Better Late Than Never

After days of promising to contribute to the LOST blog (You know, besides being forced to defend myself against Juancy's affronts), I have finally gotten a moment to write. AND NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON...it being Thursday and all. Now, try, if you can, to remember back to last week or a least the 8 p.m. encore presentation.

I did read though all the blogs after watching the show and came to a conclusion -- You, my friends, are fickle. Oh, ye of little faith, calling the episode boring. Look how quickly you maligned our once beloved flashbacks. There was a time that we longed for those flashbacks. Our Thursday blog meanderings were full of excited sightings of secondary and tertiary characters skulking around in the background of our beloved LOSTies' lives. John Locke installing an air conditioner at Sayid's woman's house. Claire traipsing around the Nigerian bush with Mr. Eko's dead brother. Oh, how I loved it! How we loved it!!

But now, oh now, since JJ has seen fit to introduce us to the flash forward, suddenly, no one has use for the flashback. These flashbacks are part what made us love LOST, people! Granted there were no huge secrets revealed in this episode. We still don't know what the black smoke monster is and that damn whispering in the jungle doesn't freak me out any less because of any new found level of understanding. However, sometimes the little secrets are just as appealing.

I have long wondered how a boy with no mother, dire daddy issues, and the unfortunate propensity to hallucinate from time to time could grow into this leader with an unfortunate propensity toward mass murder that scores people follow unwaveringly. You'd figure there'd have to be some repercussions right? I never could quite figure out why we didn't see Ben's icy resolve waver a bit. I mean his past was anything but normal. And even when he was in a pinch, his control over the others, despite a break for an occasional LOSTie pummeling, was always so calculated and complete...with one exception .

When Ben turned to Juliet and said, "Because you're, mine!" I actually gasped. It scared me because we know what Ben is capable of when he's thinking clearly, in control. He always seems to be in control. Hell, even when he's being pummeled by one of our cast faves I often wonder if I see him out of the corner of my eye sippin' on some Sleepytime tea.

In a much subtler display of wild and wacky Ben, we saw him scampering around the room trying to prepare dinner for Juliet. He even tried to evoke some sort of jealousy/make Juliet forget about Goodwin by lying about how Goodwin was "almost inappropriately" passionate about Ana Lucia to join the others. When Juliet continued to talk about Goodwin, Ben sniped that Goodwin was going to stay put, but not before adding a very ominous "Goodwin's assignment will be over soon. I promise you." Well good for you Ben! Yes, you killed your last girlfriend, as well as your father and an entire village, but that's no reason not to get back up on that horse. Get cho'self a girl!! Juliet may just play a key role in the LOSTies futures (provided she makes it through this week's episode). Don't count her out just yet.

My favorite part of last week's episode had to be Ben, almost as if to he was trying to erase his brief moment of indiscretion, following up his mini meltdown with an all too creepy, "Take as much time as you need." Well, thanks, Ben.