Lost Episode 4.6 "The Other Woman"

Here's what went down this week, in a fish biscuit:

Faraday and Charlotte take off and Juliet and Jack go find them. It rains. Juliet runs in to her old therapist Harper,who may or may not be real and tells her that Ben wants Juliet to kill Faraday and Charlotte because they are going to deploy deadly gas. Harper let us in on an interesting tidbit when she mentioned that Ben was infatuated with Juliet because she looked just like somebody else. Who is the somebody she was referring to? The only person I can think of is Ben's childhood friend Annie, but if you have another theory feel free to share it. Did he have a wife at some point? Maybe his mother?


Charlotte and Dan bump into Kate and injure her. She doesn't stop them. Because she's Kate and can't do anything right. Juliet gets to the Tempest, we're supposed to know what this means and is apparently, and learns they are actually trying to stop the gas. Jack and Juliet kiss. I thank the writing god's that he's not kissing Kate. After Claire challenges Locke's authority, he makes a deal with Ben. I curse the writing god's, because the chance for a Claire plot point was broken. Now Ben can roam free and Locke learns that Widmore wants to find the island for personal gain. There better be another reason, cause that's kinda lame. In a Juliet island flashback, we see that Ben is cookoo for cocoa puffs over her. It was completely creepy and sickening, though props to Michael Emerson for pulling off "lovestruck" just as easily as he pulls off "psychotic."

Here's what we learn:

1. It's official. I love Juliet. This episode clarified that she really is multi-dimsensional. Her sister was sick. She was tricked onto staying on the island. Her lover was murdered. Shes taking Jack away from Kate just like she took Goodwin from Harper. She's twice the other woman.
2. The Tempest is a station near the water that controls power on the island and has a poisonous gas supply that could kill people? Why would the Dharma Initiative (which I'm assuming was good) even have that capability installed on the island?
3. Charlotte and Faraday, it seems, really were trying to dismantle the gas mechanism so that Ben wouldn't use it in the future. But, why? Why were they trying to save our islanders, who have already killed one of them? Can someone answer that?
4. Re: "Render the gas inert." No need for fancy science talk in an emergency situation, Dan.
5. Kate sucks: she gets hit in the head by Charlotte. We saw that coming.
6. The Ben/Juliet relationship was clarified. They never dated, but he's obsessed with her. She had an affair with Goodwin, whom Ben inadvertently let die. Look out, Jack! Or don't, whatever.
7. Ben is not a smooth dater. Way too excited about that ham, dude. I don't think Hitch ever made it to the island.
8. Ben's got people all over...on the boat (Michael maybe?), and back home following Widmore around. But we sort of knew this.
9. Ben may have been somehow communicating with his people on the island. Or maybe the therapist made up the story because she hates Juliet.
10. In the flashback, the therapist said to Juliet "You look just like her." I'm guessing Ben had fallen in love with someone else.
11. The whispers in the jungle are back. Kickin' it old school!
12. What was up with that Charlotte/Kate look exchange?
13. The flashback references the kids on the plane (Zach and Emma )being on "the list." Remember Jacob's list? We still don't know what's up with that. Or why Juliet was so ready to believe in it.
14. It's very stressful being an Other.
15. It turns out that Ben is even scarier when he cares about someone besides himself.

Questions:
Who was the man being beaten by Widmore?
Did Ben actually tell Locke who the man on the boat was?
Does Juliet remind Ben of Annie or someone else?
Why is toxic gas being stored in the Tempest? (say this sentence out loud, it's impossible not to sound like a complete dork.)

Bottom line:
We definitely know by now there are two types of Lost episodes: there are the kind that are so densely packed with mythology that they leave your head spinning, like "The Constant" or "The Man Behind the Curtain." Then there are the slower episodes that tend to be character studies, such as tonight's installment. I've talked to a lot of Lost haters in my day and most of them complain they don't like the show because of episodes like "The Other Woman." "Who cares about the characters?" they rant. "We want answers!" Obviously this plea for a constant bombardment of mythology is ridiculous for a number of reasons. Not only because character development is, you know, kind of important, but also because the show would be over in a season if every episode only focused on answers. These character episodes are a nice, enlightening diversion, even if they don't always offer up meaty revelations, especially when they center on Juliet.

YOU'RE MINE!

B