Quid Pro Quo, Widmore: Further Musings About "The Shape of Things to Come"

After watching last night's episode again, I have a plethora of new thoughts and questions running through my exhausted mind...

BEN

What is the significance of the vapor emanating from Ben when we first glimpse him in the Sahara? Was he wearing the Dharma parka and layers because the time travel wormhole is a cold journey? That would certainly be convenient for the teleporting polar bears...

This is a stretch, but is Ben's brief illness upon arrival in the desert at all related to Jack's sudden sickness?

How did the Bedouins know that Ben was there? Did they seem him arrive (however that happened)?

Did Ben learn multiple languages during his many trips off the island using that stack of passports, or did he have a Dharma tape of Hooked on Turkish?

Perhaps this is a continuity error...when Ben first arrives in the Sahara, he does not have his satchel. But when he takes off on horseback minutes later, he does. Something tells me that it was meant to first appear after he checked into his hotel (where he had stored it during a previous visit), because it seems unlikely that the huge camera in that bag would survive the rough time travel in one piece.

Is the creepy portrait of the blonde woman in Ben's house supposed to be his childhood girl Annie as an adult, or his mother? He never met his mom and hasn't seen Annie since they were kids...as far as we know.

Ben tells Locke that he needs to survive because they have to see Jacob, yet only Hurley knows where to find the cabin. Why not tell Hurley that he needs to stay alive? Does Ben only need Locke to communicate with Jacob? And why, after Sawyer and Claire part ways with them, does Ben say "follow me" when Locke asks which way to the cabin? Is Ben lying about what his plans for Hurley are?

"Every single one of my people is prepared to die in service to this island." Really, Ben? In service to the island, or to you? Even your daughter?

BLACK SMOKE MONSTER

Last season, Juliet told Kate that she didn't know what the Black Smoke Monster was. But she knew that the sonic fence would stop it. So has Juliet always been aware that Ben controls Smokey and what he uses it for?

CHARLES WIDMORE

How far back do he and Ben go? Ben inquired about Widmore having a bottle of scotch by the bed, which might imply that they were friendly at some point, and quite familiar with one another's habits. Did the animosity begin only after he discovered that Ben purged his Dharma staff and took over 'his' island?

What were Widmore's nightmares about?

At what point was the island obscured from the world? Widmore claims he has always owned and the island and will return there again, so was Ben responsible for creating the invisible barrier that seems to cover it?

CLAIRE

How is it that Claire slept through the commotion of gunshots and Sawyer yelling her name?

Why bother having her mistake Sawyer for Charlie? She wasn't that disoriented; she immediately asked about Aaron.

DANIEL

Even though he was lying about what the freighter responded with in Morse code, Daniel said that the helicopters (plural) were coming to the island. I know that there were 2 landing pads on the freighter, but didn't one helicopter crash when Naomi bailed out and parachuted in?

What is Daniel's true mission on that island? Why did he and Charlotte disable the gas at the Tempest?

DR. RAY

Did Michael or Sayid kill Dr. Ray on the freighter? If so, why?

Similar to when Ben dispatched Ethan to the survivor's beach and certain death...why kill off your only doctor?

HURLEY

Hurley clearly and genuinely cares for Claire and Aaron, as he did for Charlie. It would make sense that he'd visit Aaron frequently in the future. Will we see Hurley visiting Kate and Aaron in a flash forward?

JACK

Does this illness mark the beginning of Jack's abuse of pills?

MARTIN KEAMY & CO.

Did Keamy know that Alex was Ben's daughter, or was he aware that Ben only pretends she is? He and the mercenaries had certainly done their homework about the island, and they did not open fire on her after shooting Karl and Rousseau.

Did he kill Alex only after Ben confessed that she wasn't his daughter? If the "rules" between Widmore and Ben were that loved ones are to be spared from their war, and Alex wasn't a true loved one, she became meaningless to Keamy.

Why do they stop shooting at Sawyer when he goes into the burned house to rescue Claire? Were they instructed to keep Sawyer alive for some reason? For trained snipers, they certainly failed to kill him as he ran toward her and fired back.

NADIA

How was she killed?

SAYID

There were American soldiers accompanying Nadia's funeral procession in Iraq. Were they already stationed there under the current war, or were they ordered to protect Sayid because he was one of the Oceanic 6?

FILE UNDER: RANDOM OBSERVATION

Did Ben's attire and demeanor remind anyone else of Hannibal Lecter after he escaped in The Silence of the Lambs?

And then when he traveled to London to offer up a serious heaping of Quid Pro Quo to Widmore (you killed my daughter, I'll kill yours) with similar creepy eyes and delivery, that just sealed it for me. Perhaps he went to Widmore's penthouse to "have an old friend for dinner."
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Thanks for the many comments - keep 'em coming!