Lost: The Shape of Things To Come

Benjamin Linus is one of the most complex characters in the history of television. This is a fact. From Henry Gale, to last nights Ben-diana Jones, he's proven to be versatile, manipulative and the smartest person on the island. Ben is in control of every situation he gets himself in and isn't easily shaken. Well, every situation but one. The execution of Alex was one of the heaviest and most shocking moments in Lost history, and up until the moment Keamey pulled the trigger, I never thought the writers/producers would go through with it. *BANG!!* With one shot they, as Ben put it, "changed the rules".

Already there has been a great deal of theorizing on the internetz as to what these "rules" are between Ben and Widmore. I'm skeptical of the idea that the two of them have an agreement of some sort as to how their war is being fought. I see these "rules" not so much as actual guidelines, but more of an unwritten code. Old school Sicilian mafioso, especially "men of honor" used to operate under a very strict code when it came to vendettas. No matter how deep the hatred between enemies, no one ever murdered women or children. Alex's death falls under this set of guidelines perfectly. Ben and Widmore are the heads of two very powerful entities, and both are considered "men of honor" by mafia guidelines, and the murder of his daughter crossed a line that Ben didn't think would be. This brings me to the meeting between Ben and Widmore. If the old mafia code is in fact the set of rules Ben assumed they were operating by, then that explains Widmore's reaction to Ben. Widmore is sorry about his daughter, but reminds Ben that he knows who he is and what he has done. Which I can only assume he is referring to the "purge" where Ben aided/planned the eradication of the entire Dharma Initiative. If Ben was playing by the rules, then killing around 100 people, including women and children, is a pretty gross violation of them. Which also explains Widmore's comment about Ben's audacity in acting like he was the victim. Regardless, it's still impossible to determine who's actually the bad guy, or if there is even a good guy in this situation. Which makes the show even better to watch, as it's up the viewer to make these assumptions until the answers are given.

Now some quick thoughts on the rest of the episode.

• Sawyer's gun fight was a little on the weak side, except for the RPG to Claire's house. If were writing the episode I wouldn't have had Claire in the house, making her survival a little more realistic, but it's really not that big a deal.
• Ben's jacket that he was wearing had a new Dharma symbol on it. I can only assume this is the Orchid Station referenced in the comic con video from last summer. You know, the one with teleporting bunnies.
• How Ben controlled the smoke monster was interesting and I can't wait until that thing is finally explained. Which won't be until the last few episodes of the series I'm sure.
• The bond between Claire, Hurley, and Sawyer is very believable, especially considering their connection to Charlie. So when Sawyer pulled the gun on Locke to defend Hurley, there was some real emotion behind it. That's called good character development.
• The beach developments were small but interesting. The fact that the doctor from the boat washed up on the beach with his throat slit, yet they say he is still alive back on the boat is setting up for some wild time-travel/teleportation story lines in the coming weeks and for future seasons.
• Sayid's reasons for working for Ben were explained and explained well. As manipulative as Ben is, convincing Sayid to kill after Nadia's murder was probably one of the easiest cons he's ever had to make
  
• Kate is hot.
  

The Shape of Things to Come is one of my favorite episodes of the season, and would be on a greatest hits album of Lost episodes if there were such a thing. It shed light on existing mysteries such as the smoke monster and Widmore, while at the same time asking more questions in true Lost fashion. Back in the day, when there was no definitive end date for Lost, this is the type of episode that would have driven the haters wild. Now that Lost has an end, the stringing along of story lines is completely welcomed and necessary. I've always liked comparing Lost to a novel. You don't read books backwards, and when you start reading one, or better yet when people that respect narrative structure read a book, they usually don't skip to the end. Episodes like this one are important chapters, and when the answers do come, the vast layering of the mysteries will have a much bigger impact than a quick one scene solution.

9.7/10

Next weeks episode is called "Something Nice Back Home" and it's the first Jack episode of the season. Until then.....(play GTA IV)

if you want to dive deeper into the mafia code, then I recommend Alexander Stille's Excellent Cadavers, a biographical look into investigations into the mafia in Sicily during the 60's,70's and 80's