Michael Emerson’s Emmy-winning role in “The Practice”

I hope the third time will be the charm for Michael Emerson, who has just been nominated again for an Emmy for playing Benjamin Linus, after being nominated for that role, but losing, twice before.

Emerson did win a much-deserved Emmy for an earlier role as a guest actor on the legal show The Practice in 2001. He played William Hinks, a man accused of being a serial killer.

Michael Emerson as William Hinks on "The Practice"

The first segment of the story is about Hinks’ trial. You can watch it in five YouTube videos, which is not as daunting as it sounds, as several of the videos are very short. All together, this segment runs about 15 minutes. If you watch all five videos, you’ll be rewarded with a clever plot twist.

(The network may pull these off of YouTube, as they did previous copies that were posted, so enjoy them while you can.)

Michael Emerson is mesmerizing in this multi-layered role. He acts rings around the other actors. You can also see the similarities between William Hinks and Ben Linus. Hinks is like Ben on a bad day — or, perhaps, on a good day, depending on your perspective:

Continued here: Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 <-- This one gave me chills! | Part 5 <-- Wow! There are several more scenes which are (I think) from subsequent episodes. While the previous scenes reminded me of a chess game, the following scenes are more like a horror movie: Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9

According to Wikipedia (citing audio commentary on the Season 3 DVD), the LOST producers offered Emerson the role of Ben because they liked his work on The Practice. Emerson, though, in an interview a few months ago, said he thought he only “indirectly” got the job on LOST because of The Practice.

He added, laughing, that the two roles are “at least in the same temperature zone.”

Would that be cold (as an icy heart) or hot (as the inner circle of Hell)?

The Practice (c) 20th Century Fox. The screenshot is from video #4, when Hinks is on the witness stand.