Lost Series 4 Episode 9 - The Shape of Things To Come

When I thought that Lost couldn’t get any better, it produces an episode like this – ‘The Shape of Things To Come’. It’s everything that an episode of Lost should be, fights, sly jokes and more weirdness than a day in the life of Michael Jackson!

This story concentrates on Ben, who is off the Island in a couple of different flash-forwards. In one, he has seemingly left the Island, as he is wearing a Dharma coat. However, he finds himself face down in the Tunisian desert, perhaps it was the same region where Charlotte found the polar bear skeleton with the DHARMA collar? Ben is then confronted by two armed locals. He kills one of them and attacks another before stealing an horse and riding to the city.

Later, Ben is in Iraq where he encounters Sayid, who is attending his wife, Nadia’s, funeral. Ben tells Sayid that Widmore ordered an hitman to kill his wife. Later, Sayid kills the assassin and agrees to become an hitman for Ben – in order to get revenge on Widmore.

Back on the Island, the corpse of the freighter’s doctor washes up on the beach. Faraday tries to call the boat using morse code. However, he lies to the others about the message, saying that ‘Everything was fine’. But, quite bizarrely, Bernard can understand morse code and told everyone about the real content of the message – ‘What are you talking about? The doctor is fine’. Angry, Jack forces Faraday to reveal that it was never their intention to rescue the survivors.

We learn that the snipers form the last episode, who killed Danielle and Karl, where the men from the boat, lead by Keamy. Alex is taken hostage, as the men shoot up Locke’s camp and kill a number of people in the process. Keamy shouts at Ben to come out and produces his hostage and holds a gun to her head. However, Ben doesn’t believe that he’ll go through with it but he (and most of the viewers, I’m sure) are left shocked when Keamy executes Alex. It was rather shocking and the acting involved is absolutely top-notch.

Ben utters something about ‘he’s changed the rules’ and runs off and seemly activates the ‘smoke monster’, which kills a number of Keamy’s men, with the rest taking cover. The rest agree that they should leave the camp but Ben stays behind for a while, to grieve over the corpse of his ‘daughter’. Meanwhile, Sawyer wants to return to the beach with Claire, Aaron and Hurley but the latter is held at gunpoint by Locke and forced to go with him and Ben, to find Jacob’s cabin. Hurley is one of the few that has seen the mysterious house, which contains the mysterious figure. Hurley agrees to go with them but it was nice to see that Sawyer cared about him!

Back to the future and Ben is in London and confronts Widmore, while in bed! He tells him that he had ‘changed the rules’ and in revenge, he would kill his daughter, Penny, so he knows what it felt like. The flash-forward was actually filmed in London, as Alan Dale was appearing in a west-end show at the time.

Overall, it was a truly excellent episode. We learnt a lot more about Ben, seeing that he was indeed human! Michael Emerson is becoming my favourite actor in Lost. Apart from his wonderful sarcastic comments and looks, his reaction to the death of his daughter was superb. And how shocking was that! The babe count has definitely gone down with the departure of Alex (Tania Raymonde)! But on a technical note, the episode was one, if not the best directed episode of Lost, since the first two episodes. For that alone, it deserves the highest praise.

10/10

Next Time: Keamy proves he is indeed a ‘bad arse’ by shooting new-born puppies - because he’s bored!

RIP ALEX :-(

Lost Series 4 Episode 8 - Meet Kevin Johnson

We meet the mysterious Kevin Johnson in this aptly named episode of Lost – ‘Meet Kevin Johnson’!

Infact it’s a story we’ve been waiting for since the end of series 2 – what had happened to Michael, after he and Walt left the Island. For those of you not up to speed – Kevin Johnson is Michael and he is working on board the freighter which Sayid and Desmond are on! At the start of this episode, Sayid corners Michael and angrily insists that he should tell him why he’s there.

It turns out Michael told his son all about his killing of Ana Lucia and Libby and the boy now lives with Michael’s mum. Utterly depressed, Michael tries to kill himself – twice! It’s when he’s about to shoot himself, in a dark alley of all places, that a face from the past shows up – it’s Tom from the Island!

Later, we are ‘treated’ to a scene in Tom’s hotel room, with his boyfriend, yep – he’s bent as a sixty pound note! Anyway, Tom explains to Michael that the Island ‘won’t allow him to die, until he completes his task’. I know it sounds ridiculous but I kept watching and was treated to a great story!

Michael is told all about Charles Widmore and his faking of the Oceanic plane wreck. The plan is for him to infiltrate the boat and gather information on all the crew members. That’s until he receives a call from Walt, whilst on the boat – except it’s from Ben! Ben tells him to continue to gather information for him and then kill the crew, one by one. Michael is reluctant but when he spots the boat mercenary, Keamy, pissing about with machine guns – he knows something isn’t right…

The story isn’t good enough for Sayid, who immediately shops him to the Captain. With the Captain having a fetish for beating people up – I can’t see Michael coming out of this very well!

Meanwhile, on the Island, Ben tells everyone at the barracks about the people who are after him and lets them know that they will kill everyone on the Island. Locke takes him at his word and starts setting up defences, whilst Ben tells his fake-daughter, Alex, to go with her real-mother and her boyfriend Karl, to a safe place where the Others are. However on the way, snipers kill Karl and then Rousseau. Alex sees no choice but to surrender and admit she’s the daughter of Ben. But who are the mysterious gunmen? Is this a plan by Ben, to get his daughter back? We shall see.

Overall, it was a good episode that finally told us the story about Michael’s departure and it was satisfactory enough. Although I’m not sure how the Island can stop you from killing yourself, I do hope this is explained! I was very impressed by Harold Perrineau’s (Michael) performance. I though his acting, especially with all the emotional scenes, was absolute quality.

I was also shocked to see Danielle and to some extent, Karl being killed off in such quick fashion. Although it’s great to see that Lost aren’t afraid to swing the axe, or sniper rifle if you prefer!

9/10

Next Time – Its bets at the ready as Vincent as a no-holes-barred fight with the ‘Smoke Monster’!

Lost Series 4 Episode 7 - Ji Yeon

We learn the final member of the ‘Oceanic 6’ in this, the seventh episode of series 4 of Lost – Ji Yeon.

This episode is all about Sun, who survives the Island – but is it without her husband Jin? We see flash-forwards of her about to give birth and Jin running around trying to buy a teddy Panda – its all great fun!

Back on the Island, Sun and Jin are debating whether they should join Locke’s camp because Sun doesn’t trust the people from the boat - Dan and Charlotte. Jin agrees but one person who is horrified is Juliet.

With every woman (who was impregnated on the Island) dying, Juliet is worried the same might happen to Sun and her baby, if they don’t get off the Island. Sun is adamant that she’s going to Locke’s camp, so Juliet resorts to desperate measures to keep them at the beach – she tells Jin about Sun’s affair, which she had prior to arriving on the Island.

Even though Jin can’t speak much English, he is rapidly improving and understood her words. He takes off and goes fishing with Bernard. Thankfully, the dentist is a wise old bugger and his advice seems to spark something in Jin, who forgives his wife.

Back to the future and after a scare, Sun has her baby named Ji Yeon (by Jin, on the Island) but her husband is nowhere to be seen. It’s then we learn that the parts with Jin, where infact flashbacks, as he was delivering the Panda to a client. Later, Hurley appears, to have a look at the baby – and to accompany Sun to Jin’s grave.

But that isn’t all that happened in this episode. Back at the boat, Sayid and Desmond meet the Captain who tells them that it was Ben who faked the plane crash and that his employer, Charles Widmore, is interested in getting hold of Ben to know how he did it. Whether or not he is telling the truth, is debatable. The pair are then moved to a new room, where they meet the deckhand, Kevin Johnson. But there is something familiar about this bloke – it’s Michael!

It was another solid episode that gave us some well needed depth for Sun and Jin. The writers are particularly cruel in showing us that Jin could have been alive, as its debatable whether or not Aaron should be counted as part of the ‘6’. But is he really dead? The surprise appearance of Michael was spoiled by the actors name in the credits but I didn’t notice!

7/10

Next Time: Locke starts a 'Turf War' with those on the beach - by stealing their golf clubs!

Lost Series 4 Episode 6 - The Other Woman

Juliet gets more back-story in the 6th episode of series 4 of Lost – ‘The Other Woman’, although a lot of the plot seems vaguely familiar.

The story centres on Juliet’s arrival on the Island and delves into her ‘affair’ with fellow ‘Other’ Goodwin, who was killed by Ana Lucia in series 2. The title of ‘The Other Woman’ could refer to Juliet herself, as Goodwin was married to her on-Island therapist, Harper.

Juliet also has to deal with Ben, who seems very interested in her. Her fears become even more so when she realises that it was he who sent Goodwin to infiltrate the tail-section survivors (in series 2) on purpose - to keep them away from each other. An un-compassionate Ben shows Juliet the rotting corpse of Goodwin, presumably to reinforce his authority.

Back into the present storyline and Juliet is suspicious of Charlotte and Dan, when they take off from the camp. Things get more serious when a returning Kate is attack from behind by Charlotte. The pair have also taken the gas masks, which they arrived on the Island with.

However, we learn that they are turning off a ‘poison gas factory’ that could have been activated at any time and could have killed people on the Island, just as Ben did during ‘the purge’ (a flashback in series 3). But still, the pair are being mysterious and Jack and the others still don’t trust them.

Meanwhile at the barracks, Ben pleads with Locke to set him free. In exchange he tells Locke that Charles Widmore owns the freighter and wants to take over the Island. Locke seems to be giving in but wants to know who Ben’s spy is on board the freighter and before he gets his own house at the barracks, Ben tells Locke who his spy is….

It was a rather slow episode that had a ‘filler episode’ feel to it. Although I don’t personally believe filler episode exist, that’s what it feels like! The flashbacks were too similar to Juliet’s past flashbacks and offered her hardly any character development. In fact we learned more about Ben than her! I also felt that Harper was severely underused and was surprised how easily she gave up her husband to Juliet.

However, the episodes redeeming feature was it’s scenes on the present-day Island. I felt that casting of all the people from the helicopter has been a masterstroke, I really enjoy the performances of Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies), in particular.

6/10

Next Time: Will Ben wind up Sawyer and Hurley by nicking their underwear off the washing line? So exciting isn’t it?

Lost Series 4 Episode 5 - The Constant

We learn a great deal about the island and its inhabitants, in this the 5th episode of series 4 of Lost – The Constant.

After they apparently went ‘missing’ in last week’s episode, Sayid, Desmond and Frank are alive and well and heading for the freighter – so what’s going on? That question gets put on the back burner, as Desmond suddenly finds himself back in 1996 when he was in the Army.

However, he returns quickly but has no knowledge of what happened to him after 1996, so he doesn’t recognise Sayid. With Desmond, obviously distressed and teetering on the edge of sanity, they land at the boat and Desmond is taken to the sick bay. There we learn that another man has a similar condition – the radio operator, Minkowski. He explains to Desmond that Penny had been trying to contact the boat, which means nothing to Desmond, as he thinks she’s still in 1996.

Said borrows a phone to ring Jack back at the beach but its Dan who helps them out. He believes he knows what Desmond’s suffering from and asks to speak to him. After finding out that he keeps travelling between 1996 and the present day, he tells Desmond to find him, as he was a lecturer at Oxford during this time. He gives Desmond some settings for a device and a code word.

Later Desmond would meet the younger Dan and after not initially believing him, Dan is convinced when Desmond gives him the numbers and the code word. The code word, it seems is a rat. Dan then demonstrates how his device he can send the rat forwards in time. However, the rat dies and Dan explains that it’s mind couldn’t cope, as it didn’t have a ‘constant’ – something that anyone could relate to in both times that they’re in. Desmond’s constant turns out to be his girlfriend, Penny but first he must find her in 1996. Meanwhile, Minkowski dies, as his brain goes the same way as the rat.

Desmond goes to see Penny’s father, the mysterious Charles Widmore, who is busy bidding on what seems to be a piece of the Island’s memorabilia. It turns out that he has bought a journal from the captain of a ship called ‘The Black Rock’ which had crashed on the Island. Widmore gives Desmond the address but warns him that she doesn’t want to see him, after he had ran off to the Army to prove to Widmore that he was ‘worthy’ of his daughter (in series 3).

However, Desmond manages to persuade a fed-up Penny and tells her that he will phone her only once, on Christmas Eve in 2004 (it’s that date on the boat). A reluctant Penny gives him the number and when he finds himself back on the boat, he manages to ring her and once she picks it up, the rift is sealed. Desmond is okay and Penny realises that he was telling the truth. Penny tells Desmond that she has been searching for him for the last three years and tells him that she will find him. It’s a rather touching moment to be honest!

Overall it was a great episode that as proved, for some reason, the Island has a number of different time zones around it. This was why Dan had previously told Frank to stick to the compass bearing he gave him, before they left the Island. It will also be interesting to see what happens next, as we see in Dan’s journal that he has earmarked Desmond to be his ‘constant’. But whatever happens, Lost has certainly upped the weirdness stakes and I’m still unsure what’s going on - But I love it!

9/10

Next Time: Will Hurley find something to eat? I bet the poor bugger is starving – he’s had nothing to eat for a day!

Lost Series 4 Episode 4 - Eggtown

The identities of the ‘Oceanic 6’ are now taking shape as we learn that young Aaron is the latest survivor. The young lad has been ‘adopted’ by Kate, who now calls him her ‘son’. However it seems that all the survivors, we have already seen (Jack, Hurley, Sayid, Kate), have a dark secret they are hiding and Ben is, probably, at the centre of it. Precisely what has happened to Aaron’s real mother, Claire, is still a mystery!

Back in the present and Locke is still keeping Miles and Ben locked up. After Ben winds him up, it seems that Locke is losing it. Meanwhile, Kate is told by Miles that he can tell her ‘who exactly she is’, if only she could get him to have a chat with Ben, the man who he’s after. Miles tells Ben that he wants $3.2 million to tell his boss that he’s dead. But why does he want that exact number?

Back to the flash-forwards (or should be forward to the flash forwards?) and Kate is on trial of the numerous crimes she committed, before she ran off to Australia. It seems bleak for her, until her Mother visits and demands to see ‘her Grandson’, in exchange for her not testifying against her daughter. Kate is having none of it and Mummy wheels off in a huff. She doesn’t testify anyway, so Kate manages to strike a deal with the prosecution. Think OJ Simpson but with better intentions! After an awkward goodbye with Jack, who can’t bring himself to see ‘her baby’ for some reason, she goes on her way. It’s then we learn that Kate’s son is indeed Aaron.

On the island, Jack and the others return to the beach but they are having trouble getting through to the freighter. When Charlotte rings the mysterious ‘emergency number’ she gets through but learns, that after a day, Frank, Sayid, Desmond and the copse of Naomi had never arrived….

It was another interesting episode that certainly continued the trend of asking more questions than answering them! But that’s what I like about Lost – they are always willing to go into the next mysterious storyline after next. I just hope they (the writers) know what their doing!

8/10

Next Time: We learn that Daniel and Charlotte are infact the mysterious Polar Bears that stalk the tropical island! With the way Lost is going – I wouldn’t be surprised!

Lost Series 4 Episode 3 - The Economist

Another solid episode from the guys over at Lost. Sayid is the target of the ‘flasfowards’ as we learn he works for Ben, who has given him a ‘list’ of people to kill. He starts up a relationship with a lovely lady, in order to get near her boss. Unfortunately she twigs, shoots him but he manages to recover and kills her. That’s not how you treat a lady, Sayid! While he’s getting stitched up, we learn that his boss is Ben. I’m not sure if these ‘flash forwards’ will be the final outcome of the characters, I hope not, it’s getting confusing!

Meanwhile back on the island, Sayid gets his place on Frank’s plane after he ‘swapped’ Miles for Charlotte, who has been held by the ever-weird Locke. But he isn’t the only weirdo, new arrival Dan, is battling him for the ‘Hurley madness trophy’, with his increasingly bizarre behaviour.

Desmond is the other person who gets a place on the plane. He asks Frank about whether or not he has any knowledge of his beloved Penny. He doesn’t, so the plot thickens, as the now-rotting corpse of Naomi once said that she (Penny) had sent them. When she was alive, obviously!

No real criticisms to report (shame!), although I get the feeling that Lost is like a soap. It doesn’t seem that there is a set plan for the storylines. More questions are being asked but we have no answers, yet!

8/10

Next Week: Desmond nicks the boat and turns into the bloke off ‘Cape Fear’ – scary!