I Am DB

This episode was not the strongest of the season, but that doesn’t mean it was weak. It offered a refreshing breather from the breakneck pace of the first five hours, and felt more like an old-school, character-centric installment. But there are still a few things worth talking about.

HARPER’S BIZARRE
When Jack, Juliet, Jin and Sun went into the woods to look for Faraday and Charlotte, Juliet heard whispering all around her. We haven’t heard much whispering in the jungle lately, and Juliet’s aural encounter preceded a surprising physical one: the appearance of Other therapist Harper Stanhope. We first meet Harper in the opening scene flashback, and she’s pretty bitchy right from the get-go. Back in the whispering woods, she delivers a message to Juliet from Ben: Faraday and Charlotte are headed to a Dharma electrical station known as The Tempest, and that Juliet must go and kill them before they release a gas supply that could kill everyone on the island.

Juliet asks how Ben could know this, considering he’s locked in Locke’s basement. Harper replies that Ben is “exactly where he wants to be.” Juliet’s question is worth considering. How does Ben know where Faraday and Charlotte are going? And how is he getting messages to Harper? And frankly…is Harper even real in that moment? Consider: she appears out of nowhere in the rain, and then disappears into thin air just as mysteriously. And the fact that Jack saw her too doesn’t convince me that she couldn’t be some sort of vision. After all, Sayid shared one of Shannon’s inexplicable Walt sightings, and when a horse from Kate’s past made a cameo on the island, Sawyer saw it too. Plus, why didn’t Jack recognize Harper? He spent a fair amount of time living amongst the Others. In all that time, he never met or saw her? When they moved from the cages back to the houses where Locke and Co. are now staying, Harper was nowhere in sight? There’s something fishy about her appearance, and about Ben’s role in initiating it.

THE REVOLUTION BEGINS
Claire approached Locke and told him she wanted to talk to Miles. John resisted, but Claire made some good points. Since John chucked a knife into Naomi’s back and Ben shot Charlotte, the freighter folks might be more amenable to talking with someone less openly hostile. She also reminded John that they still don’t know whose boat is parked off the island’s coast. All they know, thanks to Charlie, is whose boat it isn’t.

This scene didn’t accomplish much for Claire, since there was no follow-up of her talking to Miles. And in fact, the scene served to remind us – or at least, it reminded me – how atrociously the writers have failed Claire by denying her any sort of grief over Charlie’s death. This is the first time we’ve seen her even acknowledge him at all since learning of his death, and the writers still didn’t infuse the moment with the emotional response from her that it demands. What is wrong with these people?

I did wonder, though, if the scene was in some way setting up what’s next for Claire. We know she isn’t one of the Oceanic Six despite the fact that Aaron gets off the island, so she either gets left behind and has her baby stolen from her…or she’s not long for this world. I did have a moment where I wondered if her request to talk to Miles was planting a seed for something tragic that might come out of such an encounter. It doesn’t seem to fit that Miles would do anything to her…but something’s coming down the pike for Claire, and whatever it is doesn’t feel good.

The only thing the scene between her and Locke did appear to accomplish was setting up Ben’s latest effort to undermine the man of faith. It’s not long after Claire approaches about Miles that Ben is asking Locke if his people are starting to revolt yet (“It always starts out so innocently, doesn’t it?  A question here, a comment there…”). Their conversation leads to one of the few Big Reveals this episode offered, which brings us to…

CHARLES IN CHARGE
So it’s confirmed: Penny’s father, Charles Widmore, is involved in all of this island madness. Of course, we have to take Ben’s word about this – and Ben’s word is never quite what it seems.  But if we are to believe him, then we accept that Charles Widmore has been looking for the island for a long time, and wants to exploit its potential. Ben says that the boat offshore is Widmore’s. But what does Widmore know of the island, and how? What does he know about Ben specifically? Is Matthew Abbadon working for him? Was Elsa – Sayid’s post-island mark – working for him? And if so, was she communicating with him directly, or was there someone in-between…the so-called Economist?  Does Widmore know that Desmond is on the island?

Conversely, how does Ben know about Widmore? What is their connection? Who was Ben’s associate that Widmore was beating up on the video tape? (I was actually impressed that he was doing the dirty work himself. Usually these rich, powerful types let their thugs handle the physical assaults while they stand by, straightening their tie and watching with mild interest.) Who was videotaping the attack?

Although it was buried in the middle of a slower episode, this official revelation of Widmore’s involvement is, I think, a huge piece of the ultimate Lost puzzle we’re trying to piece together.

CRIMES OF THE HEART
Another revelation – this one more unexpected –  is that Ben has been pining for Juliet since she arrived on the island. This puts an interesting new spin on every interaction they had last season. Ben’s attraction had never been hinted at, and it struck me as a tad strange to introduce it now. I wonder if it was always part of the plan even as the writers worked their way through season 3, or if it is a new idea. In one of their sessions, Harper snarkily comments under her breath to Juliet that she looks just like someone from Ben’s past. Who does Juliet look like? A romantic interest? (We still don’t know what happened to Ben’s childhood gal pal Annie.) Or perhaps, in a more Oedipal twist, Juliet reminds Ben of his mother? She died during childbirth, but young Ben saw her wandering around on the island, just as Jack has seen his father. Ben’s mother and Juliet could never be mistaken for twins, but they bear a resemblance in hair color and skin tone. Something to think about…

We also learn that Ben’s seemingly impromptu decision to send Goodwin to the tail section of the plane had a more sinister motivation. If he sent Goodwin away as punishment, does that mean Ethan was being punished too? Later, when Ben brings Juliet out to see Goodwin’s body, she asks him why he sent Goodwin to his death. He yells at her incredulously, “After everything I did to get you here, after everything I’ve done to keep you here, how can you possibly not understand…that you’re mine?”

That’s one creepy line, but I call your attention to the middle part: After everything I’ve done to keep you here. Prior to that moment, we thought that he was simply refusing to let her go home until she had succeeded in solving the island’s pregnant-women problem. But that line suggests that Ben has actively manufactured her stay on the island. Is it possible that he has interfered with her research? Is it possible that he knows how to save the women’s lives, but is keeping his knowledge a secret so that he has an excuse to keep Juliet around? Is Ben evil enough to sacrifice pregnant women for his own romantic follies? Or am I over-analyzing? (While we’re at it, he also said, “After everything I did to get you here.” What did he do to get her there? Perhaps orchestrate her ex-husband’s death-by-rampaging-bus? Or is he simply referring to the persistent recruitment efforts of Richard Alpert and Mittelos Bioscience?)

FINAL THOUGHTS
Juliet had the best line of the night – a reaction to Jack’s surprise that Ben’s people had a therapist. Juliet’s retort? “It’s stressful being an Other, Jack.” Nice. The runner-up goes to Ben, less for the line itself than for his delivery of, “I always have a plan,” which he says to Locke with such comical casualness it made me laugh out loud. (I also liked his cheerful, “See you guys at dinner!” to the bewildered Hurley and Sawyer.)

I think this episode was meant as a minor calm before the storm, because from what last week’s preview showed us, I think tonight and next week are gonna be big.

Tonight’s Episode: Ji Yeon