Ben Linus - Reception - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

During the beginning of season three, Chris Carabott from IGN described Ben as "one of the best 'villains on television', due to his 'eerie manner' and 'methodical delivery'". Later in the season Carabott had a problem with Ben being so deceptive, as "anything he imparts must be taken with a grain of salt". Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly also noted this, saying "I don't trust Ben. I have no idea when he's lying and when he's telling the truth. The only thing I'm reasonably sure of is that everything he says is for the purpose of impacting a character — and the audience". Ben's father issues revealed towards the end of season three are described as "not the most original Lost character trait by any means but it is the thrust behind Ben's development into the genocidal maniac he eventually becomes". Following the penultimate episode of the season, Carabott stated "Even with his limited screen time, Michael Emerson's performance shines through and we hope that he survives the events of the finale because we love seeing his character every week." Erin Martell from TV Squad picked the Others as one of her season three highlights, partly due to the development of Ben, adding "I cannot even picture the final three seasons without Ben". Martell also gave six reasons to look forward to season four, one of which was Ben Linus.

Aubry D'Arminio of Entertainment Weekly describes "savvy Ben" as a "captivating minor character". Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly praised Emerson's acting in the beginning of season four, calling him "a genius in role". Alan Sepinwall from The Star-Ledger worried "the actor is so good and the character so popular that he's kept alive even though it makes all the heroes look like idiots". Following "Confirmed Dead", Entertainment Weekly's Jeff Jensen felt "Isn't the whole business of Ben manipulating Locke with the promise of Island secrets getting just a little bit old?" SyFy Portal's Dan Compora said that "The more I hate Ben, the more I realize that Michael Emerson is just a very fine actor doing his job". Don Williams of BuddyTV said "consider my mind blown again", referring to the flashforward in "The Economist" where it is revealed that Sayid is working for Ben. Oscar Dahl of BuddyTV called Emerson an acting "god". Chris Carabott from IGN found one of the best moments of "Eggtown", was the power struggle between Locke and Ben, because "Their scenes together are amongst the best in the series and the one that opens "Eggtown" is a perfect display of how well Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn work together. O'Quinn captures Locke's uncertainty perfectly in the opening scene and it's always fun to watch Ben prey on any weakness of character." Kevin Thompson of The Palm Beach Post wrote "with those big ol' eyes of his, could always say more with a lengthy stare than he could with twenty pages of dialogue...., once again, proved why he has become Lost's star as well as its heart and soul.... an Emmy should belong to ." Jennifer Godwin of E! wrote that "no one has ever done better work humanizing a supervillain." Matt Roush of TV Guide puts Ben in "The Shape of Things to Come" in the top 20 moments of the week, stating "Michael Emerson on Lost. It doesn't get better than that". Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy describes Emerson's performance as "fantastic", with "many layers of intrigue and humanity". John Kubicek of BuddyTV also found his performance "fantastic", adding "he nailed it". Critic Kelly Woo, from TV Squad, placed him on second on her list of "Seven new characters that worked", ranking just below Desmond Hume, also from Lost.