by Teresa Jusino
Oh, Ben. Oh, crazy Ben. Oh, crazy, smarmy Ben. Oh, crazy, smarmy, megalomaniacal Ben. Just when I thought you couldn’t get any more creeptastic, you take creepy to a whole new level. I kind of love that about you. What I didn’t love was the most recent episode of Lost. The fact that it was co-written by the same writer that brought us “The Crappy Episode about Jack’s Tattoo” should’ve tipped me off. But since this season has been going so well, I hoped for the best.
“The Other Woman” started with such promise. Juliet off the island. Wait, is she one of the Oceanic Six? Then why the strangely “nineties” hair? She speaks with a therapist about hating the “celebrity” aspect of her situation. Yes! This is a Juliet flash-forward! Then the therapist starts talking to her about Ben, and about being new to the island. No, this is a flashback. Sneaky one, Lost. I love how you tease…
However, the episode degenerates into the most boring episode about an affair and a toxic gas leak ever filmed for television. The introduction of Harper Stanhope, Goodwin’s wife and Juliet’s therapist, seemed an enormous waste. Did we really need anything other than Ben’s obsession with Juliet to make her relationship with Goodwin a problem? Did he have to be a married man, too? Did she really need to appear to Juliet in the jungle to relay to her that Ben wants her to kill Daniel and Charlotte? I mean, it’s interesting that she seemingly comes from the same place as the Mysterious Island Whispers (we hear them both as she appears and as she disappears), but even that’s not interesting enough to warrant her existence. Harper, for me, highlighted one of my main complaints about the show….THERE ARE TOO MANY DAMN CHARACTERS! Seriously, it seems that every time this show wants to add a twist, they conveniently add a new character. My Caring About New Characters Limit was reached when you introduced four new ones at the beginning of the season. Stop adding people, Lost, especially to the Island! It’s physically impossible for me to care about them all. Also, we’re too close to the end of the series for there to be more character introductions on the Island. If you want to keep adding characters, add them off the island, where they belong.
The one truly interesting piece of information that Harper had to offer was when she confronted Juliet about the affair with Goodwin and said that Ben would be angry. I’ve always thought there was something weirdly quasi-sexual about Ben’s relationship with Juliet, and so his being in love with her makes perfect sense and explains so much. Harper also tells Juliet that it was inevitable that Ben would latch onto Juliet, because she “looks so much like her.” This made me think…Annie? We still don’t know the fate of the girl Ben was in love with in his youth; whether she survived the Purge, where she is now… I’ve been curious about that since last season, and hope it will finally be addressed.
In any case, Ben’s interactions with Juliet were the highlight of this episode, veering from awkwardly sweet to creepy to downright psychotic over the course of single scenes. It was brilliant to watch. As always, Michael Emerson delivered a fascinating, nuanced performance as Ben, but I need to take this time to praise Elizabeth Mitchell. While this wasn’t Juliet’s best episode, Mitchell does so much with her character here. It’s funny…I hated Juliet for the first couple of episodes, calling her Smirky McSmirksalot, or some variation of that name while becoming increasingly annoyed with her. However, she always succeeded in revealing just enough vulnerability to keep me interested long enough to watch the character evolve into the well-rounded, interesting Juliet we know today. Intelligent, well-intentioned, vulnerable with rough edges, proactive, and badass when she needs to be, Juliet is what Kate would’ve been if Kate had balls. Er, ovaries. Whatever. The point is, even though she appeared first on the show, Kate is Juliet Light.
Speaking of Kate, can we talk about how stupid and useless she was this episode for a minute? She encounters Daniel and Charlotte in the jungle and thinks herself so smart for noticing the green light on their radio and asking about Daniel’s backpack. Then she asks to have a look through Daniel’s bag. I couldn’t believe that she was actually this stupid after having been so pointedly suspicious! As this is happening, I said aloud to the person with whom I was watching, Gee, this would be a great opportunity for Charlotte to hit her over the head with a….
BAM!
Sure enough, Charlotte takes her out by hitting her in the back of the head. God, but Kate’s a moron. How she evaded the law for so long, I’ll never know. I suppose batting one’s eyelashes works wonders. Thing is, that doesn’t work so much with straight women, which is why Kate will have to come up with a new plan next time she faces Charlotte…or Juliet…or her own mother, for that matter.
But enough about One-Trick Kate.
This episode had some great single moments, like Locke giving Ben a dollar. (I love how sarcastic and funny Locke has gotten in the midst of his crazy), or Ben’s dinner date with Juliet (my TV screen started oozing creepy). But overall, the episode was slow and boring, and the ending was sloppy. Daniel and Charlotte still have some serious ‘splaining to do…
[nms:lost abc,1,0]
And lastly, WILL THEY JUST BRING BACK MICHAEL ALREADY?! For goodness’ sake! Harold Perrineau’s name has been in the credits since the beginning of the season, and we all “know” he’s Ben’s man on the boat. Whether he actually is or not, that question needs to be answered stat. Pronto. Immédiatement. That’s one that can’t wait any longer.
TERESA JUSINO was born on the same day that Skylab fell. Coincidence? She doesn’t think so. As a writer, her work has appeared in Elmont Life newspaper, and on the sadly defunct website, CentralBooking.com. She is currently at work on a collection of short stories. As a geek, Teresa loves Star Trek, Lost, comics, and anything Joss Whedon ever touched. Also, she has a fangirl *squee-ing* crush on Brian K. Vaughan. Yes, she knows he’s married. Teresa recommends: 5 Minute Lost
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TERESA JUSINO was born on the same day that Skylab fell. Coincidence? She doesn't think so. As a writer, her work has appeared in Elmont Life newspaper, and on the sadly defunct website, CentralBooking.com. She is a founding member and editor of The Revolving Door Commune Blog, is currently at work on a collection of short stories, and is writing a web series for Pareidolia Films called The Pack, which is set to debut this fall! As a geek, Teresa loves all Star Trek, Lost, Fringe, comics, and anything Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, and Neil Gaiman ever touched. She is also an aspiring fangbanger. 
I like the strange but time travel is “too” much! David Lynch type stuff.
Lost got me all involved and excited again and then it pulls this season two type of nonsense. Looking at the previews for this week, it’s pretty clear that the man on the boat is Michael – we saw his hair in silhouette. But, just why would Locke need to sit down to hear that from Ben? After the Jacob thing, getting shot, seeing Walt, using a granade as a gag, and leading a pissy insurrection, I say that hearing, “Michael is my man on the boat,” wouldn’t be too shocking for Locke.
However, “The man on the boat? Well, it’s me, John. . . ” Now, that would have required some sitting. For a minute I thought that was it. I thought I was right. Then Michael’s tell-tale hair ruined it.