Review: The Other Woman

Any episode that follows “The Constant” would have the unfortunate fate of not living up to the viewers’ standards. As I watched “The Other Woman” last night, I was both intrigued by the clues and disappointed by the clues. Juliet’s backstory was interesting, but not entirely necessary. I think we could have easily packaged what we learned about her in a mobisode during the down time (those 2 minute vignettes that were posted on abc.com before season 4 started). Nonetheless, it is what it is and it was what it was. There were a select few scenes that really had my heart pounding. Let’s take it one affair….er, scene…at a time.

The Other Woman
Okay, I get it. Juliet is the other woman. In her off-island marriage, her husband cheated on her with another woman. In a Sawyer-esque twist of fate, she became the woman she hated. Juliet was the other woman to Harper as she is now to Kate. It actually appears she is about to be replaced as the other "bad" woman in the survivor camp by Charlotte, too.

What can we learn from this? Well, it was a window into Juliet’s past. It was an explanation of why she feels the way she feels and why she does the things she does. Did I see the Goodwin affair coming? No, but it didn’t make my jaw drop. Meh. I’m indifferent. What DID make me cringe was…

Your Love’s Got Me Looking So Crazy Right Now
It was beyond creepy to watch googly-eyed Ben pull out all the stops for his secret one-on-one dinner that she thought was a group dinner! WHOAH! I couldn’t believe it! I would have walked out. Honestly. That was ridiculous. We all knew Ben had it in him to be obsessive. Last night, it was absolutely confirmed that Ben is crazy in love with Juliet. Brilliantly crazy. But crazy nonetheless.

It seems like it was common knowledge that Juliet and Goodwin were having an affair…and, obviously, Ben knew about it, which is why he sent Goodwin to the tail section. Here’s a question: assuming Ben chose Ethan to “become a survivor” for the same reason he chose Goodwin (to die)... what had Ethan done? In a cruel twist, Juliet is taken to the decomposing body of her (star-crossed?) lover, Goodwin, and forced to grieve in the presence of her captor, Ben. Through fitful cries, she yells “Why did you bring me here? Why did you want me to see this?” Ben’s response? “You are mine.”

This confirmation of Ben’s serious issues makes my hair stand on in. Ben is clearly dealing with some deep, deep security issues and finds it necessary to be in control at all times, at all costs. Where does this come from? I don’t know if we have actually been filled in on this part of his story. Some will say it is because he was blamed for the death of his mother throughout his childhood and is trying to preserve himself and his self-worth. Some will say it is because he is on a “list” himself (Widmore’s?) and is spending his life trying to make sure he doesn’t die. Some will say it is a response to the cancer – needing to maintain some semblance of control over his life when he lacks all control over the disease.

Whatever it is, Juliet is caught up in the middle. And although I’ve been predicting Claire’s death for a few weeks now, sign me up for the “Juliet is going to die” club…because I think Juliet is going to die.

Is Ben taking cues from King David?
Those of you who grew up going to Sunday School at Westminster Presbyterian Church are probably thinking “Why does this story of Ben sending Goodwin to die sound familiar?” (ahem)

Today’s reading comes from Second Samuel, Chapter 11. But instead of reading, I will summarize. After King David lies with Bathsheba (G rated Bible language…infer what you want), he send her husband, Uriah the Hittite, into battle so "that he might be struck down, and die.” Hmm.

Maggie, are you comparing Ben to King David? Well, yes, yes I am. David and Ben are oddly similar. Remember the battle of David and Goliath? Remember David’s deliverance of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem? Remember when David’s son, Absalom, rebels against David?

However, I don’t want to lose everyone, so I will continue to look into this odd theory and do a bonus post sometime soon where I continue the analysis of Ben and Biblical King David.

"You Look Just Like Her"
Harper’s comment to Juliet about her appearance and it’s connection to Ben gave me the heebee-jeebees.

1. Is "she" Ben’s mother? I say 70% chance true. I really think that fits. Mother dies in childbirth; resulting baby falls in love with fertility doctor who looks just like her.

2. Is “she” Annie? I say 25% chance true. Many have predicted that: 1) Annie survived the purge; 2) Annie married Ben; 3) Annie got pregnant; and 4) Annie died. Those hard-core fans out there will remember that Annie had brown hair, not blonde like Juliet. However, I still think this is an interesting theory. His obsession with Juliet is both because of her likeness to Ben’s dead wife and her ability to “fix” the pregnant-then-die cycle that the women are stuck in.

3. Is “she” someone else? I say 5% chance true. Leave it to Lost to reference a character we’ve never heard of before.

The Tempest
There are a lot of questions surrounding this station. First things first: this station did not appear on the blast door map inside of the hatch that Locke saw. Is it another Hydra-like station – a station that Ben didn’t tell everyone about?

That was quite a scene inside of The Tempest. Clearly, there was uncertainty about whether or not Dan could really get the job done….they were wearing gas masks and hazmat suits. However, the real sticking question is what on earth (or not?) were they doing? People are hypothesizing that the gas contained in The Tempest is the gas that was used during the Purge. You’ll recall Goodwin came to Juliet during her first week for first aid on a chemical burn. Where did the gas come from and what was it to be used for?

In other news, Dan's abilities seem to go beyond physics. Chemistry? Computer Whiz? Who is this guy and how does he know all he knows?

Is Ben still in control?
We also found out that Ben seems to have the ability to send and receive information on the island fairly effortlessly, given Ben's message via Harper and her insistence that he was exactly where he needed to be. This scene was oddly familiar to another person with a supernatural communication skill, who while imprisoned said the same thing…(ahem: Miles)

But moving on, is Harper at “the Temple” with the rest of the Others? How is Ben communicating with her? When Ben said “If my people wanted me back, they would have stormed this camp long ago”, was he covering up? Or was he telling the truth?

The Widmore Reveal
Ben's last card? Yeah right.

Ben gives up Charles Widmore, and it would appear has given up his man on the boat to Locke as well, or so it would appear by his freedom in the last scene (When Ben said “See you guys at dinner” to Hurley and Sawyer, I laughed quite hard…brilliant! Hilarious!)

So Widmore has been looking for the island because he wants to make money off of it…in a Jurassic Park sort of way. Ben doesn’t want Widmore to find it because….I’m not sure. I don’t buy that he is a member of the Arbor Day Foundation and just wants to protect the natural setting of the place. Ben is somehow surviving on this island quite literally – as in, Ben has money flowing somehow. I’m not sure who his benefactor is, but I don’t think the Others pay rent.

If you are Charles Widmore and you are trying to find an island, what do you do? How about sponsor a boat race around the world, making sure the path is very near where the island might be? (Check.) How about sponsor a hot-air balloon race around the world, making sure the path is very near where the island will be? (Check. Rest in peace, Henry Gale and wife.) How about send a freighter near where the island might be and send a helicopter through the worm hole to enter the island’s atmosphere? (Check.)

The tape was very interesting, too…Charles Widmore appears to have Jin-like abilities and kick some major a$$. Who was he beating up? What did that person do? And who was filming the video?

Regardless, Ben’s explanation of who Widmore is and what he wants really does fit, folks. I’m not saying that I believe everything Ben says (I don’t, not-Henry Gale). However, of all the lies Ben has told, this one checks out the most.

Charlie has been preaching for some time now that Widmore is going to be involved in the mythology of this show in a major way. I’ll give him some props for this keen observation. Truth be told, I think all of us thought Widmore had something to do with all of this. Last night was not so much a reveal, but more of a confirmation. We can all agree that Ben cannot be taken at his word, but this has just been coming for far too long and hinted at with the ominous music when Widmore is on the screen (like the auction last week). It is almost painfully obvious that Michael is going to be on the freighter as well…

Going off of Charlie’s good vs. evil post from yesterday…our question now is who is the evil one? Ben obviously wants to stop things from happening that will cause him to lose control and power. As much of a jerk as Widmore has been to the lovely Desmond, is he really the bad guy? It is starting to look like evil vs. evil. I think it’s pretty obvious that Widmore was the Economist as well. Hunting each other, each trying to control and possess the island, they are both wrong, both evil.

It will be interesting to see what Ben is holding over Sayid to get him to do his dirty work. It will also be interesting to see what happens between Penny and Daddy when she inevitably finds out what he's been up to.

The Love Triangle is now a Love….Heptagon?
If my scorekeeping is right, the score at halftime is:

Jack likes Kate.
Kate (maybe) likes Jack.
Sawyer likes Kate.
Kate (maybe) likes Sawyer.
Juliet likes Jack.
Jack likes Juliet.
Ben likes Juliet.
Goodwin liked (sad) Juliet.
Harper likes Goodwin.

I don’t want to get caught up in this mess. I’m still starry-eyed over last week’s Desmond/Penny phone conversation. Just for fun, I’m including the transcript in this post. If you haven’t watched it lately, you should watch it again. Ladies, this is what true love looks like…
Desmond: I love you Penny. I’ve always loved you. I’m so sorry. I love you.
Penny: I love you too.
Desmond: I don’t know where we’re at, but…
Penny: I’ll find you Des.
Desmond: I promise.
Penny: No matter what.
Desmond: I’ll come back to you.
Penny: I won’t give up.
Desmond: I promise.
Penny: I promise.
Unison: I love you.

Next Week
Get ready for the last episode in this seven week series: Ji Yeon will be a Jin/Sun-centric episode and from the looks of the previews, Sun needs to get off the island in 3 weeks or she will suffer the same fate as the other pregnant island women. The preview also claims that we find out the rest of the Oceanic 6….could it be Sun and Jin?? After next week's episode, we have a four-week hiatus so they can catch up on filming. Then, we will come back with an exciting six-episode end to this season.

And for those of you who don’t speak fluent Korean, Ji Yeon is a name. I’ll leave it at that.

Namaste,
Maggie