Lost 4.6: The Other Woman (spoilers)

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#1

“The Other Woman” (Juliet being part of the Others, I guess she is an Other Woman) while not being as great as last week “The constant” was a solid episode (and it is indeed 4.6, I must have been tired last week).

Elizabeth Mitchell was a great addition to the cast last year. I don’t know if Juliet left the island by the time of the flashforwards (she probably can’t be one of the final two “Ocean 6” as she wasn’t on Flight 815).

What we learned: Penny’s father, Charles Widmore, is the man behind the freighter as he (according to Ben) wants to exploit the Island. Probably “The Economist” Ben and Sayid are tracking in the future?

What we already knew: Ben’s frakking crazy

It was co-written by Drew Goddard who wrote Cloverfield for JJ Abrams and tons of Buffy and Angel episodes.

We’re apparently learning next week who’s Ben’s man on the boat. Could it be Michael? (the actor’s name has been in the opening credits since the beginning of the 4th season) Maybe he was picked up by the freighter after he escaped the island at the end of Season 2?

#2

I am pretty sure the man on the boat is Michael.

I thought this episode was good. I didn’t hate it, but the one thing I found very frustatioing was the lack of communication. We do not even get to see danial, in my mind, explain why they went to such great extreams to keep Jack and the tribe away. Ah well.

John Locke and gang are turning into the others…but so is Jack (the way they ambushed the fraities was the exact same way the others did)

#3

did you notice that Ben was reading a Phillip K. Dick book in his cell when Lock walked in on him the first time in this episode. Very Cool!:slight_smile:

#4

Loche gave it to him in the episode before last. This show is a walking/breathing book club.

#5

Me too.

This episode was okay-it felt like a lot of exposition to move the plot along. Of course, it would be hard for anything to top last week’s perfect episode.

#6

Was that Des that Widmore was beating up? I think whoever-it-was was dressed similarly to how Desmond was dressed after leaving Pennie’s. Might explain the AWOL.

#7

as much as it seems like it is michael on the boat, i kinda hope it’s not.

the preview for next week made it seem blatantly obvious that it’s him if you’ve been with the show all along, plus the whole reveal at the last comic-con. it seems like ever since ben said that he has a man on the freighter, it’s just been assumed among hardcore fans that it’s michael (and it probably is).

i would just really like it to be a total mindfrak.

then again, “the constant” probably had enough mindfrak material to hold me over until the last 5 episodes of the season, so i won’t complain.

#8

i don’t think it was desmond, as ben said it was taped over the red sox world series victory that he showed to jack, which would have been recorded in fall 2004.

#9

I assume the title is in reference to Juliet having an affair with a married man moreso than her being one of The Others.

#10

I have to go with Listerfiend on this one. I can’t say that I am thrilled about a return of Michael. He was definitly my least favorite character and I was happy to see him go the first time.

#11

well, i’m all for michael returning, as i think he is going to play a part in ben’s grand scheme, but i would like there to be a twist on who ben’s man on the boat is.

#12

I was pretty disappointed with this episode after the greatness of last week’s. I don’t like that they went back to a flashback format. I expected the remainder of the series to stay in the flash forward/island time format (cause Desmond’s show last week was really all island time- sorta). Anyway, I don’t want to have a combo of forward or back stuff to wade through now. I also felt the stuff with Ben and Juliet was forced. In fact it isn’t even needed because Ben so frakkin crazy, I can see him still having a hold over Juliet for a number of reasons I don’t even need to know about.

Sure would be nice to see Michael again. I wonder how they’ll handle Walt’s aging, cause kids really change fast. If anyone took the time to read the link about time theory on the show, it was a good (though sometimes complicated) read. Well worth the time investment.

#13

I imagine they’ll handle Walt’s aging with the whole time shift idea.

#14

In the words of the Dread Pirate Roberts, “Get used to disappointment”. :wink: I heard on the official podcast that we will be getting a mix from here on out. I’m thankful, really. There is so much about the islands past that I want to know about. My disappointment is going to be in the fact that the flash forwards haven’t engaged my interest to the degree that the rest of the story does. The biggest off island reveal was about kate’s son and that was telegraphed 5 minutes into the episode. I think it will get better as lost always does. This season is off to a great start. The reveals are getting better and better and the intrigue just doesn’t let up.

#15

Not every episode can be a winner, it’s the reality of every long serialized tv shows. I personally don’t mind having to guess in the first seconds if it’s a flash back or forward, it adds a bit of fun to the game, as long as it brings something interesting to the story.

Plus don’t forget that everything is relative: one could consider the flash forwards (taking place in 2008) as the main story and the events on the island as a flashback :slight_smile:

#16

Yeah, a bit deflating. Maybe it’ll hold up well in the future. I read somewhere that some episodes often are stronger when sandwiched together with others on the DVD.

Still, the writing really seemed a notch or two below the Season 4 norm. What bugged me most was Ben. He just seemed so…obvious this time around. What makes his character so strong usually is his opaqueness in intent. Here we had Ben as the jealous 8th grader. Didn’t work for me.

BTW, if you haven’t seen it already, check out J Wood’s blog. If only Galactica had such weekly deconstruction… :rolleyes:

#17

That’s exactly what intrigued me about this episode. Here we finally see a chink in Ben’s armor, perhaps his Achilles heel. We get a good look at one of his motivations: “you look like her”. And we see it cause him to act uncharacteristically emotionally. Seems Juliette (or whoever can coerce or control her) might have some powerful sway over our Ben.

Just when I think the writers have played all Ben’s creep cards, (the three steps ahead card, the non-blinking card, the gassing day card) they start dealing from another deck of creepy with the “You’re mine!” speech.

#18

I liked this episode a lot. I really like Juliet and she always has interesting episodes. It wasn’t up to the greatness of the Constant but we can’t get an episode like that every week.

In fact, most shows are lucky if they get an episode like that in their entire run!

So yeah. Ben is a bastard and he is nutty-coo-koo.

I think Harper was actually Smokey and the island has its own plans separate from Ben.

While I believe that Widmore is the bad guy, I don’t entirely believe the reasoning that Ben gave to Locke. There has to be more to it than just wanting to exploit the island.

#19

I think Harper is alive and well with the Others that went to the Temple. That being said, I think her sudden appearance/disappearance avec whispering smacks of ole smokey. I always like it when they make these apparitions appear to people where other’s can corroborate the appearance. It makes it that much more… bizarre.

On a complete off-topic note, what are everyone’s 4-toed statue theories? My theory is that it’s mainly due to the fact that 5 is not one of the numbers. :wink:

#20

Sounds like I am going to have to get used to flashes of all nature of time!

I enjoyed all the comments on Ben and while I still think it all felt forced, it does show an Achilles heel and that is all the more interesting given that we know he’ll be off the island and keep Sayid on a leash.

I stick around because I want to see the show go back to the level it had at S1 and it just about has for me.