The Other Woman

So it looks like we got to this season's "Stranger in a Strange Land." You remember that one, the episode devoted to Jack's tattoos. Well, "The Other Woman" might not be as much a filler episode as that one, but it didn't seem to fit with the fast-paced, intense pattern we've seen thus far in season 4.

While it did provide a bit of new information and filled in some blanks, it was one of those episodes were the audience is left wanting more...and it looks like we'll get that next week when Ben's mole is revealed. Could the tease have been any more obvious in the previews? If it isn't Michael, then that will be more of a surprise than when Harold Perrineau shows up on screen. More on that in a bit. Here's my thoughts on "The Other Woman."

The Whispers are Back
We are introduced to a new Other in this episode with Goodwin's wife, Harper, who was Juliette's therapist. In present isand time, Harper shows up to give Juliette a message from Ben, who despite being Locke's prisoner is still running the show. Just before Harper appears, Juliette hears the mysterious whispers. There's been no explantion of these whispers and little has been discussed about them. Does everyone hear them or just one character? Are they from the Others or another group? Lots of people online have broken down the whispers and figured out what they are saying and it is always something interesting. I can't wait until they check out the ones here.

After Harper gives the message, Jack shows up and questions her. As soon as Jack and Juliette look away, she disappears. Did she really just disappear or is she just that fast?

Harper and Juliette have a history. Besides being Juliette's therapist, she was married to Juliette's lover, Goodwin. Harper knew about their affair and warned them that Ben would do something bad to them if he found out. Well, Goodwin was sent to scope out the tailsection Losties and once Ana Lucia caught on to him, he was done for. Did Ben know that Goodwin would be killed before he sent him off?

New Love Triangle
Ben was jealous of Juliette and Goodwin's relationship, so he sent Goodwin off to be killed. He then told Juliette that she was his. Now in present island time, Jack and Juliette are hitting things off and Juliette warns him that Ben won't be happy. Jack's reply is somthing like "He knows where to find me," and they kiss. As if we need another love triangle on the island, especially another one involving Dr. Jack Sheppard.

In the flashforwards, we know that Jack still has feelings for Kate. So are we to assume that something happens between Jack and Juliette on the island that hurts their relationship? How will Ben be involved? He already knows that they are close, will he seek revenge and try to get his girl back? These are all questions that I don't really care about. Give me island mysteries, give me the smoke monster and more Dharma stations. I don't want anymore love triangles.

Not Penny's Boat, but...
It does belong to her dad, Charles Widmore. It was finally confirmed that Mr. Widmore is behind all this mess. Ben shows Locke a video of Widmore beating up one of the Others and tells him that Widmore has been looking for the island for a while. It is his freigter and he sent the freighter crew to the island. I don't buy Ben's explantion, though, for why Widmore wants to find the island. Ben says that he wants to explote it to make money. While money may be at the root of this, I don't think he wants to find the island to open up a resort or anything like that. He knows more about the island's powers than Ben lets on and there's more to this mystery than what has been laid out so far.

The Tempest
We are introduced to yet another Dharma station on the island. How many of these are there anyway? After being on the island for three months, there's still stuff that the Losties haven't found. The Tempest is the power station for the island. It makes sense that there would be a power station since there is electricity on the island, and we've never been given an explanation for how that is possible.

The reason for the visit to The Tempest isn't to check the power meters though. Daniel and Charlotte venture there to render the poisonous gas inert, so Ben can't use it to kill everyone on the island. So why did Daniel and Charlotte have to sneak off to the station and after encountering Kate, they knock her out and leave her in the jungle? It seems resonable that if they told Jack and the crew about the possibility of poisonous gas being leaked across the island, that Jack would be all for helping them disable it or at least would let them do it. So was there more to this mission than they lead on? Did they do more than disable the gas? The likely answer is Yes.

Freebird
Ben makes a deal with Locke and uses his last barginning chip, the tape and file on Penny's dad. Locke wants just one more bit of information before truly trusing Ben, he wants to know who's Ben's man on the boat. Without letting the audience in on the secret just yet, we are left with Ben telling Locke that he might want to sit down, so apparently the person's identity will be a shocker *coughMichaelcough*.

The only way its a more of a shocker than Michael is if its someone who we think is dead (ie, Patchy, Boone, Ethan, etc.) or it turns out to be grown up Walt. But pretty much all speculation and teasers lead to Michael being the mole. It is an awesome twist, but one that won't be much of a surprise. For one, Harold Perrineau was announced at Comic Con last summer to be back on the show. His name is in all the opening credits so far for season 4. There's only two pre-strike episodes left to air and episode 7 is said to have a huge cliff-hanger. Could it be Michael walking on screen for the first time? Then there was the previews of next week's episode with the voice over saying that you'll see somone you never thought you'd see again. All signs point to Michael.

The more interesting story will be how he came to work for and trust Ben. We know Sayid ends up working for Ben, so how does he get Michael to help him as well. Does Michael want to help everyone else get rescued and this is his opportunity? What happened after he and Walt left the island? Ben said they'd find rescue. Did they find the freighter and Michael has been with them ever since?

Some interesting episodes are up ahead. There's two more pre-strike episodes to air, then Lost takes a month break from TV to wrap up filming the rest of the season. The show will return in April in a new timeslot (9:00 p.m CT).

Next on Lost: Ji Yeon

*Photos from Lost-Media.com