about it, and use the Nemo from both 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island. There are lots of parallels here. The Nautilus is Nemo's dream machine, his utopia that can't be trusted in anyone else's hands. He and his crew of fiercely loyal escaped slaves will do anything to prevent it from falling into those hands. Nemo is calculating and thoughtful, but it is the murder of his wife and son (Rousseau and Alex?) at the hands of slavers, and the memory thereof, that drives him mad. He abhors violence, but he will kill to preserve the Nautilus and he isn't afraid to get his hands dirty (the nightstick Ben carries in London as his weapon of choice is one of the least bloody ways to kill a man, and it is also an extremely personal weapon as it requires getting right up close). Nemo's life is the preservation of the Nautilus and, later, the preservation of his mysterious island - and we see him sacrifice his life to finally gain each. The shape of things to come?


The fun and frustrating thing about Lost is, of course, the possibility that this is entirely meaningless, that there really aren't these subtexts. I suppose it all depends how much trust and skill you attribute to Cuse, Lindelof, and Abrams, and whether your enjoyment of art is based on what the artist is really saying or how you read it personally. For those of you who do enjoy (conspiracy?) theories, I've stumbled across something quite enjoyable, Doc Jensen's Entertainment Weekly Lost column. The Doc doesn't seem to leave any theory unturned, so if that sort of thing floats your boat, this should be plenty fun.