Oh, Benjamin Linus. You evil, manipulative genius. After exterminating the Dharma, keeping the Losties in cages, killing John Locke twice (well one was only a bullet in the gut), swearing to kill the love of Desmond's life, and saying "so?" when you caused the explosion of the entire freighter...you still manage to be creepily fascinating and sympathetic. Is it Michael Emerson or is it the fact "Lost" writes Ben better than anyone else? It is probably a blend of the two.

This latest episode, "Dead is Dead," features everyone's favorite sociopath. He wakes up to find Locke alive and well hovering over him and manages to lie convincingly that he always knew Locke would come back. It is such a credit to the actor that it's never clear when Ben is lying or telling the truth. Emerson always seems so sincere, as if he (if not Ben) genuinely believes everything that comes out of his mouth, no matter how contradictory. Locke agrees to take Ben to the main island, because Ben swears he came back to the Island to be "judged" by the smoke monster. The last time we saw someone take on the smoke monster, he got bludgeoned to death. Poor Mr. Eko.

After playing a little manipulative game with the leader of the newly crashed survivors, Ben very calmly shoots Caesar when he tries to stop them from leaving the Island. This moment is strangely balanced with a flashback to when Ben found Rousseau and the baby Alex. His gentleness toward the child and mercy to Rousseau is very bizarre when coupled with the modern day when he murders someone and barely blinks an eye. Clearly the Temple did not take too much of his soul away, since he saves Alex. And when Widmore orders him to kill the baby and mother, Ben says no. Instead Widmore is exiled off the Island, and Ben is the new leader.

Ben and Locke meet up with Sun in the Others' village, and she shows them that the rest of the cast is stuck in time. Frank decides to go back to the survivors, and while Sun and Ben are both suitably creeped out by Zombie Locke, he makes sure Ben follows his word and goes looking for the smoke monster. They arrive at the temple, and Ben is angry/frightened/homicidal toward Locke for being all-knowing now. Locke manages not to laugh in his face. Then it is time for Ben to meet his maker, since he falls into a part of the temple with all these hieroglyphics and images. It looks like an image of Anubis is right over the place where the smoke monster comes out. Coincidence? Probably not. The statue looked very Egyptian in nature, so this seems like an important clue.

Ben faces up to the things he did but most importantly to his role in Alex's death. His love for her was always the best thing about him, and her death is what drove him off the edge completely. He accepts his part in her murder, and we see that he did go to kill Penny, shooting Desmond in the process, but when he sees their little boy Charlie, he can't hurt her. Desmond beats Ben up and throws him into the water before he can change his mind. Yay, Penny's alive! This is probably Ben's saving grace, and he is left alive. But not before Alex appears to him, he cries a little, and then whoever she really is tells him he has to follow every word Locke says and not harm him. Or he's so going to die. Think he'll be able to hold himself back? Where would the fun be in that!

"Lost" is on ABC Wednesday nights at 9:00 PM EST.

What did you think of the latest episode of "Lost?" Let us know in the comments!

Lost Cast: Matthew Fox - (Jack), Evangeline Lilly - (Kate), Michael Emerson - (Ben Linus), Kim Yun-jin - (Sun), Daniel Dae Kim - (Jin), Terry O'Quinn - (Locke), Josh Holloway - (Sawyer), more

Story by Chelsea 'Dee' Doyle

Starpulse contributing writer