By this point, I think we're all getting a little spoiled here. Lost has chosen to throw information at us at multiple levels week to week, and "The Other Woman" didn't step out of line. What made this episode awesome was the fact that the writers proved they could still reach back and tell us an aspect of the story that we have no indication of, a fresh 'twist,' while keeping the other cylinders of the show firing with total efficiency.
"The Other Woman" was working on three different levels; I call them the Goal, the Gotcha, and The Gimmie.
The Goal
This is the 'race against time,' portion of the episode. In this case it was Juliet and Jack pursuing Daniel and Charlotte across the island towards a mysterious station called the "The Tempest." The chase was set in motion by an "Other" from Juliet's past Harper - she appears in the "Gotcha" too - who claimed to be delivering a message from Ben. The race was to stop Daniel and Charlotte before they reached a cool new hatch called "The Tempest" - hatches are just born cool, aren't they? - and released poisonous gas that would kill everyone on the island. Turned out, that they were actually disabling the gas before Ben could use it. Yes, this was the straight action adventure thread of the episode, but there were some very cool learnings:
- Ben is able to get messages out from that little room in his basement.
- Ben/Harper were lying ab out Daniel and Charlotte's intent. Ben lie? Say it isn't so.
- Daniel and Charlotte are aware of "The Purge." So the freighter folk obviously have a lot of Dharma information.
- Juliet lied to Jack as well, saying that "The Tempest" was the power station. Alas, another week and no giant hamster. Sad, sad, sad.
The Gotcha
It was nice to have a bit of plot that wasn't anticipated, in the case of "The Other Woman" it was the elucidation of the title. Interesting play on words, right? The "Other" Woman? Almost as cool as when Jack said Harper seemed a little "Hostile," a cool nod to the fans with regards to her ability to teleport ala Richard Alpert, et al.
The back story of Juliet and Goodwin's romance provides some nice emotional connective tissue that really makes you second guess some of your assumptions about Ben Linus's motivations. On one hand, there is the matter of Juliet's wanton adultery with Goodwin who turns out to be Harper's husband, Harper is also the therapist of the others.
Here we find the underlying theme of the episode, coveting what is not yours and what is beyond your possession. In the flashback it is demonstrated first in the forbidden fruit of the Juliet/Goodwin hookup, and subsequently in the final reveal of Ben's desire for Juliet. Harper is pissed that Juliet is bedding down with her man, but she is also concerned that Ben will lash out at him. This turns out to be the explanation for why Ben sent Goodwin to intercept the tailsection. The bizarre part of the story comes later when Ben takes Juliet to Goodwin's body; naturally she is shocked and wants to know why Ben led her to her lover's corpse, to which the fretting man-child proclaims "Don't you get it? You're Mine!"
But there were other things revealed here of interest.
- Harper says Juliet is favored by Ben because she looks just like "her." Is "her" mommy Linus? Annie? Hamster of Mystery girl?
- The gassing of Dharma may have bee n executed with "The Tempest" instead of those funky canisters.
- Ben works in duplicity with his own selfish interests at the core of everything he says and does.
The Gimmie
Ah, how nice is it that "The Gimmie" is a part of Lost's weekly architecture? This time around it is Ben appealing to Locke for a little freedom, and offering to reveal the owner of the freighter in exchange.
Is it any great surprise that it is Charles Widmore? Widmore, according to Ben, is there to exploit the island. He creates the similie of Jesus's image on a grilled cheese sandwich attracting thousands against John Locke's miracle cure attracting millions. Of course, he is not LITERALLY talking about John Locke, and yes I know it was tree mold and not grilled cheese but we're talking analogies here so I'm safe. (I think.)
Well, it is a great surprise to those of us who watch with eyes and mind wide open:
- Didn't we just learn that Ben's possessiveness brings out his killer/weirdo hat?
- Didn't we just learn that Ben, or his representative, lied about Daniel and Charlotte. Ben wanted that gas ready to fly.
- There are Widmore Logos all over that island. On Henry Gale's gondola, the pregnancy tests, just to name a few. Mark my words, Widmore was invested in Dharma to their teeth.
- Isn't Ben guilty of, amongst other things, mass murder, patricide, and going all freaky when he wants his toys all to himself?
I saw a comment appealing to label Widmore the "White Witch" of the story, and I'm all for it. Yeah, he's a cranky old bastard when it comes to his daughter but as any man who has ever dated "Daddy's Little Girl" knows, this may not necessarily be the mark of evil.
And to top it all off, an attempt to stoke the latest shipper fire: Jacket (that's JACK + JulieET for the uninitiated.) Does this pairing have the heat? Well this time we got a little bit of confirmation that the attraction is mutual at least. In "Through the Looking Glass" when Jack and Juliet smooched, it was Juliet initiated all the way. This time not only does Jack plunge in, but when confronted with the fact that Ben's jealousy can be a bit dangerous he gives a hearty "Bring it on." As someone who really doesn't care about shipping, all I can say is: were Matthew Fox's eyes puffier than usual this week or was that just me?
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I'm starting to wonder about Hurly and his sporting ability.
He can beat anyone at ping pong. He's a dead ringer at horse shoes. And he never missed a single shot while playing basketball.
We've gotten hints this season that he too may be special like Walt. Could it be that when he puts his mind to it, he can do anything? (Like Walt learning how to throw the knife)
Also, for the first time, he said he was "lucky." (Lucky...Horse shoes, ok I get it) But it was so quick and right before the Ben moment that I'm not sure many people even noticed it. But it was so not-Hurley, that it made me wonder. When did his self image change about his luck?
I definitely agree about Hurley being lucky. Right before he threw the horse shoe, I guessed that he was going to make the shot since he seems to never miss at basketball or ping pong. Then he made it. I continued thinking that somehow ever since he won against his bad luck with the Dharma van, his bad luck has done a 180, and now he has extraordinary luck. Except there were only a few seconds to think this, so what I actually thought at the time was something along the lines of, "He's gone from unlucky to lucky..." suspecting there was something to it. And then of course, Hurley used the word lucky.
So does anyone wonder if Henry Gale (dead guy came via hot air balloon) launched from the freighter and was one of them? Can anyone remember where his license was from? Also, when Claire was talking to Locke about the perception he is giving out by the way of killing, kidnapping and torture, did that not sound very similar to our perception of the Others from the beginning?
This is off topic, but Doc, when are you going to be able to post that interview you did yesterday with Darlton?
Jason:
http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Henry_Gale
HENRY GALE
815 WALNUT RIDGE ROAD
WAYZATA, MN 55391
License # M152-996-431-000
Jason, that echoses something I posted over on the SSB Replacement:
http://ssbreplacement.proboards76.com/index.cgi?board=ssb&action=display&thread=1204902942
"This has been a point of interest for me for a while now, but with Claire's line to Locke of (I'm paraphrasing here) "How do they know we're not hostile?" regarding the freighter people, their motives and their impressions of the "island inhabitants", the torch has been passed and Locke is now the leader of a new generation of Others. Our Losties have come full circle, becoming the very thing they once feared, the new "Hostiles" as Desmond referred to the Others back in season 2. I absolutely love the irony of this and commend the writers for pulling it off so well.
Granted, Locke still has Ben around, which means Ben is really the one running the show, but that's hidden from everyone except those two key players."
Ben told Locke the Others 'don't care about him (Ben) anymore' but obviously one Other, Harper, appears to still be loyal to him.
There was one time when Hurley did not beat an opponent at a game. Walt beat him consistently at Backgammon. Maybe you're right, his special powers don't work against Walt.
Keep in mind that everything Ben tells us is suspect. So when the presumed villain of the show, a proven master manipulator, tells us who the real villain is, we can't go by his word alone.
Same goes with Harper the Jilted Ghost. She was most likely a manifestation of the smoke/Jacob/spirits of the island... so we don't know that it was true that "she" was sent by Ben, that Ben is where he wants to be, or that the order to kill Faraday and Charlotte was in Juliet's best interest.
And hell, same again goes for Faraday and Charlotte with the gas. Juliet was sent to kill them to stop them from releasing the gas... but we're just supposed to take their word that what they were doing was rendering the gas inert. Maybe they just failed and had a good cover story.
It is all suspect.
If anything, I think Ghost Harper was the spirit of the island that is Jacob and the smoke and everything else. Harper had no orders from Ben but DID know that Ben was where he wanted to be -- so what she said was a half-truth. The thing with the gas was a manipulation because the spirit of the island would much rather have everyone DEAD, exposed to the poison gas, than let any more people run rampant on its soil or turn it into a spectacle to be exploited.
Could that gas be a natural defense of the island and the Tempest station is designed to keep the poison in check, cut off/limit the islands ability to protect itself?
If Ben was gassing the Island, where the hell was his OWN gas mask going to spring from? He wasn't fastidiously checking his watch as per the Daddy Purge, and I doubt that the Master of the conter-strike has one secreted in his neck or somesuch. He would have died along with everyone else. Vex Machine has it dead-on. Everything is suspect.
so, when ben was tied up to the tree in the 3 finale, he told jack that everyone on the island will die. did charlotte and faraday put a cork in this? if widmore is able to exploit the island like ben says, wouldnt jack/hurley be able to return to the island easier then? still sooooo much unanswered, makes me crazy. gotta come up with some good questions for darlton at SDCC this year. oh yeah, mad props for vincents cameo yesterday, hope hes 1 of the o6.
How do we know the Tempest isn't a power station? Sure, it has poison gas, but that could be fuel or some other part of the process? Maybe it's a small nuclear power station?
I suspect that Widmore does have sinister motives for the island. Just because ben doesn't like him and doesn't want his plan to succeed doesn't mean that he's a good guy. I don't see any reason both can't be evil, just with different motives for controlling the island.
Not a bad episode, but it didn't blow me away, and it had a few weak spots (Harper - any bets that we'll ever see her again?).
And what's up with Ben on the loose? Did he have something just mindblowing to tell Locke that convinced him to untie him? Or has Locke just become a complete dumbass?
Sadly, I suspect the latter. Locke used to be such a great character, it's painful to watch him doing things SO stupid, no human with a speck of common sense would ever do them. Let's hope there's a damn good explanation, and not just the writers falling into Idiot Plot.
Who says that that was really harper, I mean it could have been smokie impersonating her (which, given her mode of appearance/disappearance, I find it more likely). and who says Ben really sent her? I also think it more likely that his name is used to lend authority to the order, and he may not truly have been the order giver.
Who says that that was really harper, I mean it could have been smokie impersonating her (which, given her mode of appearance/disappearance, I find it more likely). and who says Ben really sent her? I also think it more likely that his name is used to lend authority to the order, and he may not truly have been the order giver.
Who says that that was really harper, I mean it could have been smokie impersonating her (which, given her mode of appearance/disappearance, I find it more likely). and who says Ben really sent her? I also think it more likely that his name is used to lend authority to the order, and he may not truly have been the order giver.
I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere, but just something I noticed...
For the second week in a row, Locke had blood on his hands. Metaphor, much?
"See you guys at dinner." Best line of the entire series. Seems the therapist is the same sort of manifestation that we've seen before (Jack's dad, Ecko's bro, Kate's horse). We've all assumed for awhile that it was old Smokey. If it's still Smokey (and we believe that Ben doesn't know what the monster is), then it was not Ben that sent the message.
I think this is a perfect opportunity to let some more Smokey theories fly...
Good point shemark. I've thought since Locke killed Naomi that he hasn't had the same sort of connection he once did with the island...
Actually, I wasn't thinking of Naomi, but that's a good point, too. Somehow Locke lost his connection when he finally killed. That that action caused a break. He was no long a "good" person. Perhaps that was why he could no longer see Jacob? Although Ben has killed, too...
I've been thinking more along the lines of the Boone death. That his foolhardy and arrogant actions will result in the deaths of many Losties. I think the series will end with Locke a broken, desperate man, all alone on the island with the mess he has created. I'm not saying that I think that all the non-Oceanic 6 will die, but that they will banish him because of the dire consequences of his actions. Just a theory.
Am I on crack or did the file that Ben pulled out of the safe after they watched the Red Sox-Widmore tape just magically appear? I was hoping for a still frame of this somewhere but I haven't seen one.
If it *was* there, wouldn't Locke have pulled it out with the tape?
If it wasn't, how was this fact lost on Locke?
(I mean, you know, aside from the various stupid decisions he's been making lately.)
Maybe it was another safe.....?
Cool sh#t. If Locke & Co. have become the new others, preceded by Ben and Co., it shows whos really in command on the island; Jacob.
("Help me....." destroy the world?)
"The Other Woman" had its moments, but I felt this episode could have been much better. The acting was excellent, but the pacing and plot development felt a little 'off' for lack of a better word.
Please don't misunderstand, "The Other Woman" was still better than almost anything else on television in the past twenty years. But LOST has set some mightly high bars to clear.
Best Parts:
Juliet mentioning that Harper was, "...mean and spiteful..." to Goodwin, Harper's husband. Well played!
Ben's comment about whether or not the served rabbit had a number on it. Emerson is simply wonderful in this role.
Ben's comment to Juliet to "...take all the time you need..." when he showed her Goodwin's body. But see below.
Missing Parts:
Poor Miles. His jaws must be getting tired.
Well, was Harper a "ghost" or real? Does Juliet know about the "ghosts?"
Where is the John Locke we all used to know and love? Maybe Boone needs to visit him?
Claire, as a character, is just not working out.
Annoying or Problem Parts:
The commercials seem to be getting longer and longer.
Too much tap dancing. The overall plot and pacing is a bit slow at times this season, but the strike may have influenced this a bit. Regardless, LOST is normally at its best at the end of a season and I'm sure this will be the case this year also.
Sawyer and Kate. Kate and Jack. Jack and Juliet. Juliet and Ben. Penny and Desmond. Next week: Jin and Sun (both of whom have been neglected this season). The season is supposed to be about the freighter folk but it's getting weighted down a bit by the shippers! Let it happen naturally.
The freighter folk need to be more threatening.
Ben is normally not too direct. His line to Juliet, "You're mine!" seems out of character to at least some degree. At least it is much better than seeing Ben getting beat up every episode.
Flash/Foward Concerns:
"WALT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WALT!!!!!!!!!!!!" Of course, Michael had to come back. But hopefully only for this season. But, in a way, it is good to see some of the past again. Calling Ana Lucia!
Why not a 35 episode season five? We've waited long enough! But we'll all be sad when it is over.
I hope the season finale is two hours with limited commercials.
Scene I'd like to see: Future Jack is out running in the forests of California. He is alone. It's a beautiful beautiful day, but our good doctor is under pressure. He runs and runs. Then, a look of horror freezes Jack's face as he hears the whispering. Determined, he races towards the sounds and breaks through into a clearing. He's stunned as he stands before Jacob's cabin. He walks towards it and opens the door. He steps through it. In the chair, healthy as ever, is Dr. Christian Shepard, who is not smiling. "How could you betray your friends like that?" he says. LOST
Scratch that. According to a friend, the file was, in fact, in the safe.
Oh well. I guess I was on crack. (hurrah!)
Wow. Good point Vex machine...I totally dig that Harper's appearance to Juliet (and Jack for that matter), was a Jacob/smoke monster manifestation. (I think the two are one and the same).
It makes more sense than Ben actually having been able to get word out to Harper somehow...I was starting to wonder if he had a secret door in his basement prison.
It also makes more sense that Jacob/smoke monster (security system, anyone?) was trying to protect the island by keeping Faraday and Charlotte from disabling the gas....It's logical to me that the island senses the danger in the freighter people taking over the island and it is doing what it can to protect itself.
Locke's decisions haven't been stupid. I don't think Ben is as evil as he's being portrayed thus far. Sure the "your mine" makes him extremely creepy, and Juliet (blonde) looks more like mom than she does Annie (brunette), which would make the whole Oedipal complex that seems to be going on more palpable, but if the island/Jacob chose Ben then some part of him is still good. I don't think anyone on this show can be simply labeled good or bad.
Now, back to Locke, his decisions have been "off" because he's not just making them for himself anymore and he's trying to find his footing.
The only "character" I trust on the show is the island...and by association, those who side with the island. Jack and his group are still in need of redemption while Locke's group is already moving in that direction.
Have some faith people! Locke IS an excellent character and has been all along. The writers didn't just decide to let him become a weak and miserable mess. There's no way. This is the most incredibly written television show I have seen in years. The writers are on top of it. I think our faith in Locke is purposely being tested, just like everyone's on the island. It's interactive, if you will.
I agree with MerlboroMan, Locke is just getting his "footing" in his new role. I think Locke is also toying with Ben a little when he acts as though he doesn't "have a plan"... whether it is his own plan, or a plan which is highly influenced by Jacob, Locke knows what he is doing.
I think Locke is enjoying his new found power and he's not about to let it go, as he has did in his pre-island life.
If Locke and Linus are right depends entirely on Jacobs actions and motivations, since both of them are probably being manipulated by him. I cant see many circumstances however, where killing your own father and dozens of others could be justified as good or right. Nor executing someone to protect some strange tropical island......
Just a thought ... but who ELSE has Juliet been said to resemble?
When Jack & Co. were kidnapped by the Others, Juliet was Jack's handler ...
largely due to her resemblance to ...
Sarah, Jack's ex-wife -- whose lover we (and Jack) never saw.
Could Ben Linus have been The Other Man in one of his off
Someone mentioned Ben has killed before, just like Locke. When did Ben ever kill anyone? Hasn't he always just manipulated others to do it for him? And, sorry for the bad pun. :-)