It was going to be a challenge for Vaughan and Goddard to write a better Ben-centric than "The Man Behind the Curtain," but in my view they did just that.
Flash-forwards (FFs) show Ben waking up in the Sahara Desert, moments before he's jumped by a couple of Arabic men. In one of the few moments where Ben doesn't get beaten to a pulp, he actually emerges victorious and rides their horse into the distance.
He turns up later in Iraq, convincing Sayid that he knows the whereabouts of Nadia's killer. Collectively they hunt the man down and kill him. By then Ben's trap has already been set and Sayid's quickly regressing to his stone-cold-killer self. Ben's got the tools he needs to start plowing through Widmore's assassins.
On the island, the Barracks have turned into a war zone. Keamy's men take Alex hostage and start shooting anyone in their path, forcing Locke's group to take shelter in Ben's house. A rocket suddenly destroy's Claire's house, forcing Sawyer to heroically leap into the rubble and carry her to safety.
Sending Miles in as a messenger, Keamy contacts Ben and shows him that he's got Alex as a hostage. When Ben attempts to downplay her importance as a bargaining chip, Keamy does the unthinkable and shoots her at point blank range. After the shock wears off, Ben summons the Smoke Monster and more carnage ensues. From there Locke's group treks into the jungle, where it's decided that Hurley will lead Locke and Ben to Jacob's cabin.
Pretty intense stuff to be sure, but when I really focus on some elements I find myself scratching my head all over again.
Head-scratcher #1: Ben summoning the Smoke Monster. Assuming it's true that he had a way to do such a thing, it doesn't seem to fit with the overall mythology. Why would the Smoke Monster be interested in slaughtering Keamy's men? Weren't the men actually doing what the Man in Black wanted to do all along — kill off as many candidates as possible? Were the writers operating under the assumption that Smokey was, as Danielle suggested, merely a security system?
Head-scratcher #2: For some reason only Hurley can see/find the cabin. I've already expressed my frustration with the cabin storyline and this doesn't help. If only Hurley can see the cabin, what exactly does that suggest? Hurley's one of the purer souls on the island and leans toward light, so does that suggest the cabin belongs to Jacob, the protector of the light? If so, why on Earth did he see Christian in the cabin in "The Beginning of the End?"
In short, TSOTTC is a very fun episode to watch as long as you don't make the mistake of concentrating on the internal logic (or lack thereof).
This is one of the strongest performances by Emerson, starting with a classic moment in which he presents his black baton to the Arabic men with an innocent smile. From there he's simply the ultimate puppetmaster in both the flash-forwards and island storyline. When Keamy brings Alex out to the yard, Emerson steps it up a notch and never looks back.
While I'm on the subject of that scene, Kevin Durand deserves some major credit for making it work as well as it did. The interplay between Emerson and Durand was pure brilliance on both of their parts. Some credit goes to Tania Raymonde as well for her desperate cries in her final moments.
Two thumbs up to Holloway going the extra mile with physical acting when Claire's house explodes. I'll have to sift through the special features to see how many takes that entire sequence required. I suspect he was completely exhausted by day's end.
Even Alan Dale deserves bonus points for the showdown between himself and Ben. No action, no tricky effects, just straight-up, intense dialogue and cold stares.
Out of all the Smoke Monster scenes in the series my favorite has to be the one in TSOTTC around the 30:00 mark. There's something about the camera angle and the way the smoke violently rolls in at night that makes for a completely bone-chilling scene. It doesn't end with that shot, though. Locke's group runs outside and watches Keamy's team get obliterated by the agitated Smoke Monster. You even see a few distant flashes after the dust settles and Ben says a final goodbye to Alex.
The success of the Keamy/Ben standoff is partially due to Jack Bender's excellent directorial decisions (surprise, surprise). I loved the way Ben looked out the window and had to shift his eyes to locate Keamy. The audience saw what Ben saw as parted his curtains wide enough to scan the area. Nicely done.
Once again the visuals, set design, and effects teams blew me away with their ability to transform Honolulu into far-off places including the Sahara and Iraq. Most of the background horizon in the Sahara scene was a CGI composition. Quite impressive indeed.
It's interesting to note that in the Ben/Widmore showdown scene, only the left side of Ben's face is fully illuminated and only the right side of Widmore's. It could've been a mere coincidence but given Jack Bender's talent I wouldn't be surprised if he'd planned it all along.
When you first watch TSOTTC some major pieces don't make much sense, namely Ben ending up in the middle of the Sahara wearing a thick coat. It also seems unbelievable that Sayid would ever work for Ben no matter how emotionally damaged he became post-island, but alas, things make more sense in the grand scheme of things.
TSOTTC is not only solid in rewatchability — it's almost a requirement to give it a second or third (or sixth) look. That's the interesting part of the flash-forwards; even though they give you a rough idea of how the pieces eventually fall into place they still don't show you the full puzzle. By the time those events come to pass it's very tempting to revisit how it all began.
Alex's death is extremely significant, officially ramping up the deadly chess game between Ben and Widmore. Locke's trek into the jungle with Ben and Hurley would also prove to be very significant, for it would soon teach them what needed to be done to protect the island.
I can't award points for the significance of Ben summoning the Smoke Monster — not until I'm convinced it somehow fits with the overall mythology.
Atmosphere? Heck yeah. As soon as Keamy's team starts mowing down people left and right it was pure adrenalin. Once the sun went down it went to the next level. As noted above, the nighttime scene with the Smoke Monster's arrival is an image permanently etched into my memory.
Keamy shooting Alex is often cited as the most shocking moment in the series, and I'd have a really tough time arguing against that. I was shocked to see Karl and Danielle die so suddenly, but there was no way I expected them to do the same to a young girl — not on a series owned by Disney! Shows what I know.
And yeah, despite all the despicable things Ben had done up to this point, Alex's death somehow put me in his corner. Temporarily, anyway.
I'd rank TSOTTC even higher in Intangibles if I could only reconcile the mythology-related bits with the Smoke Monster and the cabin. Perhaps the LOST Encyclopedia will provide the clarification I need on these issues, but I'm not holding my breath.
