The fifth season episode "Dead Is Dead" explores Ben's fragile state following the events of the fourth season, in which his loyalty to the Island led to the death of his adoptive daughter Alex Rousseau (Tania Raymonde), and flashbacks show the audience Ben's original acquisition of Alex and his rise to leadership of the Others, after exiling his rival Charles Widmore (Alan Dale).

Emerson's portrayal garnered many positive reviews, resulting in four consecutive nominations for the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor from 2007 to 2010, winning in 2009.

On the Island, Ben begins to see visions of his mother, while Roger starts drinking heavily and physically and verbally abusing him.

He comes across Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell), one of the Island natives known to the Initiative as the "Hostiles", in the jungle, who grants Ben's request to join his group but tells him he needs to be very patient.

[3] Season five's "Namaste" shows a young Ben coming into contact with a captured Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews), who along with several other Oceanic Flight 815 survivors has been brought back in time from 2007.

[3] In 1988, Charles Widmore, leader of the Others, sends Ben to kill French scientist Danielle Rousseau (Melissa Farman), who was marooned on the island.

He banishes Charles Widmore from the island and assumes his leadership role, as he is the only one who can allegedly interact with their real leader, Jacob, and communicate his will to the group.

[6] Ben is exposed as a fraud when the body of the real Henry Gale is found, but he is set free by Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau), a crash survivor whose son has been kidnapped by the Others.

[7] When Michael successfully brings Jack, Kate, and Sawyer to the pier, Ben gives him a boat so he can leave the Island with his son.

[21] The flashforwards in "The Shape of Things to Come" show Ben arrives in the Sahara Desert ten months ahead of when he left the Island.

At one point, Ben infiltrates Widmore's penthouse apartment in London to inform him of his intention to kill his daughter, Penelope (Sonya Walger), as retribution for the death of Alex.

Afterwards, Ben comforts Ilana when he finds her crying in Jacob's chamber and sets off with her, Sun, and Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahey) to bury Locke before going to the Temple, where they believe they will be safe from the Monster.

However, Reynolds swiftly retaliates by saying if he makes good on his threats, Alex's chances of going to Yale University will decrease substantially, as he is requested to write her a recommendation letter.

He unsuccessfully tries to convince the survivors he is Henry Gale,[27] although he succeeds in manipulating Locke to turn against Jack while held prisoner under this guise.

In the third-season finale, Ben is informed by Tom Friendly (M. C. Gainey), an Other, that they have captured three of the crash survivors: Sayid Jarrah, Bernard Nadler (Sam Anderson), and Jin-Soo Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim).

[17] Conversely, Ben refuses to allow his spy on the freighter to destroy it long before it reaches the Island, as he would not kill anyone who "did not deserve to die".

[23] He always has a plan and is described by Kevin Thompson from The Palm Beach Post as a "know-it-all",[35] which another reviewer thinks is because "[Ben] talks quietly, in a menacingly measured drawl... with lots of pauses and emphases".

[36] In 2001, Michael Emerson won a Primetime Emmy Award for his guest appearance as serial killer William Hinks on The Practice.

[33] The Lost producers liked his work on The Practice, so they were keen to cast Emerson in the role of Ben, then known as "Henry Gale", as they thought he would fit the character well.

The producers were so impressed by him that they contracted him for a further five episodes, citing the scene at the end of "The Whole Truth" where Ben asks for milk as the moment they knew he was a "keeper".

[32] During season four the producers deliberately left it ambiguous as to whether Ben was a part of the Oceanic 6 (six survivors of the plane crash that make it off the Island) after he appeared in one of Sayid's flashforwards.

[48] 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.

[54] 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?

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.

"[58] Kevin Thompson of The Palm Beach Post wrote "with those big ol' eyes of his, [Emerson] could always say more with a lengthy stare than he could with twenty pages of dialogue.... [He has], once again, proved why he has become Lost's star as well as its heart and soul.... an Emmy should belong to [him].

"[59] 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.

[61] 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.

[62] In 2006, Michael Emerson was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film, but lost out to Tony Plana from Ugly Betty.

[63] In 2007, following the third season, Emerson was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television, losing to Masi Oka from Heroes.

In 2010, Emerson was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film, but lost to John Lithgow from Dexter.