Ben Linus is One Scary Person

From the very beginning of tonight’s episode of Lost, The Other Woman, one thought was in my head: J-Dog was right.

A few weeks back, in an e-mail exchange, J-Dog said that anytime it rains on this show, something bad happens. And I wouldn’t exactly call Juliet’s encounter in the rain at the beginning of tonight’s episode a good thing.

The Other Woman didn’t have it easy. It had to follow up an excellent episode and advance the story. While emotionally and story-wise tonight’s episode didn’t measure up to The Constant, it was satisfying in one respect: It gave an answer. We know who hired the boat people. We can kind of put togther why. And this gives the whole series plotline a nice bookend: a struggle for the island featuring Ben vs. Charles Widmore, with the Losties in the middle. Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?

Also nice tonight was seeing the Others. Not so much the in their pre-crash, J. Crew-wearing imitation of surburbia. But rather the whole whispers in the jungle, doesn’t leave tracks scary people we haven’t seen since early season 2. They lost a little of their mystique when they stopped sneaking up on the losties. And while I wouldn’t want to say that they gained it back, it was nice to see them resorting to their old ways.

Unless the woman Juliet was talking to in the jungle was really the smoke monster. But in that case, all bets are off.

One thing’s for certain- and I’ve said this a few weeks running now, but Ben is in control. The one time this episode when it looked like Ben lost control (“YOU’RE MINE!”) was absolutely scary. But even after that mini emotional outburst, he quickly regained his composure. I’m still wondering if he only told Locke what he did because he expected the gas to be released and everyone to die. But from his encounter with the Otherville horseshoe team, it didn’t look like it. I suspect the English bird is lying. I still can’t stand her and think Juliet should have shot her.

Some other random thoughts:

Line of the night comes from Ben; “That rabbit didn’t have a number on it, did it?” I guess Ben is territorial about who gets to kill bunnies on the island.

I was psyched we got to see another DHARMA station. The Tempest, the island power station, has a nice ocean view. But what kind of power station also makes poison gas?

There really needs to be a Hugo and James as wacky roomates spinoff sitcom.

If you think about it, it’s obvious who Ben’s man on the boat is.