"The Shape of Things to Come"

I have been a bad blogger. To my credit, I have been busy the past few weeks with things of import and things of no import whatsoever. I have traveled a long distance to attend a wedding of an old friend. I have also sat in my living room and played Guitar Hero and Lego Star Wars on the Wii for more hours than I can count. But this blogging malaise is over because LOST is back!

LOST returned with great episode and a few twists and shocking moments that I was not expecting.

STOP READING NOW TO AVOID SPOILERS!!!!!

So we learned where Ben first went when he left the island, but we still don't know exactly how he left. It is safe to say that he got off the island the same way that Charlotte's polar bear did. So what is Ben's first order of business? Coercing Sayid to be his contract killer of course. Poor Sayid. He was actually reunited with Nadia after he left the island, but she was killed, presumably by someone working for Widmore, but the show thing seemed fishy to me. For all we know, she was killed by someone working for Ben!

Meanwhile, the freighter people were revealed as the people that killed Karl, and hopefully only injured Danielle, before capturing Alex. I found the standoff between Ben and Keamy to be very interesting especially for the fact that Ben finally found himself in a situation in which his bluff was called. I was certainly shocked when Keamy did not hesitate to kill Alex when Ben bluffed that she was just a pawn. To hear Ben say that "they changed the rules" indicates that this game is much larger than I could have ever imagined. But leave it to Ben to show us just the power that he has on the island. Although we did not get a clear answer, it would seem that Ben was able to summon the Smoke Monster to dispatch the invaders with extreme prejudice. Scary!

Meanwhile, the body of the freighter doctor washed up on the island with his throat slit...or did it? According to the limited communication with the freighter, the doctor may still be alive on board and Daniel has been lying to Jack about rescuing the survivors all along. Also Jack has appendicitis.

Of course, the big twist in the episode was Ben's late night visit to Charles Widmore himself. I was expecting to learn that Ben and Widmore are working together, but I was surprised to find out that they are indeed enemies with a set of gentlemanly rules...rules that Ben feels Charles broke by having Alex killed. So Ben has vowed to kill Widmore's daughter to show him how it feels. So again, it appears that the story of Desmond and Penny is an integral part of LOST.

All in all, this was a very good episode and a welcome return to this intriguing story. Sadly, this means that there are only three more episodes left before the two-hour finale and then LOST will again go dark for eight months. Let us enjoy what we have while we have it!

An extra hour of LOST!

Big news in the LOST world as it seems that there will be another hour added to this writers-strike-shortened season. News of a "fourteenth hour" is great but broadcasts of other shows finale's will likely lead to the finale being split between two nights. I'm not complaining though. An extra episode of LOST will be great after all the talk of only half an already truncated season a few months ago. Read more here and here.