There was so much about this that was great, it's hard to know where to begin...
The parallel Ben showed all the same Machiavellian tendencies as his on-island counterpart, but he lacked that killer instinct needed to follow through with his plans. When it became obvious that had he gone through with his plan that Alex would be unable to go to Yale, he backed down. This is something that on-island Ben would never do. Even when faced with the situation of a ruthless killer with a gun to his "Daughter's" head, he would back down, and we know how that ended...
...this was also something that came up in the on-island thread; that he had been unable, after all this time (I forget exactly how long it would have been as I forget the date he arrived in Tunisia) to come to terms with the action that led to Alex' death. Tying this in with the reasons he killed Jacob, and then Illana's subsequent forgiving of him was quite something. The range of performances put in by Michael Emerson in this episode only goes to prove, once more (if it were needed), that he's one of the very best actors on the planet. I was convinced island-Ben was going to die... but then, I was also convinced of this last season when he went up against Smokey for judgement... (and subsequent events put that in a whole new context...)
But this was an episode just jam packed with greatness. From Ben's "stood over them with a bloody knife" line being used back at him by Miles. Miles getting his hands on Nicki & Paulo's $8 million worth of diamonds. To Smokey-Locke attempting to out-maniplate the arch-manipulator to Jack and Richard...
That scene in the Black Rock with the dynamite was, well, for want of a better word; dynamite. Jack is finally coming to terms with his role in the bigger picture. The sheer tension there was as the dynamite came closer and closer to exploding... and then fizzled out. Ooh... It was just like Michael in Season 4 when the island wouldn't let him die as he still had work to do. What is the work that these two have to do?
Cast your mind back to the web only Missing Pieces, especially the one set immediately prior to the first scene of the first episode, in which Christian speaks to Vincent and tells him to wake his son up as "He has work to do..." It's a phrase that has appeared many times in the show. Walt appearing to Locke when he's in the pit of Dharma bodies, for one.
With only eleven episodes to go, things are getting hot...
And with Widmore almost back on the island...
[Incidentally before I carry on, I should mention this blog's spoiler policy. The following are not considered spoilers to my mind;
1 - titles of forthcoming episodes.
2 - centricity (that is, which character is focussed upon) of episodes.
3 - contents of trailers and officially released "sneak peaks".
4 - officially released cast information.
All other details of forthcoming episodes, plot points, events, anything else is a spoiler. If your spoiler threshold is lower, please do not read on...]
Sawyer fans should like next week, Recon, as it's the Sawyer parallel-flash, and he is seen in the state all Sawyer fans love to see him in the most; shirtless.
But I'm rather more looking forward to the week after, Ab Aeterno, which is all about Richard Alpert, and his backstory. Also, it's six minutes longer than normal. Excellent! : )
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