Michael Emerson talks about Ben’s flash-sideways in Dr. Linus, accompanied by great clips from that episode.
Emerson expresses perfectly what it is about the flash-sidways scenes that is so intriguing:
It kind of gets you in the heart, I think, to think that had our lives been just a little different, as a result, so many things would have changed, and how easy it would have been to just have simple happinesses and not be on the front lines of some cataclysmic battle between good and evil.
The video also has a clip of part of the memorable scene where Ben confesses to Ilana, and she forgives him. and it contains more of Emerson’s insightful comments about his character.
A must-see for Michael Emerson fans.
If the video above doesn’t work, you can watch it here: Video podcast with Michael Emerson
Gosh, that was really beautiful and touching. Don’t you find more and more that what separates Lost from other shows is the thoughtfulness of the actors? How invested they are in this story and their characters? Maybe it’s because they have so little actual information that they are forced to make choices, as actors, more similar to a real person who doesn’t have a complete set of facts.
Dr. Linus was my favorite episode – even above Ab Eterno – because I am still spellbound by the ability of Emerson and the writers to create the most vile, unredeemable character, and then save his soul.
That’s a very interesting point you made about the actors working with limited information, which puts them in the position of being more like real people reacting to real life.