“I swallowed a bug.” - River Tam

by Teresa Jusino

Oh, Ben. I know I’ve alluded to my feelings before, but I’ve never actually said the words. Saying the words is important, otherwise how would you ever really be sure of how I feel? So, I’ll say it. I love you, Ben. I love your crazy, and I love your deep, deep sadness. I love the way all the answers seem to be hidden in your creepy stare. I love your snide, instigating quips. Mostly, I love the way you can disarm a dude on horseback, use his gun to shoot his armed friend, knock him cold, and steal his horse. Ben, I wanna be Harley Quinn to your Joker. Let’s avenge your daughter’s death together, Puddin’.

There was so much badass in this week’s episode of Lost, I don’t even know where to begin. “The Shape of Things to Come” was divided into three segments. In the first, featuring Locke, Ben & Co. at the Others’ compound, the group face an attack from team on the freighter, a faux-death for Claire, (don’t worry, she’s still alive. Even if her house did explode around her.) and a real death for Alex in front of Ben, which caught the usually calm and in-control Ben by complete surprise. Locke, Hurley, and a distraught Ben end up going off to search for Jacob and the cabin as Sawyer takes Claire and Aaron back to the beach camp. Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, Jack, Kate, Bernard and the rest of the survivors at the beach find the washed-up body of the freighter’s doctor. His throat has been cut. At Bernard’s suggestion, Faraday fixes the broken sat-phone just enough to be able to broadcast Morse code to the freighter, but he isn’t entirely honest about the response he gets. Luckily, Bernard knows Morse code. Faraday confesses to Jack that the freighter was never going to take the survivors off the island.

The rest of the episode was a flash-forward taking place in October 2005 that followed Ben from a Tunisian desert, to a Tunisian city, to Sayid’s hometown in Iraq, revealing how he got Sayid to be willing to kill for him. It then followed him to London for the showdown of all showdowns. He gets into Charles Widmore’s apartment in the middle of the night, but Widmore doesn’t seem surprised to see him. He asks if Ben is there to kill him, and Ben says “We both know I can’t do that.” Ben confronts him about Alex’s death, telling him that he will go after Penny and kill her so that Widmore will know how he feels. Widmore doesn’t seem too phased by this, and is instead preoccupied with the island being “his.” Ben insists he will never find the island. The game is on.

This episode was amazing for a number of reasons, but the most important was yet another amazing performance from Michael Emerson as Ben. The scene in which Ben attempts to put on a steely façade and use reverse psychology by daring Keamy to kill Alex because she “means nothing” to him, then watches in horror as Keamy calls his bluff and shoots her is one of the most heartbreaking and intense moments I’ve seen on the show in a long time. Emerson is a brilliant actor who has taken a potentially one-dimensional character and infused him with humanity. His is always a stunning performance to watch.

However, he had a lot to work with in this episode. Brian K. Vaughan and Drew Goddard did some wonderful storytelling in this fast-paced episode. It’s becoming more and more clear that the show is in very capable hands with this current team of writers as they deftly reveal important plot points without giving away too much, We learned just enough about life both on and off the island to answer some questions (like, Why the hell would Sayid ever work for Ben?!) while making us ask others (like, Does Nadia’s death actually have anything to do with Widmore, or is Ben just manipulating Sayid to enlist his help in eventually going after Penny?).

Amazing ABC show LOST Naveen Andrews SAYID Montage

US $9.99 (0 Bid) End Date: Thursday Dec-04-2008 15:48:07 PST Buy It Now for only: US $18.99 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

This is not to say there aren’t ever any missteps. In my review of “Meet Kevin Johnson”, I complained about a redundant opening scene. This week’s complaint isn’t quite so dire. But for goodness’ sake, how is it that Sawyer can be shot at by people with automatic weapons and not get hit, his only protection being a broken down picnic table and a flimsy picket fence?! Especially after those same people shot 3 or 4 nameless survivors just before him! That was a bit ridiculous.

But make no mistake. This episode was a great one! If this is “The Shape of Things to Come”, I’m looking forward to the rest of this season!

More food for thought:

**Did Ben go behind that wall to sic the black smoke on the freighter people? Or to time travel forward to October 2005?

**When Ben woke up in the desert, he was wearing a PARKA and was wounded. Theories? (Remember that Charlotte found the remains of a polar bear in a Dharma collar in a desert in Tunisia)

** Why can’t Ben kill Widmore?

Never miss an update. Subscribe to Pink Raygun by Email or subscribe via RSS

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