The Episode League Table - Week 10 Update

Here is the delayed league table from Episode 4.10 - Something Nice Back Home. This was the 2nd lowest rated episode this season after The Other Woman.

Episode 4.09 - The Shape of Things to Come has fallen back slightly and is now below Through the Looking Glass.

(Click to Enlarge)

Osama Ben Linus by Lukhs

NOTE: This is a Recap for Episode 4x09 - The Shape of Things to Come. We tried to post this yesterday, but had some technical difficulties.


For better or for worse, The Shape of Things to Come is much different from almost any other episode of Lost. As the title implies, Episode 4.09 establishes many new trends for the remainder of this season and perhaps the entire series. Fan reception for this episode has been overwhelmingly positive, even though this episode barely resembles anything that preceded it. Many fundamental changes in the show’s nature are now undeniable. What began has an intimate ensemble drama with detailed character studies has transformed into an elaborate game board manipulated by two masterful super-villains, Benjamin Linus and Charles Widmore.

The setting for the war has expanded both in space and in time. Battles take place not only on the coveted Island, but occur on a global backdrop in Los Angeles, Tunisia, Iraq, and England. One of the early scenes in the episode incorporates the board game Risk: The Game of World Conquest, which serves as a new metaphor for the show’s central conflict, and drops hints about other key locations. The final scene indicates that these two opponents will continue to compete against each other for a long-time into the future. The freighter crew, the Smoke Monster, Jacob, Sayid, and even Locke have all become weapons in this war, and the collateral damage has been significant. Unlike the game of Risk, the audience cannot just pick up an instruction booklet that will explain this competition. Whatever stakes are at play and whatever rules of engagement apply to this war remain unknown to everyone except the two men in charge.

The title of the episode strongly suggests that the events of The Shape of Things to Come will hold great significance in the future of the show. Ben's quest to kill Penelope and Widmore's ongoing search for the island certainly will become major story arcs. Although people have a tendency to overestimate the importance of any particular episode soon after it airs, this episode felt almost like the pilot of a brand-new series. Many people have compared the opening shot of Ben’s flash-forward in this episode to Jack’s introductory scene in Lost’s Pilot episode. Although the two shots bear a strong resemblance, the differences between the two scenes are even more significant. The very first shot of the series involved a close-up of one of Jack’s eyes opening. This iconic image has been repeated several times throughout the series to introduce the audience to other characters in depth. The effect of this shot has always been to create an intimacy between the viewer and the character, to convey the idea that the audience will get inside someone’s head and see the world through the eyes of that character.

Neither The Shape of Things To Come nor the previous Ben episode The Man Behind the Curtain uses this same visual technique. Instead, the camera keeps a distance from Benjamin’s open eyes, and for good reason. Both episodes elected not to dig very deeply into the mind of the character. The Man Behind the Curtain omitted the most important part of its story, as it chose not to reveal whatever events sparked Ben’s transformation from troubled child into mass murder. Similarly, The Shape of Things to Come offers only surface details of the ongoing war against Widmore, while Ben’s true motivations still remain a mystery. The story provides the broad outline of the conflict, but the viewer is left to speculate on the true meaning behind this war. Certainly, Ben and Widmore are battling for possession of the island, but this story leaves us little indication of their ultimate aims, and what these two men hope to accomplish through the island.


At the end of the episode, Charles Widmore remarks that he knows who and what Ben truly is. However, the viewer cannot say the same thing. After three seasons of Ben, the show still offers us very little understanding of what is going on inside his mind. We certainly have seen Ben do and say a great number of things, and we can describe many of his characteristics. Ben has established an identity an extremely motivated individual, obsessed and single-minded in his devotion to his cause. Nevertheless, the show keeps the essence of this character's motives under wraps. Ben remains a static character: his personality never evolves, but only his actions change in response to different situations. This aspect of Ben’s character development (or, more accurately, his lack of character development) is not an accident, but an intentional choice. For Benjamin Linus, there is almost zero distinction between the plot and his character. His history is intimately linked to the mystery of the island. In order to understand his motives, the story must first uncover his secret knowledge of the island. For many viewers, this unique quality makes him the most intriguing character on the show, but for others, this reason makes him one of the least interesting (and least likable).


In this episode, the heated disputes between Locke and Sawyer parallels this central difference of opinion on Ben. Conflict between Locke and his followers had been growing for some time, as Sawyer, Hurley, Kate, and Claire all voiced objections against Locke’s alliance with Ben. Sawyer has become the leading voice of dissent against Locke. Their two responses to the assault on the camp speak volumes about their different perspectives on the situation. Throughout the firefight, Locke essentially serves as Ben’s sidekick, blindly following his orders rather than thinking for himself. Sawyer, on the other hand, ventures outside in a hail of bullets to bring Claire to safety, and then he proceeds to question Ben’s orders every step of the way. Sawyer reasons that “our best chance is to toss him out and fend for ourselves,” and this position makes a great deal of sense. Sawyer thinks that there is plenty of reason to doubt Ben’s claims about Widmore, but Locke trusts Ben’s word as a matter of faith. If Widmore indeed did give an order to execute everyone, then this order puts his group at a tactical disadvantage. The order makes very little sense from Widmore's standpoint, because it only serves to transform Ben’s adversaries into allies.


To be a fan of Benjamin Linus requires a certain degree of reverence toward him. Since Ben always knows more than the audience does, the viewer is never on an even plane with the character. John Locke now has become the ultimate fan of Ben. He would rather die than live on without ever learning Ben’s inside knowledge about the island. The Ben-Locke relationship, which was close to a balanced dynamic in Season Three, has become entirely one-sided in Season Four. Locke’s transformation into an Other is now complete. At the end of the episode, Locke dutifully turns his gun against Sawyer’s back, even though Ben does not need to say a word or move a muscle. Effectively, Locke kidnapped his friend Hurley (and by all indications Hurley's experience at Jacob's cabin will not be a positive one). Ben’s comments about Jacob indicate that soon Locke will lose his agency to an even further degree. He describes Jacob as “the man who’s going to tell us what to do next.” This proposed course of action appeals to Locke, but Sawyer feels disgusted by this type of servitude.


Looking forward, Locke’s developing relationship with Ben and Jacob may prove to be critical in the overall direction of the story. At the moment, it seems that Locke’s ultimate destiny might be to become nothing more than a servant. If this trend continues, he will spend the rest of his days just waiting for someone to tell him what to do. During Season Two, Locke similarly became a slave to the button in the Swan hatch. Ultimately, he lashed out against this prison, and he refused to be a “puppet on strings”. In his pre-island flashbacks, Locke time and again became a victim of Anthony Cooper for similar reasons. Interestingly, Locke never confronted his previous master directly, but even then he relied on Sawyer to free him from Cooper’s influence. Locke’s devolution into a slave is troubling enough on it own, but some of the reactions toward that development are even more disturbing. Many of the show’s fans, and perhaps even the writers themselves, seem to view this change as a very good thing for Locke. Will he ever break free from all of these puppet-masters, and seize control of his own destiny?


Unfortunately, Locke is not the only character living in the shadow of another more powerful figure. As a whole, the main storyline of Season Four continues to shift its focus gradually onto the interests of Linus and Widmore. Many of the mysteries introduced in this season are essentially ‘whodunit’ questions concerning these two figures. Who killed Karl and Danielle? (Solved.) Who faked the plane wreckage? (Still unknown.) Who killed Nadia? (New one.) Who is responsible for Alex’s death? (Debatable.) These types of questions might start to grow tiresome, because there is so little substantive difference between Linus and Widmore. Regardless of who did what, our opinions of the two characters do not change. Essentially, the show provides no reasons to root either for Ben or for Charles. In a way, Linus and Widmore have become almost the same character; the episode’s final scene supports this idea, both with its visual mirroring, and in the suggestion that neither man can kill the other. The central question of “Who will win the war?” would be much more interesting if the audience had some idea of what victory would mean for either side. Currently, fans are relying only on pure faith that there will be a legitimate ideological conflict at play in their story.


A side effect of the show’s expanded plot has been to overshadow the lives and deaths of secondary characters. Death has always been an important element of the show, and for the most part the show has regarded the loss of human life with due seriousness. Even the deaths of very minor characters such as Joanna, Scott, Nathan, and Pickett were utilized to create dramatic tension and to develop other characters in meaningful ways. By contrast, death becomes very whimsical and arbitrary in this episode. Doc Ray, Karl, Danielle, Alex, Nadia, three crash survivors, a nameless Tunisian henchman, and the Widmore employee Bakir are all confirmed dead within this episode. Of these deaths, only the murder of Alex receives any legitimate dramatic weight. All of the other deaths in the episode serve merely as minor footnotes in the battle between Linus and Widmore. The murder of the three Oceanic survivors in Locke’s camp seem to be a particularly hollow event. Not only does this scene fail to create any tension, but their senseless slaughter creates a comedic effect, especially alongside Sawyer’s laughably improbable survival. Afterwards, the main characters act as if those three characters never existed in the first place. The violence in Ben’s first flash-forward scene is equally gratuitous and by all indications irrelevant to the story. Seemingly, the characters, the writers, and the audience all have become desensitized to death on the show.


The unceremonious death of Danielle Rousseau is perhaps the most incredible development of the episode. The way in which her death has been handled does not fit the previous development of her character. Originally, Rousseau was the very first character on the island who was not part of Oceanic 815. The French radio transmission during the Pilot episode ranks as perhaps the show’s first island mystery. Her past still remains something of an enigma, without the benefit of any flashbacks. Since her reunion with Alex at the end of Season Three, not a single scene developed their complicated relationship in any depth. Further, the story never adequately explored the connection between Danielle and the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, aside from perhaps a vague reference to the idea of the noble savage. Why would a character of such tremendous importance and potential simply be ignored and eliminated?


The German philosopher Immanuel Kant is sometimes considered to be the successor to Danielle's namesake, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The show has never included a specific reference to Immanuel Kant (at least not yet). Regardless, though, his ideas still serve as a valuable analysis tool for the show’s characters, and Ben in particular. Among his other contributions to philosophy, Kant developed a theory that described the categorical imperative, the essence of morality. The second formulation of Kant’s categorical imperative translates to the following rule:

Act in such a way that you treat humanity, in yourself or in any other, always as an end in itself and never merely as a means to an end.

For an illustration of how this principle operates, look no further than the central character of this episode, Benjamin Linus. Throughout his entire character arc, Ben seems to operate under the exact opposite version of Kant’s moral law. Ben always treats other individuals as a means to some end. When he looks at any other human being, he does not see them as rational agents, but merely as instruments to be used to serve his own agenda. Locke, Hurley, and Sayid in this episode serve as the latest playing pieces that he manipulates to his own advantage. Ben takes an interest in Locke and Hurley not because he values their lives, but because he needs their help to perform a task for him at Jacob’s cabin. Similarly, he shows no true kinship with Sayid, but he only deals with the Iraqi soldier long enough to make him into another slave. In his negotiations with Keamy, Ben even notes that all of his other followers are willing to sacrifice themselves in service to his cause. Quite possibly, Ben even views himself just as a mere means to an end: a tool to serve the will of Jacob or the Island.


Seemingly, Ben’s relationship with Alex might present an exception to this trend. Keamy manage to capture the one person who mattered to him not only as a chess piece. Is it possible that Ben regarded Alex as a person with intrinsic value rather than instrumental value? While Ben does not show any understanding of the concept of love, he does feel something for Alex, and does experience pain upon her death. For once, Ben does show that he is capable of feeling emotional attachment toward another human being. Regardless, though, his actions never matched these emotions.

Ben’s final words to Alex exemplify this disconnect between his feelings and his actions. Ben stands there motionless, as he watches her execution: “She's not my daughter. I stole her as a baby from an insane woman. She's a pawn, nothing more. She means nothing to me. I'm not coming out of this house. So if you want to kill her, go ahead and do it.” In Ben’s mind, this statement is a lie; the words coming out of his mouth do not match the feelings inside his head. Morally, though, a person does not receive credit just for their emotions. Only actions carry moral weight, and Ben acted as if she meant nothing to him. Kant makes this distinction clear in every formulation of the categorical imperative. It is not enough to view humanity as an end in itself, but you need to embody that view in your actions. Ben possessed many other bargaining chips he could have used to save her life, because he did not value her life enough to forfeit them.


Of course, there will be many counter-arguments against this interpretation of Alex’s death. Some people feel willing to give Ben the benefit of even the biggest doubts, and craft intricate apologies for him. One could say that Ben was relying on his belief that Widmore would adhere to some ‘rule’ against killing her, so he never believed she was in danger. Or, you could also say the opposite, that Ben assumed that Alex had zero chance to survive even if he surrendered. Personally, I would expect that the scene would have played out exactly the same way regardless of these circumstances. Given that same choice a hundred different ways, the choice between his own surrender and Alex’s death, I would predict that Ben would make the same decision a hundred times. He cared about her, but not nearly enough to change his actions.

The Shape of Things to Come speaks volumes about the possible future of Lost. Quite possibly, the series could continue onward in the current direction of Season Four: to shift our attention away from the journey of the original characters and onto the war between Benjamin Linus and Charles Widmore for possession of the island. In this case, characters will no longer be important in and of themselves, but only important in terms of their relevance to the plot. Internal conflicts will be overshadowed by external ones. Complexity of character will be replaced by intricacy of plot. We will see more of the things that characterized The Shape of Things to Come: frequent murders, standoffs at gunpoint, explosions, monster attacks, heroic dashes through gunfire, razzle and dazzle, teleportation machines, secret rooms with ancient heiroglyphics, and more arbitrary rules that keep Linus and Widmore alive. In this case, Lost will conform to Ben Linus’ view of the world: humanity is not an end in itself, but a means to an end (in this case, the plot).


Over four seasons, Lost has developed an amazing collection of dynamic characters along with an amazingly complex web of mysteries and storylines. The series will never abandon one element in favor of the other, but the show could be in danger of losing its all-important equilibrium between plot and character. The Shape of Things to Come offers plenty of excitement, but falls short in the human element. This episode shifts the balance almost entirely in favor of plot development, and thus raises an alarming question about the true nature of the show. Are the characters of Lost mere instruments through which to tell the story of the island, or does the island serve as the instrument to tell the story of the characters?

The Lost Fantasy League: Week 9 Update

Introduction
DarkUFO may be away, but G-Man's ready to play! Here's your hook-up with the results of Week 9's episode, "The Shape of Things to Come." It was a solid episode overall and featured a fair amount of points being spread around. There was also some high octane thrills and a few dashes of sadness to boot. In other words- GREAT EPISODE!

But will a high-quality episode translate to success for your Fantasy Roster? There's only one way to find out! Check out the usual data and maybe even the video perhaps? Let me know what you think of the new LFL logo and, as always, feel free to leave comments or email me directly at LFLquestions@gmail.com.

Two important things to note- First, with DarkUFO away, I had to make all the points charts myself, so some of the data may look funny (specifically the Last Week's Score and This Week's Score options). It's all because funny things happen when I convert the spreadsheet on my computer. Secondly, we made a few points adjustments based on new information regarding "Meet Kevin Johnson" and "The Other Woman." Be sure to check out the Important Points Rulings section to see if you were hit by these changes.

SPOILER WARNING: THE CONTENTS OF THIS FANTASY UPDATE CONTAIN EPISODE INFORMATION FOR EPISODE 4X09. IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN THIS EPISODE (AS IS THE CASE WITH OUR EUROPEAN FRIENDS) THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WILL SPOIL THE EPISODE FOR YOU. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

“The Shape of Things to Come” (in 600 words or less)
While practicing for her Oceanic 6 Girls Gone Wild video, Kate and Jack have quickie eye sex. Jack starts popping pills, Kate starts asking why it’s been four episodes since anybody has been concerned with the delay in their rescue, and Bernard starts discovering dead bodies and calling for help. It’s the freighter doctor and Daniel gives a really crap answer about what’s going on. Bernard suggests they use what’s left of the sat phone to build a telegraph to ask the freighter people what the fark happened.

Alex has been captured by Keamy & Co. and flips the panic switch on the sonar fence. Despite Hurley’s warnings founded on superior Risk strategy, Sawyer gives Locke Australia and the game. Locke answers the Batphone but doesn’t understand the message. Ben gets it loud and clear and whips out a sawed of shotgun hidden away in his piano bench, bringing new meaning to the phrase “tough meets sophisticated.”

New Otherton comes under attack. Several redshirts die and Claire’s house is blown up by an RPG with Baby Mama still inside. Luckily, she was taking a nap with her mithril blanket on, as she is virtually unscathed despite the house being completely hollowed out. Miles sucks at “Ding-Dong Ditch” and Keamy reaches out and touches Ben on the radio.

Ben tries to mindf**k Keamy and convince him that Alex is unimportant as a hostage and bargaining chip. Instead of letting her go as Ben predicts, Keamy just executes her. He just…freaking…shoots her! I bet he has a wallet that says “Bad Mother F**ker” on it. After moments of frozen astonishment, Ben mutters “He changed the rules” and locks himself in his secret closet, which happens to have a secret closet of its own.

The dark of night descends on New Otherton and a dirty Ben emerges from his closet. Instead of playing “7 Minutes in Heaven” Ben was paging Dr. McSmokey, who barrels through town and begins stomping on Keamy & Co. The remaining A-listers in Camp Locke book it into the jungle and Ben mourns the death of his adoptive daughter. For the first time we see signs of humanity in Benjamin as he sheds tears for the deceased. Sawyer, Claire, Aaron and Miles head for the beach while Ben, Locke and Hurley set off for Jacob’s cabin.

Back at the beach, Faraday tries to lie about the incoming telegraph from the freighter, not considering that the guy who suggested building a telegraph might know Morse code! Guess Eloise isn’t the only one with a fried brain. Jack gets him to confess that they never intended to rescue anyone.

In the future, Ben pulls a Randall Flagg and pops up in the middle of nowhere. He snarkily lays some hurt on a few locals and rides off into the Tunisian sunset. He uses a fake passport to garner respect from a hotel clerk and meets up with Sayid in Iraq. He helps Sayid track down his wife’s killer and Sayid demands to help Ben rid the world of Widmore associates. Cue Ben’s snarky grin that screams “I totally own you now!”

Ben lets himself into Charles Widmore’s penthouse bedroom, adorned with MacCutcheon’s Scotch whiskey and an oil painting of the Black Rock. Charles is in no mood for a slumber party and the two share angry dialogue and glares. Ben claims Charles changed the rules and for that he will see to it that Charles’ daughter Penny suffers the same fate as Alex. Widmore wants the Island and Linus wants Penny’s head in a box. The hunt is on.

Heading into the Hiatus I said that I was going to re-watch all of the first 8 episodes of the season to double check all the scores. Unfortunately, I never got around to it, so there are no re-watch points adjustments just yet. I still hope to work my way through all of the episodes just to ensure that we have all the scoring done absolutely correct before announcing a champion.

We do, however, have a few points corrections that stem from information revealed on the show and via the Official Lost Podcast with Damon and Carlton:

1) Danielle Rousseau is dead. After "Meet Kevin Jonhson" we only listed Rousseau as being injured because it didn't seem like she would killed in such a seemingly random way. But, in "The Shape of Things to Come," Alex stated that Keamy and his men killed both Karl and Danielle. We are taking this information to heart and we have replaced Rousseau's Week 8 injury deduction with a full -30 death deduction.

2) Jack and Juliet lose points from Week 6. In a recent podcast, Damon and Carlton answered a question about "The Other Woman" and whether Harper was real or a manifestation of the Smoke Monster/Island. Damon and Carlton stated that what we saw was the real Harper, so we have stripped Jack and Juliet of their points for encountering Smokey during that episode.

WEEK 9 POINTS RULINGS:
Believe it or not, "The Shape of Things to Come" was actually a fairly easy episode to score. Despite all the violence and action, there were only a few events that could have been considered "on the bubble."

DarkUFO is on vacation this week, so all of these rulings were made without his input. It's getting easier to determine injuries and such, but DarkUFO and I will review all the rulings for this episode upon his return. While there is a chance one or two rulings may change, I have a feeling that all of them will stick.

1) Alex getting forced to her knees by Keamy is an injury. The use of force was there, but it also counts as an injury because she was blindfolded and defenseless when it happened.

2) Ben's first flashforward scene opens with an eye close-up. While it's not a single eye, I felt that the tight shot on both his eyes should be credited.

3) Ben's disorientation, vomiting and wounded arm all count as an injury deduction. Whether he was experiencing the effects of teleportation or not, Ben's disoriented state coupled with the puking was enough of a physical hinderance to him to count for a deduction. His arm is counted in with these, as it is the first time we ever saw Ben with that wound, even though we didn't see it happen.

4) Ben killed one of the Bedouin's but only injured the second. It is unlikely that such gun wounds would be non-fatal, especially as the shoulder holds major arteries and the man would likely bleed to death before reaching medical assistance. The other guy just got knocked out.

5) Bernard is credited with the discovery of the doctor's corpse. While he mentioned that the dog was barking, we heard Bernard hollar for help before Vincent's barking. Since Bernard called everyone's attention to the body, only he gets credit for the discovery.

6) Jack's stomach ills were enough to merit an injury deduction. At first it didn't seem severe enough, but by the end of the episode it was evident that his guts were causing him a tremendous amount of pain.

7) Nadia gets the 30 point death deduction. While we did not see her death, we have indisputable evidence that she is dead. We saw her funeral procession and Sayid confirmed it.

8) Sawyer does nto receive an injury deduction when he falls as Claire's hosue explodes. Sawyer was not forced down by the explosion. Rather, he did a little pre-emptive tuck and roll to guard himself from any debris flying towards him. The only visible damage done to Sawyer during the attack was a redshirt's blood staining his shirt.

As I said, Week 9 provided us with a solid episode with a fair spreading of points. Once again, our centric character (Ben this time) seemed to underperform. Of course everyone looks like a lightweight compared to Hurley's impressive 4x01 centric dominance.

We finally have an episode where at least one character from each of our seven groups showed up! Granted, they didn't all end up in the black, but it's still nice to see all of our groups in action for a change! Hopefully we'll see more attendance from our lower groups through the rest of the season.

Anyway, here is this week's detailed points breakdown:

Group 1-
BEN (+75): Attendance (+5); Centricity (+25); Flashforward (+20); Eye Close-Up (+5); Gets Hurt- Disoriented and vomits counted as an injury, plus wound to his arm (-10); Injures Someone- Bedouin #1 (-5); Kills Someone- Bedouin #2 (-20); Gets Hurt- Tackled by Sayid (-10); Encounters Smokey (+30); Kisses Alex (+20); Last Line (+5); Last on Screen (+10)
LOCKE (+35): Attendance (+5); Encounters Smokey (+30)
SAWYER (+35): Attendance (+5); Encounters Smokey (+30)
KATE (+30): Attendance (+5); First on Screen (+15); First Line (+10)
JACK (-5): Attendance (+5); Gets Hurt- His stomach problems cause enough pain and discomfort to count as an injury (-10)

Group 2-
HURLEY (+35): Attendance (+5); Encounters Smokey (+30)
JULIET (+5): Attendance (+5)
SAYID (+5): Attendance (+5); Appears in Ben's Flashforward (+25); Injuers Ben- Tackles him to the ground (-5); Kills Bakir (-20)
DESMOND (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
MICHAEL (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 3-
CLAIRE (+25): Attendance (+5); Gets Hurt- Injured when her house blows up (-10); Encounters Smokey (+30)
JIN (+5): Attendance (+5)
SUN (+5): Attendance (+5)
JACOB (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
ROUSSEAU (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 4-
BERNARD (+25): Attendance (+5); Discovers a New Person/Thing- Doc Ray's corpse (+20)
ALEX (+10): Attendance (+5); Gets Hurt- Forced to her knees by Keamy (-10); Uses the Numbers- Enters the Panic Code on the sonar fence; 1623 (+20); Visits a DHARMA Location- The Barracks (+5); Dies- Executed by Keamy (-30); Kissed by Ben (+20)
KARL (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
ROSE (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
WALT (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 5-
AARON (+35): Attendance (+5); Encounters Smokey (+30)
CINDY (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
MARVIN CANDLE (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
PENNY (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
RICHARD (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 6-
WIDMORE (+30): Attendance (+5); Appears in Ben's Flashforward (+25)
ETHAN (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
LIBBY (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
MS. HAWKING (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
RACHEL (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 7-
NADIA (0): Attendance (+5); Appears in Ben's Flashforward (+25); Dies (-30)
CHRISTIAN (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
KELVIN (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
KEVIN CALISS (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
MR. PAIK (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

There was only one Fantasy Genius of the Week this week, and I owe them an apology!

Congratulations to Charlie! Their team scored a whopping 205 points for the episode! I owe Charlie an apology because in the video I stated that Ben had held their team back and that Charlie wasn't in the top tier of our contestants, but I'm as wrong as Alex is dead. Charlie is very much alive in the LFL, currently sitting in 14th place, up 162 positions from Week 8!

Charlie's team: Ben, Hurley, Claire, Alex, Aaron, Charles Widmore and Christian Shephard

Charlie was fortunate to have 4 characters on their roster that encountered Smokey in 4x09, a 120 point boost in itself! Way to go Charlie!

Character Groups


Scoring Chart


Table Toppers


Celebrities


SORRY, NO ONLINE OR DOWNLOADABLE DATABASES THIS WEEK!
DarkUFO works these items up, so you will have to wait until he gets back to see where you stand after Week 9. If you absolutely have to know what position you are in, email me at LFLquestions@gmail.com and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Next week's episode is titled "Something Nice Back Home." What exactly does this mean? I'm not 100% certain, but I feel pretty confident that this will be a Jack episode.

With Jack having some kind of stomach bug going on (the previews revealed more info about his condition) I'm sure he will be front and center. Well, at least he'll be the focus. If the Losties lose their de facto leader at such an important time, trouble could be brewing. Who will step up and take charge? Will the be a group breakdown? Will they get any closer to getting off the Island?

We'll just have to wait and see. Come back next week to see how "Something Nice Back Home" affects your Fantasy Team! The update may come a day or two late, to provide DarkUFO ample time to get back into the swing of things coming off his vacation, so don't panic if we don't post next Monday.

S4Ep9 - THIS is "The Shape of Things to Come?" by Erika

I don't think there could've been a better way to pull us hiatus-weary Lost fans back into the thick of things than to unfurl the action-packed ninth episode before our unsuspecting eyes... "shock and awe," indeed.

The funniest thing was that I had a friend visiting who doesn't follow Lost. After it was over and we sat in silence digesting all that had happened in the past hour, she summed it up quite appropriately: "This show is intense!"

There were two things on my mind as the credits rolled: 1) "I can't believe they killed Alex," and 2) "I really think this means Rousseau is dead, too." Unlike the vast, vast, vast majority of fans out there, I didn't love this episode. Alex's murder totally depressed me and I found it hard to muster enthusiasm after that point in the show. But I'll whine more about that later on.

Island events first, then Ben's flashes.

DON'T YOU WANT ME, BABY?

The episode began with Kate performing a strange strip-tease of sorts on the beach while shooting "come hither" eyes at The Mad Doctor. And even though an alien is apparently eating him from the inside out, Jack paused to appreciate the scene and shoot back some "You lookin' at me?" eyes in return. In retrospect, there could not have been a more bizarre and misleading start to this episode.

But the lovefest was soon shattered as Vincent (VINCENT!!!) began barking his head off and Bernard (BERNARD!!!) hollered for help.

None other than Doc Ray had washed up dead on the shore. He had fresh stitching over the scar we'd seen before on his cheek, and his throat had been slashed. But when Daniel communicated via Morse code to the freighter crew later in the episode, they claimed that the Doc was fine.

So what in the heck is going on? In past episodes it seemed like we got confirmation that the date on the freighter was the same as on the Island (the calendar showing December 2004). But we knew that something went awry with the passage of time when people or things came to or from the Island (Daniel's rocket experiment, Desmond and Minkowski's "side-effects," the perception of how long the helicopter had been gone by those on the Island, etc). However, now we have people on the Island encountering a dead Doc Ray, while people on the freighter report that he is alive and well.

The three main explanations are:
1) The freighter crew is lying. Who in the heck is the one typing back the Morse code from the freighter, anyway? We've seen half of the crew leave the ship or die trying--who's left? Regardless, they have good reason for waiting to maintain a front that everything is peachy-keen on their Ship 'o Doom. Especially since we now have confirmation from Daniel that there was never any intention of rescuing the 815ers, and we know that Keamy and crew are in the process of carrying out their orders to kill everyone on the Island.

2) There are somehow two instances of Doc Ray--one who is dead on the beach, and one who is still alive on the freighter. Remember the Orchid Video?

3) Maybe at one point the freighter and the Island were moving at the same pace, but now they're not. The Island is now ahead of the freighter, and the Lostaways are seeing Future Doc Ray, who has been murdered. But it hasn't happened yet on the freighter. So there are not two instances of Doc Ray--the Island and the freighter are just at two different points on the same timeline. How Morse code can be transmitted through time, I have no idea. But I do believe this theory is the best explanation, considering that Daniel said that "'when' is a relative term." Many people believe that when Desmond turned the fail-safe key, it "unhinged" the Island along the space-time continuum.
Meaning that sometimes the Island may be moving at the same pace as the real world, whereas at other times it's either moving more slowly or more quickly. This is consistent with what we've seen during Daniel's rocket experiment (Island time was behind) and while the Losties waited for word from the helicopter crew (Island time passed faster). (I personally don't think the fail-safe key had anything to do with it, I think the Island was always "special" in this way.)

A clue lies with Doc Ray's scar, which we saw healing in a past episode, but appeared badly stitched up when he washed ashore. I think the screenshot of Dead Doc Ray is too gross to include, but if you'd like to see it for comparison purposes, click here.

A related, but slightly different, theory is that the Island is actually jumping around between the past, present and future, much like Desmond's mind did in "Flashes Before Your Eyes" and "The Constant."

I think either version of this theory would help explain why those not on the Island struggle to find it.


WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
IT GETS WORSE HERE EVERY DAY

Locke's group is playing Risk, Benry's pounding out Rachmaninoff on the piano, and then the fun and games are over when the Phone No One Noticed Before rings and alerts the Othersville inhabitants to Code 14J. You know, Code 14J! That's the one that means Ben has no choice but to share with the Lostaways his many guns hidden in piano benches, behind paintings, under accent pillows and above curtain rods. (As opposed to Code 14W, which simply means that more wine-in-a-box is being dropped from the sky.)

All hell breaks loose, and while Locke, Ben and Hurley try to fortify Ben's apartment, Sawyer runs around trying to warn people and find Claire. I can only guess that the producers were attempting to be humorous in the scene where three redshirts (one was even wearing a red shirt!) went down in succession while Sawyer escaped unharmed--it was nothing short of comical when Sawyer's like "Get inside!" BOOM. Redshirt down. "Hey you, go back!" BOOM. Another redshirt down. "We're being attacked, fool!" BOOM. Number three bites the dust.

On top of all that, the enemies mysteriously stop shooting while Sawyer searches through the remains of Claire's blown-up house. He finds her alive (???) and then the shooting resumes, but they are luckily protected by the magical picket fence that separates them from the Evil Freighties.

How many people thought that Claire was a goner, and that this would be how she came to be separated from Aaron? I sure did.

I was not loving Locke or Ben when they were prepared to let Sawyer and Claire get shot while trying to get back inside. I WAS loving Hurley for throwing a small couch through the window to help the two to safety. This should go without saying, but Sawyer was absolutely awesome in this episode.

Perhaps my favorite scene of the hour was when the doorbell rang. It was played brilliantly, as everyone looked at each other with "Huh?" expressions and then scurried about trying to figure out what to do. And then there stood freakin' Miles. Brilliant. It was the Lost equivalent of a Land Shark at the door muttering, "Candygram..."

A few random things to note from these scenes:
- When playing Risk, Hurley has a few telling lines: "This is exactly what he wants--to fight amongst ourselves," and "Australia's the key to the whole game." Regarding the latter comment, not only did Flight 815 take off from Sydney, but Ayers Rock (where Bernard took Rose to see that Shaman-like guy) is in Australia. That guy told Rose of certain places on Earth that have special energies. I've always thought that the Island is obviously one of those spots.

- Hurley was told repeatedly to get Aaron away from the window. I couldn't help but think that those lines were meant to foreshadow something that will happen in a future episode (like maybe Claire will have Aaron near a window and that's where they end up getting separated).





WAR! (HUH)
GOOD GOD, Y'ALL

After learning that the invaders had Alex, Ben began his showdown with Keamy. And we all know that it didn't end well. As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I was truly, truly shocked that Alex was killed. I know it's just a show and everything, but she was a 16-year-old who had just seen her boyfriend and recently-found birth mother killed, and the last words she heard were her "adoptive" father proclaiming that she meant nothing to him. That's rough.

When Waaaaalllllllttt was kidnapped at the end of Season One, so many people wrote me about how disturbed, or even nauseous, they were after that scene. That's how I felt when Alex was shot, because I knew it was final. And I knew that Rousseau must probably be dead, too. Quite sickening.

As soon became obvious, Ben also didn't think that Keamy would actually kill Alex. From his silent shocked horror after the shot rang out, to his tears of sorrow over his daughter's dead body, to his vow of revenge against Widmore at the end of the episode, it was clear that this was the first time in an extremely long time that something didn't pan out the way Ben had planned. Now many more people are going to suffer as a result of "the rules" changing.

I will end this section by saying this: Writers of Lost, if you can hear (read?) me, you better eventually kill off Keamy. And when you do, it better be good. Because right now, I do believe he is the #1 most-hated character on television.


LOOK OUT!
HELTER SKELTER... HELTER SKELTER


The next thing the Lostaways (and Miles) knew, Ben busted out to his secret closet. We viewers got a glimpse of yet another hidden door behind a bunch of Brooks Brothers jackets--this door had hieroglyphics all over it.

Shortly thereafter, Ben (looking slightly sooty) reemerges and tells the group that they have to make a run for it. As they go outside, Smokey 2.0 (looking bigger, badder and faster than ever) rages over Othersville buildings and engulfs any Evil Freighties in its path. Hurley once again voiced what everyone was thinking, "Did you just call that thing?"

After Ben had his sad goodbye with Alex, the group split into two after a tussle between Locke and Sawyer over who "got" Hurley. Miles, Sawyer, Claire and Aaron headed for the beach, while Locke, Ben and Hurley intended to find Jacob's cabin.

Here is what I deem to be important from these scenes:
- Obviously, the Hieroglyphic Door means something. We've seen tribal masks in Ben's apartment, we know the Four-Toed Statue looks ancient, and I can only assume that all of those things are connected. Good thing Charlotte, the Studier of Ancient Civilizations, is on the Island, huh?

- Ben was able to summon Smokey. I hope we eventually get to see the Smokey Phone that must be inside that Second Secret Room. It doesn't appear that Ben can outright control Smokey, though, or else he would've had it kill the helicopter crew as soon as they landed.

- At one point Claire said, "I'll live" and Miles quipped, "I wouldn't be so sure." There's only two possible meanings for his line: 1) He can not only talk to the dead, but he knows how people will die, and Claire's time is up soon (hence her eventual separation from Aaron), or 2) the writers know everyone's assuming Claire will die, so they are messing with us. I actually think #2 is what's going on. How can Claire die after she just miraculously survived her apartment blowing up? All that being said, if TPTB had no qualms about killing off an innocent 16-year-old, then they definitely aren't going to blink an eye at offing a bay-bee's momma. I had previously thought that the show wouldn't get that dark, but I was obviously completely and utterly wrong.

- Both Locke and Ben have faith that Hurley can find Jacob's cabin because they know that he's seen it before. That's all fine and good, but what I can't figure out is why Hurley, of all of the Lostaways, is the one who can see the cabin? And why can Locke no longer find it? Along these same lines, I kept wondering why Hurley ends up regretting going with Locke. At first I thought it would be because Claire gets killed. But now I think Hurley's regret will stem from helping Ben and Locke find Jacob. My Dread-O-Meter is at its highest setting right now--it's only a matter of time before we find out what goes down to make Hurley so remorseful.

- If you're anything like me, you're now even more confused as to how the Oceanic Six get off the Island. Claire is now WITH Aaron and Sawyer, they're heading toward Sun, Kate and Jack on the beach, Hurley has left Aaron, and Sayid's already gone. How is this going to work?!?!

- Does anyone else think that Miles will still somehow end up going to Jacob's cabin? I mean, isn't that kind of his thing--talking with ghost-spirits?

And now, to the even more perplexing flash-forward scenes...


A FOOL OFF HIS GUARD
COULD FALL AND FALL HARD
OUT THERE ON THE DUNES

I had no idea that it was going to be a Benry-centric episode, so I was pleasantly surprised when we first saw him gasping for air in a parka (?) as he landed in the middle of the Sahara. (By the way, the Dharma parka is being referred to as the Dharka on message boards, hee hee.)

I immediately noticed several things about the first few moments of this initial flash:
- It was Dr. Halliwax's jacket. He is the scientist that has gone by several names in the various Dharma videos. He used the name Edgar Halliwax specifically in the Orchid Station video.
- Many people think that the new Dharma logo on the jacket is therefore from the Orchid Station.
- It was a parka... meaning that Ben either thought he was going somewhere cold, had just come from somewhere cold, or... knew that the desert gets extremely cold at night. I thought I saw cold air dissipate from the area around his head when he "landed."
- Ben's right arm was bleeding.
- Ben threw up an orangey-yellow liquid. Most people think he drank the same stuff that Ethan gave to Juliet (she was told it was orange juice) before she came to the Island. Which would lead you to believe that this liquid is necessary to prevent the "side-effects" that would otherwise occur when coming to or leaving the Island.
- The polar bear skeleton that Charlotte visited was also in the middle of the desert in Tunisia.

Shortly after Ben lands, two men ride up on horses and threaten him. Little did they know that they were dealing with Indiana Ben, international adventurer and man of mystery. Instead of a whip, Indiana Ben uses an ASP baton and quickly dispatches his enemies and then rides off into the sunset on one of their horses.

Next, we see him check in at a Tunisian hotel as a "preferred guest" (imagine the points he must have!) with his Dean Moriarty passport. He asks the attendant (who seems either in awe or fearful of him after learning his identity) what the date is... and also wants to know the year. It is October 24, 2005.

Questions arising from these scenes include:
- Was Ben teleporting, or time traveling, or both? I think that, as with the Dharma-collared polar bear that wound up in the Tunisian desert, Ben was transported from the Island to Africa by some unknown method. My guess is that there is a wormhole of sorts in both locations. Ben was definitely NOT time-traveling in the sense that Desmond was... Desmond's consciousness jumped around to different points in his own life. Whereas Ben was physically transported elsewhere. The reason he wanted confirmation of the date was because of what was covered earlier... time on the Island is either moving at a different pace than it is for the rest of the world, or the Island and those on it are constantly jumping around in time and can never be sure what date it is in the "fixed" world.

- Where did Ben learn those ass-whuppin' skillz? The man knows his way around an ASP baton. (For two seconds, I thought that small black thing he was holding was a lightsaber, and I was really excited.)

- Where/when did Ben come from, how did his arm get hurt, and why is he in Halliwax's Dharka? I am fairly positive that when Ben ran into his secret closet during this episode, he was calling for Smokey and was NOT teleporting to Tunisia. More on the timeline of things a bit later.


TAKE MY HEART, TAKE MY EYES, 'CAUSE I NEED THEM NO MORE
IF NEVER AGAIN THEY FALL UPON THE ONE I SO ADORE

Poor Sayid. The writers give him no love whatsoever. I can't say I was surprised to learn that Nadia had been killed--I figured as much when we learned that He of The Black Tank Top wound up working for Ben in the future. But it was still sad to get confirmation that she was ripped out of his life for good after they had finally been reunited.

There were several things I found interesting about the few flash-forward scenes that he and Benry shared in this episode. I think everyone had figured that Ben had guilted Sayid into working for him, but as it turns out, just the opposite occurred. Ben actually warned Sayid against being motivated by anger, but Sayid pretty much begged to do Ben's dirty work, without so much as asking a single question.

Although we found out how Ben became Sayid's boss-man in the future, more questions were raised in the process:
- What was Ben's original motivation to leave the Island on this "trip?" Was he surprised to see Sayid on the TV monitor and then improvised from there--deciding on the fly to reach out to Sayid in his time of grief? If so, what had he been planning on doing on the mainland if he never saw the TV shot of Sayid? Or had Ben already been coming to recruit Sayid because he learned of Nadia's death while on the Island? (Remember that Ben has always been able to find out about mainland events even while on the Island.) He landed in the desert after Nadia had already been killed, so how did he get his hands on the picture of her supposed assassin in L.A?

- Why did Ben lie to Sayid about how he got to Iraq? We all know he did NOT take the Elizabeth off of the Island. But Sayid seemed to buy his story, which leads me to believe that the Oceanic Six have no idea about the Island's teleportation abilities. Now that I think about it, I guess it's pretty obvious why Ben lied about his method of transportation: he doesn't want anyone else to know about it. If Crazy Bearded Jack Of The Future knew about Ben's comings and goings, he'd be wanting to join in.

- What was "the heart before the head" event that Ben referenced in "The Economist" when he bandaged up Sayid's gunshot wound after Sayid killed Elsa? Recall this dialogue:

BEN: Why are you crying? Because it hurts? Or because you were stupid enough to care for her? These people don’t deserve our sympathies. Need I remind you what they did the last time you thought with your heart instead of your gun?
SAYID: You used that to recruit me into killing for you.
BEN: Do you want to protect your friends or not, Sayid? I have another name for you.
SAYID: But they know I’m after them now.
BEN: Good.

From what we now know of their first off-Island encounter, Ben didn't really recruit Sayid. Sayid jumped at the chance to work for Ben. So what were the two talking about above?

I have three ideas:
1) Sayid later finds out that he played right into Ben's plan to get him to become an assassin.
2) Something happens to one of the Lostaways because of Sayid at a later point, and we don't know what it is yet.
3) All of the Oceanic Six were told to not contact people from their lives before the crash, in addition to being ordered to keep quiet about what really happened on the Island. Sayid broke one or both of those rules by seeking out and then marrying Nadia, and so whoever is behind the O6 cover-up had Nadia killed.

- The final question raised from the Sayid/Ben future scenes is: Did Ben have Nadia killed? When Ben walks away from Sayid, he clearly smirk-smiles to himself. It was definitely a "everything is going according to my plan" expression. Is it possible that Ben had Nadia killed, knowing that Sayid would then want revenge on whomever Ben claimed was behind her murder? I really hope not, but that smirk is worrying me. Most people on the boards don't believe that Ben had Nadia killed, and instead think that the group responsible is the same group that wants the O6 to keep quiet. Ben could be smirking simply because getting Sayid on board was a lot easier than he expected. Or perhaps Ben did intend to get Sayid to kill that one specific guy in Iraq, but never considered an arrangement where Sayid would continue to carry out orders from Ben, so he was smiling and thinking, "Sweet! Now I've got a kick-ass employee!" But I can't shake the feeling that perhaps we are ALL getting fooled into believing that Ben really is "the good guy" in the Ben vs. Widmore fight.


BANG AND BLAME

The second-biggest shock of the night came when Ben went to visit none other than Charles Widmore in the final scene. How many other people thought we wouldn't see a confrontation between the two for a long, long time? Color me surprised.

As Ben referenced the fact that he had just been in Iraq, I think we can only assume that his London jaunt came on the heels of the Tunisia and Iraq trips... meaning that they all took place about ten months from the current time on the Island. It definitely seemed like this was the first time that Ben had seen Widmore since Alex's death, as that was the main topic of their conversation. But what was perhaps more surprising was that it was clearly not the first time the men had spoken to or seen each other. When the episode ended, I got the sense that the Lostaways had fallen into the middle of a high-stakes "game" of sorts that has been going on for a long time between Ben and Widmore. A game that has established rules, which Ben accused Widmore of changing when Alex was killed. As a post I read on the boards said best: "Is this all just a fight between two rich white guys over real estate?"

Have you ever seen the movie The Game with Michael Douglas? If you haven't, you should, because it rocks. But anyway, that's what I was reminded of when "The Shape of Things to Come" ended.

There are so... many... questions (again) that arose from the final minutes of the episode. Here are the ones I think are most important:
- Why did Ben wait ten months to confront Widmore about Alex's death? If we are to believe that (more or less) the same amount of time had passed on the Island as it had in the real world, what took Ben so long? It doesn't seem like Widmore is in hiding or anything, so I don't think he was particularly hard for Ben to find. Was Ben not able to leave the Island any earlier? Or did Ben not actually want to leave the Island, but did so because he was under attack there once again (hence the cut on his arm when he landed), and then he figured he'd knock a bunch of things off of his To Do list whilst back on the mainland? Or as I said earlier, maybe Ben left the Island because he had heard about Nadia's death, and then just rolled his visit to Widmore into his off-Island itinerary. And by the way, even though Ben asked for confirmation of the date in Tunisia, I do think that roughly the same amount of time had passed on the Island as it had elsewhere. Ben most likely knows of the slight time-distorting nature of the Island and just wanted to make sure "when" he was... but judging from how he looked, I would say that he definitely made the trip after the O6 had left the Island (and Sayid obviously confirmed this as well).

- Why does Widmore claim that the Island was once his and that Ben stole it? Most people think that this means that Widmore was either behind the original Dharma group that Ben killed in The Purge, or that he was possibly a member of the Black Rock crew (which would require him to not age, like Ageless Richard). I definitely got the sense that Widmore had in fact been to the Island before. Regardless of why Widmore claims that the Island was once his, it's now clear why he wanted the Black Rock journal. It's also pretty likely that Libby was working for Widmore, and that the "gift" of the Elizabeth boat to Desmond was a set-up. Widmore wanted Des to land on the Island, but he probably thought he'd be able to easily find him afterward... my bet is that the ship may have had a tracking device on it.

- And now that we've been reminded of Ageless Richard... where in the hell is he, and how does he fit in to all of this? That goes for Jacob, too. Does Widmore know about Jacob? And if Widmore claims the Island was once his, what kind of connection does he have, if any, to Richard's group of supposed "hostiles?" And are Richard and his peeps at the Sanctuary clued in to the war that's going on over in Othersville? It would be awesome if Keamy met his demise by way of Ageless Richard of the Bushy Eyebrows and Unnaturally Long Eyelashes jumping down from a tree and attacking him "Island native-style."

And by the way, despite what others on the message boards seem to think, I definitely believe Ben can get back to the Island again just as easily as he left. From his words to the hotel clerk in Tunisia, it's obvious he's done this sort of thing before. The question is, did he ever go back to the Island after the trip to recruit Sayid and visit Widmore? Sayid's flash-forward in Berlin was most likely significantly into the future, and Ben was there to sew Sayid up. Had he gone back to the Island in the meantime?

- What's up with Widmore apparently not being able to be killed?

WIDMORE: Have you come here to kill me, Benjamin?
(Widmore sips the whiskey.)
BEN: We both know I can't do that.

Most people seem to think that, just like Michael not being able to die off-Island, Widmore can't, either. And the reason would be because the Island won't let these people be killed. The only other thing I can think of is that maybe one of "the rules" is that Ben and Widmore can't kill each other. But I'm leaning more toward the Island explanation, because if Ben thought Widmore had cheated in killing Alex, then it seems like all bets would be off. I also think the Island still has a hold over Widmore because of the nightmares he mentioned.

- Will the last name Ben gives Sayid on the Assassination List be Penelope Widmore? And if it is, will Sayid kill her? I think that Ben WILL give Sayid Penny's name, and that it will be one of the climactic scenes near the end of the series... a "will he or won't he?" moment where it appears that Sayid is actually considering doing the deed. But I don't think he would go through with it. He was witness to Desmond's end of that crazy Christmas Eve phone call that would've melted the heart of The Grinch. Plus, Sayid knows what it's like to lose the love of his life. I just don't think he'd do that to Desmond.

- Perhaps the bigger question regarding Penny isn't whether Sayid (or Ben) will kill her, but rather, where is she? Widmore told Ben he'd "never find her." Is there some other hidden Island out there Ben doesn't know about? Where in the heck is Penny in October 2005? And is Desmond with her?


LAND OF CONFUSION

The more I thought about this episode, the more it messed with my head. There are a few miscellaneous topics I wanted to cover that didn't seem to fit neatly elsewhere in this post, so here they are:

- Some people figure that Jack's serious illness will be what leads him to become one of the 06. "He's got to get off this Island or he's going to die!" They think that his weak condition would explain why he wouldn't want someone else to leave in his place... with his savior complex and all. I definitely don't buy that argument. Remember that Jack had no qualms about leaving the Island via submarine with Juliet before Locke blew the sub to smithereens. Whether Jack would've actually gotten off the Island in the sub doesn't matter, he truly believed he was going to get out of there. So it's not like he's never considered leaving without insisting that others (say Claire and Aaron) also get to go at the same time. I think Jack's illness is going to be wrapped up some other way and will have nothing to do with why he becomes one of the O6. What I still can't figure out, however, is why Jack initially has his "we're never going back!" attitude shortly after returning home. It seems like, considering what we now know must go down on the Island, he would've felt guilty immediately after returning home.

- Why is everyone on the mainland so shocked when they learn of Ben's identity? WHO IS BENJAMIN LINUS? How did he go from a newborn baby in a forest in Oregon to a nerdy kid on the Island to an international man of mystery and power? The hotel clerk looked freaked out when she read his record in the register, and even the guy that Sayid killed paused a beat when Ben identified himself. Widmore said to Ben, "I know who you are... what you are." Miles had previously said something similar: "Like I don't know who you are... or what you can do." What does all of this mean??? Is Ben like Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate? (Another great movie...)

- And as far as Charles Widmore goes... there is obviously now a big question mark over his background as well. We know that he runs Widmore Corporation and is Penny's father, but the exact nature of his involvement with the Island is up in the air. Before we just thought he was trying to find the Island and exploit it (which is what Ben told Locke), but now it seems that he once controlled it. Some people thought that Widmore is "the economist" who Elsa was working for, but I don't think that's the case. Sayid and Ben were trying to find the economist, and there's never been a problem finding Widmore. Plus, Elsa was also trying to figure out the identity of Sayid's employer. If the economist was Widmore, he would know that Sayid was working for Ben, especially after Ben told Widmore that he'd just been to Iraq (and the Sayid/Elsa flash-forward happened after that point). So I still maintain that there is another group or person that is involved in the battle for the Island.

- If you are confused about the timeline of the flash-forwards, Lostpedia has constructed a good guesstimate of how they fit together here.



BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE


AUTOMATED FEMALE VOICE: (Over phone) Code 14-J. Code 14-J.
HURLEY: Who is it?
LOCKE: I think it's for Ben.

SAWYER: Let me guess... "14-J" ain't the code for the pizza boy.

MILES: They told me they were just security.
LOCKE: Security for what?
MILES: (Indicates Ben) For him. Once they got him, to escort him back to the mainland.
BEN: Well, Miles, sounds like you're not gonna collect your $3.2 million.

HURLEY: You guys go back to the beach. I'll catch up sooner or later.
SAWYER: (To Locke) You harm so much as one hair on his curly head... I'll kill you.



MAN: Surrender! Surrender!
BEN: Oh, so you do speak English.
(Ben hits knocks the man unconscious with the butt of the rifle.)

(A silenced gunshot, and Bakir falls forward, dead, revealing Sayid behind him with a gun. Sayid turns the gun down, away from Ben, toward Bakir. Another shot, and another, and another, and another, and another, click, click, click, click, click, click, click.)
BEN: That should do it.



WIDMORE (to Ben): Don't stand there, looking at me with those horrible eyes of yours...
[e: Whoa, he went there!]



A NOTE ON SPOILERS AND A GUESS FOR THE NEXT EPISODE

As you all know, I am vehemently anti-spoiler. Over the past week, I have been forewarned by countless people that spoilers are all over the web about the rest of Season Four... so much so that many sites actually just assume fans have now heard certain things and no longer feel the need to warn readers before referencing what will come to pass on the show. For this reason, I am not reading any other episode reviews or going to any site-related message boards for the balance of the season... I just enjoy my spoiler-free status too much. I also haven't read things like the fan theories that were graded by the the producers in USA Today, because quite frankly, I don't want to know who's close to figuring it out! My brother has been nice enough to pass pre-screened ideas and thoughts on each episode to me so that I can keep a proverbial finger on the pulse of the unspoiled Lost fan community. But I felt that I should pass those spoiler warnings on to others who want to remain surprised over the course of the next month.

So here is my in-the-dark guess as to what is going to happen next week. I think there's actually a chance that Jack will die. I have no idea how it could work since we know he is one of the O6 and is obviously alive in the future, but I just have a weird feeling about it. Either that will happen, or they're going to somehow get him to the freighter where Not-Yet-Dead Doc Ray is going to perform emergency surgery. Or knowing The Mad Doctor, he'll perform surgery on himself. Either way, it's bound to be interesting...

Until next week,
- e