Holy crap. I think Desmond's going to have a few things to say about Ben offing Penny.

That said, I'm happy Ben finally got his BS called and he doesn't control "every" situation.

What summons smoky I wonder?

That was epic. The smokey sequence (and much of the episode) felt like a movie.

I wish they would give Sawyer better material...

Seems as though Penny and Desmond are destined for a Romeo and Juliet-like fate.

Maybe they were having a book club meeting in the house that got blown-up?

They formed a third group and are hanging out in the caves.

I really liked the entire episode except for one small thing....

They blew up the house Claire was in and besides a few scratches she is perfectly fine. I had a hard time believing that one.

They keep killing off the hotties...ugh. I liked Alex.

Didn't Ben answered that question? He said he want to kill Penny so Charles will know what it feels like to lose a daughter.

BTW, this episode really is batshit insane.

I think the Sawyer's apparent ability to dodge bullets was explained by Ben saying the mercs were trying to make Sawyer angry enough so he'd throw Ben out to them. Maybe they actually weren't trying to hit him.

No, the writers are just making Sawyer bulletproof.

IIRC, Whidmore said "Did you come here to kill me?" and Ben said "We both know I can't do that." I took it to mean that instead of killing him, (since he can't) he was going to kill his daughter.

But maybe he just meant "I can't" because he would get no satisfaction from it. I really don't know.

I wonder if the island is the antipode of that location in Tunisia. It looks like it could be, but who knows what that even means.


I was almost starting to sympathize with Ben a little bit until he threatened Penelope. Now he just needs to die, dammit.

Charles asked Ben the question again "what are you here for?". That is when Ben said I am going to kill your daughter so you'll feel the same pain. Now it becomes a battle of who get their wish first; Ben killing Penny or Charles finding the island.

Jesus Christ. That was a fucking phenomenal episode.

Wow. That felt like a series finale, not a mid-season episode. Intense.

I was under the impression that Ben's cabin was out in the middle of the enclosure like the rest, but all of a sudden he has access to some kind of hidden cave? That was a little odd, but him calling the Smoke Monster was pretty badass. I don't think he has direct control over it, hence the fence, but he can probably cause it to come to him or to a specific location by some means.

What about the dead doctor and the fact that he's apparently alive still on the boat? Obviously that gives some support to some sort of time flux between the island and the rest of the world, but I was wondering if their asking about the doctor could have gotten him killed in the first place, sort of a self-fulfilling paradox.

Also, regarding the rules, with the inclusion of the Risk game in this episode, I wonder if the rules refer to some sort of ongoing feud over the island, between rival groups that just happen to now be headed by Ben and Widmore. Since the mercs aren't allowed to kill Ben, maybe that's one of the rules: that you can remove the leader of the rival faction from the island and the island then gets turned over to the new group. And apparently the rules go so far as to say that family members cannot be harmed, which, when Ben told the mercs that she wasn't really his daughter, made her just another interloper to wipe out.

That was fucking incredible. The scene with Alex and Ben's immediate reaction (that stunned expression particularly) was powerful. Loved the ending, too.

Still don't buy that Rousseau's dead.

great episode. Ben is always in total control. he would kick jack bauer's ass just with his masterful mind. I knew when he said "they've changed the rules", that he was going to call in smokey. that was mind-blowing. sawyer will kill the last mercenary next week. the "doctor" stuff doesn't make sense. what did charles widmore mean when he said "the island has always been mine"?
I thought the island belonged to Dharma/Hanzo. will their representatives ever show up.

This episode was amazing. I'd place this with my favorite Lost episodes of all time. Way to go everyone involved (especially Jack Bender)! Now I'm even more pumped for the rest of this season.

Supersweet episode! Smokey's cameo was completely unexpected.

Maybe I just had one too many drinks in me, but I got a kind of "god vs. the devil" vibe during the Ben/Widmore scene. With their talk of "changing the rules" and Ben seeking revenge by killing Penny...I dunno. I'm not saying that's the end-all answer for the show. It just clicked that way for me at the time.

I'm trying to think my hardest, but I'm reasonably certain that Ben and Desmond have never crossed paths. Sayid, however, knows who Penny is, and I'm inclined to say that he's not willing to kill her on Ben's behalf.

Also, the two guys who rode up to Ben in the desert...it looked to me like they noticed the fact that there were no footprints on the ground around Ben. That and the fact that he was wearing a heavy jacket in the desert indicates some sort of teleportation to me. I don't see how it could be interpreted any other way.

Hot damn, I love this show! "Australia is the key."

Man I just love how that one house has room after room of hidden areas. First there was Ben's hidden communication room and inside that, the hidden tribal stone panel and the means which to summon Smokey.

And man, that extending cane is one bad ass weapon...

It's also sound RISK strategy as well. Australia is the key to that game.

A collapsible baton. Yeah, if you know how to use them they can be effective.

I hope Claire's not like Charlie when he appears to Hurley.

sawyer and locke talked to claire though didnt they? or at least acknowledge she was there.

Sayid probably wouldn't recognize her from first name alone though. I can picture a scene where Sayid kills Penny then figures out what he's done when Desmond walks in a moment later. Then he realizes that Ben also had Nadia killed to gain control over him and Desmond and Sayid team up to take Ben down. I don't think Ben's going anywhere soon, but I also don't think he or Widmore are making it to the end of the show alive. They're both absolute shits and I think it'll end up being the goal of the Losties to remove both of them from positions of influence over the island.