Episode 408 - "Meet Kevin Johnson" and Arturo

Michael's return explained! The appearance of no fewer than four dead characters!! Tom's orientation confirmed!!! All this, plus a bit of fresh death, in "Meet Kevin Johnson."

Freighter Time
This episode had a fairly unique structure to it. Although bookended by island-time sequences, virtually all of the action consisted of Michael's relating his story to Sayid and Desmond in the first (to my recollection) instance of a Lost flashback actually being narrated from one character to others.

On the freighter, Desmond and Sayid are awakened by sirens. They emerge on deck where Captain Gault is beating two men. "The rules of desertion still apply to everyone," he announces to the assembled crew. "I'm not beating these men to scare you. I'm beating them to save your lives." He orders "Johnson" to clean up the aftermath. Sayid makes a beeline for him, and pointedly says, "hello, Michael." Over Michael's protestation of "not now," Sayid demands to know why Michael is on the boat, even as the captain appears to take an interest (from afar) in the interaction. "I'm here to die" responds Michael. Hello - shadows of Dr. Evil? "No, Mr. Powers, I expect you to die!" Just me? Nobody else? Come on, throw me a freakin' bone, people...

Later, Sayid and Desmond join Michael in the engine room to "help" with the repairs. Michael sends off the other crew member who was present to fetch supplies, and Sayid demands to know how Michael came to be on this boat...

Flashback - Michael Dawson in New York City

In a dilapidated apartment, Michael wrote something on a notebook. He looked longingly at a photo of him with baby Walt before turning on some Mama Cass in an old green Cadillac. Michael pinned a piece of paper to his jacket (which we would later learn was a suicide note addressed to Walt). Michael then drove at high speed to the waterfront, where he apologized out loud (like Jack, on the 6th Street Bridge in Los Angeles in "Through the Looking Glass"), before plowing headlong into a cargo crate. Later, Michael awoke in the hospital when a nurse came in...and that nurse was...Libby??? Ah, just a dream. Only Michael was in the hospital. On any other show, Michael's occasional Libby apparitions would be just his guilty conscience following him around (and, hence, the suicide attempt). But on Lost, visions are never "just" visions. Unless they are.

The "real" nurse who then came in noted that Michael had no i.d. on him, but asked if he wanted her to call Walt (the adressee of his suicide note), but Michael said no.

Later, he knocked on the door of his mother's house late at night. He asked if he could come in, but his mother would not let him see Walt. She didn't understand how he and Walt could be alive given the reports of everyone dying on flight 815. They were apparently going by different names now (and, I bet, Michael's was something like Jonathan "L___tham"), but Momma wouldn't let Michael see Walt until he explained where they were for two months. Refusing, Michael instead he just asked her to tell Walt he loves him. Walt, briefly, looked down from the upstairs window, but then turned away, as though disgusted.

This scene taught us a few things. First of all, it would appear that theories that Ben somehow sent Michael and Walt back in time (hence - taller ghost Walt) are incorrect. After all, Momma's perception of how long they were gone, and her recollection that they were on flight 815, tell us Michael and Walt returned to New York just a little after they left the Pala Ferry dock. We also began to suspect, which would later be confirmed, that Walt knows exactly what his father did to obtain his freedom...

Michael then went into a pawn shop and offered Mr. Paik's watch (which I guess he still had after his Season 1 spat with Jin) in exchange for a gun. Michael then took the gun into an alley, loaded it frantically, held it to his chin......only to be interrupted by...Tom! "Excuse me sir, do you have the time?" asked the man who once prompted Michael to so famously scream, "Waaaaaaaalt!" "Come on Michael, how 'bout it for an old friend?" So Tom, like Ben and Richard and Ethan, has spent time off-island? Michael attacked, but Tom took him down pretty easily. "We're the ones who sent you home Michael," reminded Mr. Friendly, "did you honestly think we weren't going to keep tabs?" Tom then realized the source of Michael's despair - he had told Walt what he did to Ana Lucia and Libby. "I got some bad news for you amigo," smiled Tom. "You can't kill yourself. The island won't let you."

Whoah! Hold on - the island won't let you? Tom's later explanation that something will get in the way of an attempt to escape service to the island via suicide sheds some light on Jack's near jump. It appears now that the island caused the minivan accident that turned Jack from would-be flood channel splat to second-time hero. For me the big question is just how does the island extend its influence so far? And, for that matter, what does it want from Jack and Michael?

Tom returned the gun to Michael and dared him to try again, then said he'd be at the penthouse of the hotel Earl. Michael went home and tried...but the fully-loaded gun would no longer fire. As he tried again, Michael saw the video of the recovered flight 815. Suddenly, he knew his murder not be found out. He then went to see Tom, who was with his lover, Arturo(? Ah ha!)

We finally have confirmation of what Tom meant when he told Kate she was not his type...

Tom said some of the Others could come and go to the mainland as they pleased. (I wonder how this happens, and makes a particular Other worthy of such a right? We know Juliet could not, but Richard, Tom, Ethan, and Ben all seem able to come and go. Theories?) He explained that Charles Widmore staged the plane crash because he didn't want anyone else to find the island by looking for the wreckage of the plane. As proof, Tom showed Michael a dossier containing a picture of 324 dug-up Thai graves, and the Widmore Corp. purchase orders for the plane and equipment to place it in the ocean.

Ok, so we now have our second, mutually-exclusive explanation for how the fake flight 815 got to the bottom of the Sunda Trench. Although Tom's story certainly seems to be backed up by more evidence than Captain Gault's, consider this...the empty grave photo doesn't exactly show Widmore with a shovel. What's more likely - the Others took the picture themselves when they robbed the grave, or they obtained the photo after learning that Widmore did?

Tom told Michael he needed to get on Widmore's freighter, as Kevin Johnson, a deckhand. Tom said helping out like this would be Michael's only chance at redemption for the double-murder he committed that ultimately cost him his relationship with his son. But, to achieve his redemption, Michael would have to kill everyone on board the freighter.

Later, in Fiji, "Kevin Johnson" got out of a taxi to board the ship. He was greeted by Minkowski, then checked in with Naomi, who pointed out a crate that had arrived with his name on it. As Michael, er, Kevin, made his way onto the freighter, he encountered Miles, who reported knowing that Kevin wasn't who he said he was, but then explained this by stating nobody on a freighter like this is (yeah, right).

Seriously, what's the deal with Miles? While it's understandable he may have ghost-whispered with Libby or Ana Lucia to learn that Michael was not who he claimed to be, all indications have been that he needed to be near the body or the spirit of the departed to commune with them. So did he really have no insight into Michael, or is there more to this encounter yet to uncover?

Later, Michael watched as Frank lost an argument with Naomi over which of them should be the first to pilot a helicopter to the island (offhand, I'd say Frank was right). Frank then introduced himself and told Michael he joined the crew because he believed, as Widmore did, that the found flight 815 was bogus, and he thought this mission would enable him to find survivors.

I really want to like and trust Frank. Unlike Miles, who seems completely self-serving, Daniel, who seems fairly indifferent to others (in comparison to his interest in studying the island) and Charlotte, who seems to full-on into her mission, I truly believe Frank when he told Sayid that he wanted to help. But there's still some doubt (more on this later).

Still later, Michael saw Keamy, Omar and others skeet shooting off the deck - with automatic rifles! When Michael said he thought this was supposed to be a rescue mission, they just looked at him and laughed.

This prompted Michael to, at long last, open the crate. When he did, he found a bomb concealed in a toolkit. Convinced that Tom was right, and that everyone on the boat had to die to prevent an attack on his former comrades, Michael took the bomb to the engine room, overcame much inner conflict, and pressed the "execute" button and watched the timer count down to zero, only to have a flag pop up with a message. Michael read the scrap of paper, which said, "Not Yet."

Later, Minkowski told Michael a call from Walt had been patched in for him. Michael took the call, only to find the voice of Ben on the other side. Apparently, the bomb was just training Michael to accept that he must do something terrible to those on the boat. Ben coldly reminded Michael that the murders of Ana Lucia and Libby were his own decision (i.e. the Others only told him to free Ben and bring Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sawyer - the double-homicide was his own improvised means of doing it). Ben then told Michael there are actually innocents on the boat he did not want to kill, and noted how this set him apart from Widmore, who intended to kill everyone on the island. Ben then instructed Michael to make a list of everyone on board, provide that list to Ben, and then destroy the radio and sabotage the engine (the aftermath of which we've already seen). Finally, Ben assured Michael that doing all this would make him one of the "good guys."

Freighter Time

Sayid considers Michael's story, then quickly decides how to react. Wrenching Michael's arm behind him, Sayid (with Desmond behind him) marches Michael to the Captain's quarters, where Sayid reveals that Michael is an 815 survivor, the saboteur, and a spy for Ben Linus.

Island Time - Team Locke

At the Barracks there is a gathering of Team Locke (Karl cleans up nicely; Hurley does not). Sawyer eyes newly-freed Ben suspiciously. Locke brings in Miles, his hands still tied. Locke says he's coming clean, and he brought Miles to share why the boat people are here. Miles says they're here for Ben, which Sawyer is all for. Ben explains Locke's claim that they can't just turn Ben over because Miles's follow-up orders are to kill everyone else on the island after he has Ben in custody. Ben then reveals Michael to be his spy to the group, prompting Sawyer to remember just how mad he is that Michael got to go home as a reward for killing and selling out several of his comrades. Sawyer follows Locke and Miles out of the meeting. Sawyer, unmoved by the supposed complete honesty Locke promised, demands to hear about the three million Miles demanded. Miles laughs when Locke dismisses the notion as impossible. "Linus will find a way to do it." Miles points out Ben's new situation - eating pound cake as a free man days after being held at gunpoint - as proof that Ben gets what he wants.

Ben asks Alex to stick around after the meeting. He gives her a map to...the Temple (a DHARMA station?) and says they need to go there. Ben says it's a sanctuary were only Others can go (even though Karl and Alex didn't know about it previously). Ben assures Alex the freighterites are more dangerous than he is, but Danielle would protect her and Karl as they made their way there.

Finally, we hear about the Temple again. I for some reason had assumed the Temple would be more linked to the four-toed statue and less to DHARMA, but I'll await passing judgment until we see it.

At the end of the episode, Alex, Danielle and Karl stop for a rest and some water. Moments after Karl utters the Star Warsian "I have a bad feeling about all this," he is shot dead.

Danielle runs to protect Alex and tells her she needs to leave her boyfriend's body to get to safety. She assures Alex that, as her mother (albeit an absentee for 16 years), she does love her, and tells Alex they need to run. Suddenly, Danielle, herself, is shot, and falls to the ground.

Alex, assuming the hositilities are from the freighter people, holds up her hands, and announces she is Ben Linus's daughter.

And that's where the episode ended.

So, some thoughts on this final scene. First, when the promos promised someone would die, I (and Jeff Jensen at ew.com) instantly thought "Karl." The poor former video torture victim's only real purpose in the show was as a wedge between Alex and Ben, so he was a goner. Sure, last week's episode suggested Jin, but since Team Jack was conspicuously absent from this episode, that just wasn't going to happen.

But Danielle? No freaking way. She has been such an awesome (albeit side) character. Although being reunited with Alex was pretty much her only desire in life, and, once fulfilled, watch out, I find it hard to believe that her story is over. For one thing, we've been promised her flashfack would come at some point (although, as we've seen with Libby, it's possible to learn a great deal about characters who have died through the flashbacks of other characters, like, oh, Ben?) Still, I really hope she survives this shocker.

But now the real questions - who shot them, and did Ben know it would happen when he sent them to the Temple? On the first question, there are three possibilities - 1) Keamy (who we can assume returned to the island with Frank when the chopper disappeared from the deck of the freighter); 2) the Others, who don't want unplanned visitors at the Temple; and 3) someone we have yet to meet. Ben's warning sure points us to number one, and, given the number of characters we already have to deal with, I'd say three is somewhat unlikely. But did Ben deliberately send Karl and Danielle into an Other sniper trap? Think about it - he was desperate to keep Karl away from Alex lest he impregnate her, and Alex had already chosen Danielle over him as a preferred parent after she learned that Ben had lied about her death. We also know that Ben is more than capable of sending a perceived rival for someone's affection off to die (i.e. Goodwin). So the question remains - did Ben intend for his two biggest rivals for his daughter's love to die when he sent them to the Temple, and, if so, was their getting shot the result of instructions Ben gave his people, or something he knew would happen (through a Desmond-like flash?) when they encountered the freighterites?

So that's it, Lostophiles, not just for the episode but for the pod of 8. Lost is taking a break for the next five weeks or show before returning, one hour later, on April 24 with five back-to-back episodes to finish out the season. But don't worry - I'm sure I'll have more to talk about in this space between now and then.

Namaste!

Episode 407 - "Ji Yeon" is Born

The rest of the Oceanic 6 revealed! The least-surprising revelation ever introduces Ben's spy on the boat!! And a major, flight 815 character dies (maybe...)!!! All this and more in the brilliantly-structured "Ji Yeon."

Foreword
First off - do not read this recap before you watch the episode. Seriously. I'm going to build in some scroll space after the next paragraph and before the recapping starts so I don't accidentally spoil anything for you. But this is one episode in which any fore-knowledge will lessen the experience, so please only come back after you've seen "Ji Yeon."

Also, I've gotten a lot of reader comments lately, so I'll respond to those, and do some "set-the-record-straight" maintenance work at the end of this post. Also, my recap will likely be a little less heavy on details this week for two reasons - first, I felt for all its strength as a story in its own right, "Ji Yeon" offered few lesser details to scruitinze than most episodes. And second, I usually take furious notes into my laptop while watching Lost, but, since my wife has the laptop with her on a business trip this week, I was left with my slow, messy handwriting on a legal pad. So with that, scroll down, and enjoy the recap...













Flashback - Jin Kwon
The flashback scenes with Jin were this episode's brilliant head-fake. Intercut with what was unambiguously a Sun flash-forward, we were led to believe that, for some reason, the most important thing in the world for expectant father Jin was to buy, specifically, a stuffed panda for his soon-to-arrive child, to the point where he bribed a toystore owner an obscene amount of money to turn over a pre-paid panda after the one Jin had already purchased drove off in his purloined taxi.


Of course, we were given two clues that Jin was in flashback early on: his cellphone that was run over before he lost his taxi was unambiguously older technology, an odd thing for a guy throwing around huge wads of cash. And, of course, Jin was acting a bit like a prick, like the guy Sun was determined to ditch in Australia. Ultimately, the fake-out was revealed when Jin brought the panda, not to Sun and their baby, but to the Chinese Ambassador to South Korea, as a gift from Mr. Paik to celebrate the birth of the ambassador's grandson. The ambassador asked Jin if he had children, and Jin replied no, he'd only been married for two months.

Flash-Forward - Sun Kwon
Sun went into what appeared to be early labor while in her apartment in Korea. I say "early" because, not only was the prosthetic belly a bit small, but Sun also told the Korean version of a 911 operator that "something was wrong" with the baby, not that she was in labor.

At the hospital, one of the nurses recognized Sun as one of the Oceanic Six, making it abundantly clear (as if the pregnancy did not) that we were watching a flash-forward. As Sun was helped into her delivery bed, she was adamant that the nurse not remove her wedding ring, which she still wore despite the swelling. Sun's regular doctor was away at a conference, so a substitute OB treated her. At first, he thought a C-section would be required, but ultimately, she delivered her daughter, who she immediately named Ji Yeon, vaginally.

As regular readers know, my wife gave birth to a wonderful little girl just under four months ago, so I'm sure you can imagine, I was completely choked up over the birth of little Ji Yeon, and more than a little frustrated at Jin's missing the experience over a silly panda...

As a further aside, the live birth of Ji Yeon confirms Juliet's theory - the lethal combination is conception on the island and a failure to leave before the pregnancy turns fatal. Thus, Claire survived because Aaron was conceived off-island, and Sun survived because Ji Yeon, as a fetus, was removed from the island before turning on her mother. Too bad for the Others that Ben was so determined not to let anyone leave when Juliet suggested it would save lives...

Shortly thereafter, Hurley showed up to visit the new family, but said he was the only one coming. He immediately observed that Ji Yeon looked just like Jin, then suggested it was time that they take the baby to visit Jin.

Obviously, the initial implication was that there was trouble in Jin and Sun's marriage. But then, why was she so clingy with the ring? The answer was quickly revealed when we cut to Hurley, Sun and Ji Yeon at a cemetary. Sun tearfully told Jin that he was right, she was a girl (apparently, she never found out before the birth), and she named their daughter Ji Yeon, just as Jin had wanted.

But here's the kicker - we got a conspicuous look at the headstone, which listed Jin's date of death as 9/22/2004. This was, of course, the date that Oceanic Flight 815 crashed, a date which was at least three plus months before Jin could have died. So the big question that's raised here is, is Jin even dead? Clearly, as part of the lie the O-Sixers have told the world, Jin was not one of the seven survivors that Kate allegedly pulled out of the water. So if Jin didn't die when they said he did, did he die at all? In retrospect, Sun's clinging to her wedding ring reminded me very much of Rose's season one insistence that Bernard survived the crash, which, early in season 2, of course turned out to be true. Also, given how well-adjusted Hurley seemed, I got the sense this was one of the earlier flash-forwards we've seen. And, recent space-time anomalies notwithstanding, if Sun was around two and a half months pregnant when she (obviously) left the island, and she gave birth early, we know this sequence took place between eight and nine months of the crash, when the O-Sixers were still clinging to their stories. (Jeff Jensen suggested in his ew.com recap that the reason Hurley and Sun went to the cemetary at all is that this is what the world would expect them to do after Ji Yeon was born, and they were just keeping up appearances).

On the other hand, as I'll describe shortly, Jin's story largely appears complete. I believe it was Daniel Dae Kim, himself, who said in an interview a couple of years ago that, once your character has redeemed himself on the island, death cannot be far behind. The longer these people remain "Lost," the longer the show keeps them around. And, as this episode essentially resolved all of Jin's issues, he may very well die in the near future of island time. Still, I hope this is not the case. After all, when it comes time to rally the O-Sixers to go back to the island (next season), Sun would be much more motivated if Jin were still alive than if he had died.

Island Time - Beach Camp
Although it resolved a bunch of loose ends in the Jin-Sun story, the beach sequences provided the least "action" to the overall story.

Island time begins with Jin wanting to name the baby, who he somehow knows is a girl, Ji Yeon. Sun, beginning to fear that the freighterites will not take her off the island in time to save her, insists on changing the subject and does not want to discuss baby names until they leave.

Kate tells Jin and Sun about how Charlotte decked her, and about how Juliet lied about the purpose of the Tempest station (incidentally, the producers in this week's podcast confirmed that the Tempest, even in the DHARMA days, was always meant to be a chemical weapons factory. This of course begs the question of why hippie scientists needed chemical weapons...) Kate notes that Dan and Charlotte have talked about a lot of things, but rescue hasn't been one of them.

Sun introduces herself to Daniel, who, for some reason, has taken apart his sat phone and is tinkering with it. She asks point blank if Daniel is there to rescue her, but his response is just that it's not his call. She angrily demands to know whose call it is, and, when he doesn't answer, Sun, whose only purpose the past couple of weeks has been to question whether Jack was correct in trusting the freighterites, concludes that she and her baby will be safer if they bolt for Locke's camp. Juliet tries, in vain, to convince her otherwise, and assures Sun that she will die within a matter of weeks if she does not leave the island. Sun, no longer in a mood to trust Juliet, resolves to leave with Jin.

Juliet, fearing that Sun will be lost to her if she goes to the barracks, plays the only card she has - she reveals to Jin the secret about Sun's affair. Angry, and no longer determined to follow Sun whereever she needs him to go, Jin prepares to go fishing. Bernard, at first not catching on to the spat, asks if he can join. Even after Bernard notices he was is interrupting, though, Jin welcomes him along, needing some male bonding to take his mind off his wife's betrayal.

In Karl's boat, Bernard comments about how he and Jin are the only married men amongst the survivors. Jin, who previously told Jack he was learning English from Sun and Sawyer (Sun is the better teacher) and that he understands more than he can speak, sits patiently as Bernard explains about Rose's cancer and her belief that leaving the island will kill her. Jin, of course, wonders why Bernard and Rose stayed with Jack instead of seeking refuge with Locke and his crew of people who don't seem as interested in leaving. Bernard explains that it was simply the right thing to do, that Locke was a deranged murderer and it would be bad karma (are we suddenly on "My Name is Earl"?) to follow someone like that. (Obviously, the beach camp still doesn't know about "taller ghost Walt," which was enough of an explanation for team Locke to forgive their bumbling leader).

Proving his point about karma, at that very moment, Jin catches a fish. Jin knows he needs to forgive his wife.

Meanwhile, back at the beach, Juliet apologizes to Sun for revealing her affair to Jin. But she insists she did it to save Sun's life, because Sun is her patient. Juliet explains how she should expect symptoms to begin in about three weeks that, in about six weeks, would lead to her slipping into a coma and dying. Sun is moved by the extent to which Juliet seems to really want to save her, and changes her mind about defecting to team Locke.

In a tear-jerking scene that was second only to the cemetary sequence, Jin returns and tells Sun he doesn't need an explanation, that he understands why pre-island Sun would be unfaithful. She assures him that his final fear - that the baby is not his - can be put to rest.

And there you have it - the end of Jin's story. He went from a brash, angry, infertile, domineering husband who drove his wife to an affair and to the brink of abandoning him, to a dutiful, doting, self-sacrificing and forgiving dream baby-daddy. Thus, as described above, Jin is now ready, in Lost terms, to die, as he is no longer "lost." So the question remains - will he make it? Will he be the reason Sun ultimately decides to return in Season 6? Or will he sacrifice himself in the coming weeks to ensure his wife survives to give birth to their daughter?

This leaves us with the most mythologically-heavy sequence in the episode...

Frieghter Time

On the freighter, we begin with Frank talking to Keamey on deck. Keamey asks Frank if he's ready and cautions him not to be late. Late for what? At this point, we don't know. Frank continues his walk and comes to where Regina (we finally meet Regina!) is standing guard outside the room in which Desmond and Sayid are still locked. Frank notes that Regina is reading a book upside down, a fact about which she was oddly unaware prior to his mentioning it.

Frank goes in and tells Des and Sayid that they are locked in because the captain was upset they busted out of sickbay. Sayid points out that they didn't bust out, the door was opened, and he had assumed Frank had opened it for them. Frank denies any involvement, hands over some cans of beans, and, when Sayid demands an audience with the ship's captain, Frank assures them that's something they don't want.

The next morning, Desmond awakens to Sayid eating some beans. He sees a note slipped through the vent in the door. Sayid, who tells Desmond about Ben's claim to have a spy on board, opens the note, which reads, "don't trust the captain."

Later, Sayid and Desmond hear a banging sound in the ship's pipes, which Sayid knows is not mechanical in nature. Doctor Ray comes to collect them, and they notice the helicopter is gone (perhaps this is what Frank was not to be late for?) Sayid asks if it went back to the island, and Ray snidely notes there's nowhere else for it to land. Suddenly, Regina emerges on deck, wrapped in heavy chains...and flings herself overboard, sinking like a stone!

Sayid and Desmond try to help, when suddenly the Captain, who calls himself "Gault," appears and orders that nobody try to assist. He says to Sayid and Desmond, "I suppose you two have a few questions." Captain Gault explains that some crew members, including Regina, have experienced what he calls a "heightened cabing fever" ever since the boat's engines were sabotaged. He confirms what Ben revealed last week, that Kahana was sent by Charles Widmore (and he notes that Desmond is familiar with the name), and says the orders he's received are to head away from the island as soon as the engines are repaired. Gault then pulls out what he claims is the "black box" flight recorder from flight 815.

According to Gault, Mr. Widmore recovered this and the plane at tremendous personal expense. He cites Sayid's presence as evidence that the crash was staged, then tosses out this question - imagine the resources required to not only put a fake plane crash in a deep ocean trench, but to come up with 324 dead bodies to put on board. Gault tells them this is one of many reasons Widmore wants to find Ben.

Now, a few weeks ago, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse told us that, by season's end, we would hear two competing explanations for how the fake flight 815 ended up on the ocean floor. This is the first - the idea that Ben Linus was somehow behind it. Whether or not Ben actually is the mastermind of the fake crash, the idea that he commands these types of resources clearly influenced Miles in his attempt to fake Ben's death in exchange for 3.2 million dollars. For that matter, in a show in which recurring numbers are an ongoing motif, note the similarity between 324 bodies and 3.2 million, a figure which seemed quite random at the time (and really still does).

Finally, Ray shows Desmond and Sayid to their new, unlocked quarters. When he opens the door, we see massive roaches scampering all over the floor (eww). Even more "eww," though, is the blood spatter at the junction of the wall and the ceiling (reminiscent of the stain Radzinsky left on the ceiling of the Swan station), which Ray nonchalantly says "shouldn't be there." Ray calls to the janitor, Johnson, who is mopping down the hall, and demands that he come and clean it up. As "Johnson" approaches and introduces himself to Sayid and Desmond as "Kevin," we instantly recognize him as Michael feakin' Dawson!!!!

So, at long last, Ben's spy on the boat is revealed! Again, this is the least surprising surprise ever, given that Harold Perrineau's name has appeared in the credits all season (and yet he only appeared about twenty minutes past the season's halfway point), and the great fanfare with which both the network and the producers revealed Michael's return over the summer.

For the time being, Sayid and Desmond appear willing to allow Michael his little deception. But rest assured that next week, in the final pre-strike epsiode, "Meet Kevin Johnson," we will learn just how the hell Michael Dawson became Kevin Johnson, and, more importantly, how he ended up being Ben's spy on the boat.

Correction

Last week, in my recap of "The Other Woman," I reported hearing the name, "Sarah," in the whispers that were heard before Harper met Juliet in the jungle, and said that Sarah was the name of Juliet's sister. While I still believe I heard the name, it should be noted that Juliet's sister's name is "Rachel," and Sarah was Jack's ex-wife. The mistake is understandable, however, considering that my daughter's name is Sarah Rachel.

So, that's all for this time. Until later, Namaste.

Episode 406 - Juliet Suffers As "The Other Woman"

Before we jump into Juliet's big season 4 moment, "The Other Woman," some house-cleaning remains from last week. Jeff Jensen at ew.com posted a column this week (which you can read here) in which Damon Lindelof confirmed the mechanics of what we saw in "The Constant." In a nutshell, the electrical storm, infused with "island magic," pulled the mind of Desmond from 1996 forward in time to his body in 2004. This was why Desmond had no memory of Frank or Sayid - he would not meet them for 8 years. Eventually, when Desmond made contact with his constant - Penny - in both the past and future, the effect reversed itself, and Desmond's 2004 mind rebooted itself in its proper time and place, only with the memories of his trip forward in time from 1996. These are memories Desmond did not previously have, so he has changed his own history. Much as in "Flashes Before Your Eyes" last season, Desmond has now essentially repeated his own history, but with full knowledge that his actions would lead him to the island. Meanwhile, the late, nuttty George Minkowski's 2004 mind was being projected backwards, inhabiting his past self. This was essentially an opposite effect of what Desmond experienced, which makes sense, given that Faraday explained the effects of travel to or from the island were "random." So, now on with the show...

The big bad guy revealed! Yet another Dharma station!! Gratuitous whispering!!! All this, plus links to flahsbacks from seasons 2 and 3, in "The Other Woman."

Flashback - Juliet Burke

The flashback sequences weave in and out of the same three-year time period covered by Juliet's prior flashback, connecting the dots between her fling with Goodwin (briefly depicted last season in "One of Us") and Goodwin's infiltration of the Tailies and eventual death (as depicted in seaon 2's "The Other 48 Days").

The flashback began with Juliet, one week into her time on the island, meeting with Others' psychotherapist Harper (Andrea Roth, the fiery Janet Gavin on FX's brilliant series, "Rescue Me"). Juliet was confiding her discomfort with her sudden celebrity amongst the Others, when Tom interrupted to bring Juliet to see Ben. Ben was waiting for her with flowers and the keys to her new house, which she found excessive, given that she was only going to stay for six months (heh heh).

Later, Juliet had a fairly lame meet-cute with Goodwin. She was mourning the loss of Henrietta, a pregnant Other, when Goodwin came looking for gauze to wrap a burn he claimed to sustain working at the power station. Juliet called Harper mean and spiteful, only to learn she and Goodwin were married. Given our familiarity with Juliet's eventual hook-up with Goodwin, it's fair to say at this point that the plot has just thickened...Juliet said she would not reveal Goodwin's lie about how he was burned (she recognized a chemical burn) if he didn't tell Harper what she said, the beginning of their shared deceptions.

Still later, Goodwin accidentally interrupted Ben and Juliet with a sandwich he brought for Juliet. Ben instantly sensed what's going on. While Juliet seemed oblivious to it, it became clear to us here that Ben's interest in Juliet was not limited to fixing the toxic baby problem on the island. In therapy, Harper asked Juliet what she thought of Ben. Harper let slip that Ben has been good to Juliet because "you look just like her."

Aside time...there were a few of these throwaway lines in this episode that seemed to hide much bigger reveals. Whom did Juliet resemble that got Ben's attention? His mother? Annie, whose story we have yet to discern?

Harper observed Goodwin and Juliet have been friendly, then asked when Juliet started sleeping with her husband. Juliet faked a huff, but Harper said she followed her and watched them go at it (eww). But Harper's concern was not with Goodwin's infidelity - it was with the consequences for Goodwin for getting between Ben and Juliet.

Sometime later, Juliet and Goodwin enjoyed an island picnic - very From Here to Eternity. Goodwin said he plucked the wine off the sub (ok, so my theory that the sub was not the real conveyance used by the Others may have been a bit far-fetched), and he hated being so private. He had been sleeping on the couch for a year, but Juliet said it would not be a good idea to confess to Harper, because Ben wouldn't like it. "Why," Goodwin asked, "because he has a crush on you?" Ben had Goodwin working on "chemicals that could kill every man woman and child on the island." Goodwin asked (prophetically) what Ben would do if he got upset? Cut to another replay of the 815 crash as seen from the barracks - Ben sent Goodwin to infiltrate the tail section, prompting Harper to give Juliet an "I told you so" look.

One evening, Ben flirtily greeted Juliet, whom he fooled into a private romantic (or as close as Ben can get) meal by inviting her to a dinner party. He thanked her for being so wonderful with Zach and Emma (the abducted tailie kids). Juliet questioned if they really belonged there, since they kept asking about their mother, but Ben insisted they did since they were "on the list." Juliet asked why Goodwin had not returned since all tailies on the list had been brought to the Others. Ben, in his winking, ominious manner, replied Goodwin was making a case for bringing in Ana-Lucia, but Ben was "not convinced" this would be a good idea.

In the final flashback scene, Ben came to Juliet's lab as she was reading Jack's file, noting that his experience with tumor removal could help Ben, a fact which didn't excite him as she thought it would. Ben then led Juliet to Goodwin's body, with the stake Ana-Lucia ran through his chest still sticking through. "Guess I should have listened to you," Ben said coldly. Juliet asked why he showed her Goodwin looking like this. "You mean, instead of his wife?" asked Ben cruelly. Juliet accused Ben of knowing this would happen and asked, sobbing, why he would want Goodwin to die? In a rare moment of total candor, Ben laid it all out for Juliet: "Why? After everything I've done to bring you here, everything I've done to keep you here, how can you not understand, that you're mine?!" Collecting himself, Ben looked down on Goodwin, then said, "take as much time as you need." and stormed off.

So...wow...if I'm reading this scene right, it was not so much that Ben would not allow anyone off the island. It's more that he would not let Juliet leave. His feelings for Juliet explain a lot - why he would confide in her the jamming going on in the Looking Glass station, why he would suddenly insist nobody could leave the island even though he, Richard, and more Others clearly have from time to time, why he was so peculiarly wounded when he learned it was Juliet who betrayed him to the beach camp, and why his behavior had become so erratic, it had Richard and Tom questioning his leadership. Moreover, in a show that is no stranger to biblical allusion, Ben here took a page out of the story of King David, who sent the husband of the woman he coveted off to die on the front lines to make the woman his. And yet, for this awful flaw, David is still considered one of the heroes of Judeo-Christian theology. Still, this flashback, while ostensibly Juliet's, sure did cast a negative light on Ben's claim that he is one of the good guys...

Island Time - Team Jack
We open in the "present" with Juliet trying to build a shelter on the beach. Sun wants to know why she bothers when they're about to leave? Daniel and Charlotte, meanwhile, took off into the jungle, and Jin didn't stop them or say anything because "you...said...they...are...friends." Sun wonders to Jack, "are they?" Jack launches a search party into the jungle (man, this would be easier with Kate or Locke). Juliet, searching one section alone, starts hearing the whispers - the name, "Sarah," (Juliet's sister) was definitely in there - but she turns and finds...Harper, who claims it's been a while.

Harper says she came to deliver a message from Ben - Daniel and Charlotte are going to "the Tempest," and if they figure out how to deploy that gas, everyone on the island will die. Harper says that Ben insists that Juliet be the one to kill Daniel and Charlotte, and that Ben, although apparently a prisoner, is where he wants to be. Jack emerges and sees Harper, who suggests Jack and his gun join Juliet. The whispers return, prompting Jack and Juliet to look for their source, and suddenly, Harper is gone. Juliet says it's safer for Jack if she doesn't tell him what "the Tempest" is (aside from being the power station for the island). She then asks him for help.

Okaaaaay... Here's my take. This was not the "real" Harper, but rather Ben somehow causing her to manifest to communicate with Juliet, much like Yemi, Christian and Kate's horse have manifested in the past. And, as with those prior visions, Jack was able to interact with this "vision" because, in a way, she was really there. I interpreted the whispers as an indication of the "island magic" coming and then going. After all, unless Ben really plans ahead (i.e. with the information gleaned from his spy on the freighter), it would be mighty hard for him to send a message to Juliet via courier while still bound and locked in a basement. Not that I have any cogent theory on the mechanics of all this, or the extent to which Ben can be connected to all of these visions, but if you think you have a more complete explanation, by all means, send it my way!

In the jungle, Daniel and Charlotte are following a map of the island. This map is intriguing for two reasons - 1) somebody with lots of knowledge about the island was able to give it to them (more on this later), and 2) This mysterious someone seemed to have only limited knowledge, as evidenced by the "unknown?" notations on three parts of the map. Daniel asks what happens if he can't do it, But Charlotte reassures him. Kate, on her way back from the barracks, finds them, and Charlotte draws her gun, but Daniel tells Charlotte it's okay. Kate confirms Locke has Miles, but he's fine. Kate catches Charlotte in an obvious lie about dead phone batteries and missing chopper packs. Kate looks in Daniel's pack, and sees gas masks...and Charlotte knocks her out with the butt of her gun.

Jack asks Juliet about Harper, and why the Others need a shrink. "It's very stressful being an Other, Jack" (great line). Jack asks why Juliet needed therapy, and she responded, "I'm sure there's things you don't want me to know about," to which Jack retorted, "Yeah, you read them in my file." "Trust me," responds Juliet ominously, "you don't want to read my file." The next morning, they find Kate, still unconscious (query about the editing of this episode - we went from Dan and Charlotte with Kate in the daytime, to Jack and Juliet at night, to Jack and Juliet finding Kate in the morning...) Juliet tells Jack she's going to fetch some water, but really seems to be giving Jack space to ask Kate why she changed her mind again and left the barracks. Kate, who doesn't take the opportunity to say, "because I prefer you over Sawyer," tells Jack Daniel and Charlotte had gas masks. Suddenly, Juliet is out of earshot, and Jack realizes they've been ditched. Kate tracks Juliet, and sees she's following Daniel and Charlotte. Jack asks what happened that made Kate leave. She says she stayed to find out if the people on the boat knew who she was, and confirms that they did.

Juliet arrives at the Tempest (which was teased on the hatch map, I believe, as DHARMA's weather station).

The key pad has been smashed, but Juliet opens the front door with a pulley. She pulls out a luger. Sirens blare, and a recorded voice repeats, "Warning - computer switching to manual, test is unauthorized." Juliet finds Daniel, in a gas mask and hazmat suit, trying to hack a computer. When Daniel sees Juliet has a gun trained on him, he seems...disappointed? Concerned for her? He apologizes but says he can't step away from the computer. Daniel says he's not trying to release the gas - he's trying to make it inert. Charlotte attacks Juliet, and they catfight like crazy. Charlotte insists they're trying to stop Ben from using the deadly gas against them in a repeat of the purge. At the last moment, Daniel succeeds in disabling the gas.

Kate is not quite ready to trust Charlotte when she and Jack arrive at the station, despite Juliet's assurances that they're on "our side." Jack says he'll take their word that they just saved their lives, so that Kate will take Charlotte in and leave him with Juliet. He checks on Juliet, tenderly. She says Ben wanted her to kill Daniel and Charlotte. Jack asks how he could tell her? "I don't know, but he knew how to get to me, and he knew where they were going, and what they were doing." Juliet explains that the F4 came to wage war against Ben, but that Ben was going to win, "and when he does, you don't want to be anywhere near me, because he thinks that I'm his, and he knows how I feel about you." Jack kisses her, and gives his version of George W. Bush's infamous "bring it on" line.

So, despite thwarting Ben's doomsday device, Juliet seems to know Ben still has the upper hand in the struggle to come. "How to get to" her clearly was with Harper, who would highlight for Juliet what happens when she chooses anyone or anything over Ben. As for Jack kissing Juliet...I don't like it. Who needs a love quadrangle? Is Jack just going with Juliet as a safe option because his true love, Kate, is too much work? And does Juliet, who seems pretty astute, really want to settle for that, given how badly being the "other woman" went for her last time around? But I do love me some Juliet...

Island Time - Team Locke

That said, as much as this was ostensibly Juliet's episode, Ben had the best showing...

Claire approaches Locke, and says she wants to talk to Miles herself, that she might be less intimidating than John. "All Charlie said is whose boat it isn't - don't you want to know whose boat it is?"

John goes to see Ben, and brings him some rabbit. "This didn't have a number on it, did it?" (Awesome). Ben asks if the revolution has begun yet. "It must be tough to have all those people second-guessing you. Your people are going to be sooo angry when they find out you still don't have a plan." John scoffs, but Ben says, "I always have a plan." Locke plays his trump card - "does this plan involve raising 3.2 million dollars?" Ben changes tactics by saying they have a common enemy, the one the freighterites work for. John says he doesn't trust Ben, who says, "alright then. I guess I'll have to show you." Ben, who has John bring him upstairs, assures him, "If my people stil wanted me, John, they would have stormed this camp long ago." He directs John to a painting, behind which is a safe. Ben gives Locke the combination - 36-15-28 - and Locke finds inside a videotape showing surveilance footage of Charles Widmore having a captured Other beaten. DING DING DING!!!! This is the man who's been trying to find the island!!!! Ok, so, by now this was about as obvious as Jack and Claire being siblings. But isn't it great when a theory pans out? Last week I gave three possibilities of how Charles and Penny could be connected to the island. This certainly points towards number three - Widmore wants the island, and may have used Desmond to try to find it. Penny learned about this and has been working around her father to find the island and, by extension, Desmond. In any case, as hard as it is to take Ben at face value in his claim that Widmore is the "bad guy" (or in any other claim), we now know who Ben's adversary is, for suresies. Ben compares Locke's miraculous recovery from paralysis to the appearance of the Virgin Mary in a patch of mold, and notes that if thousands flocked to see the mold, just think what people would do if Widmore finds the island. Ben hands John the file he has on Widmore - some he knows, some is his theories. Locke demands to know who Ben's mand on the boat is. "Alright," says Ben, "but you might want to sit down."

The episode ends with Sawyer and Hurley (remember them?) playing horseshoes. Hurley wins, and has another one of those throwaway lines to explain the victory, "guess I'm just lucky"

What I love about this line is that this is a "guess" Hugo never would have made before. Something has changed for him, and I can't wait to see what that might be...

....but Hurley's though is interrupted when they see Ben walking free, carrying clean clothes and sheets into one of the houses. Ben sees them, smiles, and says, "see you guys at dinner."

It would appear Ben's story about his spy's identity persuaded Locke that they're on the same side (prior gutshots notwithstanding). At this point, all signs seem to point to Michael being the man on the boat, an answer we should expect to get next week.

So there you have it. I kind of liked the episode, as it clearly moved things forward. There are some problems - the lack of chemistry between Jack and Juliet, for one, and the fact that Daniel and Charlotte seemed to dilly-dally so long before heading to the Tempest and neutralizing the gas, but I still liked how much was explained (or implied) in this episode. I don't feel the need to discuss the parallels between this episode and Shakespear's The Tempest, (or the pop sci-fi classic "The Forbidden Planet, loosely based on the Bard's play) since Doc Jensen did that in his recap on ew.com. So, until next week, Namaste.