Lost S04E06 Mar 06 - The Other Woman

[RigaMortus2]

Finally confirmation that Widmore is the guy behind the boat.

Confirmation? Really? Wait a minute... Who told you this? Oh, Ben... And you would take Ben's word for it, that Widmore is intereted in the island? I see...


Seriously, all Ben did was show Locke a video of Widmore assaulting someone. We don't know who or why. Everything else was narrated by Ben. Not sure I beleive him, since it's his last bargaining chip and all...

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

Confirmation? Really? Wait a minute... Who told you this? Oh, Ben... And you would take Ben's word for it, that Widmore is intereted in the island? I see...

This kinda puzzled me as well. That said, why did Minkowski last ep say that they were told not to answer the calls from Penelope? Unless there's a kind of father-daughter rivalry going on there. Wonder if Ben was sort of telling the truth (the boat IS Widmore's), but at some point the freighterfolk went off on their own, or possibly that Widmore is being undermined by Mr. Abaddon.

Next ep is Sun and Jin... maybe we'll get some stuff on Sun's dad.

Although I did think that the ep supported the Locke/Jacob deal, with Ben asking Locke how many people would come see him, being all miraculously healed and stuff. Makes you think about WHY Jacob is so hard to find/see... either this is more for the "Jacob is future Locke" theory, or Jacob was someone who had some kind of miracle when he came to the island.

If they said I forget... we've been taping Lost and watching it Friday, and for some reason I find the show harder to process that way. What was the gas Faraday and Charlotte were venting in the Tempest station (awesome name, BTW)? It's apparently the nerve agent Ben and the Others used to kill off Dharma, but occurring naturally? Could it be something volcanic (they alluded to a volcano in the Dharma ep)?

 

[Asmo]

Some pretty cool speculations regarding the Tempest over at Doc´s place:

http://www.docarzt.com/lost-thoery-lost-in-the-tempes.php

Asmo

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Confirmation? Really? Wait a minute... Who told you this? Oh, Ben... And you would take Ben's word for it, that Widmore is intereted in the island? I see...

Considering that Widmore was last seen bidding on (and winning) the Hansoo's ledger from the Black Rock (in a scene totally unconnected to Ben), it seems a pretty safe bet to me.

(And why would Ben have a file and a videotape of Widmore locked away in his safe- where no one else could get them- if there wasn't some truth to the matter. As much of a planner as Ben is, I'd find it to be a pretty ridiculous bit of Xanatos Roulette. Not to mention that Naomi was in possession of a photo of Desmond and Penelope that could only have been obtained by a very limited number of people- one of whom could be Penelope's father.)

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

...it seems a pretty safe bet to me.

The show invests too much power into Ben. It makes him quasi-omniscient and quasi-omnipotent. He did send the shrink out to order Juliet to kill the couple from the freighter, rather than allow them to neutralize the place. As a captive of Locke, in the basement, he should not have know what they were doing or been able to communicate the fact to the shrink. But the show grants him vast power, reducing everyone else to a puppet. Ben is also a liar, sadist, petty, selfish, patricidal, traitorous power whore. If Ben said the sky was blue, I would look to double check.

 

[Shayuri]

I definitely get the feeling Ben has seen what's to come. perhaps he's been timeshifted back from the future...where he's seen something he's so desperate to avoid he's willing to do -anything- to avert it?

 

[LightPhoenix]

I don't know what was going on, but there were a few instances where I couldn't make out what people were saying. I don't know if the dialogue was muddy or the music too loud, but I had to go back a couple times to catch stuff. Was this just me?

Also, my Lost-Fu is failing me - the therapist said Juliet looked like "her." Who was she talking about? Ben's childhood friend?

I definitely agree this was the weakest episode so far, but I didn't think it was awful.

I liked the characterization... maybe I'm just a fan of Juliet. Also, thanks for the fan-service writers! Maybe this is me giving motives that aren't clear, but I think Charlotte started out okay, but after the ordeal with Locke she's taken on a "these people are trouble" attitude. Faraday is the character Charlie should have been... also, he's awesome.

Yet more implication that Locke's group is basically becoming Others, and Locke is becoming Ben.

My biggest problem with the episode was the "gas" could have used a little more explanation as to what was so bad about it. Yes, I know Ben used it in his flashback. For that matter, why is a poison gas in a power station? I think maybe I thought this episode was weak because it raised more questions than it answered.

I definitely get the feeling Ben has seen what's to come. perhaps he's been timeshifted back from the future...where he's seen something he's so desperate to avoid he's willing to do -anything- to avert it?

I had a similar thought, that perhaps Ben has a clue as to the time-shifting, if not actively using it.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

He did send the shrink out to order Juliet to kill the couple from the freighter, rather than allow them to neutralize the place.

That's assuming, of course, that Ben was the one who did the ordering. Given the way Harper mysteriously appeared and disappeared, it seems not unlikely that "she" might have been Jacob/the Monster rather than actually being a person.

So Ben could conceivably still be in contact with Jacob (though it's not seeming like it since the encounter in the cabin at the end of last season), or else it could be Jacob who sent Juliette, rather than Ben. Juliette just assumed it was Ben, but as much as Ben doesn't want anyone to discover the island, I think he's far too self-interested to allow himself to be killed by gas (which is why I don't think Ben had anything to do with it).

I also don't believe there's any way that Ben could be in contact with the Others at this point. He's the only one that Jacob communicates with (aside from Locke and now Hurley), so Jacob wouldn't be acting as a go-between with them. And he's been imprisoned in a tiny cell for the past couple of episodes. I suppose the writers could handwave that away as being part of Ben's uber-plotting abilities, but until I see it, I'm going to assume that's not the case (because it would just be too ridiculous).

Right now, I'm thinking that Jacob is so concerned that the island is going to be compromised that he/it is willing to do whatever it takes- including the possible killing of his contacts Ben and Locke- to keep that from happening, and acted on his/its own accord to send Juliette to kill Charlotte and Dan.

 

[Mark CMG]

Also, my Lost-Fu is failing me - the therapist said Juliet looked like "her." Who was she talking about? Ben's childhood friend?

Like her, maybe?

http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Image:3x20_emily_is_creepy.jpg

 

[Mark CMG]

He did send the shrink out to (. . .)

Did he? Seems more like a trick of the island, with the way she got away and all, than something Ben could have accomplished under the circumstances. Ben was still under lock(e) and key. How could Ben get to the therapist to send the message? Was the therapist following all of them and waiting until the freighter friends decided to go to the power station before bothering to intervene with Juliette? Does it make sense to let the freighter friends get a head start? Can't the therapist or another Other simply kill the freighter friends rather than wait until they get away and then send Juliette after them late? If the therapist really can move in and out of situations at gunpoint in front of Juliette and Jack, why can't she do the dirty work herself? I do not think that was the actual therapist or any other Other.