Lost's Weirdest Redemption Arc Still Doesn't Make Sense 14 Years Later

Lost's ending and Ben’s redemption felt unrealistic and completely undeserved. He had killed countless people, harmed and tortured innocent people and was the leader of "The Others". Even if he didn’t mean to, his actions still had an evil impact on the people around him, such as the murder of Alex and Danielle, who Ben actually cared about and wanted to protect. Some characters in film and TV just don’t deserve to be redeemed because they have done so many terrible things. Benjamin Linus would be right at the top of this list.

Ben Linus Was One Of The Main Villains In Lost

Ben Had Been Pulling The Strings Since The First Episode

Although Ben wasn’t introduced in Lost until halfway through the show’s second season, he was the main villain of the show right from the very beginning. In the first season, the plane crash survivors were constantly harassed by “The Others”, an evil group of people that inhabit the island. The Others threatened and harmed some of the survivors, they attempted to kill Charlie, and they even kidnapped a heavily pregnant Claire. Even though he wasn’t seen, the leader of The Others was Ben Linus, who was always pulling the strings and giving the orders for what needed to be done.

Leading into the second and third seasons, Ben was still manipulating and pulling everyone’s strings. In season 2, Ben convinces Michael to kill Ana Lucia and Libby to save his life. In the show’s third season, Ben had kidnapped Jack, Kate, and Sawyer, making the season mainly take place in The Others’ camp. Ben’s purpose in the show was to cause pain and suffering to all the other characters to make for better television, and that’s exactly what he did. Ben’s terrible actions had already made for brilliant television. There was no need to try and redeem the character.

Even In Lost's Final Two Seasons, Ben Was Still Doing Terrible Things

Ben Murdered Three Characters In The Last Two Seasons

If Ben began to become a good character in the final seasons, his redemption arc would be slightly more believable, but even in the last two seasons, Ben was responsible for three of the biggest deaths of the show. He killed Jacob, the protector of the island, and Ben also strangled John Locke to death. He even shot and killed his arch-nemesis, Charles Widmore, just two episodes before his redemption. Ben was fighting with his inner demons and losing up until the very last episode of Lost.

In the final season, Ben was given the choice whether to believe and follow Jacob, the protector of the island, or The Man In Black, Jacob’s evil brother who was destroying everything. Ultimately, Ben chose to side with The Man In Black. This test would have been a great opportunity to test Ben’s chance for a redemption arc. If he’d chosen to side with Jacob, it would have begun his redemption and given him the happy ending that he deserved. However, as he sided with The Man In Black, Ben didn’t deserve to be happy.

Ben Linus Did Not Deserve To Be Redeemed

He Committed Too Many Evil Acts

The final episode of Lost revealed that Ben decided to spend all of eternity in the afterlife getting to know Alex and Danielle all over again. Although he was separated from everyone else in the show and didn't enter the Lost church to move on to what came next, he stayed in limbo with the people he loved and cared about. Ben Linus didn’t do anything to deserve this ending. Some characters like Ana Lucia were forced to spend eternity in limbo with no recollection of who they are, but Ben being given a kinder ending than them feels ridiculous.

Related

This Lost Season 2 Death Had Catastrophic Repercussions For The Show

Shannon's death in Lost caused a lot more problems than it should have. Ranging from audience disappointment, to underdevelopment of new characters.

Throughout his time on Lost, Ben killed hundreds of people, committed genocide, tortured and harassed innocent people, and he doesn’t regret any of it. Although there’s some time between the end of the events on the island and the events in the afterlife, not enough character progression was shown on screen to warrant a happy ending for Ben. Ultimately, Ben’s redemption story was completely undeserved, and it sent a terrible message out to fans of the show who hated the character and wanted to see him receive his comeuppance.

Lost is a mystery drama series created for TV that follows a group of survivors of a plane crash and tells its story between the past, present, and future via flashbacks. When Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 crashes and lands on a mysterious island in the pacific ocean, the castaways discover their new temporary home may have a mind of its own, as strange supernatural events keep them locked to the island. From an unknown black smoke creature to dangerous islanders, the passengers must work together to survive the island's seemingly deadly intentions.

Release Date September 22, 2004

Seasons 6

Directors Jack Bender , Stephen Williams

Showrunner Damon Lindelof , Carlton Cuse

Main Genre Mystery

Creator(s) J.J. Abrams , Damon Lindelof , Jeffrey Lieber