Well, I do have a thing for deeply tragic endings like Locke's (or Londo's, or, to some extent, Snape's) so I don't think I resent him being killed in that way, or at that point in canon, even if I find it hard to bear. I also love the poetic irony in the fact that Locke, who had a miserable life, a miserable death, was used in more ways than he could imagine, and was able to spend far less time on the island than he had deserved, could still look back on his own life and feel at peace with it. Whereas Ben, who also had a miserable past, but spent many good years on the island too, first as a leader in his own right, then under Hurley's wing, and at least tried to take his destiny into his own hands, apparently had too many regrets to find that peace. Which isn't to say that, like you, I'm tempted to wonder how things would have turned out if Locke had lived. (Which is a question I'm sure Ben asked himself often enough, after it was just him and Hurley left. Self-sabotaging idiot, indeed... *shakes head tearfully*)
As for the strangling scene: I'm still trying to figure out at which point exactly Ben decided to kill Locke. I don't think he entered that room with the intention to kill (though, being Ben, I don't doubt he had already given the matter some thought and decided that yes, he would kill Locke if he had to) but I'm not sure what caused him to change his mind. It could either be the mention of Sun (and the wedding ring, and John's promise not to bring her back, which of course Ben couldn't allow) or the mention of Eloise Hawking (which was the final part of the puzzle he needed to find the island again), and I really can't pinpoint anything in Michael Emerson's performance that gives it away. I suspect it was the revelation about Sun, mostly because I don't see Ben killing Locke out of pure jealously at that point (after all, what's left to be jealous about?) so simply having learned about Eloise doesn't seem like a good enough reason to me. But desperation and the fear of not getting back to the island in time if they did it Locke's way (which would mean keeping that promise to Jin) would definitely have been an incentive for Ben.
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Date: 2010-12-09 07:18 pm (UTC)As for the strangling scene: I'm still trying to figure out at which point exactly Ben decided to kill Locke. I don't think he entered that room with the intention to kill (though, being Ben, I don't doubt he had already given the matter some thought and decided that yes, he would kill Locke if he had to) but I'm not sure what caused him to change his mind. It could either be the mention of Sun (and the wedding ring, and John's promise not to bring her back, which of course Ben couldn't allow) or the mention of Eloise Hawking (which was the final part of the puzzle he needed to find the island again), and I really can't pinpoint anything in Michael Emerson's performance that gives it away. I suspect it was the revelation about Sun, mostly because I don't see Ben killing Locke out of pure jealously at that point (after all, what's left to be jealous about?) so simply having learned about Eloise doesn't seem like a good enough reason to me. But desperation and the fear of not getting back to the island in time if they did it Locke's way (which would mean keeping that promise to Jin) would definitely have been an incentive for Ben.