Waiting five weeks for a new episode of Lost kind of felt like being stuck in a time loop. Technically it wasn’t that long of a wait, but after the cliffhanger ending of “Meet Kevin Johnson,” it certainly seemed like a thousand days went by before tonight’s episode. When we last left the castaways, Rousseau and Karl were shot by mystery men in the jungle, Locke was trying to plan his next move, and the Losties on the beach were still awaiting rescue. Tonight, a giant battle breaks out and we learn more about “The Shape of Things to Come.”
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The remainder of Lost‘s fourth season begins on the beach. Jack (Matthew Fox) is popping some pills from the makeshift island pharmacy, claiming that he has some sort of bug. Kate stops by to make conversation and chat about crackers, but their nice moment is soon interrupted when a mysterious body washes up on the beach. Faraday confirms that it’s the doctor from the freighter, but the real question is who slit his throat?
While Sawyer (Josh Holloway) and Hurley play a game of Risk (very fitting, I’d say), the mystery men force Alex to turn off the island’s fence. They better not cry to her when Smokey flies by and thrashes them. Back in the barracks, Locke receives a phone call. It’s a recording repeating “Code 14-J” over and over again. Ben grabs a shotgun, obviously aware that 14-J is the code for big trouble.
Ben flash-forwards to the Sahara Desert, where he wakes up shaking and nauseous. Could that be because he just teleported there using the Orchid Station, or is that just my crazy idea? He’s approached by two gun-wielding men on horseback, who he quickly dispatches with a kick-ass baton move. He steals one of the horses, rides off, and Ben (Michael Emerson) the action hero is born.
Code 14-J is a signal that someone has been captured and forced to deactivate the fence. Ben tells Locke to stick by his side. The freighter folk won’t risk hurting Ben, so staying near him is the best idea. The group barricades themselves in Ben’s place, but Sawyer is outside looking for Claire (Emilie de Ravin) when machine gun fire breaks out. Random red shirts are shot while Sawyer avoids ridiculous hails of bullets. Before the “Directed by Jack Bender” title can come on the screen, Claire’s house has exploded thanks to a rocket launcher.
In Tunisia, Ben is booking a hotel room with one of his many aliases. This one happens to be Moriarty, which is a total On the Road shout out. He double checks what year it is with the clerk (2005) before catching a glimpse of Sayid (Naveen Andrews) on the television. The press is harassing him about his recently deceased wife, but Sayid says that he just wants to be left alone to bury her. Interesting.
Ben claims that they need to find Jacob if they’re ever going to evade the freighter folk. Locke can’t find the cabin, but Ben claims that Hurley (Jorge Garcia) can. Meanwhile, Sawyer finds Claire buried under some rubble and still very much alive. He takes her to Ben’s place, where Miles also arrives a moment later. He claims that his shipmates want to talk to Ben.
Globetrotting Ben is now in Iraq, and it looks like it’s Nadia’s funeral that’s being held there. Ben goes up on a roof, pulls out a camera, and starts taking photos of a strange man on the street. He also snaps one of Sayid carrying the casket, but the ex-soldier sees him and tackles him. Ben claims that he’s there to find the man that murdered Sayid’s wife. He also says that he got off the island using Desmond’s boat, but we all know he must have teleported. Ben tells Sayid that one of Widmore’s men murdered Nadia. He doesn’t know why it happened, but Sayid immediately believes him anyway.
Miles (Ken Leung) thinks there may be about six of the freighter folk coming for Ben, and he also informs everyone that Alex is being held hostage. Ben picks up the walkie-talkie and contacts Keamy. The man tells him to surrender and that no one else will be harmed, but Ben knows better. He rattles off Keamy’s entire back story and refuses to cooperate. He almost changes his mind once they drag Alex out and put a gun to her head, but instead he tells them that they should get off the island. He also tries to say that she means nothing to him since she’s not really his daughter. It doesn’t work, and Keamy shoots Alex in the head. Whoa!
Ben can’t believe that Alex is dead, and frankly, neither can I. Ben has now lost his mind. He goes into his hidden room, sneaks into a secret passage, and flash-forwards back to Iraq. He tails Nadia’s killer through the streets, and after catching up to him tells him that he needs him to take a message to Charles Widmore. Before Ben can relay the message, Sayid pumps the guy full of bullets. This is where we learn why Sayid teamed up with Ben. He wants to bring war against the people who killed Nadia. Before doing that, he really should make sure Ben is actually telling the truth.
Ben comes out of his secret passage and tells everyone that it’s time to make a run for it. That’s when Smokey decides to make a very pissed off appearance in the barracks. Old Smokey goes around killing the freighter folk, while the Losties are shocked that Ben has the ability to summon the monster to do his bidding. While everyone is busy getting torn limb from limb, Ben says goodbye to Alex.
Back on the beach, Faraday (Jeremy Davies) is playing MacGyver and attempting to get a signal to the freighter. He sends out a signal in morse code asking what happened to the doctor. He claims that the response reads that the helicopter is on its way, but Bernard knows better. The response actually said that the doctor is just fine. Jack demands to know if rescue was ever part of the plan, and just as Faraday admits it wasn’t, Jack doubles over in pain. This is no time for a case of appendicitis!
Locke (Terry O’Quinn) is peeved that Ben lied to him about his knowledge of Smokey, but Ben claims he can chat with Jacob about it. Sawyer, tired of the nutcases around him, decides to take everyone back to the beach. He wants Hurley to tag along, but Locke won’t allow it. Hurley reluctantly agrees to go with Locke to stop the guys from killing each other.
Globetrotting Ben is now in London and looking strangely suave while wielding his baton. He heads to the penthouse suite of a hotel to visit with Mr. Widmore. Charles wonders if Ben has come to kill him, but Ben claims that he can’t do that. He’s there to confront Widmore about the murder of Alex, but old Charles doesn’t want to hear it. To get revenge, Ben says that he’s going to kill Widmore’s daughter, meaning that Penny is now in grave danger. Widmore claims that the island is his and he intends to get it back, but Ben says that he has no chance of finding it. That’s when the episode comes to an end.
This hour was so jam packed that I need to give my brain time to rest. I’d say that was worth waiting five weeks for.
– Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
