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 * Explore
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 * Characters
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    * Season 2
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    * Season 6

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CONTENTS

 * 1 Synopsis
   * 1.1 Previously on Lost
   * 1.2 On the Island
     * 1.2.1 At the beach
     * 1.2.2 At the Barracks
   * 1.3 Flash-forwards
     * 1.3.1 October 2005
       * 1.3.1.1 Sahara Desert
       * 1.3.1.2 Tozeur, Tunisia
       * 1.3.1.3 Tikrit, Iraq
     * 1.3.2 After Nadia's burial
       * 1.3.2.1 London England
 * 2 Trivia
 * 3 Production notes
   * 3.1 Bloopers and continuity errors
   * 3.2 Music
 * 4 Analysis
   * 4.1 Recurring themes
   * 4.2 Cultural references
   * 4.3 Literary techniques
   * 4.4 Storyline analysis
 * 5 Episode connections
   * 5.1 Episode references
   * 5.2 Episode allusions
 * 6 Unanswered questions
 * 7 External links

in: Episodes, Season 4, Featured Articles,
and 4 more
 * Ben-centric
 * Episodes Featuring Flash Forwards
 * Featured on Lost: on Location
 * Episodes that are Rated TV-14-LV

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THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

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v • d • e
Lost Season 4

<< S1 • << S2 • << S3 (centric character in parentheses) S5 >> • S6 >>

--- "Lost: Past, Present and Future" (recap) #01 "The Beginning of the End"
(Hurley) #02 "Confirmed Dead" (Science team)

#03 "The Economist" (Sayid) #04 "Eggtown" (Kate) #05 "The Constant" (Desmond)
#06 "The Other Woman" (Juliet) #07 "Ji Yeon" (Sun & Jin) #08 "Meet Kevin
Johnson" (Michael)

#09 "The Shape of Things to Come" (Ben) #10 "Something Nice Back Home" (Jack)
#11 "Cabin Fever" (Locke) #12 "There's No Place Like Home, Part 1" (Oceanic 6)
#13 "There's No Place Like Home, Part 2" (Oceanic 6) #14 "There's No Place Like
Home, Part 3" (Oceanic 6)




THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

view image


SEASON

4


EPISODE NUMBER

09


AIRDATE(S)

April 24, 2008


LENGTH

42:00


FLASH-FORWARD

Ben


DAYS

97


WRITER

Brian K. Vaughan
& Drew Goddard


DIRECTOR

Jack Bender


STARRING

Naveen Andrews - Sayid Jarrah
Jeremy Davies – Daniel Faraday
Emilie de Ravin - Claire Littleton
Michael Emerson - Benjamin Linus
Matthew Fox - Jack Shephard
Jorge Garcia - Hugo Reyes
Josh Holloway - James Ford
Daniel Dae Kim - Jin-Soo Kwon
Yunjin Kim - Sun-Hwa Kwon
Ken Leung – Miles Straume
Evangeline Lilly - Kate Austen
Rebecca Mader – Charlotte Lewis
Elizabeth Mitchell - Juliet Burke
Terry O'Quinn - John Locke


NAME CREDITED ONLY

Henry Ian Cusick - Desmond Hume
Harold Perrineau – Michael Dawson


GUESTS

Sam Anderson - Bernard Nadler
Alan Dale - Charles Widmore
Kevin Durand - Martin Keamy
Tania Raymonde - Alex Rousseau
Faran Tahir - Ishmael Bakir
Marc Vann - Ray


CO-STARS

Yetide Badaki - Tunisian Desk Clerk
Nick Hermz - Bedouin #1
Sean Douglas Hoban - Doug
Kaveh Kardan - Iraqi Merchant
Michael Sadler - London Doorman
Sammy Sheik - Bedouin #2


TRANSCRIPT

The Shape of Things to Come transcript



"The Shape of Things to Come" is the ninth episode of Season 4 of Lost, and the
eighty-first produced hour of the series as a whole. It was originally broadcast
on April 24, 2008 in the United States. Ben is forced to make a choice as Keamy
and his team launch their first attempt to capture Ben, while a body washes
ashore at the beach and Jack is finally told the truth about the intentions of
the Kahana crew. Flash-forwards show the origins of Ben's manipulation of Sayid
and a hostile confrontation with Charles Widmore.


CONTENTS

 * 1 Synopsis
   * 1.1 Previously on Lost
   * 1.2 On the Island
     * 1.2.1 At the beach
     * 1.2.2 At the Barracks
   * 1.3 Flash-forwards
     * 1.3.1 October 2005
       * 1.3.1.1 Sahara Desert
       * 1.3.1.2 Tozeur, Tunisia
       * 1.3.1.3 Tikrit, Iraq
     * 1.3.2 After Nadia's burial
       * 1.3.2.1 London England
 * 2 Trivia
 * 3 Production notes
   * 3.1 Bloopers and continuity errors
   * 3.2 Music
 * 4 Analysis
   * 4.1 Recurring themes
   * 4.2 Cultural references
   * 4.3 Literary techniques
   * 4.4 Storyline analysis
 * 5 Episode connections
   * 5.1 Episode references
   * 5.2 Episode allusions
 * 6 Unanswered questions
 * 7 External links




SYNOPSIS[]


PREVIOUSLY ON LOST[]

 * Miles admits to everyone at the Barracks that the people from the freighter
   are after Ben, who says their orders are to capture him, then kill everyone
   else on the Island. He also confirms that Michael is his spy on the
   freighter. ("Meet Kevin Johnson")
 * On the Kahana, Michael sees Keamy target practicing with machine guns. ("Meet
   Kevin Johnson")
 * Ben gives Alex, Karl, and Danielle a map to the Temple and persuades them to
   go there for shelter. On their trek, gunfire erupts from the jungle, killing
   Karl and Danielle. Alex surrenders herself as Ben's daughter. ("Meet Kevin
   Johnson")

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ON THE ISLAND[]

AT THE BEACH[]

Ray's corpse washes ashore.view image

Jack and Kate smile and wave at each other as Kate digs her bare feet in the
sand and lowers the straps on her camisole. ♪ Jack goes into his tent and goes
through the box of medicines. Kate comes in and tells him he looks awful. He
takes what he says are antibiotics and says he has a stomach bug. They flirt
until they hear Vincent barking, and then Bernard's calls for help. They run to
investigate and find a dead body in the surf. They pull it from the water and
Daniel reveals that the body is Ray, the freighter's doctor. His throat is slit.
♪ Jack asks when Daniel last saw Ray, Daniel replies "When... When is kind of a
relative term."

Jack demands the truth from Faraday.view image

Daniel follows Kate and Jack pulls Bernard aside to talk to him about something.

Later, Daniel partially repairs the satellite phone using wiring from the plane,
enough to communicate with the freighter in Morse code. He transmits "What
happened to the doctor?" and listens as the freighter's reply. Daniel says that
the response from the freighter was that Desmond and Sayid are fine, and that
the helicopter would return in the morning. Bernard steps forward to say that
the reply was, "What are you talking about? The doctor is fine." Under pressure
from an angry Jack, Daniel reveals the freighter never planned to rescue anyone
from the Island after all. Jack doubles up in pain and stumbles away. ♪

Keamy forces Alex to disarm the sonar fence. (promotional still)view image

AT THE BARRACKS[]

Alex is captured by a group of six mercenaries from the freighter, led by Martin
Keamy. They remove her blindfold at the sonic fence surrounding the Barracks and
order her to deactivate the fence. She wants them to make a promise because the
survivors have a baby with them, but Keamy holds a gun to her head and she
enters the code "1623" and disarms the fence.

Locke answers the Code 14-J call.view image

At the Barracks, Sawyer, Locke and Hurley are playing Risk, when the phone
rings. Locke picks up the receiver and hears an automated message repeating,
"Code 14-J." Ben is playing the piano in another house and is agitated when
Locke and Sawyer come in and tell him about the phone call. ♪ Ben opens the
piano bench and pulls out a sawed-off shotgun, racks a shell and hands it to a
surprised Sawyer. They take up position at Locke's house (formerly Ben's),
blockading doors and windows. Locke demands to know what is going on, Ben
replies, "They're here!" ♪

Ben warns Sawyer not to go outdoors, but he goes to wake Claire from her house
and fetch her. Ben tells Locke that he must survive the attack, so that the two
of them (with Hurley to guide them) can get help from Jacob. ♪

Sawyer watches in horror as Claire's house explodes. (promotional still)view
image

Sawyer tells Doug (another survivor) to get inside, but gunfire from the tree
line kills Doug, Jerome, and a woman. ♪ Sawyer manages to dodge the hail of
gunfire, return shots with his handgun, and works his way to Claire's house just
in time to see it destroyed by a LAW. ♪

After the house explodes, the gunfire ceases. Sawyer searches through the rubble
of the house and finds Claire, scratched, but otherwise uninjured. As he picks
her up, she is dazed and calls him Charlie. Sawyer yells for the others to open
the front door as he carries Claire, but it is blockaded by furniture. Against
Ben's wishes not to open the door, Hurley throws an ottoman through the front
window and allows them in. ♪

Keamy threatens Ben while holding Alex hostage.view image

Shortly afterward, the doorbell rings. Sawyer sees who is at the door, and
unblocks and opens to let in Miles who has a walkie-talkie from the mercenaries.
Ben initially refuses to talk to them, but Miles tells Ben that their hostage is
Alex. Ben talks with Keamy, who instructs him to look out a window so they can
talk "face-to-face". Keamy asks Ben to come out, and promises not to harm anyone
else, but Ben tells him his violent history and that he knows exactly what kind
of man he is and that he can't be trusted. Keamy drops the formalities, and Alex
is brought and forced to kneel at gunpoint. Keamy instructs Ben to walk out the
front door and no one in the house will get hurt. Ben refuses and issues a
counter-offer, instructing the mercenaries to turn around, leave, and to forget
the Island. Keamy tells Alex to say goodbye and tells Ben that he had 10
seconds.

Ben looks on in horror as Keamy shoots Alex right in front of him.view image

As Keamy counts down, Ben says that Alex means nothing to him, as he took her
from an insane woman, and that she is just a pawn, nothing more. Alex hears this
in anguish and pleads for her life. Ben declares that he is not coming out of
the house, and Keamy shoots Alex in the head. ♪♪

Ben stares in shock before muttering "He changed the rules," and quickly
retreats to his secret room where he seals a blast door behind him. Ben pushes
aside his hanging suits and reveals another secret doorway. The walls appear to
be made of stone and the door is carved with some sort of Hieroglyphs. He opens
the door and walks in. ♪

Ben makes his way to his secret door.view image

Later (after dark), Sawyer shouts and beats on the blast door that closed behind
Ben, when Claire emerges from another room carrying Aaron and asks "What's going
on?". Sawyer asks Claire "You all right, sweetheart?" and she tells him "Yeah, a
bit wobbly, but, uh, I'll live." to which Miles replies "Well, I wouldn't be too
sure about that." Ben emerges from his secret room covered in black soot. He
orders everyone to leave the house in one minute and to run for the tree line on
his command. A rumbling is heard and the Monster thunders into the camp and
plunges into the tree line. The Monster is multiple thick columns of black
smoke, cutting through the trees. There is some sort of electrical discharge
going off inside the smoke, which causes a flashing white light and crackling
noises. The survivors watch in awe as it attacks the mercenaries in the woods.
Hurley questions whether Ben summoned the Monster. As it draws farther away,
Locke and the survivors escape into the jungle, while Ben lingers momentarily to
say goodbye to his daughter. ♪ Claire, Aaron, Hurley, Sawyer, Miles, Ben and
Locke are the only survivors of the mercenary attack.

Locke and his faction watch on as the Smoke Monster emerges from the jungle and
attacks the mercenary team. (promotional still)view image

Ben catches up with the rest of the group at the creek. Sawyer is frustrated
with Locke and Ben's plan to go and see Jacob and decides to leave for the
beach. Miles, Hurley, Claire, and Aaron go with him, but as they turn to leave,
Locke pulls a gun on Sawyer. He insists Hurley stays to guide them to Jacob's
cabin. Sawyer and Locke have a standoff at gunpoint, but Hurley agrees to go
with Locke and talks them into putting down their weapons.

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FLASH-FORWARDS[]

OCTOBER 2005[]

SAHARA DESERT[]

Ben gains the upper hand over the Bedouins.view image

A disoriented Benjamin Linus wakes up on the ground in the middle of the Sahara
Desert wearing a parka with a DHARMA logo and the name Halliwax on it. His right
arm has a deep wound on it and there appears to be steam evaporating off him. He
vomits, and two armed Bedouins on horseback approach. One of the Bedouins
(speaking Arabic) points out how Ben does not have a trail. The other replies,
"Where did this [guy] come from? Down from the sky?" Ben asks them if they speak
English, and when he gets no reply, he asks them if they speak Arabic, and then
Turkish, but they still do not speak with him. As one searches him he feels
something hard in Ben's pocket. Ben pulls out a metal cylinder, which is a
telescopic baton. He spins around, beats the Bedouin who was searching him,
takes his gun and shoots the other. The beaten one says, "Surrender", and Ben
says, "So you do speak English." He then hits him with the rifle butt. Ben ties
off his arm wound and rides off on one of their horses. ♪

Ben notices Sayid on the Tunisian television.view image

TOZEUR, TUNISIA[]

Ben checks into a hotel in Tozeur, Tunisia. The desk clerk asks if it is his
first time in Tunisia, but he tells her he has been there before, though "it's
been a while." He gives the name Dean Moriarty and introduces himself as a
"preferred guest." The clerk looks for the name in a book and treats him with
additional respect, asking if there is anything else she can do for him. He asks
the clerk the date, to which she answers October 24th. Ben clarifies the year,
asking, "2005?" The clerk confirms the year looking a little surprised. As he
heads to his room, Ben overhears Sayid's name mentioned on the television, and
turns to watch a news broadcast showing Sayid getting into a car as he is being
hounded by the press, telling them he "just wants to bury [his] wife in peace."
♪

TIKRIT, IRAQ[]

Sayid discovers it was Ben who was spying on him.view image

In Tikrit, Iraq, Ben emerges from an SUV labeled "Press" and slips up a stairway
to the top floor. ♪ He pulls a camera with a zoom lens from a bag and snaps a
photo of a man watching the funeral procession for Sayid's wife, Nadia. He then
turns the camera toward Sayid, using his flash. Sayid appears to spot Ben, who
hurries back down stairs. In the street, Sayid tackles Ben to the ground. Sayid
questions how he got to Iraq, Ben says he slipped in via the Syrian border.
Sayid says that he meant how did Ben get off the Island and Ben tells Sayid he
left via Desmond's sailboat, the Elizabeth, and after landing at Fiji he
chartered a plane. He also explains that a man at the procession, whom he
identifies from a traffic camera still as Ishmael Bakir, was sent by Charles
Widmore to kill Sayid's wife in Los Angeles. She was killed three blocks from
the corner of La Brea and Santa Monica five days earlier. ♪ Sayid vows to kill
the man, saying it is now his war too.

Sayid makes his first kill for Ben.view image

Ben is watching Ishmael, while being served coffee by waiter in a cafe. Suddenly
Ishmael leaves and Ben pursues but loses him. Ben turns into an alley, where the
Ishmael appears behind him. He asks who Ben is and why he is following him. ♪
Ben identifies himself and explains that he needs him to carry a message to
Widmore. Ishmael asks what the message is, and Sayid shoots him, continuing to
pull the trigger even after his magazine is empty. Ben tells him not to let his
grief become anger, but Sayid wants revenge, asking, "Who's next?" Ben pleads
with Sayid to think about what he is doing with his life, telling him he doesn't
need to get involved. Sayid stands his ground, and Ben promises to contact him.
♪ As Ben walks away he has a smirk on his face.

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AFTER NADIA'S BURIAL[]

LONDON ENGLAND[]

Ben confronts Widmore at his London apartment.view image

Late at night in London, Ben emerges from a taxi and enters a building. He
tricks the doorman, claiming to be heading to visit a Mr. and Mrs. Kendrick in
apartment 4E, but instead has a key to allow the elevator to go to the penthouse
suite. Ben makes his way into a bedroom and he calls Charles who wakes. Ben
inquires as to when Widmore started sleeping with a bottle of scotch by the bed.
Widmore replies, "When the nightmares started." Charles asks Ben if he has come
to kill him. Ben says "we both know I can't do that." He instead accuses Widmore
of changing the rules and killing his daughter. The two argue about who bears
responsibility for Alex's death. The debate concludes with Ben vowing to kill
Widmore's daughter, Penelope, so that he will know the same pain Ben knows.
Widmore claims to know "what" Ben is, saying everything Ben has he took from
Widmore. Ben says Charles will wish he hadn't "changed the rules." Widmore
counters that Ben will never find Penny, and that he wants "his" Island back.
Ben tells Charles he will never find the Island. Charles then says that the hunt
is on for both of them.



TRIVIA[]

DHARMA logo on Ben's parka.view image

 * The DHARMA logo seen on the breast of the parka worn by Ben is that of the
   Orchid.
   * This parka also has the name "Halliwax" emblazoned on the left breast.
   * The octagons appear differently than other DHARMA logos on the patch, but
     the same logo is seen on Keamy's Secondary Protocol file with the correct
     hexagrams, so it is likely that the patch was a prop error. ("Cabin Fever")
 * Ben speaks Arabic and Turkish. He asks the Bedouin if they speak these
   languages.
 * Although Ben asks the Bedouin whether they speak Turkish, it is not a
   language spoken by Bedouin, nor is it related to the Arabic language.
 * One of the Bedouin points out how Ben does not have a trail. The other
   replies, "Where did this [guy] come from? Down from the sky?"
 * The television reporter that mentions Sayid, while Ben is in Tunisia, states:
   "One of the sons of Iraq, and despite the terrible causes for his return,
   Sayid Jarrah, one of the members of the Oceanic Six, returned to Baghdad
   after his wife had passed away. Sayid Jarrah and his wife are from the Tikrit
   area."
 * The pill bottle opened by Jack says "Amoxicillin", a common antibiotic.
 * Ben's flash-forward takes place in October 2005 — one year and one month
   after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815.
 * The symbols on Ben's secret room door appear to be hieroglyphs that are
   determinative signs in Egyptian.
   * A basic translation of these hieroglyphs is "to summon protection,"
     according to The Lost Ninja.
 * Keamy's full name is revealed to be Martin Christopher Keamy.
 * The mercenaries are wearing MultiCam, an advanced camouflage pattern
   developed by the United States Army and Crye Precision, an American company.
 * The passport that Ben uses in Tunisia is Canadian, as can be seen on the
   front when he is opening the passport at first ("Canada" is partially
   visible) and the fact that there are maple leaves imprinted on the document
   when it is open to his picture.
 * The camera that Ben uses in Tikrit is a Nikon D100, although the Nikon logo
   (above the lens) has been replaced with a random pattern.
 * The lens used on the Nikon D100 is a Nikon 80-400 telephoto zoom lens.
 * Charles Widmore is sleeping with a bottle of MacCutcheon by the bed.
 * There is a line cut from this episode, but shown in the preview: "Welcome to
   the war." Ben says this to Locke after telling him that Hurley knows the
   location of Jacob's cabin. He's referring to the attack on the Barracks by
   the mercenaries.
 * This is the first episode since "Eggtown" to feature Hurley saying "dude,"
   his catchphrase, marking a four-episode hiatus of the catchphrase, the
   longest in the history of the show.
 * This is the first episode to have a flash-forward from the perspective of
   someone who was not on the plane, and the first of two from the perspective
   of a non-Oceanic Six member, the second being Sawyer in "LaFleur".
 * In the penultimate episode of the series, "What They Died For", Ben revealed
   that the Monster was actually summoning him rather than him summoning the
   Monster.
 * This episode is Rated TV-14-LV.
 * The Baby Kate Crying sound is coming to Aaron

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PRODUCTION NOTES[]

 * Daniel Dae Kim (Jin) and Yunjin Kim (Sun) appear without speaking lines.
 * The three redshirts killed in the attack were portrayed by Sean Douglas Hoban
   (as Doug), Jim Mazzarella (as Jerome) and Dakota L. (as an unnamed Survivor).
 * This is the first time Lost has returned from hiatus without a recap episode.
 * This was the first episode of Lost to feature footage filmed outside of the
   United States. The London scene between Ben and Charles Widmore was filmed in
   London due to Alan Dale performing on stage in the West End production of
   Spamalot during filming of the second block of Season 4. (2008 Yearbook,
   Official Lost Podcast/May 2, 2008) The next occasion was four episodes later
   in "There's No Place Like Home, Part 3". Both scenes were filmed during the
   same trip by the film crew.
 * Aaron's cry after John reassures Sawyer that he will not hurt Hurley is the
   same audio clip used in Jim Cramer's Mad Money sound board.
 * This is the only episode of season 4 that does not have an Enhanced version.
 * Omar appears, but is played by a stand-in, not usual actor Anthony Azizi.
 * A Lost: On Location for this episode is available on the Season 4 DVD.
 * This episode was originally rumored to be titled "Bakir". [1]


BLOOPERS AND CONTINUITY ERRORS[]

Ben's office in "The Economist".view image

 * Jack tells Kate that Sayid had informed him that the freighter's engine was
   down. The camp's satellite phone had broken before Sayid learned this
   information, therefore he could not have communicated it to them.
 * There is an attached shirt rack concealing the hieroglyph door in this
   episode, rather than the storage shelving shown in that same position in "The
   Economist".
 * When Ben appears in the desert for the first time, he appears on his back on
   hard cracked ground. In the next shot he is shown raising himself up off a
   completely sandy surface.
 * Many of the Arabic scripts (including the news broadcast and the signs in
   Tunisia and Iraq) are erroneous. The letters are not connected as they should
   be (i.e. as if they did not form words). And even if they were connected,
   many of them still would not form proper words. Sayid's name, for example, is
   written as: س ي د ج ا ر ه which would read سيد جاره (Sayyid Jareh) when
   connected. This is not how Sayid's name is spelled though (سعيد جراح).

Ben's office in "The Shape of Things to Come"view image

 * In "The Economist" the ceiling of the small corridor between the bookcase and
   Ben's secret room showed no signs of a gap where the door lowered preventing
   Sawyer from passing to follow Ben.
 * When Ben is speaking to the concierge the front door is left open. In the
   next shot as he enters the elevator the door is closed.
 * When running along the fence, right before Claire's house is blown up, the
   grill Sawyer hides behind goes from upright to lying on its side.
 * The desk clerk was wearing Hijab (cover of the head that Muslim women wear).
   The Hijab is illegal in Tunisia.
 * The accent of the Bedouins is clearly not Tunisian.
 * There's some blood on the Blonde casualty's shirt before she gets shot.
 * When Ben picks the elevator lock, he uses picks designed for warded locks,
   but the lock is clearly a pin or wafer tumbler lock.

Blood on Blonde casualty's shirt.view image

 * The camera Ben used to photograph Sayid is a Nikon D100, but the viewfinder
   display is clearly not from a Nikon camera.
 * The sound and visual of Ben playing "Prelude in C-Sharp Minor" are not in
   sync.

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MUSIC[]

The Season 4 soundtrack includes the following tracks from this episode:

 * "Bodies and Bungalows"
 * "Benundrum"
 * "Hostile Negotiations"


ANALYSIS[]


RECURRING THEMES[]

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   




Recurring themes Animals • Black and white • Character connections • Children •
Coincidence • Death • Deceptions and cons • Dreams • Economics •
Electromagnetism • Eyes • Fate versus free will • Games • Good and bad people •
Imprisonment • Isolation • Leadership • Life and death • Literary works •
Mirrors • Missing body parts • Nicknames • The Numbers • Pairings •
Parapsychology • Parent issues • Pregnancies • Psychology • Rain • Redemption •
Relationships • Religion • Revenge • Salvation • Secrets

 * The freighter's doctor has been murdered. (Death)
 * A close up of Ben's eyes is shown when he awakes in the desert in Tunisia.
   (Eyes)
 * Ben closes Alex's eyes. (Eyes)
 * Ben refers to Alex as a pawn. (Games)
 * Hurley, Locke, and Sawyer play Risk. (Games)
 * Ben says, "He changed the rules." (Games)
 * Alex is taken hostage. (Imprisonment)
 * During Risk, after invading Siberia, Sawyer rolls 6-6-3 = 15. (The Numbers)
 * The panic code to the security fence is 1623. (The Numbers)
 * Alex is killed, as are three redshirts by the Freighter Mercenaries. (Death)
 * Claire's "house" is blown up, but she survives. (Life and death)
 * During the final scene, the light casts a shadow over half of Widmore's and
   Ben's faces. (Black and white)
 * Sawyer calls Hurley "Chicken Little" and says that the sky isn't falling yet.
   (Nicknames)
 * Ben warns Sawyer there's no time to fetch Claire, but Sawyer says: "I'll make
   time." (Time)
 * Ben tries to bluff that Alex means nothing to him, and as a result she is
   shot. (Parent issues)
 * Ben lies to Sayid about how he left the Island. (Deceptions and cons)
 * Ben manipulates Sayid into working as an assassin for him. (Deceptions and
   cons)
 * Ben says he is going to see "Mr. and Mrs. Kendrick in 4E". (Deceptions and
   cons)  (The Numbers)
 * Daniel confesses that it was never their intention to get them off the
   island. (Deceptions and cons)
 * When Keamy is counting down from 10 he stops after 8. (The Numbers)
 * Ben believes Widmore is responsible for murdering Alex, whom he considers his
   daughter, and he vows to kill Penny, Widmore's daughter. (Parent Issues) 
   (Life and death)
 * Widmore tells Ben that he won't find Penelope and Ben tells Widmore he won't
   find the island. (Secrets)
 * Sayid decides to work for Ben in order to get revenge for Nadia's death.
   (Revenge)
 * When Ben asks Widmore when he started sleeping with a bottle of scotch by the
   bed, he replies "when the nightmares started." (Dreams)
 * Martin Keamy served in the United States Marine Corps from 1996 to 2001, the
   exact same time and length Desmond Hume served in the Royal Scots Regiment.
   Both men are associated with Charles Widmore. (Coincidences)




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CULTURAL REFERENCES[]

Cultural references
(direct references only) Art • Automobiles • Games • History • Literary works •
Movies and TV • Music • Philosophy • Religion and ideologies • Science

 * Chicken Little: Sawyer refers to Hurley by this nickname. This refers to the
   old fable about a chicken who believes the sky is falling, indicating a
   belief in imminent disaster. (Literary works)
 * Prelude in C-sharp minor: Ben is playing this piece from Sergei Rachmaninoff
   on the piano, right before the phone call. (Music)
 * The Shape of Things to Come: The episode title refers to the name of a book
   by H.G. Wells which is written in the form of a history book from the future.
   One of the novel's main settings is Iraq - specifically the city of Basra,
   which is at the center of a world state emerging after a collapse of
   civilization and becomes in effect the capital of the world. (Literary works)
 * On The Road: The name that Ben uses to check in, Dean Moriarty, is the name
   of one of two main characters in this book by Jack Kerouac. (Literary works)
   * A passport with the name Dean Moriarty is first seen earlier in Season 4,
     in "The Economist".
 * Sherlock Holmes: Moriarty is also the surname of Professor James Moriarty,
   Sherlock Holmes' best known antagonist and mathematical genius. In the story
   "The Final Problem", Moriarty pays a surprise visit to Holmes to confront him
   and both issue ultimatums to the other regarding their continued pursuit of
   each other in much the same way Ben visits Widmore and they issue threats
   about their respective searches. (Literary works)
 * The Second Congo War: Ben remarks that Martin Keamy became a mercenary after
   his time in the USMC, specifically in Uganda. The Second Congo War officially
   took place from 1998-2003, with Uganda opposing the Democratic Republic of
   the Congo. This conflict was most likely what Ben was referring to, as Keamy
   came to the Island in 2004. (History)


LITERARY TECHNIQUES[]

Literary techniques Comparative: Irony • Juxtaposition • Foreshadowing
Plotting: Cliffhanger • Plot twist Stock characters:  Archetype • Redshirt •
Unseen character
Story:  Flashbacks • Flash-forwards • Flash sideways • Framing device •
Regularly spoken phrases • Symbolism • Unreliable narrator 

 * Hurley repeats an old line of his, "We're all gonna die", though it is
   revealed that he was talking about a game of Risk. (Regularly spoken phrases)
   (Twist)
 * Hurley comments during the Risk game that "Australia is the key to the whole
   game"; The Losties connections to Australia are key to the whole show, as
   it's where Flight 815 originated from. (Symbolism)
 * Three background survivors (one of whom is wearing an actual red shirt) are
   killed in the initial attack on the camp. (Redshirt)
 * Jack takes a pill, which he says he "prescribed for himself," while Kate
   looks on suspiciously. This foreshadows Jack's pill addiction and attempt to
   self-prescribe after he gets rescued. (Foreshadowing)
 * Claire is separated from Aaron and nearly killed while Hurley takes care of
   the baby. This foreshadows Aaron being separated from Claire and under Kate's
   care after they leave the island. (Foreshadowing)
 * Kate says "You look terrible", and Jack smiles and answers "Thanks"; this
   same exchange takes place during the flash-forward in "Through the Looking
   Glass". (Foreshadowing)
 * Those survivors who followed Locke, opting to seek protection in fear of the
   freighter crew, are ultimately those who are attacked and/or killed by them.
   (Irony)
 * Ben wakes up wearing a parka in the middle of the desert. (Juxtaposition)
 * Locke did not want to execute Ben in front of Alex ("Confirmed Dead"), and
   ultimately it is Alex who is executed in front of Ben. (Irony)
 * Ben told Michael in "Meet Kevin Johnson" that he will not kill an innocent
   person, but now tells Charles Widmore that he intends to kill Penelope, who
   is innocent. (Irony)
 * Ben informs Widmore he is going to search for Penny, while Widmore says he
   will continue to search for the Island. Both say the other will not find what
   they are looking for. In fact, both men eventually do find what they are
   searching for, Ben in "Dead Is Dead" and Widmore in "Dr. Linus". (Irony) 
   (Foreshadowing)
 * The DHARMA logo and the name "Halliwax" on Ben's parka foreshadows the
   appearance of the Orchid. (Foreshadowing)




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STORYLINE ANALYSIS[]

Storyline analysis A-Missions • Crimes • Economics • Leadership • O-Missions •
Relationships • F-Missions • Rivalries • S-Missions

 * Keamy and his men attack the Barracks while Locke's group tries to defend
   themselves. (F-Missions)  (A-Missions)
 * Ben assumes tactical command while the Barracks are under siege. (Leadership)
 * Keamy executes Alex. (Crimes)
 * Ben's ability to summon, direct, and/or control the Monster ends the siege on
   the Barracks. (Leadership)
 * Locke and Sawyer argue over who Hurley will go with. (Leadership) (Rivalries)
 * Alex is killed by Keamy, an ex-military non-commissioned officer who works
   for Charles Widmore. Ben later employs Sayid, an ex-military officer, as an
   assassin whose primary role is to kill Widmore's people, and possibly
   Widmore's daughter, Penny. (Rivalries)
 * Ben, Hurley and Locke set off to find the cabin. (A-Missions)





EPISODE CONNECTIONS[]


EPISODE REFERENCES[]

 * Ben tells Sayid that he used the Elizabeth to get off the island. ("Live
   Together, Die Alone, Part 1")  ("The Glass Ballerina")
 * Ben knows Hurley has seen Jacob's cabin after his slip-up in the jungle.
   ("Confirmed Dead")
 * Locke accuses Ben of lying when he said he didn't know what the smoke monster
   was. ("Confirmed Dead")
 * Sayid "thought with his heart instead of his gun" and was recruited by Ben as
   an assassin. ("The Economist")
 * Ben tells Miles that it seems unlikely that he'll get his 3.2 million dollars
   after the attack on the Barracks. ("Eggtown")
 * Ben tells Sawyer he sent Danielle, Alex and Karl away yesterday. ("Meet Kevin
   Johnson")


EPISODE ALLUSIONS[]

 * Charles Widmore has a glass of MacCutcheon Scotch whisky while talking with
   Ben. ("Flashes Before Your Eyes")
 * Kate says to Jack "you look terrible" to which Jack replies "thanks".
   ("Through the Looking Glass, Part 2")
 * Alex is executed in front of Ben. Locke had previously told Sawyer that they
   couldn't just execute Ben in front of Alex. ("Confirmed Dead")
 * The reason Sayid is working for Ben in the future is revealed. ("The
   Economist")
 * Ben uses one of his fake passports. ("The Economist")
 * The oil painting in Charles Widmore's bedroom is Black Rock Storm, seen at
   the Southfield's auction of the Black Rock ledger. ("The Constant")


UNANSWERED QUESTIONS[]

Unanswered questions
 1. Do not answer the questions here.
 2. Keep the questions open-ended and neutral: do not suggest an answer.

More details...

For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: The Shape of Things to
Come/Theories
 * When and why was Ben in Tunisia before?
 * What are "the Rules"?
   * How have they been changed?
   * Why can't Ben kill Widmore?


EXTERNAL LINKS[]

 * ABC primetime grid
 * Full Episode Online (Canada Only)

v • d • e
Benjamin LinusPortrayed by Michael Emerson and Sterling BeaumonCentric episodes
"The Man Behind the Curtain" • "The Shape of Things to Come" • "Dead Is Dead" •
"Dr. Linus"
Shared and non-centric flashes
"What They Died For" • "The End"
Mobisodes
"King of the Castle" • "Room 23"
Flashback characters
Richard Alpert • Annie • Buzz • Casey • Pierre Chang • Chester • Doris • Earl •
Elmer • Emmanuel • Fern • Horace Goodspeed • Charlie Hume • Desmond Hume •
Penelope Hume • June • Emily Linus • Roger Linus • Mike • Olivia • Opal • Renee
• Rex • Robert • Ethan Rom • Alex Rousseau • Danielle Rousseau • Sebastian •
Victor • Wayne • Charles Widmore
Flash-forward characters
Bedouin 1 • Bedouin 2 • Ishmael Bakir • Iraqi merchant • London doorman • Sayid
Jarrah • Noor "Nadia" Abed Jazeem • Narjiss • Charles Widmore
Flash-sideways characters
Leslie Arzt • Desmond Hume • Kim Kondracki • Roger Linus • Lamour • John Locke •
Hugo Reyes • Alex Rousseau • Danielle Rousseau • Donald Reynolds
Items
Ben's diary • Ben's maps • Ben's painting • Ben's photo • Ben's passports •
Ben's tape • DHARMA parka • Frozen wheel • Tape recorder • Telescopic baton •
The Rules • X-ray
Other
Family • Relationships


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