Season 4, Episode 9 - The Shape of Things to Come

If Daniel Craig steps out of the 007 shoes, I think that Michael Emerson would be a fitting successor to the James Bond genre.

“The Shape of Things to Come” was EASILY in the list of my top episodes, primarily because it focused on the single greatest aspect of the show…Benjamin Linus. Between his genuine fear when he heard “Code 14j”, to his desperate play to save Alex and his subsequent mournfulness when she was surprisingly shot, we got our first, I believe, real look into Ben’s soul.

He showed that he was not nearly as helpless as he was making himself out to be to his captors. I loved the moment with the shotgun in the piano bench as well as when he calmly walked into closet and locked the door behind him. Ben always knows exactly what he’s doing, there’s no doubt.

Speaking of knowing what he’s doing, it’s apparent that he has some form of control over Cerebus (a.k.a. Smokie). Ben is obviously ruthless, and is willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish what he wants, but it’s becoming obvious that he’s not pure evil like he seemed to be early on. He obviously cares about the other people on the island, which ties into the next point…

Charles Widmore. There’s your pure evil. He wants the island for his own evil purposes, and Ben is doing what he can to stop that…up to, but not, killing Widmore himself. Is that connected to “the rules” that Ben talked about a few times? I don’t even know where to begin speculating on it. And we’re obviously heading toward an intense finale, with an impending showdown between Ben, Penny, Desmond and Charles. Flippin’ awesome.

Michael Emerson’s performance alone makes this easily my favorite episode of the season, and in my top five for the series. Phenomenal.

A+