Season 3, Episode 20:
The Man Behind the Curtain
In flashbacks, Ben is born by the side of a road in Portland while his parents are on a hike. Despite help from two strangers, Horace and Olivia, who come across them, Ben's mother, Emily, dies from complications. Years later, Horace gives Ben's father, Roger, a job as a janitor with the DHARMA Initiative and the two move to the Island. Ben's only friend is a girl named Annie, while his relationship with his father deteriorates due to Roger's bitterness over Emily's death. Ben sees visions of Emily in the jungle. Investigating, he meets Richard, and asks to join the "Hostiles", though Richard tells him he is not ready. Years later, an adult Ben participates in the Purge, as the Others wipe out the DHARMA Initiative with poisonous gas, personally killing his father.
At the beach, Sawyer tells the other survivors that Juliet is a mole. Jack and Juliet tell them that Jack was already aware of this, and had made plans to deal with the Others when they come to take their pregnant women.
Locke brings his father's body to the Others' camp, and demands answers from Ben. Ben tells him he takes orders from a man named Jacob, whom Locke refuses to believe exists. Mikhail arrives and tells Ben about Naomi, but Locke beats him up when he questions his presence. Ben reluctantly agrees to take Locke to see Jacob, while Alex gives Locke a gun. Ben and Locke come to a cabin in the jungle, where Ben talks to a seemingly empty chair, and tells Locke he is "too limited" to see Jacob. Locke turns to leave, but hears a voice say "Help me." Objects start flying around the room, and Locke sees a mysterious figure sitting in the chair. Ben leads Locke to the mass grave of the DHARMA Initiative, shoots him, and leaves him for dead.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Aborted Arc:
- Ben's childhood friend Annie was intended to play a key role in his arc, but was never seen again after this episode.
- Olivia's lesson about volcanoes was supposed to set up the volcano at the center of the Island which would erupt in the series finale. This ended up being too much for the show's budget so the volcano never erupted.
- The Alcoholic: Roger drinks heavily trying to deal with his wife's death and his other disappointments in life.
- Birth-Death Juxtaposition: Ben's mother dies of complications shortly after giving birth to him.
- Birthday Episode: The present day storyline and several of the flashbacks take place on Ben's birthday, though none of them is particularly happy.
- Blatant Lies: Ben tells Locke that he was one of the last people to be born on the island. The flashbacks show he was born just outside Portland and came to the island as a boy.
- Cerebus Retcon: Sawyer, Jin and Hurley's antics with the DHARMA van and the skeleton of "Roger Workman" were Played for Laughs in "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead". Now that we know how that van ended up there, and that Roger was Ben's father whom he murdered, the situation doesn't seem quite so funny.
- Continuity Nod: Ben is revealed to have been born in Portland.
- Due to the Dead: Ben closes the eyes of Horace Goodspeed, the only remaining member of the DHARMA Initiative he had any respect for, when he finds his body after the Purge.
- Final Solution: This episode confirms that what Mikhail said in "Enter 77" about what happened to the DHARMA Initiative is true. With Ben's help, they were all killed by the Others.
- Foreshadowing: Ben sarcastically asks Richard if he remembers what a birthday is.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Roger spends much of the episode being a total jerk and horrible father to Ben. He shows some regret for his actions and seems to want to try to fix things in the final flashback, but any chance he might redeem himself is cut short by Ben killing him.
- Maternal Death? Blame the Child!: Roger openly blames Ben for Emily's Death by Childbirth, driving the poor kid to tears. He even refuses to celebrate Ben's birthday on the basis of it being the day he killed his mother.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. Ben's mother, Emily, shares a first name with Locke's mother.
- Pass the Popcorn: When Locke starts beating the crap out of Mikhail, Ben yells for Tom to do something, but he just sits back and drinks his coffee.
- Title Drop: Locke tells Ben he believes there is no Jacob, that he actually does everything on the Island."You're the man behind the curtain, the Wizard of Oz."
- Villainous Breakdown: Ben shooting Locke for being able to hear Jacob marks the beginning of his breakdown, which lasts to the end of the season.
- Wham Shot: In a flashback, Ben as a child runs into Richard in the jungle, and he looks the same age as he does in the present.
