Excellent^2 Interesting that there is indeed a rule of engagement set between Benjamin Linus and Charles Widmore. It reminded me of the war between God and Devil in the movie Constantine. I am guessing killing a family member even non-blood ones is strictly forbidden.
4/4! Best of the season so far! A perfect episode! Was there a single scene of this episode that felt like filler or didn't work? I don't think so! I don't have a single complaint, except that how could they kill Alex! We lost Alex AND Rosseau without ever seeing their new relationship! Oh and also Claire miraculously surviving being in a building that was completely demolished to tinders by a RPG! Theory: Widmore is a Hanso and thus the Island is his by birthright. Or, Widmore is a Native/Hostile and thus the Island is his by birthright. Ben "stole" it from him b/c he wasn't born on the Island. In either case, Widmore as a character just became ten times more interesting. It's so refreshing to actually have villainous villains who are killing and shooting and blowing up cabins with rocket launchers. Aaaah. And Ben killing two guys in the desert after having been shot in the arm and teleported halfway 'round the world with nothing but his big black stick in his pocket to use. Excellente!
Excellent. That said - ?? Is the big secret dibs on time travel or a place out of time and the island is a focal point? And how does Ben summon up Lostzilla? Damn show. I'm so hooked.
I'd guess sheer dumb luck. Either way, I'm sure Ben will hunt his ass down and make him wish he hadn't survived.
Props to the entire Lost staff for keeping the details of this episode under wraps. What other show has the guts to kill off three members of the supporting cast in two consecutive episodes? This time last year we were watching Karl and Alex gaze up at the stars looking forward to a bright future. We saw Alex and Danielle reunited at the end of the season - all to no avail. Because of this war, everything has been stripped away. This definitely is The Shape of Things To Come... but I didn't realize how serious it was going to be. The best episode of the year and possibly the best of the whole series once again. I didn't think The Constant could be topped, but here it is. A+
Maybe when Ben said he didn't care about Alex because she wasn't his real daughter, he opened the door for her death.
Anyone else notice that Sawyer is starting to develop a bit of a crush on Claire? If he does go that way and Jack sticks with Juliet, Kate's going to be left hanging. Aw, boohoo. Good riddance.
That was an awesome episode. Immensely great. My opinions on Ben are begining to shift toward that maybe he is a "good guy" or at least "less of a bad guy than we've been led to believe." And let's hear it for Lostzilla who was just greatly awesome tonight. And it was so sweet to see Sawyer getting all protective of Hurley. "If you harm one hair on his curly head..." Great, fantastic, episode.
And here I thought no episode would be able to beat the Desmond episode this season... I obviously gave this episode an Excellent. The only parts I didn't like: - how did Claire survive her house being blown up when she was inside? - why would Sawyer all of a sudden want to leave just when it sounds like he'll be getting some answers? But overall, this is an excellent episode and it actually answered some mysteries (imagine that!)
Also, we FINALLY got to see the underground tunnels! Also, we got to see Cerebus do a whole new trick! Was anyone else reminded of Passover, which was just last Sunday? That was gorgeous, a swirling black lightning-crowned maelstrom of vengeance striking down the un-chosen. Biblical! Now, the obvious answer is Ben can summon/control Cerebus, but I'd wager it's more complicated than that. I'd say he did something to get its attention, so it knew the sonic fence was down and was free to come in. Why did Cerebus only attack the soldiers? Because they were the most "bad". It went after the sinners first, leaving the relatively pure free to escape. Sure, Locke and Sawyer and Ben are murderers but nothing compares to the soldiers.
Sawyer is becoming a softie in his old age. I guess now that he finally killed the Real Sawyer, he can move on from his pain and be a better person? ...NNNAAAHHHH!
So how did Ben find Jacob the first time if Hurley is the only one who can find it? Why can't Ben kill Widmore? Part of the rules? How did Ben get to the Sahara?
Excellent. I didn’t even have to think about it. That was one of the show’s best episodes. - Ben is my favourite character on the show and he really shone this week as one of the all-time great super villains that he is. - We learned how Sayid came to work for Ben, but that smirk we saw tells us that he’s up to something. He’s using Sayid and he probably even had Nadia killed. - Seeing the smoke monster activated was a pretty awesome sight. Makes me feel like calling it “Cerberus” now. Gotta show respect ya know. - I was surprised and saddened to see Alex killed. She was a great girl and I’ll miss her. Given all the weird stuff we’ve been seeing, I guess they had to hammer home the fact that she really is dead. The actress will in fact appear again, just not in the present. I can at least look forward to that. - I didn’t care about Jack’s tummy ache at first, but toward the end when we saw him again, I started to get a bit concerned. Can’t wait to see how that plays out next week. Maybe that’ll play a role in getting him off the island. - The biggest wtf moment in the whole episode is something I’m saving for last. What was it? It was so big that I can’t abbreviate it. I just have to call it a “what the fuck” moment. It was right after the teaser when Ben appeared in the dessert. He teleported there. That was a pretty big revelation for the show. Gotta know more about that. I spent pretty much the whole hour with that in the back of my mind. Cool way to get off the island and travel about too. Yeah, he’s a great super villain alright.
Wow. Definitely excellent. I have minor gripes, but in terms of the big picture story telling, this was fantastic...I hope the rest of this season can keep up this pace. That final scene between Ben and Widmore was bone-chilling. My only real problem is with the red-shirting, which made me roll my eyes. I've been wondering for most of this season where everybody else on the island who isn't part of the main cast disappeared to. There seemed to have been no extras. We finally see three of them tonight, and they're all killed within five seconds of each other. And from later scenes, oops, that looked to be all of them living with Locke & Co.! While of course, Sawyer is able to completely evade their previous precision shooting. And back at the beach, it's as usual, all the regulars + Bernard (AKA, Captain Plot Contrivance this week). Where do the other 25 or so people hide all day?! I'm also still slightly bitter about the entire Rousseau clan getting killed off, but especially with Danielle. Alex's death tonight was emotional and did huge things for the story. I still feel Danielle was a waste. I would have liked to have seen HER reaction to finally reuniting with her daughter after 16 years, only to witness her getting shot in the head. All that said, I really hope Michael Emerson wins an Emmy one of these days....
Ah, I got it. Ben and Locke only murdered to protect the Island from invasion. Ben, from Dharma (daddy). Locke, from Naomi. Sawyer killed the wrong man and repented for it. As we learned with Eko, Cerebus forgives you if you ask for forgiveness, but if you don't he ices you. Obviously the soldiers wouldn't feel guilt or be asking the towering black smoke monster for forgiveness so were killed. EDIT: Also, Hurley is a murderer! He killed Ryan in the 3rd season finale. And Ryan was an Other. But that was self-defense I guess.