LOST, Episode 4.6 - "The Other Woman"

Juliet, the dice was loaded from the start
And I bet that you exploded into my heart
Dire Straits, "Romeo & Juiet"

Wow. Here goes. And I apologize for the lack of photos. I wanted to get these insane thoughts out of my head first.

I know from the lack of emails and text messages that many people won't think much of this episode, especially following last week's. But holy sh*t. I disagree. The puzzle pieces are coming together with amazing speed and clarity.

I just LOVE how brilliant this show is, that we've moved from fearing the Others to Ben to the Freigher Four to Widmore and Oceanic.

DADDY WIDMORE

Try to follow me here...this is my interpretation of the events that led Widmore to the island.

Widmore purchased the Black Rock journal at the auction in last week's episode because it contained the island's secrets. It took him several years, but when he was finally able to determine where the island was, he then financed the freighter and selected the Freighter Four. That team was hired (based on their individual expertise in fields relating to the Dharma stations on the island) to find Ben and dismantle the poisonous gas on the island because Widmore wanted to preserve it/exploit it. He knew about Ben's prior purge.

Matthew Abbadon works for Oceanic and is the one who hired Naomi and the Freighter Four; he is working for/with Widmore. So now we can tie together and Widmore and Oceanic. If Widmore knew about the island and had been trying various methods to get there, and knew about the Dharma stations and the powers (i.e. electromagnetism), did he commission and/or tinker with Flight 815 to specifically fly that route to see if it would crash there? You might be asking what the airline would have to gain by purposefully crashing one of their planes on that island. Well, I believe that all of the passengers were specifically chosen for that purpose, to see what affect the island would have on their various emotional and physical ailments (Locke's paralysis, Rose's cancer, Jin's infertility, Hurley's mental instability, Charlie's drug habit, etc.). Widmore had files on these people long before they booked that flight, and each passenger had an enabler that made sure they were on that flight (a long list for a future blog).

When Abbadon was providing Naomi with her team (the Freighter Four) for the mission to find Ben, he insisted that she wouldn't encounter any survivors from Flight 815. Widmore's sole purpose and the reason he sent the freighter was to find and stop Ben. Of course he and Abbadon knew that Flight 815 survivors were also on the island, but they didn't want Naomi and the Freighter Four to either believe it or interact with them.

The reason that Abbadon is harassing the Oceanic 6 upon their return is because Widmore arranged for their rescue and paid for their silence. Abbadon is his enforcer, and Sayid & Ben are working together in the future to expose and kill Widmore (the Economist) and his team.

I believe that Sayid went rogue after rescue, and disappeared/distanced himself from the other Oceanic 5 on a mission to either return to the island to rescue those left behind, or simply kill those responsible for the entire lie. That is why we haven't seen Sayid interact with Kate, Jack or Hurley in the future; they don't know where he is or what he's doing. Remember, he's a celebrity in America, but roaming freely abroad on his assassination missions for Ben. I also don't think that the rest of the Oceanic 5 are aware that Ben made it off of the island, let alone that he's now working with Sayid.

BEN

So now we know why Ben sent Goodwin to tail section beach to infiltrate the survivors, but why did he send Ethan to the other side, when he was the Others' best surgeon and knowing that he has a tumor? What could Ethan have done to piss Ben off enough for that assignment?

Ben had to have known that Ana Lucia was the one who killed Goodwin. He knew Goodwin was dead long before he showed Juliet the body. Did Juliet find out, and if so, did she order Michael to shoot Ana Lucia because of it? Was Ana Lucia's murder premeditated or one of the conditions Michael had to fulfill in order to get Walt back?

The man who Widmore apprehended and beaten didn't look like Richard Alpert, but we haven't seen him in a long time. Perhaps Richard was the one who was videotaping it. Is Ben's captured man the reason that Widmore finally finds the island and why the Oceanic 6 are rescued?

Everyone is assuming that Michael is somehow Ben's man on the freighter. If that's true, is Walt with him? And if they are, will they be the remaining 2 members of the Oceanic 6?

Ben monitored the Swan hatch, where Desmond was stationed for 3 years. He had to know who he was and have his personal history file as well. So why wouldn't Ben be more interested in Desmond, knowing his connection to Penny Widmore?

HARPER

If Harper was the shrink, why was Juliet assigned to tail section kids Emma and Zach? And did they brainwash them? They were asking about their mom, who perished in the crash, but it seems that Juliet told them she was in Los Angeles (where the flight was headed).

Where did Harper disappear to? Is she down in the secret island underground city (another one of my long-standing theories) along with the kids and the other Others who we haven't seen in a while?

Or was Harper an apparition? Did she appear like Walt did to Shannon and Locke? Did Jacob actually send her?

Did you notice that Harper said the exact same thing about Ben that Miles told Kate last week? She said that Ben "is exactly where he wants to be." This lends credence to the theory that Miles is working with/for Ben.

When Juliet is confronted by Harper about Goodwin, Juliet said "I would never hurt him," and Harper responded with "it's not you I'm worried about; it's Ben." I interpreted that to mean that Harper was protecting Ben because she knew about his crush. My better half, however, interpreted it to mean that she was worried about Ben hurting Goodwin.

Harper also said something vague and interesting to Juliet about why Ben has a crush on her...."you look just like her." Was she referring to Annie, his childhood Dharma girlfriend? Or his mother? The man IS creepy, but Oedipal too? I found that to be a fascinating comment, especially given that Ben used Juliet to befriend Jack originally because he thought she looked like Jack's wife Sarah. Hey, perhaps Sarah had an affair with Ben when he was on one of his off-island missions at some point in time. It's Lost...anything's possible.

Did any of the other Others have to be analyzed by Harper? Was she hired/recruited specifically by Ben to work with Juliet because Ben demanded to know everything about her? Something tells me that patient/client confidentiality doesn't exist in Ben's world.

QUESTIONS

Penny must have found out about the island through Daddy. But did he know that Desmond was marooned there, or was he the cause of Desmond's sailboat crash? Was the race around the world Widmore's ploy to get Desmond to the island; was he one of Daddy's guinea pigs?

Does Penny still talk to her father, and if so, does he know about her search for Desmond and knowledge about the island? Did she tell Daddy that Desmond called her last week?

Have any of the Others heard the voices in the jungle? It seemed odd that Juliet heard them. Did she know that an Other would appear from out of nowhere when that happened?

Why are the tail section kids on Jacob's list?

What was Goodwin doing at the Tempest when he burned himself?

How long has the freighter been at sea? Was Widmore searching for the island long before 815 crashed (regardless of his possible involvement with that)?

Why would Dharma have built a station capable of killing everyone on the island, including themselves? Was that their worst-case-scenario system? Were they aware of the hostiles and other dangers on the island before arriving there?

Does the Tempest have anything to do with the Black Smoke Monster? It could be a chemical creation controlled by that station...

Does Jack really care about Juliet, or is he using her like Kate is using Sawyer? Whatever happens between Jack and Juliet, it's clear from the flash forwards that she's not in his life and he still pines for Kate.

LITERARY REFERENCE OF THE WEEK

The Tempest station. Shakepeare's The Tempest is about a father and daughter stranded on an island. Clearly there are shades of Penny & Daddy Widmore, and Ben and Alex. I'm sure it's no coincidence that Juliet's flashback featured a Shakespearean station, given that she herself is a reference (Romeo & Juliet) from one of his plays about a doomed relationship.

ANAGRAM OF THE WEEK

Harper Stanhope = An Other Perhaps or Or Perhaps Ethan

Of course Ethan Rom was an anagram for Other Man, and the title of this episode is The Other Woman. Juliet is an Other, she was the Other Woman in Goodwin's marriage, the other woman vying for Jack (along with Kate), and the other woman in Ben's life (the first being his mother or whatever doppelganger Harper referred to).

CRAZY THURSDAY NIGHT THEORY

This isn't exactly related to tonight's episode and I'm sure I'm not the first person to assume this but...I think that the ageless Richard Alpert and the original island hostiles first arrived on the island on the Black Rock. When young Ben first encountered a disheveled Richard in the jungle, Richard had long hair and torn clothing; he certainly looked like he'd been there far too long. Ben learned about the Tempest station and the gas from Richard, and in return, Ben guided Richard, educated him about the modern world and Dharma, and eventually transitioned him into his right hand Other.
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I will be back tomorrow night with more. Must. Get. Sleep. Now.