Lost Thoughts: The Shape of Things to Come

Boy, I'll really hand it to the writers of Lost. Their ability to absolutely take my breath away in every episode in amazing. More than once I gripped the sofa not believing what I was seeing or hearing. But since so much happened tonight, let's hash it out.

Jack and the Case of the Tummy Troubles -
Jack is pretty benign this episode (but isn't he always?), except to pop a few pills (wait, I'm getting a vision of your future Jack!) for a self-diagnosed stomach bug. Well there you have it, a neatly framed plot device for not-tonight's episode.

Better Off Than the Other Doc -
The Boater's doc is having more than tummy trouble right now. Poor guy's had his throat slit and ended up in the ocean, washing ashore for the Losties to find. The only trouble is, the Boaters send word that the doc's fine. I'm getting a whiff of more space-time continuim shenanigans. Or could the Boaters be lying to pacify the Island folk?

GI Joe -
Let's all give a big jungle welcome to Martin Keemey (sp?...oh heck, let's just call him GI Joe)! Joe and his army pals are storming the jungle, and have so far shot down Karl, Danielle Rousseau, and Karl's water bottle. And now they have Alex as a bargaining chip to ferret Ben out of his hole. Do the other on-island Boaters know about GI Joe & company? And is the green beret objective to kill everyone on the island, like Ben says? If that's not their objective, then Claire's house must've done something to really piss them off. Watch out other Losties! He hates these houses! More houses!

Like Fish in a Barrel -

The writers...I mean, jungle commandos....did a nice job of picking off the extraneous crash survivors that had to be explained away. What have we learned from this? If you see someone just out the door getting shot, wait a little bit before running to help them. I swear, if one more body went down I would've thought it was an episode of The Family Guy.

Awesome Use of a Gun in a Piano Bench -

This deserves a badass shout-out. Ben quietly playing a sonata on his piano has a sawed-off shotgun ready to rock in the piano bench...you know, just in case. Now that is wicked crazy laugh-outloud awesome.

Farewell, Alex. I Hardly Mocked You -

In a very brutal and gasp-enducing moment, we see GI Joe personally take out Alex with a single bullet to the back of the head - right in full view of Ben. Even this bloodless "family friendly" execution for network tv is gut wrenching to watch. And nearly as wrenching was seeing some true emotion register on Ben's face besides gratification. Mark this as the point in the series where the game escalates and all the rules have changed - as it appropriately marked by Ben's comments "He changed the rules". Clearly, Ben thought that Papa Widmore wouldn't go after his daughter. Ben thought wrong.

Unleash the Dogs of War -

Apparently the changing of the "rules" between Ben and Papa Widmore entailed Ben not unleashing the Security System Smoke Monster Beastie on any commandos that raid his town. But with poor Alex's lifeless corpse just outside his livingroom window, I think Ben changed his mind. As we learn this episode, the "controls" or "command center" for the Smoke Beastie are hidden in Ben's suit vault, behind the suits, behind the false closet back, behind the foot-thick concrete door.

Ben's Frequent Flyer Miles -

This week's flash forward is brought to you by the date 10/24/2005. That's roughly just after Ben mysteriously awakes in the Sahara Desert, caps a couple of Arab riders, steals their horse, and makes for a Tunisian hotel where he's a "preferred customer". I don't know whose face looked more shocked and intimidated during that whole sequence: My face at seeing Ben ride off on a horse like a General going to war, or the poor Concierge lady at the hotel realizing what kind of "preferred customer" Ben is. So why did Ben wake up in the desert? Who left him there? And why was he wearing a coat/jumper with a "Halliwax" label on it? Is that anything like Haliburton? Because those people scare the shit out of me too!

Where's Huey Lewis & The News When You Need Them? -

Something a little fishy about Ben's Tunisian hotel check-in was his lack of certainty about the date - specifically what year it was. Is there still more time travel hijinx afoot? Ugh.

Unlucky in Love -

While we're on Mr. Ben's Wild Ride across Tunisia, we discover the sad fate of poor Sayid - husband....nay, widower...to his beloved Nadia. Sayid had finally found and married his long lost love in LA, California. Only for her to be killed a VERY short time later. How did she die? Clearly it was at the hands of Papa Widmore, or so Sayid easily believes. Why would Papa Widmore still be going after Sayid and Nadia? To find out what they know about the Island's location?

The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship -

In Iraq, we catch up with Sayid mauling Ben at Nadia's funeral procession. Nah, it's not that interesting that this is where their alliance is formed, and where Sayid becomes an indentured servant to Ben, International Man of Mystery. What's more interesting is Ben's pep talk right before Sayid signs on the figurative dotted line: "Once you let your grief become anger, it never goes away." Is Ben only speaking of his grief over Alex? Or does he have a much longer, deeper grief he's been growing for many years?

Why Is Papa Still Alive??? -

So Ben breaks into Papa Widmore's hotel room, catches him fast asleep and snookered on McCutcheon's Whiskey. Game over. Papa should've hired a security squad (come to think of it, where is this mass murderer/conspirator/ne'er-do-weller's security force? Even Dr. Evil had the Fembots and Oddjob.) Anyway, back to Ben sneaking into his unprotected room. Why won't he just cap him right then and there? I know it's not very poetic since then he won't feel the pain of losing a child....yada, yada, yada...but then the Island would be safe, right? I'll go get my gun, we can do it together, BOOM!

Penny, Are Your Ears Burning? -

The price of being a rich kid. All the global assassins want to bump you off in retribution for your dad faking a commercial airline crash, hunting for a secret supernatural island, assassinating other daughters, and killing hundreds of innocent people. Poor little rich girl.

I Just Feel Bad For Desmond -

Com'on! It'd be nice for just one sweet adorable in-love couple to make it and find happiness in the normal outside world. We know it can't happen for Alex and Karl. Or Charlie and Claire. Or Sayid and Nadia. Or Sayid and Shannon. Or Kate and Jack. Or Kate and Sawyer. But why did they have to kill my buzz about Desmond and Penn? Damon and Carlton, who hurt you to make you hate love so much? WHO?

Stolen Property -

Just as Ben is announcing the vendetta against Penn, Papa Widmore drops a bombshell for the home audience - he once had control of the island (the Dharma Initiative, maybe?). And the way he sees it, Ben stole it from him. Nah, this doesn't answer anything or give us many more clues. But it's a tiny piece of the puzzle nonetheless.

FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE EPISODE:

"Australia's the key to the whole game." - Hurley says to Sawyer while playing a game of Risk

THINGS YOU MIGHT'VE MISSED:

• When Ben is bluffing to get to Papa Widmore's hotel room, he says he's going to see "Mr. & Mrs. Kendrick in 4E".


• The fence security code Alex punched in - which triggered the invasion alarm to Ben - was 1622. That is also the year of the Jamestown Massacre.


• When Ben encounters the desert riders, he speaks to them in Turkish, Arabic, and English, proving that Ben is multilingual.


• One of the desert riders notes that Ben did not leave a trail in the sand, asking "Where did he come from? Down from the sky?"


• Claire's put on a bit of weight, especially in the face - suggesting this actress might be pregnant. It's always fun to watch them play the game of "hide the belly" through episodes!