The Kellehers

April 24, 2008
10:00 pm	to	11:00 pm

Last night’s episode of Lost was one of the best ever!  You just have to love Ben’s character, the ultimate nerdy smart guy that also has this dark side you have to be afraid of.   I mean, how can you not fear someone that can call up a black smoke monster that will kill you.  And we got some more answers (and lots of questions) about Ben and Widmore’s relationship.

“The Shape of Things to Come” was the ninth episode of Season 4 of Lost, which was broadcast on April 24, 2008 in the United States.

Synopsis

At the beach

Jack takes antibiotics for a “stomach bug.” Kate asks him why Desmond and Sayid have not yet returned from the freighter.

Vincent is heard barking in the background, along with Bernard’s cries for help. When everyone goes to investigate, they see a body washed ashore. Jack and Bernard pull the body from the water. Daniel reveals the body is Ray, the freighter’s doctor. His throat has been slit.

Later, Daniel partially repairs the satellite phone, enough to communicate in Morse code. He transmits, “What happened to doctor?” and the freighter replies. Daniel informs Jack that the response is, “Friends are fine. Helicopters coming in the morning.” Bernard knows Morse code, and points out Daniel’s lie, stating the reply actually said, “What are you talking about? Doctor is fine.” Then under pressure from an angry Jack, Daniel reveals the freighter never planned to rescue anyone from the Island, which leaves Jack stumbling away, upset and in apparent pain.

At the barracks

Alex has been captured by a group of five mercenaries from the freighter, led by Martin Keamy. They remove her blindfold, and reveal they are at the edge of the sonic fence surrounding The Barracks. They order her to deactivate the fence, which she tearfully does after mentioning that the survivors have a baby with them.

Over in Locke’s camp, Sawyer, Locke and Hurley are playing Risk, when the phone suddenly rings. Locke picks up the receiver and hears a computerized voice repeating “Code 14J.” Ben is playing piano when Locke and Sawyer barge in and ask what the code means. This sends Ben into a frenzy.

He opens the piano seat and grabs a shotgun (which he hands to Sawyer), and once he arrives back at Locke’s (Ben’s old) house he immediately starts blockading and closing all the entrances. In response to Locke’s demands for information about what is going on, Ben yells, “They’re here!”

Sawyer makes an attempt to get Claire into the blockaded house, despite Ben’s warnings to not go outdoors. Shortly after he exits, the whole area is torn apart by unseen gunfire coming from the treeline. Three other people close to Sawyer are drawn out of their house and killed, including Doug and Jerome. Sawyer manages to dodge the hail of gunfire, returning shots with his handgun, and works his way to Claire’s house, just in time to see it get destroyed by an RPG.

The gunfire suddenly stops soon thereafter. Sawyer searches through the rubble of the house and finds Claire, scratched up but conscious and apparently uninjured. Sawyer picks her up and runs back toward the house, where Ben again strongly warns the others not to let him inside. Hurley refuses to let that happen, and throws an ottoman out of a window so that Sawyer and Claire can enter through the broken window.

Shortly afterwards, the doorbell rings, and Sawyer unblocks and opens it to find Miles waiting there with a walkie-talkie he says the mercenaries gave him. Ben initially refuses to talk to the mercenaries until he hears they have Alex hostage. At that point, he immediately picks up the radio, and Keamy instructs him to look out the east window, where he is standing. After telling Keamy he knows about Uganda and exactly what kind of man Keamy is, Keamy drops the formalities, brings in Alex, and holds her at gunpoint.

He instructs Ben to walk out the front door and no one in the house will get hurt. Ben refuses, and issues a counter-offer, instructing the mercenaries to turn around, leave, and to forget the Island. Keamy advises Ben that he has 10 seconds to walk out of the door before he kills Alex. As he counts down, Ben says that Alex means nothing to him as he took her from an “insane woman,” and that she was just a pawn, willing to sacrifice herself in defense of the Island, which Alex hears in utter anguish. Before even reaching the count of one, Keamy shoots Alex in the head, leaving Ben speechless, in total shock.

Ben mutters, “He changed the rules,” and quickly retreats to his secret room (seen in “The Economist“) in the house wall and vanishes before Sawyer can stop him. Behind his hanging suits, Ben opens another secret doorway. The walls are made of stone and the door seems to be carved with some sort of heiroglyphics. The interior of this room is not shown except for a yellow light coming out of it.

Moments later, Ben emerges covered in dirt. He orders everybody to run for the treeline on his command. A rumbling is heard and the Monster, much larger than it has been previously seen to be, thunders into the camp and then plunges into the treeline. Screams are heard as it attacks the mercenaries in the woods. After the Monster leaves, Ben orders the Barracks evacuation, with Claire, Aaron, Hurley, Sawyer, Miles, Ben and Locke apparently the only survivors of the mercenary attack.

Ben briefly remains to lay Alex to rest, and soon meets up with the rest of the group. Sawyer, visibly frustrated, decides to leave for the beach, and takes Miles, Claire, and Aaron with him. He also tries to get Hurley to come, but Locke pulls a gun on Sawyer and insists Hurley stay as Locke and Ben believe Hurley is meant to guide them toward Jacob’s cabin for further instruction. Sawyer and Locke have a standoff at gunpoint, but Hurley talks them into putting away their weapons and remains with Locke and Ben.

Flashforward

Benjamin Linus wakes up in a state of wide-mouthed shock on the floor of the Sahara Desert wearing a parka with a DHARMA logo and the name Halliwax on it. His right arm has a deep cut on it. He gets sick on the ground vomiting, and two armed Bedouins on horseback approach. Ben asks them if they speak English, and when he gets no reply, he asks them if they speak Arabic, and then Turkish, but they still do not speak with him. As one searches him he feels a club in Ben’s pocket. Ben spins around, beats him and takes his gun, then shoots the other. The beaten one says “surrender,” and Ben retorts, “So you do speak English.” He then hits him with the rifle butt. Ben ties off his arm wound and rides off on one of their horses.

Ben checks into a hotel in Tozeur, Tunisia. The desk clerk asks if it is his first time in Tunisia, but he assures her he has been there before even though “it’s been a while.” He gives the name Dean Moriarty and introduces himself as a “preferred guest.” He asks the clerk the date, to which she answers October 21st. Ben clarifies the year, asking “2005?” The clerk confirms with a somewhat confused look. Ben spots Sayid on the TV, hounded by the press, who is heading off and “just wants to bury [his] wife in peace.”

In Tikrit, Iraq, Ben emerges from an SUV branded “PRESS” and slips up a stairway to the top floor. He pulls a camera with a zoom lens from a bag and snaps a photo of a man watching the funeral procession for Sayid’s wife, Nadia. Sayid spots Ben, who hurries back down stairs. In the street, Sayid assaults Ben by tackling him to the ground, thinking he is paparazzi. Upon Sayid’s questioning, Ben says he slipped into Iraq from Syria. After Sayid’s clarifying question, Ben tells Sayid he left the Island via Desmond’s sailboat, the Elizabeth, and after landing at Fiji chartered a plane. He also explains that the man at the procession, who he identifies as Ishmael Bakir, was sent by Charles Widmore to kill his wife in Los Angeles. She was apparently killed three blocks from the corner of La Brea and Santa Monica five days earlier. Sayid vows to kill the man.

Ben is watching the man in a cafe, but loses him and follows blindly to an alley, where the man appears behind him. Ben explains that he need him to carry a message to Widmore. Just then, Sayid shoots him multiple times, continuing to pull the trigger even after his clip is empty. Ben tells him not to let his grief become anger, but Sayid wants revenge, asking, “Who’s next?” Ben pleads multiple times that what he is doing is his life, and doesn’t involve Sayid. Sayid stands his ground, and Ben vows to contact him and walks away with a smile.

Late at night in London, Ben emerges from a taxi, and enters a building. He tricks the doorman, claiming to be heading to visit a Mr. and Mrs. Kendrick in apartment 4E, but instead picks the elevator lock to enter the penthouse. Here, he enters Charles Widmore’s bedroom. Ben, dressed all in black, inquires as to when Widmore started sleeping with a bottle of Scotch by the bed. Widmore, dressed in white, who has used a British accent in the past, replies using an Australian accent, “When the nightmares started.” Ben admits he “can’t” kill Widmore, and accuses Widmore of killing his daughter. The two argue about who bears responsibility, and Ben vows to kill his daughter, Penelope, to bring him the same pain. Widmore claims to know “what” Ben is, saying everything he has he took from Widmore. Ben says Widmore will wish he hadn’t “changed the rules.” Widmore counters that Ben will never find her and that he wants “his” Island back. Ben says he will never find the Island, and that the hunt is on.

Trivia

General

• DHARMA logo seen on the breast of the parka worn by Ben has yet to be introduced in the series. It features concentric circles surrounding an unknown object.
  • The logo looks very much like the well-known celtic symbol “Triskel”. Triskel, surrounded by a spiral. It may have something to do with time, because both the triskel and the spiral symbolize reincarnation.
  • This parka also has the name “Halliwax” emblazoned on the left breast of the parka.
  • Screencaps of Ben in Parka
• Ben speaks Arabic and Turkish. He asks the Bedouin if they speak those languages in order to communicate with them.
• One of the Bedouin points out how Ben does not have a trail. The other replies, “Where did this [guy] come from? Down from the sky?”
• The pill bottle opened by Jack says “Amoxicillin”, a common antibiotic.
• The warning/security code for the fence was entered as 1623 and the dial was not turned; as a result, an early warning system was activated causing the phone in Ben’s house to ring with an automated female voice announcing, “code 14J.”
• Ben’s flashforward takes place in October 2005 - One year and one month after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.
• Keamy’s first name is revealed to be Martin.
• After John reassures Sawyer that he will not hurt Hurley, Aaron’s cry is the same audio clip used in Jim Cramer’s Mad Money sound board.
• When Sawyer rescues her from the rubble, Claire initially mistakes him for Charlie
• The mercenaries are wearing Multicam, an advanced camouflage pattern developed by the United States Army and Crye Precision, an American company.

Production notes

• Desmond and Michael do not appear in this episode. Sun and Jin appear with no lines.
• The three redshirts killed in the attack were portrayed by Sean Douglas Hoban (as Doug), Jim Mazzarella (as Jerome) and Dakota L. (as an unnamed castaway).

Bloopers and continuity errors

• The version of Risk being played by Hurley, Sawyer and Locke is the 2005 “library” edition of Risk. Amazon.com
• Many of the Arabic scripts (including the news broadcast and the signs in Tunisia and Iraq) are erroneous. The letters are not connected as they should be, as if they were independent of each other (i.e. they did not form words). Moreover, even if they were connected, many of them still would not form proper words. Sayid’s name, for example, missed some letters, had irrelevant ones, and the letters were not in the right order.

Recurring themes

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Recurring themes in Lost
Black and white • Car accidents • Character connections • Deceptions and cons • Dreams • Eyes • Fate versus free will • Good and bad people • Imprisonment • Isolation • Life and death • Missing body parts • Nicknames • The Numbers • Parent issues • Pregnancies • Rain • Rebirth • Redemption • Relationships • Sacrifice • Secrets • Time

• A close up of Ben’s eyes is shown when he awakes in the desert in Tunisia. (eyes)
• Ben refers to Alex as a pawn. (Games)
• Hurley, Locke, and Sawyer play Risk. (Games)
• Ben says, “He changed the rules.” (Games)
• Ben has a shotgun hidden in the piano seat. (Secrets)
• Alex is taken hostage. (Imprisonment)
• The panic code to the security fence is 1623. (The Numbers)
• Alex is killed, as are three redshirts. (Life and Death)
• During the final scene, the light casts a shadow over half of Widmore’s and Ben’s faces. (Black and White)
• Sawyer calls Hurley “Chicken Little” and says that the sky isn’t falling yet. (Nicknames)
• Ben tries to bluff that Alex means nothing to him, and as a result she is shot. (Parent Issues)
• Sayid said he was looking for Nadia for 8 years. (The Numbers)
• Ben manipulates Sayid into working as an assassin for him. (Deceptions and Cons)

Cultural references

Cultural references in LOST (direct references only)
Art • Books • Cars • Games • Movies and TV • Music • Philosophy • Religion and ideologies • Science

• On the Road: Dean Moriarty is the name of the “hero” of Jack Kerouac’s novel. (books)
• Sherlock Holmes: Moriarty is also the surname of Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes’ best known antagonist and mathematical genius. (books)
• Moby Dick: The man Sayid executes is named Ishmael, which was also the name of the narrator in Herman Melville’s novel. (books)
  • Ishmael is also the name of a wise talking gorilla in Daniel Quinn’s trilogy of Ishmael, The Story of B, My Ishmael
  • Ishmael is also a biblical name. He was Abraham’s first son, who was born not of his wife, but of her servant, whom he had also married. Ishmael’s half-brother was Issac, who was the father of Jacob.

• Exodus 2:3: “But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.” In the biblical text, Jochebed, mother of Moses (Aaron’s brother), hid Moses in a basket to protect her son from the Pharoah’s order to drown all of the Hebrew children. In “The Shape of Things To Come”, Aaron is placed in a basket to be shielded from what we have been told is Widmore’s order to kill everyone on the Island. Moses and Aaron follow Jacob in the Judeo-Christian prophetic line. (Exodus 2:3 - 23 (The Numbers))

• The Shape of Things to Come : The name of the episode is also the name of a book by H.G. Wells which is written in the form of a history book from the future. (books)
• Sawyer calls Hurley Chicken Little. This refers to the old fable about a chicken who believes the sky is falling (indicating a belief in imminent disaster).
• The Time Traveller’s Wife: Doctor Kendrick is the name of the main character’s MD in the book. (books)
• Prelude in C Sharp Minor. Ben is playing this piece from Sergei Rachmaninoff on the piano, right before the phone call. Some British publications include the title The Burning of Moscow or The Day of Judgement. (music)

Literary techniques

Literary techniques
Comparative: Irony • Juxtaposition • Plotting: Cliffhanger • Plot twist • Stock Characters:  Archetype • Redshirt • Unseen character• Story:  Flashbacks • Flashforwards • Foreshadowing • Regularly spoken phrases • Symbolism • Unreliable narratorÂ

• Three background survivors are killed in the initial attack on the camp. (Redshirt)
• Hurley repeats an old line of his, “We’re all gonna die,” though this was shown in an ironic sense as it was said before it was revealed that he was talking about a game of Risk. (Regularly Spoken Phrases) and (Irony)
• Jack takes a pill, which he says he “prescribed for himself,” while Kate looks on suspiciously. This foreshadows Jack’s pill addiction and attempt to self-prescribe after he gets rescued. (Foreshadowing)
• Jack asks why the message said, “The doctor is fine,” when he is actually dead. Jack is a doctor who is becoming sick but says he is okay. (Irony)

Storyline analysis

Storyline analysis
A-Missions • Crimes • Economics • Leadership • O-Missions • Relationships • F-Missions • Rivalries

• Keamy and his men attack the Barracks. (F-Missions)
• Ben assumes tactical command while the Barracks are under siege. (Leadership)
• Keamy executes Alex. (Crimes)
• Ben’s ability to summon, direct, and/or control the Monster ends the siege. (Leadership)
• Locke and Sawyer argue over who Hurley will go with. (Leadership) (Rivalries)

Episode references

• When Ben appears in the desert, he is wearing a parka labeled Halliwax.
• Charles Widmore has a glass of MacCutcheon Scotch whisky while talking with Ben. (”Flashes Before Your Eyes“)
• Ben uses one of his fake passports. (”The Economist“)
• Ben tells Miles that it seems unlikely that he’ll get his 3.2 million dollars after the attack on the Barracks. (”Eggtown“)
• Sayid asks Ben, “Who’s next,” foreshadowing his role as Ben’s assassin. (”The Economist“)
• Locke accuses Ben of lying when he said he didn’t know what the smoke monster was. (”Confirmed Dead“)
• Ben knows Hurley has seen Jacob’s cabin after his slipup in the jungle. (”Confirmed Dead“)
• The oil painting in Charles Widmore’s bedroom is Black Rock Storm, seen at the Southfield’s auction of the Black Rock ledger. (”The Constant“)

Unanswered questions

Unanswered questions
Do not answer the questions here. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer. More details…

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: The Shape of Things to Come/Theories

Flashforward

In the desert

• How does Ben end up in the desert?
• How did Ben get the cut on his arm?
• Why is Ben wearing a parka?
• Why would DHARMA issue parkas when they reside on a tropical island?
• What DHARMA logo is on the jacket?
• Why is Ben unsure what year it is?

Widmore

• Why can’t Ben kill Widmore?
• What nightmares is Widmore having?
• Why is Widmore sure Ben can’t find Penny?
• What are the Rules that changed?
• Why does Widmore say it’s his island?

On the Island

• What did Ben do in his secret room?
• Who killed Ray, and why?
• Why does the message from the freighter say that Ray is fine?
• Who wrote the hieroglyphics on the wall in Ben’s hidden bunker, and what do they mean?
• Why does Ben say that it is very important for Locke to survive?
• Why does Ben say that the people who are coming won’t risk hurting him?