Holy Cannoli! aka LOST: The Shape of Things to Come

I can not even gather my thoughts enough to write a post about tonight's episode of LOST. But let it be said that tonight's episode was unbelievably fantastic. At this point, I feel pity for those that decided to "give up" on Lost last season. Fools! Sean fake-slapped me about 20 times after that episode (which only makes sense if you know him very well). Alright let me see if I can divide this up into sub-categories.

This was a Ben episode, and his have proved very entertaining/educating in the past. The very beginning of his flash forward is him waking up (or what I thought looked a lot like "landing") in the Sahara. Wearing a parka. Interesting that situated right in the Sahara Desert is Tunisia, where Charlotte discovered the polar bear. Also, Ben is dressed for cold weather, probably coming from a place where a polar bear might live. And, a place where a couple of guys that know Penny might have been hunting for a signal a couple of seasons ago. Interesting. Either way, we know Ben is "traveling" off the island, and now my guess is that he can do some sort of "jump" between Dharma locations. In addition, what is the cut on his arm? The writers wanted us to see that, so why?

The least important issue that happened in this episode was that the boat's doctor's dead body washed ashore, sporting a freshly slit throat. But in communication with the boat, they say the doctor is fine. Hmmm... I don't even know what that means. Not to say this is unimportant, but for all the information we got in this episode, this seemed the least critical.

Seriously, how can Jack continue this fake affair with Juliet when Kate is there, flirting with him and staring at him longingly. I guess we'll see a little more of what happens next week when Jack apparently deals with a burst appendix. Sean totally guessed it just from the hand on the side (since he had his appendix out a few years back).

I didn't even have time to be happy about Sayid having found Nadia and marrying her, because we found out she was dead at that same moment. And, boy, Ben sure did manipulate him into working for him. He is good! But now we know how that came about.

For once, I didn't know before I saw this episode that there would be a death. I have to say, being spoiler-free was great! But it made Alex's death that much more awful. For a split second, I thought she might die, but then I told myself, "No, that would just be wrong." But the writers weren't afraid to go there and certainly adds a new dimension to Ben's storyline and personality. It also adds to the "This is war!" mentality he already displayed. So much so, that Ben makes a call to Mr. Smokey to come save the day. I guess he is a good ally.

What is the game that Widmore and Ben have agreed to? Literally, it looks as though they are bent on winning, and have a set of (possibly unspoken) rules. And the prize? The island, it seems. But Widmore has broken the rules. Come on, I didn't believe for a second that he only considered Alex to be a pawn in the grand plans. If he was so capable of using people and unable/willing to have a relationship, he wouldn't have his Juliet obsession. He wants love like the rest of us. He just wants some other crazy things that I don't get.


I find myself rooting for Ben at times and then shaming myself for it. First off, Michael Emerson is so amazing in this role, that I want to like him. But also, it is like on Survivor, when a contestant you hate pulls off a big swing in the votes and someone you didn't expect goes home. You are so impressed at the tactics that you just have to give him credit!