For the first time – it felt that way, at least – Lost gave us a hint that not everything is predetermined and there just might be the chance to decide your own fate.

In fact, that’s what “Dr. Linus” was all about.

On the Island, Ben spent the hour first trying not to admit he killed Jacob, trying to weasel out of his punishment for killing Jacob and then, finally, explaining why he did. Telling the truth, for once.

And his telling the truth saved his life. Ilana knew he was speaking the truth. Knew that Ben had given his life to serve Jacob, serve the Island, sacrificing perhaps the only person he’d ever cared about for … what? For an island that Jacob, whom he’d never seen, had asked him to protect.

And Ben may actually be redeemable. He chose to stay with Ilana and the others because they’d have him, rather than going with Flocke, who gave him a gun and freed him. And told him to kill Ilana. (What’s he gonna do when he finds Ben isn’t coming to the Hydra station?)

The fact that Ben chose not to kill her, even though he knew she would kill him in a second, showed there are third acts in life.

But more importantly, in our alternate timeline, Dr. Benjamin Linus, history teacher, chose Alex’s future over his own. He had the chance to get his own fiefdom and run the school however he saw fit, but at the expense of his favorite student.

Say whatever you want about the fact that all these folks are thrust together again in non-island life – Ben, Locke, Doc Arzt, Alex, etc. – but we learned last night a very important lesson: We have control over our own destiny.

Whatever happened? Well, maybe it didn’t have to happen.

Though Ben and his dad WERE with the Dharma initiative, still. I think that’s because the timeline split with the bomb, and Ben and his dad were already on the island. Everyone was forced to leave, and that must be where Ben and his dad returned home. But obviously they had reconciled many times over, his father forgiving Ben for “killing” his mom.

Which brings us to Richard.

We now know why Richard is ageless: Jacob made him that way. He’s not technically immortal, as someone else can kill him. He just can’t kill himself. But this also explained to us how Jack managed to be saved at the last minute when he was trying to kill himself – he can’t kill himself, either.

Jacob’s touch is a gift – and a curse. Could Jin & Sun, Hurley, Sayid or Sawyer kill themselves? It would seem not, based on last night. Hurley shouldn’t have run away. Though it was funnier that way. And more suspenseful, actually.

Don’t tell me you didn’t heave a sigh of relief when Jack was proved right.

But you know the moment I liked most Tuesday night? The reunion scene. When Jack, Hurley and Richard come back to the beach and Sun delightedly runs to hug them. They’re family now, for better or worse. Even Frank (love him!) is part of the gang. Then Ben, standing alone on one end of the crowd, Richard alone on the other side. Both apart from the crowd, all alone with no Jacob left on the island.

THEN, WHAMMO! WTF? Richard Widmore, in the submarine, under the ocean. It’s like a game of Clue, but Lost-style.

This gives me great hope that we’re going to get some real answers soon. Richard’s background (obviously he was a slave on the Black Rock, thus the chains and his never having been back there all his time on the island); who Widmore REALLY is and what his purpose is.

I love this freakin’ show.